Lines We Cross

by writertitan

Summary:

Levi Ackerman is currently one of the most famous actors in the world, and a PR nightmare. Now that you've been temporarily hired as his new publicist ahead of the season premiere of his hit show, your mission of making him a PR prince is complicated by your unexpected feelings and some surprise curveballs along the way. Can the two of you keep it professional, or will you blur the lines between work relationships and romantic relationships?

Notes:

Thought you'd seen the last of me, huh?? Please enjoy the first chapter of my new fic >:)

Chapter 1

Whoever had made it standard procedure to have a five-in-the-morning call time was in cahoots with the devil himself. It meant that you needed to set an alarm for three-thirty, which was criminal. That was limbo time, somewhere between very late at night and very early in the morning. Nothing or nobody was supposed to exist, or feel real, at this time. Yet, here you were, being asked to be bright-eyed and bushy tailed.

The alarm blared in your ear, but you’d barely slept a wink anyway. With a sigh, you flailed an arm out and slapped at the digital clock until the beeping stopped and then sat up to stretch.

The floor-to-ceiling windows of your hotel room showcased part of the glittering skyline of New York City, a sea of sleek skyscrapers littered with lights. The night was still inky black and, distantly, sirens shrieked from nearly sixty floors down. This sight would always be beautiful to you. Tossing the covers off, you left the bed to approach the window, your eyes roaming over the streets down below.

Someone was already calling your phone. A quick peek showed that it was Berry, your boss and travel companion for this press event, and you groaned loudly before grabbing your phone to answer.

“Good morning,” you mumbled, scratching at your bedhead.

“Just wanted to make sure you actually woke up,” Berry greeted you, sounding a little too awake for your liking. “Don’t want to have a mishap like the one in Copenhagen.”

Ugh. Nobody was going to let you live that one down.

“I’m awake but you’re cutting into my ‘getting ready’ time,” you said, pressing your forehead against the window.

“Hurry up,” Berry said curtly, and then the call disconnected.

You tossed your phone onto the bed and padded into the bathroom, flicking the light on. The hotel had invested in some lovely warm lighting, nothing that was too harsh on the eyes, and you hummed in gratitude for it as you turned on the shower and tested the water to make sure it was warm enough, stripping and stepping in once you were satisfied with the temperature.

All the anticipation thrumming through your veins wasn’t enough to kick the exhaustion, but the shower pressure and hot water helped. Per your boss, this was allegedly supposed to be one of the most important opportunities of your career – so far – but the stress of it was getting to you. But wasn’t that what a career in public relations was? Nothing but stress?

Your agency was bicoastal, and you’d been based in Los Angeles for the past two years. It was rare that the New York City division would need someone from LA to do a job, and vice versa, but apparently Berry had been asked for by name, and it was basically in your contract to go where Berry went for the foreseeable future. She was your superior and mentor, for better and for worse, and was arguably the best public relations agent in the business. Berry was sought after for a lot of PR campaigns, but she typically never cared when someone specifically sought her out. This one was a big deal – all you knew was that Erwin Smith was at the center of it. He had a movie coming out and the newest season of his TV show was set to premiere soon. He was the cream of the crop right now in the industry, and doing any work with him to put on your resume was like the golden ticket. Berry hadn’t said too much about the work; not in the LA office, not on the plane, and certainly not before you went your separate ways for the night. All you knew was the bare minimum of your duties, but nothing that would give context as to why Berry was quick to accept the job, other than the obvious reasons.

Doing your hair and makeup and getting dressed all happened between sips of the black coffee provided in the room. Your sleepiness made time move differently; once you were jittery from the caffeine and actually awake, Berry was texting you that the car was downstairs and ready to take you to the set.

She was already sitting inside the car when you hopped in, her eyes focused on the glowing screen of her phone as she typed away.

“You’re late,” she said bluntly, and you frowned at her as you put on your seatbelt. She was always harping about timeliness, but being on time to her meant being early.

“We’ll get there right at five,” you argued, turning to look out the car window. It was still dark out, but not as dark as before. Black night had started morphing into a muted blue, and the city was a bit livelier than before, but not by much.

“Still not much of a morning person, huh? So snippy.”

“You’re one to talk.”

You only turned when Berry set a stack of papers into your lap, and you immediately recognized it as the to-do list for today as you fingered through the pages. However, it looked slightly different from what you were used to.

“When we get to the set, you and I are splitting up,” Berry explained. “Erwin Smith and Levi Ackerman are both represented by our agency. They had the same representative here in the New York division – that annoying man who came to the holiday party last year – but he just quit and nobody else is willing to take over for representation. I already have a rapport with Erwin, so I’ll be working with him to get ready for this upcoming press cycle. That leaves you with Levi.”

Fuck.

That was probably why Berry had kept her mouth shut about this job: she was putting you up with Levi Ackerman, of all people. He was notoriously a difficult client; not because he was a diva, thank goodness, but because no amount of media training seemed to get through to him. He was crude, vulgar, and absolutely hated doing press. You’d never worked with him directly but had heard plenty of stories. It was honestly astounding that he was even an actor. He was one of those rare actors who only did his job for the love of it, and not for the celebrity of it.

Levi and Erwin were longtime co-stars on a popular television show that was filmed mostly right here in New York City, with the newest season airing in a few months. You were vaguely aware that Erwin was in the middle of press for a rom-com he’d starred in, set to premiere next week, so he would be doubly busy between press work for the show and his leading film role. Berry would have her hands full with that, so it did kind of make sense that she would push Levi your way to take some of the load off.

No wonder Berry had said this would be the most important opportunity of your career. It was a test to see if you’d still want this career after working with Levi Ackerman.

Before you knew it, the car had stopped in front of a brick building, the studio’s name burning on a neon sign. Berry wasted no time in getting out of the car and you followed suit, all while rifling through your to-do list and frowning to yourself.

“They’re doing a promotional shoot on set today for the new season of their show, but Erwin only has a certain amount of time to get it done before I have to whisk him off to an interview with Good Morning America,” Berry said. You matched her pace as she power-walked down the hall and towards the elevator, and you merely nodded along, only vaguely listening as you rode up several floors. The ding of the elevator felt like an omen, and you walked out, letting Berry take the lead.

“This is where we part ways,” she told you, stopping in front of a door with Erwin’s name printed on it. She gestured towards the room across the hall, the one with Levi’s name on it, and you didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye before Berry was knocking on Erwin’s room while she entered anyway, putting on her perfect PR smile as she was welcomed inside.

You braced yourself and walked to Levi’s door, knocking twice before moving your hand towards the doorknob and letting yourself in.

Your own PR smile was wiped off your face as you entered the room and came face to face with Levi, naked as the day he was born and too slow to cover himself with a towel.

“Oh my god!”

“What the fuck?!”

“I’m so sorry!” you cried out as you fumbled with the door, your back completely turned to him as you yanked it wide open.

“Close the goddamn door!” Levi shouted, and you internally screamed when it became clear that you were giving the entire hallway a nice full-frontal view of Levi. Luckily, it was an empty hallway, but still.

You slammed the door shut, still panicking, especially when you realized you hadn’t let yourself out. You were trapped in Levi’s dressing room with Levi himself, and you didn’t dare turn around to face him again. You didn’t need to look to know that he was pissed as all hell.

“You have five seconds to tell me who you are before I either call security or throw you out myself,” Levi snapped, and you held your hands up, as if in surrender. You could hear him pulling on some clothes.

“I’m your, I’m uh, your new PR rep,” you stammered out, cringing at how frazzled you sounded, and then told him your name. “I’m temporarily replacing your old agent, Johnny.”

It felt so stupid to be talking but looking at the wood grain of the door, but you couldn’t bring yourself to turn around. He was most likely decent by now, but the shock and embarrassment still had your face burning. You needed to compose yourself.

“Here’s some advice, temp. Knocking and then just letting yourself in without warning defeats the purpose of knocking,” Levi said, irritation still lacing his words. “And stop facing the door. It’s creepy. I'm not naked anymore.”

You slowly turned, breathing a sigh of relief when you saw that he’d put on some sweatpants, but he was still shirtless, his towel draped over his shoulders, and his hair was damp. He’d just come out of the ensuite bathroom attached to his dressing room, steam curling out of the slightly ajar door, so it was safe to say he’d been showering.

He looked annoyed. He’d taken to sitting in his chair, gazing up at you with furrowed brows and downturned lips. Part of you couldn’t help but notice how good he looked, but it wasn’t something you dwelled on. He was a celebrity; all celebrities tended to be quite beautiful. His beauty was likely only skin-deep, like all the other celebrities you’d met.

“If you’re just going to stand there and do absolutely nothing, then you might as well go offer Johnny his job back,” Levi quipped.

That was what jolted you back to reality.

You’d never let a client get the best of you, no matter how powerful or self-important, and Levi Ackerman of all people wasn’t going to be the one to change that.

“You have a five-thirty call time and it’s already a few minutes after five,” you said, your voice clear and blunt, a hint of an edge to it. “Your hair and makeup team aren’t here yet, which is a problem, because they’re who I’m here for at five in the fucking morning, because that’s their call time. I thought I’d be coming in to a nearly ready-to-go Levi, not an ass-naked and mouthy Levi. Don’t even get me started on your manager not being in here. He knew I was coming today.”

Levi’s eyes flashed from irritation to surprise at your sudden change in demeanor and then gave you another frown.

“They were in here but I sent them out. I needed a shower,” he said defensively, and you rolled your eyes, turning back towards the door.

“I don’t have time to chase down your team,” you snapped at him over your shoulder.

“You don’t need to chase anyone, they’re probably just in Erwin’s room with his team,” he argued.

“If they’re not in there, I’m going to yell at you,” you warned him.

It was true that they’d merely migrated across the hall, and you immediately noted how different the vibe was in Erwin’s dressing room.

Everyone was lively, all smiles and jokes, and Erwin’s aura captivated the room above everyone else’s presence. His grin lit up the room brighter than the bulbs around his mirror and he seemed at ease with his team, and he even had Berry smiling from her place in the corner of the room, next to Erwin and Levi’s managers. And not her curated PR smile – her actual smile.

“Ah, there she is. Good morning,” the man you knew to be Levi’s manager said to you. His name was Arthur, and you gave him a curt nod.

“Nice to meet everyone,” you said, scanning the room. “I just met Levi and he’s ready for all of you. We should keep on schedule so Erwin isn’t late for his other obligations today.”

A few girls hurried out of the room after whispering quick greetings to you, knocking and entering Levi’s room after they heard a muffled “come in” from him. That made you feel a little embarrassed, but you quickly brushed it off and reminded yourself that it wasn’t your job to feel, it was to do.

Arthur stepped beside you and gestured for you to exit the room and follow him back to Levi’s, and you tilted your head in a goodbye to Berry and Erwin and the others before leaving the room, the caffeine from your coffee suddenly coming back for an encore.

“We should get started while Levi’s getting ready,” Arthur suggested, and you nodded in agreement as the two of you stepped into Levi’s dressing room.

Levi had already changed into his costume, save for the accessories that could be put on right before the shoot. One girl was working on his hair while another was dabbing at his face with creams to prep for some makeup. The other girl was fiddling with the other outfits hanging on the rack, perhaps some possible other costume changes in case his character’s signature uniform wouldn’t be enough for the shoot. All three were busy and focused, no longer chatting and giggling like they had been in Erwin’s room. It seemed that Levi ran a tight ship.

You barely spared him a glance as you and Arthur got to talking about the agenda for the day, as well as the plan for media relations while you were the one handling all of it. This was your first time handling such a big client all alone; usually, you were able to shadow Berry and just complete the tasks assigned to you. This time, she’d merely given you a template of a plan, and it was up to you to tailor it to Levi’s needs.

“So, he has this shoot, and then in the afternoon he’ll be doing a lunch interview with GQ,” you murmured, looking through Levi’s agenda for the day. “You’re concerned about the interview, and you want to know how we’ll be marketing Levi for the new season of the show because of Erwin’s schedule.”

“Yes. The interviewer has historically riled Levi up and made him say…unrecommended things. As for press for the show, I’m only concerned about all the solo press Levi will have to do. They’re usually a duo or trio during press season, but Erwin will still have a lot of commitments for his film. I worry how Levi will handle more solo engagements,” Arthur said.

“That makes sense. I’ll start making calls to get him more interviews and solo engagements. And I’ll also break the news about the uptick in all his solo press,” you promised. Arthur visibly relaxed at that.

Arthur’s phone rang then, and he gave you an apologetic look as he held it up.

“This is important. We’ll talk more after the shoot.”

You nodded and let him leave the room, your gaze straying back to Levi and his hair and makeup team.

They were lightning fast, you had to give them props for that. His hair was perfectly styled and his minimal makeup was almost done; all that was left was for him to change into his costume. You checked the time on your phone: 5:23. Perfect.

Just then, a PA popped their head in, his eyes flickering from you to Levi.

“We’re good to go for the five-thirty start. Levi, you’ll be going first for the lighting test,” he said, and then was gone before anyone could even answer.

Though the door was closed, you could hear how lively the hallway had become. Hurried footsteps and chatter that all melted together could be heard from inside the dressing room, and the familiarity of it calmed you down immensely.

You could do this. You’d helped Berry do this countless times before, and you’d done your fair share of work without her as well. There was a reason Berry brought you under her wing. You were cutthroat and a damn good public relations representative. This opportunity was going to open all sorts of doors for you. All you had to do was stick it out with Levi until another rep came along that was willing to work with him, and that was no problem. Adding Levi Ackerman to your resume was still a golden ticket.

As you followed Levi out of the room and towards the elevator to go to set, you smirked to yourself and then turned to him as the two of you got in and rode up a couple of floors.

“I’ll be coming with you to your interview later today,” you announced. “I've had problems with that journalist before. I won’t let you embarrass yourself for a second time with that little rat. And we’ll be having a talk after your promo shoot is done, about how much solo press you’ll be doing this time around. I’m hoping to have you booked and busy right up to the premiere. You’re going to hate it, but I’m going to make you do it.”

Levi was staring at you with a mix of incredulity and what you were almost certain was panic, and that made you giddy.

“I never thought I’d be missing Johnny,” he said finally, his eyes tearing from yours as the elevator doors opened.

The two of you stepped out and headed for the set, where an entire crew was practically tripping over themselves to make sure everything was ready. Before Levi could escape you, you gave him your best PR smile, but let that devious glint in your eye shine through.

“You’re going to wish Johnny had never left,” you told him, and then made yourself comfortable in a chair as he was whisked away by a PA, letting yourself enjoy how frazzled you’d made him.

But, like the professional he was, there wasn’t a trace of those emotions as a photographer and his assistant began the test shots. He was every bit the Levi Ackerman you'd heard about it.

Maybe this would actually be fun.

Chapter 2

Notes:

You're getting the next chapter a little earlier than usual because ya girl is a jetsetter. >:) Enjoy!

An impromptu reservation at the bistro Levi would be interviewed at had been nearly impossible to get. Thankfully, you were good at your job, and also had no shame in name dropping to get yourself in. You were glad it was a lunch interview – you were starving.

The morning had passed in a blur. Arthur had met up with you while the promo shoot happened and you went over possible press events together, as well as different scenarios for the GQ interview.

What you’d settled on was sending a pre-approved list of questions to the interviewer, something that Levi’s old PR rep had failed to do, and you’d rehearse some appropriate responses with Levi, who you could hopefully scare into listening to you. Then, you’d be sat at a table right next to him and the interviewer, so you’d be able to eavesdrop and intervene if necessary. And, from the sound of it, would be necessary.

Levi had been less than pleased.

“I don’t need any hand holding,” he complained as he changed out of his costume and into normal clothes. You were pointedly looking away despite the dressing room being full of people, but the circumstances of your first meeting were still making you cringe.

“Yes, you do,” you argued, rolling your eyes. “So far, you’ve been lucky that your fans have found your lack of media training endearing. That last GQ interview was a doozy, though. The interviewer’s going to try and get an even more salacious article this time around, and who knows what you’ll end up yapping about.”

“You PR people are all about media training,” he grunted, stepping in front of you to catch your eye.

He was fully clothed, clad in a simple but nicely tailored t-shirt, and some black jeans. His hair was still in its signature style that he apparently kept even when he wasn’t filming.

“What’s so bad about media training?” you asked flatly, folding your arms over your chest. He mimicked your action.

“What’s so bad about being myself?” Levi countered.

“No one is telling you to be someone you’re not. I’m just asking you to filter your thoughts a little bit more, and to maybe not fall for a journalist’s rage bait so easily,” you said, sighing deeply when Levi merely rolled his eyes.

The two of you had walked out to the lobby, where you were waiting for Levi’s car to pull up. Erwin and Berry had long since driven off to his long day of romcom promo, and Levi and Erwin’s managers had left for their office for meetings.

When the car came, Levi let you in first and then shuffled in after you. As soon as the door closed, you went right to business.

“The interviewer was given a list of content and questions to stick to. That, along with my scathing email to go along with it, should keep you safe from unwanted questions or uncharted territory. I kept it to questions that shouldn’t get you in trouble, but if you say something crazy, I will cut in, so try to avoid doing that if you want to have a peaceful lunch. Let’s go over some responses together.”

“Do we really have to do this?” Levi asked, looking absolutely done. “I’d like to also have a peaceful car ride.”

“At least let me give you the summary of what I sent to GQ so you know what to expect,” you argued. When Levi didn’t push back, you continued. “They’re going to ask you about your newest partnerships and some appearances you’re making ahead of your season premiere. They’re also going to want to know about your workout routine and what you’ve done with your time off in between filming. I’ve allowed them to talk about the weird shit that that crazy British influencer was saying about you last month, and I want you to answer that as vaguely and dismissively as possible. Please don’t add fuel to the fire, I want you to snuff it out.”

“Why on earth did you okay that?” Levi asked incredulously.

“So that they have some juicy material and don’t ask about Erwin’s movie,” you said. Immediately, Levi sobered.

“There’s a lot of talk about it. I’ve prohibited most questions, but they’re allowed to dance around it. If it comes up in a harmless way like I expect, then I want you to give a diplomatic answer of just being happy for him and that you’ll be showing your support,” you said.

Levi put on his sunglasses, turning away from you.

“Fine. I got it. Are we done?”

You rolled your eyes but shut up, despite wanting to continue. You wanted to pry and get him to talk about his feelings surrounding the entire situation because it would help you be more prepared, but decided against it. You’d be there anyway in case things got dicey, and you were counting on GQ wanting to play by your rules. In the meantime, a silent car ride sounded nice.

There was some traffic, but you would still get there on time. The caffeine was already starting to wear off, and your exhaustion was steadily creeping into your bones, that three-thirty alarm and generally sleepless night catching up quick.

As soon as you closed your eyes and leaned your head against the window, though, Levi clicked his tongue.

“Tch.”

You ignored it, deducing that maybe he was on his phone and looking at something dumb, but when he did it again, you opened your eyes and turned your head to look his way.

“Is there a problem?”

“Sleeping on the job? What a bad look. Ironic for someone who’s all about reputation,” Levi taunted.

“Let me remind you that I’m not practically a household name,” you shot back, giving him a mean glare. “We had to fly in from LA last minute because of Johnny’s dramatic resignation, which I heard is all your fault, by the way, and I didn’t get enough sleep. And you didn’t want to go over the material for the interview. I’m sorry if you were expecting me to be your personal jester on top of being your PR rep.”

“Damn. I thought people from LA are supposed to be happy hippies,” Levi said, but there was a glint of amusement in his eyes. The first positive emotion you’d seen him display towards you all day. “You’ve got more of an East Coast attitude. Bossy and rude.”

You scoffed a little, raising your brow.

“I’m actually a really pleasant person. I think you’re just rubbing off on me.”

The corner of Levi’s mouth quirked up, but you looked away from him to focus your attention out your window.

The streets were alive; crowds of people walking, cars honking, and windows glittering with sunlight. Everything seemed to move. It did lift your spirits and liven you up a little bit, but you knew you’d still need some caffeine for lunch, which was always your last resort. You hated drinking anything caffeinated after noon, but you didn’t want to hear passive aggressive noises if you dared close your eyes again.

The car pulled over in front of the bistro, and the two of you got out and hurried inside before anyone could pay much attention. It was quiet inside, and very quaint, and the host got you both seated in a heartbeat, clearly expecting your presence. The diners already inside barely looked up from their respective meals and conversations, which was a relief.

The GQ journalist was the one who ended up being a couple of minutes late. You’d gotten your coffee order in and were browsing through the menu when he’d walked in, causing you to lift your eyes and gaze at him from over your menu.

You knew him, but barely, not enough to remember if his name was Greg or Craig. He was officially a writer for GQ Magazine, but did freelance work and was heavily invested in his own social media posting. He lived for the drama. He’d probably begged to be the interviewer for Levi again.

It all seemed cordial at first. Swift greetings and then an order of merlot for Greg/Craig, and Levi reassured that he was fine with water. While the journalist got out his material, Levi snuck a glance your way when the server came to take your food order. You winked at him as soon as the waiter turned away and then focused your eyes on your coffee and your ears on their table when Greg/Craig finally had his recorder out and ready to begin.

“Thanks for agreeing to the interview, Levi,” he started, finger hovering over the record button. “I know I can be a little…eager. I promised my boss to go easy on you this time around.”

Ugh. You knew what he was doing. Levi would catch that hidden jab and not like it too much, which would instantly put him into a bad mood. The journalist wanted that, because he was without a doubt planning on delivering backhanded compliments and cleverly veiled disrespect to get Levi to crack. In their last interview, he’d been much more blatant about riling Levi up, but this time it’d be more like a game. You knew this tactic all too well and loved tearing it apart.

It had already worked, though. One look at Levi and you could see the way his face had darkened. He looked more sullen.

“Let’s get this over with, Greg,” Levi grumbled.

Ah, Greg. Hopefully you’d remember this time.

Greg’s glass of wine came just as he pressed record. They both ordered the streak frites.

“Nice to see you again, Levi. It’s always a delight to be able to have you on GQ. Congratulations on being one of our ‘Men of the Year’. How do you feel?”

Levi took a sip of water before answering.

“Don’t know what I did to deserve it.”

A small smirk tugged at the corners of your mouth. So passive aggressive. Greg was playing with fire. You'd let it slide.

The first half of the interview went on much the same. Greg had clearly gotten your list and was sticking to it – probably because he’d been strictly ordered to. The task would be making sure his subtle digs at Levi in the in-between commentary were kept to a minimum.

You were happily munching away at your lunch when the problems started.

“I’m really curious about your feelings towards Erwin’s lead role in his new movie.”

Shit. Here we go.

You discreetly leaned in a little closer, careful not to look directly at them.

There were a plethora of directions he’d want to take this, but you had an inkling he was going to take it in the worst direction possible, especially since he was deliberately defying your requests to not directly talk about Erwin Smith.

Levi was quiet for a moment, and you risked a glance his way. He was noticeably stiffer and was pointedly looking down at his lunch.

“I’m happy for him. It’s been annoying as hell having to work around his film schedule, but you know Erwin. He’s accommodating us as much as we’re accommodating him.”

You’d let that one slide, too, if it got you out of the real danger zone.

“That’s great to hear. You don’t seem bothered that his leading lady is your ex-girlfriend, and ex-cast member of your show.”

Shit.

It was taking everything in you to stay seated. You didn’t want to interrupt just yet, even though it would probably be an opportune time, just in case. Greg had played it safe the first half, lulling you into a sense of security, and now he was completely ignoring your list and veering into nasty pop culture reporter territory. You had barely spoken with Levi about this possibility, and you hadn’t pushed about this particular tidbit of information in the car. You should have pushed. That was on you.

Levi wasn’t speaking, so Greg continued.

“I hear they’re getting close. Maybe bonding over being the only two cast members of your show to make it over to the silver screen? Or do you think it’s more than that?”

Now you could intervene.

You hopped out of your seat and took the few short steps over to their table, looming over Greg with a damn near evil look in your eye.

He seemed surprised by the intrusion, and then quickly composed himself and gave you a frown.

“We’re in the middle of an interview, miss. You can get your autograph later,” he told you.

“Go off the record, right now,” you murmured to him, voice a little too calm. Recognition flashed over Greg’s face and he did as he was told immediately, his eyes flickering between you and Levi, the latter of whom looked mildly relieved.

It felt good to catch him off guard, and you would continue to do so for the remainder of the interview. Your server had noticed your movement and hurried over, and you gave him a sweet smile as you said, “Actually, can I move over to this table? This will be a working lunch after all.”

Levi nodded his agreement to the server, and your tables were promptly slid together, much to the chagrin of the journalist.

“I don’t believe we’ve officially met,” Greg began, but you simply ignored him and spoke up as if he’d never said a word.

“I thought my instructions were clear when I sent that list, but I guess your boss didn’t chew your ass out nearly as bad as I’d hoped,” you said, taking a sip of coffee. “That last question isn’t permitted and it’s getting scrapped. I gave you plenty of appropriate material. Let’s stick to it.”

Greg opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Levi looked like he was fighting back a smirk.

You raised an eyebrow, jutting your chin towards the recording device.

“Well? You can go back on the record.”

Greg glared but hit the record button again, sounding more frazzled than before as he fumbled through his small notebook.

“Right. So, let’s talk about your new partnership with Scrub Daddy…”

Much better. And, now that you didn’t need to be discreet about eavesdropping, you could be as intimidating and overbearing as you wanted.

The moment Greg stopped recording for good and lunch was over, his professionalism dropped.

“I wasn’t aware that you were bringing someone from your staff. Sneaky,” he said, frowning at Levi.

“She’s not part of my staff,” was all Levi said.

“You always seem to come to an interview with an ace up your sleeve. We’re just doing the same,” you said, all while calculating the tip for your bill.

Lunch for Levi had been on GQ’s tab, so that was taken care of, and you were happily going to expense your own lunch. Greg barely grunted out a goodbye before heading out, leaving you and Levi to finish off your drinks while you called for the car.

“That went better than the last one,” you remarked, giving Levi a small smile.

Levi nodded once, but he seemed a little zoned out. Your smile dropped.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be on their ass about getting a copy of the article before it’s published,” you assured him. “Anything revolving around a film you’re not even in won’t make it to print.”

“Fucking vultures,” he muttered simply. You shot him a sympathetic look.

You’d been given the debrief in the documents Berry had given you before sending you off on your way. It was the biggest piece of media attention around Levi right now: Levi Ackerman’s ex-girlfriend and ex-cast member playing Erwin’s love interest in his new movie. Her name was Petra, and her team was taking advantage of all the gossip, which you had to understand to a certain extent. Clearly they operated on the belief that all press was good press.

Apparently, Levi wasn’t handling it very well and there was some tension between him and Erwin due to the chaotic nature of his breakup with Petra. At least, that was the scoop if you believed what the tabloids were saying. They’d seemed perfectly fine earlier today at the promo shoot. One thing was clear, though: Petra was a sore spot for Levi and a forbidden topic of conversation.

The two of you started to make your way outside once the car pulled up, stopping occasionally when some people wanted to take a picture with Levi. You made yourself scarce and stayed off to the side, checking your phone to note the time. He was done for the day with work-related things, but his manager had expressly stated that he wanted to see Levi later on in his office, and then you were going to force him to spend just part of his evening with you to go over some already booked engagements, and what you wanted to add.

He said his goodbyes to his fans before getting into the car, and you made sure to go in front with the driver this time, instead of in the back with Levi.

“Did I piss you off?” he asked.

“What? Not at all. Why do you ask?”

“Because you’re in the front while I’m in the back and I feel like I’m in time out or something.”

“I’m in the front so nobody starts wondering who I am. You being pictured with any mystery woman right now would start some rumors,” you explained. “If I don’t sit with you, it’ll be made clear that I just work for you.”

He clicked his tongue.

“I don’t give a fuck about any rumors,” Levi said, and it made you snicker a little.

“I didn’t realize you wanted my company that badly,” you teased.

“On second thought, stay up there.”

You snickered again, scrolling through the notifications on your phone. Some of your contacts were already giving green lights on wanting to work with Levi, which was a great sign. Now you’d just have to force him to agree to new events, and things would be smooth sailing.

“We’re dropping you off at Arthur’s office because he wants to meet with you, and then you and I are going to meet up later,” you said.

Levi didn’t respond, which ticked you off, but you shook it off and proceeded to go to your Contacts app in your phone, tapping your thumb onto the button that pulled up the screen to add a new contact. Then, you swiveled in your seat and extended your arm to shove your phone in Levi’s face.

“What the hell are you doing?” he asked, but snatched the phone from you.

“Put your phone number in there, dumbass. Why else would I be handing my phone over with ‘Create New Contact’ pulled up?”

“Are you allowed to speak to me like this?” The question was rhetorical, in your opinion, so you didn’t answer. Even with his attitude, Levi added his information to your phone and then handed it back to you. He’d kept it plain and simple, his name reading as Levi Ackerman in your phone. Fair enough.

You sent him a text that read, ‘Save my number or else’ and then began replying to some emails, barely noticing when the car pulled over in front of Arthur’s office.

You looked up from an email draft when Levi opened his door, and you mumbled a quiet goodbye.

“When should I expect the pleasure of your company later, temp?” he asked sarcastically, but you were quick to chuck the same energy back his way.

“That’s for me to decide. I hope you feel a sense of impending doom while you wait for my dreaded call,” you quipped.

With that, he slammed the door shut without a goodbye, and you gave the driver directions to your hotel, where a long nap and a cocktail were practically screaming your name.

Notes:

I'm lowkey obsessed with modern!Levi fr

Chapter 3

Notes:

Sunday scaries are hitting extra hard tonight, so what better way to fight it than with a new chapter??

The nap after the GQ interview had been refreshing, the drink not so much. New York was going through a bit of a heatwave that was unusual for September, and the alcohol had heated your blood just enough to make you feel like you were baking, even in the shade of the rooftop patio. That had been your cue to head back inside. The AC was on full blast in your room, and you sipped some water as you stared out the window. The sun was low in the sky, about to set, but the buildings were blocking most of it out. The orange glow of late-summer dusk bled into the city, though, soon to be snuffed out by pale twilight.

After redoing your makeup and changing into something more casual, you felt rejuvenated enough to send Levi a text message.

I’m starving. Let’s talk over dinner at 8pm.

That gave you an hour to prep. You were about to give Levi a list of options of where to go, but he had been quick to reply.

I thought I shouldn’t be gallivanting around with mystery women.

Insufferable. He just wanted to get out of your meeting. You sighed and typed out a response back; he didn’t deserve to pick the location anymore.

I’m sure you’ll have me looking too pissed for people to think anything is going on. Meet me at Gianni’s – hope you like Italian.

He simply liked the message and didn’t respond, which was fine by you. Gianni’s was right across the street from your hotel, so you could just walk over, and it was a small victory for you that Levi would have to do most of the traveling. Well, probably – you didn’t know where he lived.

However, in your haste, you had ended up picking a pretty nice place. Your casual clothes wouldn’t do, and you would need to make a reservation. Thankfully, they had capacity for a new reservation at that time, so all you needed to worry about was picking out a nicer outfit.

You didn’t want to slip back into your dress shirt and slacks again, so you opted for pulling out the black dress you always brought for emergency situations. You’d kind of hoped you’d be wearing it out on a date, but if your instincts were right, and they usually were, you figured you wouldn’t have time for a quick hookup while you were in New York City because of how much work Levi was going to be.

The dress wasn’t anything elaborate, just sleeveless with a mock neck and the hem hitting around your calves. It had been your first investment piece after getting your job, something timeless from your favorite designer. You paired it with your black heels and pulled out your pocket notebook to start jotting down notes.

Levi would no doubt be fighting you on some of the events you wanted to book, and he’d certainly give you attitude the moment you brought up media training, so you’d have to organize your thoughts and put together a loose timeline of your dinner. There’d be a lot of strategy in knowing when to bring up some topics.

When it was time to leave, you slid your little notebook into your purse and made your way across the street, greeting the hostess.

“I have a reservation,” you told her, giving your name, and she nodded quickly, her eyes curiously lighting up.

“Great! The other member of your party is already here,” she announced, then gestured for you to follow her.

You were a little surprised. Levi was known to be punctual, but you would have thought he’d be a little late just to annoy you, or to take away as much time for your meeting as he could.

He was looking at the menu as you sat across from him, and he only looked up to give you a nod of acknowledgement.

“Did you get lost?”

“It’s eight on the dot,” you scoffed, already miffed.

“If you’re on time, then you’re late,” he said.

Ugh. He sounded just like Berry, and you were quick to tell him so.

“You sound like my boss,” you complained. “If you’re early, you’re on time. If you’re on time, that means you’re late.”

Levi smirked a little, then took a sip of his water.

“She’s just trying to instill some discipline in you,” he said.

“I need a drink,” you whispered exasperatedly.

Thankfully, the server came by right then and put your orders in for some drinks. Levi had opted for a glass of cabernet, and you ordered a glass of chardonnay to keep it light.

“How did your meeting with Arthur go?” you asked, as a way to ease into your own pre-planned conversation. Levi scowled and shrugged, meeting your eyes.

“He wanted to scold me for Johnny’s resignation, mostly. And then he reminded me to do as you say, which I’m sure you’ll be glad to hear. I guess you’ll be around until the premiere?”

“Sounds about right,” you confirmed. “That should give your poor manager and my agency enough time to find a suitable replacement. Not as good as me, but I digress.”

Levi rolled his eyes, but both of you turned your attention to the server, who had returned with your drinks and a promise to give you a little more time before taking your order. You both said your thank-yous, but then you stiffened, awkwardly holding your glass in the air. Levi copied your stance, but his brows were furrowed.

“Do I dare cheers with you?” you asked, narrowing your eyes.

The corner of Levi’s mouth quirked up in a half-smirk, and he moved to clink his glass against yours while maintaining eye contact.

“Cheers,” he said, tapping his wine glass down to the table before taking a sip.

“What are we cheers-ing to?” you asked after taking a sip of your chardonnay.

“To you being a temp,” he said easily, and you couldn’t help but let out a breathy laugh. Then, you nodded towards his glass.

“Why did you tap it onto the table before taking a drink?” you asked.

Levi seemed surprised that you’d asked.

“You’ve never done that before?” he asked you, and you shook your head.

“No. Should I be doing it?”

Levi shifted in his seat, then gave you a look.

“It’s a superstition thing that I was taught, that’s all,” he said.

“Didn’t peg you as the superstitious type,” you said. “What’s the superstition around it?”

“It’s a luck thing,” he answered curtly, and you didn’t press for more information, not wanting to agitate him before you absolutely had to.

The server returned then to take your food orders, which you both gave, and then you were left alone again.

“I wanted to run a few engagements past you that I want to book you for, and I want to talk about the upcoming ones you have,” you began, not wanting to beat around the bush. “You have that convention thing in about two weeks, and you’re on a Q&A panel with the convention attendees. It should be light-hearted and fun, so I’m not going to nag you about that one too much. However, you have an interview at that convention with actual journalists, and I’m going to need you to keep your cool. I can’t be there to intervene, so some of them might bring up Erwin and Petra. Please remember to say polite bullshit and leave it at that. Don’t get snippy.”

“I’m not snippy,” Levi argued, but you gave him a look that shut him up.

“Anyway,” you went on, “I wanted you to attend a pop-up event next week, before the convention. There’s a shop in Soho that specializes in these pop-ups where vendors can come and sell merch related to a certain fandom. This time, it’ll be for your show. It’d be great if you’d agree to a surprise photo op and autographing a few items. The shop owner would have a signup list so there’s not a never-ending line out the door, and we’ll have official merch for you to autograph so none of the vendors can upsell whatever you put your hands on from their respective collections.”

Levi sighed, running a hand through his hair and mussing it up a bit. Your eyes caught the way a few strands fell into his eyes and brushed his lashes.

“Fine,” he said, and you beamed.

“Great! That’ll just be for a couple of hours. In addition to the pop-up, the Late Late Podcast had a cancellation with Kate Hudson and you’re their first choice as a replacement. I’d like for you to do that, too. It would be a podcast episode but also a YouTube episode, because they like to film everything on top of podcasting. That would be a couple of days after the pop-up event,” you said.

“You’re not going to let me say no, are you?” he deadpanned, and you gave him a sly grin. He sighed. “Then I guess I’m doing the Late Late Podcast.”

“As a thank you to agreeing to those, I’d like to book you as a guest for the Mean Tweets series on Jimmy Kimmel,” you said.

“You want to thank me by sitting me down and making me read the rude shit people say about me out loud?” he asked.

“Yes. Because, for once, I won’t censor you in the slightest. Well, they’ll probably have to censor you. I’m sure you’ll let your foul language reign supreme there, but you’re free to react as Levi Ackerman as you want. No PR guidance needed,” you said. “Except, maybe, don’t threaten anyone.”

Levi actually smiled at that, just a small one, and took a sip of his wine as he mulled it over.

“That sounds cathartic. I’ll accept it,” he said.

Another win. You internally fist-pumped and gave him a grateful smile, swirling your drink in its glass.

“I know you’re used to doing a lot of these things with your co-stars, so I appreciate you stepping out of your comfort zone. It’ll be good for your career, I promise,” you said.

“My career is doing just fine without your interference,” he said. “Besides, temp…you’re just a temp. Wouldn’t you rather just coast through this until you’re back in LA?”

You shook your head.

“Not how I operate. I know your career is fine, but I want to make it explode, like fireworks. You’re very talented, Levi, and I want the world to fully acknowledge it and not just pigeonhole you into this one role,” you told him.

“I think the chardonnay is getting to your head,” Levi scoffed.

“What? Can’t take a compliment?” you teased, unable to hide your grin.

Levi cleared his throat, looking away from you. There was an unmistakable redness to his cheeks and ears. Ah, so he was uncomfortable with compliments. Interesting. That wasn’t usually the case for an actor.

“I can take a compliment. You’re just being too nice to me after being a terror all day. It’s freaking me out,” he said defensively.

“Do you always blush when you’re freaked out?” you pushed.

“I’m tempted to take my dinner to go right now,” he deadpanned, finally shifting his gaze to you again.

Maybe your drink was getting to you. Because why were you so acutely aware of how Levi looked? The rouge of his cheeks was still faintly there, his hair was still slightly mussed from when he’d ran a hand through it, and he looked really nice in his tailored shirt. He’d also changed into a new outfit, like you.

Your thoughts were drifting into unprofessional territory. You had to get it together.

“Anyway, let’s talk about the interviews you’re already scheduled for ahead of the season premiere,” you said, shaking your thoughts out of your head.

You chatted strictly about business until your food arrived. You wanted to keep it firmly on topic, but chasing a bite of your dinner with your chardonnay made you grimace and forget what you were going to say.

“What’s wrong?” Levi asked. “Something wrong with your food?”

“No, it’s great. Just doesn’t pair well with the chardonnay,” you told him.

“No kidding. That should be paired with a nice red,” Levi said casually, picking up his glass and swirling the contents around. “Like this one.”

“It’s too warm of a night for such a heavy wine,” you whined. “Besides, I’m not really a cabernet girl.”

Levi’s mouth twitched, but he took a sip and set it down right in the middle of the table.

“You can try it if you want, to see how much better your dinner would taste.”

Levi didn’t seem like the type to share a drink, so this offer surprised you. However, you couldn’t stop yourself from taking a bite of food and then reaching over to take the glass into your hand. You swallowed and then raised the glass to your lips, sipping at a part of the rim Levi’s lips hadn’t touched, and blinked in surprise.

It did pair nicely with your dinner. The chardonnay was too light and sweet. Fuck him for being right.

“I’d say ‘I told you so’, but the look on your face is rewarding enough,” Levi said, amusement dancing in his eyes.

“Who knew Levi Ackerman was a wine snob?” you said, sliding his glass back to him. Your lipstick had left a stain on the rim.

“I’m not much of a drinker, so I prefer something nice when I do,” he said with a shrug. “And I’ve had a lot of people yell at me these past 24 hours – I needed to take the edge off.”

That earned a laugh out of you. As if on cue, the server returned to check on you and ask if you wanted another round.

“I’d like what he’s having this time,” you said, and Levi confirmed he was in for another glass of wine.

Your eyes widened when you watched him down the rest of his wine, part of your lipstick stain connecting with his mouth. It smudged against his bottom lip, and you weren’t sure why it affected you the way that it did. Maybe it was best to just blame the wine. When the server returned with fresh glasses, you cheersed again. This time, you also tapped your glass to the table before drinking from it. Levi's gaze followed your movements, but he said nothing.

The rest of your talking points for the meeting came out a little chaotically, but you managed. Levi hadn’t been as angry as you’d imagined, which was a plus, but maybe you had the wine to thank for that.

He tried to pay for dinner, but you waved his card away and slapped down your company card, flashing a lazy grin.

“Tonight’s on the company's tab.”

As you walked out of the air-conditioned restaurant and into the stuffy heat outside, you took a deep breath, turning to offer Levi a genuine smile.

“Thanks for meeting with me. I won't see you until next week for the pop-up thing, but I’ll keep in touch until then,” you said.

“Let me call you a cab,” Levi offered.

“No need, my hotel’s across the street,” you told him, pointing towards it.

“Then I’ll walk you there.”

“You don’t have to do that,” you whispered, a little confused. He’d complained about you being too nice, but now he was the one being nicer than what you'd experienced so far. Now you understood why he’d been freaked out – it really did take you off guard.

Levi walked beside you in silence, and you didn’t bother to break that silence either, your mind racing as you walked back to your hotel. The image of his lips smudging against the lipstick stain you’d left on his wine glass kept popping up. For a brief moment, you wondered what it would be like to actually stain his mouth with your lipstick, but quickly shook that thought away. A few people seemed to recognize Levi but didn’t approach him, and you stopped outside of the entrance of your hotel, shifting on your feet awkwardly as you turned to face him.

“Are you going to be okay getting home?” you asked.

“I called an Uber,” he assured you, and you nodded.

“Come inside while you wait,” you suggested, taking a step closer towards the doors.

“Like, to your room?” Levi blurted out, his eyes widening once he realized what he’d said.

“I was thinking more like the lobby,” you corrected, your cheeks burning. He probably hadn’t even meant it that way, but still.

“Good. It’d take more than just a simple wine and dine to get me up there,” Levi said, a hint of teasing in his tone as he followed you into the lobby. He could probably tell that he’d accidentally stunned you and wanted to take advantage. Payback.

The two of you sat across from each other in some plush chairs, and you glared at him, nearly pouting from his teasing.

“Are you always like this after a work dinner?” you asked.

Levi rolled his eyes.

“It’s probably the wine,” he admitted.

“Yeah, you knocked that first glass back like no one’s business,” you said with a snort. “Not much a drinker, my ass.”

“It was for the nerves,” he grunted.

Had he been nervous? Why?

He looked down at his phone when it buzzed and slowly got up from the chair.

“My ride’s here,” he announced, and you quickly rose up from your seat to walk him to the doors, giving him a curt smile.

“Thanks for walking me back,” you said, unsure of what to do next.

“Thanks for not being a perv and luring me back to your room,” he said.

You rolled your eyes.

“Why on earth would I perv on you?” you snapped.

“Dunno. Maybe you liked what you saw this morning,” Levi said.

Your eyes nearly bugged out of your head. The memory came screaming back to you and your entire face felt like it was on fire, and Levi no doubt had noticed; he was clearly fighting back a smirk.

He waved goodbye and exited the hotel, and you were glad to be able to finally hurry up to your room. The moment you closed the door behind you, you slumped against it and leaned your head back, getting your bearings.

Levi was such a complex person, you were coming to realize. Working with him was going to be nothing short of a rollercoaster. He was already so unlike all of your other clients. So many people of the same standing as him, and yet he couldn’t be more different. What was that all about? This was the only man you’d ever felt close to losing your cool over.

Oh well. It was best not to think about it and pack your things for your flight back home. And you were very much looking forward to a good night’s sleep. And you would not be thinking about how you'd seen Levi naked this morning. He was such a little bastard for bringing it up.

This had been, without a doubt, the longest day of your life.

Notes:

3 chapters spanning only one day was crazy but that's showbiz. Thank you for reading! LOVE Y'ALL

Chapter 4

Notes:

Hello, ily! Good luck to any of my sweet cherubs who are in their back-to-school era!

Your week back in LA had passed by in a very busy blur. Your agency was temporarily relocating you to New York City while you handled all this Levi business, so a good chunk of your time was dedicated to packing the bulk of your things to move across the country for a few months. They’d promised to cover all moving-related expenses, and they would be paying for your apartment in the city. Being a public relations agency, it meant they had plenty of connections in real estate and had a handful of apartments for you to pick from. HR had sent you the available listings and you picked your favorite: a dreamy East Village loft.

It only had bare bones furnishing, so you packed up some of your décor along with everything else and had shipped it off so it would all be waiting for you when you got to New York. Now you were sitting in your half-empty LA condo, a newly opened bottle of cheap white wine right next to you.

The TV was playing your favorite comfort sitcom, but you weren’t paying that much attention. This was your last day at home, and in about two hours you’d be going to the airport to take a redeye to New York. It just felt so surreal. And, on top of having to deal with your temporary move, you were still putting out fires and dealing with Levi from across the country. You were currently going over his itinerary for the rest of the week, which included, in no particular order, an interview on a popular podcast, a quick reshoot of some photos from the promo shoot he’d done last week, a meeting with the director of his show, a very intentional appearance with Erwin Smith at the Ralph Lauren show for New York Fashion Week, and the pop-up event.

You’d been in contact with Levi, who was expectedly very short and to the point in all his communication. Though it had all been related to work and mere smatterings of texts and very quick phone calls, your mind would always go back to your day with him in New York, especially the dinner. He could go from being a pain in your ass, to teasing you, to being so professional that it made you wonder if you’d imagined everything else. It really was no wonder why his old PR rep had rage quit, though you still didn’t know the full story about that.

“If I’d known you’d be taking all the cool trinkets, I wouldn’t have signed the sublet.”

You peered over your shoulder to see your old roommate and good friend, Shan, leaning against your kitchen counter. Always quiet as a mouse, you hadn’t heard her let herself in with the copy of your key you’d made for her. She was only teasing, of course. Shan had been made aware of your situation over dinner a few days ago and had begged for you to sublet your apartment to her while you were away. You’d fully planned on just keeping it empty while you were gone and simply continue to pay rent, given that you wouldn’t be paying a dime in housing in New York City. However, Shan would be in town more often these next few months, which was unusual for her, so she’d taken it as a sign that she should sublet from you rather than staying in vacation rentals and/or hotels. Ironically, she hated doing that.

“Relax, you’ll be in and out of here too often to even notice,” you joked.

“True,” she agreed, sauntering over and plopping down next to you on the couch. You held a firm grip on your wine so it didn’t spill.

“How’s the travel blogging?” you asked, taking a swig of your zinfandel.

“Good. There’s a bed and breakfast in Topanga Canyon striking a deal with me. I’m doing a piece on bed and breakfasts in an attempt to popularize them, sort of like anti-vacation rental propaganda. That's where I stayed last night. And there’s this new restaurant in Silver Lake that wants to be included in my updated LA guidebook,” she said, taking the bottle of wine from you.

“You really fucking hate vacation rentals for a travel writer,” you laughed, turning to look at your friend. She was smiling at you, throwing her hands up as if to say, “well, duh.”

“They just suck these days, all those hidden fees and whatnot. Bleh,” she grimaced. “And what about you? Are you excited for your time in New York?”

You hummed and nodded, but you were sure you didn’t look so convincing.

“It still feels like it’s a dream,” you admitted. “I’m so used to my life here, but I guess it’ll be a good interruption to my routine. It’s a great opportunity for me.”

“Next time I’m in New York, you’ll have to score me a photo op with Levi Ackerman,” Shan said with a sly smile. “He’s delicious. I don’t know how you can be around him without wanting to jump his bones.”

She’d said that right as you took a drink of your wine, straight from the bottle, and it made you choke a bit.

“He’s my client,” you sputtered out, wincing at the harsh zing of alcohol that hit the back of your throat. “Get your mind out of the gutter.”

Shan merely snickered, but did keep quiet.

“Is he really as short as they say? Like Tom Cruise? You know, in my experience, short kings always have the biggest –”

“Shut up, Shan,” you begged, shaking your head with a disbelieving laugh.

She put her hands up in surrender, but the glint in her eye told you that you’d opened up a can of worms. She knew that whenever you clammed up about a guy, it meant you had a little crush.

But so what if you had a crush on Levi? It was harmless. You’d only had a crush once before on a client, and those feelings were squashed pretty fast; the thing about rich and famous people was that most of them tended to be insufferable. Levi would show his true colors soon enough, either by having a tantrum or saying so unbelievably tone-deaf that it would make you question what kind of reality he lived in, and then you'd be cured.

“Your flight’s soon, isn’t it?” Shan asked, thankfully changing the subject. “Shouldn’t you be scrambling to get out of here?”

“Me? Scramble? You seem to have forgotten exactly who I am,” you joked. “Everything’s already on its way to New York City as we speak. The only thing left to arrive there is me and my carryon items.”

Shan giggled and snatched the wine from you, chugging a good portion of it.

“Don’t drink too much before your flight or you’ll be puking your guts out once you hit altitude,” she teased.

“It only happened once,” you groaned, but let her have the rest of the bottle. “I scheduled the car to be here in about half an hour, so you’ll have the place to yourself starting tonight. Don’t miss me too much.”

The two of you sat in comfortable silence, waiting it out by staring out the window. You wouldn’t be seeing this view of palm trees and staccato for a while.

***

Going from an evening in your LA condo to a morning in your New York loft nearly gave you whiplash, but you powered through.

After chugging a cup of black coffee, you set to work on unpacking some of your things, answering texts and emails in between your domestic tasks. Levi was being unusually bothersome today; typically, it was you chasing after him for communication, but he wasn’t letting up this morning. He’d been hounding you since you’d turned your phone back on after landing, wondering if you’d be with him at the pop-up event tomorrow, asking if you’d gotten the GQ article from Greg yet, complaining about Arthur’s constant nagging about him getting social media. The works.

You left him on read after he simply started complaining, since that wasn’t really urgent or something that needed a reply from you, and you figured he just needed to vent. However, when your phone started buzzing to indicate you were getting a phone call, you stopped fiddling with your rug and raised your phone to check the caller ID.

Levi, of course.

Your phone had been connected to the Bluetooth speaker and his phone call had interrupted your music, totally interrupting your flow.

“This better be good,” you greeted him, hand on your hip as you cradled your phone between your ear and your shoulder.

“Not much of a morning person,” Levi said, and you rolled your eyes.

“I had to take a redeye and have been unpacking for a couple of hours now. I’m cranky,” you said. Thankfully, he wouldn’t be able to see your pout. “Is something going on? You never call me.”

“You’re unpacking? Are you back in New York?”

“Yeah, I’m getting settled in what's to be my home for the next few months,” you said, your hands busy adjusting the rug as you crouched down to shift it a little to the left. For some reason, it kept looking crooked. “I ask again, what’s up?”

“You’re back in New York. Good. Can you meet up in person today?” Levi pressed. You had to stifle a groan.

You shouldn’t have said anything. Of course he’d be trying to pester you in person as soon as he could.

“Can it wait until tomorrow? We can meet earlier before the pop-up, or we can talk after you’re done,” you suggested.

“I’d rather talk to you about it as soon as possible.”

Ugh. You didn’t get paid enough.

“Well, I’d rather get my loft sorted out today, so if it’s not urgent, I’d love to talk all about it tomorrow,” you said. “Unless you’re willing to come and help me get this place in good shape.”

You’d meant it as a joke, thinking Levi would scoff and back off and agree to just meeting tomorrow, but to your surprise, he reacted the opposite of what you’d expected.

“Text me your address and I’ll be there within the hour.”

He hung up before you could argue.

***

True to his word, Levi was outside of your building less than an hour later. You buzzed him in and left your front door open for him, waving to him when he walked in and looked around. The place was obviously still coming together, but you'd taken some time to make sure you didn't look like your new place, fixing your hair and applying the tiniest amount of makeup to go with your made-to-look-effortless outfit of linen pants and your favorite slouchy graphic tee.

He was holding a bottle of red wine, and he casually set it down on your kitchen counter.

“I was just kidding about you coming over, you know,” you greeted him, hands on your hips as you stood and took in the sight of him from your place in the middle of the living area. “But I guess since you’re here, I’ll put you to work. Want a tour? And what’s the wine for, Mr. Not-Much-of-a-Drinker?”

“It’s common decency to bring a housewarming gift. And there’s not much of a tour to give when it comes to lofts,” Levi said, walking to where you were. Still, he went up the stairs to the area above your kitchen and bathroom, where your bedroom was still needing to come to life.

“Nice place, though. And in a great spot,” Levi said, coming back down the stairs.

“Whatever you want to talk to me about, you can do it while you start organizing my kitchen,” you told him, your brows furrowed as you tried to assemble an end table.

Levi scoffed but went to your kitchen nonetheless, opening a box that held some precious items you’d taken along with you, including a French press and some cookware.

The kitchen had the bare necessities, so you didn’t bother to bring along utensils or dishware, but there were some things that you wouldn’t be able to live without, like your air fryer.

“Careful with that,” you warned him when he took it out. “That’s my most prized possession.”

Levi rolled his eyes but set it down carefully, suspiciously quiet as he did so.

“For someone who had something so urgent to talk about that he came to help me unpack, I sure am hearing nothing but crickets,” you remarked, raising a brow. You took a break from the end table, playing with the screws in your hands as you cocked your head to one side.

Levi sighed, a frown on his face, and then he finally met your gaze.

“Erwin is leaving the show. He didn’t renew his contract and kept it under wraps, even from me. The next season we film is going to be his last.”

It took everything in you not to let your jaw fall open. Erwin was leaving the show? That must have been why Berry had dropped everything to work with him. It was starting to make sense now. She was probably in the midst of getting ready to make the announcement and start marketing him as a future movie star, now that he wasn’t restrained to a television contract.

“When did you find out?” you asked, slowly standing from your place on the floor.

“Last night. He dropped by my apartment and told me the news himself,” Levi said, still frowning. This time, however, his eyes were hard, angry. “I can’t believe he didn’t tell me sooner. Nobody did. And it’s been set in stone for months.”

What could you say to comfort him? Though you didn’t know Levi or Erwin that well, it was easy to gather that they’d become good friends outside of the show. This must have been a huge blow for Levi.

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry,” you offered, sighing and then sauntering over to the kitchen. You picked up the bottle of wine and inspected the label and then nodded towards the drawer where Levi was organizing your utensils. “Get the bottle opener out. Let’s crack this bad boy open.”

He slid it over to you and you wasted no time in opening the bottle, fishing out two wine glasses from the cupboard and pouring the contents into them.

Levi raised a brow. “That’s a heavy pour for eleven in the morning. No thanks.”

“Oh please, it’s just one glass,” you said dismissively, setting one of them down in front of him. “Cheers.”

The two of you clanked your glasses together, and you remembered to tap your glass to the counter before taking a sip, keeping your eyes on Levi. He still seemed distraught, like he still had something to say.

Finally, after taking another gulp of wine, he asked, “Did you know?”

You shook your head. “No. I didn’t know.”

“I don’t know if I can go to his premiere. And I don’t know how I feel about doing upcoming press with him,” Levi sighed. “He’s a son of a bitch for keeping me in the dark.”

“That’s show biz,” you tried to joke, but then got serious when Levi merely gave you a discontented glare. “Look, you know just as well as I do that this shit happens in this industry all the time. I feel like there’s more to the story that you’re not telling me, and that’s why you’re as upset as you are. You can tell me, it’s confidential. Especially if it’ll help you get over it faster so you don’t make my life harder by trying to get out of your commitments with him.”

“He also fucked Petra a few weeks ago.”

Shit.

At that, you downed the rest of the wine in your glass and grimaced.

No wonder he was so pissed. You still didn’t know the juicy details about his split with Petra, but you knew it ended on bad terms. Per his manager, it had been quite the fight to get Levi to agree to attend the movie premiere, knowing that she’d not only be there, but be in the spotlight with his best friend. You couldn’t imagine how it felt knowing that said best friend had fucked his ex.

It was kind of surprising that Erwin would do something like this. He seemed like a stand-up guy, but admittedly, you had barely interacted with him. And what you knew about actors was that they were very often not what they seemed. It just sucked that Erwin was that kind of celebrity.

Your mind was racing, thinking of Levi’s upcoming engagement that featured Erwin. They would be doing the convention together next week with Hange, and then they had that cutesy puppy interview in about three weeks, and the Ralph Lauren invite. And soon after, they would both be attending the Men of the Year event. Then, premieres and press junkets that you wouldn’t be able to change.

Levi was a professional, but he was clearly struggling with how personal issues were bleeding into his work.

“You’ll have to do the convention next week, there’s no stepping out of that,” you announced. “But the good news is that Hange will also be there, and they can be used as a sort of buffer during the panel and the photo ops so you don’t have to constantly be interacting with Erwin. I can get you out of the puppy interview thing and replace you with Hange. After that, though, you’ll need to work with him.”

Levi seemed almost relieved.

“Still missing Johnny?” you asked jokingly, and he rolled his eyes.

“Don’t flatter yourself, temp,” he grunted, leaning against your kitchen counter.

He was swirling the wine around in his glass but had barely taken a drink. You shoved a wine stopper into the mouth of the bottle and put it away in the fridge, and you heard Levi scoff at your actions.

“This isn’t a type of wine that should be chilled,” he told you.

“Such a wine snob,” you snorted, but took the bottle out and left it on the counter. “It’s my gift anyway – I can chill it if I want.”

You went back to the living room to finish assembling your end table but looked over your shoulder at Levi before sitting back down on the floor.

“You don’t have to stay, y’know. We found some solutions to your problem, which I think is why you came over in the first place, so I’m not going to force you to help me get everything done. Go home and get some rest and process your emotions or whatever.”

Levi wasn’t looking at you, but his brows were furrowed, and he was tapping his fingers on the wine glass. Finally, he chugged the whole thing and then walked into the living area, giving you a frown.

“Your rug is crooked,” he said, and then made you get off of it so he could tug it into place.

You were about to fight him about it and let him know you’d been fidgeting with the placement of it all day and had given up on it being perfectly aligned with the rest of the room, but when you saw the result of his work, you raised your brows in surprise.

The rug was perfectly lined up with the wall, no longer crooked, and now you could see that it was the couch that was a little misaligned.

“Hey, thanks,” you breathed out, and then felt your heart skip a beat when he walked over to fix the couch.

“Don’t mention it,” he said easily, as if lifting a heavy couch was barely a workout. Knowing him, that was probably true.

He walked to the front door after fixing the placement of the couch, barely looking at you. He was putting his shoes on, but then stopped to look up at you, but without actually maintaining eye contact. It was more like he was looking in your general direction. He looked vaguely nervous.

“I’ll see you tomorrow at the pop-up, right?” he asked.

You nodded your answer, a little surprised at the suddenness of all his actions.

He was gone before you could really figure out what was up with him.

Notes:

Hehehehe, sneaky Erwin. THAT'S SHOW BIZ

Chapter 5

Notes:

Happy rest of the week, my sweet cherubs!

The pop-up event had gone swimmingly, but the only annoying thing to come out of it were the swarms of paparazzi and eager fans waiting outside for Levi.

The fans weren’t that annoying, but the paps were.

You’d brought his security team along for this very reason, and they were currently parting the sea of people and cameras for Levi to walk through to get to the car now that the event was over. As soon as the door opened and he stepped out, flashes and screams erupted from the crowd. Levi barely reacted, but you could see his lips downturn just a tad before he composed his face into a mask of neutrality.

You stayed a few feet behind him, sunglasses on and ears bombarded with declarations of love from fans and invasive questions from the paparazzi. Thankfully, all of those invasive questions were still simply about his love life and if he was jealous of Erwin’s success, the same old bullshit that they’d been spewing his way for months now.

Erwin’s departure from the show hadn’t officially been announced yet, and Berry was being very evasive with you about when and where it would be happening. It was infuriating – you were supposed to be working together, even though you weren’t physically working together, and she was making this harder than it needed to be. You just needed to know so you could give Levi a heads up and so you could know what to draft up as a response for him to use, in case he needed it.

Once that announcement was made, Levi would be blasted with questions and speculation about that, and you wanted to prepare him as best as you could, and give him time to get over it. You wanted to make sure he was as unbothered and over it as possible before it was announced.

You hopped into the car with Levi, his security team getting into the car behind you, and the driver merged into the harrowing New York City evening traffic to get Levi home. You’d been planning on using this drive time to go over some minor details regarding his convention appearance, but apparently, Levi had other plans.

“Do you mind if I get dropped off at Central Park?” he asked. He was asking you, not the driver.

“Sure, you don’t have anything else going on today other than a virtual meeting with Arthur,” you said, shrugging your shoulders. “Thanks for asking for permission, though.”

Levi’s jaw twitched, hinting that you’d successfully ticked him off with that last sentence, and you grinned openly while he directed the driver to the park.

“May I ask why you want to go there?”

“I just want to take a walk and decompress. The big crowds are still draining,” he said.

“I get it. All that energy from all those people can be hard to take,” you agreed absently, typing away on your phone. “A walk in the park sounds really nice. It’s the perfect day for it.”

The unusual heatwave had given into usual September temperatures, and the evening had brought a crisp breeze and a freshness to the air that felt exhilarating when combined with the exertion of walking.

Levi hadn’t responded to what you’d said, but you felt his eyes on you, so you looked up from your phone, meeting his gaze.

You were surprised to see that his eyes held an uncertainness in them, and his ears were tinged pink.

“You can take a walk with me. If you want,” he said. He was clearly trying to sound nonchalant, but the pink of his ears and the stiffness in his voice gave him away.

Your heart fluttered at that, which made you mentally slap yourself. You had to remind yourself that you were the one with the crush, not Levi. He was just being a good sport and inviting you out on his walk. He was notoriously a socially awkward person, and was probably feeling a little uncomfortable extending an invite to spend time together. And he was probably also wanting a friend now that Erwin was turning out to be a shitty one.

Were you friends? Could you be friends?

You were working together. You were here to keep him booked and busy until another rep came along. You had to remember that.

But a walk together wouldn’t hurt.

“That sounds nice. I’m in,” you said with a small smile, hoping you didn’t look as awkward as you felt.

Before you knew it, you were standing in front of the park, your eyes wandering. There were horsedrawn carriages and food trucks, and the greenery was lush, barely giving in to fall colors, and beckoned for you to enter the park and leave the city behind for a little while. It was a pretty park, and you’d always loved it.

“I’m getting a snack before we start,” you declared, gesturing towards the food trucks. “Want anything? My treat.”

“No thanks,” Levi declined, waving a hand dismissively. “Just hurry up.”

So bossy.

You kept it simple, ordering a soda and a bag of chips, and then followed Levi into the park.

The trees shrouded you from the sun, and you shivered at the slight drop in temperature. There were people running, walking, sitting on benches and smoking, but everyone was in their own little world. Nobody noticed you or Levi.

“I remember the first time I came to Central Park,” you said quietly, breaking the silence.

“Was it underwhelming?” Levi asked, his voice flat, and you chuckled a little as you took a sip of your soda.

“No. It’s actually quite a magical memory for me,” you revealed.

Levi took the bait.

“Why is that?”

You gave him a small smile, then averted your gaze to the trees.

“My first time in New York City was the summer after I graduated high school. My parents took me here as a graduation present. I remember our first day here, it was so hot and we’d been walking all day long. I was so tired and felt sweaty and gross. Towards the end of the day, we came here, to Central Park, just to take a short walk through it and rest before going to our hotel. It felt like my feet were going to fall off.”

“Sounds like a miserable time. How is that magical?” Levi asked with a scoff.

“The sun had just gone down, so it was twilight, and I’ll never forget looking at this place for the first time. The trees against the buildings was something I’d never seen before. But, even better than that, I saw fireflies for the first time,” you murmured, smiling to yourself as you recalled the memory. “Where I grew up, we don’t have them. I knew what they were, obviously, but seeing them in person for the first time was pure magic. All my exhaustion disappeared and I just wanted to sit there and watch them fly around. They were just tiny lights dancing around while people jogged by and the city lit up.”

You didn’t try looking for them now. It was well into September, meaning firefly season was over. It didn’t upset you. The memory of watching them float up from the grass like little green specks of summer light was still so vivid in your head, so vivid that it was like it was actually happening, if you concentrated hard enough.

“What’s your favorite memory about New York?” you asked suddenly, turning to look at Levi.

He said nothing for a few moments, but you could tell he was thinking. Good. It was nice that he was indulging you, even though he was a little worn out. But, when he seemed to be struggling to say something, you shrugged a shoulder.

“You don’t have to tell me, Levi,” you said.

He shook his head, but then finally spoke.

“I had the shittiest apartment in Brooklyn when I first moved here. It was more of a hole than anything else. But, it had a really great view of the skyline from the fire escape. My second night here, I climbed the fire escape to eat my dinner outside because my AC unit had crapped out on me inside the apartment, and I just…took it all in. Seeing that view for the first time was incredible. Something I never thought I’d see,” he said.

You smiled fondly, nodding to yourself. You knew what he was talking about: Those moments in life when someone realizes they’re right where they’re meant to be. When they can just sit with themselves, by themselves, and soak in the realization that this is their life and not a dream. You’d had a moment or two like that, too.

“It was one of those rare life moments where you can feel that everything’s come together,” you whispered, mostly to yourself, but Levi hummed.

“Sometimes I think all of those moments have already happened for me,” he confessed, his voice flat.

“What do you mean?” you asked.

“I’ve done everything. I did everything I said I was going to do. What’s left?” he asked, but it sounded mostly like a rhetorical question, not something he expected you to answer.

He wasn’t looking at you, and his gaze had shifted upward, towards the sky, as if the heavens had the answers he was seeking. You took in the sight of his profile, from his sharp jaw to his straight nose. It felt odd to you that Levi Ackerman of all people would feel this way.

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that those moments come when you least expect them to,” you said quietly, staring down at your soda. “I think you’ve got a lot of magic waiting for you, Levi. It’s like my fireflies. I knew that they existed out in the world, but I didn’t expect to see them when I did, and I didn’t expect to see so much magic in them. You know life is full of magic, you just don’t know when it’ll hit you. It’s still there, waiting for you. It's not finite.”

A silence fell over the two of you again, but a much more comfortable one. The only sound that broke you out of the trance was the sound of you ripping open your bag of chips, and Levi clicked his tongue in dismay when you offered him some.

“You would pick the most disgusting flavor of all time,” he said.

“Rude,” you scoffed, munching happily.

A breeze blew through the park just then, making you shiver. You thought you were pretty well dressed in a sweater and jeans, but dusk had cooled the air considerably, making you wish you’d brought a light jacket like Levi had. Then again, you hadn’t anticipated that you’d be out on a walk with him.

Levi had noticed the way you’d huddled into yourself and didn’t hesitate to shrug off his jacket, practically shooting his arm out towards you as he handed it over. His cheeks looked a little pink. He was being chivalrous even though the cold was reddening his face.

“I’m fine,” you protested, but he merely quirked up a brow.

“I run hot,” he said, and you gave him a suspicious but grateful look before throwing away your finished snacks and pulling on his jacket.

It was already warm, and Levi’s clean and comforting scent suddenly surrounded you as you tugged the jacket closer.

Damn. This was a bad idea. You already had such complicated feelings towards him, and even the tiniest acts of kindness like this were going to affect you. Why couldn’t he just be a huge asshole, or just some average, nothing guy?

You’d been waiting for the other shoe to drop with Levi. So far, he’d been okay to work with. Definitely stubborn and blunt, but he’d really been more open-minded than you’d expected. Everyone had warned you that he’d have no issue butting heads with you, but so far, the only thing driving you up the wall was your stupid crush. In a way, you were kind of wishing for Nightmare Levi to appear.

The rest of the walk was fairly quiet, only interrupted by short and simple work-related conversations. Small talk, and you made sure to keep it about work, knowing you couldn’t trust yourself to not get carried away. Two teenage girls that had been walking together had asked for a picture, but that was it.

It wasn’t until you began heading back that Levi threw out the safe small talk.

“Erwin called me this morning. Said he wants to meet up and talk,” he revealed, nearly making you stop in your tracks.

“What did you say?” you breathed out, eyebrows raised in surprise.

“I said I’d think about it. When he came over, the first bomb he dropped was that he’d hooked up with Petra, and I just stood there because I didn’t know what the fuck I was supposed to do or say. When he followed up with the fact that he was leaving the show, that’s when I practically kicked him out of my apartment. We didn’t have an actual conversation about any of it. I don’t know if I even want to do that. But…,” he trailed off, and you instantly understood what he was feeling.

“But you want some closure,” you finished for him, and he nodded once, a frown on his face.

“I’ve never fucking wanted or needed closure about anything before. But he’s been such a big part of my life, and he’s my best friend. Or, was my best friend? It just feels like I’m living in some kind of shittier warped reality,” he said.

You merely hummed in response, fighting the urge to reach out and console him. You shoved your hands in your pockets, racking your brain for something comforting to say. Levi had been a man of few words until this whole Erwin debacle. If he was coming to you of all people, someone who hadn’t known him for very long, then it was clear he was either spiraling, or lonelier than you thought.

The thought made you sad. Having to rely on someone who works for you to listen to you sounded miserable. In this line of work, however, trust was hard to come by and easily broken. Proven by Erwin himself, it seemed that people couldn’t even trust their best friends. Being in PR had disillusioned you and sometimes made you wonder how cutthroat and cunning people could really be.

As you stepped out of the park and back into the atmosphere of skyscrapers and the hustle and bustle of people, you took of Levi’s jacket to hand back to him, trying to remain composed as you faced him.

“Don’t forget about your meeting with Arthur later,” you reminded him, fighting the chill of the air now that Levi’s warmth had left you. “Do you want me to call another car to come and get you?”

Levi was still holding his jacket, not bothering to put it on as he stared at you. You couldn’t read his expression, and it made you want to shrink away from it, but you stood your ground under his gaze.

“It’s getting dark. Are you going home?” he asked you.

You nodded.

“Yeah, I’m just going home. I want to enjoy my newly unpacked place.”

“I’ll get you home,” Levi said, already waving down a cab.

You couldn’t even protest, because a cab had already pulled over for you and Levi was guiding you in, giving him your address. You were impressed that he even still remembered it.

“What about you?” you asked him finally as the cab began its journey downtown. “I don’t want you to go out of your way.”

Levi shot you a slightly amused look, then rolled his eyes.

“I would have thought you’d snooped on me by now. I live close by. You’re in the East Village, I’m in the West.”

You had peeked at Levi’s address a few days ago – for professional reasons, naturally – but you still weren’t well-versed in New York City’s geography, so you hadn’t known for sure where he was located in Manhattan. Which reminded you…

“Did you get that PR package yet? It’s from some indie brand that apparently makes really good coats,” you said, digging your phone out of your purse to look up their email. “They sent some stuff over, it should have gotten to you by now…”

“I did get it, this morning. This jacket was one of the items they sent,” he announced.

You looked up, eyes raking over the jacket he’d put on again. It fit him perfectly, and you could attest to the amazing quality.

“Oh, perfect. They wanted you to wear something to the Men of the Year event and I let your stylist know, but if you really like their stuff, we can definitely style you wearing their items towards your other upcoming events, too,” you rambled, trying to shoo away the very recent memory of wearing that same jacket.

Levi simply shrugged, leaning his head back against the seat and closing his eyes.

“I liked what they sent well enough,” he murmured. Then, he opened one eye to glance at you. “What did you think? Did you like it when you wore it?”

It took everything not to let your face heat up, and you adamantly pushed thoughts of Levi’s warmth and the way he smelled out of your head. This was so silly. Having a crush always made you overthink every interaction. He was just asking your opinion on the damn jacket.

“It’s a good jacket,” was all you could muster out.

Before you knew it, you were in front of your building, and you sighed in relief.

You scrambled out, grateful to feel the chilly air now, and you were about to turn and say goodbye to Levi before you closed the door but reeled back in surprise when you noticed him holding the door open with one hand while he tapped his credit card on the card machine with the other.

Wordlessly, you waited for him to get out, and you watched the cab drive off before turning to look at him.

“You’re not seriously going to walk me to my door, are you?” you asked, fighting back a smile, but your mouth was twitching.

Levi matched your expression but looked much more composed.

“Is this your way of telling me to fuck off?”

“Wha—no! No! Of course not,” you said quickly, shaking your head. “I just thought you’d want to go home as soon as possible and relax, alone, before your meeting with Arthur. Do you still need to decompress?”

Levi rolled his eyes.

“I’m decompressed, temp.”

You walked inside until you were at your apartment’s front door, and you turned to give Levi a teasing smile.

“What do you know? I’m safe and sound. Do you want to come in and see the place now that it looks livable? I still haven’t polished off that wine you gave me, if you want some,” you said.

Hope tingled in your chest, but so did dread. If you were going to fight off this crush, this certainly was the exact opposite of what you should be doing.

Still, you were telling yourself that part of you was inviting him in because he looked like he could still use some company.

Levi was quiet for a beat, something flickering in his eyes as he searched yours, but he eventually nodded.

“Do you mind the company? Do you need to decompress?”

You grinned and copied his own response.

“I’m decompressed.”

Notes:

Oooooooooohhhhh they're bondiiiiiing. Tell me your fav mems of NYC if you've been there and have any!

Chapter 6

Notes:

Happy Sunday, cherubs!

The feeling of coming home to your new place, now that it looked just as you wanted it to, was indescribable. Right now, it was also laced with a hint of nerves as Levi followed you inside, but you were trying to remind yourself that it was no big deal.

The wall of exposed brick had a row of tall windows that let in some of the city light, casting in a blue hue now that it was after dusk. The muffled sounds of sirens bled through as you kicked off your shoes and tossed your bag onto your kitchen counter, and you turned on your speaker and connected your phone to it, pulling up a jazzy playlist to drown out any outside noises. Then, you turned on the midcentury style lamp in the corner, letting it cast a warm, honeyed glow over your space.

You’d ended up moving the couch against the back of the wall perpendicular to the brick wall that overlooked the street outside, mostly as a surefire way to keep the rug from being crooked, and had moved the two club chairs to where the couch had been.

You watched from the corner of your eye as Levi took in your place, no more boxes or bubble wrap in sight, and grabbed the bottle of wine that had been tucked into a corner by your fridge. After grabbing two glasses and pouring a small amount of wine into both, you gave a glass to Levi before sinking down onto your couch.

He followed you, opting to also sit on the couch, but thankfully with a safe distance.

“What do you think? I think I did a pretty decent job after busting my ass,” you boasted, taking a small sip of wine.

“You did good,” Levi conceded, and it made you smile even wider.

You clinked your glasses together in a silent cheers, and then you took a deep breath and closed your eyes, letting yourself relax a bit.

Levi was the one to break the short-lived silence.

“Do you mind if I do the meeting with Arthur here? I want you to listen in on some of the things he wants to talk about, including this whole shitstorm with Erwin,” he said.

Ah, so there had been ulterior motives for him to try and get an invite into your place. For some reason, it made your heart sink, but you knew it was silly to feel let down about keeping it professional. You hadn’t even expected or wanted anything unprofessional to happen anyway, but you couldn’t help but feel the sting of imaginary rejection.

“I don’t mind,” you assured him. “It’s in about half an hour, right?”

“Wish it wasn’t cutting into my night,” Levi grunted, “but he’s in Beijing right now and he’s twelve hours ahead. And he’s unavailable all day tomorrow.”

That was right. Arthur had flown into China for a family emergency but was still trying to get some work in when he could. You had to appreciate the dedication. And there was no bite in Levi’s words; he was sympathetic to the situation and, if you didn’t know any better, likely a little worried.

“What is that?”

You opened your eyes, following Levi’s gaze across the room.

He was asking about your projector screen. It was your portable one, big and held up with metal stands.

You pointed up above you to one of the shelves on the wall, where you’d placed your projector, and then picked up the remote from the coffee table to turn it on.

“This place didn’t come furnished with a TV, and I didn’t want to lug one across the country, but I already had this because I like to do movie nights by the beach back home in LA,” you explained. “I’m pretty sure we can use it for your meeting, if you want Arthur’s face on the big screen.”

“No thanks, I don’t need to see his ugly mug blown up on a screen,” he snorted, and you also snickered a bit.

You leaned over to grab a coaster and set your glass down on the coffee table, and Levi did the same, which you appreciated.

It felt nice to have someone else in your home. Back in LA, you didn’t really have a lot of people over, especially after you started living alone. At first, it had just been so nice to have a place all to yourself, and you wanted to maximize your alone time. Eventually, though, it just became routine. Most people wanted to attend events or go out, and you were also starting to really take off in your career, which meant that your social life had become stagnant. For the most part, you’d never minded it. But now, being able to relax and be comfortable with someone next to you, it took your mind to unexpected places, places you hadn’t visited in a long time.

“Are you ever lonely?” you blurted out before you could stop yourself. Immediately, your face burned at the realization of what you’d asked, but you couldn’t take it back.

Levi also seemed a little caught off guard, his eyes widening just for a moment before he cleared his throat and looked at you from the corner of his eye.

“Sorry,” you apologized, cringing a bit. “That just slipped out. I didn’t mean to say it out loud.”

“You were silently wondering if I’m lonely?” he asked, and you groaned, running a hand over your face.

“No. I was thinking about how I think I’m lonely. I guess I didn’t realize it until just now. Isn’t that weird, how you can just…make yourself stop noticing things like that?” you mused. Then, you straightened up, cheeks burning even more because, oop, you’d just said something vulnerable that you hadn’t meant to say.

Levi was giving you a look, another one of those looks you couldn’t yet decipher, and you shook your head, avoiding eye contact with him as you debated whether you should let the earth swallow you up.

“Forget I said anything, please,” you sighed, pulling out your phone to use as a distraction. “I’m just gonna order takeout. Do you want anything? There’s a Thai place around the corner that has the yummiest—”

“I am, too.”

You were staring down at your phone screen but not really seeing it. Your mind was processing what Levi had just said.

“What?” You turned your head to look at him, your eyes searching his face.

“It comes with the job, I guess, but yeah, I’m pretty fucking lonely,” he admitted. His eyes were flickering back and forth, from your face to the window behind you, as if struggling to keep composure. “It’s gotten worse recently, as you can imagine.”

He was lonely. The knowledge of that made your heart squeeze painfully.

“It’s ironic that being so famous can make you feel so alone,” you said.

You hadn’t realized it, but the two of you had subconsciously been scooching closer to each other, and it only became apparent when you saw Levi’s eyes flicker briefly down to your lips, his face not even a foot away from yours. Your breath hitched in your throat, and your mind and your heart were at war with one another.

Stay professional.

Give in.

You could hear your heartbeat in your ears, loud and fast.

Stay professional.

Give in.

Levi licked his lips and it made you swallow thickly.

Stay professional.

Give in.

This wasn't just in your head, right? Not with the way his eyes were like molten silver, his gaze burning into yours. He tilted forward, not even an inch, and your body was in limbo, fighting so hard to either close the distance or tear yourself away, fighting it so hard that it was making you stay still.

Stay professional.

Give in.

The universe answered for you.

Levi’s phone chimed, breaking you out of your spell, and you both leaned away from each other, with Levi checking the notification he’d just received.

“Arthur’s free now and wants to know if I’d like to start earlier than what we’d said,” he announced, and you exhaled deeply, shaking off the moment you’d just had.

“Let’s do it,” you said, and he nodded in agreement, typing out a response back to his manager. It gave you time to compose yourself. Seconds later, Arthur was requesting to FaceTime, and Levi accepted it.

Arthur’s face filled the screen, and he looked tired and a little antsy. Not a good sign.

“Good evening,” he greeted Levi, and Levi gave him a flat “good morning” in reply. “You said you’re with your rep?”

Levi flashed the phone your way and you waved to Arthur, who greeted you warmly.

“Thank God you’re together. There’s something you need to know, because it’s about to come out,” he said, and you frowned at that.

“Are they announcing Erwin’s departure?” you asked, but Arthur shook his head.

“There’s a TMZ article that’s about to be published as we speak. They’re saying Erwin and Petra are a couple.”

***

Most of the call ended up being about the article and finished off with what Arthur had originally wanted to talk to Levi about, which seemed to pale in comparison. It had originally been to confirm schedules, and some housekeeping items related to the show, but none of those things were anything to be concerned about for the time being.

The two of you sat on the couch in silence for a bit after Levi’s manager hung up, and your mind turned this new information over in your head, your PR brain getting to work.

“Could be a rumor,” you repeated, the same thing you’d said in the call earlier.

“There are pictures of them together,” Levi reminded you, but this time you were quick to push back.

“Erwin told you they’d hooked up. Did he tell you if it was just once? Maybe they weren’t careful and the pictures were taken during the one time they got together. We haven’t seen the pictures yet, so we don’t know if they’ve been spotted multiple times or just once. This could also be a PR stunt. It’s a common tactic with rom-coms,” you rambled.

Levi kept quiet, letting you speak, and the rigidness of his body told you that he was clearly unhappy with this turn of events.

You got quiet and trailed off, thinking that maybe PR You wasn’t what he wanted or needed right now.

“Are you okay?” you finally asked, your eyebrows knitting together.

He didn’t answer for a long moment, and then finally sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, his eyes squeezing shut.

“I usually don’t give a fuck about shit like this,” he said. “I don’t pay attention to dumbass pop culture news or whatever the fuck because it doesn’t affect how I do my job. I don’t care what people say about me and I keep my life as private as I can because I want people to focus on my work, but this…this feels personal.”

“You’ll have a lot more prying eyes trying to peek into your personal life more than usual,” you agreed, a frown on your face. “That’s why I’m here, Levi. Let me do my job.”

That seemed to actually make him relax a little.

“Can’t believe I’m happy to have a PR rep for once,” he muttered, and then stood up from the couch, grabbing his now empty glass of wine and yours, and walking to the kitchen to place them in the sink.

You followed after him slowly, still unsure of how to console him, if you should console him.

“Maybe you should meet up with Erwin,” you suggested. “Or call him, if you don’t want to be around him. He needs to know that you know. His team has probably been tipped off by now.”

Levi had mentioned to his manager that Erwin had called him earlier that day, but it had remained up in the air whether or not Levi would meet up with him, especially after the news of this dumbass TMZ piece. Arthur hadn’t given a solid opinion on what he should do, but had hinted that Levi couldn’t afford to take the time to think about it, and you had to agree with that. There was no telling when the article was going to hit the internet, but it would probably be tonight. By morning, it would be making the rounds in pop culture circles and it would be spreading like wildfire.

“If he’s aware that this is coming out, why hasn’t he reached out to me?” Levi asked a little forcefully. Though he didn’t look angry the way a person typically did, he was clearly pissed. His eyes were hard as steel and every muscle in his body seemed to be taut.

It was a good point. Erwin wasn’t being a good friend about this.

“It’s probably true,” Levi deduced, and his shoulders seemed to sag a little bit.

You didn’t know what to say to that, because he was right, it was probably more than a rumor. And you didn’t want to lie to him.

“I’m gonna go,” he said after a moment. And, though you’d expected it, it made you sad. He probably wanted to be alone right now.

“Okay,” you whispered, walking him the short distance to the door.

He pulled on his jacket and shoes while you stood there awkwardly, shifting from one foot to the other, and let him open the door.

“Good night,” he murmured, barely looking at you, and you once again let your emotions take over.

You sprung forward and wrapped your arms around his shoulders in a light but meaningful hug, your heart singing when his scent enveloped you all over again. Before he could even think to reciprocate, you pulled away, your face inches from his.

“It’ll be okay. I’ll be the best temp rep you’ve ever had,” you promised.

Then, you stepped back, giving him space while secretly enjoying how bewildered and flushed he looked, and said a quiet goodbye as you shut the door.

When you called the Thai place to order dinner, it took twice as long to give your order, stuttering the whole way through.

Notes:

Ah, to be a fly on the wall during a scandal. Hope you enjoyed! I also have a TikTok now (@writertitan), so please feel free to come over and chat and watch me make ridiculous fic TikToks that are not very good HAHA

Chapter 7

Notes:

Is it just me, or was this past week so insane??? I felt like my soul was withering away. Anyway, here's a new chapter to make us all feel better!

As expected, news of Erwin and Petra caused a media frenzy. Judging from the pictures, it unfortunately looked like they’d been sneaking around for a while, if this wasn’t just some overdone PR stunt. Other major outlets had started getting in on the drama, influencers and major fans of the show were all weighing in, and your phone had been ringing and dinging nonstop.

And it was only noon.

Levi had sent you one text a couple of hours ago that he just needed the morning to himself, and you were happy to oblige, not wanting to bother him.

Levi never made formal statements about any crazy news or scandals surrounding him, but you worried that keeping quiet wouldn’t be a good move this time around. You’d already swapped him out with Hange on a lot of press events that involved Erwin, and that would definitely be scrutinized and talked about once those events came and went, now that this news was out. And the convention was coming up, too. The one thing you couldn’t pull Levi out of, and he’d have to be in close proximity with Erwin. You could only imagine how that would pan out.

“Fuck,” you swore as you laid on your bed, chucking your phone by your feet as you grabbed a pillow and put it over your head. You could still feel the vibrations and hear the chimes.

This was, by far, the most stressed out you’d been at work.

You’d given Levi the morning to himself. Now that morningtime had come and gone, you needed to talk to him face to face.

You tossed the pillow away and sat up, reaching for your phone, and ignored all the notifications and calls as you made your way to Levi’s contact information. Instead of a message, you called him, pressing the phone to your ear as you bit at your nails nervously.

He answered on the third ring.

“Can you give me the whole day?” was how he answered.

“No,” you said sternly. “We need to form a plan of action. When can you meet me?”

“We don’t need a fucking plan of action,” Levi argued. “This will blow over.”

“I know more than you on this front. It will die down, eventually, but not as quickly as you’d like. This is the hottest scandal Hollywood has had all year and it’s going to continue to be the hottest scandal for a while, because all of you are going to be in the spotlight for the rest of the year and then some,” you said.

Levi groaned on the other end of the line.

“I don’t want to leave my house,” he complained. “Some piece of shit paps have been lurking outside all goddamn day. I didn’t even want to risk going out to get a tea.”

It was your turn to groan.

“I’ll just come to you,” you suggested, and when Levi didn’t protest, you nodded to yourself and got up, a newfound sense of determination filling you. “I’ll be there in less than an hour.”

You hung up and started getting dressed, teeth gritting as the chiming of your phone got more and more frequent.

“Gah!” you screamed, throwing your hands up in the air before snatching it from your nightstand, taking a look at the new notifications you’d gotten.

A surprising chunk of the notifications had been from professional connections and friends wanting you to spill some gossip, which was stupid on their end, and others had been from Levi’s team and your agency. Nothing bad, but everyone was equally as stressed as you, and some wanted to know what could be done about it.

But now, you froze as you scanned over the new texts from none other than Berry, your boss who had been a little too quiet up until now. She had sent one text, and then a link to a new article that had been published not even twenty minutes ago.

What’s your plan re: this?

The headline made you want to scream again.

ON-SCREEN FRIENDS, OFF-SCREEN FOES! LEVI ACKERMAN ALLEGEDLY REFUSES TO RENEW STUDIO CONTRACT AMID ERWIN SMITH AND PETRA RAL ROMANCE

“So, they want to play dirty,” you rage-whispered to yourself, your eyes wild as you yanked a brush through your hair and rifled through your skincare products. There would be no time for your usual routine; Levi would just have to deal with seeing you less than put together.

Erwin and Petra’s teams were behind this new article, you were sure of it. And you wouldn’t be letting them get away with it.

As you hurried out of your loft and furiously typed Levi’s address into your Maps app, you had half a mind to call up Berry and whoever Petra’s rep was, just to rip them new assholes.

This had to have been the plan all along. You were too good at your job and had seen every dirty trick in the book to be blind to what they were scheming. You knew exactly where this was headed. They wanted to spice things up with Erwin’s departure. Instead of a regular announcement, where they risked upsetting Erwin’s fanbase, they were going to use Levi as collateral damage and blame Erwin leaving the show on him. They were going to fabricate an entire lie that made Levi look like a diva. No doubt, this would end with Erwin "graciously" leaving the show so that Levi could stay, and a whole lot of positive praise for his upstanding behavior while Levi was left to the vultures.

Not on your watch.

Unfortunately for them, you could play dirty, too.

Levi had been right about the paparazzi lurking on the street outside of his building. His particular place of residence had more discreet entrances to avoid this exact problem, so it wouldn’t be difficult to avoid them, but it was the mere fact that they were so slimy that they’d wait outside anyway that made you sick. You’d texted him about a block away from his place to let him know your ETA, and he promised to come and get you at the private entrance.

Despite not being worried about being accosted by the paps, you’d hidden yourself behind large sunglasses that covered nearly the entire upper half of your face, and you’d wrapped your biggest scarf around the bottom half of your face for good measure.

Levi had given you careful instructions on how to get to the private entrance, and you were able to avoid the small crowd of paps outside, turning the corner and walking until you saw the gate to the underground parking garage he’d referenced. It was private and you needed a key to get in, and you felt a surge of relief when you saw Levi already waiting for you.

You rushed over, whispering your hello to him, and he looked remarkably composed as he led you to the small door next to the gate. He tapped a card to a machine and then typed in a code, and you heard the click to signal that the door was unlocked.

As you followed him through, you thought you heard the unmistakable sound of a camera taking a picture, but when you turned to look over your shoulder, the door had already closed behind you and the lock whirred into place again. Well, damn. Hopefully your body had blocked Levi's so that there wasn't a good enough shot to sell.

The two of you were silent as you followed him into his home, and part of you was a little excited to see what it looked like.

You were more than impressed as Levi ushered you inside.

His apartment was gorgeous, if you could even call it an apartment. The ceilings were high and everything felt unusually spacious for New York City standards. You’d stepped into his living room, and it was easily twice the size of yours. It was very clean and looked like something out of Architectural Digest.

“Wow,” you breathed, looking around unabashedly. “You live here?!”

“Can I give you a tour some other time?” Levi asked flatly, his arms crossed over his chest. “I’d rather get to business.”

“Right,” you said, hiding your disappointment as best as you could.

Levi led you to the kitchen, offering you something to drink, and you gratefully accepted a bottled organic smoothie. The kitchen was just as pristine as the living room, with beautiful, large wooden cabinets and a kitchen island that seemed to be made of the same type of wood, but with a stunning marble countertop embellishing it.

You sat at one of the stools situated at the island, watching as Levi leaned over the countertop, resting on his elbows.

“I think I know where this whole scandal is going. I’m almost positive that it was planned,” you revealed, pulling out your phone to show Levi the article that Berry had sent. His face darkened at the headline.

“I read the article so you wouldn’t have to,” you assured him, setting your phone down. “Seems like they want to make you look like the bad guy to soften the blow of Erwin’s departure, and they’re doing that by spinning this ridiculous lie that you won’t film a new season of the show if Erwin’s still there, because supposedly you’re feeling, and I quote, ‘betrayed and discarded’ over their fling. My guess is, they’ll announce that he’s leaving once this rumor gains traction. But, instead of it just being that he didn’t want to renew his contract and wanted to focus on landing film roles, everyone will think that it was because of you.”

“Why the fuck would this be his strategy?” Levi asked, looking completely agitated and dumbfounded. “I get someone not wanting to piss off their fans, but Erwin’s never pulled something like this before. Are you sure this is what they’re planning?”

“Obviously I’m not 100% sure, but we have to remember that it’s both Erwin and Petra’s teams working together now. I know how PR people work, and I know how shady some of them can be to get their clients any kind of attention. It’s pathetic,” you lamented. “And I’m about to give you two options on how to proceed, neither of which you’re going to like.”

“Then I’ll pick the secret third option of not doing anything,” Levi quipped, and you gave him a stern glare.

“Not an option, you should know how strict I am by now,” you told him.

Levi ran a hand through his hair and turned to his electric kettle, snatching his mug to pour himself some hot water. He rummaged through one of his drawers before producing a small tin of what looked to be very fancy tea and began preparing it. While he did that, you presented him the options for possible courses of action.

“The first option I’m giving you is to make a statement dismissing the claims of the article. You’d also have to lie and say, in politer terms, that you don’t give a fuck about their relationship and have known about it for a while, and you’re sorry that the rest of the world had to find out this way. We can play the sympathy card a little bit. I’ve been looking at social media, and there’s definitely some outrage on your behalf. There are tons of people who are upset with Erwin and Petra’s romance, because it goes against girl code and guy code or whatever. Your best friend and your ex, dating? Not a good look. Erwin and Petra’s teams clearly weren’t happy about the TMZ article, so this smear campaign against you is their way of dealing with it and killing two birds with one stone. They can shut people up about the fling and even perhaps gain some sympathy points for Erwin and Petra by making it seem like you’re trying to make Erwin choose between love and work, and they can announce Erwin’s departure, and it changes the narrative to be that he chose love.”

You briefly caught a glimpse of Levi’s face, noting the sadness that adorned it, and your heart felt heavy on his behalf. This had to be hard for him.

“I don’t put out statements. What’s the second option?” he asked, steeping his tea.

“The second option is to play dirty,” you revealed, a glint in your eye. Levi seemed surprised by that and turned to catch your eye.

“I don’t want to stoop as low as those two,” he said; you could tell he was carefully choosing his words. “I just want this to blow over.”

“We wouldn’t be stooping to their level and spreading rumors,” you assured him. “We would be respectful. We would only be focused on your image, but I’ll admit that it’ll feel good to see how much flack they’ll get because of it.”

Levi raised a brow, clearly still a little bothered, so you went on, hoping to convince him.

“And I think this’ll get you on board: I’ll be encouraging you to be yourself, no media training. Just a sprinkle of half-truths. You have that podcast tomorrow, right? They’ll want to touch on this subject…I think I even got an email from them earlier asking if this is a prohibited topic. I want you to go on the podcast and say some of what I would have wanted you to say in a statement. Tell the hosts that you already knew about the relationship prior to it coming out, which is kind of true, since Erwin did spill the beans a little bit, and that you’re still committing to your work because you’re a professional. None of that is technically false, and you can say it however you want, as vulgar and blunt as you want,” you said.

“This is so annoying,” Levi grumbled. You couldn’t tell if he was on board. And the thing you really wanted to push was going to make or break this.

“The only thing I want you to lie about is your relationship status,” you blurted out, hands holding your smoothie tightly. Levi’s eyes widened. “I don’t know what your relationship status is, so let’s maybe clear the air on that, but if you can pretty please give a little white lie about how you’re seeing someone, you have no idea how much that would turn the tides for you. People would realize you don’t care, because why would you care if you’re also romantically involved with someone else? And then everyone would go nuts trying to figure out who you’re dating!”

“You can’t be serious,” Levi said, eyebrows lifting. “Wouldn’t people figure out that I’m lying?”

“Only if you’re bad at lying,” you said easily. “You’re an actor, Levi. Act.”

He rolled his eyes, taking a sip of his tea.

“I have enough people prying into my life as it is. I haven’t dated anyone in a while and everyone is fully aware of that,” he said.

“Just say she’s not famous and likes her privacy,” you suggested. “Say that your priority is keeping your budding relationship away from the public eye. Your fans will defend you and your mystery girl, and the public always loves the trope of a celebrity falling in love with a normal person. I’ll even get Arthur in on it. If any of your other coworkers that you’re close to ask, just tell them it’s a fairly new relationship and you didn’t want to jinx it.”

Levi groaned and set his mug down on the counter, his eyebrows knitting together in concentration as he thought through what you’d just said. The fact he was even mulling it over was enough of a win.

“You’re a terror. I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this,” he sighed, and you nearly fell off the stool as you cheered and wiggled in your seat.

“Yes!” you cried, beaming. “I’ll email the podcast people right now! And their turnaround time is insane. Their episodes come out less than a week after recording, so it’ll come out right around the time you’re set to do the convention, which is perfect. And what’s even more perfect is that you’ll have to attend that Ralph Lauren show after the podcast. You’ll have to act cool, calm and collected there, okay? It'll probably suck that night, but when people try and put a timeline together after hearing the podcast, it’ll solidify that you are, and have been, totally cool with Erwin and Petra.”

You were rambling and already looking through your emails to find the Late Late Podcast email, happily typing out a response of approved topics. Levi was quiet, but you could feel his quiet contempt. Berry’s unanswered text still felt like it was burning a hole through your screen, but now you could finally tap back into your message thread with her and send a reply:

It’s handled.

***

After scribbling a quick outline of what he should say on the podcast, you left the piece of paper on Levi’s coffee table and finished your smoothie outside, on his rooftop terrace.

“I can’t believe you have this space,” you said, half in wonder, half in envy. “I would kill for a terrace, or a patio of any kind."

Levi had joined you outside, another mug of tea in his hands, and he merely shrugged. He was used to his home, naturally, and it never ceased to amaze you just how nonchalant some people were about their lifestyles.

Levi’s home was beautifully decorated inside, and the terrace was no different. Different plants filled the perimeter and also filled in some space around the furniture. The most impressive part was that there were two levels to the terrace. Walking out from the living room, a comfy looking hammock was set up in one corner, a grill in another corner, an outdoor dining table was set up, and a telescope was situated on the edge of the terrace, pointed up at the sky. You wondered how often Levi looked up at the stars.

Then, there was a short iron staircase that spiraled up to a smaller terrace deck with lounge chairs and chaises that were situated underneath a massive pergola, strung with lights and ivy. You could peer down at the main terrace, but the entire rooftop overlooked the city, which currently glittered in the afternoon sun.

You had taken up residence on the upper deck, sprawled out on a chaise with a blanket draped over your lower half, enjoying the warmth of a September day. Levi was in the chaise next to you, scrolling through his phone. You’d been enjoying the view of the city, not bothering to hide your amazement, even though you had tons of people to get back to and a lot of work to do.

Levi was on top of it, at least. He was avoiding the scandal and currently multitasking a number of things, including a chat with his stylist about what to wear to the podcast recording, the Ralph Lauren show, and to the convention, and checking the schedule for when he’d be doing his Mean Tweets read.

You’d confirmed with him earlier that he still hadn’t talked to Erwin in person, and that was good news for you. They wouldn’t be able to have an actual conversation at the fashion show, and all Levi needed to do was act cool as a cucumber there and not tell Erwin about what you were cooking up. You’d told Levi this, and he insisted that he could handle sitting through a “stupid-ass fashion show” next to Erwin, as long as you whisked him away at the afterparty and kept him occupied and away from the blond.

Now that you’d finished your smoothie and come up with a game plan on this scandal with Levi, you didn’t want to overstay your welcome. You got up, draping the blanket over your arm, and only then did Levi look up from his phone.

“I’m heading out,” you announced, giving him a small smile despite the sinking feeling in your chest. You didn’t want to leave, you’d enjoyed the quiet time out on the terrace with him; it had felt almost domestic in a way, just being with each other in comfortable silence. But that was exactly why you needed to leave. You couldn’t let yourself enjoy that.

Levi nodded, but his lips downturned for a moment before returning to their neutral line.

“Let me walk you out and make sure there’s no creeps outside,” he said, following you back inside.

You returned the blanket to the basket by the couch filled with equally soft ones, folding it up as neatly as possible, and then followed Levi to the front door, making your way to the private exit. The coast was clear, but Levi hesitated to open the door, turning to you with a conflicted look in his eyes.

“When I do the podcast tomorrow and talk about my fake girlfriend,” he started, voice dripping with cynicism at the term ‘fake girlfriend’, “how should I…talk about her?”

You blinked in surprise.

“Well, just describe your dream girl. Don’t spin a web of lies that you won’t be able to keep up with, just think about the type of woman you want to be with one day and act like she’s finally here. Hell, think of it as speaking her into existence,” you joked, ignoring the fluttering in your chest.

Right. One day, Levi would meet someone and fall in love and be in a relationship. Hopefully, you would be long gone by then, no longer working as his temporary PR rep, so you wouldn’t have to see it in person. You wondered briefly what it would be like to see the news, how it would feel to see pictures of him with a woman on his arm and love quietly dancing in his eyes. Just a pop culture article or video you’d see on your phone, one that would leave you a little sore.

You’d have to pray that your stupid crush on him would be dead and buried by then.

Levi nodded at your advice, looking a little more at ease.

“I’ll call you after it’s done,” he promised, and it was your turn to nod.

You said your goodbyes, but before he closed the door behind you, he gently grabbed you by the elbow, looking more sincere than you’d ever seen him.

“Thanks,” he said simply.

“It’s my job,” you whispered.

Then, you put on your sunglasses and tossed your scarf over your shoulder, hurrying back to your loft, not letting yourself look back. The coast was clear, and your walk back to your place was peaceful until a text notification made you glance at your phone. It was from Berry.

Sorry about the mess.

You rolled your eyes. She wanted you to believe it was out of her hands, when in reality, she was the puppet master.

If she wanted a mess, you’d give it to her.

Notes:

Fake girlfriend trope, activated? We'll see. >:)

Notes:

THANKS FOR READING! Find me on Tumblr, same username (writertitan), while I work on being less of an ancient elder and create other social media.