Chapter 3

"Distance"

It couldn't have been more than two hours since Eren had fallen asleep, but Risa was still awake. It was hard for her to fall asleep when she was in such an unfamiliar situation. After struggling to fall asleep, she decided to get up and walk around to clear her mind.

But then she came across Levi, who was sitting in front of a fire. There appeared to be dark circles under his eyes. He looked extremely tired, but it didn't look like he was nodding off at all. Risa didn't say anything to him to him at first. All she did was stand there, staring at him.

"If you have something to say, then say it," he finally said, not looking up at her. Looks like he finally noticed her.

Risa took a deep breath before answering him, unsure of what kind of cruel things he would say to her. She wondered if it would kill him to say something nice for a change.

"Are you tired? I can stay up and watch for you, if you want. That way, you can get some sleep," she said, twiddling her thumbs nervously.

"No. I'm not tired," he answered. The bags under his eyes said otherwise. "But you need to get some rest."

"I don't mind. I couldn't really sleep anyway," she said, moving to sit across from him on a tree stump. After taking another look at him, she added, "Besides, you look like you're the one who needs rest."

"Tch." He turned his gaze away from her, looking up at the stars.

A few minutes of awkward silence passed.

"Look, I know we kind of got off on the wrong foot today," she said in an attempt to break the uncomfortable silence.

Levi's head turned toward her once she spoke. She didn't back down after seeing the annoyed expression on his face, signaling to her that he wasn't in the mood for talking. Or at least, talking to her.

What else was new?

Truth be told, she didn't want to be friendly to him at all after how he acted towards her earlier. But if she and her brother were going to be travelling with him for who knew how long, she figured that she might as well at least try to make peace with him. At least it would make the journey a whole lot more enjoyable if they weren't at each other's throats 24/7.

"But I'm willing to put the past behind us," she added slowly. She knew what kind of reaction he would probably have, but she still continued on anyway.

Glare.

"That is if you're okay with it..." she said nervously.

He turned his head away again, looking off into the forest.

'So he's going to be that way, huh?' she thought to herself, feeling slightly annoyed.

Risa crossed her arms and glared back at him. "Why are you being so stubborn?"

"If all you're going to do is sit here and talk, then I'm going to try to sleep." He stood up abruptly without even giving an answer to her suggestion. "Wake us up at dawn."

"...Oh, okay. Good night," she said without getting a reply. She watched him walk away from her, disappearing into the night. When he was finally gone, she sighed and turned back to the fire.

All she could do was sit there, staring into the embers of the fire. An empty feeling began filling up inside of her, and she wasn't sure what it was from.

The next morning, Risa woke up on the ground. She groggily sat up, looking around her, feeling very confused at how she ended up in this position.

'Oh, I must have fallen asleep,' she thought to herself.

Once she realized that, her eyes immediately widened. How could she fall asleep while she was on watch? She gulped, knowing that Levi would not be happy about it.

Luckily for her, Levi was nowhere to be seen. That only meant that she would get reamed out by him later when he got back. At least she had time to prepare for that.

Then she looked up to see that Farlan was sitting on a tree stump near her, looking down at her in amusement.

"Morning," he greeted her, smirking. "Sleep well?"

She rubbed her eyes tiredly. "I can't believe I fell asleep while I was supposed to be on watch. I'm really sorry," she apologized as she stood up, mentally slapping herself.

Farlan chuckled. "You don't need to worry about it. I covered for you."

Risa sighed in relief. Maybe Levi would let her off easy if Farlan had her back. It was nice to know that she could at least rely on him.

"Oh, Risa, you're awake!" Isabel exclaimed, walking over to her. She was carrying two towels in her arms. "Wanna go take a bath with me?"

"What?" Risa choked.

Isabel giggled, grinning from ear to ear. "I'm going down to the pond to bathe. You should come with me!"

"Uh, okay. But where's Eren?" Risa asked, scanning the area. Her brother was nowhere to be seen. It made her feel rather uneasy that he left her alone without telling her.

"He's down there right now, but he should be done when we get there," Isabel said, taking Risa's hand. Risa reluctantly allowed Isabel to drag her down to the pond.

When the girls got to the pond, they found Eren standing near the edge of the water with his back facing them. He was running a towel through his hair and staring off into the distance, probably in deep thought about something. At least, that's what Risa guessed.

He turned his head around when Isabel cleared her throat. When he noticed the two of them, his face turned bright red and he quickly went to go fetch his shirt.

"How long were you guys standing there?" he asked nervously as he slipped on a t-shirt.

"We just got here," Risa answered, turning away from him to give him some privacy. "You didn't hear us coming?"

"I guess not. Well, I'm going to head back now. See you later." He waved goodbye to both of them before heading off to camp. Risa watched him trudge through the forest until he was out of sight. Somehow, he seemed lonely. She frowned, being able to feel how far away he seemed from her. But she decided to push those feelings to the side for now. She couldn't afford to let something like this bring her down in the world they lived in. Once she got a chance to later, she made sure that she would spend some time with him.

Risa turned her head to where Isabel was, freezing up when she saw the other girl throw her shirt to the side. With wide eyes, Risa turned away from her as she took off the rest of the clothes on her body.

Isabel looked over at Risa with a smile on her face. "What? There's no need to be embarrassed! We're both girls!"

"Right..." Risa muttered. But she barely knew Isabel and on top of that, she wasn't as open as Isabel was. She was never really comfortable around people she didn't know anything about.

After Isabel entered the water, Risa cautiously removed her clothing before jumping into the lake. Isabel swam around while Risa stayed where she was, still getting used to the water. She felt content in her own personal bubble.

"So, Isabel..." Risa said slowly after a few minutes had passed.

Isabel stopped splashing around and looked over at Risa. As usual, she had an enormous smile plastered on her face. "Yeah?"

"Is it okay if I ask you something?"

"Shoot!"

Honestly, Risa wasn't really sure where to begin. There were so many questions she wanted to ask, but she didn't know if it would be okay for her to ask.

"Is it about Levi?" Isabel asked, noticing her uneasiness.

Risa stared at her, feeling puzzled. "How did you know?"

"Just a hunch," Isabel replied with a sad smile. "So, what is it that you wanted to know?"

"I know we just met, but is there a reason why he hates me?"

Isabel let out a small laugh. "He doesn't hate you. He's just not very trusting..."

Obviously. Risa knew that much.

"He can be cold at first, but once you get to know him, he'll warm up to you. You just have to give him time," she said reassuringly. "Just hang in there, kay?"

Risa answered quietly with a nod although she wasn't sure how easy it would be to just "hang in there". She hadn't even known Levi for a day, and she was already starting to get frustrated with his aloof behavior. She began to question how much longer she could take it.

After drying off, Risa and Isabel headed back up to camp to find Eren and Farlan having a conversation with each other.

And Levi still wasn't back.

"What's going on?" Isabel asked, taking a seat next to Farlan and poking his arm.

"We were just talking about where we're heading next," Farlan informed her.

"Where exactly are we going?" Risa asked.

Farlan answered, "Well, right now we're on our way to Chicago."

Risa raised an eyebrow. "Chicago? Why are you going there?"

Right after the outbreak, Chicago was designated as a quarantine zone and had three walls built around it. Risa had heard that it was incredibly difficult to enter or leave due to the military stationed there. So it surprised her that they were headed there.

"It's just a stop on our way to our real destination," Isabel answered before Farlan could say anything.

"Then why not just go around it?" Eren asked. Apparently this was brand new information to him as well.

"Because we need to get supplies, idiot."

Risa turned around to the voice behind her. Of course, standing there was Levi, who had snuck in quietly, she didn't even notice him return. She quickly turned away from him.

He walked right past her, not even acknowledging her existence. She scoffed at his rude actions.

"Hello to you, too," she muttered under her breath.

"Look, we better get out of here soon. There's some Infected behind us," Levi reported as he pulled out a few cans of food from his bag. "We can eat on the way."

Levi distributed cans out to everyone. Well, everyone except for Risa. Not surprising, of course, but he was really pushing her buttons. And for no apparent reason at all.

"Hey, do I get any?" she asked him out of annoyance.

"I was getting to that, brat," he grumbled as he fished around in his bag. Finally, he pulled out a can of peaches and offered it to her.

She slowly reached her hand out to grasp the can. "Thank you," she said quietly, taking it from him.

Levi didn't respond and pulled the straps of his bag onto his shoulder. "Let's get going then," he commanded and took off.

Risa stayed behind after everyone started leaving. She tilted her head, noticing that Levi didn't have any food for himself.

"Levi, aren't you having anything to eat?" Isabel asked, opening up her can of potatoes.

"Those were all I could get," he replied simply. He looked back at Risa, but didn't stop walking. "Are you coming, or what?"

"Uh... Yeah, sorry."

Risa sprinted to catch up with the group and stopped once she got next to Eren. She couldn't help but feel bad that Levi wasn't eating anything just so she could have something. She felt like she was just getting in his way.

Eren looked at her when he noticed that she had put her food back into her bag. "Aren't you going to eat, Risa?"

She shook her head. "I'm not hungry."

A few hours later, the group stopped to rest down by a creek. Risa went away from everyone and sat on a rock close to the edge of the water. She took off her boots and dipped her sore feet into the cold water.

'That feels nice,' she thought, leaning her head back and closing her eyes. She breathed in the warm air and immediately felt relaxed.

She sat there for a while, enjoying the peaceful weather before a voice interrupted her solitude.

"Am I interrupting anything?" Eren asked, standing a few feet away from her.

She opened her eyes and looked over at him. He had his arms crossed as he stood there, looking at her with a smile.

It had been so long since she saw that smile.

"Come sit by me." Risa scooted over on the rock, nodding her head toward the now empty space next to her.

Eren sat down next to her. Since the stone was not that big, both of them were hanging off the rock a bit and their sides were pressed against each other in order for both of them to fit. It wasn't uncomfortable to them at all. They enjoyed being together like this. After all, it seemed like forever since they had enjoyed time together with just the two of them.

"Remember when it was just me and you?" Risa asked softly, looking off into the distance. For a moment, she reminisced on their adventures together. Even though the world hadn't been too kind to them in the past, they still had memorable times together. "I remember it like it was yesterday."

Eren laughed. "That's because it was just yesterday."

Risa looked back at him, smiling. "I know."

Then, she removed her feet from the water so she could let them dry off.

"Do you think we'll be okay? You know, traveling with Levi and Isabel and Farlan?" she asked suddenly.

"Yeah, I do," Eren answered with a sigh. "I don't know why, but I feel like we can trust them."

"I hope so..."

Risa looked off to the side and noticed that Levi was sitting by himself not too far off. Then, she looked back at Eren and told him, "Hey, I'll be right back," as she put on her shoes.

Eren followed her gaze to see Levi, taking the hint that she wanted to go talk to him. He nodded his head. "Sure. I'll be here."

She smiled at him before hopping off of her seat and going over to Levi. When she got to him, Levi wasn't doing anything at all. He was just sitting there, staring at his hands in his lap.

"Levi?" Risa called.

He snapped his head up to look at her. "What do you want?"

She slid her bag off her shoulder and opened it up. Levi raised an eyebrow, wondering what she was looking for.

She held out the can of peaches he had given her earlier along with a spoon. "Here, I saved this for you."

He looked away from her, clicking his tongue. "I don't need them."

But Risa was not going to back down.

"I feel bad that you didn't get to eat anything," she said. "Just take them. Please."

"You don't need to worry about me," he said flatly. "Now get out of my sight."

"As you wish. But before I go, I just need to say something."

"No."

"It's a free country."

"Fine," he snapped. Clearly, he was annoyed. "What is it?"

"I know you don't like me, but I'm going to change that," Risa said confidently.

He snorted. "Yeah? How?"

She didn't answer. But he wasn't expecting her to in the first place.

"I'll just leave these here then." Risa smiled smugly as she set the can down next to him. "Enjoy."

Levi clicked his tongue once more as he watched her walk away from him to get back to Eren.

"Annoying."

A/N: One of these days Risa will get through to Levi. Today is not that day. It is only chapter 3, after all.

Starting next chapter, things will be getting more exciting!