Runaway Part II

Disclaimer: I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin

Previously: Petra runs away from her foster parents and lives on the street. Levi saves her when three men mob her and try to rape her.

Petra didn't like where he was taking her. It wasn't a safe neighborhood. They were all gang members. Red flags shot up in her mind. Her subconscious screamed danger. But they took one look at her, then him, and they ignored them both. She kept close to him, still feeling tremors rolling through her body every now and then.

She followed the boy to a rundown, ratty motel-looking apartment building, walking up several flights of stairs, reaching the third floor. He stopped before an off white door with an ugly stain on the lower left-hand corner. While he unlocked the door, Petra glanced at the white, rusting railing, too scared to lean against it lest it broke and she fell on one of the cars parked below. The apartment was crappy, painted an ugly yellow-brown with mismatching furniture and the bare essentials. But it was surprisingly clean and well-organized.

"No need to look so surprised." His words made her avert her gaze in embarrassment, knowing he knew she had been thinking it would be a mess.

Petra had honestly expected the place to be trashed with empty beer bottles, cigarette butts, dirty clothes, food wrappers, and a dirty magazine or two littered around. She sat delicately on the couch.

"I'll be right back. Don't move or touch anything." He took out his phone and headed for the door.

The second he left the apartment and she was left alone, the shaking started again. With a strange sense of calm, she went to the door she assumed led to the bathroom. The apartment was a small, studio style with everything within sight. It opened to a living room and a bed past it. Next to the bed was a closet. The was kitchen was to the left of the living room. The larger of the two doors in opposite corners of the apartment she assumed was the bathroom.

Petra threw up in the toilet bowl. Once she was sure she was done, she flushed it away and went to the sink, rinsing out the taste from her mouth.

Her pale reflection stared back at her, eyes puffy. The cold water brought relief, making her head feel a little clearer. It still throbbed and she winced, touching the bump. Her entire right side hurt. It's going to be bruised by tomorrow. She collapsed on the couch, glancing at the front door.

Her mind began to race, shoving away the traumatic thoughts to be dealt with later. Who was he? Why had he brought her to his home? Petra wondered if she should have run when he'd told her to.

But she recognized him. He was at the sandwich place. Sick of the one dollar burgers, Petra had decided to eat something different only that one time. He had been sitting nearby, coughing. He'd given her a cold look when she glanced at him as she passed by. Although she was now inclined to believe that was just his default expression. Before she left, Petra had placed two cough drops in front of him, smiling.

She was jerked out of her thoughts when he came back in. He sat stiffly on the arm of the couch opposite her. He crossed his arms.

Petra cleared her throat, speaking first. "Thanks. For...for saving me." She barely swallowed her tears.

"Ri—yes." He cleared his throat, clearly as lost as her on how to proceed.

She wrung her hands nervously. "Are you in trouble? You stabbed them. But I'll tell the cops—"

"Don't worry about it. Those idiots won't say a word. They'll just say they were mugged or some shit by another gang."

"O-Okay."

"They're not gonna mention you. The cops would be suspicious if they said a woman was involved, considering there were three of them and it was a dark alley and one of them was caught literally with his pants down."

Petra relaxed at his words. "Okay," she said again, nodding. "I'm Petra."

"...Levi."

"Why did you bring me here?"

Levi shrugged. "You were a mess. Didn't want you saying something to the police."

"But you were saving me," she pointed out. "You wouldn't have gotten in trouble."

"I was a little more worried about this." Levi pulled out the scary looking dagger and gestured to the gun by his hip.

How had she missed that? And why hadn't he used it to scare off her attackers instead of using the dagger?

"The blade's too big to be legal." Levi didn't say anything about the gun, but she had a feeling it wasn't registered in his name and the serial number had probably been filed off.

"Oh." She didn't know what else to say.

"Where are you from? You said you ran away?"

Her first instinct was not to tell this stranger about herself. But he had saved her and she was already in his apartment. "Yeah. I'm from Trost."

"So you came to Sina to get away."

Petra nodded. She didn't think she needed her to tell him why. Running away from an abusive home wasn't exactly an original story.

"Where are you living now?"

"Nowhere." She fiddled with her fingers, intimidated by his stare.

"I have a deal to make."

"Deal?"

"I don't have enough for this month's rent." Levi frowned. "And I don't want my asshole landlord in here taking whatever he wants to make up for how much I'm missing."

"He does that?"

"Yeah. His sister owns a pawnshop." He eyed her critically. "Winter's here. I figure you're gonna want off the streets before it starts snowing."

What did he expect her to do? She didn't have a job. Petra tried not to let her mind wander but she couldn't help it. What if, in exchange for letting her stay, he wanted to pimp her out to his landlord when he fell short on rent money? Her flesh crawled at the thought, eyes flitting to the door. If she bolted, would he chase her down?

Levi was oblivious to her thoughts, opening her backpack by his feet. He took out her tablet. "This is the newest model. It just came and it's worth a thousand dollars. I'm sure I can sell it for half that after wiping it clean."

Her heart fell at his words. The device was one of her most prized possessions. She couldn't have survived as long as she had without it. A material object, that's all it is, let it go, she told herself. The people she'd met while sleeping in the streets were okay. Some were even friendly and she'd enjoyed talking to them. But Levi was right. She needed protection from the coming cold weather.

"It'll help cover this month's rent and get me ahead for next month."

Two months. Petra thought. She'd have four walls, a roof, and heat for two months. She wasn't sure if he'd let her stay after that. But she had eight weeks to figure something out. Something that preferably didn't involve prostituting herself. Although if it came to that, she knew a group of women who had offered to let her join them and help her get started. I'm not that desperate. At least, not yet she wasn't. And she hoped she never would be.

Levi was staring at her expectantly. She was grateful he hadn't tried to scare her into agreeing. Or steal it outright, leaving her to fend for herself. Surely he had some decency to him. Thinking about that made her feel a lot better about living with him. "I can stay here then?" She wanted to make sure.

"You can sleep on the couch."

"Okay. You can sell it."

It was nearly two weeks before Petra stopped being cautious.

Paranoid about Levi creeping up on her while she slept, she had taken to falling asleep late, always careful about where he was in the apartment, and kept pepper spray and a small knife on her at all times—in case he was waiting for her to become comfortable and catch her with her guard down. It was better to be safe than sorry.

If that had ever been his intention anyway—which she seriously doubted now—he would have been nicer instead of so standoffish. The boy never smiled.

Petra still woke up shaking and sweating, the memories of the men sexually assaulting her haunting her dreams. Sometimes Levi showed up. Most of the time it was just her and the monsters.

The nightmares left her exhausted and terrified and she saw dark bags under her eyes becoming more prominent. She was only slightly glad for the nightmares at the beginning, when she was still wary of Levi, because they woke her up at all hours of the night or early morning. Now that she felt more at ease around him, they were plain exhausting.

But at the moment, she didn't care about any of that. She was happy beyond words. Petra smiled broadly, taking in the familiar sight of the three-story brick building with large windows. She was back at her beloved library.

It had taken her a few days before she left the apartment, spending the time curled up on the couch, wrapped up in a blanket Levi had given her. When she was finally ready, she'd asked him to show her around. He had complained about it being an inconvenience to him even though he was only wasting time playing games on his phone or the gaming console or watching TV whenever he was home.

After spending another few days getting to know the neighbors and becoming comfortable with them, she'd asked the woman next doors for directions to a landmark close to the library. It was easy to find her way from there.

Petra spent the whole day reading. She was lost in the world of adventure and fantasy and scary supernatural books. When the voice announced the library was closing time in twenty minutes, she very disappointed. A loud growl came from her stomach. Having only had an apple and a few granola bars for breakfast and lunch, she was very hungry.

Outside the library, it was dark and cold. Petra didn't feel too nervous, walking on the sidewalk of the busy streets filled with cars. It was when she neared her new home she felt nervous. Quickening her pace, she avoided eye contact and ignored some words she heard, unwilling to confirm if they were aimed in her direction. The relief at reaching her building was short-lived. She didn't have a key. Petra knocked, hoping Levi was home. Otherwise she'd have to go to the landlord. Although he might refuse to let her in the apartment because she'd never met him and the apartment was under Levi's name. Or his fake ID name that claimed he was nineteen.

The door flew open, startling her. An unhappy and almost pissed looking Levi stared at her. Her good mood suddenly vanished. He let her in without a word. "Where were you?" He demanded. "It's nearly midnight."

Petra checked her watch. "It's a quarter after ten." One would hardly call that midnight.

"Why were you out so late?"

She was startled by his angry, demanding tone.

"And you didn't tell me where you were."

As much as she appreciated what he'd done for her, his tone and his line of questioning made her bristle. It felt like she had finally found some contentment after so long. Why did he have ruin her small bit of happiness? "If you must know, I was at the library."

"You didn't think to ask me if that was okay?"

"I don't have to ask you for permission for anything! You are not my father," she said, glaring. Asshole! She couldn't believe him.

"Yes, you do," Levi snapped back.

"Why are you being such a jerk?"

"Why are you being so stupid?"

"How am I being stupid?!"

But he just ignored her and kept going. "Seriously, Petra, what the fuck were you thinking? Don't you have any—"

"Stop talking to me like that!" What the hell was his problem? Levi had been snarky with her before, but he had never talked to her in a belittling manner and acted so controlling. Had she been wrong about him? Was he finally showing his true colors now?

"Why would you walk around by yourself after dark when you know there are assholes lurking around? You're just asking to be attacked again!"

The fury disappeared from his face immediately and he froze. Petra's vision blurred from the tears filling up her eyes and she fled to the bathroom. "I'm gonna shower." Her voice wobbled but she was not going to let the bastard see her break down.

Only when the hot water began to pour did she allow herself to cry. How dare he say that. Her chest ached with anger and sadness. She had blamed herself, too. But hearing Levi tell her it was her fault made her furious. He had been the one to save her and it hurt hearing those words coming from him.

She could still remember the feel of the man's hands on her body, his breath in her face, his disgusting tongue in her mouth. It made her feel so dirty. She lathered the soap and scrubbed her skin viciously to get rid of that horrible phantom feeling.

For a while, Petra sat in the bathtub, arms wrapped around her legs, rocking as cried into her knees.

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