She Says, "Boy, Quit Foolin' Around"
(Plain White T's: Rhythm of Love)

"... It was a pretty emotionally taxing week, and now Levi is staying at John's until next week. Then we're moving into his house by the school."

Levi had left at three to meet up with John and a couple other friends for dinner and beers. That left Cath in Omaha, sitting with her family around the table at dinner, breaking the news all by herself.

"We're?" Her dad raised his eyebrows.

"Well, I'm going to Lincoln early..." Cath blushed, "With Levi."

"Why?" He coughed into a napkin, "You're moving in together?"

"Kind of, Levi needs me nearby right now."

"He's 21, he doesn't need a teenage babysitter!" Wren chimed in.

Their dad had his face in his hands, "I'm not sure that that's a good idea."

"We've known each other for almost a year, we've been dating for about half that time. I know who Levi is, and I don't know why you're being weird about this." Cath stood up.

"Cath, you're 19, I don't want you to get hurt. Moving in with someone is a big deal." Their dad sighed.

It was quiet for a moment.

"Dad, I'm still moving into the dorms at the end of August. I'll come back home all the time, I just want to be there for him." Cath slumped back down into her chair, "He's been there for me whenever I needed him, I plan to do the same for him. I'm going."

"Fine... but we're having a sister meeting upstairs later." Wren nodded.
"Wren, she doesn't need your permission..." Their dad spoke up again, "But if you really feel like that's what you need to do, Cather, then go for it, I guess. I'm not going to stop you, I just don't want to see you being used."

"Thank you." She smiled, relieved that they understood.

After dinner, the twins headed upstairs to their room to discuss in private what happened over the past two weeks, the parts that couldn't be shared with their dad. Wren was completely in awe over the Simon Snow books, but when Cath took out the little, red puff from a box, she completely lost it.

"Oh my God! Is that real?" She reached out to run her fingers through it's fur.

"Yeah, Levi's rabbit had babies and he picked this one out for me."

"It's so cute! What did you name it?"

"Well, his full name is Kanye Basilton Stewart, but we just call him Baz." Cath smiled, setting him on her sister's lap.

"That's so perfect. I love it!" Wren curled up around the little fluff, "Why Stewart?"

"That's Levi's last name."
"Oh, yeah, duh." She pretended to hit her forehead with her palm, "Can I keep him while you're in Lincoln?"

"Ha, no." Cath scoffed, "But did I tell you about Levi's friend John? You'd devour him."


The next evening Cath could feel the tension bubbling up in her stomach. She hoped that if her stomach dissipated, she'd stop getting knots in it all the time. It didn't stop the fact that there was an unread email from Nick Manter in her inbox.

"Wren!" She called out.

"What?" Wren ran in from the bathroom, nails still wet with pink paint.

"Look at this."

"Seriously, Cath? Your fic couldn't wait twenty minutes?" She grumbled, leaning over the screen, "Oh!"

"Yeah..."

"What does it say?"

"I haven't read it yet," Cath bit her lip and opened the message.

Cath,

Hey, I know we left on bad terms, but I wish we hadn't. It was really wrong of me to have tried to steal your work, I see that now and if you would have me, I'd like to take you out to lunch and apologize in person. You live in Omaha, right?

I hope to hear back from you,

Nick Manter

"God, cry me a river..." Wren rolled her eyes, "Who does he think he is?"

"What should I say?" Cath frowned.

"Just blow him off, he's an asshole, he doesn't get a second chance."

"That's what I thought about Levi, though."

"Yeah, but you were crazy-stupid in like with Levi," Wren argued, "Besides, you have Levi now. You don't need him in your life."

"Wren, he wants to apologize, not elope," Cath said.

They thought for a second.

"We could go all Parent Trap and I'll go for you."

Cath laughed, "That's alright. I think I can handle him myself."

"Whatever."

Hey Nick,

I'm willing to hear you out, but I'm leaving town next week. Maybe Wednesday?

See you soon?

Cath

"Sound good?" Cath asked, handing her laptop to Wren.

"There are far too few curses cast on it, but it'll do." She snorted.

As soon as the email was sent, she could almost feel the knots in her stomach get even tighter.

"I hope Levi doesn't get jealous." Cath frowned.

Wren just shrugged and left the room.

She wondered for a moment how awkward the meeting would be, then decided to call Levi to let him know what was going on. Something gave her an idea that he'd get a little butthurt if she didn't let him know ahead of time.

The phone rang for a long time before there was an answer.

Laughter and music burst through the speaker.

"Levi?" She said in a confused mumbled.

"HEY SWEETHEART!" Levi boomed, she could picture his words coming out in big, red, all-caps letters. Although, he wasn't yelling; it was more of an excited, happy-that-everything-exists voice, "WHAT'S UP?"
"Why are you talking like that?" Cath felt like she was whispering in comparison.

"HM? OH..." She could hear him take a drink and step into another room, "SOrry about that. What's up, sweetie?"

"I was just calling to let you know that, uhm, well, Nick emailed me."
"The story-stealer guy?" He took another drink.

"Yeah." She braced herself, "We're going to get lunch or something."

Levi grunted into whatever he was drinking and dribbling liquid noises spilled through the phone.

"You're going on a date with him?"
"NO!-" Cath was blushing "-Well, I mean kind of, he said he wanted to apologize over lunch,"

"When? Do you want me to go with you? I can be out there in the morning," He was talking too fast like he was getting flustered, "I can be out there tonight if you want. I just don't think I should be driving, this is like my fourth beer."

"No, no I'm fine, thank you. I just wanted to let you know, so I wasn't doing it behind your back." She smiled a little, "I'm really glad you're not drinking and driving, though."

"You're such a good girl. What a nice thing to do. You're so cute." He sounded really relaxed again, "I love you so much! I wish you were here."

"Levi, are you okay, darling?" Cath giggled at his tipsy one track mind.

Then it was quiet.

"Did you just call me 'darling?'" He was grinning.

"Oh God," she rolled her eyes.

"You did! Oh my God, I love you so much. I wish I could just give you a big bear hug and tell you how much I love you!"
"Who are you with right now?" Her ears were burning up.

"John, Paul, Jude-"

"And Ringo?" Cath raised an eyebrow.

"No, David." He sounded genuinely confused.

"Well, if they've been drinking too, don't get in the car with them, okay?"

"We won't go anywhere, we're at Paul's house. I'll probably just crash somewhere in his living room."

"Okay, good. I'll call you and let you know what's going on tomorrow, alright?"

"Nooooo, stay here." He groaned, "I miss you."

"I can't, I'm going to the movies with Wren soon."

Levi sighed, "'kay, I'll go back inside then."
"Goodnight, I love you."

"I love you too." He paused and she could practically hear the wicked little grin by his tone, "call me 'darling' again."

"I'm going to hang up now... darling."

"Okay."

Beep

"Who was that?" Wren asked, sitting on the bed.

"My drunk boyfriend." Cath laughed.

"Cool," she shrugged, "So, what movie should we go see?"

"Let's go see that Keira Knightley and Steve Carell movie."
"Alright, I think there's a 9:30 showing."