chapter nine | laundry day

The two former friends stood in the hallway, Levana leaning against the wall as the awkward silence that came over them began to grow suffocating; Ethan had asked to meet her after class, and she'd agreed. What he wanted to talk about? She had no idea.

"So, what's up?" She asked, her tone trying to remain calm at the fact that Ethan was stood directly in front of her for the first time in over a year.

His dark hair was swopped to the side, slightly longer than it had been when they were in the human world, and it looked a lot healthier as well. His skin had grown the clearest it'd ever been, and his eyes still held the same beautiful shade of blue that she'd grown so fond of. He'd grown a couple inches taller, now standing at 5'8" while Levana hadn't grown in the slightest.

She'd realized that is hair made his eyes pop even more than the blond, and actually preferred this hair color to the other. But, it didn't looked dyed; it looked as if it were natural, and she'd begun to wonder if he'd cast some sort of spell to change his hair.

"I just wanted to give this to you." He handed her a flat box, "I tried giving it to you yesterday but Natalie kinda chewed my ass out about it."

"Thanks, Ethan." She looked at her watch, trying to think of an excuse to leave. "Shit, I told Nat I'd meet her in the library. I'll see you later?"

"Yeah."

She smiled slightly, before practically running off in the direction of the library, which had luckily been right around the corner from her dormitory. She sprinted into her dorm room, tossing her bag to the floor before sitting onto her bed; she carefully opened the box, her amber eyes widening at the sight of, yet another, rose and letter. She wanted to smile, kind of relieved to know that he hadn't changed entirely when it came to discussing what was on his mind.

"Levana,

It's been quite a while, hasn't it?

Look, I know you're not very fond of me anymore, and I still cannot describe how sorry I am for what happened.

Your mom misses you, Lev. She helped me out when I came back from the human world, practically became my mentor; she's changed, it's like my dad had her under a spell or something. Moralistically? She's become the mirror image of your dad.

You know, seeing you for the first time in such a long time, I almost thought I was hallucinating.

I meant what I said in that last letter, Levana.

I still mean it.

And I hope you still have it.

Forever,
Ethan"

Unlike the last letter she'd read, this one brought a smile to her lips. She carefully placed the white rose next to the red one, folding the letter and placing it into her lockbox; the lockbox itself was made with a coffee colored oak wood, and a silver lining with a lock in the shape of a skull.

It contained the other letter, and the scrapbook that held the dried roses.

...

"No fucking way." Natalie said with wide eyes, "You didn't talk to him, did you?"

"Kind of? We met after class but, you know how Ethan is with awkward conversations... he just handed me a letter and I dipped."

Natalie sighed, "How do you feel?"

"Kind of relieved? Like, I'm scared to let him back in, but... I'm relieved that he never stopped caring." Her eyes drifted to the rose, and Natalie's gaze followed.

Levana had never told anyone what resided in the original letter that Ethan had left her, just that he'd apologized. No one knew why the red rose had such significance, but Levana figured it was time to tell Natalie; she'd been there for her as much as she could, it would be rude to not tell her the full story.

So, she did. She unlocked her box and handed Natalie the letter, explaining that she and Ethan had kissed a mere day or two before the betrayal took place; the pink haired troll almost couldn't believe it, having never expected either of them to have the courage to make a move. Everyone in Halloweentown that knew Ethan and Levana had always believed that they were going to end up together, and after the fall of Edgar Dalloway, everyone had lost hope.

Including Natalie.

But, now? After finally knowing the full story, her hope had been restored, something she had never believed would happen.

She'd seen the pain the he'd caused Levana first hand, which is what lead to her no longer supporting the duo; but, knowing that Levana had kept the rose, and what Ethan had written in that letter, she regretted ever insulting the dark haired boy to her friend's face.

He deserved it, yeah, but she could now see why Levana never agreed with that.

...

Levana groaned, throwing her head back against the washing machine in the laundry room of the castle; Marnie had just left, leaving the girl to her lonesome as she impatiently awaited for her clothes to get done.

"You don't look too happy," a familiar voice chuckled, the boy placing his basket on the washer next to hers. She looked up, smiling softly at Ethan as he extended a hand to help her up; she accepted his hand, bouncing slightly when he pulled her to her feet.

"When did you start working out?" She asked, furrowing her eyebrows humorously as she leant against the machine.

"About a year ago, ran into Pete." He shrugged, beginning to toss his laundry into the machine, "have you always been that light?"

Levana scoffed, a playful smile on her lips as the dark haired boy looked at her with a warm smile, "Uh, yeah. Literally haven't grown since we were fifteen."

Ethan closed the machine, turning his full attention toward her as the conversation furthered.

"Thank you, by the way.. for the other rose." She muttered, tucking some of her inky black hair behind her ear as she refused to maintain eye contact on the subject, "And, yes. I still have, both, the rose and the letter."

The duo slid to the floor, a strange sense of comfort washing over them; it was odd, to have fallen out so heinously, just to reunite as if it was just a mere argument.

Levana had never been one to hold a grudge for too long, typically forgiving someone within a few months of their falling out; just as Ethan remembered, she was still not too fond of conflict.

The girl, herself, had forgiven Ethan a couple months beforehand, and had just been trying to cope with the lost feeling that being without him had given her. After giving it thought, she fully understood why he had done it.

"You know, the only reason I had a panic attack was because of how sudden we ran into one another." She whispered, looking toward him with a forgiving smile, "I understand, now.. and I'm happy that the council allowed you to keep your magic."

Ethan smiled brightly, sticking his hand out for her to shake, "Here's to take two?"

"Here's to take two." She chuckled, taking his large hand in her own and resting her head on his shoulder. "I missed you."

"I missed you too, Lev." He looked around, thankful that no one else was in the laundry room, "Whaddya say we, uh, zap this shit clean and go get a cup of coffee?"

"What?" The girl asked, making a funny face at the boy, "You hate coffee."

"And you hate laundry. Whaddya say?"

The girl sighed, releasing a breathy chuckle, "Fine, but if I go down, I'm takin' you with me."

"Deal."

...

The duo laughed as they walked from the small little store complex that resided next to the school, a cup of coffee in Levana's hand, and a cup of hot chocolate in Ethan's; they were lucky that they'd finished their classes for the day, or else they would have one hundred percent been expelled.

"There's no way you actually egged Deville Void's house," the ravenette laughed, opening her dorm room door to let the boy in. "How did you not die?"

"She deserved it and she knew it, simple." He shrugged, "C'mon, you should've heard what she'd said to your mom."

"Oh, god. Whatever it was, I know my mom fired back with something much worse."

"Oh, you have no idea." Ethan laughed, sitting next to her on her bed as they continued chatting away about what they'd been up to in the past year and a half.

Although it may have been sudden, it just felt right; it felt like everything was finally falling back into place.