#{ interaction: cather avery }

[potentialbreakupscng]

With how much she'd written Simon and Baz falling in love, nothing compared to the real thing. She always anxiously waited for him to text her back if she sent him a text -- she counted down days until they could see each other again. She would fall asleep on the phone with him -- when she tried so hard to stay awake to keep talking and to hear about his day, or read what she had written that day. Part of her couldn't believe that he was there -- and for someone who loved her personal space, it was absolutely killing her to sit so far from her when all she wanted to was curl up against his side and enjoy their limited time together.

With their time apart, she regretted with agreeing to room with Reagan again -- assuming that it was far too soon for them to live together. With how much she missed him...part of her wondered if she would even be staying in their room for the semester when they went back, or if she was going to be spending most of her time in Levi's room, curled up against him. She sat on the edge of her bed, waving a good night to her dad and raising her eyebrow when he himself closed the door. Always far too trusting. She immediately hated the space that was between them, especially since they were alone. There was always a gravitational pull toward him -- desperate and craving any type of affection. That was how she knew this was real -- that she loved Levi Stewart, because it never was like this before.

A smile spread on her lips and her head fell as a heat rose to her cheeks, reaching up to push her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "Dad wouldn't have minded. But Wren is -- well, Wren." Ever since everything happened at school, Wren had been practically begging for more time with Cath, and their break was exactly that -- the twins reconnecting since they had drifted so far apart their first year. Her teeth gnaw on her lower lip as her light colored eyes focus back on him -- fingers finding a loose thread on her blanket before she relented and closed the distance between the two of them. He arms encircled him, her face pressing into his arm and the sigh she let out was a sigh that she felt in her whole body -- finally relaxing since he arrived. "I would have felt so bad about you driving out here so much," she tipped her head back to look at him through her thick lenses, offering a smile that was only reserved for him, "I'm glad you're here now, though."

Did it count as long distance if they were still in the same state? Did it count more if that state was still as large as a mid-sized country? Did actual distance matter at all in affairs of the heart? Those were questions better answered by a fanfiction writer than a farm boy, but he'd had a lot of time to contemplate them while they were apart. It didn't matter if Cath was across the state or across the world if he couldn't see her.

He was new to it too, the distance, and he'd swiftly decided he didn't care for it. He missed the smell of her hair and the specific smile she had when she was trying not to smile at him, her layers and layers of sweaters and the rapid-fire sound of her keyboard when she disappeared into a story, the warmth of her body curled against his while they watched movies or Cath read him her newest chapter. He missed her. Talking on the phone couldn't come close to the living, breathing person he was falling for.

They'd set their plans for him to visit before the semester ever ended, but Levi had never had so much trouble sticking to a schedule in his life. Work at home kept him busy from dawn to sunset, and farm work was hard even if he loved it. He was happily exhausted at the end of every day, and still, he wanted to hop into his truck and drive to the city to see her. It wasn't beyond him to just show up on her doorstep, dirt caked under his fingernails and an easy smile on his face, but he really, really wanted her dad to like him.

He respected that very deliberate foot of space between them on the couch. It felt a little like she'd electrified it like a fence. He was about seventy percent positive he'd get an electric shock if he tried to cross it. Regardless, dinner was amiable, and Levi had no problems chatting with her dad and Wren. He'd never known any strangers and, frankly, Cath's dad was far easier to win over than her twin sister.

He'd seen Cath's room before, but he was still gazing around the space, hungry for new details about her life while they'd been apart. Not a lot had changed, which made sense. Cath lived in her head more than anywhere else. He was dying to hear her newest fic, but it was silly asking her to read it on voice chat. His eyes crinkled at the corners with his smile, and he sat on the edge of her bed, keeping the electrified foot of space between them. "I missed you too. Almost jumped in my truck and drove over at least once a day."