Saying goodbye to my grandmother, I left the nursing home, met up with Zack for a afternoon coffee, and then I headed back to the house.

Levi took Declan to his first therapy session after picking him up from preschool. So I had plenty of time to run a few errands and spend some time with friends.

I was curled up on the couch, a book in hand when they came home. Closing the book, I set it aside as Declan's thundering little footsteps sounded.

He climbed onto the couch wrapping his arms around me. I pulled him in to me, hugging him tightly before releasing him.

Getting up from the couch, we went into the kitchen and I let him pick out a snack from the pantry. He pointed to the oreos, which I took off the shelf and grabbed a few to put into a zip lock bag for him.

Once I had him situated at the dining table, I approached Levi, who had this unreadable expression on his face. He just kept staring at me in silence.

"How did his session go?" I asked, glancing over at Declan, who was happily eating his oreos, chocolate cookie crumbs on the corner of his mouth.

When he didn't respond, I looked back at him, worried that his silence meant it hadn't gone well.

But then he said, "it went fine."

"Just fine?" I questioned, wondering why he was acting so standoffish all of a sudden. "Surely you can tell me more than that."

"I don't pay you to ask questions," he snapped, shifting passed me and disappearing up the stairs.

I was taken aback, not expecting him to lash out at me in such a way. Making sure Declan was okay by himself, I went upstairs to go figure out what was going on with Levi.

Something else must have happened during Declan's therapy ssession, or else he wouldn't have acted the way he had.

Reaching his bedroom door, I knocked, waiting and hoping for a response from him. I didn't think he was going to answer until the door creaked open, Levi standing shirtless before me after having removed the solid navy blue sweatshirt he had on seconds ago.

Keeping my eyes from wandering was difficult, but I managed to somewhat maintain eye contact. I did steal a few glances every now and again. Which I shouldn't be blamed for, because who wouldn't check him out? I mean he's literally sex on legs.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I didn't mean to be rude. It's just... it's just..." He broke eye contact, looking down at the floor.

"Just what?" I urged softly, cupping his chin and lifting his head, so he was looking at me. I needed him to see that I wasn't only listening, but that there wasn't a thing he could say to push me away.

"You're still wearing that perfume," he mumbled, inhaling and exhaling slowly out through his nose.

"I am. Now tell me what happened."

"I realize now how much Declan needs you. How much I need you. But I don't know if I can allow myself to trust anyone like that ever again."

"I don't know how else to get you to trust me other than to remind you that I'm not Natalie."

"I know."

"Do you? Because I can tell that a part of you wants to push me away."

"You're right. I do want to push you away," he admits.

"Why?"

"Because I'm scared. Scared of you leaving us, especially me."

Removing my fingers from his bearded chin, I reached up to tug the pink scrunchie out of my hair. He watched in curiosity as I took his hand and rolled the scrunchie on to his wrist.

"I'm not leaving anytime soon, Levi. And I know it may take you some time to believe that. So I'm giving you my favorite scrunchie as a reminder that I'm here to stay. I even sprayed some of my perfume on it."

He smiled, bringing his wrist up to his nose and sniffing the scrunchie. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

****

I spent the rest of the day with a smile on my face, secretly feeling as though the scrunchie on Levi's wrist had been my way of claiming him as mine.

And I couldn't help but to flutter with joy seeing him proudly wearing it like a badge of honor.

Too entangled in my thoughts to pay attention to the pot pie I had baking in the oven. It wasn't until the alarm sounded that I jumped into action.

Opening the oven, I squealed when I saw the fiery orange flames blackening the meal I spent hours preparing.

Levi, who had been in the kitchen watching TV with Declan, sprang into action. Taking off his shirt, he fought the fire until he eventually extinguished it and the alarm stopped beeping.

We both stared at the burnt pot pie, knowing that there was no way it could be salvaged.

"So... pizza?" Levi asked, withdrawing his phone from his back pocket.

"Pizza's good," I replied, hating that I ruined dinner.

His personal chef has probably never burned a thing in his life. Unlike me, who only just started putting my fairly decent cooking skills to use when I started living here.

After throwing out our dinner, I waited with Declan in the living room while Levi ordered plan b of dinner.

When our pizza arrived fifteen minutes later, Levi pulled out a wad of cash, paying the pizza delivery guy far more than the pizza's cost.

He gave him a bewildered look, not sure if it was an accident or not. He was getting ready to hand Levi the additional change when he stopped him and told him to keep the change.

Thanking him, an appreciative smile on his face, Levi nodded and closed the door. He carried the pizza box into the kitchen, setting it down on the Island.

We didn't waste any time digging in. We were all hungry, our stomachs barking at us and demanding to be filled.

Stuffed, we were no longer in the mood to watch a movie as we became overwhelmed with sleep. So we said goodnight and parted ways, returning to our own room.

As I lay in my bed, overcome with exhaustion, I began to twist and turn. Huffing out of discomfort, I got out of bed with the intention of going in Levi's room.

It's become increasingly difficult to go to sleep now that I've gotten used to hearing Levi snoring beside me.

Padding across the carpeted room, I opened the door to see both Levi and Declan standing on the other side.

"Couldn't sleep?" He asked with a tilt of his head and a curl of his lip.

"No."

"Neither could we."

Getting back into bed, Levi walked in, shut the door, and climbed into bed with me. Declan joined us shortly after, making himself comfortable in the space between us.

Wrapped up in the bed's sheets and comforter, I sighed, feeling my eyelids grow heavy with sleep.

As much as I wanted to believe that this was temporary, I knew all along that sleeping together like this would become permanent. After all, I needed them just as much as they needed me.