After interrogating Farlan to no avail, Petra went outside to calm her nerves and grab some coffee from the nearest shop. She was pissed, and worried. But mostly angry.
She gave Eld his coffee and went back upstairs. From the absence of Farlan, she figured out he was the one making noise in the kitchen.
Sighing, she raised her hand to grab the bridge of her nose. After everything they went through barely a few weeks prior, they ended up in some trouble again. She started to doubt if it was really worth her nerves.
She headed to Levi's bedroom to check if he woke up yet. After all, it wasn't like him to sleep so long. Putting a hand on the handle, she took a deep breath and opened the door.
She froze in place at the sight of her boyfriend enjoying his morning with his dick in his hand. Their eyes met, and it was clear that he didn't expect her at all. As her eyebrows came together in a judging expression she retreated and slowly closed the door.
"I'm about to lose my mind today," she said to herself, going back to the living room.
The sound of the door opening and fast steps followed her.
"Petra-" Levi called her, and she turned to him casually.
"Ackerman."
The look of his face was pricelessly awkward. It amused her a little, but she stopped herself from smiling.
"It's not what you think," he said, knowing right away that he owed her some explanations.
"So you didn't just jack off after ending up in a fight again."
The loud laughter from the kitchen reached them as they stayed in the entrance of the living room.
"Aren't you feeling too good about this?"
"It was not about the fight."
"Are you sure?" she teased.
"Certainly." he said in a low voice, looking at her up and down.
"No horny time for you," she punched his naked chest.
"Then stop turning me on," he replied, squinting his eyes.
Petra huffed.
"I expect you have a good explanation for this?" she asked, pointing her finger at his face.
"Actually, I do."
"Great, let's go and talk then. Farlan?" she called, turning her head.
The blonde peaked at them from the kitchen door.
"Hey Levi, fuck you. Also, I would prefer not to participate while his boner is present."
They both looked at him and Petra didn't know if she wanted to laugh or ask him why he was suddenly speaking so rude to him.
"Well…" Levi shifted his eyes to her, which made her raise her eyebrows.
"NO. I said what I said. No horny. I'm mad at you," she scolded him and took a deep breath. "I'll be seeing you in the living room in ten minutes. Both of you."
As she left, Levi approached his friend at a quick pace.
"What did you tell her?"
"Nothing, I figured you'll come up with something more reliable."
"I'm going to tell the truth."
"What?!" He raised his voice, even if the conversation still remained low.
"I won't be lying to Petra, idiot."
"Oh god, what did she do to you?"
Two men sitting on opposite ends of the sofa watched as Petra pushed the armchair to sit in front of them.
Levi composed himself to the point that he was already dressed up and apparently Farlan did the same, judging from the t-shirt that Petra knew belonged to her boyfriend. He also borrowed his jeans, which funnily reached only half of his calves.
She crossed her legs.
"I'm listening."
They exchanged glances and Levi leaned forward to prop his elbows on his knees. He put his hands together, looking her in the eyes. If it wasn't for the circumstances, Petra would be thrilled by this view.
"We didn't do anything shitty. We had a fight."
Petra frowned and raised one eyebrow, looking at him in confusion.
"That still sounds like a problem to me."
"No. It was between us. We beat each other."
The ginger woman looked at him speechless. She blinked twice and glanced at Farlan who was looking to the side, scratching his neck.
"You…" she started and grabbed the bridge of her nose, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment. "You fought?"
"Yeah." Levi responded right away in his deep voice. By the look in his eyes, she could tell he wasn't messing with her.
"What are you, ten?" she finally snapped.
Both men straightened their backs at the tone of her voice. Petra barely ever raised it, so getting her angry was a pretty dangerous area.
"Seriously? Can't you talk?" she continued, getting only more fired up. "How could you do that to yourselves even? You look awful!"
"It was my fault." Farlan finally spoke and Levi looked at him quickly.
"No, it was not."
"What was it?" Petra asked, shifting eyes between them.
"My private stuff." The blonde man responded, looking her in the eyes. She laid back on the armchair, intimidated by his serious expression.
"You should learn how to communicate. You're nearly in your thirties, goddamn it." she sighed.
"Well, actually, I'm younger," Farlan said and smiled because of the scolding look Petra sent his way. "Anyway, like I said. I started it, so you shouldn't blame your lovebird."
"I deserved it, though." Levi said, looking away from them.
Petra looked at him worried. His words affected her in a way he wasn't aware of.
"Shut up, I'm saving your emo ass. And I'm telling the truth, so, don't be too angry, Pet."
This time Levi looked at him warningly.
"Oi, she's not a "Pet" to you."
"Or what?"
"Guys!" she interrupted, trying to gather her thoughts. "You give me a headache. You cannot do that. I mean, fight like that. You might get hurt FOR REAL."
"I know, senior citizens might be more liable to permanent injuries," Farlan pointed out.
"It wouldn't matter because if that happens again, I'll be the one to finish both of you."
Levi leaned back and raised his hand to subtly cover his mouth, to hide the amusement from her statement. He adored this side of her.
"Is that a threat or a promise?" Farlan asked and caught the phone that Petra threw at him, midair.
Levi rubbed his eyes and stood up to head to the kitchen. Petra followed him with her eyes and dived into the chair. She noticed that Farlan observed her while she did so.
"Ain't so easy, huh?" he asked.
Instead of replying, she looked away. He stood up and approached her to give her the phone back. After she took it and curled up in the chair, he crouched in front of it.
"Don't worry too much about it. It's how we dealt with shit for years, he wouldn't do that to anyone else he cares about."
Petra looked at him, he seemed to see right through her. It was surprising, since they weren't significantly close.
"Was that a serious issue?" she asked then.
"Yes. Pretty much serious."
"Do you think it will happen again?"
He delayed his response for a moment.
"I don't know."
She sighed and covered her eyes with one hand.
"It's awful to see you two hurt."
"Keep in mind that we didn't have anyone to worry about us for most of our lives. Same with Isa." he said and stood back up. Petra looked up at him. She struggled to fully understand all of this.
The sight of her boyfriend coming back caught her attention. He held a cup in his hand, and it wasn't hard to guess it was tea. To her surprise, he didn't sit back on the couch. He stopped next to her and put the cup on the coffee table in front of her. The expression on his face was serious when their eyes met.
Farlan smiled at the sight of them.
"Guess it's time for me to go. I need to change anyway before those pants squeeze the life out of my legs." he said and sent Levi a smile when he looked up at him, grumpy as always. He passed him on his way to the shoe rack at the apartment's entrance.
Petra reached for the cup in silence.
Farlan turned his head in their direction, grabbing the door handle.
"Bye Petra. Fuck you, Levi." he called and showed his friend a middle finger, which Levi mirrored right away.
After the door shut after him, they remained in silence. Levi moved his eyes to look at her and after a moment, he kneeled in front of the armchair. Petra looked at him and held the cup close to her chest but lowered her legs back down. She knew what he was trying to express. She knew he didn't want her to worry about him this much. Unfortunately, he picked one person who couldn't do that. Especially now when she had a perfect look at his bruised nose, cheek and brow. She only now noticed he took the piercing from it out.
Petra leaned forward and put the cup back on the table. When he moved closer to her, they embraced each other at the same moment. Seconds passed as neither of them moved. Levi closed his eyes, focusing on how petite she felt in his arms. He felt how her embrace tightened over his shoulders. She was the one to move her head back first. She looked him in the eyes from up close.
"Don't say it." she said calmly.
"Say what?"
"Don't say I've told you so ."
"But I did."
"You're not an awful boyfriend. Only a troublesome one. But you're still good."
He had to gather a lot of courage to speak again.
"I'm scared I'll cross the line and lose you. I don't want to." he said and felt the pain in his chest from the weight of opening up to her. It was hard.
She moved forward until their foreheads met.
"I don't want to lose you neither."
His eyebrows came together before he leaned to kiss her. Tilting her head slightly, she reciprocated his gesture. She could feel the swollen area on his lips on the spot where his teeth must have clashed during the fight. She moved her hand and stroked his neck. It was far too easy for him to melt her nerves like this. When they broke the kiss, she pecked his nose delicately.
"You're going to scare the clients away."
"You look beautiful."
Her eyes widened in surprise, and despite the circumstances, her heart fluttered.
"Are you trying to change the subject?"
"I mean it. I didn't want to tell you before because you would think I'm trying to distract you."
She averted her eyes for a second and looked back at him.
"Thank you. What were you really thinking about back there in bed?"
He raised his eyebrows slowly, not expecting such a question.
"I remembered how frisky you get when you see me like this."
She frowned at him. They both knew it was true.
"I'm banning you from sex for a week."
"You know it will hurt you more than it will hurt me."
Petra grunted.
"Fine. Four days."
He lowered himself back down and put his head down on her thighs. Petra wore a skirt with high, warm socks. She gently stroked the short hair of his undercut.
"I can't believe you sat on the floor for me."
"I'm glad you appreciate that."
Even with the day being as gloomy as usual, Petra slowly retrieved her good mood. It was easier to deal with this situation knowing that at least Levi didn't go beat people up somewhere in the dark alleys. She believed he was being honest with her.
After breakfast, they went down to hang out with Eld who waited for another client. Since he was the only one working that day, Levi agreed to that. Even if he secretly liked all of them, Eld was definitely the most bearable. And he didn't ask a question about the state of his beaten face.
As Petra went out to grab some cookies for them, Levi sat on the couch and crossed his legs and arms at the same time.
"So," he started looking at the man sitting in front of him. "A kid, huh?"
"Yeah." Eld sighed.
"Did you plan it?"
"Well...we wanted to try soon. So almost."
Levi tilted his head, wondering why the man in front of him seemed so troubled.
"I don't understand why you're stressing so much. You'll be a good father."
Eld looked up at him and took a deep breath.
"Do you really think so, boss?"
"Please, you are already a father of all of them." he replied waving his hand, showing the place they were in. Eld smiled, amused by the statement.
"I think it's rather your position," he laughed. "Maybe a strict father, but you take good care of us."
"I'm just doing my job." Levi responded, furrowing his eyebrows in denial.
"You know well how cheaper it is to work here than renting our places. It's no secret that we also forage on your fame."
Levi rolled his eyes.
"Do you want to have kids in the future?" Eld continued casually.
Levi twitched hearing his question. He felt uneasy.
"I just got into my first relationship in years, and you ask me shit like that. I don't think about it."
"Yeah, you're right." he laughed.
By the time Petra was back, Eld's other client was already there. She rushed to the break room and brought them the cookies in a bowl, then went back there. Levi followed her and saw that she already started preparing something to drink for them.
"You're like a maid. Calm down." he said, standing under the door frame with his hands in his pockets.
She sent him a cheerful look and he moved to get closer.
"I enjoy treating others. It's not a problem. Also, it might make the clients come back."
"Hm."
"Hm?" she repeated his expression.
"Did you ever think about having kids?"
A teaspoon fell out of her hand, scattering the brown sugar on the counter. She looked at him in shock and laughed nervously.
He was looking at the mess she made, distressed by it.
"I'm… I'm only twenty-six, I don't think I'm ready…" she stuttered, as her face started to get red.
Levi looked at her puzzled.
"I'm not asking you to have one right now." he cleared, and she let out a breath. She reached for the paper towel and started swiping the sugar to her hand.
"I mean… I thought about it, of course. It sounds good to start a family one day."
They looked at each other in silence, and he noticed how the red color stayed on her cheeks.
"Okay."
"Okay what?" she asked.
"I understand."
Petra averted her eyes in embarrassment and passed him on her way to the trash can.
