Levi's POV

I park my truck in her family's driveway and turn the engine off. Bailey hops out of the passenger side but I just sit there for an extra second, preparing myself mentally. The last time I was inside this house was the night of the accident. The night Jack was killed. Will everything be different this time or will everything be the same, frozen in time?

"Hurry, it's cold out here," Bailey complains.

I shuffle into the house after her and notice the place still looks the same, except for the amount of dead flowers sitting everywhere. They must be from the funeral. It's obvious no one is taking care of them. We walk into the kitchen and I sit on the barstool like I've done a million times before with Jack.

"Thirsty?" She asks.

"What do you have?" I repond.

"Beer, and water. Want a beer?" She offers.

I shake my head, "No, I quit drinking."

"Alright, suit yourself." Bailey grabs a beer for herself and tosses a water bottle over to me. She opens the can and starts drinking it as if she just came home from a long day of work. I've seen this too many times from Sergio but I've never seen this side of her before. Did this start after Jack died or has she always been drinking behind her family's back?

"Where are your parents? Do they know you drink?" I ask.

"Why do you care? Dad checked into rehab this morning and mom's at her new home, the bar. They don't know what I do and they don't care." She states, taking another sip.

I look around the house, and notice how disastrous this place has become. Spoiled fruit sits in the bowl on the counter and the sink is filled with dirty dishes days maybe even a week old. Their situation is worse than I thought. I wonder why their relatives haven't stepped in to help yet?

"Are you doing okay?" I ask, fully understanding why she agreed to come over for dinner.

"Can you please stop acting like a parent," She rolls her eyes.

"I'm just trying to help," I say.

"Well don't. If I need your help, I'll ask." She grabs her backpack and leaves the kitchen. Am I supposed to follow her? Bailey can be so unpredictable sometimes. I grab my backpack and follow her anyway. We make our way up the staircase and turn left and down the hallway are three doors, bathroom, Bailey's room and Jack's room. I stop in front of Jack's door, my hand on the doorknob. A part of me wants to peek in there, but I don't want to be disrespectful. I just want to see what it looks like now because I miss him so goddamn much.

"You can go in, if you want." She whispers and it's a genuine statement from her.

"Are you sure? I don't want to disrespect you," I tell her.

She snorts, "Pfft, do whatever you want. I don't care."

And now she's back to the Bailey I know. I can't ever read what's going on in her mind.

I turn the handle to Jack's door and take a deep breath before heading inside. It's been months since I last saw Jack's space and part of me still believes I will see him lying on the bed, greeting me with a smile and tossing over a spare controller for us to play Playstation.

When I step inside I notice the room is cold, and quiet with everything still in its place, collecting dust since no one is here to maintain this space anymore.

Jack's shelves are still filled with football trophies, metals, and ribbons that he's earned over the past ten years. On top of his dresser are ticket stubs from dates with AnnaMae, a half empty jar of hair product, and a couple of watches. I pick up the watch I bought him for Christmas one year when he and AnnaMae broke up and I remember telling him the ladies would love it and we both laughed about it, but he ended up back with AnnaMae on New Year's Eve that year. Typical of him to go back to the girl of his dreams instead of meeting someone new. Typical of me to assume I knew what ladies liked.

I look around his room some more. His bed is made, a teddy bear resting against the pillow and I stare at the dark gray painted wall his bed sits against. We painted this wall when we were thirteen. It pissed Sally off when she walked in on us and a half-painted wall. Jack begged for a black room, but Sally wouldn't allow it and Segio was on the road. Hunter ended up getting his dad to buy dark gray paint for us and we figured Sally wouldn't be as mad because it wasn't balck.

We didn't make it past the first wall before she caught us, brushes in hand, and paint dripping all over the carpet, which later they replaced. I laugh at the memory. The way she yelled at us, you would have thought she was grounding all of us for life.

On Jack's nightstand is a photo of the three of us and I pick it up and stare at it. It's us dressed up for our eighth grade graduation. My mom took this photo, had it framed and gifted it to all of us. She was going to do it again for our high school graduation. Then again, when we all graduated from Madison. A single tear drops onto the frame's glass as I am reminded that there won't ever be another graduation for Jack. There won't be another photo of us. That's ruined.

Bailey's POV

I lie on my bed, waiting for Levi to return. He's been in Jack's room an awful long time and I'm starting to get annoyed. How long has he been gone?

Sitting on my elbows, I check the time and it's been ten minutes since we got home and he's still in there doing god knows what.

That's when I notice my room is still a mess from yesterday's tantrum and if I don't clean this up Levi will ask questions. I don't need him prying into my life.

I start with the clothes on the floor and when I say start, I mean I push them under my bed so you can see the flooring again. Then I take my beautiful purple gradient comforter and tuck it under the sides of the bed, placing matching pillows on top. This place is already starting to look better.

I pick up my hairbrush, makeup and other objects I threw against the wall and put them back on my vanity.

Mister Oinkers, my purple pig I got when I was a baby, lays on the ground neglected like the terrible parent I am. I pick him up and lay him next to my other stuffed animals, who happen to be purple as well. Most of everything I own is purple because it's my favorite color and has been for as long as I can remember. They say you can't have too much of one thing and for me that is anything colored purple.

"What the hell happened here?" Levi stands in the doorway observing the disaster I created.

"Long story, don't ask. We can talk downstairs," I tell him.

"No, this is fine." Levi says as he picks up the wooden white chair for my vanity off the ground and sits down on it.

"Alright, let's talk about the agreement," he says.

I sit back down on my bed and realize this is the first time Levi has been in my room, invited. Growing up, the boys used to bust in here to shoot me with Nerf guns or to scare me with Halloween costumes. Once, I even caught them looking for my journal. That pissed me off enough that I hung a sign on my door that said, do not enter; it didn't change anything, though.

I never thought I would ever invite Levi into my room to discuss our relationship when just a couple of months ago I was beating him and my brother out of it with a rolled up magazine.

The more I think about it, the more nervous I become. So many thoughts run through my mind. Will this work? How long do we have to do this? How far do we have to go? Oh god, do I have to sleep with him?

"Bailey, are you listening?" He interrupts my thoughts.

"Sorry, what were you saying?"

"When do you want our anniversary date to be?"

"Um, I don't know, today?"

"Alright, Bailey, will you be my girlfriend?" My heart drops into my stomach at the question and my cheeks burn red. For some unknown reason to me, my mouth wants to curl up into a smile. Why is he being embarrassing?! It's not like any of this is real! My mind and mouth refuse to coordinate with each other and instead, I nod.

"Cool. It's settled then. Next thing we need to discuss, what form of affection is allowed?"

"No sex." I blurt out. I'm not sure why I feel the need to clarify that but the thought of having sex with Levi makes me sick. I don't even want to hold his hand. Maybe, everyone was right, I should have picked a different guy to do this with.

Levi is taken back by my words and If he were any more shocked, he would have fallen off the chair. He waves his hands in the air, "Woah, I wasn't expecting any of that. I respect that you're a virgin and I'd never do that to you."

"What? Are you saying I'm not good enough to have sex with?"

"No, that's not what I meant," he shakes his head and sweat begins to form on his eyebrow.

"So you want to have sex with me?" Now I'm just teasing him. Watching him squirm on the tiny wooden chair and clearing his throat multiple times is very entertaining.

"No. You're only fifteen! You're too young to be doing any of that," he admits and I hate that he sees me as a little kid.

"You're only one year older than me!" I protest.

"That makes a huge difference, trust me," he says.

"Then how old were you when you lost yours?" I ask.

"That's none of your business," he shakes his head and I'm growing annoyed at how he is avoiding the questions.

"Pretty sure it is. I'm your girlfriend now," I smirk.

"You are something else. I was a very mature, going into my junior year, fifteen year old. Almost sixteen. Happened the month before my birthday," he replies.

"To who?" I ask.

"I'm not telling you that!" He refuses.

"Oh, come on. We're dating now. It's important we know each other's past. In case it comes up in conversation," I say.

"Ugh, fine. It was Hayley," he admits.

"HAYLEY?! HAYLEY O'CONNOR?!" I gasp.

Now I'm the one shocked. I never knew those two ever dated. I mean, I get it, she's tall, blonde, and a cheerleader. Every guy's type. She's also the second most popular girl in school. I can see why he'd want to hit that.

"Wait a minute that doesn't add up. Your birthday is the day after mine, which means this happened last July. Wasn't she dating Hunter then?"

"They were on a break. Look, it's complicated between us. When those two were off, we seemed to be on, vise versa. Look I'm not proud of it, okay? I didn't realize how annoying she was until recently. Now I want nothing to do with her," he assures me.

"Mhmm. So now I have to worry about Hayley and Clair?" I roll my eyes at the thought of both of them teasing me for my relationship with him. If I had known, Levi was this popular amongst the ladies, I would not have agreed to do this. I also don't understand what girls see in him?

"You don't have to worry about anyone. If I'm with you, I'm only with you," he claims and immediately my heart skips a beat. The words may be pretend, but the meaning behind them isn't and for some reason, hearing him say that he will only focus on me makes me happy. Is this what dating feels like or am I just happy because someone is giving me attention?

"No kissing either." I say.

"No kissing? All couples kiss, Bailey."

"Well we don't."

"Then what can we do?"

"We can hold hands, and hug. I will also allow you to wrap your arm around me."

"Fine. Now how long are we going to do this before we pretend to break up?"

"At least until I make the squad. I think they find out in May."

"Can we at least go to the end of the school year?"

"Why?"

"The longer we date, the more serious my mom will think we are and the less likely she will force me to date Clair."

"Ugh, fine." I groan.

"Anything else?" He asks.

"Yes, you will pick me up and drop me off from school. You will also bring me to parties with you. I need to socialize with AnnaMae. She's the key to getting the cheer routines before tryouts begin."

"Alright, then you need to hold hands with me whenever we are together. You also have to act like my girlfriend."

"What does that mean?"

"It means stop telling people you hate me!"

I roll my eyes. I don't hate Levi, he's just annoying! But I guess he has a point if we are going to pull this off, I need to be nicer to him.

"Deal," I say.

"No, in order to accept the agreement, you have to hug me." Levi stands up with his arms out.

"Are you being serious?" I ask.

"You have to act like you like me!" He pulls me off the bed and into his arms and because I'm short, my head rests on his chest. His cotton shirt is soft and smells like his cologne which I must admit, I like. His arms wrap around my upper back and I wrap my arms around his waist. This is the first time we've ever hugged, but I know it won't be the last.

~~~~~3/12/20 • 2349 words~~~~~

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