An Unexpected Romance

It was time to start getting ready for the long awaited birthday party. Everyone was rushing through the hallways making last minute preparations or looking for an item of clothing. Levy’s face had paled significantly and I was getting worried.

“Levy do you feel okay?” I asked lightly placing my hand on his forehead. He didn’t seem to have a temperature.

“Yeah, just nervous,” he breathed and then gently cupped my face in his hands. “Heather’s not very nice when it comes to girls around any man she’s ever dated.”

“Are you questioning my abilities to take on b*tchy women?” I questioned in fake aggravation.

“I would never,” he replied and his face immediately lit back up. Levy leaned in, but I turned my head to the side when the door opened. His lips remained on my cheek though and started to work toward my mouth.

“Levy out! It’s my turn to dress up Charlie,” Maggie said dragging Levy away from me.

I bet Maggie and Nova would get along swimmingly…

“No, who said,” Levy argued clutching me to his side. “It’s my birthday after all, I should get to keep Charlie with me.”

“That’s no where in the guidelines and my gift to you is how absolutely out of this world stunning Charlie will look when I’m done with her,” Maggie defiantly said with a smile.

“But, she’s always beautiful. Even in her torn-up sweats,” Levy said quietly while staring at me. A blush easily took over my cheeks and I began to push on his chest, leading him toward the door.

“Go, Lee. You need to get ready too,” I whispered before closing the door.

“Let’s go to work!” Maggie cheered pulling me toward the bathroom.

When Maggie was done I almost couldn’t recognize myself. My wavy brown hair was pulled up into an elegant, messy bun. My eyes had light green shadow on it and my lips had a soft pink gloss. Maggie had put earrings on me and a cuff bracelet, which probably cost more than I’d make in a lifetime. The green, strapless dress effortless glided onto my body. It showed off my waist and then floated away. I knew heels were a definite, so I just accepted Maggie slipping the black pumps onto my feet.

“There, you look magnificent. You’re gonna knock ‘um all dead,” she smiled at her handiwork and then left after kissing my cheek. A knock came from the door and I yelled a small ‘come in’ while I was still admiring the dress.

“Wow,” I heard a distinct tenor voice breath. I turned around to see Levy standing there in a gorgeous suit with a sleek emerald green tie and openly staring with his jaw dropped.

Stroking the ego! It’d be better if we didn’t match…prom wear…

“What do you think?” I questioned innocently walking over, trying not to stumble and keep up the sexy/innocent look.

I stumbled unfortunately, but to my luck Levy snapped out of his trance in time to catch me. He quickly set me right, but didn’t relinquish his hands. “You…uh…just…wow.”

“I think that’s the first time I’ve made you completely speechless, Mr. Taylor,” I whispered in his ear, gently kissing the hollow behind it. He let out an almost silent moan.

“There’s no word that can describe how absolutely stunning you look right now,” he answered. “The gods envy you everyday, but this. This outfit may cause them to take drastic measures.”

“Alright, enough cheesy lines. Let’s get to this birthday party,” I said blushing like mad. Levy grasped my hand and laced our fingers, gently tugging me out of the room.

We made it through the hallway in no time and were soon descending the spiral staircase. Levy pushed open a large, foreboding door I had yet to see, and it revealed a grand ballroom straight out of a fairy tale.

“Geez Louise,” I muttered looking around. Barbara caught sight of us and signaled toward the band, who began playing something. She then marched over to where we were standing, dragging Michael the whole way. Barbara wore an elegant white dress that made her appear much younger than she is and Michael toted an expensive looking suit.

“Happy birthday Levy!” she shouted before pulling him into a hug, yet Levy still kept his hand laced with my own.

“Happy birthday son,” Michael said giving Levy a small pat on the back. Michael than turned toward me and smiled, something so genuine that I had yet to see from him. “You look beautiful, Charlie. I’m glad my son met someone as wonderful as you.”

My cheeks lit up and I nodded with a small smile not really knowing how to respond to that. “Oh, you do look amazing, Charlotte,” Barbara put in. “Well, you go on and enjoy the party. Your grandfather wants all the attention on him.” She laughed and then pulled Michael back to a crowd of people.

“Is your grandpa an attention whore or something?” I asked with a sarcastic smile. Levy chuckled at my choice of words and walked us toward an empty table. He pulled out a chair for me and I sat, with him following suit in the seat directly next to me.

“He loves the lime-light, but he’s a good old guy. Definitely a jokester, even for someone turning 95. The man’s still got a lot of spirit,” Levy explained.

“Ah, I see,” I said, nodding my head with one eyebrow raised. Levy saw my look and jabbed my side causing a flood of laughter to escape my lips. “Stop,” I chuckled out.

And the night went on like that. Levy and I sat at our table with people occasionally wishing him a happy birthday or sitting to talk to him. He was kind and polite and held my hand through it all. Things were turning out really nicely here, until Levy’s hand grasped mine so tightly, I feared it might break off.

“Levy, what’s wrong? You’re cutting off the circulation in my hand,” I whispered. He quickly let go and shot me an apologetic look.

“I’m sorry, it’ just…she’s here,” he muttered gazing at the couple that had just entered. It wasn’t like in the movies where everyone gasps and turns toward them, but this girl definitely had an aura like she needed a dramatic entrance.

She wore a stunning floor-length gown. The skirt part was a lavender color while the top dipped low and was completely covered in sparkly silver. She had long wavy blonde hair with white-blonde highlights and perfect tan skin. She also had to have had the biggest boobs ever. Those things were most definitely double d’s.

“That’s Heather?” I questioned with obvious disdain for this girl was a walking Barbie. She had her arms wrapped around a man not much taller than herself. He had blondish, brownish hair and huge eyebrows you could see all the way across the room.

“Yeah, that’s her,” Levy said trying to look anywhere but where she stood. Heather soon spotted Levy and started walking toward our table. “Tiger, I want you to know she’s conniving and likes to fib a lot. She used to be friends with my brother, but after what went down he despises her and so does everyone else. Everyone else being Ollie, Maggie and Annie. My parents still don’t know and Victoria loves Heather to pieces.”

“She would,” I acknowledged after Levy explained.

“Her husband, Ronald, is also friends with Craig,” he said both of the men’s names with disgust.

“That’s fantastic,” I murmured cynically. “They’re coming this way.”

After I finished my sentence, the two had reached the table. Levy was facing me and therefore, his back was to Heather and Ronald. She tapped him on the shoulder twice and Levy winced, shouting me a ‘help me’ look before turning to her.

“Happy birthday, Le-le!” she shouted in a high pitched voice.

Le-le? Oh that’s hilarious, he’s going to get so much crap from me later about that. Haha!

“Heather, Ronald,” he said curtly. Heather opened her arms for a hug, but Levy ignored her completely. She then set her sights on me.

“Who’s this Levy?” she questioned in a sickly sweet tone covering up the hidden malice.

Levy stared at me, I’m guessing he didn’t want to lie about what I was to him anymore. “I’m his girlfriend, Charlie,” I said and Levy’s smile got so big I thought it might hurt his face. I made sure to give him a look meaning ‘not so fast buster’, so he wouldn’t get the wrong idea though.

“Girlfriend, oh. Wow, Levy that’s so…nice,” she said seeming to choke on her words. Her husband cut in though, just in time.

“Happy birthday, Levy. You still like pranking people these days?” he asked with a smirk.

I really don’t like this guy…no wonder he and Craig are friends…

A chill ran up my spine and Levy shot me a worried glance, to which I just shook my head. “No,” he replied briskly before standing up and gabbing my hand to pull me up as well. “If you’ll excuse us, we’re going to go dance.”

Neither of them were able to say anything because Levy was walking away too fast with me at his heels. He pushed through people to get to the center and we soon began swaying to the music. Levy laid his forehead upon me as we danced in time.

“Well, that’s over with,” I chuckled, smiling up at Levy and he smiled right back.

“That wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be,” he breathed and then spun me out to twirl me back in. “But if I had been alone, she would have tried to seduce me.”

This made me laugh slightly, “Her husband seemed very stoic, but he still rubbed me the wrong way.”

“Well, how ‘bout I rub you the right way,” Levy purred into my ear.

“What?” I asked laughing hysterically now. “That was so cheesy,” I said in between trying to calm my giggles.

“So, I’ll take that as a no,” Levy said seriously which caused me to burst out into laughter again.

After I’d calmed down I could hear Levy’s mom speaking into a microphone. His whole family was up in the front of the ballroom. “Happy birthday to Levy, my handsome son and to Dave, my wonderful father-in-law!”

‘Happy birthday’s’ chorused around the room and a spotlight soon found it’s way to where Levy’s grandpa was and where Levy and I stood.

“So, Dave would like to say a few words,” his mother said before walking toward Levy’s grandpa who sat contently in his wheelchair. She handed him the microphone and stepped back to give him some space.

“Well, thank you all for coming,” he began with a smirk that almost resembled Levy’s. “My grandson and I are happy you could all make it. Yes, that’s all I want to say, now Levy, take it away my boy.” His grandpa then proceeded to throw the microphone in Levy’s direction.

Damn that old man’s got a good arm…

Now, mind you, he wasn’t that far away from us, but Levy didn’t budge. I stepped forward and easily caught the mic, then handed it to Levy. He smiled cheekily at me before speaking.

“Well, I’m not all that great with speeches, just like grandpa,” he said which earned a laugh from everyone in the room. “So, instead I’d like to sing a song.”

Levy walked toward one of the tables, which happened to have his guitar on it. The spotlight followed him as he walked. Ollie and Maggie had been the ones to set up the little area for him, so they had then come over to stand by me. Levy stood up on the table which received a cumulative gasp from all.

He pulled on his guitar strap and then waved one of his guitar picks in the air. “I’m going to use my favorite birthday present right now, to thank you tiger. Thank you for everything.”

The lights dimmed and Levy’s eyes stayed trained on me as his soft voice echoed in the huge room…

I thought id always have a hurting heart
Years ago it broke and still is falling apart
And I’d never thought I’d live to see the day
No, I never thought you'd ever hear me say

I never knew, I never knew, I never knew it could be so good
You know its true the way you do the things you do you make it so good
It’s the way that you move
It’s the way that you move
It’s the way that you move
It’s the way that you move

Thought I’d always end up second best
But the way you treat me puts that to the test
And I never thought I’d live to see the day
No, I never thought you'd ever hear me say

I never knew, I never knew, I never knew it could be so good
You know its true the way you do the things you do you make it so good
It’s the way that you move
It’s the way that you move
It’s the way that you move
It’s the way that you move

So baby let me look into your eyes one more time
Before the sun has to run
You know that every time I look into the deep blue sky
I know that you are the one
And I know these things are gonna happen to me that are bad
But I don’t care, no I don’t care

It’s the way that you move
It’s the way that you move
It’s the way that you move
It’s the way that you move
It’s the way that you move

Applause was heard all around and Levy jumped down off the table as the lights went back to normal. The goosebumps that had appeared on my arms made me feel almost nauseous.

A song shouldn’t be able to make me feel like this.

“So did you like it,” chirped Maggie from beside me. Ollie gave me a sideways glance indicating he’d seen the goosebumps.

“Yeah, it was sweet,” I replied and this caused Ollie to smile.

“I thought you were going to say you hated it. Lee’s really growing on you feisty,” he commented. “Come on, Mags, let’s go get cake.” Maggie quickly nodded and skipped off with Ollie to search for the immense cake that loomed around the room somewhere.

“He wrote a song for you, how cute,” someone muttered behind me. I turned to see Heather without Ronald and she was glaring me down hard.

“Ahuh, it was cute,” I responded as my eyes searched the room for Levy.

“I don’t know if Levy told you, but he and I used to be a thing,” she stated like it would crush me.

“Yup, I know,” I said hinting that she should just leave.

“Sweetie he’s obviously using you as rebound. I mean look at you and then look at me,” she said gesturing between us.

Low blow, b*tch…

I can’t stand it when people say I’m ugly. I mean come on, as a girl I already have enough self-image issues, but why don’t you just throw miss Barbie at me and see how I fair.

“Obviously Levy loves her because Charlie’s the real deal, while you’re some slut with fake boobs,” Mike said coming up behind Heather. Heather spun around to face him and realized who it was.

“Mikey, what are you talking about? You’d take her side over your best friend?” she questioned with a pout.

“Oh, most definitely. Charlie’s a superb girl, while you’re just the b*tch who broke my brother’s heart,” Mike said with a sneer, Annie coming up to stand beside him followed by Ollie and Maggie.

“I think it’s time you leave,” Ollie said sinisterly, nothing like his usual demeanor.

“Fine, but when this chick’s been all used up, Levy’s going to want me back. And I'll be waiting, no Ronald in my way,” with her final villainess speech she stormed off, grabbing her husband along the way.

“I love you guys,” I heard from behind me, I turned to see a glowing Levy. “Thanks,” he said looking at Mike and Ollie especially.

“No problem. I’m a Charlie fan all the way,” Ollie said happily laying his arm over my shoulders. I ducked out and pulled his head down, giving him a noogie.

“Awe, you’re too cute,” I chuckled as he pulled away smoothing out his hair. “Thanks guys.”

We all parted ways and Levy said his ‘thank yous’ and ‘goodbyes’. Then we finally escaped back up to his room.

“I liked you’re song,” I said lightly as I fell onto the bed.

“I’m glad, tiger,” he replied pulling off his shoes. “Are you ready to go back to New York?”

“Yeah, no offense but you’re family’s way intense,” I muttered pulling my feet up so my shoes would slip off.

“I know,” he said through chuckles. “But family’s family.”

“You’re right, so I hope you’re cool with meeting my fam,” I said as he loosened his tie, he stopped his motions immediately. “Well, really you have no choice. You’re coming with me on Thanksgiving so you can feel the pain.”

“But, you have like five brothers,” he said nervously.

“Yup,” I replied popping the ‘p’. “But my mom makes the best pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving so you’d get a lot out of a visit there.”

“I’ll go,” he said continuing his tie removal. “Anything for you.”

“I thought so,” I sung walking into the bathroom to remove all the fanciness covering my body. “I’ll be back in a little to pack.”

“I’ll be right here waiting,” he grinned.

I scoffed and before closing the door said, “Richard Marx won’t get you anywhere, Le-le," the last part coming out with complete sarcasm.

Even through the door I could hear his groan of annoyance.