Many years ago, he heard from his uncle Kenny a New Year's Eve superstition: whatever you do on that day will set the course for the following year. Levi isn't a superstitious man, obviously; but then again, he isn't a dating app kind of man either. So this year he is decided to have a good day, for a change – the Universe, however, seems to have other plans.
The morning begins with his neighbor's dog barking at him, as usual, only this time he has a plan: following Dillion's advice, he takes a deep breath and wheels his bicycle to the little monster's lair. "Oi," the dog silences, half-shut eyes, and Levi is sure it is thinking of doing unspeakable things to his bike. He slowly approaches the creature, a biscuit hidden in his balled hand, and offers it for the dog to sniff. The wet touch of its snout is disgusting, but Levi stands strong. The beast makes a crying sound, sits on its back paws and tilts its head to the side, looking at him with pleading eyes. He opens his hand, only to find out the touch of its wet tongue is far worse. "No more barking at or running after my bike. Are we understood?" The dog has a dumb face on, so he gives him one more biscuit just in case.
The neighbor is at the window, a cup on his hand and elbows resting on the apron. Levi wonders if he witnessed his battle with the creature and feels slightly embarrassed, but neither say a word. He is rather quiet for someone who was so loud on Christmas. The man nods his head, greeting Levi, who waves back as he puts on his helmet and gets on his bicycle. However annoying he was, leaving with the sight of that blonde titan and his immoral broad shoulders wasn't bad.
Not bad at all.
Upon arriving at work, Levi checks his phone and reads Dillion's good morning text. There has been one every day since they started talking, almost a week ago, and he looks forward to it almost as much as he does their goodnight calls.
"Good morning, my little Raven."
Fucking pet name. Levi makes a mental note of reminding him to never, ever fucking call him that again.
"Good morning, my little Raven.
What are your plans for tonight? I'm going to the beach with some friends to watch the fireworks. It's not far from here – maybe a couple hours, but we rented a place to stay overnight, so none of us has to drive back till we sober up. I'd've invited you to come along, but you know, baby steps. I don't think I'll be able to call you tonight. Sorry. I'm hoping you'll send me a picture, though?"
No late night calls from Dillion. Reading those words felt as if someone threw cold water all over him. Texting him on a daily basis made him forget that unlike himself, he has a lot of friends and there is no way he will be spending the night alone, whatever that means. Something heavy weighs in his chest.
"Good morning.
I thought we already talked about pet names?
Nothing special planned. Tomorrow's a day off, so I think I'll take some time to clean my flat and catch up on some sleep, if my neighbors don't go too crazy tonight.
You might like to know that your tip worked. The beast wasn't aggressive this morning, but it licked my hand and I think I'll have to chop it off. It's sticky."
.o.
The store is crowded. It always is before lunch, on such days, then fewer and fewer people start coming in, probably off to wherever they spend their holidays at. Levi sighs heavily, but planning on making everyone give the store a good clean-up in the spirit of setting the course for the next year puts him in a slightly better mood.
"Problems in paradise?" a woman's voice asks, bringing him back to Earth. It is Petra, the short blonde he works with, and the closest he has to a friend. Levi probably looks as confused as he feels, so she goes on: "You're not checking your phone today. I thought you had problems with your girlfriend."
"Huh." He snorts. "No problems. Or girlfriend."
She starts helping to replace some products on the shelves, alongside him. "Hey, Levi, what are you up to tonight?"
"Sleeping." He intended it as the end of discussion, but apparently she can't take a hint and opens her mouth, but Levi is quick to interrupt. "Teenagers at nine o'clock."
Nothing is worse than a pack of teenagers coming into a crowded store and heading inconspicuously to where the liquor is kept. He points to them with his chin and Petra heads off.
Levi doesn't usually work directly with costumers; they often complain about him being too blunt. Instead, he manages the store, keeping everything in perfect order, and leaves assisting people to the others. Today, there is only one person he is interested in talking to, and it is exactly the one he won't. The thought makes him involuntarily check his phone, and sigh heavily once more, as he sees there are no new messages.
The store clears out after lunch, as predicted, and the staff complains loudly when they learn there is another day of heavy cleaning before their shift is over.
"But it's New Year's Eve!", Petra cries. "We could use the time to prepare to leave before it's late and the traffic gets worse."
"Just go apologize to your girlfriend, Levi, whatever it is you did." Petra elbows Oluo, and shushes him.
Levi feels his cheeks burn. All of them seem to agree with Oluo. "First of all, there's no girlfriend." They laugh. "Keep on laughing and I'm gonna make you scrub these floors with your own fucking toothbrushes. But if everyone here has other plans, please go on and get the fuck off."
.o.
"I've been kidnapped. My co-workers have taken me hostage and I don't even know where we're headed, but I don't think peace is an option anymore. Please send help."
"That your girlfriend?", Gunther asks. He is the only one beside him on the back seat. Oluo is driving the car, Petra on his side. Eld was the only one spared of the trip due to his thirty-one-week pregnant wife, but he too helped get Levi in the car, against his will.
"Fuck you."
Gunther hands him a can of beer and a few later they are all singing along to the song on the radio. He doesn't usually go out with his co-workers, it is often best to keep professional and personal relationships apart, but it does feel nice to hang out with those people he has known for quite some time now. The car moves slowly, but the drinking keeps them chatting all the way to the beach. Levi stares at the ocean and catches himself thinking that was the very same ocean Dillion would be staring at, and unlocks the screen with his free hand.
"I like them already. You shouldn't be alone tonight. Let me know where they took you to.
I don't want to push it, but... I do hope I can get a picture of you tonight."
"Levi!"
Before he is able to reply, Petra calls after him and he realizes they are some meters ahead, standing close to the water, all four of them – there is someone he doesn't recognize. They are tall, wears a ponytail and round glasses, and holds Petra's hand. He wonders how long she has been in a relationship, and why they spent the day pestering him over an imaginary girlfriend if Petra was the one who had a real partner. On the way to his co-workers, he throws away the can on his hand and grabs another one as soon as he gets to them.
"Levi, this is Hange." Hange smiles from ear to ear, but Levi only says hi and quaffs his beer. "It's quite recent and we haven't made it official before Christmas, this is why I haven't said anything yet." She stares at him, brown eyes wide open, as if apologizing or seeking his approval. It makes him feel uncomfortable.
"You don't owe me any explanation about your personal life, Petra." He sounds a lot nicer than planned, so he adds: "And I don't really give a shit."
Hange touches his forehead with their index finger and lowers until their eyes are on the same level. "That's a lot of anger for such a short body." They boop Levi on his nose and he feels his face flush, while everyone else bursts out in laughter. "You're an interesting little man, Levi." They tousle his hair with the palm of their hand, making Levi so pissed he could kick them right on their stupid face.
"And you are fucking annoying, four-eyes."
"I guess it's a good thing you and your girlfriend had a fight, Levi, or else Gunther and I here would look like a goddamned couple." Oluo chuckles, taking a long gulp from his can of beer.
"Hey!" Levi barks. "If you're drinking, who's gonna drive us back home, you dumbfuck?!"
Between Hange's arms, Petra answers: "Hange and some friends rented a place nearby. It'll be a little crowded, but we can stay there till morning."
Fuck.
If uncle Kenny and his superstition were right, next year was doomed before it began. Not only Dillion won't call him, but he also has to spend the night with strangers who were likely to arrive from the beach and not even take a shower before sleeping. It left him with only two options: either sleeping on the dirty floor or on a bed with dirty people. Or not sleep at all, and that meant he would have to sleep early to catch up on some sleep before going back to work, which ultimately meant no late night calls from Dillion.
He sighs.
"Been sighing a lot today. Relationship problems", he hears Petra say, probably to Hange, but his mind is too noisy to retort.
The moon is almost up in the sky when he and Gunther leave to buy some more beer before it gets too crowded, but it isn't easy to find their way to a store through the horde of way-too-happy-for-no-reason people. It takes them almost half an hour to go and get back, and some of the bottles were already gone before they arrived. In the meantime, five other people have joined their group, and Levi thinks that there is no way it can get any worse, especially after he recognizes one of his neighbors among them, the owner of the monstrous creature. He remembers Smith's name, although they rarely spoke after they were introduced when he moved into the neighborhood, some years ago. If feels a little weird to be introduced again, but again neither say a thing. The other ones are called Mike, Nanaba, Moblit and Lynne, and Levi can't choose which one he cares less about.
He takes two more bottles in his free hand, but walks few steps before Oluo yells. "Where are you going?"
"As far as I can from your stupid question. Drown in the ocean, if that's what it takes."
"They brought me to the beach, but I wish I'd been left alone. It's fucking crowded.
Maybe too crowded to take a picture. Tomorrow sounds better, when I don't have fireworks to compete against."
He is so close to the water he has to take two steps back to avoid wetting his shoes. His phone chimes in his back pocket.
"I'm sure fireworks got nothing on you. But I'm a patient guy.
Is it okay if I send you one?"
His heart speeds up. Maybe it is time to find out if he actually is a hot teacher with sexy glasses.
"Sure."
.o.
Close to midnight, Petra comes to take him back. She takes him by the arm, resting her head on his shoulder. He is welcomed with a lot more teasing – it seems like while he was gone, everyone learned about 'his girlfriend' and he receives a lot of pats on the back and 'things will get better'. He checks his phone before the countdown starts. No new messages.
"Hey, midget, forget this woman and come take a picture!" Hange yells, and he shoots her a deadly stare, but goes anyways. They are the one taking the selfie, and it doesn't surprise him at all. Petra is hugging them from behind. Being the shortest one with Petra being so far, he has to stay in front of everyone else, Gunther hugging his neck with one arm and Oluo down on his knees, lifting Levi's legs and resting them on his shoulders. He doesn't mean to, but is smiling by the time Hange shouts "Smile!".
They go back to their small groups after the picture is taken. Gunther, Oluo and the man called Miche decide to give Levi drunk relationship advice, even though all of them have been single for quite a while. The others gathered around Smith, as if attracted by some sort of magnetism Levi can understand better than he expected. Hange keeps an arm around Petra's waist. That group is sat on the sand, and he has know no idea how they can stand being there, their clothes and skin being touched by something that dirty. But they stand up as midnight approaches; it looks like everyone at the beach is up on their feet by the time the countdown starts, and it is a beautiful choir the one to count the last seconds in unison, and welcome the new year with applause and a whole lot of hugging – Levi expected it from his co-workers, for sure, but did not see both Petra and Hange squeezing him so tight his bones could break coming.
After they finally let him go, he nearers the water for some privacy. There is one unread message from Dillion. A picture. He breathes in deeply.
He taps the picture to open it and is utterly confused when it is Hange's face he sees. And everyone's in their group. It takes him a few moments to understand that he is there, among them. His body freezes and his heartbeat is so loud it muffles every other sound around him. As he slowly turns back, he can see they are mouthing words, but can't make sense of a single thing they say.
His eyes lock to Smith's piercing sapphires, who raises his bottle with a smile on his handsome face.