Priceless

[Jelly x Filled x Donut]

Anna bit her lip, it wasn't often someone offered her a meal let alone one from a restaurant. It was strange, being treated as more than a low life street rat. Most people in this area of the city gagged at the site of her. "I think his head might explode if I come back inside," Anna teased, trying to give her best giggle and smile. It was hard not to act nervous around these people...people like her Father, a cruel and heartless man with only his love for money in his soul.


"And just to warn you, Levi is probably going to complain about me AND the food, he just slammed down a bowl of cereal like...five minutes ago." Anna told Priscilla and shrugged, finally giving in to her plight. Now it was too late to be walking openly around the streets. If Anna was going to kill anytime and get out of the area without being noticed she'd have to kill some time first. It wouldn't have been her ideal place to stop and hide out considering she wasn't feeling well and the owner of the apartment wanted to throw her from the roof. But, if there was a meal involved Anna figured it wouldn't hurt.


Walking back didn't take too long, but for some reason it seemed that the hallway had grown longer while they'd chatted. Going back was something she didn't want to have to do, but now their really wasn't much of a choice, "I want to thank you again," Anna told Priscilla just as she was casually opening the apartment door and stepping inside. It was clear to her that it was normal of her not to knock, and barge in like she'd owned the place. There was some sort of odd confidence about her, like if she didn't outshine anyone and everyone in the room she might crack.


"Guess who's back," Anna announced as she walked into the room, just making it a point that Priscilla had invited her back. Something about Levi made Annabelle want to throw him off of the roof as well...but there was something else too, that made her want to smile at him and bat her eyelashes. Though, she some how managed to keep herself from the latter of the two. And not only that, but there was a strange satisfaction of the two of them bickering back and forth. He may have been an ass, but at least he was an ass to everyone equally it seemed. She was no different to him than any other ass-hat that happened to walk into his life.

 

[cellar.]

Levi carefully stroked the top of Piper’s head, running his fingers softly behind her ears. The cat was all curled up on his lap, her head resting in the crook of his arm. He stared down at the heavy ball of white fur.

'You have it easy,’

he thought. If it wasn’t too much to ask for, he would want to be reborn as a cat in another life. Levi shifted slightly in the kitchen chair, careful not to disturb Piper. He leaned forward a bit, titling his head in order to see her face. Her eyes were half-closed, and he let his hands rest on her back. There was nothing more calming or real in life than petting a kitty.


Unfortunately, the short moment of peace was broken, as the door swung open again. As he saw Anna, a scowl appeared across his face. So he could not get as angry at Priscilla as he would’ve liked. She had taken care of a bunch of things yesterday – including him. However, he could definitely, one hundred percent rag on Anna without feeling the least bit guilty about the situation. His head was still pounding, pounding, pounding; having to deal with people didn’t make it any better. Briefly that morning, he had contemplated if he should’ve just gone ahead and gotten drunk some more to forget he was hung-over. Then he realized that was horrible idea. Levi

needed

to take the edge off of his pain, and if he couldn’t do it physically…Here was his chance to unleash everything into a verbal spew of aggression. Hostility was brewing and seeping into his veins.


Priscilla, however, largely ignored the volcano that was waiting to erupt. Instead, she started unloading the plastic containers of food on the kitchen island. She placed a few plates and forks out on the granite surface. "Help yourself," she said to Anna, pushing a plate in her direction. With a handful of utensils, she looked over her shoulder at Levi. "Are you going to eat?...I have penne," she added a pause later. So she had bought his favourite kind of pasta – with all the ridges and whatnot – but he wasn't going to be persuaded that easily by food.


"I'm not hungry," he grumbled. Levi was quiet for a few minutes. The festering feeling of annoyance was growing, but he calmed it down enough to start speaking. “So…” Levi started very deliberately, staring at Anna, “Why were you at St. Luke’s yesterday? Like, what the fuck’s wrong with you anyways?” The question settled awkwardly into the conversation. He felt a great sense of satisfaction, and yet a great sense of weariness he hadn’t expected.

 

[Jelly x Filled x Donut]

Anna stiffened slightly at Levi's expression. It wasn't exactly what she'd been expecting, though beyond annoyance she wasn't exactly sure what she WAS expecting. Despite that, Anna followed Priscilla and wasted no time grabbing food once it was offered to her. This was going to be the first time she'd had a hot meal in probably two years. Once a while back someone had taken her to a soup kitchen of sorts and she'd had the worst and best mash potato's she'd ever eaten.


Again, Annabelle wasted no time and was shoveling food into her mouth when a bomb blew off. It wasn't a question people asked often and it certainly wasn't something that people hurled at her like that. Most of the time people didn't care, or only asked her out of curiosity because people were nosy and wanted to pretend like they cared to get information.


Even though she'd been starving, her appetite was suddenly ripped from her just as quickly as Levi spat his words. Her face went white, Anna could tell without even looking because of the sudden lack of warmth in her cheeks. For a moment she considered running off without so much as giving him eye contact but, wondered if that would only serve to make her look like a coward. So, she set her fork down and turned slowly to face Levi, looking him square in the eyes from where he sat glaring with a cat on his lap.


"Well," Anna started, trying to figure the best way to word it, "I have something called Goodpasture Syndrome," she spoke honestly finding that it would only serve to hurt her later if she lied. "I don't know that you care what it does to me, so I will explain the short version; I'm dying." It was a harsh way of putting it, her tone icy with every word. Her bright eyes stayed locked onto his as she spoke, "I've have it for years and it's the whole reason I ended up here. I'm so sorry my dying was so very inconvenient." Her last sentence was spat out like acid and she started for the door.


But just as she jerked the door open, she turned back and gave her sweetest smile to Levi's much more compassionate sister, Priscilla, "Thank you so much, for everything," and with that she slammed the door shut behind her and stalked down the hallway. Tears flooded her eyes now, and she only hoped to god she'd make it at least down to the lobby before have a total breakdown.

 

[cellar.]

Once, he had held death in his fists and played it like a game of marbles, shooting shafts of broken light into the dark. He had watched it too, quietly as it won and lost lives from its open arms. Experience had made Levi more familiar with the idea of dying...And yet, death still surprised him – time and time again. It was something else entirely to know that someone was counting down the seconds before him. Bewildered by Anna's confession, he couldn't find anything suitable to say. The nastiest things came the easiest; what he couldn't manage were honest words of apology or sincerity. Before he even opened his mouth, the door slammed shut.


There was a possibility that he had screwed this up worse than he had intended to.


"What the hell was that?" Priscilla said angrily, jumping up from her seat. "Seriously, you're so

sick

."


She spat out the last word, and it lodged itself deep into his brain. It only made him more irritated that it hurt as much as it did.


"Go piss off," Levi snapped back, "Don't you have some guy to fuck over?"


He spoke without thinking, and it left a path of regret in the immediate aftermath. The implications of his statement hung thickly in the air like smoke. Priscilla flushed red, her cheeks growing blotchy with color and embarrassment and anger. He knew that he had gone much too far this time around.


There were lines that even

he

tread lightly around. There were things they had promised to never speak of.


"I'm sorry, I didn't mean that," Levi said quietly.


But there was nothing but silence. He had quite accidentally breached an unspoken agreement between them. As siblings, they understood each other the best even in the worst of times, and they both knew that they dealt with things the same way – to shut up and never speak of it, to never point out the fallacy in logic when they both needed a little less reality. They fought often, but always upheld their rule as sacred.


"I don't need an apology." Priscilla finally said, sounding icy, "It-It doesn't matter."


But it did matter, and they both knew. Still, she cleared her throat slightly, and turned to stare at the door. "...You should go apologize to Anna." Her tone suggested that it was less of an option and more of a command.


It was, technically speaking, the

right

thing to do. Too bad he was so great at being wrong all the time. Too bad apologizing was like ripping out his throat and wearing it as a noose around his neck.


Levi sat still in the kitchen chair, staring down at his hands. He studied the creases on his palms, and the calluses on his fingers from years of playing the viola. He traced the line of a scar across his knuckles, as he contemplated his choices. After a stretch of silence, he gathered Piper up in his arms and stood up. Irritated by the sudden shift in position, the cat squirmed her way out of his grasp and hopped down onto the floor. She slinked away into another room.

'Oh come on, I need you,'

Levi thought desperately. But she was gone, gone, gone.


With something of a sigh, he wordlessly slipped on his shoes, grabbed his keys, and headed down into the hall of the fifteenth floor.


For once, he had to be grateful for the atrociously slow elevators in the building. He caught sight of Anna standing in the hall and called out to her. "Hey!" Levi yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth. Now that he had her attention, however, he wasn't totally sure what to say. As he grew closer, he swore he could see tears in her eyes. Maybe he had done more harm than he had initially thought.


Pretending not to see, he focused his gaze away from her.



"Hey..." He repeated softer after he approached. "...I, uh. Apologize. For being...rude." This was much too difficult for him; it was pretty much like each word was being forcibly ejected from his vocal cords. "I mean...Well yes...Uh, I can...drive you home...If you'd like...Because...If you're not feeling well..." That was about as far as his generosity would extend, but it was something.

 

[Jelly x Filled x Donut]

Anna jumped when she heard someone yelling out behind her. She hoped it wasn't who she thought it was, and wanted him to go away but to her surprise he approached her. Now all she felt was angry and hurt, there wasn't room for forgiveness though she wished there were. He'd meant to hurt her, and as much as she hated to admit it, Levi had done it. It pained her heart to be treated the same way over and over again, no one thinking of their actions who or how they hurt.


Tears still hung in her eyes as Anna tried to speak with as much acid as possible, but it came out more cracked and small...more tired, "Oh, so now that you know I'm dying you're willing to help me?" She rolled her eyes which caused a tear to spill down her cheek. Quickly Anna caught it with a finger and brushed it away. "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, thanks," She said and turned to leave. Sticking around with this guy was not how she wanted to spend the rest of her day and if she got anymore upset another attack would settle in.


"Go back to your pretty apartment and make someone else feel like shit," Anna spat the words harder than she'd meant to, but they were there and she couldn't take them back. The anger she felt right now was clouding her thoughts. Normally, Annabelle would never talk to someone that way, but she'd been in pain. Though, Anna saw that as no excuse it had happened and for the time being she didn't feel much like apologizing for it. After that, she slipped out the door and went toward home.


Levi lived farther away than she'd first guessed, and it was going to be a bit of a walk. She would have taken the bus, but her pockets were void of change. The only option was to walk, and as of right now getting home was all that she let herself focus on. If she thought of Levi's words or anything else she was going to have a meltdown. Some sort of freak out on the sidewalk and that wasn't something Anna was prepared for.


As she walked people avoided Anna, though she didn't blame them. But today, it hurt more than it usually did and made her want to cry all the more. People always treated her like scum of the earth, and it especially happened when she was on this part of town. They glared her down, scoffed, turned their noses up, and sometimes she was even spit on. So, Anna just hung her head low, her bright red hair hiding her eyes and she treid to block out the noises around her. If she shut everything out, it would hurt less...wouldn't it?

 

[cellar.]

The door slammed shut behind him.


Slowly, Priscilla sank into the kitchen chair, placing her head into her arms.


She had been balancing like an apparatus with one loose bolt too many. Now that Levi had left, the whole thing came crashing down in a dismal array. Last night, and all of its predecessors…It hurt. But it was the pain of a hairline fracture – the kind of injury where the missing piece had long become dust, and void, and lost. His words still bounced around in her ears like a symphony of echoes.


In the end, she could not blame him. She could only hate him for being right.


Levi had always been particularly observant as a kid, gifted with the kind of ability to examine people without even meaning to. Over the years, with each senseless remark or dumb move, that trait seemed to have weathered down considerably. However, it was moments like this where Priscilla was sure he still had it in him. After all, Levi always seemed to know which words could hurt someone the most. Was he congratulating himself on managing to piss

two

people off in the course of five minutes? She wouldn’t bet against it. It was more surprising that he had actually gone to apologize to Anna, or even had felt any sense of accountability.


She was majorly pissed, but wasn’t in much of the mood for an argument at all. Neither was Levi by the looks of things. It would just be for the best if she just took it in, and forgot about it…Like always. It was a breeding ground for resentment, a festering wound that would never close. But

someone

had to fill the role,

someone

had to be stuck in eternal babysitting duty.


And here she was.


With a deep sigh, Priscilla picked herself up from the kitchen chair. She walked around the apartment space, glancing around at the surroundings. Nothing seemed to be out of place – things looked tidy and well-kept, a quick peek in the fridge revealed that it was properly stocked, and there was nothing broken in general. She took a glance around in Levi's bedroom, but hesitated on intruding.


She could trust him enough not to go through his medicine cabinet…Right?


Before she had time to decide on it, the front door swung open. Levi strolled in, threw his keys on the counter, and kicked off his shoes. “Remind me never to try that again,” he said as he headed straight for his bedroom. So it hadn’t gone well with Anna. Not that Priscilla had expected it to.


“Screw everything. Let’s just go, I want to see Ephraim,” Levi called over his shoulder without meeting her eyes.


It was her cue to shut up about it, and they could both pretend like it never happened.

 

[Jelly x Filled x Donut]

After a while of walking, Anna had to stop. Her chest heaved up and down quickly, breathing became harder and harder the older that she got. It probably wouldn't have worsened so quickly if she had the proper treatment...but it wasn't something she could afford. Besides, most of the doctors that she knew, who knew how to handle her illness, were barred by doing so. Her father hated her, she was the weakest link in the family name and he let her know it. He was one of the biggest names in the town, if you didn't know him or of him you were a nobody. His family was like royalty in this city, the McHerren's.


Lost in thought Anna smacked into someone hard, it was a man she knew by the scent of his strongly applied cologne and flat chest. Landing on her ass, Annabelle winced. The man was wearing a expensive tailored suit, and shoes that probably cost four hundred dollars. When she looked up into his face she felt like vomiting. It was her brother, Michael, someone she had been trying to avoid running into. By the disgusted expression on his face, Anna guessed that Michael had recognized her almost instantly.


"I-I'm sorry!" Anna half shouted, causing people to stare, "I was just trying to leave, I know I'm not supposed to be seen over here," Anna wasn't afraid of much, except her family. When they wanted something they got it...and when they didn't...well that was needless to say.


"You scuffed my Jimmy Choo's," Michael said coldly, before promptly spitting in Anna's direction.


Anna reached out to rub the scuff away, but he kicked her hand hard enough to cause a loud thwack.


"You're not supposed to be anywhere near this part of town," He was pulling out his cellphone now, dialing a number.


It only took Annabelle a second to realize who it was he was calling, and she wanted no part in it. So, she did what it was that she did best (even for a sick girl), and that was run.


She was pushing people out of the way, weaving in and out as people ignored her and pretended as though they didn't see someone barreling toward them. When Anna finally felt like she was far enough away, she stopped to take in as much breath as her body would allow. Of course, the running caused her to cough, which then caused blood. But, to her surprise she didn't feel all that dizzy or faint. Maybe this day wouldn't continue to be so shitty after all.

 

[cellar.]

He pushed and piled the food around on his plate – first arranging them by food groups and then by colour. The green peppers lay next to the corn, next to the carrots, next to the sauce, next to the salmon, next to the-


He stabbed his fork into the center, and began to rearrange his plate again.


“…Levi?”


He looked up – just in time to see a look of concern cross briefly over Priscilla’s features. The realization hit that she was worried…about

him.

He had been quiet most of the hospital trip, wordless in the vicinity of their parents, and silent as he sat next to Ephraim, only listening and watching to the machines beep and flash. It was his

stillness

that disconcerted her. That was a strange revelation to come across.


“Are you okay?” Priscilla asked. She was watching his expression, waiting for an answer.


There were too many things that were not okay. He had spent an afternoon being reminded how everything was breakable. Utterly and catastrophically breakable. He couldn’t imagine how she managed to keep everything so together, so neatly packed and stored away.


“I’m fine,” Levi answered.


In truth, he only wanted to be in his bed – not at Arcadia, where he was sitting smack in the middle between his sister and her boyfriend; not at this restaurant where he was pushing food into small piles and wondering what the hell he was doing here. It was almost overwhelming, and he suddenly felt the strangest sense of claustrophobia building up in his chest.


“We can go home if you’d like,” Priscilla said gently. Levi looked up again when he felt her hand on his shoulder. There was part of him that would’ve been glad to give in to her suggestion, to agree, to say that yes – he wasn’t quite alright.


But he didn’t. He never did.


“I said I was fine,” Levi snapped.

 

[Jelly x Filled x Donut]

Dinner went rathe quietly, Michael chatting about this and that. Mostly, he just talked about his money and how much of it he was going to spend.


He was the kind of the person that thought all of his money impressed anyone and everyone. It was pretty obvious that when he talked about himself it was to make him feel better about himself. For some reason people liked him, but it probably wasn't for him. He was handsome and rich, so most people in this city gravitated toward anyone worth mentioning.


He only stopped talking long enough to get up from the table and pull out Prscilla's chair. He paid for their rather expensive meal and they went out to wait for the valet to bring back his red Mercedes.


Priscilla and Michael idly chatted about nothing much. Mostly money like usual, which was so riveting. "...So I told the car dealer I won't take any more than 50 thou--" he stopped mid sentence and bore his hot gaze into someone who was walking down the street. In an instant he went from complacent to hopping mad.


"What the hell are you doing here!?" He demanded and stalked quickly up to a fiery red head. People glanced over but, of course people knew Michael and decided it would be better for them not to get involved.


"I-I was just coming to find someone..." Anna stammered and ducked her head.


Quickly, he grabbed her arm roughly causing Anna to wince. "You're going to regret coming anywhere near here!" He was trying to dial on his phone in the other hand.


Anna closed her eyes and tried her best not to look as ill and scared as she was. It was an odd combination to be feeling making everything a lot more intense. "Y-you're hurting me..." Anna tried to pull her arm free but Michael held tighter and she let out a sort of yelp.


"Shut up," Michael snapped and continued to dial on his phone. If Anna knew him as well as she thought she did, Michael was send something to their father. If he hadn't ruined her life enough already... Worse was yet to come.

 

[cellar.]

Levi strayed behind slightly, as they walked towards the parking garage. He could hear snippets of conversation being carried back towards him…Something about cars or money or whatnot. It wasn’t particularly interesting, not that Levi thought this Michael person was particularly interesting – other than being a McHerren. He had always been aware of the fact that his sister was

much

too prepossessing for her own good, always leading a contingent of waitlisted lovers. What was she on? Like her third new boyfriend this month? He didn’t dare mention the fact though. Priscilla would probably strangle him to death, judging by her reaction this morning.


He was lost in thought, when he heard an exclamation come from in front. Levi glanced up in time to see Michael grab the arm of

someone who was way too familiar.

He blinked in surprise, wondering if he was seeing things right. This was the third time that fate had decided to wrap him up with this girl. Annabelle.

‘What the shit…’

Levi thought. He was paralyzed by confusion, only able to watch the scene unfold in front of him. A thousand questions popped into his head, but his astonishment left his mouth hanging wordlessly.


“Anna?” Priscilla said, her tone incredulous. She slowly walked up behind them. Tentatively, Levi followed her lead.


He could hear clearly what they were yelling about now, although he didn’t understand the context of the situation. How on earth did Michael even know Anna? Did she have some sort of habit of passing out at random people’s homes, or what? In all honesty, he had enough things to deal with today. This unprecedented surprise was not at all welcomed.


“Michael, what the hell are you doing?” Priscilla exclaimed, as she neared closer to them. Her gaze fell on the hand that was firmly wrapped around Anna’s wrist. “Jesus Christ, Michael, you’re hurting her. I think you can let go.”

 

[Jelly x Filled x Donut]

"Oh shut up," Michael snapped at Priscilla without looking up from the screen of his phone. Anna tried to step back and break lose but Michael pulled her in closer, Anna yelped again.


"Priscilla!" Anna called when she saw who was standing in front of her. For a moment she looked over at Levi, their eyes meeting. She probably would've glared at him but she couldn't bring herself to feel anything but embarrassment and shame.


"You know Anna?" Michael demanded finally looking up from his phone in shock.


"She-she helped me when I collapsed..." Anna tried to explain but it only served to her her shoved to the ground.


Michael stood over her now, pointing a finger sharply down at Anna, "How dare you bother her! I'm going to make sure Father makes your life a living hell!" Michael shouted, and started to type on his phone again.


"I'm so sorry that Anna bothered you with her filth, sweetheart." Michael was talking to Priscilla as though he hadn't just shoved someone forcefully to the ground.


"Don't. Move." Michael demanded of Anna, and instead of denying him she looked down at her lap and didn't move after that. It was obvious now, that Michael scared her. It was probably odd for Levi to see her so docile and small. The last time they saw each other she's been fired up and forceful. This was not the Annabelle he'd met... Not by a long shot.

 

[cellar.]

He had never thought he would be on Annabelle’s side.


Despite all the asshatery he could pull, all the mockery and malicious remarks– Levi thought there was just something intrinsically wrong with shoving a sick girl towards the ground. He was astounded, and he was pissed.


Levi glared at Michael, a stream of steady insults forming at the tip of his tongue. “What-”


“Mike, sweetie,

you need to calm your fucking tits

,” Priscilla interjected with a certain vindictiveness. Momentarily, Levi was surprised that she had the taken the words right out of his mouth. After the initial shock, he was also weirdly proud of what had just happened.


So they

were

related by more than just blood.


“She didn’t bother me, I

wanted

to help her,” Priscilla said, extending a hand to help Anna up. “So you can put the phone away.

Now.

” Levi had to appreciate the remarkable quality his sister had in sounding absolutely murderous when she wanted to. As far as he was concerned, no one had ever bossed Priscilla around without feeling a great sense of regret in the aftermath. After all, he knew from the years of experience.


Confusion was running amuck. Michael obviously knew Annabelle – and judging by his wildly over-the-top reaction, their encounter had not been a pleasant one. Something seriously bad had to have gone down for the formerly calm and placated Michael to blow up like a fuse in a matter of seconds. Ultimately, these questions got lost in the whole commotion.


In the end, Levi could have never imagined that he would be the sole pacifying voice.


“Okay, everyone just stop arguing. This applies to you too,” he added before Michael could say anything in protest. “First, would anybody please like to explain what the hell is going on, and why the hell did you just lose your shit.”


Perhaps he wasn’t the most eloquent or tactful of diplomats, but Levi got the job done.

 

[Jelly x Filled x Donut]

Michael rolled his eyes, but didn't fight Priscilla in the matter. He glared over to his sister and sighed. "That thing," he spat the word, "is my god awful sister," he said and waved his hand as though she were a piece of trash. He'd never liked her it seemed, even when she was healthy Anna knew somewhere inside Michael was a rage toward her. It never made much sense to her, but Annabelle never questioned it.


Anna hung her head and said nothing, letting her first hair hide her face. She didn't know what else to do in fear of her brother. He was after all a very frightening man. Before Anna had gotten sick, she saw Michael push someone down and beat them up at school just for looking at him wrong. He wasn't exactly the best at filtering his feelings. It was something she tried to stay out of the way for, but even now she managed to get tangled up with him.


She bit her lip and clenched her fists, trying her hardest to keep the tears at bay. Crying wasn't something that she wanted to do in front of Levi and Priscilla, let alone her brother. Surely this would only fuel Michael's fire. He never did like it when anyone cried, especially Anna. She remembered one time before she knew what was wrong with her, Anna had been crying in her room when Michael came in. She thought for sure their mother had sent him in to comfort her, but really he'd come on his own. What he did was steal some of her toys and told her to shut up. It was probably something that an older brother normally did, but she wasn't sure at the time. So it only served to make her cry more.


"She's not supposed to be anywhere near our family or this part of town," Michael explained, his voice snapped Annabelle out of her own memories. "She ruins the family name just by being alive, I mean, look at her." He gave Anna a disgusted look over as though she were a smelly garbage can that the city cleaning crew needed to empty.


"I-I just wanted to thank Priscilla--" Michael turned a hot gaze on her and she stopped talking instantly.


"Don't say her name, street trash," he spat and slipped his phone into his pocket. "Father knows you were here, and you're gonna pay for disobeying him." After that he didn't waste time walking off, slamming shoulders with his sister in the process. "I wont associate with anyone who spends time with the likes of my sister."


All Anna could do then was look down at her feet. It was an awkward situation to say the least.

 

[cellar.]

‘Sister…’

Levi repeated in his head. Sister. Annabelle was Michael’s

sister

. Annabelle was a

McHerren

– a family richer than god – and yet, what the hell was she bumming out in the streets for? By definition, this girl was supposed to be lounging around in Bentley around now, owning some huge-ass business, and living in a high-rise dripping in luxury. But instead, she was

here

. There was a history that was buried somewhere, and judging by Michael’s freak out on the whole matter, it had to be a bad one.


Before Levi could even wrap his head around the whole matter, Michael said something about his father (

their

father), and stomped away angrily. He could hear Priscilla cursing in front of him. A few seconds later, he watched as the red Mercedes speed away onto the open road. Its tail lights gradually grew dimmer and dimmer, until it disappeared in the sea of evening traffic. So that was that. For awhile, no one spoke. The all-encompassing silence stretched on in the awkwardness of the aftermath.


“Anna…” Priscilla started. “Oh. Wow. Um. I’m really sorry…” She trailed off, and then looked away. “ I didn’t know – I never thought that you and Michael – He…He was being a real ass…Are you okay?” She asked hesitantly. Anna was staring at her feet now, her head bowed so that they could not see her face. It didn’t take a genius, however, to take a guess at how she was feeling after what had just happened.


“…Why,” Levi finally said after the long interlude of quietness, “Did you let him treat you like that?” It was absolutely flabbergasting to him how she could just let someone walk all over her. “I mean, you didn’t have any trouble with using

me

as verbal target practice this morning.”


With those words, he earned himself a hard cuff on the arm.


“Oh shut up,” Priscilla hissed, thoroughly annoyed. “Can you be a little more tactful?”


Slowly, she turned to Anna again. She placed her hand on her shoulder, as if offering some sort of comfort.


“It’ll be okay,” she said gently, “whatever he was talking about...Michael will come around.”


Those were the whitest lies Levi had ever heard.

 

[Jelly x Filled x Donut]

Anna, had she been in a better situation probably would of thought of something clever to say back to Levi. He had a way with words that was so awful she wasn't sure anyone in the history of time could fuck up just as much as he did. But, at the time all she could do now was look up at him and give him a sad look. People were continuing to stare, wondering what a piece of street trash like her was still doing hanging around in such a nice part of town.


They'd stood out there a while longer in awkward silence before the host from the restaurant came out. "You're going to have to leave," It was clear who it was he was talking to, "Guests are complaining that their is a smell, and you're making them lose their appetite," He told Anna and she winced at his words. It wasn't something she was surprised about, but the words hurt her none the less. People who were standing outside waiting for valet were snickering. It was a simple case of kicking someone when they were down. Though it wasn't something that shocked her because these people could have cared less about her.


There was no fight in Annabelle in that moment, all she wanted to do was go home and lay in bed. "Alright," Anna said to the Host who gave her a dirty look before leaving. "I better get going," Anna said to the two standing in front of her. There wasn't much she was coming for but to thank Priscilla and she'd already done it. So there wasn't anything else that she needed to stay for anyway. Besides, if she hung out any longer someone was bound to call the cops on her.


Without another word she turned to leave, not worrying about anything but getting home. If she focused on that, maybe things would hurt less for her. Maybe she'd be able to push them out of her mind and not have to worry about them at all.

 

[cellar.]

Since his birth, Levi had always been a

brother.


He had been born into the title, born into an intrinsic part of who he was, and who he was going to be. Of course, there were times where he wished that he wasn't sandwiched between a sister and a brother, that he was more than just "the middle child", and that he wasn't defined by who his siblings were. There had been moments of wishful thinking – times when jealousy and animosity pushed him on to strive for

significance

, just so he could be so much more than just another O'Flaherty. And yet, he could not imagine life without Priscilla, and he

certainly

couldn't imagine a life with Ephraim.


He had come close – they all had – and in the past weeks, Levi had closed his eyes at night to expect only the worse by morning. He had tried very hard to convince himself that it would be okay. No mattered what happened, they would be fine, that he would be fine. (He had almost begged himself to be at that point.) In end, they were all very lucky. Ephraim was still alive and breathing and

here.

For all those days and days, Levi had never been able to bring himself to accept a

near-truth

on the brink of

waiting-to-happen. Never.




Thus, Michael and Annabelle was something of a grand mystery to him.


Maybe he did understand it deep, deep down...But on the surface of things, Levi couldn't wrap his mind around the scene that had just unfolded before him. It was almost absurd how much Michael seemed to hate Anna. There was anger, but it wasn't the kind of steam that just needed some blowing off. Whatever was between them was a lot more than

one wrong, one fight, one story.




Ten minutes later after the restaurant scene, those were the thoughts swarming around Levi's head.


He had (almost uncharacteristically) cooperated with Priscilla's orders. Perhaps it was the shock, the tiredness, the cold that he was sure he was developing – whatever it was, he had agreed to her suggestions. With something of a promise, he had strapped himself in his car in an attempt to find Anna while Priscilla had gone off to find Michael. Playing peace between two parties was definitely something new for him.


As slowly as possible, he drove along the Shoreline; the bright lights on the water and the sound of laughter bounced off from the car windows. A little farther down the road, he spotted the shadowy figure of Annabelle sticking out from the darkness. With a deep sigh, Levi slowed and pulled his car over beside her. Levi rolled down the passenger window, putting on his best shit-eating grin.


"Hop in loser, we're going for a drive."

 

[Jelly x Filled x Donut]

There wasn't a lot about Michael that Anna knew, but she did know that she'd done something to upset him. There was something about her that just made him want to vomit. She wondered what it possibly could be that upset him so much. It was hard to know when most of your life was spent apart. Maybe he was mad at her for not trying to stay in contact..? Maybe he genuinely just hated looking at her? It wouldn't have surprised her if their father made up many lies about her so that he wouldn't want anything to do with her. Their father wasn't the kind of person that was above something like that. There is only a few ways to push yourself to the top, and a lot of times, it's lying.


Anna had walked out to the beach, and was walking in the cool sand. It hadn't been hot for a few hours, and the breeze had cooled the top sand. Underneath it was warm when you dug your feet under and it was a welcome feeling on Annabelle's exhausted feet. It wasn't often she stopped to do things like this. Wander around, feeling the sand, or smell the ocean, most of the time she was scraping for her next meal or staying in bed. Life was tough for her, but she managed.


It snapped her out of her thoughts when she heard someone talking. "Oh!" Anna said when she locked her eyes on Levi, clearly surprised to see him. He called her loser, but it wasn't in a way that hurt her more than made her smile. It was one of the first genuine smiles she'd given in a long time, and to her surprise Levi was smiling back. It wasn't something she would have thought he did. Smiling was meant for happy people who didn't have a hole where their heart was supposed to go. Of course she didn't really think he was all that bad, Levi..but there were things about him that Anna didn't know about. Things that made him the way that Levi was today, things that caused him to be so closed off from everything and everyone.


"If I seem to recall, you're the one chasing me down, so I don't imagine I'm that much of a loser," Anna said to him, still smiling. He wasn't a friend or anything but it was nice to have someone talk to her like a human. To have someone look at her like she was actually there, actually a person. Even if it were under order of Priscilla, which Anna guessed it was, she enjoyed that someone was worried enough to come looking for her.


Slowly Anna worked her way through the sand and walked over to the passenger side of Levi's car, "So where are we headed...? Home?" Anna asked as she slid her tiny frame into the seat.

 

[cellar.]

She was genuinely smiling at him, and for a moment he was taken aback at the ease of her expression. He had been extremely doubtful that Anna would've actually stopped for him, considering the

accidental-on-purpose

remarks he had spewed out that morning in his fit of annoyance...Whatever, he wasn't going to question how her brain worked if it made his job easier. Maybe he was forgiven after all. "Huh. Well Cil's got me playing nice," Levi replied as he put the car in drive again. "But just so you know, you make it awfully hard for me not to insult you, loser."


Anna slid into the seat, and Levi pulled away from the road curb. "Strap in," he said curtly.


Now it was only a matter of deciding where to go. He knew what Priscilla would say, but he wasn't sure he agreed...


"Home?" Levi repeated, shooting her an incredulous stare. "Didn't think you had one, loser. Where do you live? The Third Cardboard Box on Adler Street?" In the back of his mind, he was

absolutely

sure that he should've shut up as soon as he had decided to open his fat mouth. But jokes came unconsciously out of his mouth like exhaling out air – extremely sarcastic, mildly offensive, and decidedly

unfunny

j

okes that is.


He had never been good at being soft with his tongue. It was a weapon, a blade, a double-edged sword.


However he backtracked this time. Levi was not in the mood to apologize again (and again), and was definitely not in the mood to pick a fight.


"I mean...You know what, you should really just invalidate everything I say. That's what everyone does, or else I'm pretty sure I would be in jail right now for being three hundred percent an asshole to society." It would be nice if he could get that disclaimer pasted across his forehead.


"Well, anyways, to answer your question," Levi started, "I'm supposed to kidnap you all the way back to St. Luke's, but I kind of figured you wouldn't like that would you? And the last thing I need is for you to try to Harry Houdini your way out of this car. What I'm also supposed to do, is ask you why Michael threw a bitch fit just then, and then ask if you're okay – which is dumb because you shouldn't be. Those are all the things I'm

supposed

to do," he said, reciting the the instructions he had received from Priscilla.


"...But. Nah. Fuck it, that's effort. Since we're not doing all that junk, it's your call now. Just tell me what you want."

 

[Jelly x Filled x Donut]

As he car moved, Anna stayed quiet. She listened to Levi run his mouth, and as much as she wanted to come up with something clever to retort with there was nothing there. It was probably clear just how much his words hurt her, because she felt her cheeks flare with heat and her eyes stung with tears. But she didn't want to cry so she when she finally replied she accompanied it with another smile, "I think a cardboard box would be better than the shit hole I live in now," She laughed then, but it was a little more forced than she intended it to be.


They didn't say too much after that, except for when Anna gave directions on how to get to her side of town. It was run down, and people stared at the vehicle as it went by. She knew rumors would start to spread about her, because of this, but she was just glad to be home quickly and not have to walk all the way home.


-----


"Also, you're not as much of an ass hat as you want people to believe you are," Anna was looking straight at Levi now, and she as slipping out of her seat and down onto the curb where she'd told Levi to pull over. "You didn't have to come get me, even if your Sister asked you too," She said and smiled at him, "Thanks." She shut the door after that, not giving Levi any time to say something rude, even if she knew he didn't necessarily mean it.


She didn't waste time heading inside of her building. Though it was sturdy it looked like it could crumble at the slightest amount of wind or rain. It was cracked and molding, and it wasn't a suitable place for anyone to live. But, despite that fact that people shouldn't have been living there, the building was full. Everyone there knew each other by their first names and Anna was glad for that, because if people knew who her family was they'd start demanding money from her that she didn't have.

 

[cellar.]

"Also, you're not as much of an ass hat as you want people to believe you are."


Levi exhaled deeply. “Ah. Gee. Thanks. You know, I really try my best.”


But Anna wasn’t wrong. Yes, Priscilla

had

told him to find her – but Priscilla said a lot of things, and most of them he chose to swat aside without as much as a bat of an eyelash. After all, what was the worst she could do? He was already used to his sister’s (

never mind his parents’)

perpetual disappointment and frustration in him. It was something like static in the background, a continuous buzzing that weighed his mind down only minutely now. If Levi was supposed to be the black sheep in this family, he was goddamn good at being one. There was no use in suddenly becoming Mr. Sunshine, Mr. Listen-to-others,

Mr. Basically-Mother-fucking-Teresa.


“Yeah, well don’t get used to any more favors from me,” Levi muttered.


His words were met only by the slamming of the car door.


After she left, he drove out of the darkness and into the open road, the streetlights illuminating the windows into a foggy orange. A few times, his mind went to Anna and Michael, but it was draining to think about. By now, Levi could feel a certain sense of tiredness settling in, making a home in his chest. There was nothing more he wanted then to be at home. It seemed as if the whole day had passed in a slow haze of confusion and chaos and exhaustion – long hours sprouted between minutes, and whole hours seemed to have passed in only seconds. He knew there was a tower of things he had to deal with in the morning. But for now, he could look forward towards the liberty of sleep.


There was a particular ache to being conscious he did not like.

 

[Jelly x Filled x Donut]

((Hopefully this works, sorry it's so long.... ))


The next morning, Anna sat up with a start she'd remembered something while she'd been waking up. She remembered that she hadn't gone to visit Eph. She'd stumbled across him at the hospital the last time she'd been there, trying to find a way out before someone noticed her. Of course that didn't go so well considering her run in with Levi, but that was a whole other story. Anna had met Eph while she'd been out "working", that is playing her guitar and singing hoping that someone would drop money into a tattered up guitar case she left open at her feet. He'd dropped in a few bills, but instead of just leaving after depositing the money he listened to her sing and when she stopped he started up a conversation with her.


Right there struck up a wonderful friendship, he'd come to meet her while she worked and they even went on walks and did other things together when he wasn't busy. But, it'd been a while since Anna had seen him around, and she wondered for a while where he'd gone, but eventually chalked it up to him not wanting to be seen with her. In her mind, Anna had silently cursed Eph for it, but when she'd found him in the hospital her heart sank.


It was by complete chance that she'd ran into his room last week, and it'd taken her a second look to realize who it was. He'd been badly banged up and there were parts of him missing that hadn't been before. Something bad had happened to him, but since he wasn't family to her, no one told her anything about Eph's accident. Anna only stuck around for a few minutes before moving on because she didn't want one of the nurses who was looking for her at the time to find her. Again, that's when she'd went looking for her guitar and ran into Levi, whom she seemed to keep running into over and over again throughout the week.


After a quick shower, Anna got dressed in her nicest clothes, which happened to be a skirt, tank top and a pair of boots. Of course the clothes were dingy, and her boots tattered, but she didn't think Eph who was in a coma state would mind all that much. However, it was a step up from what she normally wore, and it complimented her well. She even spared some of her hard earned makeup, and did her hair, it wasn't like Ephraim was going to see her, but she thought that the idea of someone dressing up for him would be nice anyway.


After she approved of her appearance as much as she could, she scraped together a breakfast of a peanut butter sandwich and left. It didn't take her too long to get to the hospital, and not long after that to make it up to his room. But when started to walk in, her stomach flipped and her cheeks flared. Everyone who was sitting in that room were people she recognized, and they looked just as shocked to see her. But....not only that, Eph was sitting up and looking back at her, smiling. "U-uh, hi, Eph..." Anna stuttered out her words nervously, and stuck up her hand in some sort of awkward wave.


If she'd learned anything about Levi at all in the last week...Anna was one hundred percent positive that he was just as unhappy to see her as she was to see him. Of course, it took her a moment to see it, but when she looked back and forth from Eph to Levi she saw it...even Priscilla was there and she saw it in her too. They all looked alike, they were all related. The more she thought about it the more, for some reason, she wanted to run out of the room but all she could do now was stare at Ephraim with her mouth slightly open. The shock and nervousness was easy to see on Anna's face, and she couldn't bring herself to do anything else but stand there.

 

[cellar.]

‘What’s in a second? A minute? An hour?’





Ephraim had spent the last few days wondering about this question

. It had been night time, the streetlights all a blur from the rain on his windshield. He drove, pressing on the gas pedal in a frantic attempt to escape his own head. In a split second, he was crashing out of life and hurling towards something so final, so ready, so inevitable…

But it was hard to think about that with medication flowing through his veins and a torrent of confused thoughts swimming in his head. Slowly, Ephraim glanced out of the window, watching the clouds pass above in the sky to clear his thoughts. Little by little, he lifted his right hand in front of him, and studied the way the sunlight streamed between his fingers before clenching it into a fist. His hand shook.






‘

What’s in a movement? A muscle? A cell?’





He had always been a kinesthetic sort of person. Running made him happy, moving made him happy. Something about it made him feel free, something about it helped lessen the burden of thought. Back in school, he had done track, and although he loved winning ribbons and trophies – they were all side products from what he loved the most. For the longest time, he had never truly appreciated the ease of movement, the grace of walking steadily without tripping or falling or help. Until now.


The last time Levi and Priscilla had come to see him; he had pretended to be asleep. That was inherently selfish of him, Ephraim knew, but he couldn’t stand to listen to consoling words, to nod, to smile, to pretend that he was alright. He was good at faking it – he had been doing it for years – but now, he just didn’t have the energy to be

always perfect

. (And he wasn’t. Never, never, he couldn’t fool anyone now.) He was lucky, but he couldn’t bring himself to feel that way. Still, this time, as the door swung softly open, he remained awake.


There was no point in pretending to be unconscious any longer.


In the next minute, they all chatted about nothing in particular, his own words coming out slowly but surely. They didn’t say anything past shallow formalities, but Ephraim couldn’t help but notice his sister’s false positivity, his brother’s deep weariness. His siblings had never been good at lying, at least not to him. But, he acted like he didn’t observe any of these things – still pretending like things were all hunky-dory, because it simply

hurt too much

to acknowledge the wound that had been cut opened by the knife of fate, the unkindness of reality.


He would sooner let himself bleed out.


Suddenly, the door moved a few inches, and Ephraim glanced up to see who else had come to see him.


It was a red-haired girl. Pretty. Unrecognizable.




("U-uh, hi, Eph..."

she had stuttered upon entering.)






‘What’s in a memory? A past? A future?’





A sense of panic gripped him because

he could not remember who she was.

He had thought most of the gaps in his life had been filled in by now – he knew the faces of his family, his friends, his teachers, even the manager of the book store he had once worked at. Frantically, Ephraim searched his (faltering) memory, digging through months and months and…


“Annabelle?”


It was Priscilla who had spoken first, and the name jogged his memory back into place. Annabelle. He knew Anna. She was the girl who played guitar and sang songs on crowded streets. She was a girl who he had taken walks with, and skipped oboe lessons for – a friend.


He breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, (for incomprehensible reasons, his heart still hammering.)


But the feeling was interrupted by Levi.


“What the fuck?! What are

you

doing here?”

 

[Jelly x Filled x Donut]

Instantly, Anna felt like she was going to vomit, and the room started to spin. Sweat started to gather on the back of her neck and her palms, and Anna all but wanted to be there. "I-I was coming to see Ephraim..." Anna managed to choke out, she had only tore her gaze from him then to look over to Priscilla, not Levi who was seething. "I..." Anna paused clearly uncomfortable, "...Realized that you knew Ephraim...he's a friend of mine..." She looked down to her feet before taking a step toward the door.


She couldn't help but give Ephraim and struggled and helpless look. He'd smiled when she'd come in, but hadn't said anything because well...no one had given him a chance to. It was clear the certain people didn't want him in the room, and since they were close with Eph, she could guess why. Who would want the burden of a sick girl hanging around, let alone when they were trying to visit with their brother.


"I can just come back another time, it's no big deal," And though Anna didn't know why, tears stung her eyes. She could taste them in the back of her throat threatening to fall. Ephraim was one of the few friends that Anna had, in fact, she'd missed him when he'd been away. It was like finding out why he'd been gone so long all over again.


When she'd stumbled across him in that hospital bed for the first time, she'd felt sick. When she'd finally made it home, and been alone she cried for him. But, there was a selfish part of her that cried for herself too. Since Eph was really the only person in her life that treated her kindly, she wondered if he would die if she'd always be alone. Later she'd cursed herself silently for crying for such a reason. He was the one in pain and hurt, he was the one who had to deal with all of this.


Ephraim wasn't like her, he was kind and innocent. He didn't have all of his life to get used to unchangeable fate like she had. It was probably a lot to take in all at once that you were missing part of yourself. It wasn't like her where she'd been told that she would never live to forty. She'd been hearing that all of her life.


"I didn't mean to intrude," Anna said, looking over to Ephraim once last time, "I'm so happy you're okay," Anna said to him, and gave him a smile. "I'll come back at a better time." With that she turned and briskly walked into the hall. If Levi would follow her to yell, so be it. But, she wasn't going to stand there and let it all happen in front of her healing friend. The stress of her life was something he didn't need.

 

[cellar.]

He shouldn’t have lost his temper. But he had never been good with surprises.


A mixture of mass confusion and grand annoyance swarmed around in his thoughts – adding only to the massive pile of shit he had heaped somewhere in the back of his mind. It wasn’t just her that caused him to explode;

it was so many goddamn things

, but she had the unfortunate position of being

the straw that broke the camel’s back.

By now, Levi was ready to take out all of his anger on Anna. However, before moving a single inch, he felt a hand close around his wrist, slowly pulling him back down to earth. Looking for an explanation, he turned to Ephraim. He was staring at him wide-eyed, shaking his head.


“W-wait,” he stuttered out, “don’t…be mad.”


Levi softened slightly, loosening his muscles and sighing deeply. He had never known that Anna and Ephraim had been friends. But truth to be told, he had never known

any

of his brother’s friends in the last few years. He hadn’t stuck around long enough to see high school unfold in its entirety, save for a few snippets of a life he was only a part of on paper. After awhile, any familial ties left were still being loosened with every fight, every angry phone call, and every word. There were things Levi had chosen to give up on – things he had no room for regret for.


He glanced away from Eph.


“I’m not,” he answered.


Wordlessly, he stood up and walked out of the room, unyielding to Priscilla’s protests. Very gently, Levi shut the door behind him, and then turned to Anna. It seemed like fate really wanted to play with the both of them – over and over and

over

again.


“You know Eph,” he stated simply. He paused for a second…And then threw his hands up in the air in exasperation.


“Well fuck me! Goddamn fuckity shit…” After the string of swear words, Levi took in a deep breath, trying to calm himself down again. Screaming obscenities down the hall had helped a little, but not by much.


“Oh man, what am I going to do with you?” He wondered out loud.

 

[Jelly x Filled x Donut]

Anna was sunken in on herself, knees pulled to her chest and her face hiding in her folded arms. There wasn't a time more than now, that she'd been so broken. It hadn't been because of Levi's outburst, though it had hurt her enough to send her over the edge. In fact, Anna wasn't exactly sure why she was crying so much. Maybe it was mostly because she was relieved? Anna hadn't realized how much it had bothered her before that her only friend Ephraim was hurt. SHe hadn't realized before how much that not having known, or being able to be contacted upset her. Everything was caving in on her now and she didn't know what else to do but cry.


When Levi came out, she was surprised he was speaking so calmly, except for his undirected cursing. She slowly looked up from her spot not bothering to clear the tears and just stared. She didn't say anything, only looked at him with her piercing eyes and rested her chin on the tops of her knees. Anna wasn't much in the mood for talking at all, especially not to Levi. But, she did notice he wasn't yelling at her, so she had to give him points for that.


"How else would I know how to get here?" Anna asked in response, her voice soft. She frowned and looked away, "I didn't know you were related, but I can see it now that I see you all in a room together..." Anna explained, "Had I known, I wouldn't have come so early," She said, knowing that they'd be in to visit during the busier hours. They were wealthy good looking people, and there was no reason for them to cower away from large crowds of people. Unlike her, who looked homeless and coughed a lot. People avoided her, so in turn she avoided them.


Anna pushed back a loose curl to behind her ear, and adjusted her nicest outfit so that it wasn't showing off anything she didn't want it to. It was stupid of her to have dressed up, what was the point? It's not like anyone was around to appreciate it, no one gave her a second glance. "Also, there isn't anything to do with me, I don't purposefully wreck your life," She said and then buried her face back into her lap.