I open the cap and tilt the bottle to her lips slowly. After two sips, Stevie snatches the juice out of my hand and gulps half of it down. Ignoring how impressive it was to chug almost the entire thing in seconds, I ask her again if she’s still with me.
“I’m okay. I haven’t gotten enough sleep the past few days. No auras, only a little dizziness.” She gives me a weak smile, and even though some color has returned to her face, which calms me down a bit, I know I have to drive her back to the apartment ASAP.
Picking her bag up and swinging it back, I take her hand while she slowly stands, and although she doesn’t sway, I don’t second-guess my move when I scoop her up close to my chest.
Stevie lets out a small, surprised gasp, and whispers, “I can walk.”
I snap my head her way. “Please, allow me to do this. The last thing we need is for you to fall and hit your head.”
Although she looks like she wants to open her mouth and protest, I give her a warning look similar to the one I gave her last weekend, and she relents.
I also ignore the surge of satisfaction that runs through me at her obedience.
We walk to the door, where she helps me pick up my case, and then to the car in the lot across the building. The campus is mostly empty, with everyone getting ready to go to the bars. One or two people see us and look at me as if I’m kidnapping the girl, but I couldn’t give a flying fuck about what they think.
The walk to the car takes about five minutes. Within those short minutes, Stevie fell fast asleep in my arms, her head leaning on my shoulder, and her long legs limp. Happy that some color has returned to her face and that she’s relaxed, I gently put her in the back seat, not wanting to wake her up. With the way this girl is fucking sleeping, though, I doubt anything or anyone could do that.
Good. I don’t know what she was thinking going past her limits the way she did and tiring herself out like this.If we were together, there’d be so many things I’d do…
No, no, no.I am not even going to think about that possibility.
After arranging everything in the car, I slowly drive to our place and find parking in front of the building. I carry her upstairs, which causes her to stir and mumble some random words before I tuck her into bed. After grabbing some water, I sit beside my roommate with my back against the headboard. There’s no way in hell I’m going to leave her alone after that. Fuck no.
Stevie barely moves, and anytime she does, I look over to make sure there are no signs of a seizure. My mind wanders back to her singing, the confidence and emotionality in her voice. How happy she looked. She must’ve been practicing that songfor a while now. Maybe it was one that she already knew. Her smile was one of pure euphoria, and the piano seemed like it was a missing piece of her. I remind myself to ask her about that later.
It’s insane how she can go from that happy woman in complete control of herself and everything around her, to this in a matter of minutes. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to live a life where a normal moment that any twenty-one-year-old should have is taken away by something out of your control. I wasn’t ignorant of the fact that Stevie is powerful and what she is going through is full-on shit, but today was the first time I saw it. And to think…it wasn’t even a seizure.
With that devastating thought, my eyes drift closed, and I’m surrounded by darkness, along with the familiar scent of lavender and vanilla.
STEVIE
Beep. Beep. Beep.
I jostle awake, looking around my room, confused about how I got here.
What is that noise, and where is it coming from? It sure as hell isn’t from anything I own.
Turning over in my bed, I come face-to-face with long legs covered in light-washed jeans.
What the…
The legs jump, and I jump with them.
“Holy crap!” I yell when I see Levi waking up from sleeping next to me in the most uncomfortable-looking position. I shoot straight up and look at him.
“What are you doing in my room?”
He rubs his eyes and grabs his phone, making the loud sound stop.
Yawning, he holds up a finger, shushing me as he answers his phone, and I reel my head back in surprise.
“Hey, Jake,” he says groggily.
My shoulders ease as my eyes adjust to the light, and my mind slowly recalls the piano room, orange juice, and Levi carrying me to the parking lot. After that, I don’t remember anything except the slight clicking sound of a door.
I’m a deep sleeper, but I must’ve been drained like never before to allow Levi to carry me and put me to bed. I couldn’t argue with the voice he used or the look he gave me. There’s something about it that leaves no room for argument.
Why does he have that effect on me?
