07 >< The kitchen island.

SIMONE

I woke up in the morning feeling lighter, better, warm even. Awake for once. I noticed the nightmares didn't come and I sighed in relief. I wonder what changed. I began to stretch and immediately discovered the reason to why I felt warm. Levi had an arm around my waist, with his body loosely wrapped around me.

He was asleep and breathing lightly so I tried to move as quietly as possible so I wouldn't wake him. I also tried hard not to stare at him as he breathed and that proved to be harder than it thought it would be.

However, his arm tightened as his eyes snapped open. I tensed, not sure what he was going to do.

"Oh its you," he said, closing his eyes again and letting me go "morning."

His morning voice was deep and gravelly. Like two parts gravel, one part sand and one part syrup. I found that way steamier than it should have been. all he said was good morning and my nerves were fired up.

"Hi," I said, getting out of bed and heading to the kitchen to start preparing my siblings for the day. Was it weird that I felt flushed and warm?

"Why are you blushing?" Raven asked, snapping me out of my thoughts as she walked into the kitchen. "its five in the morning, there is nothing to be so giddy about."

I smiled at her.

"Nothing," I said, feeling my face. My oh so betraying face.

Raven hugged me then proceeded to pull away ........ before she pulled me closer again, her head resting under my chin.

"How was your night?" She asked.

"No nightmares." I said, hugging her back, in a great mood for once. I noticed Raven sniffing.

"Are you sniffing me?" I asked, pulling her away so I could see her face. She had a huge grin. "what is it?"

"You smell like Levi." she said, winking, "why do you smell like Levi?" I felt myself turn red again. "oh my gosh ....." Raven gushed, "did you ......"

"How do you know what he smells like?" I asked instead, causing her to blush too.

"This isn't about me Simone." she said, shrugging out of her embarrassment, "what did you two do???"

"Oh." I said as a light bulb went on in my head, "you think we ........ god, no. We didn't. Oh my gosh. Why would you even think that?"

"I don't know." she said as we began packing lunch, "I guess I kinda ship you guys." I scrunched my nose. "don't pretend you don't see it."

Raven knew exactly how to read my mind.

"It's not like that Rave." I said, "we didn't even do anything, he just put an arm around me is all. He didn't even hug me for that matter." I sighed, "also, I have way bigger things to think about."

"Always so serious." Raven said, "you really should go out more, do more stuff, you know."

"Get out of here." I said to her, "leave my presence."

At that, she laughed and wrapped her arms around me.

"I love you Simone." she said, "and I really appreciate all the shit you go through for us. I hope you have an amazing day. And don't tell me you love me back, you can't steal my thunder and make this your moment, if you wanted to let me know, you should have thought of it first."

I burst out laughing at that then pecked her forehead.

"Fine," I said, "I enjoy your presence."

I did my usual then headed out to work. In the afternoon, my boss had an emergency to tend to at home so I ended up getting most of the day off. I got on the bus and gratefully headed home. I could use the rest.

"Levi?" I called once I got home.

No response. A quick search concluded that he wasn't in the house. I got changed then right after, Levi walked in the front door.

"Simone?" He exclaimed when we met in the kitchen, "you're home early." He had a few grocery bags in his hands.. "I just went out to get some groceries"

"Yeah." I said as I helped him unpack and store them, "my boss had an emergency so I was allowed to knock off early today."

"That sounds like fun." Levi said, "well, what do you want to do now?"

"Probably sleep maybe." I said, taking a seat at the kitchen island as Levi began preparing a salad of some sort, "the universe knows I need sleep."

"Sure." he said, "how about we snack first then watch a movie on my phone? You'll still have plenty of time to sleep."

"That sounds ok." I said.

We sat together at the kitchen Island and shared the salad as we sat in casual silence.

"I feel like you need to know that this is dangerous," Levi suddenly said. "I mean, spending time with you guys had been fun and all. I've been under the radar for a while now, but it can only be so long before someone comes to find me. And my world is pretty nasty, I don't want any of you to get hurt, you know."

"So then what's your plan here?" I asked, looking up at him.

"I should probably leave by the end of the week. Erase my trail before someone finds it." Levi said.

"So you were serious about being an assassin?" I asked, the heavy truth pressing down on me.

"Yes. I was the whole time." Levi said, meeting my eyes, "in fact, I think you should know that I'm richer than most."

"And why are you telling me all this now?" I asked, chewing on an avocado cube.

"Because anything could happen. I don't want you getting caught off guard." he said, "I like all of you and I think you all deserve more that I let you know, so I'm telling you now."

"And?" I pushed. There was something not being said.

"I just wanted you all to know. To be honest Simone, I can't believe I'm here right now. I'm one of the world's toughest assassins. Very few people even know what I look like and yet here I am, in a random house, on a random street, having salad with you. I could possibly flip your life over you know. I'm not trying to seem like some sort of two faced guy, I just want to be honest. Makes life easier, don't you think?"

I nodded, trying to contemplate on whether Levi was serious about moving out so soon.

"Lets get to that movie, shall we?" He said, waving his phone in my face.

We put the phone up on an upturned bowl and proceeded to watch the movie. It was really good. After, I realised I had a few hours before my sisters came home so I chose to go catch some sleep.

"Wake me in a few hours." I said to Levi as I headed to my room.

"What am I supposed to do out here all by myself?" He asked trailing me.

"What do you do all day?" I asked, getting out of my shoes and laying on the bed.

"Sleep also. Do some work on my phone. The like."

"Well," I said, patting his side of the bed. "come join me?"

"Why not?" He said, shrugging as he got in next to me.

"So you're serious about leaving?" I asked after a while. I would really miss him and I didn't really realise how much I would until right at that moment.

"I have to." he said.

"We'll keep in touch though, right?"

"I hope so. It can be tricky in my line of business. But don't worry, i live in this town, I'll be able to keep tabs on you if you want."

"Wouldn't that be creepy?" I asked, facing him. He shrugged.

"You have no idea the secrets I know. And I never tell. Lets just say people get really nasty when left alone."

I blinked at him then turned to my side again.

"Go to sleep." I teased.

"Night Simone."

We slept soundly for the next few hours before I had to wake up and prepare supper for my siblings. Levi and I headed to the kitchen, he offered to make supper so I just sat on the kitchen island and watched him work.

"Today was surprising calm." Mica called through the house as she and the others walked through the door.

"Simone!" Coco yelled, launching herself at me on the island to throw her arms around my shoulders, "you're home early."

Lila joined in the group hug, worming her way in the middle of Coco and I. Mica hugged behind me then Raven behind Coco, a giant group hug on the kitchen island. We then heard a camera snapping. I looked up and found Levi smiling from behind his phone's camera.

"So adorable," he said.

"Oh come on," Raven said, rolling her eyes. Mica grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the rest of us, forcing him to join the group hug.

He easily wrapped his arms around us all and we just sat there, breathing each other in.

"What's the event?" I asked, my voice muffled in someones hair.

"Just shut up and soak it in." Levi said, earning a general murmur of approval. I snorted and rolled my eyes.

"He's leaving on Monday by the way." I added.

Everyone groaned at my statement.

"You are banned from group hugs." Coco said as they all unravelled around me and went to huddle on their own around Levi.

"Immatures." I murmured as I snapped a picture of them, smiling like an idiot.

They eventually untangled and my sisters went to change out of their uniforms. Levi was still subtly smiling the whole time, a gentle tilt to his lips.

"What's with the smile?" I asked.

"This whole family thing is just nice," he said. "Especially the hugging."

"I never envisioned you as the sappy emotional type." I said.

"I'm not." He said, "don't forget, I kill ......"

"....... people for a living." I finished for him. "I know." I said. "and I don't think I flippin care."

My sisters came back to help out with preparing supper. I was put on Coco and Lila duty, playing with them to keep them distracted. It felt really nice to finally be home with my sisters like this. We all had supper then Mica and Raven did the dishes whilst Levi and I got Lila and Coco ready for bedtime.

"Whose turn is it to tell the story?" Raven asked as she and Mica joined us all in their room.

Raven sat next to Levi and lay her back against the wall. Levi held Lila in his arms, she was fixated on the veins in his arms and hands, pushing them down before they popped up again. Levi had nice arms. I sat on the opposite bed with Micas' head in my lap. Coco stood behind me and had her hands buried in my scalp. I would untangle the mess later, at that point, her hands were really soothing.

"I think Levi should tell one." Mica said, playing with my hands too.

"I told one yesterday." he said, "why doesn't Simone tell one?"

"She does it all the time." Raven said, "and no offence Simone, but you need to start spicing up your life, bring us more gossip you know?" At that, I laughed.

"Where am I supposed to find that time?" I suddenly moaned as Coco tugged gently at a perfect spot in my hair, dissipating the tension in my scalp. "do that again Coco." I said to her. She chuckled in self-satisfaction and did it again.

"Like that?" She asked, earning another low moan from me.

"You are now my favourite sister". I said to her and she beamed.

"You said the same thing to me this morning." Raven said, rolling her eyes.

"Well," Mica said, "you've been replaced."

"You're my favourite Rave," Levi said ."who needs Simone anyway."

"Hear that Simone?" Raven teased, leaning into Levi's side as he smirked and draped an arm around her shoulders.

"I don't care," I said. "I got Coco and her magical fingers. All I ever need."

Mica snorted.

"So who is going to tell the story?" Lila asked, looking up from her task. We all looked at Levi.

"Oh come on you guys." he said, rolling his eyes but smirking at the same time.

He began telling a story on one of his deadly adventures around the world, the bad guys he'd killed and all. We were all literally glued to his story. I zoned out for a moment as I looked at my sisters. My heart warmed at seeing them so happy.

Lila was dozing off in Levi's lap, his one hand holding her in place. His other arm was around Ravens shoulder as she breathed evenly and slept. Mica was a goner with her head in my lap. I took her glasses off and placed them on the night stand.

Coco had snuggled up under my arm, glued to my side with an arm around my waist. Her eyes were drooping as she yawned. I rubbed her back as she fell asleep then I realised Levi had stopped talking and was looking right at me.

I smiled at him as I got up to tuck my two sisters in. He tucked in Raven and Lila then we turned off the light and went down the hall to my room. I stood across him for a moment then reached forward and wrapped my arms around his chest, inhaling him.

He smelled like my body wash, lemon. He slowly returned the hug, wrapping his arms around my shoulders. Hugging Levi felt better than it sounds. His hard front pressed against me and he completely enveloped me with his powerful arms, geez, where had such mind numbing hugs been all my life?

"What is this for?" He asked.

"Nothing," I said. "I just needed to spread all the good vibes I'm feeling. You smell like me by the way."

I felt vibrations run down my front as Levi chuckled.

"Lets sleep Simone." he said, "you have a long day tomorrow."

I groaned but complied as we both got under the covers on our respective sides of the bed. My night was so peaceful, filled with pleasant dreams.