Page 32 of Lunar Crest University

“What’s the real reason why you’re upset, Levi?” My voice is muffled by his shirt. “Why does this bother you so much? Naomi seems really nice, and so does her daughter. Don’t hate me for saying this, but…your dad istrying. I don’t think you give him enough credit sometimes.”

He gnaws at his lip, and his chin trembles before he sniffs, sitting up a little straighter. “He moved on. He’s getting married and moving on, and my mom… She’s dead. Forgotten and dead andgone.”

“She’s not forgotten,” I tell him.

“He never talks about her. Never has. She died, and he just put it all behind him like it was soeasy. Like she never existed at all.”

Pulling my face from his shoulder, I glance down at his hands, fidgeting in his lap, at the ground, at the TV…at everything but him. I want to give him a moment to just feel sad without me gawking up at him. We sit in silence, but the fact I know he’s crying feels so loud. My stomach knots at the sound of him wiping his cheeks, so I hold him a little tighter as we just exist here—in this dark, quiet space.

“Enough about me.” He clears his throat, patting my knee as he leans forward to rest his elbows on his. “What’s wrong?Gilmore Girls, ice cream, and wine only mean one thing with you. What’s his name?”

I snort. “Why does it have to be because of someone else? Maybe I’m just down today.”

He quirks a brow.

“Don’t do that.” I roll my eyes. “I’m fine.”

“If you werejust down, you’d watch a random movie or something,” he says, leaning back against the couch as he looks at me pointedly. “You only watchGilmore Girlswhen you’regoing through boy stuff and need a comfort show, something you’ve already seen. Something where you know what happens already.”

I blink stupidly at him. “Don’t you have your own issues to worry about?”

His lip twitches as he sighs. “Yeah, I guess I do.”

Pulling me down into the blanket fortress with him, he wraps an arm around my shoulders as I snuggle down into his side. His thumb rubs against me comfortingly for a moment before he pecks me on the top of the head with a chaste kiss.

“We’re going to be okay,” I mumble.

“We’re going to be okay,” he repeats.

Then, he ruffles my hair lightly with his knuckles, ruining the moment as he belly laughs at the death glare I send him from the other end of the couch. I watch as he scoops up my ice cream, shoving a spoonful into his mouth as he props his feet up on my coffee table. We settle into a comfortable silence as Lorelai finds out Rory lost her virginity to Dean, but I can’t manage to focus. I can’t shake Levi’s situation.

Sometimes, the only person holding him back is himself. He’s so hard-headed, it’s difficult to get through to him, but I would hate to see him shut out the family he has left because of his stubbornness.

“Levi?” I say, twisting my head to look over at him.

He hums, eating another bite.

“I think you should go.”

“Wait, like…right now? You want me to go?” He stumbles over his words as he puts the tub of ice cream back down.

“No, dummy.” I lick my dry lips as I suck in a deep breath. “I mean, I think you should stay with them for the summer.”

His eyebrows knit as he stares at me.

“I just…” I trail off, cocking my head sheepishly as I shrug. “Maybe hear him out. Have a conversation. Give it a chance. Iknow you lost your mom, and you have every right to be upset, but your dad is stillhere.”

“Finn–”

“Can you just try?” I plead.

“I don’t see the point.”

I pull my legs up on the couch as I face him now, wrapping my arms around my knees as I clutch them to my chest. “You need closure. You need an answer about why he didn’t talk about your mom with you after she died. I think this could be good for you, Levi.”

He groans. “One conversation isn’t going to magically fix everything.”

“It’s a start.”

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