Levi woke up blinded by the sunlight. He let out a tired grunt before realizing the weight of a woman whose half of the body was laying on his back, trapping him to the mattress. He turned his head to see her still deep in the world of dreams.
His mood was raised significantly by the memory of the previous day. He closed his eyes again despite knowing that there was no chance for him to fall asleep.
He thought she woke up when she moved but was quick to understand that she only got herself even more on him. She was unstoppable in giving him new experiences.
There was no way he could stand up right now.
She muttered something incomprehensible as he finally moved up several dozen minutes later. Petra opened her eyes slowly to see the muscles of his back since he was already sitting at the edge of the bed.
"Wake up, we should start getting ready." He said, sending her a look above his shoulder. She smiled widely and slowly sat up.
"I don't remember the last time I was on the beach." She said in a hoarse voice. Levi ruffled her hair before standing up.
They were sleeping on the other bed, since both were too tired to change the sheets, and also, they low-key wanted to sleep together even if that meant being squished on a small bed.
"Oh my god." She said looking at herself in a big mirror in the bathroom. She went out to find Levi waiting for her, bored.
He blinked twice seeing her black bikini and rested his chin on his hand enjoying the view.
Despite how it flattered her she snapped her fingers to get his attention back and pointed at the bruises he left on the lower part of her stomach.
"What am I supposed to do with this now?" She asked a bit too dramatically in his opinion.
"Leave it as it is. Is that even an issue?" He asked, not understanding her problem with it at all. "Don't pretend you're mad at me, you liked it."
"Well…" she started and sighed, averting her eyes. "You have no shame, do you?" she added. She couldn't really be angry at him for that. It was pretty clear that both of them didn't think of any consequences of their actions. Maybe aside from contraception.
"We're adults, Petra. No one will care." He said, raising his head. He noticed her unsure expression. "I will buy you a different swimsuit if it's bothering you so much."
"No. I'll think of something. Give me ten more minutes." She nodded to herself.
He stood up putting his phone to the pocket of his shorts and a few moments later approached her with a flannel shirt in his hand. "Here, you will have to cover yourself from the wind anyway."
They had to drive to the nearest beach, but as they arrived, they discovered that most of their friends were already there.
It was windy, but sunny, they definitely were lucky that the weather was this good. The summer was ending with each day but at this side of the country it was still quite warm. The only problem was that the wind was a bitch, and it rained a lot.
Petra had a big straw hat and the shirt that he gave her tied by sleeves around her waist. A man going two steps behind her had a baseball hat and black sunglasses. He wore a dark green unbuttoned shirt to protect his tattoos from the sun.
She waved her hand to Moblit who was standing above Hange. They were laying on their back on the blanket, clearly dying from a hangover.
"Rest in peace. At least it will be more peaceful." Said Levi when they stopped near them.
"Damn, I've hoped that we'll swim together." Petra added leaning above them and propping her hands on her thighs.
Hange raised their sunglasses to look up. They wore beach shorts and a black binder.
"At least the view is nice." They said looking at her cleavage.
Petra huffed straightening herself.
"Your man is right there, and you say such things."
"It's fine, he doesn't care."
Petra looked up at Moblit.
"I really don't mind." He said, shrugging.
Levi did mind but let it slide as he was setting up a spot for them. He was already disgusted by the sand but the thought that soon they will be coming home was reassuring.
Petra left the others in between their volleyball matches and ran to get some water. She reached the blanket and found Levi laying under the big umbrella stuck in the ground.
"That's new." she noticed and looked down at the man. There was an opened magazine on his face. "Are you asleep?" she asked, and he raised his hand to uncover his face.
"Would I respond if I was?" he grunted looking up at her. He had to squint his eyes to get used to the brightness of the sunny day.
She smiled widely at his remark.
"Won't you join us?"
He looked at her like he was asking if she was asking for real.
"Come on. What are those muscles for? Don't you want to crush people in the game?" she laughed.
"They are for crushing people for real." he responded but put the magazine aside and sat up. "Did you remember to use the sunscreen?"
"Of course, I'm all slippery." she said going down on her knees to look at him up close. "You look very cute in that hat."
He looked at her confused, not sure how to respond.
"Thank you?"
She grinned happily and grabbed his hand to help him get up.
"This is so unfair!" called Monika from the other side of the beach volleyball court when Levi did another spike.
"Don't worry, baby, we're gonna get them points back!" shouted Hange, fired up to destroy the other team. They exchanged eager looks with Levi.
Picking teams was hard, since they weren't sure how good each of them were, so they decided to leave it to Erwin, who was always up for making hard decisions. Levi was about to throw hands when he wanted to put him and Petra in other teams since it wouldn't be fair otherwise because they both were the shortest. She was secretly glad he refused to leave her.
Standing now on the middle blocker's place, with Eld on the other side of the net, she wasn't so sure if that was a good idea. Yes, she was strong, but jumping wasn't her strength.
Oluo served yet again and, to no one's surprise, Erwin was able to receive it. The ball flew up and Hange wanted to set it to Moblit, but it went too far, so Eld jumped to hit it with the top of his fingers, so it would make it to the other side. Petra was surprised at how fast it all happened, but despite that was quick enough to jump and set it right to Levi. He jumped and spiked it back only for Hange to get it again. This time the ball went to Erwin who spiked it to the other side where one of Monika's friends wasn't able to receive it.
Eventually, the only people absolutely invested in the game were Hange and Levi. Petra had to send him a warning look when he was about to scold Oluo for not blocking the ball on time.
They decided to make another break when Mike and Nanaba joined them. From what Petra heard, they couldn't get there on time for the wedding, so they wanted to congratulate them at least during the after party. She seized the opportunity and approached Levi.
"Aren't you a little too serious about this?" she asked, showing up in front of him with a smile. She caught him as his eyes went down on her and up again right away.
"Hm?"
"We're playing for fun."
"I'm having fun." he said, raising his eyebrows.
Petra smiled widely and laughed. Her mood was great, everything about this day was perfect.
"Let's get some water. It's important to stay hydrated." she said, taking his hand to pull him lightly in the direction of their blanket.
She put on her hat back and the shirt that she untied from her waist. She left it open, just like he did. Levi sat down beside her and reached for the water bottle.
"I love the sea." she shared looking at the horizon.
"It's just water. And it's salty, uh." he grunted.
Petra turned her head and tilted it while looking at him. Her cheeks and nose were blushed from the sun. He felt like, in every way possible, she was the opposite of him.
He leaned to kiss her, but she moved back a little, and it was enough for him to drop it. His face was serious when he tried to figure her out.
"You don't want us to be seen." he stated. It wasn't an accusation, he just preferred for things to be clear.
She looked down at the sand under her bare feet. She buried them in it.
"It's not that exactly." she responded in a troubled voice. "I don't mind. It's that... I don't have positive experiences with showing affection publicly."
Her last words were quieter, and he wondered on the reason for that.
Petra frowned and looked back at him. "It's not your fault." she assured and moved to sit closer to him.
"Was the idiot who jumped at me on my birthday the one that hurt you?" he asked outright. All the pieces fit together but assuming things wasn't a good idea from what he learned so far in his life.
She was visibly taken aback at his question.
"Yeah. But that's...that's in the past." she said, blinking a few times and looked back at the sea.
"Did he pay for it?"
The lack of her response was enough for him to know. He leaned to her again, but he didn't try to touch her, he tried to catch her attention.
"I can make him pay. Your one word and he will regret he was born." he said in a low voice.
Her eyes closed for a moment before she turned her head to him. Her lips brushed his cheek in a delicate gesture.
"Don't worry about it. Forget that he exists. Please." she said as they shared a longing gaze.
They shared a dinner at the beach bar and talked about some trivial things. The topic soon went to tattoos and when it turned to chat about work, Monika had to call them out on that. They had free days after all.
To Petra's relief, no one was commenting on how her and Levi were unquestionably closer than usual. Maybe aside from the looks Hange sent them, but in their case, she couldn't be angry. Only a bit embarrassed, but in a good way. She held his hand under the table when she had a chance, and it was enough to make her day brighter.
One thing that she didn't expect was how good she clicked with Nanaba and Mike. She didn't really have a chance to talk with them on Levi's birthday, but now when the atmosphere was way more chill, they had a chance to get to know each other.
Some people just seemed familiar. She couldn't explain it but one thing she was sure of was that befriending them never ended up as a bad choice.
Eventually, the sky started to get cloudy, taking most of the sunlight warmness and knowing their state, they were mostly sure that it would start raining soon.
"Well, at least most of the day was gracious for us." Summed up Gunther who was standing behind her.
She got a bit bummed, but it was time to slowly wrap up the party anyway.
Levi noticed that Petra had fallen asleep on the passenger seat when they were nearly halfway through their journey. It was probably the sound of the rain that caused it, paired with her being tired after all day running around. He turned down the volume of the radio.
The road hadn't let him watch her, which he regretted because this peaceful expression she had been one of his favorites. It was nice to see that she felt this comfortable in his presence.
They changed to their regular clothes before getting to the car, but she still wore his flannel shirt on her shoulders.
It looked like his worry on how to wake her up resolved itself when he stopped in front of her building and she moved in her seat before opening her eyes.
"We're here." He said, with his hands still on the steering wheel.
It was somehow hard to move on from that moment. Their trip, the whole wedding and this day felt so distant from their everyday life. He wished life could be this easy.
Petra stretched slowly. From how she just sat there, he figured she must have felt the same way.
She finally looked up at him.
"I had so much fun." She said, still sounding sleepy.
"Me too." He said without much emotion, looking forward through the window before tilting his head to look at her again.
They stared at each other in silence.
"Do you want to go in for tea?"
"I can't, I have to talk through some stuff with Farlan."
"The shitty stuff again?"
"Yeah." He responded, tired. "I'll help you carry your stuff inside."
She nodded, even though the help was not necessary, she didn't want to part with him for as long as it was possible.
She shielded herself from the rain with the shirt she had while he just let it soak him. He handed her the bags, stopping at the entrance to her flat. She put them aside and looked back at him. He looked irritated and she wasn't sure why.
A hand with an umbrella brought his mind back to where they were. He took it without much thought and looked at the woman in front of him.
"Petra…" he started with a frown on his face which made her raise her eyebrows.
"Yes?" She asked, confused about his behavior.
He gritted his teeth before opening his mouth again.
"Are we dating?"
She blinked in surprise and smiled.
"I don't know. Are you going to take me on a date?"
"I guess so."
"Then I guess we are." She responded happily.
