Tess sat on her porch, waiting quietly for Silas. She was happy to take him along, but she couldn't help thinking about spending time with Levi. Through the rest of the school week there were glances between Tess and him that made her blush. Her heart fluttered every time her eyes ventured to Levi's lips. Levi seemed to think the same thing, as his glance caught hers, making her look away. They had shared more then the first kiss throughout the week while they walked through the hallway holding hands. At first Tess had been unsure about the relationship, but now everything seemed to click in place. Tess had been so blind to what they had between them and was grateful for Levi's wake up call. She secretly hoped she would get another kiss today. Tess was roused from her daydreaming as she heard Silas's footsteps on the porch.

"Huh?" She asked dumbly, noticing he seemed to be waiting for something.

"I said hello." Silas laughed. Tess let out a nervous laugh in answer.

"Sorry, was a bit distracted there." She apologized awkwardly. Something in Silas's gaze made her want to cringe. It was as if he almost knew her thoughts, but he didn't say anything, just watched her. Tess cleared her throat.

"Well, let's get going." She said, standing and stepping off the porch. Silas followed beside her. Tess still wished he would join the track team. He could be of great value, but he seemed to have no interest in it, despite how much she tried to get him interested. She studied him as she walked, noticing his golden eyes rarely ever gave away any hint of emotion. He was looking down the road, his face unreadable.

"Do you find pleasure in staring at my face?" Silas asked, switching his gaze to her. Was he teasing or was he serious? His face gave away nothing. Tess's steps faltered in embarrassment.

"Um no-I mean," Tess stuttered, trying to find the right words, "It's just that you're very good at hiding the emotion in your eyes." Tess hoped that didn't sound creepy. Silas looked away with a small smirk.

"Is that a bad thing?" Silas asked, the question seeming to be genuine. Tess thought about her answer, something Silas had always managed to make her do. Whenever she talked with Silas, she felt as if everything needed to be more thought out; whereas with Levi, conversation came smoothly without much thinking.

"Depends." Tess said finally. Silas nodded. All was silent for a moment before Silas glanced over at her.

"Your emotions are easily read." He said, looking away again. Tess turned her head towards him questioningly.

"Really?" She asked, surprised.

"Yes, most definitely." Silas said. Tess smiled away from him, she kind of wanted to giggle. Silas always seemed to try to talk fancily. Tess didn't say anything else as Silas didn't make any move to continue their conversation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tess could hear the music in Levi's backyard before she could see his house. Panic! At the Disco's 'This Is Gospel' was blaring. She waved for Silas to keep following her and went through Levi's back gate. The smell of the cooking meat and lemonade hit her senses immediately. Tess glanced at Silas, noticing that he seemed very uncomfortable already. She grabbed his hand, hoping he would take the gesture as friendly. He looked like he had never been to cook-out before. She led him to the drink table.

"Want some lemonade?" Tess asked, hoping he would feel more comfortable as time went on.

"Yeah, sure." Silas said, glancing at her briefly. Tess considered pouring a bit of beer into his drink to loosen him up, but knew better. Tess wondered who brought the beer to the party in the first place, some people were just idiots. She poured herself and Silas a drink, handing it to him. Tess hoped Silas wouldn't stick to her side all day, knowing it would ward off Levi.

"Well, if you're okay on your own I'm just going to go walk around." Tess said slowly. Silas nodded tensely, seeming to understand, Tess could already see Casey making her way over to him. Tess wandered through everyone, scanning for Levi. A hand slipped around her stomach and pulled her around the side of the house. She felt her back press against the brick wall. The sweet sensation of Levi's lips touching hers made Tess drop her lemonade.

Small loss. Tess thought and kissed Levi back, trying to keep herself from being greedy. Levi pulled back.

"I've been waiting all week for that." He said, smiling.

"Me too." Tess admitted, her stomach fluttering. Levi leaned forward, his lips grazing across hers, tempting her for an answer. Tess heard some whistles and looked around, seeing a couple of seniors cooing at her and Levi. Levi let out a small laugh.

"Don't you guys have something better to do?" He asked. One of the two laughed.

"How about a turn kissing your girl there?" He said jokingly. Levi's look made the boy stop laughing, a look of anger passing through his gaze.

"Okay, okay, I get the message, but seriously, you two should join us in the pool." The bolder one said. Levi looked as if he really didn't want to, but that made Tess want to push him.

"Of course we will." She smiled. Levi gave her a "seriously?" look, but seemed to be okay with what she said. Tess quickly walked to the back door, passing by a still nervous Silas, who was trying to talk to Casey. The girl giggled, touching his arm lightly. Silas didn't seem too flattered by her gesture.

"You want to swim? Levi and I are." She asked. Silas jumped, not noticing her.

"Uh, no thanks. I'm good. You do that." He said, tipping his drink at her, Casey frowned. Everytime Tess saw the girl she had to control her outside emotions. Levi strode beside Tess.

"Why'd you bring him?" He whispered.

"Because you invited all the seniors, and he's my friend." Tess said firmly and went inside. She came back out in a couple of minutes in the green bikini that she had worn under her clothes. Levi was already in the pool and waved her over. Tess smirked and ran a couple of steps, launching herself in the pool. The cold water gave her goose bumps as it rushed around her. She kicked up to the surface, seeing a laughing Levi.

"You know how to make an entrance don't you?" He said with shake of his head.

"Don't I always?" Tess challenged, swimming over to him. His body was soaking wet, making his six pack seem to stand out. Tess tried to keep her mind from wandering when she swam to his side.

"How was your day?" Levi asked, looking down at her.

"Boring and dull." She huffed, which was partly true. She had been reading some Latin spells before Silas had showed up.

"Well, it shouldn't be now." Levi said, smiling. Before Tess could swim away he grabbed her around the waist, dragging her around the pool. Tess laughed, trying to break away from his firm grip. Levi ducked underwater, dragging her down. She kicked away from him quickly. Levi swam after her playfully and after a while she let him catch her. She wrapped her hands around his neck and let herself relax against him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sun began to disappear quickly and eventually, the pool was too cold to stay in. Tess wrapped herself in a towel and laid against Levi's shoulder contentedly. Levi let out a tired sigh and let his hand rest on her leg. They sat there a minute before Tess heard footsteps. She glanced up, seeing Silas. Tess immediately felt guilty as she remembered she hadn't done much with him at the party. In fact, she had practically thrown him to Casey.

"You want to play corn hole?" Silas asked, his voice hopeful. Tess cringed. She didn't want to leave the warm touch of Levi.

"I don't know Silas, I'm kind of tired." Tess said, hoping not to hurt his feelings. Silas's face grew a little sad then lit up again.

"We could play ping pong or something then." He suggested.

"She said no." Came Levi's firm voice. He looked Silas straight in the eyes. Silas stood more rigidly. His face blanked from all emotion.

"She can tell me that, not you." Silas said calmly, his gaze just as sharp. If his face betrayed nothing, then his eyes were equally betraying, but Tess knew better.

"I think I'll just stay here." Tess said, trying to break the tension. Her heart felt crushed as Silas's gaze fell and then it hardened. He spun on his heel angrily and walked away. Tess watched him go before she felt a small pressure on her leg.

"He'll be fine Tess, just let him blow off some steam." Levi looked at her.

"Maybe I should do something with him. I mean, I brought him here and haven't paid attention to him all day." Tess began to get up. Levi pulled her back down gently.

"Maybe I should talk to him." He suggested.

"I don't think that would be a good idea." Tess replied immediately. She knew that Levi and Silas were not a good mixture, Levi might make things worse.

"We'll be fine. Trust me babe." Levi said and gave her a quick kiss. Her heart fluttered at him calling her babe. He stood up and walked away before Tess could protest. Tess sat, waiting anxiously. Her gut told her she needed to go find Levi and Silas, and keep them in order. Despite the dreaded feeling, she stayed in her chair. Tess jumped up when she heard shouting and turned to see Silas fall to the ground, Levi stood close to him, fist balled.