Hello, Lovely humans. Welcome back. Remember, the Italics are our characters talking in the future. Enjoy <3

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Levi P.O.V:

Previously on not-so-secret crush…

"What is this an episode of Criminal minds?" Jace asks while pouring tea into his cup.

"No, but I might as well add a dramatic effect, you know. Spice things up." I reply.

"Seriously? And you call me dramatic. Maybe you should take a look at yourself first." He retorts while sipping his tea with his pinkie out.

"Says the person with their pinkie up while sipping tea. Who do you think you are? Royaltea?" I say my attempt at a snappy comeback, which I now realise is very lame.

"Hey-"

"You know what, never mind," he tries to say something, but I cut him off. Knowing us, we'll keep this panter going till the end of time.

"Remind me why I'm doing this again, Jace?" I sighed, closing my laptop and pushing it away.

He looks at me with sad eyes, leaving his tea on the counter, and gets closer to me, hugging me. "Because you need to move on, and I think the best way to do that is if you write it out. I promised you I would help you through this, and I will do my best".

"Well… I wouldn't be in this mess if it weren't for you in the first place." I pouted, pretending to be upset, knowing how much he hated it.

"And I will keep being sorry for the rest of my life. I should've just minded my business." He hugged me tighter, which made me laugh.

"I know I'm just messing with you" I loved teasing him.

Jace looked at me offended, then got back up to sip his tea without saying anything. I laughed as I opened my laptop again, staring at the page. I could never be upset with him, no matter the circumstances. Jace and I have a long history together, and I know he means well. When I first recognised that I liked the non-female species. I was perplexed and frightened. I had no clue what to do next or how to react or approach the subject, but Jace was there every step of the way and helped me through it all. When he told me that he also liked men and that it was okay and there was nothing wrong with loving who you want, it calmed me down a little in the realisation that many people like the non-female species. After that, we got even closer.

Jace's confidence transferred to me a little; you can say he's very contagious. He taught me to be myself and accept my choices, and I will forever be grateful. Our parents are also close; they'd always go on trips together. Which Jace and I would get bitter about because they always went while we had school. We may have caused trouble here and there to get them to come back. So when we finally decided to tell our parents, we thought it'd be best to do it together and tell them simultaneously. I was terrified, Jace pretended to be nonchalant about it, but I knew better. However, his pretend confidence was comforting, so I also kept pretending. I knew my parents loved me, and they would understand, but my head kept going to worst-case scenarios; what if they kicked me out? What if they'd hate me? I don't think I would've been the same if they did. But we still sat in front of them after we finished dinner, and we said, "we're gay…."

Our parents looked at us, and I held my breath waiting for the screaming and the 'get the hell out of my house' speech. But all we got was a smile, and then my dad spoke.

"Oh, we know, you guys are not that subtle" He laughed as he took a sip from his wine.

"Yeah, we were wondering when you'd finally have the balls to tell us," Jace's dad, Jay, added while giving us a cheeky smirk. Finally, both our mom's got up to hug us, telling us that they loved us.

We were so relieved we started crying as we were not expecting that reaction, and through their laughter, they continued hugging us and telling us that it was okay and we had the right to love whoever we wanted.

"Real world to Levi," I hear Jace calling, pulling me out of my sweet memories.

"What is it?" I asked.

"You were smiling like a lunatic, so I wanted to check up on you to make sure you're not losing it."

"What a great friend. Thank you for worrying about me," I add sarcastically while throwing a pillow at him.

Let's get back to the story, shall we?

As I was saying…

Previously on Not-so-secret crush.

KAYDEN 🤤

Hi Levi, I wanted to confirm for tomorrow after school. Do you want to go together or meet there?

…………………………………………

I looked at the message with wide eyes. Oh my god, that's right, I'm meeting Kayden tomorrow… how could I forget. What do I do?

What do I wear?

What do I SAY?

I got up with my phone in my hand to my closest, opened it up and started throwing clothes out, trying to find what I would wear.

"Too casual… Too formal… Too sluty, gotta return this to Jace." I muttered as I kept throwing items out.

Then it hit me… we wear school uniforms; I don't need an outfit. So stupid. Get the hang of yourself, Le. You are a grown-ass man.

"So stupid," I huffed as I sat on the floor, exhausted.

In my frantic state, I failed to realise that I, in fact, did not lock my phone, and I accidentally touched my screen. Doing something, I still kick myself for doing to this day…

"Hello."

I froze. What was that?

"Hello, Levi?"

I looked at my phone in horror, displayed on the screen bright as day…

2:03

KAYDEN 🤤

“SHIT…”

Oh no, no, no, no. This is not happening right now. Please wake up. Wake up, damn it.

"Hello?" I hear him yelling from the other end. So I bring it closer to my ears and brace for what's about to happen.

"H-hi, Kayden," my voice barely comes out as a whisper.

"Are you okay? You called, and all I heard was mumbling and rustling. I thought something was wrong," He said, sounding sincere. So stupid. Why do I keep doing this? I must've sounded like a crazy person.

"I am so sorry about that, and it seems like I accidentally dialled your number. I am okay. I was just cleaning out my closest, haha" I laughed awkwardly, trying to get out of this as safely as possible. Hopefully, he did hear anything.

"Oh, okay then, that's great. Glad you're okay. Got me worried there for a second."

Okay, so far, so good. It seems like he didn't hear me freak out. So let's finish this, Le; you can do it, just don't act and don't do anything stupid, and we can brush this off.

"Ah, sorry to worry you, everything is good. So about tomorrow, we can meet at the school and then go together. Makes it easier," I add to change the subject.

"Yes, I agree. Okay, then sounds good. Meet me at the gate tomorrow after school, and we'll go together." So he says, and honestly, his voice is sending me haywire now that I've calmed down.

My previously calmed heart is no more and is now pounding for an entirely different reason. His voice was sending shivers down my spine, and it was so deep, and on the phone, he sounded raspy. He is shaking my whole existence.

"Okay then, good," I say, and we pause for an awkward silence. I honestly don't want this call to end. Should I just keep talking and see where it goes?

Levi, just go for it. This is a rare chance. Please don't waste it.

"So um, since we here and we're talking, why not get to know each other… so it's less awkward tomorrow, you know. I mean, it can make things easier and all. But if you are busy, then it's okay; it's just a suggestion, you're probably busy, and I'm just-"

"Levi," He interrupts me.

"Yes?" I reply cautiously.

"I would love to get to know you. That sounds like a great idea," He answers, and I release a breath, not realising I was holding it.

I smile. "Okay then, how was your day?"...

We stay on the call for hours, chatting and asking questions. Kayden suggested we play Twenty questions to make it easier, but twenty turned to Thirty and then Forty. I learned that he is also 18 years old and likes the colour green because he loves nature. He recently learned how to play the guitar and has been playing the violin since he was a kid. He was an only child like me, but he had a baby sister coming on the way. His birthday is on the 3rd of February, and I told him happy late birthday since it passed. He wants to be a psychologist when he graduates, which shocked me because I thought, Kayden would go into music because he loves it so much, but he loves helping people more. I was so into it that I forgot about everything around me. Listening to him talk about himself and his dreams, his laugh. It is making it harder for me to deny the feelings that kept creeping up on me.

"Anyway, I think we should go to bed now we've been talking for hours." He yawns, pulling me out of my daze.

"Oh wow, I didn't even realise. Sorry to keep you this long, but I had lots of fun. It was nice getting to know you," I answer, and I feel a blush creeping into my cheeks.

"Don't be. I enjoyed it. It was nice getting to know you, Levi; you are very interesting. I didn't know a person could be this petty," He laughs, remembering the story I told him about how I stole a girl's favourite toy after she broke my pencil.

"Hey, if they can't handle it, they shouldn't dish it, you know." I smile on the other end of the line as I hear his laugh go through my ears again.

"Yes, please remind me never to mess with your pencil. I like my things. Good night Levi. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night Kayden, sweet dreams. See you tomorrow," I go to hang up, but he stops me.

"Actually, Levi, one more thing."

"What is it?"

"Don't return it to Jace just yet; I'd like to see it first. Goodnight," He laughs hysterically as he hangs up.

I gasp and stare into the phone like it just exploded. He heard me…

Okay, earth… I'm ready… swallow me whole and hide me forever. I drop my phone on the bed and cradle my head between my arms. I can never look him in the eyes again. Well, tomorrow is going to be so much fun. I groan as I flop onto the bed. Let's just go to bed. Hopefully, I'll wake up and forget everything. 

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You have reached the end of the chapter. Like and comment if you liked it, and I'll see you all in the next one.