unedited sorry

“There’s nothing you can’t do, now you’re in New York. These streets will make you feel brand new. Big lights will inspire you, let’s hear it for New York.”-Alicia Keys & Jay Z

Zoey Willow Hunter

“Are we there yet?” whined Nico for what seemed like the millionth time in twenty minutes.

The weather in New York was absolutely horrendous. It was raining so hard that you could hear the sound of ever droplet crashing on the ground. Nico had bought one big umbrella for the both of us, even though it had been originally only for him (that selfish piece of shit), yet I was still soaked to my socks.

I clenched my teeth to stop myself from blurting out another insult at him. He was being impatient and it was rubbing off onto me as well. This wasn’t my first time in New York for the mail convention, so I knew where we had to go. We had to walk for twenty minutes because Nico went on and on about how creepy taxis were and because there were no buses available.

“Now, we are.” I said, sighing in relief at the sight of the big hotel, Tipton. Normally the bottom hall of the Tipton hotel was completely reserved for the activities during the three days.

Nico walked in front of me and pushed the door. I wasn’t sure if he was deliberately being an asshole or if he actually forgot that I was here, because my head crashed with the door slamming in my face.

“Ow! Ow!” I exclaimed, feeling myself get woozy. Nico just pointed at me and laughed, like a little b—female dog. I had to blink repeatedly to get the pain to stop fogging my thoughts, but I still couldn’t concentrate on anything.

There were black spots.

Maybe it was the mascara?

I wasn’t wearing any.

Feeling myself fall, I expected to crash onto the ground and get extra pain in my bosom. I just wasn’t lucky these days, was I? This was the second time in a month that I got hurt. The black eye Oliver gave me had just gotten off a week ago, now I had a bump bigger than my head on my forehead.

A pair of arms secured my fall and for a second, I couldn’t open my eyes. I felt someone hold me in their arms as strange people murmured how to help me.

“Mr. Mosby! The girl fainted!" said a voice nearer than the others. 

"I have to take care of everything around here, don't I?" sighed someone. 

Minutes or hours later —I was completely unsure— the pain in my head had subsided and I could actually think. My thoughts resurfaced and I opened my eyes, trying to drink in my environment.

I was on a couch somewhere in the hotel. My neck was already complaining from the uncomfortable cushions under me, but I was more concentrated on trying to figure out what was going on.

“Oh, finally, you’re awake,” said Nico, rolling his eyes. “You've been out for a whole freaking hour. Do you realize how much of a waste of time that was for me?”

“You could have left me in my hotel room, you big dope,” I replied, my voice coming out croaky and weird.

He shrugged and shifted his eyes to another person in the room. This time his eyes hardened and I could see his entire expression shifting to annoyance. I knew how his features were because a few weeks ago, he would look at me in that way.

I looked at whoever was sitting at the other end of the couch.

Ay papi.

“Are you feeling better?” asked the boy, his lovely hazel eyes widening in concern.

He was tanned from summer, but it didn’t do anything but good. His eyes were a beautiful honey color, looking at me with worry. His hair was a brown so dark, it could be black. It was messed up in an adorable way, or at least what showed of it under his white beanie.

My system can’t register this, I thought, I’m going to die from a hotness overdose.

“Um,” was all I could say.

Slow clap, everybody, to Zoey Hunter, who can’t form a coherent sentence in front of a smokin’ sizzlin’ hottie.

I realized that my hair felt damp from the rain, my clothes were sticky and the small bit of make up I had put on was probably streaming down my face horribly. I probably looked like a rat.

“Um to you too,” he said, smiling, “I’m Levi.”

“I’m Zoey,” I answered.

There was a moment of, I didn’t know, magic in those seconds. He was smiling and I just wanted to kidnap him and bring him to an abandoned island. I felt giddy and giggly just because of the way he was looking at me. His eyes made me feel like I was worth looking at.

“Uhm.” Nico cleared his throat.

Levi frowned and scratched the back of his head, looking away. “Right. Sorry. I forgot you were his girlfriend.”

Hold the phone.

“What?” I exclaimed.

I averted my gaze to Nico, who was freaking smiling like he had just won the lottery.

“I’m not anyone’s girlfriend,” I said, giving Nico a stare harsh enough to turn him to stone, much like Medusa in the Greek mythology.

Levi glanced at Nico, “But he said you two were—”

“He is full of bullpoop,” I stopped him; “I’m single as a Pringle.”

“Technically, Pringles are never single because they are surrounded by other Pringles,” said the boy, raising an eyebrow.

I smiled, “Then I’m as single as a Pringle that got kicked out of the Pringle group.”

What in the Pringle did I just say?

“Funny  and cute? Why haven’t I met you before?”

“Maybe because the universe has been waiting to get two funny and cute people to meet at a precise moment.”

I could see Nico observing me, but at the moment, I was trying to get on the very good side of a very hot boy. If Nico would kindly go away, life would be beautiful.

Levi smiled once more and I felt my heart do a somersault, even though no part of me was athletic in any way.

“Why don’t you go ahead and get changed and I’ll meet you in the lobby?” he said, standing up.

I did the same thing and nodded. “I’ll see you later, then.”

“I’ll see you later, Zoey.”

He walked away, leaving me dumbstruck.

“Please, Hunter, don’t invite me to the marriage. I’ll puke before he says I do,” said Nico, crossing his arms.

I properly looked at him. He had changed and taken a shower from what I saw. There were no bags around us, so he must have checked us in. The sour expression on his face almost made him seem…jealous.

I started to laugh, right in his face. “You’re jealous!”

“What would I be jealous of? The guy is a sleazy arse, I tell you,” he said, guiding me to the hall where my room was.

“You’re jelly!” I teased in a baby voice, “You’re jelly of Levi!”

“Why would I be? It’s not like I have any feelings for you,” said Nico, opening the room door with the key.

The room was just as I remembered it to be a few years ago, there were two single beds with royal bed sheets on top. There was a small TV and a counter for milk and a shitty coffee maker. My bag was already inside, lying on the single bed.

Wait.

Two beds.

The last time I came here was with Walters, and I was 10. He was like a grandfather to me, so sharing a room with him was more than okay. Now, on the other hand, there was a boy.

I had no reason to freak out, because the amount of group sleepovers I had spent with girls and boys mixed was big. Then again, it would be only Nico and I.

“You never know,” I said, leaning against the door frame, blocking his entrance.

He raised an eyebrow, “You’re delusional.”

“You’re a jealous man,” I said.

Nico raised his hand and held my chin higher with his index finger. “Never going to happen, Hunter.” I could feel his breath on my mouth.

Too close.

“Forrest, when you fall for me, you’ll never even know what hit you.”

I was completely kidding, of course. Maybe the rain had messed with my head, but it seemed like the right thing to say in the moment.  Maybe the after-effects of Sexy Levi was being weird. Hell, I was already weird.

“Hunter, the day I fall for you will be the day the sky rains hamburgers. It won’t happen, now or ever.”

He left. My chin was still in the air, not recovering from the effect of his finger supporting it. I closed the hotel door and banged my head on it, only to realize that it was worsening the bump on my head.

I just wasn’t made for feelings, was I?

Fingers crossed, I’d talk to Levi again.

And avoid Nico, because his explanation to never falling for me was invalid. Had he never watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs?

The sky rained hamburgers in the movie.

-

After getting showered and cleaned up, I smoothed down my hair again. For some weird reason, the blow dryer in New York didn’t like me. Therefore, there was a strand of hair that never wanted to sit its butt in my hair and stop standing up. I could have looked like Einstein’s daughter.

Minus the intelligence.

I looked around the crowded room of mailmen/mailwomen for Nico or, more specifically, Levi.

“Zoey! Darling, you’ve grown so much!” cried out Jeanine, an old mailwoman whom I bonded with every year, running towards me.

She gave me a warm hug, her laugh giving me vibrations through out my body. She let me go and examined my face like a grandmother. I loved Jeanine, she was like a humanly version of a cuddly bear, minus the furriness. She had pixie short blonde hair that added to her mommy appeal.

“Baby girl, how are you? You’re so beautiful now! Gosh,” gushed Jeanine, her Texas accent making me feel at home.

I smiled, “I’m great! You look amazing, though. How’s Jim? And the kids?”

“He is actually with me this time!” she said, automatically scanning the room for him, “The kids are growing up too fast.”

Spotting a dark head a few feet away, I muttered: “I’ll see you around, okay? Let’s have breakfast tomorrow together.”

“Okay! That’s good with me!” said Jeanine, giving me a gigantic smile.

God bless that woman, she was the epitome of kindness.

I made sure the crazy piece of hair was stable before walking over to Levi. He was talking to another mailman, Jolly Joe. He laughed at something he said and his face softened when he saw me.

Hakuna your tatas, I said to myself.

“Hey there, Miss Pringle,” he said, showing off the most adorable dimple on his left cheek.

“Hi, Mr.Pringle,” I said.

He gave me a weird look and licked his lips before reaching over and lifting up a strand of my hair. I was too caught up in the thought of him to realize that he was holding up the disturbed hair I had. The corners of his lips stayed upward and it seemed like the most natural phenomenon in the world. Smiling suited him.

A memory of seeing Nico smile on his birthday flashed before my eyes. Smiling suited that idiot as well, maybe even more.

“Maybe you should hide this messy piece somewhere inside,” he murmured, doing the exact same thing. My senses alerted me that my hair felt like it was igniting and burning.

Was I crushing on a guy I didn’t even know?

Oh God, I’m weak.

“Thank you, ‘cause you know, without you doing that, my hair would have looked horrible all night.”

Revelation: I blabbed around attractive boys.

Levi shook his head, “Nah, I think you looked amazing without me doing anything.”

“Are you flirting with me?”

“Uh,” he licked his lips again, which made me wonder how dry his lips got in the span of a few moments, “Do you want me to flirt with you?”

Levi was looking at me in the same way Nico had been an hour ago. Levi, on the other hand, seemed more interested than detached. He genuinely seemed like he wanted to talk to me. Just like Nico, the night we were out in the city.

Game face on, Zoey.

“Absolutely.”

“Alright then, I was subtely flirting with you because I wasn’t sure if you were interested. Now I know you are, so I’ll—I don’t know, flirt even more.”

“Cool,” I said, “Can I use a really horrible pick up line?”

A hand got wrapped around my arm and the person said: “No, you can’t.” I was pulled away to the beverages cart where there were several types of coffee and juice and delicious looking breakfast.

“Dude, why did you do that?” I cried out, pulling my arm from his grip.

Nico gave me a glare, “You flirt horribly. I was saving you from your own embarrassment.”

“And who gave you the right to pull me away from a hot human being?”

He rubbed on his arm once, “Me, of course.”

“Fuck off,” I uttered, walking away from him.

Was I being a bitch? Maybe a little.

Was he depriving me from flirting my butt off with a good looking boy who flirts with me as well? Yes. Double yes. Triple yes. Quadruple yes.

Someone poked my shoulder and I turned around promptly, prepared to cuss Nico off to the next century.

Instead, I was greeted with a wrinkled face and familiar features that made me want to cry.

“Walters!”

He was right there, arms open. His belly was less noticeable and his hair was a darker shade of gray. Did he dye it? His clothes were fancier than he had ever been, he was wearing a classy blue Ralph Lauran shirt and shiny jeans.

It was Harry Walters, the same old man whom I had accompanied every morning for almost 10 years, delivering mail. He was here.

Oh my God, he was here.

“Are you going to leave me hanging or what?” He said, chuckling.

I attacked him in a hug and felt my cheeks get wet with my own tears. He kissed the top of my hair and patted my back. Walters pinched my cheeks and smiled through tears. My heart swelled in my ribcage with excitement and I couldn’t be still.

“Holy hell, you’ve grown,” he said, “Still as short as an elf, though.”

“Oh my God I’be bissed you so buch,” I blubbered through tears. At that particular moment, I didn’t care that I was wearing make up and that it was probably smearing down my face. Or that I was crying like a kid in public.

My old mailman, now world traveling, best friend was here. That was all that mattered to me.

Tissues were shoved in my hand and I saw Nico giving me a mocking smile. He was enjoying seeing me in this state very much and I knew it. Wiping my face, with the tissues, I averted my attention to Walters and resisted the urge to hug him again.

He had a serious expression on his face, observing Nico and I carefully.

“Are you dating Zoey?” he asked.

Nico stayed unfazed, just giving the slightest hint that the corners of his lips were lifting.

“No, sir,” he replied.

Walters held out his hand to Nico and they shook hands. It was obvious that Walters had taken a liking to Nico, just by the way he was acting with him. Nico was polite and respectful, which was weird to see, since he always was carefree and a blabbermouth.

“Nicolas, I trust you with her,” said Walters. He turned to me, “Has he hurt you before? Emotionally?”

Truth? Yes.

The way he would act and his constant insults in the beginning got to me. As much as I hated to admit it, he did affect me, negatively and positively. His insensitive actions when I had first met him made me think that he was nothing but an egoistical asshole.

Which he still was.

But I found out that he was able to care. He, like all the human beings on this planet, had feelings, sincere ones. They shined in the way he would help me when I was being stupid somehow, or how he saved me when I was in trouble or even how he was with Oliver. Even if things have been outlined as awkward lately because of the “incident”, he had changed around me.

He offered to give me his headphones in the airplane. He accepted my hugs. He carried me when I was sleeping in the airport instead of rudely waking me up. He didn’t say a word to protest about us sharing a room together. He held my bags when I got too tired while walking. When we were walking around New York to the hotel, the umbrella was mainly held over me.

“Not once,” I replied.

-

“NICOOOO? NICO? NICO?” I screamed, banging on the bathroom door.

The shower was still running. I even heard him faintly humming a song. He knew I was dying to take a shower. Yet, he had been in there for more than twenty minutes.

What did boys have to wash anyway? They had no hair.

But they were hairy.

The water stopped and I sighed. “Finally!”

There was shuffling in the small bathroom and Nico came out, holding his clothes on one arm. His hair was dripping wet, droplets falling on my head and shirt. The most important detail in all of this was that he was shirtless.

Not only that; he was in a towel, that covered what was supposed to stay covered. There was too much exposure for my eyes.

“Are you a fucking diva? What do you do in the shower?”

“Do you really want to know?”

Considering the way he was smirking, I probably was better off not knowing. 

“Why didn’t you get dressed in the bathroom?” I asked instead.

He shrugged, “I don’t like getting dressed in bathrooms.”

There was a pause.

“Why, Hunter, is me being only in a towel making you uncomfortable?”

Yes.

“No. There’s nothing to be uncomfortable of.”

Nico let out a small laugh, “So you would be okay if I did this?” He dropped the towel.

I squealed and immediately covered my eyes with my hands. Thankfully, I was too fast to see anything. It was almost as if I was expecting this.

“Hunter,” he said, “I’m going to ask again. Are you uncomfortable?”

“Yes!” I shrieked, backing away from him, still eyes closed.

Nico laughed loudly. “Open your eyes.”

“No! Fuck you! Put clothes on!”

“Hunter, stop being a kid. I promise you won’t be scarred for life.”

Despite my mind screaming “NO! NO! NO!”, I looked through the crack between my fingers.

The mothertrucker was wearing boxers.

“I wasn’t arse-naked, you big baby,” he sniggered. Walking to the bed beside the window, he slid in and took out his earphones.

“I hate you, Forrest,” I said, rummaging through my suitcase for clean underwear and pajamas.

“I lo—hate you too, Hunter.”

“Were you going to say love?” I gasped. 

“Of course not. I’ve always just countered hate with love, but in this case, I refuse to say that I love you.”

“You just said it. You said you love me.”

With a click, he turned off the lamp beside his bed.

He wasn’t going to sleep, that was known. He never slept.

Fifteen minutes later, I was in bed, on the phone with Mom and Skye She made me promise to call her before I went to sleep, so that was what I was doing. Nico hadn’t once complained, even though they were talking loud enough for him to hear as well.

“Julia wants to talk to you,” said Skye. 

The phone was passed around and soon, I heard Julia’s voice through the phone. “Zoey?” 

“Jules!”

“How’s your moonhoney?” She said. 

“My what?” I cried out in a hushed voice.

“Oupsie, I meant honeymoon. Skye told me you and Mister Nico are in love and that’s why you’re spending the weekend with him. To eat honey and yogurt and look at ze moon. Oh, and do stuff while the moon is looking at you. I don't know what kind of stuff, Skye doesn't want to tell me.”

There was a stifled noise from Nico’s side. My mouth was forming an O. Skye was going to die when I saw her.

“Tell Skye that her eye will be black when I come back, okay? Goodnight,” I rushed, not giving my sister a chance to speak.

She sighed dramatically, “Okay. I despica you, Zoey.”

“I despica you too,” I replied, hanging up.

Even though his figure wasn’t moving, I knew he had listened to every single word.

“Don’t even,” I warned, turning off the lights.

“Goodnight, fellow honeymooner,” he said, laughing.

-

PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR’S NOTE PLEASE

1.    THANK YOU BABES FOR 2 MILLION VIEWS ILYSM

2.     Guys please just, I don’t even know what to say anymore. I told you guys to stop with the “omg it’s after midnight on Friday aka it’s the weekend where is the update?” PLEASE guys, I have a LIFE. I don’t live for wattpad. All I’m asking is to just CALM down and respect the fact that I get so fkn stressed out when people stress me out. please, calm down when i miss ONE day of updates.

3.    You saw the dedication ;)

4. LEVI IS TO THE SIDE 

unconditional love, yas  (ps. no one noticed that i forgot to write "love yas"in the end of the last chapter)