He's Just Not that Into You - A Jericho's Boys Fic (Patreon)

This is just a tiny bit of insight into Levi's beef with Ever and Levi's life in general. It's very raw, completely off the cuff and not eve

This is just a tiny bit of insight into Levi's beef with Ever and Levi's life in general. It's very raw, completely off the cuff and not even a little bit edited. It's just for you guys. So I hope you enjoy. I know how much you guys enjoy the group chats. 

Nico: Are you trying to out yourself to Arsen? Cause you acted like a dick to Ever today.

Levi stared down at his phone, contemplating whether to answer or not. He honestly wasn’t sure he wanted to be held hostage on another group text chain. One that clearly didn’t involve Arsen. He leaned back in his chair, his feet up on the counter. The convenience store was dead, like it usually was at two am. It was too late for the sex workers and too early for the day shift workers.

The only people who rolled up into the store at this time of night were junkies and gang members and they never bought anything, just robbed the place. It happened so much lately, Levi was starting to think it would be handier to just pre-bag the money for them so they could at least be more efficient. They always got caught anyway.

He sighed. If he didn’t answer, they’d just continue to hound him about this forever.

Levi: All I did was take pizza the kid didn’t seem to want. He bit me. He bit me. His teeth prints are still in my hand, but now suddenly everyone acts like I kick puppies or knock ice cream out of babies hands.

Lake: He is a baby. The boy lived in a closet for most of his life. Cut him some slack.

Levi felt like he had something sharp under his ribs. Why was it his job to baby this kid? Why was his trauma so much worse than everyone else’s. Had Levi been kept in a closet most of his life? No. Had he had the shit beat out of him most of his childhood by his alcoholic mother? Yeah. Had he been ‘given’ to her friends for a quick fix or to pay of another gambling debt. Yeah.

He had just as many scars as Ever, they were just on the inside. Besides, Ever was rescued, Levi was still trapped.

Levi: Why is everyone so in love with him?

Felix: I think what you really mean is why is Arsen in love with him.

He hated the way his stomach churned at his words. How was he supposed to feel? He’d been literally throwing himself at Arsen since they were in middle school and he’d never looked at him twice but now forty-eight hours in, he’s completely in love with some doe eyed walking trauma case? What the fuck?

Seven: This. I get that you’re salty, bro, but he was never going to pick up on your oh so subtle hints that you were into him.

Levi: What was I supposed to do, crawl into his bed naked?

Noah: Well, it would have at least gotten his attention.

Felix: It would have opened a line of communication.

Cree: Yeah like: Why are you in my bed? Why are you naked? Are you drunk? Am I dreaming?

Nico: They’re right. Arsen is literally oblivious to all forms of flirting. How many girls have hurled their boobs directly into his face and he hasn’t so much as blinked?

Levi: Okay, but he’s gay.

Lake: Face it, if you wanted it, you should have made your move like ten years ago. It’s too late now.

Too late? After two days? Well, fifteen years and two days. Didn’t they see that Arsen clearly had a thing for guys like him. At least looks wise.

Levi: You don’t think its weird that he fell for someone who looks just like me?

Noah: Ever doesn’t look just like you.

That was a lie. Was Ever smaller? Sure. And he had this sort of soft features and wide eyes, but they did look similar, even if Ever was a hundred percent Asian and Levi was only a quarter Japanese. There was no denying their similarities.

Levi: Same hair color, eye color, same build. If I took Ever anywhere alone, they’d think we were related.

Noah: If you took Ever anywhere alone, I’d fear for his safety.

Felix: You do have a slightly similar appearance, like if one was to squint and stand way back, but truthfully, you’re missing the point.

Levi: Which is what?

Felix: That Ever is Strawberry Shortcake and you’re a Bratz doll.

What the fuck did that even mean? Why were his friends all fucking roasting him like this?

Nico: Or like comparing that cute little Gizmo creature to the crazy gremlin dude with the mohawk that happens when you feed them after midnight. Like Ever could look like you if he had mommy issues and a complete disregard for ever getting a real job.

The bell chimed as the front door opened and closed again, alerting Levi to the presence of a customer. He sighed. The man was wearing a puffy jacket that was far too heavy for this time of year. Hopefully, it just meant he was going to shoplift and that he wasn’t hiding a gun in his jacket but honestly, Levi was too upset to give a fuck.

Levi: Wow. Fuck you, asshole. You have just as much ink as me. Yours is just hidden.

The guy eyed him nervously, deliberately walking to the back of the rows like there wasn’t four mirrors and two cameras that allowed Levi to see everything. The man pocketed a small thing of Pringles, some combos and a Monster energy drink. Fuck, he hoped he wasn’t a tweaker. They got jumpy and that’s when people get hurt.

His phone dinged with another message. He left the man to his shopping experience and glanced down at his phone once more.

Cree: We’re only saying this because we’re your friends.

What was that saying? With friends like these who needs enemies?

Felix: Like, tell the truth, you didn’t even want Arsen. You just liked having him as a secret crush because he was safe.

Levi rolled his eyes. Thanks, Dr. Phil.

Seven: Felix is right. You and Arsen would never have worked out.

Levi: You don’t know that.

Felix: Oh, please. Two tops in a relationship would be a logistics nightmare.

He could switch if he had to. If it meant he got Arsen. But even as he thought it, his mind was rebelling against the thought. He couldn’t picture letting Arsen top him. Honestly, he suddenly couldn’t picture Arsen and him at all. This was his friends fault. They were ruining his perfect fantasy.

Lake: You need someone who’s damaged but in a way that lets you boss them around. You’re kind of an asshole sometimes. You need someone who likes that about you.

Was he an asshole? I mean, he said what he thought. He tried to be respectful to people who deserved it, but there just weren’t that many that did. He believed in telling people the truth and the truth was the world was a pretty fucked up place. Was he supposed to just act like everything wasn’t on fire? Just dealing with his mom every day was enough to put anyone in a bad mood.

Levi: It’s nice to know you all think I’m trash.

Nico: Don’t be so dramatic. We love you not in spite of the fact that you’re an asshole but because of it. Hell, nobody else could put up with me as much as you do. You’re like my gay but platonic soulmate. You complete me.

Nico followed up his text with three heart emojis as if that would somehow take the sting out of their words. He and Nico were sort of soulmates. They’d been joined at the hip since they could talk. Nobody knew him better. If either of them could muster up even the slightest bit of interest in each other it would have been perfect.

Cree: Maybe you two should date. LOL.

Sometimes it was like Cree was a mind reader.

Levi: Fuck no. Nico: Be serious.

Lake: Oh, come on. We all know you like to be bossed around, Nico. You’ve been begging for someone to Daddy you since you knew it was a thing. It’s perfect. You’re a complete sub and Levi is a total assho-dom.

Levi: Please stop. You’re grossing me out. It would be like fucking my brother.

Noah: Being related isn’t as much of a barrier as you might think as long as you don’t share a bloodline.

Lake: You would know.

Felix: Leave the family out of this. It’s not our fault our brother fell in love with our dad.

His friends were all fucking certifiable. Between his lack of sleep, the anemic lighting and his friends, he was starting to get a fucking migraine. He watched his single customer pacing back and forth in the mirror. Fuck. This dude was totally going to try to fucking rob the place. Levi could feel his pulse beating behind his eyes.

Levi rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger, and waited for the inevitable. Glancing down as Nico’s text popped up on his screen.

Nico: I have a very specific type

Seven: Statistically speaking, your type seems to be older men who look like convicted felons who treat you like trash cause they’re on the down-low.

Levi snickered. Then instantly felt guilty. They weren’t wrong. If Levi had mommy-issues, Nico definitely had daddy ones. He looked like an angel but he was really the devil in disguise. But he gravitated towards men who were gruff and controlling and sometimes borderline abusive. Levi had begged Jericho to let him kill more than one of Nico’s former boyfriends after things had gone to far.

Nico: Hey, this is Levi’s intervention not mine. Fucking focus. I’m not interested in Levi and neither is Arsen, bro. You need to accept it and move on.

Felix: It’s true. Arsen drives you crazy on his best day and not in a flirty way. In a this guy is clueless way. Stop pretending you’re heartbroken and just…be nice.

Be nice. Yeah, sure. Just be nice to the feral little monster who sank his teeth into him. The one that stole his fantasy placeholder and ruined Levi’s delusions of a happily ever after. He rolled his eyes. Ever. He was haunting him.

Levi: Whatever. I have to go. Someone is trying to rob the place.

Several dots began to jump around as they all began to type out messages at once. Levi turned his screen off. Let them worry. Assholes.

Levi eyed the man in the puffy coat warily. His eyes were bloodshot and he was gaunt. Clearly malnourished. He could have been thirty or fifty. The hand not stuffed in his coat pocket was riddled with arthritis so bad his fingers looked broken. At his age it was likely auto-immune.

Levi’s aunt had the disease and her fingers had looked like tree branches and had caused her a lot of pain. If the man’s other hand looked just as bad, pulling the trigger on a gun would be difficult. But accidents did happen.

The man took a deep breath and began to rush towards the counter.

“Look, man. I’ve got a major fucking headache,” Levi said.

The man stopped short, tilting his head like a dog. “What?”

Levi dropped his feet and stood. The man took a step back.

“I said, I’ve got a headache. You’ve already taken like thirty dollars worth of junk. There’s maybe like fifty bucks in the register and the rest is in a safe I can’t open. If I just give you the forty I have in my pocket will you just fuck off so I can die in peace?”

The guy eyed him warily. “How do I know you don’t have a weapon back there?”

Levi arched a brow. “Look around, man. We live in the fucking hood. I do have a weapon back here. There’s also a fuckton of cameras trained on you right now. If you rob me, I have to tell my boss, and he’s going to file a report with the cops for the insurance company and then they’re going to look at the footage and you’re going to go to jail for some Pringles and pocket change. That’s just embarrassing, homie.”

The man seemed to think about it, his gaze swinging to the cameras on either side of the store. “And you’ll just give me the forty and let me go? You won’t call the cops?”

“You think I want the cops here? They drink all our coffee and never fucking pay.”

Finally the man nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, okay. I’ll take it.”

“Awesome.”

Levi stuck his hand in his pocket and fished out his wallet. He peeled the two twenties he had wedged in there free and handed it to the man.

“Uh…thanks?”

Levi gave him a thumb’s up and sat back down on the stool. “Have a nice night,” he said, then dropped his head onto the counter and closed his eyes.

“Uh, yeah. You too, man. You too.”

God, he fucking hated this job.