CHAPTER 14

I woke up, greeted by the lingering scent of coffee. I rolled onto my side, my soft groan muffled by the bedsheets. Curling my fingers into the thin, rough fabric, I lifted myself up and met Levi's eyes. He sat on my bedside, holding two mugs, dressed in a pair of loose black pants, and a tight white shirt, which admittedly... was slightly distracting. Through it I could see the faint outline of his strong body. Something which shocked me, though, was the 3DMG he had strapped to his sides.

His lips had a faint smirk playing on them, and, without a word, he handed me a mug of coffee. Our fingers brushing during the exchange, I couldn't help but feel like there was something he was hiding from me. I took a sip, ignoring the feeling, almost spitting back out the bitter coffee. I choked it down, and his stoic expression broke.

"I thought you wouldn't like it, but I couldn't figure it out on my own." he explained, amused.

"This is… "

"Terrible?"

"It's… " I paused for a second, trying to phrase it carefully, setting the mug down on my bed. "It's… kind of stark. Did you add anything?"

"…Why? Do you usually add anything?" he asked, seeming genuinely puzzled.

I smiled, then shook my head, "Nah, not really."

We sat on top of the sheets, taking in mouthfuls of the black coffee, ignoring the pungent taste.

"Petra," Levi said, breaking the silence. He spoke my name in a sudden manner, almost… nervously. He ran his fingers through his hair, taking a moment to think.

"Yes, Captain?"

"What if… after all of this is over, I left the military. Could I be more than just your superior? More than just… "

Just what… ? More than just a lover? What would that make us then?

"It seems kind of ridiculous thinking about something so far ahead in the future, but if…"

Feeling particularly brave—or maybe just really energetic from the caffeine—I wrapped my arms around his neck, and pulled him towards me, pressing my lips against his. They were warm against the raw night air, comforting against the haunting memory of my many friend's deaths, hinting slightly at the coffee he just drank. And instead of separating himself from me, he insisted, pressing his lips back against encircled his arms around my waist, never removing his mouth, engulfing me in his warmth. Running my fingers through his hair, I pried my eyes back open. A second later, Levi's impossibly gray eyes stared back at me. I still hung down from his neck when we detached, breathing slightly slower and heavier.

"It's never too ridiculous to dream about something like that." I whispered to him.

"That was kind of a shitty way to ask." he breathed back. "I'll do better when we get all of this overwith. It's a promise."

I couldn't contain my smile, and as I did so, I noticed Levi's eyes crinkle slightly.

Then smiling down at me, he scooped me up bridal style, and grabbed the handles of his gear, jumping outside of my window. I suppressed my cry of shock when we started flying from our hidden castle back towards Karanes. Though I was adept at using the gear, and I had been carried by someone plenty of times—it was part of training—it felt completely different soaring through the nighttime. A strip of orange peeked out below the dark blue blanket covering the sleeping city, hinting at the imminent daybreak. Wind whipping past my face, I clung to Levi, taking in gulps of fresh air. I tilted my head back, and gazed up. Where we were going, I didn't know, but I did know that I'd be okay.

No sooner did Levi do a flip, launching us forward. I pressed myself closer to him, fearing falling through his arms, and ready to slap him once we got back onto solid ground.

Some time later, we landed on the wall, the one that separated us from the lands that humanity lost. Setting me back onto my feet, I gazed at the wide expanse of land, almost completely empty. Without my gear on, I felt bare, walking across the stone wall. The mounted cannons were unoccupied, and the wall was littered with a few Garrison soldiers, doing the early morning patrol.

The sun made its slow rise across the dark sky, lighting up the area. Levi sat down on the edge, feet dangling in the open. As it gradually got brighter, several titans started reappearing, clawing at the wall, banging their heads, and putting on their usual grotesque show. I sat down next to Levi, and watched them silently. Of all the titans, only one of them seemed to take notice of us, smiling up.

Clicking his tongue, Levi looked back down at it. "What an especially ugly one. Way to ruin our morning. I brought you out here so you could see something pretty for once."

"I see plenty of pretty things." I replied. "Don't you?"

"The only really thing that's really pretty around here is you. Besides that, everything is pretty bleak." he scoffed, bringing his knee back up so he could rest his elbow on it.

A small blush spread across my cheeks.

I leaned my head against his shoulder, not really caring if any of the soldiers saw us. The Garrison soldiers weren't usually gossips. They did their job, and made sure everything went along smoothly.

He slipped his arm around my waist, and pulled me a bit closer to him. I gazed up at him, and was surprised when I saw this look of guilt and regret written across his face. I brought my hand to his cheek and gave him a small smile, as if to tell him that it'd be okay, whatever was his affliction was would pass. But I never knew if it got through to him.

"Captain Levi!"

Levi turned around lazily, slightly annoyed at being interrupted. I thought briefly of detaching myself from him, but his hand still rested on my waist. Whatever was happening, it didn't strike him as particularly important.

"Eren." he muttered under his breath to me. I looked over to where Levi's head was turned, and saw Eren, fully dressed in his uniform, running over to us. I smiled.

Turning back towards me, Levi poked at my cheek. "You never smile at me that way when I come."

"I do." I protested.

Raising his eyebrows, he turned back to Eren, and when he finally arrived, Levi held on finger in the air at him, then gave me a long lingering kiss. When he pulled away, he locked eyes with me, then murmured softly, "Eren's just a brat, Petra."

Shocked, I felt my cheeks burning, and spun away from him.

"Miss Petra!" Eren greeted me happily, smiling.

Standing on tiptoes, I gave him a hug while Levi glowered, leaning against one of the cannons.

"I didn't realize you two would be here."

"Yeah, me neither." I replied, glancing back at Levi, smirking. "But why are you up here so early Eren?"

"I thought it might be good to go for a run or something. I was going to try and find someone to come with me, but the others were all sleeping in. Except for Auruo. He told me to 'Shove off, brat'. And then he bit his tongue… again… "

I laughed, glad that it was Eren who we ran into this morning. He was so sweet, he even put up with all of his older comrade's shenanigans. Smiling, the three of us decided to head back to the abandoned castle where we were stationed. Given I was still lacking gear, Levi had to carry me back, bridal style—again.

On our way back, Levi stayed slightly ahead of Eren, every so often, glancing back to make sure he hadn't done anything. This didn't stop him with playing with my hair during our flight though.

When we got back, I only had enough time to shower and get ready for our outing. Lucky for us, the others had gotten up while we were away, and had prepared our trip.

"Ditching us so you could go off and watch the sun, huh Petra?" Auruo had scoffed mockingly. I slapped him.

We left around noon, going off to some secluded area nearby the castle. Levi led us as usual, and I rode behind him next to Eld, while Gunther and Auruo watched Eren, who rode in the middle of all of us.

We arrived in a large empty field, littered with patches of blue flowers, poking out of the relatively tall grass. We talked through the plans briefly, mainly about our location in the formation, and the common procedures. My mind drifted off several times, the hunger tugging at my stomach more important at the moment. While Eld droned on about what was to come, Gunther and I began messing around. Eren tried to keep a serious face, and focus on what Eld was saying, but stole continuous glances at us as we began to tussle over a slice of bread he had swiped. Auruo pretended to chide us, pretentiously making comments, but I could see him eying the slice of bread.

I finally won it when by attacking Gunther in the stomach for it, and took a triumphant bite out of it.

"I let you win." he explained, brushing the grass stains off of himself, then sprinkling some onto the top of my head.

Grinning, I rolled my eyes, then split the bread in pieces, slipping them to him, Eren and Gunther.

"Sure." I replied, popping a piece into my mouth.

We chewed on the bread quietly, hoping Eld didn't notice anything, and with our stomachs at bay, were able to listen a bit more.

"Hey Petra," Gunther whispered, poking me in the side.

"What?"

"Eren said you and Levi are a thing."

Eren.

I glanced back at the teen, who was staring ahead, clinging to Eld's every word, but definitely listening in.

"Eren…" I murmured under my breath.

"Well, is it true?"

I hesitated, licking the front of my teeth, trying to suck out any extra pieces of bread. If I said yes, it would travel through the grapevine in a heartbeat. Then again, how many people already knew? Thinking back to all the PSA…

"Yeah." I said finally.

Gunther grinned back, then punched me mockingly in the stomach. "You are so adorable Petra." he cried out.

Eld lifted his head up from the map, and cleared his throat, smiling slightly. "And why is Petra adorable?" he asked. "Is it because she gave everyone bread but me?"

"Tch. Who cares about Petra." Auruo scoffed, adjusting his cravat nervously, biting on his tongue as he did so.

We ate cold soup and bread in the field, sitting around and talking. Gunther and Eld having a heated discussion on something about food that happened a few days ago, while Auruo tried to start coaching Eren on life again, who knew that Eren would be willing to listen to anything from a superior.

It was nice being with everyone, laughing and chatting about aimless things, having fun. As the sun continued to beat down on us, I found myself growing more and more uncomfortable in the heat. By then, we had already peeled off several layers—our cloaks, and our jackets—but it was still scorching hot.

"Petra," Levi called, beckoning to him.

"Yes, Captain." I replied, promptly crawling up from my sitting position and over to his horse.

"Why the hell are you wearing your cape like that?"

I groaned silently to myself. I had pale skin, and usually I burned pretty easily, which was the reason why I was wearing the hood of my Survey Corps cape, trying desperately to shield my face from the sun.

"I burn easily, Captain." I muttered in explanation. wait 'till the others caught wind of this—if they hadn't already noticed by my weird getup.

Nodding, amused, he called everyone together, then told us to mount our horses—we were leaving the field.

Disappointed, we mounted our horses, and followed Levi back through the forest. But instead of following the trail back to the castle, we went down a completely unmarked route deeper into the forest. Nobody questioned his decision, but there was slight confusion about, until we heard the sound of rushing water, that is.

We reached the river a few moments later, reaching a small beach that led to the body of water, some areas with rapids. We jumped off of our horses, and a few seconds after, Gunther had kicked off his boots and jumped in without a second thought.

Shaded by trees, it was cooler already. The horses drank the cold water, and everyone, even Levi, went in. I rolled up the legs of my pants, and walked into the water until it was up to my shins.

The water was freezing cold, which was a nice contrast to the sunny field we were in at first. Somehow, Eld had gotten a hold of a bucket, and was pouring cold water onto Auruo's head, who bit his tongue, of course. I smiled at them,

Levi splashed over to me, pant legs rolled up too, gazing at the crazed fight that was going on between the others. Eren, after getting Levi's consent, was horsing around with the others, and had managed to take the bucket from Eld.

"Why won't you go join them?" Levi asked me.

"I didn't bring any clothes to change into, so I'm okay with this. You?"

Levi continued watching the others, then shook his head slightly.

The others had pulled off their shirts, but Levi had kept his on, looking crisp in contrast.

I smiled to myself, then ventured a bit further, when Gunther dumped a bucket of water over my head.

"You looked a little dry!" he cried out happily as I gave a small squeak of shock.

Spitting water out, I wiped away the drips from my eyes, pulling several soaking strands of hair away from my face.

Grinning, I leaned down and shoveled water at Gunther, feeling that I couldn't get any wetter by then. It wasn't long before I had joined the water fight, splashing everyone around me. It wasn't until the others had ganged up on me, that Levi finally joined in. Gunther and Eld held my legs, while Eren and Auruo took the upper half of my body, lifting me into the air, then tossing me into the water.

I fell in, briefly submerged, then resurfacing back, laughing, but feeling revenge boiling up inside me.

Levi made his way over to me, and smiled. "At least you won't have to take a bath when you get back—you were all sweaty at first anyways."

My eyes slowly widened, and without a second thought, I grabbed Levi's wrist, and pulled him down next to me.

Everyone else was crowing before they realized that I had just pulled Levi into the water. Levi.

Silence fell upon everyone, waiting to see what he would do to me in revenge.

Already I had stood up and began backing away, hoping to escape before he could regain his bearings and attack.

Wordlessly, Levi stood up, dripping wet, then grabbed the bucket from Gunther, whose hand gave way when he pulled it from him. Still advancing, he scooped water into the bucket, and flipped it over my head, making me, once again, soaked. Then tossing the bucket towards the beach, he placed his hand on the back of my head, and pulled me towards him so that our foreheads met. Brushing aside my mop of wet hair, he smirked.

"Foolish Petra." he deadpanned, kissing my lips.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hello! Long time no see! Ahahaha...I'm sorry.

But in all seriousness, I'm sorry that I have not posted in a while! What with school and extracurriculars, life has gotten relatively busy, so I have not gotten a chance to update! This chapter is kind of unpolished, and I want to post it ASAP, otherwise it'll probably never get posted. Once again, thank you for the kind words, and I hope you'll all have a spoopy Halloween!