A/N: Sorry all for not updating in I don't even want to know how long. School started and life took an unfortunate turn, but here I am and I've pulled together a hardly-adequate chapter, but hopefully this will help me get back into the groove of writing again. Anyways, I apologize again and I hope you enjoy this...crappy excuse for a chapter. Feel free to drop a review or leave any prompts/recommendations.

Chapter 14: My Other Half

Petra awoke to a loud rapping on her window, causing her to turn over in confusion. Seeing a familiar shadow lurking behind the glass, she quickly swung her legs over the edge of her bed and hurried towards the window, sliding it open.

"Really Levi, you should know that there is a front door," she chided as she pulled her friend into the room. "Gah, and you're soaking wet!"

Levi scoffed, stripping off his jacket and hanging it on the back of her desk chair. "I'm not supposed to really be here, remember? Anyways, it wouldn't be smart if the desk worker constantly saw me coming in and out at odd hours, would it?"

Petra took a step back as he removed his shirt without hesitation, shaking his hair out as well. She only glanced over his shadowed muscles, having seen them many times in the past, before moving to her closet to get him something to change into. By the time she turned around, he was already down to his boxers. She tossed him one of his T-shirts she had stolen and a pair of basketball shorts, which he gratefully accepted. He did, however, pull at the hem of the shirt, cocking an eyebrow.

"Is this my shirt?"

Petra blushed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Maybe."

At her response, Levi rolled his eyes, muttering something about women, earning him a swat on the shoulder. In a couple of short strides, he flopped onto Petra's bed, folding one of his arms over his eyes. Petra leaned down next to him, brushing his damp raven hair out of his eyes. Levi's eyes flashed open and he grabbed her wrist, pulling her down so she was beside him. Their arms brushed against each other, and Petra flinched from how cold his skin was.

"You're crazy coming here in this weather. You could've caught a cold," Petra admonished.

"You sound like my mother," Levi growled teasingly.

Petra pursed her lips, glancing sideways at him. "What made you come here tonight?"

"Do you not want me here?" Levi asked, raising himself on one elbow so he could properly look at her.

"Of course I do. I always enjoy your company. But I thought you were pretty busy with work and stuff. You've hardly answered your phone this whole week."

Levi shrugged noncommittally. "Yeah, I've been busy, but that doesn't mean I can't fit in the time to visit you."

Petra smiled, flattered at his dedication to visiting her. She poked his chest playfully, the corner of her mouth twitching upward. "You're becoming soft, Mister Ackerman."

Levi turned his gaze on her, and she swore she saw something flicker in the dark onyx depths. "Levi," he corrected her, tucking a strand of her golden hair behind her ear. "'Mr. Ackerman' only reminds me of how old I am, and that's not something I like to recall on a regular basis."

"You're not that old," Petra teased as she sat up, folding her knees beneath her.

Levi rolled his eyes, his eyes tracing a path over her graceful figure. "You're still in school and I'm nearly ten years older than you."

"Only eight," Petra replied, craning her head down to plant a chaste kiss on his still-icy lips. "And I'm graduating this year, remember? I'm an adult now, you don't have to keep talking to me like I'm a child." She pursed her lips in an attempt at a pouty face, but it only made her appear more adorable.

Levi released a long sigh as he fell back onto the bed. He stared up at the ceiling and his breaths became slower and more drawn out. "You're still a girl in my eyes," he mumbled, only briefly glancing over at her. "I still remember when you were just a child. Even now it's hard to accept that you've grown into a young woman."

Petra shoved his shoulder lightly. "Okay, now you're really starting to sound like an old man."

Levi shrugged. "I guess it's inevitable. We grow, we age, time keeps passing and we all grow old." His voice carried a wistful tone and his words grew soft until they were just below a whisper.

"And I want to be at your side for all of it, through thick and thin," Petra pledged, plopping down and wrapping her arms around him. She placed her chin on his shoulder and he tucked her head beneath his own.

"I don't deserve you. I really don't. We never should have met, logically speaking," Levi drawled. It was something Petra had heard many times before, so she said nothing, instead choosing to move one of her hands so that it rested across his heart.

"But we did, and I'm never going to let go of you." Petra often told him about fate and soul mates and other crap that he didn't necessarily believe, but ever since they had met, there had been something special about her, and he'd be damned if he'd ever let go of such a feeling. After all, she was the only one that he could ever consider being a soul mate.