Chapter 74- Taunting Rooms

[] A M E L I A []

I sucked in a breath as I heard the bell ring, unintentionally clasping Leo's hand tighter. All of us stood still for a moment, unsure of how to go about this.

Mom broke the silence first. She turned to me, a smile on her face as she lightly patted my cheek.

"We'll talk about this later. Lets welcome Levi first."

She then turned and started walking away. I turned to Leo with a questioning gaze, and he simply reached over and kissed the top of my head. I sighed, all the tension leaving me as he did that. He pulled away after a moment and stared down at me.

"Go on, Moonie. We'll all be waiting for you here."

I let out a breath and nodded. I finally let go of Leo's hand and took a few steps forward to join Dad. Together, Dad and I made our way to the front door. Lillian had been in the bathroom this whole time and still hadnt returned.

Mom, Dad, and I stopped at the feont door and all shared a look. Dad gave mom a reassuring smile. At last, Mom took a deep breath before opening the door.

He was here.

No handcuffs, no orange jumpsuit- just plain old Levi.

Seeing him this morning was different than seeing him now. Now, as he stood on our porch with his head slightly lowered as he peered up at us, two officers behind him, I could almost smell the nervousness on him.

Mom spoke first.

"Come in, sweetheart."

Levi visibly relaxed and took a shaky step into the house. Our house.

The officers behind him had their hats in their hands as they paid respects to mom and dad, who both stood by the door.

"We deeply apologize for all that's occurred. We will do everything we can to make sure Levi's transition back into society is as smooth as it possibly can be," one officer said.

Mom and dad merely sighed and nodded. Then, the officers left and Mom closed the door.

We all stood in silence, and Dad broke it first. He immediately clamped Levi on the shoulder, and pulled him into a tight hug.

For the first time in my life, I saw Dad sob.

Tears pricked my own eyes, as I saw him cry his heart out. Levi was shocked, his hands limp at his sides as he let Dad weep. After a few minutes, I took a shaky step forward. I touched Dad's shoulder and he stopped crying abruptly. He pulled away from Levi after a moment and I was sad to see Dad's red-rimmed eyes. I shook my head at him, not wanting him to start this yet.

Levi was home.

For now, that was enough.

Dad nodded, understanding the message and quickly wiped his eyes. He took a step back from Levi, taking a few deep breaths as he stood a few feet away from us.

I turned to Levi then, and was surprised to see his eyes were glazed over with emptiness. I took a step towards him and smiled up at him. That seemed to snap him out of his trance, as he gave me watery smile back. I only patted his arm, noticing that he didn't like being touched much.

"Welcome home, Levi."

He smiled wider at me, wiping away at his eyes quickly.

He then turned to Mom. Mom was standing with her head lowered by the front door still. He reached out a hesitant hand and placed it on her shoulder. She looked up quickly, her eyes welling with tears instantly.

He smiled at her.

"It's okay, Mom. You don't need to feel ashamed."

Mom launched herself into his arms after those words. Levi lightly hugged her back, his eyes glazing over once again. He pulled away quickly though and distanced himself from her. Mom wiped away her tears and then looked up to him.

"I'm so sorry, Levi. Sorry for not trusting you."

Levi's eyes welled up with tears again.

"It's not your fault, mom. It's none of ours," Levi softly replied.

"You're right."

We all snapped our heads up, surprised to see Lillian standing there with a straight face. Levi let out a strangled breath when he saw her in the archway leading further into our house.

"L-Lillian?" He mumbled.

Lillian nodded and stepped toward him. Once again, Levi lowered his head, his tears falling down his cheeks rapidly. Lillian stopped in front of him and immediately brought her finger under his chin. She raised his chin higher, causing his eyes to come in contact with hers.

"Pull it up boy. You deserve it more than anyone else."

And for the second time today, Levi hugged someone willingly.

* * *

Dinner had been smooth. With Jamal and Andre there, I never thought the situation would get gloomy anyways. We all talked and hung out as if we'd known each other our whole lives. As Lillian, Mom, and Dad entertained us with stories of their high school years, we all couldn't help but be whisked away into their time. It felt amazing to be able to open up like that. No one had brought up anything serious, like Levi's jail time, my kidnapping, Leo's beating, Andre's drug incident, or Jackson-

Which we were all glad for.

We just needed a moment to breathe before we thought of anything.

I had briefly introduced everyone to Levi, and I was glad he remembered Gemma from high school so he didn't feel totally out of the loop. He had even teased me when I shyly introduced Leo to him as my boyfriend. Unlike with my Mom and Dad, Leo was completely at ease when he met Levi officially. They both had this intense look in their eyes when they met, and at last, Levi broke it first and reached a hand out for Leo.

Leo took it with a smile.

Now, we were finishing dinner, when I suddenly caught Levi's eye from across the table. He had a distant look in his eyes, a small smile on his face.

I suddenly stood up and started walking over to him. The rest continued to talk, not noticing me. I stopped beside Levi and patted his shoulder lightly. He turned to me surprised.

"Let's get out of here."

He gave me a small smile when I said that, and quietly, we both snuck out of the loud dinner room. When we were by the staircase, that's when I heard someone finally call out for us.

"Moonie! Where'd you go?"

I giggled as I heard Leo's voice stagger across the house, and I snuck a look behind me to make sure he wasn't following. When I was sure he wasn't, I turned back around, only to catch Levi's teasing smile.

I rolled my eyes at him, and we both continued to make our way downstairs.

Although neither of us said it, we both knew where we were going. It was only necessary after his return.

We quietly made our way downstairs, heading for the room in the far corner of the house. Levi let out a deep breath as he stepped in front of the door.

He silently reached up and ran a ghostly hand over the carvings on the door.

'Levi's Lair,' it read.

We had creatively come up with that one when I was 8, and he was 9. After a moment, I playfully nudged his arm. Levi swallowed and slowly reached for the doorknob.

He stepped in hesitantly, reaching over for the light switch on the wall to his right. I followed after him, closing the door behind me.

He silently took in his surroundings. His eyes darting to every corner of the room, soft breaths escaping him as he looked. I slowly looked away from him and also took in the state of the room.

Canvases covered all four walls of the small room, all splattered with Levi's art. Five easels were scattered around the room, each holding an unfinished painting of Levi's.

An unfinished story.

I smiled, remembering how much time Levi and I used to spend in here.

"Nothing's changed," he said after a moment of silence.

"We couldn't do it," I breathed out.

Levi took a step forward, walking over to one of his unfinished works. It was a painting of a sad boy wandering the streets, all splattered with beautiful colors to give it less of a depressing effect.

I took another route and headed for the bench in the room where I often used to sit and read as Levi painted. I watched Levi as he took in all his works, his fingers running over all of them.

"You kept it clean," he said, turning back to look at me.

I nodded.

"I couldn't help it."

Levi continued to inspect his works for the next little while. After nearly twenty minutes, he sighed and came to sit beside me. We were silent for the next few minutes, soaking in the art around us.

"Four years. Four years since the incident, but it feels like yesterday since I left all this behind."

I let out a shaky breath at his words.

"It feels like an eternity for me," I said.

We were both silent for next few moments as we stared ahead at the colored walls. After a beat of silence, I felt a pressure on top of my hand that was resting on the bench. I looked down surprised, only to see Levi's shaky hand on mine. I looked up and saw him facing away from me.

"If I had tried a little harder to find out the truth, none of us would have to go through this. And Brittany's actual killer wouldn't be on the loose," Levi softly said, his head lowering once more.

He shook his head humorlessly.

"All these years, all of us blamed ourselves for something that wasn't our fault. Mom, Dad, Lillian, me, and even you. All for what? For Jackson? Brittany must be laughing at us right now."

I watched him silently, my heart aching for him.

"No. I don't think she's laughing."

Levi turned to look at me then.

"I think she's terribly upset that all of us lived the way we did all these years. It felt like years and at the same, like yesterday since you were jailed, because time was frozen. We didn't know what to do," I said helplessly.

Levi watched me silently, his cheeks stained with tears.

"But now, it's time to stop. It's time to move on again. Time restarted for us Levi. Let's make the most and the best of it."

He suddenly reached forward and ruffled my hair. I groaned, reaching up to fix it.

"How did you get so smart?" He said.

I rolled my eyes.

"I was always smart, you twat."

We both laughed aloud at my lame comeback. We sobered down after a moment, breathing out deeply at the same time.

"Just two more weeks Levi. Two more weeks of school and I'll be back for the holidays. And then we're going to go over everything, okay?" Turning to him with a smile.

He smiled back and reached over to give me a hesitant side hug.

"For the record Amelia... four years of jail taught me a lot. But most importantly it taught me that maybe love isn't what I thought it was. Love is patience, not just passion. And with the way I saw Leo and you today, I think that that's the kind of love everyone deserves. Be happy with him, kiddo."

I turned and dug my face into his chest, happy tears leaving me as I hugged my brother back.

For the first time since the incident, I felt at peace.