Chapter Seven: Summer

"Fine," Todd sighed so deeply that he felt as if he was exhaling a piece of his being. Maybe he was. That piece of him floating and being sucked out the open windows as they drove.

"Wait what?" Betto's eyes were so wide it looked as if his eyes would fall out of his head. He glanced at Todd several quick times, not taking his eyes off the road for too long at once, which Todd was grateful for. "Are you fucking with me right now?"

"No." Todd wished he was just fucking with him. "You can ask Ophelia out. I won't get mad. Just treat her right."

"Fucking hell, man!" Betto shouted, a wide grin splitting his face. "You're actually saying yes right now. Did you hit your head or something? Have you been drinking?"

"Don't push me," Todd rolled his eyes, but his lips twitched into a smile. "I could change my mind."

"I don't know what changed your mind to begin with," Betto shook his head in disbelief, but the grin stayed attached to his features. Todd had to admit he was a bit harsh on Betto. He knew Betto was a nice guy, and that he genuinely liked Ophelia. But Todd couldn't look at Ophelia without seeing the little girl from when they were kids. A sweetheart with big brown eyes and awkwardly long limbs, always eager to follow him around. "I thought you would up and kill me if I ever asked her out."

"If you hurt her I will," Todd offered and Betto scoffed.

"As if that girl would let me hurt her," Betto said. "She takes after her brothers alright. Won't take shit from anyone."

Todd fell quiet at the mention of Ophelia's brothers. He wasn't sure he was ready to deal with Levon yet. He felt as if there was drama brewing and he was in no way ready to deal with it, especially after the kiss they shared during his last visit. The kiss that had pretty much wrecked him internally.

Todd had avoided Levon so much after that kiss that Ophelia had pulled him aside to know when they had fought because it must have been 'pretty bad'. But Todd could only blush and grumble like a fucking idiot. Because Levon had to be so fucking perfect; looking so damn attractive, smelling so great, and standing too close; always with that fucking smile on his face.

It had been a little over two months ago and Todd had had next to no contact with Levon since then. He had been mentally prepping himself for the summer break, but it seemed to be all for nothing as they drove closer and closer to their home town. He felt as if his protective layers were being peeled away with each mile. By the time they reached the Kipling residence, Todd was sure he would be completely open and raw.

"You okay?" Betto glanced over at him, brows furrowing. "You're looking really flushed."

"Just hot," Todd waved him off and Betto accepted that before he shyly started brainstorming ways he might ask Ophelia out. Listening to Betto's assurances that the first date was the most important, Todd was sure that it was the right decision to take himself out of the way of their relationship. Betto deserved to be happy.

They stopped at Todd's house and unloaded the ridiculously overfilled back of the car to get Todd's dorm things into his room for the summer. There were no cars in the stone driveway, and Todd unlocked the door, already knowing that his mother wasn't home and probably hasn't been and wouldn't be for another couple weeks at least. He was pretty sure that was a good thing.

When that was done Betto dropped Todd off at the Kipling residence. Betto was quick to leave after that, probably because the two boys had spent the last five hours stuck in a car together. They were close but even that could be a bit much all at once.

Todd walked up to the house, feeling rather like he was baring his soul, and walked in. It smelled like home. Todd dropped his bag on the porch bench and wandered in. It smelled like pasta and he could hear voices in the dining room.

"Todd!" Bree suddenly came into the hall and grabbed his arm. "You're late!"

"I'm actually earlier than I expected," Todd told her, a smile on his face as she towed him to the dining room. Gwen was seated at one head with Jasper and Ophelia on either side of her. Levon was placing a basket of garlic bread down, looked up at their dramatic entry. Levon wore neon green board shorts and a black, V-neck t-shirt, the smile on his face dimpling his left cheek. Todd felt like his skin was sunburnt.

"Welcome back, Toddy," Levon greeted and Todd could only force a smile, though he felt it may have been more of a grimace. He quickly looked away from Levon and Bree forced him into the seat across from Lev, Ophelia to his right and Bree at the other head of the table.

"How was the drive home?" Ophelia asked, and Todd gave her a real smile that wasn't nearly as painful.

"It was fine. Betto was a pain in the ass as usual."

"Oh, how's Betto doing?" Todd had to admit Ophelia was very subtle, but after finding out she and Betto had been texting almost non-stop for the last month and thinking about dating for longer, made him aware of her obvious interest in his friend.

"He's doing great," Todd shrugged, aiming for the same nonchalance that she had. "He's really happy to be back home. Has a lot of big plans for the summer."

"Like camping," Levon pitched in and Todd could almost hear the eye roll in his voice. "The guy is obsessed with planning camping trips. Especially ones with really long hikes just to get there. He's insane."

"Yepp," Todd agreed rather dismissively with Levon and the conversation stuttered around the awkward pause Todd had created. Todd cringed internally at how obvious his attitude toward Levon was. Todd started eating so he didn't have to talk anymore. Bree and Gwen started talking to Jasper about the girl he's been seeing.

"She's one of the girls that came to Cuba with me," Jasper said, he glanced at Todd with interest. "What about you, Toddy? Any new women stirring up your life?"

"No," Todd shook his head. "I'm not really interested in women right now." Jasper arched a brow at that and Todd quickly raised a hand in defense. "Not like that. I mean I'm not interested in dating anyone right now."

"Are you sure that's what you meant?" Levon teased. "You're sure you're not trying to take a swing for the other team?"

"I'm very sure," Todd ground out, glaring slightly at Levon now. "Gay never worked for me like it worked for you."

"I think gay could work for you if you tried it out," Levon said, eyes sparkling. "Broaden your options a little. You never know, gay might be exactly what you're missing in your life."

"How about no," Todd snapped and Levon looked beyond amused so Todd turned to Jasper. "So, what was your girlfriend's name again?" He felt Levon staring at him, and Jasper looked very entertained with the interaction. Bree and Gwen remained silent, both unsure if the banter was serious enough for them to bother stepping in.

"Her name's Hayden," Jasper nodded, eyes flicking from Todd to his younger brother, a smirk on his face. "She's wonderful."

"I really can't wait to meet her," Bree gushed. "You seem so happy with her."

"It's only been a few months mom," Jasper dismissed his mother. "I'll only bring her home if she's actually serious."

"I wish that had been your motto when you were in high school," Ophelia sighed. "Because I heard way more than I ever wanted to hear of your old girlfriends." Todd snorted at that. Ophelia and Jasper's bedrooms were right next to each other.

"Please don't bring up those painful memories," Gwen groaned. "I've walked in on enough of high school Jasper's love life to scar me for life."

"You people are so overdramatic," Jasper sighed, not looking the least embarrassed and Levon laughed. "Besides, Levon always made more noise than I did."

"You all knew I was fooling around so what was the point in hiding it?" Levon shrugged. "I was safe."

"I swear to God, I raised you children to be more modest than this," Bree said, and Jasper chuckled.

"You still have Ophelia. She's pretty modest. You never hear anything about her sex life," Levon offered. "And you can count Todd. But he really doesn't have a sex life to be modest with." Laughter moved around the table and Todd scowled at Levon, kicking him under the table but Levon didn't even wince.

Todd turned to Ophelia, deciding it was time for a subject change. "So,you have another couple months of school before your summer starts?"

"Way to rub it in," Ophelia sighed, poking her food with her fork. "You guys are going to be jumping in the pool and I'm going to be heading off to hell."

"Don't be overdramatic," Gwen chuckled. "You know you like school."

"Nerd," Levon coughed into his arm and Ophelia flicked a noodle at him.

"If you start a food fight, you will be the one cleaning it up," Bree sighed as the noddle splattered on the red tablecloth. Jasper snickered and that, shoving garlic bread in his mouth.

"He started it," Ophelia pointed at Levon with a smile and Levon rolled his eyes.

"You were whining about school," Levon said. "I should be the one whining. I'm going to have to start working really soon and I'll hardly have time to enjoy the summer."

"You're still going to be working at Eileen's shop, right?" Jasper asked, peeking at his younger brother while simultaneously stuffing a forkful of pasta into his mouth.

"Yeah," Levon sighed dramatically. "I'll be handling tourists all summer."

Todd liked where Levon worked. It was close to the beach, full of handmade knickknacks and other things that tourists loved. It was quirky and Levon really got along with the elderly woman that owned the shop.

"What about you, Todd?" Levon rounded on him and Todd almost glared. Levon didn't bother to hide his amusement. "Are you planning to work poolside again?" Todd had worked as a lifeguard the last three summers. It paid relatively well and he didn't hate it.

"Yeah," Todd answered shortly then looked at Jasper. "And you'll be working where?"

Dinner finished on much the same note. Todd avoided talking to Levon as best he could and Levon purposely called him out at every opportunity. By the time they were all clearing the table, a tense air had formed between Levon and Todd that had Levon's mothers watching them for a fight and Jasper very much amused.

When Todd left the kitchen, he wondered if he should stay in Levon's room or if he should ask to stay in the basement. Levon was in a mood and he wasn't ready to spend the night around it.

"Let's go get ice-cream," Levon spoke up and Todd spun around fast as Levon walked up to him. "I'm in the mood for a banana split."

"I think I'm fine," Todd declined and Levon waved his wallet at Todd, a smirk on his face.

"I'll pay," he said, and Todd narrowed his eyes. "Besides, we have some talking to do that should probably be away from my lovely family."

"Fine." Todd gave in reluctantly and followed Levon to the door. With a quick farewell shouted to Levon's mothers they were out the door and climbing into Levon's car. Todd reached over and turned on the music to fill the silence and Levon didn't protest as he drove, allowing Todd to gather his thoughts as best he could.

They took a seat at the back of the ice-cream shop, next to a large window, once they each had their frozen treat. Levon had his promised banana split, Todd had two scoops of strawberry in a waffle cone. Todd avoided eye contact but Levon was pretty much staring at him.

"Betto texted me and let me know you gave him permission to date my sister," Levon said and Todd nodded. "Betto's pretty happy. It's actually super adorable."

"Yeah," Todd agreed. "He really likes her."

"He's really liked her since we were in middle school," Levon pointed out.

"She was way too young to be dating back then," Todd said and Levon arched a brow.

"Plenty of people were dating in middle school. They're harmless kiddy relationships that help us learn how real relationships should be."

"Ophelia would have gotten her feelings hurt by some stupid kid who took her for granted," Todd grunted. "Kids are cruel."

"You know, it's kind of funny that you're more protective of her than her own older brothers are," Levon mused and Todd shrugged.

"I care about her," Todd said simply and Levon smiled. "And I don't want anyone to hurt her."

"My moms and Jasper were all sure you had a huge crush on her when we were younger, and that's why you were so overprotective," Levon said and Todd choked on his ice-cream a little. He blinked at Levon with wide eyes and Levon laughed at his expression.

"Are you serious?" Levon nodded and Todd continued. "I've never looked at her like that. I've always felt like she was sort of my little sister too. Same how Jasper always kind of felt like a big brother to me."

"They've figured that out by now," Levon said, smiling slightly. "When you went to prom alone instead of asking Ophelia to be your date they figured that meant you really didn't have a crush on her."

"I can see where they were coming from with that, but no way could I ever be with Ophelia. It even sounds weird to say," Todd shook his head then peered at Levon. "Did Ophelia ever crush on me?"

"No clue," Levon shook his head. "I doubt she would ever tell you if she did. You'd get super weird about it."

"I wouldn't get super weird about it," Todd argued but wasn't sure if it was true or not.

"I pretty much told you that I'm crushing on you and look how weird you've been with me," Levon said and Todd stiffened, cheeks and ears flushing.

"You never told me you were crushing on me," Todd argued but it sounded weak. Levon arched a disbelieving brow at him.

"Did you want me to spell it out? Draw you a picture?" Levon smirked a little as Todd struggled to wrap his mind around the confession. "I've been spending as much time as I could with you and being much friendlier. Probably staring at you like a creep because you're so fucking adorable. Not to mention I've kissed you twice now."

Todd had nothing to say to that, lips parted in surprise and staring at Levon like a deer caught in the headlights. He could sort of see the instances between Levon and himself where this so-called 'crush' was indeed obvious but he had missed it. The kisses and the almost kisses were playing through his mind and making his heart race. The ice-cream melted slowly over his fingers.

"Now I've really told you I have a crush on you and look how weird you're being," Levon teased and he kicked Todd under the table.

"I just don't get it," Todd finally said, voice hoarse. "You can't have a crush on me. We don't even get along."

"I hardly think that we don't get along. We actually get along really well."

Todd turned his attention to his melting ice-cream and started licking up the mess, trying to get his mind together. Levon ate his desert, watching Todd with intense, curious eyes. The evening was not going anything like he had imagined. He had no idea how to cope with the current revelation. Levon liking him in a romantic way. The notion was absurd. Levon was Levon. He was impossibly smart, quick-witted and sarcastic. He caused trouble at every turn, was impossibly outgoing and undeterred by anyone. He was strong, and he was beautiful. Todd had spent much of his adolescent years envious of Levon, the boy who was always so much more than Todd was.

They finished their ice-creams in relative silence then went back to the car. Todd didn't even have the thought to turn on the music, gazing blankly out the window as Levon drove them home. He only snapped out of his trance when Levon shut off the engine. They were parked by the baseball field about five minutes from Levon's house. The sun had just set so the field was empty. Todd's heart stuttered knowing this meant Levon was planning to keep talking to him.

"So?" Levon asked and Todd grimaced before turning his head to meet the green gaze.

"So, what?" Levon was not affected by the rude undertone of Todd's voice.

"So, I'd kind of like to talk about all this," Levon gestured between them and Todd flushed with a mix of frustration and embarrassment.

"I don't want this," Todd spoke impulsively and Levon tilted his head questioningly.

"This as in the talk I'm trying to have with you?" Levon asked and Todd shook his head.

"I don't want this," he gestured helplessly as Levon had. "I don't want you to have a crush on me. I don't want there to be something between us. I don't want these feelings. I don't want anymore kissing or lovey-dovey shit."

"What exactly do you want?" Levon asked calmly once Todd had finished his mini-rant. Todd couldn't help noticing the guarded look that crossed Levon's features. He felt like there wasn't enough air in the car, but he felt it was a bad time to ask for the windows to be lowered.

"I just want to be how we were," Todd tried to explain and Levon's expression didn't change. "We're not friends, but we have each other's backs, and we can hang out sometimes and we're always on the same page. I just want to stay the way we are and stay the same."

"What about the kiss?" Levon asked and Todd wished he hadn't and wished the coldness would go away. It was as if Levon thought Todd would hurt him. Todd never wanted to hurt Levon. Todd was the guy who beat up people who hurt Levon.

"We can leave it in the past," Todd said, and the words left a bitter taste in his mouth. Levon's eyes narrowed slightly. Todd swallowed. "Move on and just be us. It was just a kiss."

"You really want to pretend that kiss didn't happen?" Levon murmured, and Todd wished he wasn't able to see the pain dancing in the green eyes. "You really want me to believe you didn't feel something while you were kissing me? Because I know you enjoyed it. Even though you're denying it, I know you loved kissing me as much as I enjoyed kissing you."

"You can't know that, Levon," Todd argued feeling his chest tighten.

"I can know that," Levon said firmly, challengingly. "The way you kissed me back. You kissed me back like you needed me. And you would have kept kissing me until you ran out of air if I hadn't pulled away. Tell me I'm wrong."

"I can't," Todd snapped. "I don't know."

"You do know," Levon retorted. "You're just fighting me on everything because you're scared."

"I don't know!" Todd burst out, glaring hard, cheeks tinted dark pink. "I don't know what to think or what I feel or anything that's going on here." A useless gesture between the two of them. "And I don't know if I like it or if it's just going to drive me insane."

"Don't you want to explore it? To try and figure this out?" Levon asked and Todd had to look away from the piercing gaze.

"Honestly, I just want to get away from all of this. I need to get my head together and I can't think clearly when all I'm thinking about is you," Todd bit out and Levon inhaled sharply. Todd looked back to the other man's face and found he no longer looked so guarded and closed off. Todd couldn't deny the relief that came.

"It's okay to be confused," Levon stated, tone laced with understanding. "Even to be a little bit scared."

"I'm not scared," Todd argued. "I just- I just don't know what' going on. It feels like it's happening too fast for me to get a hold of it."

"I'll give you your space," Levon said after a brief pause, and his cheek dimpled with the small, gentle, smile that broke out on his face. "But I won't pretend that we didn't kiss, and I won't forget the way that makes me feel. It's too good to let go without a fight."

"I wouldn't ask you to forget it," Todd mumbled, having to look away, feeling all too vulnerable. "But I'm not ready to face it yet."

"Then I'll wait," Levon shrugged slightly, head tilting, hair falling to the side. "I'm a patient man."

"Liar," Todd had to scoff and Levon laughed, eyes shining. They stayed parked at the pitch for several moments longer, gazing at each other before Todd coughed awkwardly and Levon decided to drive them home for real. Todd felt slightly more at ease having some of the air between them cleared. The situation didn't feel as all-consuming anymore, but the feelings that Levon inspired in him seemed to have grown all the more alive. Todd was pretty sure this was exactly why he had avoided relationships in the past. They were more emotionally draining than they were worth.

***

I am so sorry I didn't realize yesterday was Monday- my sense of date has been royally fucked since exam season started. Please accept this chapter as a token of my apology and I hope you enjoy it!