Right Now, I'm Anyone's

“Leila!” I turned at the sound of my name being called for the second time today. I smiled when I saw Levi shoving through the light crowd towards our group.

“Hey,” I smiled as he pressed a kiss to the corner of my mouth. He stood with his arm around my shoulder and said hello to Maddox. Maddox introduced him to Lee, Ryan, James and Dean – must to my displeasure. Dean shook his hand and looked like he wanted to dip it in bleach afterwards – what the hell?

“I was wondering if you wanted to come stay the night,” Levi said quietly, so only I could hear it. “It feels like I haven’t seen you in weeks.”

I laughed. “It’s been two days, babe.”

He shrugged. “So? Come stay the night.”

“I have work tomorrow,” I sighed, linking my fingers with his loosely.

“I’ll drop you off in the morning.”

I sighed and smiled. “Makes sense. Just let me go home and get my stuff, and I’ll bully Dimitri into giving me a lift.”

“Okay,” he laughed. “I have to go, so I’ll see you later.”

I smiled and nodded my head. He leaned in and kissed my lips lightly, “Love you.”

“Love you, too,” I said quietly. Levi said goodbye to Maddox and the rest of the group, saying that it was nice to meet everybody. Ryan and Maddox went back to their conversation after Levi had left, while James was sucking contently on a cigarette. I noticed that Dean was lighting one up as well; since when?

“So, boyfriend?” Lee said, breaking my attention away from Dean.

“Oh, yeah,” I laughed.

“Thought so.”

“What gave it away?” I smiled. “It was the kissing, right?”

Lee laughed and shook his head. “Shut up. He’s a lucky lad.”

I raised my eyebrows and shoved him lightly, laughing again. I turned back to the whole group and saw that Dean had finally looked at me. It was a lot easier to look back at him, for some unknown reason. I was staring him down without hesitating. The initial shock of him being back around had worn off, I suppose.

“Maddox,” I said. “I have to go, so I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He nodded. “Alright, don’t get raped or something.”

I laughed and rolled my eyes again. He gave me a long hug to say goodbye, before passing me on to Lee, Ryan and – surprisingly – James. I hadn’t expected him to be the hugging type, especially when we only talked a little bit. I paused when I got to Dean.

“Bye,” I said, looking away from his eyes this time. I heard him mumble something similar to a farewell as I turned around to walk away. I heard a massive chorus of “Bye Leila” as I reached the end of the road and smiled.

*****

“Dimitri,” I groaned. “Please, please, please can you just drop me off at Levi’s?”

He shrugged. “I could.”

“Are you going to?”

He shrugged again. “Haven’t decided.”

“Come on, please?!” I’d arrived home about half an hour after I left everybody outside Starbucks – it was around half past six. Dimitri got home about ten minutes after me, and was now messing around about giving me a lift over to my boyfriend’s home. I pleaded and begged and bribed with endless cups of tea and free entry to the first date of Flux’s festival the next day. Eventually, he caved in.

“Okay,” he sighed, hiding a smile. “If you do my washing for the next two weeks, make my tea every morning and get me into that snazzy festival thing, I’ll drive you there.”

I sighed and rolled my eyes. “Deal.”

Dimitri smiled and picked up his car keys from the small bowl on the kitchen counter, while I hung back to collect my bag. Georgia still wasn’t home; I made a mental note to text her later, see if she was okay. Dimitri and I made our way down the stairs out into the street. I shivered against the cold and waited impatiently for him to hurry up and unlock the car door.

“Slow down, princess,” he laughed. “Levi would wait as long as you made him.”

I narrowed my eyes. “I don’t care, I’m cold.”

Dimitri rolled his eyes at me and unlocked the driver’s door, before leaning over and unlocking my side for me. Dimitri’s car was very old, to say the least. It was some kind of Ford that still needed a key to unlock the doors, with a broken heating system. So, it was still cold.

He knew where Levi’s how was already, having – on his kinder days – drove me over there a couple of times. It took him about twenty minutes to get me there. I opened the car door and went to get out when Dimitri held me back.

“Remember,” he smirked. “Protection.”

I laughed and rolled my eyes. “Get lost, Chesnokov.”

“You’re welcome!” he called as I walked up the path to the buildings front door. I heard Dimitri’s car stutter away shortly after and I pressed the button on the intercom to let Levi know someone was outside.

“Hello?” his voice crackled through the speaker.

I leaned forward and said, “Its Leila, let me in.”

He laughed slightly then I heard the loud buzzing sound, meaning that the door was unlocked for me. I opened the door and stepped inside, instantly warmer. Levi’s home was so much nicer than my own; the staircase was carpeted and taken care of while mine was ratty and covered in dirty tiles. Levi had three roommates; Kane Bell, Gabriel Sutton and Erin Randall.

Kane and Gabriel were friendly enough, but Erin seemed to dislike me a lot. Every time I went over there she’d shoot me little looks when she thought I wasn’t looking and flirt with Levi in front of me. He didn’t notice, of course, and just thought she was being friendly.

“Hey, babe,” Levi smiled as I approached his front door on the top floor of the building. He held his arms open and I walked into them, hugging him tight before he pulled back and kissed my forehead. I laced my hand with his while the other held onto the bag strap on my shoulder and let him lead me into his flat.

Kane and Gabriel were spread out on the black leather couch, in front of the television, and both of them waved a lazy hand at me. Gabriel’s curly, blonde hair was all over the place while Kane’s was straightened to perfection.

“Oh, hello,” Erin said as she left the kitchen. “Didn’t realise you’d be here today.”

I grimaced. “Hi, Erin. Nice to see you too.”

She just shrugged her shoulders and wandered into the living room, planting herself on the couch between Kane and Gabriel, stealing the television remote and changing to a soap opera. Kane protested and Gabriel tried to fight her for the remote.

Levi tugged at my hands. “Come on.”

I smiled and followed him into the hall leading to the bedrooms. He pushed open the door to his room and let go of my hand, quickly picking some clothes up off of the floor and shoving them into his desk drawers or under his double bed. I laughed and put my bag down by the window opposite the door.

“So, what are we doing?” I asked, settling myself on his bed.

“Well,” Levi said. “We could order Chinese, watch films and lie in bed in our underwear.”

I smiled. “Perfect.”

*****

“’Appearances can be...deceptive,’” Levi said, reciting the lines along with Brad Pitt. I giggled and snuggled further into his side, feeling his arm tighten around my shoulder. We were watching Burn After Reading, I think we were actually the only people that found it even remotely funny. The Chinese had been ordered and eaten – a fair share of it contributed to Kane’s stomach – and we were lying in Levi’s double bed in our underwear. He’d even been really sweet and lit a few candles around the room.

At the part where Brad Pitt’s character, Chad, starts dancing on a treadmill, I can’t contain my laughter. I laugh so hard I do a little snort at the end, then instantly cover my mouth and blush. Levi chuckled and kissed the top of my head, wrapping his other arm around me to join the first.

“That was cute,” he said, nuzzling his face into my hair.

I pulled back and gave him an ‘are-you-mentally-challenged’ look. “You’re mad.”

“So are you,” he shrugged.

“Levi?”

“Yeah, Lei?”

“Shut up,” I laughed. “And kiss me please.”

He laughed and did as he was told. The rest of the film was totally ignored by the both of us as we kissed, as it got so much more passionate than when we’d started. Soon enough, Levi had pushed me onto my back, pressing his hips down into mine and letting me know of his...needs.

I felt his hands snake around my bare back, down my sides to my hips where my underwear rested. After another few heated minutes, we were both without our underwear and almost going at it. I remembered something and stopped him before we went any further.

“Condom?” I said.

He exhaled heavily and moved slightly to the right, fumbling around in his dresser drawer before he found what he was looking for. I knew that moments like that were a turn off for him, and he asked me a few times if I’d be willing to get an implant put in my arm. Since I nearly fainted when a professional brought out the needle to pierce my nose, I didn’t think needles were my favourite thing ever. I knew it frustrated him, but he put up with it anyway.

Once he’d finished putting the condom on, he leaned over me and grinned again, brushing his lips over my briefly before crushing them together fiercely. He mumbled into my lips, “It’s worth it.”