Weellll, since I haven't uploaded in about two or three weeks, you can have this chapter as well. Aaaand it is 3:30 am and I have work today... I'M GONNA DIE XD

I lay, sweltering in the summer heat, on the top of my bed, watching Novalie, who was sat in my chair, her hair falling around her face. She was outlined golden in the candlelight. I had never seen beauty in humans until now. To be honest, I don't think I ever saw beauty in anything. I remember being constantly irritated by her when I first met her, probably because it frustrated me that I couldn't work out what it was about her that drew me to her.

To this day, I still don't know.

She was writing rapidly, trying to make sense of all the drama around her. She was actually stressed. Her tranquil nature had gone straight out of the window. When we got in, she was raking her hand through her hair and pacing.

'What have I done wrong Levi?' She had said, her eyes pleading. 'I try to live peacefully, but all this trouble finds me!'

So I sat her at my desk and told her to write it all down. That's how you make a plan without it whirling around your head. And just like that, she had set to work. An hour later she was still there in the darkness. I momentarily closed my eyes, when I heard paper rip. She was ripping it all into tiny pieces. Then she crushed it in her hands and sighed, her posture deflating. She had her head in her hands.

I jumped up, putting my hand out, then pulling it back. Hold your fucking horses Levi. Edging up to her, I tapped her on the shoulder. She lifted her head.

'You made a mess of my desk.'

'Sorry…' She swept it up in her hands and let It flutter into the wastepaper. Leaning back in the chair, she sighed again.

'Are you seriously going to give up?' I grabbed her by the shoulders. She started. 'Am I going to have to beat the crap out of every single druggy here until I find the right one, or are you going to get off your ass?'

'Get off my ass?' Her tone was defensive. 'I have been sat here for an hour Levi. An hour!'

'Well sit for another fucking hour if you have to then!' I slammed another piece of paper in front of her. She glared at me. 'Either that, or go to sleep and stop driving me crazy.'

'What do you mean "driving me crazy"?' Her knuckles whitened. 'I am sorry you don't like me here twenty-four seven, but in case you haven't noticed, WE HAVE NO CHOICE!' We both fell silent at that. That wasn't what I had meant at all. I backed up a bit.

'I am stressed out Levi…'

'You think I can't see that?'

'Obviously not!'

'I'm not blind!'

'Then would you…' She trailed off and pinched the bridge of her nose. 'What am I even saying? You are just being Levi. This is what you are always like, I don't know why I am getting so angry about it…' She turned away from me and picked up the pen again.

My own words tumbled around my brain. You dickhead Levi.

I put my hand over hers to stop her in her tracks. She twitched, but didn't pull away.

'…Sorry. Stop it now, you need to rest.'

'I can't sleep,' she snapped.

'Try.'

After a moment of staring at the table in front of her, she got up and kicked her boots off. As she undid her harness and discarded her jacket, I fell back onto my own bed. She was camped right next to me on the floor. Of all the space in this room, that is where she had chosen to be. She curled on top of the blankets, staring into space. I drooped my hand over the side of my bed lazily, letting it brush the floor. Closing my eyes, I felt her fingers thread through mine.

NOVALIE

His fingers folded around my hand, and stayed that way for the next few hours. It was so frustrating, neither of us could sleep, yet all we could do was lay in silence. The situation, as well as the discomfort of laying on the floor, kind of reminded me of the Underground. Oh how I had wanted to dive in next to Levi when we were both shivering, or when he was drenched in the sweat of a nightmare. My hip bone was digging into the floor and I needed to fidget, but I didn't dare move. I didn't want to let go of Levi's hand.

Stupidly, I had forgotten about the candle. It started flickering wildly, and before I could do anything about it, plunged us into darkness. My eyes widened. I can't see… I can't see a thing. There was nothing, just blank space. Lost in the dark again. My ultimate weakness.

Unknowingly, my grip tightened.

'I'll re-light it,' Levi said calmly. He slipped away from me. Feeling both incredibly vulnerable and stupid, like a dependant child, I stood up. My head began to whirl, the stress and fear and hopelessness that was already in my brain adding to the rising panic in my chest. My windpipe tightened. Oh shit, I can't breathe. I CAN'T BREATHE! I am actually going to suffocate, right here, right now. I am going to die… It's going to kill me!

'Where the hell are they…' Levi grumbled, fumbling around. His voice wavered. I stuck my hands out and stumbled forwards.

Can't see… Mamma I can't see…

'Just a girl… In the darkness… You know what happens in the darkness… Don't you?' Hands on my shoulders. 'Bad things…' A whisper of stale breath. 'You don't know where they are, but they know where you are…' That laugh, low and choked. Fingers curling around my clothing and dragging me backwards… Flailing in the abyss… Being held down, sharp blows coming from unknown places…

I CAN'T SEE! I CAN'T RUN! WHAT IS EVEN GOING ON?!

I crashed straight into something warm and moving, and immediately arms ensnared me. I realised from the wetness of my face that I was sobbing.

'I can't find the matches,' Levi said apologetically.

I curled into him. It's OK… Nothing can touch me when I am with Levi… I am not alone.

'Why am I… So scared…' My own voice was hoarse, and I gulped repeatedly.

'I don't know, but you don't need to be.'

'N- No… But I am…'

'Close your eyes.'

'W- why?'

'Just do it.'

I obeyed. I could almost trick myself into thinking it wasn't pitch black out there, beyond the safety of my eyelids… My chest stopped heaving, and I went still.

LEVI

Her breath curled around my collarbone. It made me go weak at the knees. Jesus Novalie, what have you done to me? I was very consciously aware that our noses would touch only at the slight turn of my head. Her lips were only inches away from mine. All I would have to do-

Levi, you are spacing out thinking about pointless things. Task at hand maybe? As in, what the hell do I do now? She was clinging to me for dear life and I was clinging to her in hope that she would be calmer if I stayed here. I couldn't find the matches – I might even have run out – there was only one option: try and keep her calm. I started moving, and she stumbled a little, already off-balance. I sat her down on the edge of the bed.

'You still got your eyes closed?'

'Yeah…'

'Just… I don't know…' Try to sleep? Like that is going to happen. 'Calm the fuck down?'

She snorted.

'What's so funny?'

'You…' Silence.

'…Thank you Levi.'

'For what?'

'Putting up with me.'

'I don't "put up" with anything,' I argued.

'The Underground… It was always so dark, wasn't it?' She whispered, totally changing the subject.

'Yeah.'

'The people… It was like they turned into demons when they were in the shadows…'

'Weren't they always demons?' I muttered.

'True. At least you were feared down there, Levi.'

'I had to earn that, you know.'

'Kenny Ackerman was feared too,' she pointed out.

Where was she going with this? 'Your point is?'

'…Never mind.'

'Is that why you don't like the dark? Because of the Underground?' I wondered aloud.

'I guess that is where it started.'

'Where… Exactly?'

Silence. I was treading in deep water here.

'We got broken into... Ransacked… Loads… My family were terrible at defending themselves.'

My skin prickled. Breaking in and thieveing in the Underground was brutal. It wasn't a case of them simply breaking into your house and taking your belongings. It often involved raping, beating or sometimes killing the inhabitants, tying them up and demanding to know where they hid things, leaving them with absolutely nothing. Burgled families often ended up starving to death as a consequence. I felt sick just imagining that tiny little girl I once met going through something like that.

'Shit Novalie.'

'I know… That ever happen to you?'

'Once, but Kenny gutted them before they could take anything.'

'As I said…. Feared.'

'Yeah, point made. But no one is going to do that here,' I pointed out.

'I know…' Her voice was totally broken and weary. I could feel her trembling against me. She placed her hand on my chest and pushed me onto my back, curling up beside me.

'Novalie-'

'Shh.'

I shut my mouth.