Cath stared up at the fluorescent ceiling. Everything in the hospital seemed to exude that light – the walls, the floors… She thought that her skin looked purple. Next to her, Levi was bouncing his knee up and down and she could tell that he kept glancing at her.

"Hey, I appreciate you giving me a ride," she said and Levi turned his full attention to her.

"I told you to call me whenever you needed anything, Cather." Cath nodded and looked down at her hands. Purple.

"Right. But, you don't have to stay. Things don't really move quickly around here." She heard Levi shuffle and imagined that he shrugged his shoulders. She wouldn't know – she refused to look at him. "Actually, you should probably leave now. Before it gets too late and snow and whatever."

"I don't mind. Besides, this gives us time to catch up." At that, Cath looked over at Levi. He was grinning at her, which made Cath's throat tighten. She shook her head and looked around the waiting room. "Hey," he said softly, and poked her in the arm. "I know that you're upset with me. But you can't blame me… you've been doing a great job of avoiding me."

"I haven't been avoiding you."

Levi chuckled. "Yeah, okay. Reagan told me, you know." Cath looked over at Levi. He raised his eyebrows smugly and Cath felt heat creeping up into her cheeks.

"She told you?!"

"She told me that you didn't want to see me. Don't go blaming her, Cather. I have trouble reading, but I'm not stupid. Why don't you tell me what's been going on?"

Cath squeezed her eyes shut and pushed her glasses to the top of her head. This isn't happening, this isn't happening, she chanted silently.

"I'm just stressed out, Levi. School is crazy, I need to finish Carry On, Simon… Life just caught up with me." Oh, and you totally made out with another girl – right in front of me! "I don't know what Reagan told you but we're totally okay, okay?"

"So this has nothing to do with what happened at my party?" Levi asked. Cath looked over at him again. He was staring down at his shoes, and messing with his jacket zipper. Avoiding her.

"Your… party?" Cath asked, making a pathetic attempt at sounding completely nonchalant.

"C'mon, Cather. I know that you freaked when you saw me in the kitchen. I just want to clear the air and go back to normal. I wanted you to know that it wasn't a big deal. It was just a kiss," Levi said, still staring down at his shoes.

Cath sucked in air through her teeth. "Just a kiss? Which one was just a kiss to you?" Cath spat out her words and stared at Levi in disbelief. She didn't even try to keep the venom out of her voice.

"I mean, it's not a big deal, okay? I just want to be friends again." With that, Levi knocked his knee against hers. Cath jumped.

"That may be easy for you to say, but it was a big deal to me, Levi. The biggest. And I think it's great that you can go around kissing random girls whenever you want but maybe you should think twice about whether it's a big deal to the girl you're kissing, okay?!" Cath jumped up and began pacing the length of the waiting room. Thankfully, there were no other witnesses to her tantrum.

"Hey, now. I don't go around kissing random girls," he responded, sounding mildly offended. "And you never told me that you would be coming over."

"Would that have made a difference?!" Cath was practically screeching now. "You know what? I don't want to know. I don't care anymore." She turned her back to Levi and willed herself to calm down. "Can you just go, please?" Cath heard Levi stand, and flinched when he set a hand on her arm.

"Cather," he said softly. His voice sounded so close to her and she could feel his breath tickling her neck. Cath shook her head and stepped away from him. Levi sighed. "Cath, c'mon…"

"No, Levi. Please just go." She turned to face him, hoping that he wouldn't be able to guess how close to crying she was. "Actually, you know what? I'll go. Thanks for the ride, Levi. Have a nice break." With that, Cath pushed herself through the doors of the waiting room, and walked blindly until she found a restroom.

Twenty minutes later, when she returned, Levi was gone.