Chpt 13: The Maiden Wants To Be Together With The Beast

It had been a few months since Petra joined back and Levi was fairly certain she hated him. She didn't bother to avoid him since they were working so close to each other, but today marked the twentieth time the female had turned down his offer to take her out to lunch. Levi was more than depressed at his lack of progress; after rejecting him right in the face, Petra had rushed out of the office to god-knows-where, leaving him to emo in his office alone with his sad lunch: A cup of cold coffee and a cracker that tasted like crap.

"Even my neighbour's ten year old kiddo eats more than that."

Great. Just what I need.

"Go fuck a wall or something. Leave me alone."

"Please don't say these kinds of things when you're with Hanji. I do not want my unborn kid to pick up words from you," Erwin said, all cool and suave as he got comfortable in Levi's dreary office.

Levi made a tch sound, "Tell her to stay the fuck away then. You people always find me, not the other way round."

Erwin changed the topic because, yes, it was the truth. Levi only sought out the one he loved, and he definitely didn't have the hots for Erwin, or Roy, and definitely not for Hanji. "Why are you even eating… that?" He cringed, recalling the horrible taste on his tongue a few days ago when Hanji forced a few pieces of it into his mouth. It's your fault I'm eating this horrible stuff so you get the honour of suffering with me while I weigh a few kilograms more, his wife said, eyes gleaming with evil intent on not letting him get away because it's his fault she's pregnant, not that he could deny that fact.

Levi ignored his question and continued his ceaseless nibbling, "Petra turned me down, again. I'm wallowing in my miserable despair."

"So, you are venting your frustrations onto that wheat shit?"

Levi made a noncommittal noise. Erwin had never seen Levi so… childish before. This is a first. "Do you know why she's turning you down left, right, and center?"

"No."

"Did you ask why?"

"… No."

"Then ask, dumbo."

"I highly doubt she will tell me her reason, or reasons."

"Don't assume anything, you stupid attorney."

A glare and two fingers later, Levi decided yeah, he really should ask Petra, before he becomes a permanent resident in emo land.

The very next day, Levi noticed that Petra was still at her desk at 12.05pm. Perhaps someone up there was giving him some luck. Walking over as normal as possible because he wasn't desperate, definitely not, he asked the lady who was typing away with a vengeance. "Petra, is today a good time?"

Not turning her head, she spoke facing the computer screen because, "Sorry, Levi. I have to rush this out before I head out."

Levi almost faced defeat immediately but instead of drowning himself in the filthy presence of shitty wheat crackers again, he offered her a ride to wherever she was headed.

"No, it's alright. Thanks for the offer but–"

"If you really are in such a hurry, just let me send you to wherever you need to go." Which made sense; why turn down a ride if you are rushing for time.

Petra finally relented and accepted the free ride. Typing a few more sentences and saving her document, Petra grabbed her stuff and let Levi lead the way to his car. Petra had no idea how she was going to handle what was about to come.

Five minutes later, Levi felt lost. What was a guy supposed to do when a toddler stares at him with those huge amber eyes, tiny arms stretching towards his figure as if he's a huge, cuddle teddy bear?

"Er…" Levi looked towards Petra for some help.

Instead of turning the other way, Petra placed the kid onto the floor and the kid wobbled his way to Levi, latching himself onto his pants like a lifeline, giggles erupting and filling the small apartment.

"His name is Leo."

At his name, Leo giggled even more and gave Levi the international 'carry me' sign. The troubled man looked at Petra for help again; he had never carried a child in his life before he feared he would hurl the annoying kid out of the window the moment they cry or piss him off.

Good thing Petra sensed his panic this time. Picking up Leo, she said gently, "All right. It's nap time." Hiding his chubby face into mummy's neck, Petra brought Leo into their room without a fuss.

While Petra was busy putting her kid to sleep, Levi had no idea what he should be doing here. It felt so strange to see his ex-lover coddling a kid. It felt even weirder when the kid looks like him and likes him. Before his thoughts could stray too far beyond the horizon, Petra walked out and into the kitchen.

"Coffee?" she offered.

"Uh, thanks."

"Make yourself at home."

Make myself at home, she said. Toys were everywhere. The house was a mess; organized mess, you could call it, but still a mess nevertheless. Levi could feel his hormones raging; the urge to clean had never felt that strong before. Pushing away the stuffed teddy that's missing an eye already, he cleared a spot on the sofa for him and Petra.

Instead of saying thanks when Petra handed the cup to him, the first words out of Levi's mouth was, "You need to tidy your place up."

Very Levi-like words.

"I've been busy lately." In between sipping the caffeine and munching on some biscuits, Petra wrote some stuff into her notebook.

"What are you doing?" he asked out of boredom, not curiousity.

"Just jotting down some notes told by my babysitter…" she said distractedly. Once down, she shut the diary close and kept it in a drawer close-by.

"Your kid?"

Smooth, Levi. Smooth. So smooth. Smoother than a baby's backside.

"Yes."

After a few beat of stifling silence, Levi blurted out the most important question that had been bugging him to no end since he saw the runt. "Who is the father?"

It was a rhetorical question, really, because the inky hair was a give dead giveaway but Petra decided to spare him more brain work. "You are."

Levi shouldn't be all that surprised because one, they were rather… active in the bedroom and two, Levi did remember Petra throwing her guts out before she disappeared. According to Wikipedia – he did his homework –, those are the common symptoms of a pregnant woman, and according to Erwin, he should be half glad he didn't have to tolerate a pregnant woman's daily needs at the witching hour; in fact, he has started to suspect that his wife is the head witch because how could someone eat pickles on toasted whole wheat bread with banana slices and pear and inhale it without cringing at the taste?

Instead of giving some intelligent response befitting of his reputation as a leading attorney, he could only stupidly say, "Oh."

Petra was pissed and rightfully so because: "Is that all you have to say? 'Oh'?" If she had any lesser restrain, her cup of coffee would have probably made a home in Levi's suit right now.

Levi saw Petra's knuckles turning white and started to panic because she was holding a rather hot cup of coffee and he was conveniently in reach. "I mean… Uh… Is there anything I can do to… help?" What does one usually say in these kind of situations anyway?

"Nevermind. Just… don't take Leo away from me. Not that I'll give him up without a fight but I could do without one."

Silence had never felt so stifling before. Levi didn't know the appropriate words to say but he did have a few questions. "Is this why you have been declining my invitations for lunch?"

Petra regarded him calmly, choosing to head into the kitchen to make a sandwich or two. "Partly yes. My babysitter has to take a break and eat her lunch; she's human, after all." And she left it at that, not wanting to say the other reason, but Levi was not having it.

"And the other reason or reasons?" Damn it.

"I… don't feel up to it."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't feel like it." Her grip on the knife tightened, pretending the tomato she's slicing was his head instead, juice and brain mixed together in her sadistic imagination.

"Why not?" Petra didn't notice Levi had gotten so close to her, not since their last night together. If Levi noticed her stiffening up, he was kind enough to not bring it up and stepped a few steps back.

Petra busied herself with the sandwiches, placing the ingredients neatly onto slices of toasted bread and placed them onto two colourful plates, giving one to Levi. "Was it because you saw–" He started but got cut off.

"Later, Levi. Not now. Not here, not when Leo is so close by." She begged. The trembling woman had planned out how she would react if this happened but it seemed her mind had thrown it all out the window.

Levi had never intended to cause the woman he love stress and pain and hearing the tone she just used broke his heart. "All right. Whenever you are ready. Let's eat before the coffee turns cold."

The troubled attorney, instead of going through the documents Nanaba had placed on his desk three days ago, was busy contemplating about his life. He was not sure how he should go about it but he's set on getting Petra back, with their son, of course. The big question was how.

He did not want to do anything that will make her feel uncomfortable but he also did not want to wait until he has a leg in the coffin; then again, nobody would like to talk about that kind of stuff. Levi sighed, it had been so long since he got stuck in such a sticky situation.

A knock was heard. Wondering who still had the courtesy of knocking doors these days with the kind of people he's surrounded with, Levi was a little stunned to see Petra entering his office.

"Are… you busy?" She glanced at his stack of paperwork, wondering why she even asked that question; Levi's always busy, she has worked for him before and knew very well of his working habits.

"N-No." He glanced at his battlefield, and frowned. "Maybe a little."

"Ok. I'll just come by later. After work. Or you could call my extension."

"All right." Levi felt bad since he's the one who told Petra to come to him when she was ready but work doesn't complete by themselves and this annoying pile was due tomorrow. Without further ado, Levi worked like a madman, not wanting to hold up his schedule any longer and delay his goal.

It was half past seven in the evening when Levi had finally defeated the evil monster; he will never admit it but he hates paperwork with a passion almost as hot as Roy's. He didn't sign up for this shit when he decided to make this his career. Stretching his stiff limbs and cranking his neck, he walked to his door and peeked out and saw Petra still working, or waiting for him to finish up; now he really felt like a jerk.

Quickly shutting his computer and switching off all the lights, Levi approached the waiting woman with audible steps so as not to frighten her with his sudden presence. "Hey. Sorry to keep you waiting."

Petra still got frightened since she didn't hear the footsteps; she had cranked up the volume on her iPod pretty loudly, loud enough for Levi to know she's listening to some emo song. "Oh. Ok let's go."

Being ready to discuss and actually discussing the issue are always two entirely different things. Neither knew how to approach the topic during dinner and it got worse when dinner ended. He couldn't possibly bring her to his house and she's already expressed her refusal of discussing it when Leo is around so that leaves their apartments out.

"Do you mind if we take a walk there?" Levi followed the direction she pointed her finger at and saw it, the park they used to take walks in while they were still together because it was peaceful and calm, unlike the bustling city.

"Sure."

It felt so different, taking the same path with the same person without the mutual feeling. Levi was certain he loved Petra but he was not sure if Petra felt the same. Out of nowhere, Petra grabbed his hand and led him to a park bench.

Good thing the bench wasn't wet, he thought as he sat down and silence ensued again.

Before Levi could release a sigh, Petra spoke up, making him jump a little. "I saw what happened that day."

Ah. Fuck. I knew it.

"I got scared and ran away and I didn't give you a chance to explain."

"Petra, I –"

"And I kept Leo a secret from you which I know is a rather selfish thing to do but I didn't know how to tell you or rather, I didn't want to tell you after seeing you…" She made a few aimless gestures but Levi knew what she was referring to. "I'm back now. The past three years has been quite shitty and frankly, I've had enough of running away but I still don't know how to face you properly without the memories surfacing like a buoy in a hurricane but I still want to see you but it's so hard to –"

Petra felt smooth leather against her left cheek, thumb moving hesitantly; She didn't realise she had started crying during her speech. Instead of pulling away, she leaned against the faint warmth because god damn it, she loved Levi, even now, even after she had caught him in bed with another… woman.

Levi couldn't stand seeing Petra cry, especially not because of him, the stupid things he had done, albeit unknowingly and duped into.

If there was ever a moment should Levi decide to die rather than be an ass, it was now.

"Petra, please don't cry." He continued to wipe her tears even as it fell seemingly non-stop but there was no sign of ceasing. Levi had the brain to solve every possible case out there but had zero idea on how to calm a crying woman down.

"Petra..."

Unable to take it anymore, Levi wrapped his hand around Petra's head and pushed gently towards his shoulder, full of hesitance because he did not know what Petra's feelings were. Glad he was met with no resistance, Levi let Petra's tears soaked his coat until her cries died down. Even then, her body still trembled, most likely from crying too much but maybe because of the cold too.

"Petra, it's getting colder. Do you want to head back home now?" is what he said but he was reluctant to part. After all these years of missing her and finally getting to see her again but unable to hold her close, Levi did not want this moment to end even though it's on a sad note.

Petra pushed her body away and already she's missing the warmth. Nodding her head, she wiped remnants of her tears and stood shakily, prompting Levi to steady her lest she falls over. It's been a long day and that emotional confession took a lot out of her albeit it was cut short. Levi walked her home, totally having forgotten he owned a damn car.

Unlocking her doors, she found her babysitter sitting on the couch watching the late night news.

"I'm sorry I got back late. Here's your pay for tonight. I've added more since you stayed back for so long."

The girl accepted the cash with a smile and bid them good night, muttering to herself what she should buy for supper while walking away with a light bounce in her steps.

Turning to face Levi, they stared at each other, each wanting to stretch their time together just a little longer. But alas, Levi had to go home before he couldn't hail a cab.

"I gotta go but I really hope we could continue this another time?" He asked, unsure if Petra was still willing to carry on.

"Yeah, we will. Definitely." She said eagerly; now that she had finally opened up a little, she no longer wanted to shut him out from her life anymore.

"Good night, Petra. I'll see you next week at work then."

"Good night, Levi."

Even after bidding their farewells, Levi couldn't find himself budging unless he did something to show how he felt.

Placing a gloved hand onto Petra's cold cheeks, he felt her stiffened a little but soon relaxed. Sensing Levi was silently seeking permission to do something – what, she did not know but she knew it wouldn't be anything bad –, she gave a subtle nod. Leaning in slowly and placing a soft kiss on her cheek, Petra closed her eyes and enjoyed the rare display of affection; even when they were together, Levi rarely did these kind of thing and now that she was experiencing it, she felt how serious he was in wanting to patch back together.

So was she.

A/N 1: Many lovely thanks to Pammazola for proof-reading this!

A/N 2: I CAN'T WAIT FOR RIVETRA WEEK!

A/N 3: Apparently this chapter's title is too fucking long so enjoy it squished in the drop-down box