Levi never liked Sundays. He liked that he could stay away from school but every Sunday night, he was haunted by the fact that he would be in school the next day. In fact, when he was in primary school, he'd complain about Sunday headaches and how he had no idea why he always got them. Needless to say, that didn't work. 

Now, even though he was banned from going to school, he dreaded the day. After all, this was the first time Tamara would be coming back for a check on him. He had nothing to worry about, Evelyn had told him and he knew he had nothing to hide as of now. That didn't drive his nervousness away. 

Levi sat on the couch with a plate of blueberry pancakes stacked on each other and drizzled with maple syrup. Beside him, his father sipped on his cup of espresso as they waited anxiously. He so hoped that Evelyn could make it but she had other plans. He knew he was the key reason behind her plan and that brought a smile to his face. 

Even the thought that he was somehow responsible for Evelyn rekindling with her parents made him forget about anything she could have helped him with. After all, she'd spent too much time pushing her parents away. 

And so had he. 

"So," Levi began, "you're not busy today?"

"I am," Alec replied, "busy making sure my son doesn't do anything unwise with no one else around."

"A lot of faith you have in me," Levi remarked. 

"I am free today and it's best not to leave you alone," Alec said. He hesitated for a second before speaking again, "besides, I want to be here."

Levi beamed. They were making baby steps but it was an improvement from where they used to be. After all the years of stretching out an empty hand, waiting for someone to apologize, they were finally willing to make an effort. 

His joy was short-lived when he heard a firm knock on the door. She was here. 

Alec opened the door to face Tamara's dauntless silhouette highlighted by the sun's rays. They exchanged greetings and she left her black sandals on the front porch before she let herself in. Without wasting a moment, she walked over to the living room where Levi was seated. 

"Hello, Mr.Coleman," she said as she took a seat. 

"Hello," he mustered awkwardly. 

She looked at her watch briefly before looking at him, "I'll get to the point. We've been monitoring you through the GPS and you've been great so far. Keep that up."

"Thanks?" he said questioningly, unsure how to reply. 

"However, that is the bare minimum," Tamara responded, "Give me your phone."

Levi obliged immediately. He knew that this was going to happen and he'd prepared himself since the last time they met. 

He waited in silence, exchanging glances with his father every few seconds. He thanked Evelyn silently for she remembered about this meeting and did not send all the files to him. After what felt like an eternity, Tamara handed his phone back to him. 

"That's all clear," she said, "I just need to look around the house and make sure you didn't break any rules. From what I've heard, abstaining from alcohol isn't in your nature."

"Well, you've heard wrong," Alec cut in immediately, "Look around wherever you'd like but keep your remarks to yourself."

"I'm just doing my job," she replied sharply. 

"What my son used to do before all of this is none of your business. His room is upstairs if that's where you want to look first," Alec said, guiding her up the stairs with resentment. 

Levi watched them go and his forgotten smile reappeared. Ever since the dinner, he could see the efforts his dad was making but this was more than enough for him. He could have defended himself but he didn't have to. 

His father was trying to mend their relationship and he was more than willing to join. 

After twenty minutes, Tamara was escorted down by Alec. 

"Everything seems to be in place," Tamara said, a bold expression on her face, "I'll be coming again next week and I'd hope to see this continue."

"Thanks," both Levi and Alec said.

Tamara closed the door after and the house was filled with quietude again. He looked at his father who had a muddled expression on his face. 

He walked over to his father, "What's wrong dad?"

"Nothing," he said but what he did next contradicted it.

He pulled something out of his pocket and brought it closer for Levi to see. In his hand, he held Levi's burner phone and there was no mistaking what had happened. 

"I won't even ask what this is because you will never tell me. I won't ask whose number it is that you saved. In fact, after this, I will mind my own business. Consider that me keeping this phone from getting to Tamara is the last favor I ever do for you," Alec said, straining to keep his voice calm.

"Dad, don't say that! It's nothing, it's just-" Levi began but was unable to finish his statement. 

"Enough, Levi. I'm really trying here but you always do the wrong things. Will you ever learn to do anything right? I have no idea what has gotten into you. How long have you had this phone, why did you get it, and for god's sake, why did you leave it like that for anyone to find?" Alec said, raising his voice. 

"That was very careless but-" Levi said.

"Your carelessness could have got you in trouble! And I can't believe that that's what's bothering me more, not the fact that you have transformed into a criminal I hardly recognize!" Alec exclaimed.

"Dad I'm so sorry-"

"I'm done here. You're going to continue whatever it is that you are doing because I will be here to clean up your messes. But once this is all over it's best if you can leave me out of the problems that you create," Alec said, shoving his phone into his hand.

Levi stood dumbfounded. He shouldn't have left his phone there and he shouldn't have let his father see it. He sunk to the floor as he felt his heart shatter. Any dreams he had for rebuilding their relationship were down the drain and he could not let himself get dirty, especially when it meant he'd drag Evelyn with him. 

He had no choice but to bite his tongue. 

This was a burden he could only share with Evelyn.

⋆ ★ ⋆

Evelyn noticed the dejection in Levi's eyes. It had been this way since the moment she arrived and nothing she did seemed to bring a smile to his face. She could tell that he was fighting to urge to let his tears slip and Evelyn couldn't even console him. 

"We can't tell your father anything as of now. I can talk to him but please, let everything stay between us," Evelyn said. 

"I will," Levi said dully, "things were getting better between us but it's gone now."

"I know. It will be fine Levi, he will talk to you. I'll make sure of it," Evelyn said, tapping her feet on the ground.

"Do you need to be anywhere?" Levi asked, observing the restlessness in her body.

"My parents and I were supposed to meet for breakfast but plans changed. We're meeting for lunch instead and I really need to leave. I actually came here to give you my phone so you could go through the files as we had planned," Evelyn said but quickly added, "if you're not up for it, it's okay."

"No that's okay. I need a distraction and this needs to be done," he said, taking Evelyn's phone from her hand. 

"Okay then! Thanks a lot, Levi! I'll come here as soon as I'm done," Evelyn said, "also, don't answer any calls or messages, leave them for me. I told my parents that my phone is getting repaired so you don't need to worry about calls from them."

"Alright. Have fun, Evelyn," he said. She wave him goodbye and soon, she left. 

Levi didn't waste a minute. He turned her phone on to see that she had no password. She probably removed it for the day. He went into all the files that had been downloaded and got into them promptly. 

The first thing he noticed was that Evelyn was right, there really were no pictures of him with Andrea. While it stung, he didn't need this to realize that their friendship was a lie; he found out the moment the school caught on fire. 

He remembered Evelyn saying that there were many papers, all of them being notes. He should have known something was not adding up then and there; she barely ever wrote notes. He'd find her in detention most of the time because of incomplete homework and notes. 

He clicked on any image with papers only to realize that they would be of no help. They were in a different handwriting from hers, meaning she borrowed them from somebody else. It didn't make sense why she was in detention all the time but that was not his mystery to solve, at least, not now. 

Maybe she used the notes to study but didn't write them down, he thought as he heaved a disappointed sigh. 

He opened her documents next, only to be disappointed again. Most of them were play-related documents, including scripts, rehearsal timings, casting, and more. If not for that, there were PDFs of textbooks and it seemed she only opened college-associated items on her phone. 

His body grew frustrated as he was followed by disappointment after disappointment. Nothing he did seemed to help and he grew anxious by the minute. He did everything to protect himself and that tore apart what little connection he had with his father. 

While Evelyn finally decided to reunite with her parents, he was left alone and unable to carry out the only task given to him. 

He remembered the scary feeling of estrangement that pushed him to the root of this. The last two and a half weeks helped him forget about all that because Evelyn was around. Somehow, she had managed to get his mind away from anything grim and now he couldn't help but feel alone again. 

Focus, Levi, he chided himself as he looked at the phone again. He wasn't going to let his mind wander. 

You will find something soon, he reassured himself as he listened to Andrea's recordings. The first thing he heard when he played one of them was her terrible singing voice. Here she was, covering Stay and he wished he'd never heard that. He could just imagine the confidence she might have had when she sang that and that brought a bleak chuckle to his lips. 

A few seconds in and the sound of her singing was muted by a notification that popped up twice. He looked at it for a brief second to know who it was from. Noah, Evelyn's boyfriend. 

He pushed the notification away from the screen as he tried to focus on his task. That, however, was cut short when another message popped up, only this time, it caught his attention. 

Impulsively, he clicked on it and was transported to her chat window with Noah. He had only sent two messages. 

'Hello, Evelyn.'

'I think we should go on a date or something, there's a lot I want to discuss, especially the case.'

'It's just, a lighter with his fingerprints was found, how could you possibly advocate for him?'

Another message popped up as he was reading the first three,

'Anyways, I wanted to talk in person. It has been a while anyway. Meet me at The Tavern?'

One message was enough for Levi to know where to look. During his conversation with Evelyn before their dinner, she was confident that his encounter with Andrea would be helpful. He tried to remember everything that happened that day. How she entered through the backdoor and talked to him with authority. How she held a knife in her hand as she spoke the entire time. 

The coolness in her posture, the confidence, everything. He positively remembered a smile that played on her lips as she apologized about the lighter. They should have looked into it sooner, but it wasn't too late.

Levi knew exactly what to do.