Let Me Tell You Bout My Best Friend
(Harry Nilsson: Best Friend)
Levi didn't get back to Arnold until ten at night. He was supposed to be back seven hours earlier, which worried Cath at first, but he called letting her know everything was alright when he was on his way home. Although she knew he was safe and hadn't crashed into a ditch, he didn't explain why he was running so late. That made her anxious.
"Johnny, we're going to watch a movie in the bedroom," Margaret announced, waving at Cath. "I love you, Honey."
"I love you too, Ma." He smiled at her.
John turned to Cath and ruffled her hair.
"Don't look so nervous, Levi will be here soon. He'd let you know if something was going wrong, so just take a deep breath."
She rolled her eyes and fixed her ponytail.
He laughed and gestured for her to follow him into the kitchen, "Follow me. I need a fucking drink."
John opened the cupboard and took out a couple of cans, a bottle and a blender. He moved effortlessly around the kitchen, blending ice and the various other things together, and pouring the contents into two tall, pretty glasses.
"Here," he took a drink and plopped a couple of cherries on them.
"What is it?"
"A Pina Colada."
"With alcohol?" She had one before on a vacation, without any alcohol though.
"I mean, you watched me make it, but yes, with alcohol."
"Oh, I can't drink. I'm not 21." Cath shook her head and pushed away a glass.
He shrugged and smiled, "live a little."
She bit her lip and nodded. It smelled sweet, so it couldn't be that bad. After another ten seconds of staring, she took a sip.
"Oh my God."
John laughed, "you like it?"
"It's so good." She drank a little more, "it's really cold, but I feel so warm."
"That, my friend, is the rum."
"I really shouldn't have this," Cath said.
"Well, I'm not going to tell your mommy and daddy, so don't sweat it." He teased her.
She took another sip and shook her head with a smile, "I'd better not finish this. It doesn't feel right."
John smiled back and patted the top of her head with joking condescension, "suit yourself, kiddo."
The two of them were quick friends, which felt odd to Cath because she never made friends with anyone so easily. It took her over a month to just get used toReagan and the two of them shared a room. Maybe it was because she and John were so similar in their introverted manners that somehow they just kind of understood each other. Maybe it was because of Levi, who usually acted as a buffer from other people for both of them, that eased them into it, but either way, Cath was glad it happened. It was nice having someone to hang out with so effortlessly.
They sat around watching The Nanny until Levi got there. Cath had her feet tucked under John's thigh and her head on the armrest of the couch, dead asleep. She was getting really good at falling asleep in random places.
Levi walked right in and plopped himself on the edge of the armrest, running his fingers through her hair absently as he spoke.
"How long has she been out for?"
"An episode and a half ago," John nodded towards the TV.
"Hm, should I wake her up?"
"I dunno, she seemed really tired."
"Alright, I leave her be," Levi smiled. "Was it awkward without me?"
"No, not really... I talked about my mom today."
"That's what she told me." He said, "did it make you feel better?"
"About what happened back then?"
"About people now."
'Oh," John took a moment to mull it over. "Maybe."
"Good."
Cath let out a little snore and tugged at her cardigan as if she were looking for a blanket.
"She's so cute." Levi smiled, taking off his jacket and laid it over her, "I should get her to bed."
"Dude, what the fuck's on your arm?" John pointed at the plastic around Levi's left, upper arm.
"Oh, yeah. Surprise! I got a tattoo. That's actually why I'm so late, they fit me in at 3, it took a few hours to finish."
"Let me see," he grinned. It was a grin that Cath had never seen before, and may never. It matched Levi's.
"Sure," Levi lifted his sleeve.
"Wicked," John nodded in approval. "It wraps all the way around?"
"Yeah."
"Welcome to the world of softcore badassery."
"Thank you, I feel like I should step up my game though. I'm considering some nipple piercings and neck tattoos to go with my new persona."
"Don't forget getting your ex's name over your chest with a line through it."
"Right, I'd better not forget that, or I'll just be another bubble-blowin' baby." Levi laughed.
Cath began to stir under his jacket.
"I should really get her to bed," he said, watching her contentedly.
"You can lay her downstairs if you want."
"Alright, I'll stick around for a while longer. I wanted to talk to you about something."
Levi scooped up Cath and carefully walked downstairs. He shimmied her jeans off and tucked her neatly under the covers. For a moment, he sat at the edge of the bed running his fingers through her hair, wishing she'd wake up so he could tell her all of his exciting news, but he didn't have the heart to do it. She looked so peaceful.
Kissing her quickly on the forehead, he worked up the willpower to leave her in bed and head back upstairs, leaving the bathroom light on just in case she woke up. John walked out of the kitchen carrying a couple of beers as Levi made himself comfortable on the couch.
"So, what happened today?" John asked.
He grinned, "I got the house."
"No way, that's awesome!"
"I'm really happy about it," Levi ran a hand through his hair. "I want to ask Cather to move in with me."
"But you've only been together, what, six months? Don't you think you're kind of rushing things?"
"Well, I was thinking maybe asking her now, but not moving until next summer. That old place needs some upgrading before anyone moves in," he nodded. "But, I... I got the ring too."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I can't imagine anyone else I'd rather give it to than her, either." Levi sighed.
"You can't ask her now, you know that, right?" John warned, but his big, brown eyes looked genuinely excited for his friend.
"Of course not."
"Good."
Cath woke up very confused. She yawned, trying to remember how she got into the basement, and then realized that the "blanket" that she had been cuddling with was Levi's jacket. A surge of excitement ran through her body and she practically jumped out of bed, searching wildly for her pants. As soon as she got them on, Cath went upstairs nearly tripping over a cat that she had never noticed in the house before. When she saw the time was still too unholy an hour to be awake, she began to tiptoe around the living room.
The house was pretty small, so finding John's room was easy. There was a little creak as Cath pushed open the door to poke her head in.
"Oh my GOD," she giggled, covering her mouth to keep from getting too loud.
Levi was asleep on his stomach with his arm over John, who had his back to him, but kept close by. They looked so content, like they didn't have a single care in the world that the rest of the world didn't seem to agree that boys could share a bed. That's what they looked like; two little boys sharing a bed, just the same as she and Wren had many times before.
Cath stood in the doorway, looking in on them as they slept. After a few minutes of their quiet snoring, John started to scoot away as if he was getting too warm, but Levi's arm kept him near. They stirred under their individual blankets, trying to get comfortable around one another on the narrow mattress until Levi sat up in sleepy defeat. He sat with his hands over his eyes for a minute or so before looking up. His eyes focused on Cath immediately and he jumped up, letting out a small, dry scream.
Her heart rate sped up and she flinched at the quiet, fearful sound, "Levi, it's Cath!"
He was trying to focus on her face in the dark, "Oh. Hey sweetie! C'mere."
She stepped toward the foot of the bed, "Long time, no see."
"You were asleep when I got here. John and I ended up staying up later, we must've crashed." Levi yawned, pulling the covers off of him and letting his feet hit the floor. "Let's go back to bed, sweetheart. You don't need to be up this early."
"I was just excited to see you."
He smiled, "you're cute."
A few hours later, after they woke up a second time, Cath noticed a band of color around Levi's arm.
"Darling, what is that?" She asked.
"Oh, yeah. You didn't get to see it yet!" Levi grinned, "I got a tattoo yesterday, see!"
He stuck out his arm for her to look it over. It was stylistically very similar to a tribal tattoo, except the two-inch band was the Wild Things and Max walking around the forest from Where the Wild Things Are and the two parallel lines above and below the band read "Oh please don't go. I'll eat you up, I love you so!"
"My grandma used to read me Where the Wild Things Are when I was a little boy. I wanted to get a tattoo for her and this is what we thought up." He blushed, "Do, do you like it?"
"It's very sweet of you. They did a really nice job too." She looked it over, twisting his arm slightly and running her fingertips along the space between the words and the design.
"Yeah, she really took her time. That's why it took me so long to get back here last night."
"How did the family thing go anyways?" Cath kissed his cheek and walked towards the bathroom.
"Are you taking a shower?"
"Yeah, but I'll be able to listen to you still."
"Mm, I'll tell you all about that later then." Levi said, following close behind her, clumsily undoing the button on his jeans.
