Chapter 34: Control

Jake Foster hadn’t seen Levi since that day—since the explosion, since everything had gone wrong. The last time he had laid eyes on his best friend, Levi had been nearly catatonic, unresponsive to everything around him, trapped in a state Jake couldn’t reach.

Now, sitting across from him in the mess hall, Jake barely recognized the person in front of him.

Levi was… different.

Jake had spent weeks thinking about this moment, wondering what it would be like to see Levi again. Wondering if they were still friends. He’d imagined Levi being angry, confused, maybe even broken—but what he hadn’t expected was this. Levi’s white hair and glowing red eyes were striking, but it wasn’t just his appearance that threw Jake off. It was the way he carried himself, the way he sat there with that infuriating smirk on his face, like none of it mattered.

Like everything that had happened was just a big joke.

Jake kept his face steady, his posture rigid, but inside, his mind was racing. This wasn’t the Levi he remembered—the Levi who always thought things through, who kept them grounded when Jake got reckless. This Levi was different. Detached. Like the destruction of Galewood, the Academy’s brutal capture, the hell they’d both been through since then… none of it had affected him.

Jake couldn’t wrap his head around it.

He stole glances at Levi, trying to piece together what had changed. His gut twisted at the realization that something had shifted between them—something he couldn’t name, but he felt it in every second that passed in silence. And what gnawed at Jake even more was the sinking feeling of knowing that this was his fault.

Ever since Galewood, guilt had been a constant shadow over him. He’d caused the explosion. He’d killed all those people. Everyone he ever fucking knew…But it wasn’t just the destruction that haunted him—it was also Levi. The way Levi had gone still, the way he’d looked after… and now this. Levi wasn’t the same, and Jake knew that he was responsible for that, too.

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Levi shifted in his seat, leaning back casually, his eyes flicking lazily around the room. It was as if the stares from the other students, the whispers, the weight of their presence, didn’t touch him at all. Jake could feel the tension from the students—the way they seemed to be waiting for something, watching him and Levi like they were a pair of monsters. But Levi? He didn’t seem to care.

It made Jake’s chest tighten.

He didn’t know what to say. The Levi he knew wouldn’t act like this. The Levi he knew would’ve hated the attention, would’ve wanted to lay low, to figure out what was going on before making any moves. But this Levi… this Levi was leaning into it.

What the hell happened to him?

Jake clenched his hands under the table, the skin of his knuckles stretched tight. He kept his face neutral, but inside, there was a storm of emotions he couldn’t push down. Seeing Levi like this, so… different, was harder than he’d expected. It was like he was looking at a stranger—someone who wore Levi’s face but didn’t feel like the friend he’d always known.

They hadn’t spoken yet, and maybe that was for the best. Jake wasn’t sure what he would even say. He wasn’t sure if Levi would care. And that, more than anything, terrified him.

For a moment, their eyes met. Levi’s red gaze was unsettling, but what hit Jake even harder was the emptiness behind it. The Levi he’d known always had a spark—something in his eyes that let Jake know he was thinking, calculating. But now? Now it was like staring into something hollow.

The air between them was thick with unspoken words, but neither of them moved. Jake wanted to reach out, wanted to say something, anything, to break the silence and figure out what was going on in Levi’s head. But before he could even open his mouth, Levi leaned forward, his voice low and casual.

“I told you so.”

Jake blinked.

For a second, he wasn’t sure he’d heard him right. I told you so? After all of this? After everything that had happened, thats the first thing you say? Is that seriously what Levi just said to me?

The absurdity of it hit Jake like a truck. He stared at Levi, his brain scrambling to make sense of it. And then, before he knew it, a sharp burst of laughter escaped him. It wasn’t small, wasn’t a quiet chuckle, it quickly spiraled into something much louder, much more out of control.

Jake laughed harder than he had in weeks—maybe months. His shoulders shook as he buried his face in his hands, trying to stifle the sound, but it was no use. The ridiculousness of the situation, of Levi’s comment, of everything they had been through—it was too much. It was all so ridiculous.

Levi watched him, that same infuriating smirk still plastered on his face, as he laughed, but this time, Jake didn’t care. He couldn’t stop laughing, couldn’t stop the flood of emotion that came rushing out all at once. It was like the weight he’d been carrying finally cracked open, and the only thing left to do was laugh at the absurdity of it all.

Eventually, the laughter died down, and Jake wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, still grinning. He shook his head, disbelief clear on his face.

“You’re an idiot, you know that?” he muttered, his voice thick with leftover laughter.

Levi shrugged, that same nonchalant expression never wavering. “Well you deserved it.”

Jake shook his head, still smiling, but something inside him still felt a bit… off. He didn’t know what had happened to Levi, but he knew one thing for sure: Levi wasn’t the same. And maybe he never would be.

As the students continued to whisper and watch, the two of them sat there in silence, the weight of everything still hanging between them. But for now, Jake let himself lean into the absurdity of the moment. After weeks of guilt,confusion, and pain, he needed this, even if it didn’t truly fix anything.

At least for now, they were still together. And for Jake, that had to be enough