...

THOUGH HE WAS SMILING like the sun, Will wore his danger in his starry eyes, unclouded and bright. The metal was cold against her touch when she closed her hand around the bat's handle, the weapon unfamiliar in her grip. For him however it almost seemed like a part of his body, still resting against his shoulder. A closer look revealed a new bruise blooming on the curve of his bicep, though this one was probably Levi's work.

She swayed the bat in the wind with light movements, frowning. "Okay," she said," am I just supposed to swing?"

He glanced at her, the stars in his gaze falling to his lips when he spoke. "I'll show you, El."

They walked towards the nearby trees, Will whistling a soft melody, before halting when they reached it. He placed his hand on one of the trees and tapped the trunk with his bat.

"You can aim at this," he said," for lack of better objects." He stared up at the tree then, eyes a bit sad. "Sorry for this."

He took a few steps back then and breathed in, his fingers tapping on the bat's handle before they formed a solid grip around it. She had seen him fight before and he had been impressive, but when she saw him now she knew she had only seen the tip of the iceberg. After one last look at her he swung, spinning on his axis and taking the wind along in his strike.

The blow resounded throughout the forest, along with a loud crack.

Levi and Alex stopped fighting immediately, turning around to stare at them. Once they discovered what Will had done, a loud laugh tumbled down Alex' lips.

"O my God," he said," Will, did you actually break a tree?"

Will looked flustered, like he hadn't expected it to take much damage. Instead a few branches had rained down on them, lines breaking apart like fingers where he had struck. He hadn't broken it, but he sure had hit harder than she'd thought possible. With the leaves in his hair and a stressed blush coloring his cheeks, he didn't look like someone who could do much harm at all really.

"I haven't," he said tentatively, looking at her with wide eyes," or have I?"

"Of course not, Will," she reassured him.

"Will, Destroyer of Trees," Alex howled," it sure fits with your other nicknames."

"What are your other nicknames?" Ella asked.

"I don't want to say," he said, cheeks flaming up again," they're embarrassing."

"They call him Silver Devil," Alex said.

"Alex!" Will exclaimed.

"You know," Alex continued, unbothered," because of his metal bat here and because he's part of our Levi's dear gang, the Devils -" He glanced at Levi. "- which is a stupid name, by the way."

"You were the mastermind behind that," Levi scowled," you know I didn't want us to have a name at all."

"I was young and foolish, okay," Alex said," don't you know by now not to listen to me?"

She looked away from them, noticing Will was still as mortified as ever.

"Silver Devil is kind of cool," she offered him.

"I want to die," he said, hands hiding his face as he looked down.

"Don't feel bad for the tree, Will," Levi said.

His words didn't seem to have any effect, Will looking genuinely sad for the tree at this point. Before she could even swing, Levi walked towards them, a hand on Will's back.

"Go and recover," he said," I'll take over."

"Recover from what?" Alex said," I want him to go and break another tree. Go and live up to your name, Will Tree Destroyer."

"I feel like I let all my plants down," Will said.

"You haven't," Levi said as he patted him on the shoulder. Ella lips almost parted at how friendly he was being, but then he added," plants don't have feelings. You can't let them down."

Even Alex seemed to take pity on him at this point, slinging an arm across Will's shoulders. "It's fine, let's talk it out, Tree Destroyer."

"Please don't call me that."

"No can do, I can only speak the truth."

"I'm not sure if he's in a worse situation with Alex or here," Ella observed.

"Neither am I," Levi said.

She had to keep herself from breathing a sigh of relief though, glad she didn't have to hit anything. Though she probably wouldn't make a crack, holding back would be hard to do when she swung.

Levi glanced at her. "Are you disappointed you didn't get to hit anything?"

"What?" she said, his words having shaken her out of her thoughts, before quickly correcting herself. "Disappointed, yes. That's the emotion I'm feeling."

"You can still go ahead," he said," take the whole tree down."

"I'm merely a fragile, spoiled girl, Levi," she said as she looked up at him," how could I do any damage at all?"

Something akin to amusement flashed in his eyes and when he scoffed, she wasn't able to hold her smile back any longer.

"You're such a bad boy," she teased," why don't you take it down?"

"It almost sounds like you're joking," he said.

"I am."

"What, you don't think I'm a bad boy?" he said, raising an eyebrow.

"We're in a camp for delinquents. They're all bad boys here."

He leaned his arm against the tree then, leaning forward so the distance between them was merely a whisper. When he dipped his head, his dark hair tickled her nose. She had to resist the urge to tangle her hands in it.

"Are you placing me on the same level as the others, Ella?"

"Of course not, Levi," she said," you're the worst, how could I have forgotten."

His lips grazed across her cheek then, the words he spoke seeping in her skin.

"Perhaps I should make you remember then."

Her breath had escaped her, but before she could even reply, Alex' voice cut through the space between them.

"I see you're not following the rules, Peterson!"

"You're seeing wrong," Levi said, not moving an inch.

"Don't you lie to me, I have excellent vision."

"He does, Levi," Will chimed in," remember when he took that eye test for fun?"

Levi slowly pushed himself off the tree then, turning around towards his friends with a sigh.

"How could I forget," he murmured darkly.

"Whatever would you do without me?" Alex said, a smile tugging at his lips.

Ella breathed out. If Alex hadn't interrupted them, she wasn't sure what would have happened next, but she didn't know whether it was relief or something else she was feeling about that. Still, even if the moment had passed, she was quickly reminded that there was more to come when Levi turned around.

A part of her had hoped he would have just ignored the fact that it was his turn now, but she supposed she could have known. He had fished a bandage out of his pocket and began to bind it around his knuckles expertly, before reaching out for her hands. The familiar sight of it made her open her hand, but she quickly closed it when she realized how calloused they were again.

"It's fine," she said," I can do without."

"Let me do it," he said simply, his hand still stretched out towards her.

"Why?" she said worriedly," I'm not going to bruise myself, am I?" She placed a hand on her heart. "You're scaring me, Levi."

On Alex it had worked, but Levi just blinked, looking utterly confused.

"I hadn't thought you capable of feeling fear," he said," you know, with the way you talk to us and all."

"You hurt my feelings," she said," I'm an emotional girl, you know."

He almost seemed like he would laugh, his lips tugging in a faint smile. "Uh-huh."

"Anyway," she said, quickly trying to distract him from her hands," show me some moves. I'm quite curious about this - what was it? MME?"

"MMA," he said, lazily stretching, his shirt raking up to reveal a hint of his abs. He pocketed the bandages then, looking as boyish as ever when he glanced at her. "I'll teach you how to take someone down."

"Oh my," she said, a hand before her lips," how violent."

Though she was acting casual, this part had been the one she had been the most stressed about. Though she knew a bit about boxing and knew she had enough strength to betray her with a weapon, it was this she was truly specialized in. At home she usually trained five days a week, as used to fighting now as she was to breathing. She hadn't won those tournaments for nothing.

How the hell was she supposed to not give herself away now?

Levi cracked his knuckles when he spoke and when the sun kissed his skin, he looked almost like a god.

"Nothing wrong with a bit of violence."