Carry Me

Levia wiped away a stray tear as she dove back into her bowl of popcorn. She put her hand up to her mouth, and let out a sob.

Matt and Addison had decided to go out on a date and left Levia home alone. Addison suggested that she get one of the guys and go out on a date of her own. She didn’t feel like calling any of the guys, nor did she really want to. Instead she decided that she would just put in a sappy romance movie, sit down with a giant bowl of popcorn, and devour most of it by the end of the night.

Jacoby texted her that night, like he always did, for a bit before he went off to bed. He was out on the east coast, visiting some relatives. It was almost midnight over there, and Levia wanted to make sure he got plenty of sleep so he wouldn‘t be cranky for his family. She didn’t want him in a bad mood because of her, to which he replied she could never put him in a bad mood, only a good one.

That man always knew the right thing to say.

Levia never did understand what he possibly saw in her that was so intriguing. What made him want to talk to her, anyway? Was it because he pitied her for liking him for so long? It wasn’t like she was in love with him, it was just a little high school crush. It meant nothing.

Levia scoffed. Who was she kidding? It certainly did mean something. Never one to get her hopes up, despite Jacoby’s obvious interest, Levia sighed and told him to go to bed.

Ma’am, yes, ma’am! -Jacoby

She giggled before typing a message back.

’Night, Coby. -Lev

Her phone buzzed not even a minute later.

Goodnight, Gorgeous ;) -Jacoby

Levia smiled and closed her phone. Even when she was a bitch to him or her texts weren’t very happy, he still was nice to her and found a way to make her smile.

Now that she had successfully convinced Jacoby to go to bed, she decided that this would be a good time to start that movie. She popped it in the DVD player, pushed play, and walked into the kitchen to go make herself a nice, big bowl of buttery popcorn.

Just when she got to the part where the extremely good looking male lead finally proclaimed his love to damsel in distress, the doorbell rang. Levia, still sobbing with tears streaking down her face and in her not-so guest appropriate pajamas, paused her movie and made her way to the door. She wondered who would want something from Matt or Addison at 9 o’clock at night.

Levia opened to door to be greeted with Laney. Laney, once she saw that Levia was crying, burst out into tears herself. Levia’s eyes widened and she ushered the girl inside and onto the small sofa in the entryway. She may not know her all that well, but a friend of Addison was a friend of Levia too.

“I-I’m sorry! I just-I just came over to see Addi! I need s-some-someone to talk to!” Laney said inbetween sobs.

Levia blinked away her tears, “You can talk to me if you want.”

Laney looked up at her, “Really? But where’s Addi?”

“She and Matt went out. I’m here alone.”

“But why were you crying?” Laney asked, about to burst into tears again.

“I was just watching a movie. I cry easily.”

“Oh.”

“So…what do you need to talk about?” Levia asked, awkwardly putting a hand on Laney’s back in what she thought was a comforting gesture.

Laney sighed, “I was dating this guy for a couple years and we broke up recently because I caught him cheating on me with this girl. She was a really good friend of mine that I worked with. I was just so blind and in love that I didn’t realize what was going on until he broke up with me and left me for her.”

Levia cringed at the venom in Laney’s voice when she spoke about the girl. Levia wanted to sympathize, but she really couldn’t. Her heart wasn’t ever broken in that way.

Levia frowned and opened up her arms for a hug. She was always a huggy person.

Laney gave a sad smile and hugged Levia back, “I’m sorry I was such a bitch. I’ve just been…venting my frustration. I shouldn’t take it out on you. You’re Addi’s sister, it’s almost her wedding-”

“It’s ok. Really,” Levia assured, “I get why you did it, and I would too if I were in your shoes.”

Laney opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted when a loud knock sounded on the door and two seconds later, it burst open to reveal Zacky and Johnny. When the two guys saw the two hugging, crying girls, they visibly tensed.

“Everything okay?” Zacky asked.

Levia nodded, “Yeah. We’re fine.”

“You don’t look fine,” Johnny commented.

“She said we’re fine!” Laney exploded, letting go of Levia and narrowing her eyes at Johnny.

He narrowed his eyes back at her, “No need to be a bitch, Laney. I never did anything to you.”

“Other than be a waste of space!”

“Guys!” Zacky yelled, glaring between Johnny and Laney, “settle down! Fuck!”

Levia brought her knees up to her chest and pushed herself farther back against the sofa. She hated it when people argued. She hated yelling and confrontation.

Johnny ignored him, “I’ll settle down when she stops being a bitch! She’s always done that and I’ll never understand why!”

Laney gripped the sofa tightly, “Me?! You’re the one that’s always been a bitch! Ever since we met at Addi and Matt’s engagement party! You pushed me in the pool and poured whiskey all over me for no reason!”

“Guys-” Zacky tried to butt in again.

“It was a joke! Fuck!”

“I didn’t find it funny,” Laney said, crossing her arms and on the verge of tears again.

Zacky cast a side glance at Levia to see her distressed face and pursed lips. She obviously did not like this at all.

“Guys!” he yelled at the top of his lungs. The two immediately shut up and stared at Zacky with shock. He continued, “Shut the fuck up and stop fighting! No one wants to hear it and no one fucking cares why you hate each other’s guts! Go scream at each other somewhere else!”

Johnny and Laney silently glared at each other.

Laney got up off her seat and straightened out her skirt and jacket, “I’ll see you around, Levia. Thanks for listening.”

Levia sighed deeply as Laney stormed out of the house, purposely shoving Johnny as she walked past and completely ignoring Zacky.

Johnny stayed silent, not knowing what to say. Laney had exploded at him again, and Levia was clearly confused as to why he would do that. He sighed deeply and ran a hand along his face, collecting his thoughts. He waited until he heard Laney’s car squeal out of the driveway before he decided to say something. Zacky gave him a disappointed look.

Johnny shook his head, “I’m out, man. Bye, Levia. Sorry you had to see that.”

He gave Levia a sad smile before shoving his hands in his pockets and walking out of the door and to his car.

Zacky put his hands on his head and groaned, “Fuck!”

Levia bit her lip and stared awkwardly at the ground. She had never seen Johnny act anything like that before. Whenever the two hung out, he was always really nice and funny, and had a great sense of humor. He didn’t seem like the type to get upset easily.

Zacky sighed, “Why those two hate each other I will never understand.”

Levia continued to stare silently at the floor, not sure of what to say. Zacky’s yelling had shaken her up a bit, as did Johnny and Laney’s fighting. She barely knew Laney, yet had gotten the girl to open up only to have Johnny, who was one of the sweetest guys she had ever met, get into an argument with her and the two storm off in rage. She had also never heard Zacky use such a commanding tone and intimidating demeanor.

Yes, Zacky might look strangely cuddly and not be very big, but that did not mean he couldn’t be a scary motherfucker when he had to be.

“So why was she here?”

Levia looked up at Zacky, but refused to look him in the eyes, “She wanted to talk to Addi about her breakup.”

Zacky nodded, “Ah. That’s probably what set her off. It usually takes more than just Johnny walking in the door to piss her off.”

“I take it they don’t get along.”

“Not at all.”

“Why?”

Zacky shrugged, “Hard to say. We played a few pranks on her when we all first met her and she just took it all out on Johnny. He was the one who did the most, I guess.”

“You guys shouldn’t do that to people,” Levia said, giving Zacky a disapproving look.

He scratched the back of his neck, “It’s in the past. I can’t say I would really do stuff like that anymore.”

Levia suddenly remembered she was still curled in a ball and released her knees from her own grip, allowing them to stretch out. She pulled down on her blue snowflake pajama shorts and adjusted her white tank top.

White tank top…shit.

Levia frowned at her attire. Her black bra with red hearts was clearly visible through the thin, white fabric and her pajama shorts were way too short. It’s not like she was expecting company.

She felt Zacky’s eyes on her and she squirmed under his gaze. Her hair was up in a ponytail, so she couldn’t run her fingers through it like she normally did. She ran her fingers through her bangs instead.

Zacky chuckled, “Snowflakes, huh?”

Out of all the things he could he could have said about her outfit, that was the least expected.

“It doesn’t snow in California?” she said jokingly.

“Not usually. Especially not in June.”

Levia looked down, embarrassed.

“Hey, I was just kidding around.”

“I know,” Levia said, not moving her gaze, “I just feel kind of stupid.”

Zacky knelt down in front of the sofa, putting him right in Levia’s field of vision. She jerked back a bit, startled by the sudden invasion of her space.

Zacky gazed up at her, “You’re not stupid.”

Levia felt flustered and could do nothing but stare at Zacky, since he was really the only thing she could see at this angle. She observed his eyes, a deep, jade color. They were very pretty.

“You have pretty eyes,” she blurted, covering her mouth when she realized she had been thinking that out loud.

Zacky laughed and stared into Levia’s eyes, like he was trying to learn everything about her just by looking, “You do too.”

If Levia thought it was awkward before, it was even worse now. Her face felt like it was on fire and she had nothing to say. The worst part was that there was no escape. There was no where to run.

“Let’s get this parted started! Ye-oh.”

Levia’s head shot up at the sound of the door opening. Jimmy stood there, smiling sheepishly.

“Did I interrupt something?”

Zacky sighed and stood up, “Nah. We were just about to go watch a movie, right Levia?”

Levia gulped and took steady breaths, trying to regulate her breathing again, “Yeah. Yeah we were.”

Jimmy still looked like he felt bad, since he was still sure he ruined their moment, but he nodded, “Alrighty! What movie?”

Zacky looked at Levia, acting totally normal, waiting for her response. Levia refused to look at him. She felt too uncomfortable.

“Well, I was actually just watching this girly romance movie, but I don’t think you guys would want to watch that.”

Zacky stared off into space. That could explain why she looked like she had been crying. Maybe.

Jimmy laughed, “Not really. I know! Let’s watch Live in the LBC!”

Levia giggled, “That’s not a real movie, Jimmy.”

Jimmy and Zacky look at her, slightly offended.

She stumbled over her words, “I-uh…that-that’s not what I meant! I meant…uh…I meant that…you know…”

The two guys burst into laughter.

“We know what you mean. We were just messing with you,” Jimmy said.

Levia curled up, not believing that she embarrassed herself again. She was surprised these guys even wanted anything to do with her. They must think she was some kind of dumb hillbilly from the middle of nowhere.

Zacky saw the hurt look on her face, “Hey, what do you say we go watch it anyway, yeah? I’m sure you’ll love it!”

“Have you seen it already?” Jimmy asked.

Levia shook her head, “Not yet. Just bits and pieces.”

Zacky grinned, “Well then now is the perfect time! Plus, you get to watch it with two sexy studs like ourselves.”

Levia playfully rolled her eyes, earning a bigger grin from Zacky and a laugh from Jimmy.

Jimmy picked Levia up off the couch and hoisted her over his shoulder, carrying her into the living room with Zacky following. Levia immediately tried to pull down on the bottom of her too-short shorts, attempting to cover her exposed cheeks. And she didn’t mean her face.

“Nice view, Sweet Cheeks.”

She didn’t think Zacky meant her face either.