A slow upbeat song was resonating through the apartment when Levi was making coffee for his girlfriend. He even researched how to do that properly. It was only fair since she was making perfect tea for him since they met.
The song was too happy for this taste, but he didn't mind as long as she enjoyed herself. He looked at the laptop on his side to check the time and added foamed milk to the mug. For some reason, it was already her favorite from the ones he had at home. She never said that but he noticed.
On his way to the living room, he was startled by the painful sound. He moved quickly to see what was happening, careful to not spill the coffee.
"Ral? What is it?" He asked in a way that sounded more like an order to tell him than a question.
Petra looked up at him from the couch like she wasn't sure what he was referring to. She was curled up with her legs close to her torso.
"You moaned like someone just stabbed you."
"...ah. Forget it, it's just my period." she sighed.
"It stabbed you?" He asked ironically, which made her laugh.
"Yeah, it's pretty painful."
"Do you need painkillers?"
"I already took them."
He was scanning her face for a moment before going back to the kitchen.
"Hey! What about my coffee?" She cried after him.
She had to wait a minute longer before he came back and put the mug on the coffee table in front of her.
"Levi...did you add something to it?" She asked suspiciously.
"Are you insane?" He scolded her. "I had to check if it won't make you worse."
"You're worried about me…" she noticed sweetly.
"Jesus, Petra," he huffed. It was a habit of her by now to call him out on it. He felt embarrassed inside every fucking time.
"Thank you," she giggled and reached for the mug just before her body shuddered again at the pain.
Levi looked at her horrified.
"Are you sure you don't want a ride to the hospital?"
She shook her head.
"It's normal," she assured him and sipped on her coffee.
He felt incredibly uneasy about the situation. Her state itself wasn't a problem, but he was frustrated that he didn't know how to help her.
"What do you need?" He asked, still not sitting down.
"It would be nice to have a horse. Or two, and a small house at the seaside." She responded, not taking her eyes off the coffee.
He knew she was messing with him. He secretly liked it actually, seeing her getting so comfortable in his presence. It was a big step from their strictly work relationship before.
He pinched her cheek delicately, with a frown on his face.
"I'm trying to help here."
"You can cuddle with me." She said, looking up at him.
There was a slight disgust on his face. He really hated that word.
She sighed and smiled widely.
"Embrace me, Captain! Embrace me!" She corrected herself jokingly.
"Oh, shut up." He cut her words and came closer. "Move."
She made some space for him at first but then stood up when he laid down and put the mug down, so she could lay on him.
"Getting turned on will make you better or worse?" He asked.
Petra raised her head to look at him.
"And here I thought we'd have some romantic moments."
"Tsk."
"It depends... I don't think there is a rule for that when it comes to me."
"So no petting."
"Hmm..."
"I don't take risks like that. You'll have to wait."
"It's fine for me; we can cuddle."
She kissed him when he grunted at her choice of words. He could feel her smile in it; she caught his lip ring with her teeth and pulled on it playfully. He hummed, looking at her from under his lowered eyelids.
Her hands found their way to the side of his face, and she tilted her head, looking at him lovingly. He could feel as her thumbs caressed his cheeks.
"You're so pretty…" she sighed, and he did this face she loved, the one that always appeared when she called him like that.
"Usually people say I look terrifying. Unapproachable at best," he said, but it was clear that he didn't mind.
"I think you're hot."
"That's different from pretty."
She giggled again and pecked his lips. He squinted his eyes, trying to figure out her way of thinking.
"Is that why you kissed me when I was beaten up?"
The way she averted her eyes answered his question by itself.
"Wow, you're really sick," he said, which earned him a squish of his cheeks from her hands. He frowned before she kissed him again.
"I told you already, I wanted to bed you the moment I saw you. Even when I didn't know who you were…" she said in a tone that made it clear that she's fighting her shyness. "I mean... I'm not a person up for hook-ups, so I didn't."
"I'm not either. So, it wouldn't work anyway," he told her.
She looked deep in thought for a moment longer. He could see the little moments when her expressions changed when she was in pain.
"Why didn't you make a move earlier?" she asked softly; while focusing her eyes on his collarbones. She traced the wings under them with her finger.
He wasn't quite ready for that question. He took a deep breath which made her rise and fall on his chest.
"I'm not good with this. I told you. It was weird; since you work under me, and you were such a fan of my art. I didn't want to be a creep."
Petra smiled at him.
"You were a creep since I caught you looking at my butt all the time," she said sweetly, and he grunted again, looking up at the ceiling.
She curled on the couch.
"I should go home," she said weakly; as he covered her with a blanket.
"Like I'd fucking let you," Levi said, angrily but concerned.
Their lovely time was interrupted when she started to feel worse. He already provided her with more painkillers, but she seemed to get only weaker by then.
"I'll go get this hot-water bottle from the store. Will you be ok?"
She looked up at him and smiled a bit, but only for a moment,
"Yes, I have my phone here in case of anything," she assured him.
He nodded and hesitated a moment before heading out. He was worried sick about her. It seemed crazy that something like this was considered normal for her. He wanted to do something, anything that would make her feel better, but he was helpless, aside from going to that store.
Petra was sleeping when he got back. She looked tired, and after he prepared the warm water for her, he carried her to his bed. It was still an early evening, but he didn't feel like waking her up would make her any good. A bit unsure, but with good intentions, he laid the hot-water bottle near her abdomen and tucked her again under the blanket.
Sitting at the edge of the bed, with one hand on her hip, he let his thoughts wander. The presence of the box under the closet came back to his mind. He closed his eyes, trying to think about something else, and looked back at the ginger in his bed. To his surprise, she was looking at him as well. A small smile appeared on her face.
"Thank you for taking care of me," she said quietly.
He brushed it off, looking away with a scowl on his face.
Levi woke up with a headache. Despite that, he got out of bed and went to take a shower. Here it came, the day of their first date. Still, there was a whole day of hanging out in the parlor before that. Calling it work didn't sit right with him. It was his daily life. It wasn't negative nor positive, but he liked it. He was doing his thing whenever he wanted to, and the organizational stuff kept his head distracted from other things.
He looked through the appointment list on the counter downstairs and went to make himself a black tea. Eld joined him when he was already drinking it at the table. When Oluo joined them, they started their casual meeting on the topic of internships for the youngsters.
Two hours later, he checked the appointment list; again. There was a session signed for Petra in an hour. Usually, she would be there by that time. She didn't contact him the day before, so he figured out she spent another evening with Nifa and probably ended up falling asleep drunk. He snorted at that thought and went to his office to call Hange.
He was still talking with them when his phone vibrated, informing him that someone else was calling. Seeing that it was Petra, he asked Hange to wait and answered the second call.
"Did your car break?" He asked a bit too harshly than he intended. What he meant was that he could go get her in that case, but it turned out rude as always.
"Hi. I-I don't think I'll be able to come to work today. I'm sorry. Can you reschedule my appointments? I'm so sorry."
He furrowed his brows and approached the window mindlessly.
"Something happened? Are you feeling alright?"
"I don't... But I'm ok. Don't worry too much."
"So what about the date?"
There was a silence on the line for a couple of seconds.
"I don't think I will be able to make it," she laughed nervously.
"It's fine. Don't worry about it if you're not feeling good. Let me know later if you need a longer vacation or something," he assured her while looking at the street through the window.
After finishing his conversation with Hange, he sat at his laptop to call Petra's clients from that day. He pressured himself to not feel too worried. He knew how it felt to have a worse day. Sometimes they could get terrible. Postponing the date wasn't a problem, since he wasn't very excited about it anyway; more like feeling stressed. He just wanted to do it, so she would be happy.
Two people cursed the parlor when he called them, and he had to restrain himself from cursing them back. Fucking PR shit.
Later that day, Eld got a call from his wife informing him she's pregnant, which turned the whole parlor upside down because even the clients were thrilled by the news. Oluo went to buy some pie for a celebration while Eld apologized to his client that he can't continue the work right now because he couldn't stop crying.
Levi congratulated him with a straight face, not understanding where all those emotions came from. For him, it sounded like a bother; kids were an absolute pain in the ass. The light mood in the parlor was great, but he had to remind them to be more professional eventually.
He left his home in the evening, figuring out that if Petra didn't feel well, he could at least be there for her. He knew from experience that sometimes it was enough. For a Friday night, the city seemed peaceful. Maybe the hour wasn't late enough for people to party, or maybe it was becoming too cold outside.
Finding a free parking spot took him 20 minutes. Such a big city and she had to pick the fucking center of it to live in. On his way to the building, he thought that it was kinda shitty of him to not bring anything to lighten her mood. Was he enough? She would probably agree, but he doubted it was true. Fuck that, he could always ask her what she needs first and not guess. He put in the code to the front doors that he already memorized and called her going up the staircase.
"Hi," she answered, sounding way lighter than before and calming him a bit.
"Hi, I'm at your door. I will be there in a moment."
"What?"
Her surprised tone alarmed him in a way that got him nervous. Just like she was hiding something from him. His mind already gave him a list of probable scenarios. Of course, there wasn't a chance for him in a healthy relationship; she already was done.
Trying to silence his thoughts, he started walking faster.
"Levi, I can't... I don't want to see you right now."
"Why?" he asked right away, feeling like his whole body started to get cold from the emotions she caused. She sighed at the phone and as he reached her floor. "If there is something wrong with me, I want you to say it to my face." His voice sounded scary now, but he couldn't care less at this point. He stopped at her door, ended the call, and waited.
In the silence, he could hear her footsteps as she approached the door. The anticipation was killing him inside. Whatever she was about to say, he promised himself to not burst at her.
The door slowly opened, and he was surprised to see that it was dark inside. It wasn't dark enough for him to not see the figure standing in front of him. Petra seemed to look normal until she raised her head to look at him. He got struck at the sight. Most of the right side of her face was covered in dark bruises.
He felt as the air left his lungs.
"Pet…" he said, terrified, and went in, grabbing her head in his hands, careful to not touch her in a way that could hurt. "What in hell happened to you?"
She fought back the tears and grabbed his forearms for a moment before moving her hands to his arms.
"Levi… Please go home."
"Are you insane?"
"I can't talk to you right now."
"What happened? Did you have an accident? A car crash?" he asked, examining the rest of her body. There were no bandages in his sight.
Her eyes didn't leave his even when he was checking on her. A realization came down on him like a bucket of cold water splashed on his head. When he caught her gaze and she still didn't respond, he took his hands off her.
They stood in the hall of her apartment in silence, with light coming only from the staircase.
"No," he said, looking at her like he was waiting for her to correct his train of thoughts. She didn't let go of his arms.
"Levi. Go home. I beg you," she pleaded.
"It was him, wasn't it?" he asked, looking intensively in her eyes.
"You can't go after him. Do you understand? You can't."
He could feel how the grip on his arms tightened and suddenly, he was calm. He took a deep breath and put a hand on the top of her head.
"Don't worry about me. There is literally nothing you can do to stop me right now," he said and brushed the bangs out of her face. "I will go, and I will make him pay. Once and for all."
She cried out his name, closing her eyes as he brushed his lips against her forehead.
