Chapter Two: His warmth.

"You want a hug?" Levi asked in complete disbelief.

"Please?" Claudia asked; her big grey eyes were brimming with tears as she looked at him pleadingly. Levi sighed and moved towards her, bending down slightly as he let the girl embraced him. She wrapped her frail arms around his neck, burying her face onto his white shirt as she sobbed softly. Levi cringed as he struggled not to think of the blood staining his clothes and floor. He awkwardly placed his hand on her back in an effort to soothe the girl.

"Feeling better?"

"Yes, Thank you," Claudia replied, her face pink as she released her grip. Levi nodded. "You better get some sleep then. You can sleep on the spare bed in the next room, I'll find some clean clothes for you," He hurriedly moved, feeling disgusted with the filth on his shirt. It wasn't that he did not like her, he was just a slightly obsessed clean freak and he didn't like to be dirty. "Urgh, I have to throw this away," He muttered to himself.

What am I going to do with her?

Meanwhile, Claudia was in her new room. The room was painted a light beige and smelt faintly of roses. It was small but meticulously clean, obviously someone had cleaning issues. Levi had some clean bandages by the dining table, probably for when he had injuries. Claudia felt sure that he was someone of great power and he had all these bandages in case he sustained any major injury. Claudia sat on the floor and unrolled a length of the bandages just as Levi stepped in.

"What do you think you're doing, Brat?"

"S-sorry?"

Levi narrowed his eyes as he placed a fresh shirt on a chair, while holding a basin of clean water on the other. He knelt down, his eye twitching slightly as he glanced at her clumsy attempt of bandaging her wounds. "You have to clean the wounds or you'll get an infection. And your first aid skills really suck," Levi said annoyingly as he unravel the bandages. He clicked his tongue and he took a clean rage and dipped the cloth into the basin, wringing it before pressing it on Claudia's knees.

"Ouch- It hurts," Claudia winced.

"Bear with it." He said. "And don't move," He expertly unrolled a clean roll, wrapping her knees neatly. Claudia watched, amazed at his skills. She never had to lift a finger back in Wall Sina, she was a spoilt girl who had servants to do everything. Claudia could feel her heart beating faster as she laid her eyes on Levi, the way his fringe fell across his face, his eyebrows knitted in concentration. He had a pretty gloomy face but deep down was a really good guy. "There," He said, giving a smirk as he moved back to admire his masterpiece.

"Levi, what do you do?"

Levi looked up; "I kill titans," He said simply as he stood up. "You should get some sleep," He muttered as he walked out. "And please keep this room clean,"

Kill titans?

Two years later…

"Levi!" Claudia smiled as she held the door opened for the tired soldier. "Welcome home!" She smiled cheerfully as she took his cloak. It had been two years since she moved in and at the age of fourteen, she was taller than the 160cm tall Levi. Her long brown hair swished as she fumbled about. She wasn't always this happy, in fact after the first night they met, Claudia became a rather gloomy teen, she tended to think negatively and she had attempted to take her life several times. She would wear a happy face every time he arrived home from the outside world, because she knew the horror stories of soldiers going out of the wall and never returning and she wanted to welcome him home for coming back alive.

Levi propped an arm on the table as he leaned his head on his arm, watching tiredly as Claudia prepared some food. Her hair nearly reached her waist and it seemed as if the older she got, the prettier she became. He knew that she had several suitors, all whom had expressed interest in marrying her. He had become fond of the teen, used to her presence after two years. Although he was normally a man who was used to being alone, he felt comforted whenever he came home to see her open the door to welcome him home.

"This is all for today," Claudia said apologetically as she took a bowl of lukewarm soup, some bread and hot tea. "I saved the tea for you, because I thought you would want it," She smiled. "Aren't you hungry?" Levi asked, frowning. "You look pale," Claudia shrugged. "I ate before you arrived."

"Liar. Every time you lie you tilt your head to one side and give a smile" Levi looked at her nonchalantly, shaking his head. "You look way too skinny already. People are going to think I'm mistreating you. Or one of your suitors may just come after my head." Claudia made a face. "I'm not interested in any of them." She scrunched her face at the thought. The way Levi laughed was as if he had swallowed a nut. "Anyway," Claudia rolled her eyes, leaning onto the table where Levi sat. "What about you? I've never seen you with a woman…Unless you," Claudia had an evil glint in her eyes. "Unless you like your own kind."

"Excuse me?" Levi had a scornful expression on his face as he cupped her chin. "Just for your information, it's because you're in my house that's why I'm unmarried and with no woman, I'm stuck with a brat." Claudia gave a sure-I'll-believe-that laugh. "Well, if you end up old, short and alone I'm still willing to marry you,"

Levi flicked her forehead. "Oh how nice," He said sarcastically. "Anyway, I have to talk to you about something. I heard from Mrs whatshername that you're going to the army," Claudia sat up straight, her face etched with a guilty look. Levi tilted his head to the side. "When were you going to tell me?" He asked. Claudia gave a gulp, scratching her head innocently as she bit her bottom lip. "Before I leave,"

"The enlistment is tomorrow morning,"

"Yeah, I just didn't know how to bring the topic up,"

"The army isn't easy. It takes three years to graduate. Why would you want to go for?" Levi asked, shaking his head some more. "I've always wanted to do what you do, I want to kill titans," Claudia said quietly. Levi sighed. "Do what you want, just be careful,"

"Really?" Claudia looked up in surprise. She thought that he would protest, or maybe because he didn't know that she wanted to join the scouting legion like him. Claudia wanted to join partly because she wanted to be closer to him. He meant a lot to her and every time he left the wall, a part of her would die a little, because there was a chance of him dying outside the walls, mauled to death.

Just like her family.

Claudia snapped out of her daydream. This was a dangerous part of her mind she hated. Thinking negatively. She chided herself for treading on dangerous water.

"So, I was thinking of cutting my hair short, I don't want it to affect my training."

"Don't. You look nicer with long hair. Just bun it up,"

"O-Okay," Claudia blushed, her heart beating fast. In so many ways, Levi had often surprised her. His gloomy and dark personality was something she was used to but every once in a while, he would reveal a more sensitive part of himself. Claudia prayed that she was the only one he trusted to share his other side to. She still didn't know what all these feelings meant, she just knew that she wanted to be by his side forever, but she knew that it was impossible if she did not put in effort.

Don't ever leave me.

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