The door crashed open, and Reagan spilled in. "So, are you going to get over this whole hermit thing and come get food with me? I'm starving." Reagan began peeling her shirt off, revealing a magenta bra underneath, and glanced over at Cath. Cath didn't look up from her laptop, and her fingers barely slowed down. If she typed any harder, she was going to dole out some serious damage to her computer. Reagan sighed and balled up her shirt, throwing it at Cath's head.
"Mmm, not now. No hunger. Busy," Cath said. Reagan narrowed her eyes.
"When was the last time you left the room? More importantly, when did you last eat?"
Cath gestured vaguely to the small pile of protein bars on her desk, and peeled her eyes away from the screen. "Uh, I'm fine. And yes, I've left the room… I went to class," Cath replied, rolling her eyes. "I'm in the middle of a huge scene… and you're distracting me."
"Yeah, yeah. Simon reveals that he's madly in love with Baz and they make wild, passionate love. Sounds ground breaking," Reagan shot back. She pulled a black sweater over her head and turned to look at her roommate. "You're seriously not going to come with me?"
"Nope. I'm going to stay right here, with the two loves of my life, and we're going to have a grand ole time." Cath smirked at Reagan and pushed her ear buds into her ears. Reagan rolled her eyes at Cath and mouthed, "Whatever," before sauntering out the door. Cath turned her attention back to her story, and got lost in Simon…
So, when her ear buds were tugged out of her ears, Cath let out a blood curdling scream.
"Whoa! Cather, calm down!" Levi said. He sounded way too amused for the situation at hand.
"Jesus Christ, Levi! Didn't anyone ever teach you to knock?! This is basically breaking and entering!" Cath shouted. She slapped a hand over her chest, willing her heart to stop beating so fast. At this rate, she was going to drop dead from a heart attack.
"Well, I did knock… about ten times," Levi said, dropping onto Reagan's bed.
"And the closed door didn't tip you off that I didn't want to be disturbed?"
"Your door wasn't closed, actually. So I knocked… and then I called your name twenty times… and I watched you type for a bit. Then I realized how creepy I was being and decided to take matters into my own hands and, well…" he lifted his hands as if to ask, what was I supposed to do?
Cath sighed and rubbed her eyes. "Levi, I'm really not trying to be a bitch… but given our last conversation… what makes you think that I want to talk to you at all?"
"Like I said, I'm taking matters into my own hands," he responded, sitting up. He fixed his gaze on Cath and she could tell that a grin was tugging at the side of his lips. She frowned slightly and raised her eyebrows at him, inviting him to continue.
"See? You're not kicking me out. It's a good sign!"
"Again, I repeat – what makes you think that I want to speak to you at all? I think I made my feelings pretty clear at the hospital-"
Levi waved his hand in the air, as if he were dismissing what Cath just said. "I'm choosing to attribute that to the stress of the situation that we found ourselves in."
Cath glared at him, but he met her stare unflinchingly. "Attribute that to the fact that you were a serious jackass."
Levi flinched, and his face grew serious. "I deserve that. Okay, all jokes aside-"
"Finally," Cath muttered.
"Cather, you're right. I was a jackass. And I'm sorry… I'm really, really sorry," Levi pulled himself to the edge of Reagan's bed and leaned towards her. Despite the fact that he was across the room, Cath scooted back, putting as much distance between them as she could. His proximity was making her sweat.
"Can we not? I get it. You're sorry. Whatever," Cath pushed her glasses to the top of her head. "I'd rather pretend that the entire thing never happened… Okay? We're good."
Levi narrowed his eyes at her. "Cather, I don't think you really understand my meaning here."
"Believe me, Levi – I understand it. And God, yes, you're forgiven if you promise to stop blowing up my phone."
"So, you have been getting my texts!"
Cath rolled her eyes again and pushed her laptop onto her bed. "Listen, I'll try. But…" she licked her lips and felt the heat creep up her neck and into her cheeks. "This isn't easy for me. You, uh, you kind of hurt me, okay? And as mortifying as that is for me to admit, it's true." Cath sighed and glanced over at Levi. He was staring at her intently, but at the mention of hurt he fixed his eyes on his hands. He started running his thumb over his palm.
"I can't pretend that it never happened," Levi murmured. Cath opened her mouth to respond but found herself at a sudden loss for words. Levi ran his hands through his hair before looking at her. "Cather, I like you. And I don't mean as a friend. I like you. And I can't explain to you or to myself or to anyone else why I kissed that girl, but I did."
Cath winced. "You have to know why, Levi… You don't just kiss people like that," she said weakly.
"No excuse that I give you will sound good enough and honestly Cather, you're too good for excuses. But I messed up, big time. After I left the hospital, I must have started to turn back twenty times. I just…" Levi ran his hands through his hair, causing it to stand straight up before flopping back over his forehead. "I couldn't figure out where your head was at. I was convinced that you… and then you never texted me back about coming to the party. And then she was there, in front of me… and…" Levi looked at Cath with pleading eyes.
Cath narrowed her eyes. "You made out with someone because I didn't text you back? Nice, Levi. That's just great." She pushed herself to the edge of her bed and stood. Levi sighed.
"Come on, Cath. Give me a break here." Levi stood and walked to her. He stared down at her and Cath squirmed.
"You don't need a break, Levi. It's not like you cheated on me," Cath's voice broke when she said cheated. Because that's exactly how it felt. Levi frowned and grabbed her hand with this. Cath began to pull away but he held fast.
"Cather," Levi seemed to breathe her name and she looked up at him. "I'm asking for a second chance here. I'm not above begging if that's what it comes to." Levi pulled her hand up in between them, and uncurled her fingers so that her open palm was facing up. He ran his thumb softly over her exposed skin and searched her face. Cath sucked in a shaky breath. "I will make this worth your time. I will be worthy of your time. I just need you to say okay."
Cath squeezed her eyes shut.
"Cather?" Levi's voice was barely above a whisper.
She nodded her head.
Levi pulled her palm to his lips and kissed it softly.