Risk: Chapter Thirty-Nine
Rose dreamed – of killing titans, of flying through the air between portals, of racing in the green fields and near the forest on Jake's titan back. Then it all shifted, they weren't able to escape the terrorizing titans in time, they didn't make it to the walls, her friends were eaten one by one –
Gasping for air, she awoke with wide, watering eyes. She was actively shaking under the blankets, sweat dripping down her back, the hair on her arms standing up straight. She wasn't even this high-alert when she was out over the walls – she should have been, she realized that now, but that was neither here nor there now.
Only once she had calmed down did she remove the covers from her clammy body, her clothes slightly drenched, making her feel incredibly uncomfortable. She looked around the room, first at the desk – no one was there – then the chair in the middle of the room – no one sitting there either – then finally the door – it was shut, and she heard no noise coming from the other side.
Was she alone? Something about that made her feel terribly isolated, but she shoved that all aside so she could focus on simply standing up. She got to her feet, easier than she thought – she must have slept for quite some time, as she felt very rested – and headed to the door, turning the knob and slowly opening it.
Leaving her borrowed bedroom, she walked quietly from there to the front room, though she heard voices from within, and she stopped just before the entryway to listen in.
"… wouldn't do anything to hurt her." That was Jake's voice. "You have to believe me."
"I don't have to do anything." And that was Levi.
What were they talking about? Was it her? She continued to tune in on what they were saying.
"You're right. But either way, I'll continue to prove myself. To all of you. But most importantly to her." Jake sounded so determined; it was different from his jocular nature. Why was he proclaiming himself this way to Levi?
"You can do whatever you want," Levi said, almost sounding like he truly didn't care one way or another. "I'll be keeping my eye on you either way. And one wrong move –"
"Right, you'll kill me." Jake, as expected, sounded less than enthused by that. "You know, I can't imagine Rose would like that very much. Considering I'm probably her closest friend and all."
There was a long pause. Then Levi said, "You're probably right. But my top priority is protecting humanity. That includes Rosemary. And if you go batshit crazy and attack her –"
"I wouldn't do that." Jake sounded so earnest. "I don't think you understand the gravity of how much I love her. Quite frankly, after knowing you for the past couple of weeks, I can't imagine you loving anyone, so I really don't think you can comprehend how I feel and how I really wouldn't bring any harm to her."
It was quiet again. Rose's heart was beating so hard and fast, though, she thought it would break through the silence. She was about to enter the front room when she heard Levi said, "There is someone I want to protect more than anyone. So I do understand."
She felt her heart lurch at that; Levi had someone he cared for, more than anyone? Who could that be? She pondered over the possibilities – it could be Lily, it could be Hange, it could even be Rose. But, if it were the very latter, why hadn't he said anything to her? They'd spent so much time together alone, he'd had plenty of chances…
She shook her head, having enough eavesdropping. She moved around the corner, hand placed on the entryway, staring at them both.
"Rose!" Jake exclaimed, getting to his feet. She saw they were sitting on opposite ends of the room.
"Hello, you guys," she said softly, smiling at them.
"You should be resting," Jake told her, looking utterly concerned.
"I feel like I've slept enough. How long have I been asleep for?" She looked to the clock; it read 6:31 PM. So either just a few hours, or –
"About a day," Levi answered, keeping his gaze between Jake and Rose. "That was quite the stunt you pulled out there. Very stupid."
"I –" She rubbed her arm nervously then. "I just… didn't want anyone to die, is all."
"Well, you accomplished that." Levi stood up then, approaching her. He then rubbed the top of her head gently, mussing her hair a bit. "Don't do that shit again, got it?"
She couldn't help herself – her smile widened at him. "Yes, Captain."
"You have to go back together," Levi said. It wasn't a question, but an astute observation.
"We have some things we need to take care of," Rose said to him, giving a gentle, apologetic smile.
"Together," Levi repeated, looking between the two of them.
Rose and Jake glanced at each other, then, with a shrug, Rose said, "Might as well. Then we can come back at the same time. It's just easier this way."
"Just don't take too long," Hange piped up, a bright smile on their face. "We need you back and training as soon as possible."
"Yes, Commander," both said simultaneously. Then Rose turned around and opened a portal for them to walk through; it led back to the hotel room Rose and Levi had shared after her apartment had been broken into.
Which was one of her many orders of business.
"Whoa, fancy digs," Jake commented.
"It's just temporary until they fix my door at home," she responded, briefly remembering the shower conversation that her and Levi had and unknowingly blushing. She shook her head of it; she couldn't be distracted right now, she had to focus.
"Alright, I guess this is where we go our separate ways – for now," Jake said, creating his own portal with the vision of a park within it; that must have been the last place he'd been before he'd gone to Paradi. "But before I go –"
Jake approached her, then reached out for one of her hands. He brought it to his lips quickly, then dropped it just as fast, making his way back to the portal he'd made. "Until next time, Aer." Then he was gone, leaving her alone in the hotel room with her scattered clothes and her equally as scattered thoughts.
She didn't have feelings for Jake – she knew that for a fact. However, when he did things like that, it did make her heart lurch a bit. Maybe because it was attention she never got from her own crush? But Levi showed that he cared in other ways – in the way he protected her, in the way he spent time with her, in the way he would comfort her without even touching her. It was those tiny moments that Rose found herself cherishing.
Jake just couldn't compete where he didn't compare, not in her heart.
The days turned into weeks as she sorted through her affairs.
First, it was her apartment. When she returned a couple days later, her landlord had already gotten hard at work to fix her door, thankfully. She checked her uncle's room and her own for anything that may have been stolen. Nothing at all, thank goodness. Once settled back into the apartment, she started putting things into boxes she bought from the local supermarket, labeling them and sorting them in the living room.
She decided she didn't want to keep any of the furniture; no she wanted to start completely fresh, even with the bed. Though the bed belonged to her long-lost friend, she also remembered what her friend did on that bed prior to giving it to her, and thus knew it was time to invest in a brand new mattress.
She rented a large dumpster and, enlisting some of help from her friends at work and school, they threw the large stuff away and some of the garbage she'd set aside, too.
Next, her uncle's ashes. She didn't know what to do with them. She didn't have any family to spread them out to. So, she opted to simply spread them out over the ocean. She was afraid of the sea – for obvious reasons – but was willing to overcome that fear if it meant taking care of this one important task.
Rose drove to the nearest ocean front and, once she'd reached the edge of the pier, poured the ashes out, allowing the wind to carry her uncle away, turning him into air and seafoam. Did she cry? Of course, when did she not. But she was glad to have done this anyway. It felt like the right thing to do.
With the tiny urn, she decided she would make a small shrine in her new home for her small family – mom, dad, Bunni, and Uncle Charles. She would put the urn, her mother's ring, and pictures of her family on it. Yeah, that would be nice.
After that, Rose finally received her check. She deposited the next moment she could, and asked to speak with an investor at the bank as soon as possible. There, she went over her plan with the investor, who seemed to improve of what she was trying to do.
"So you plan to move?"
"Yeah," she admitted, her voice tinged with a little sadness. "I think… it's time."
"Alright – so let's look at some houses in the area you want to live in. Have you decided?"
"Yeah: I think I want to live in Rosemont."
"That's… still kind of expensive," the investor admitted to her.
"Not as expensive as actually living in Chicago," she countered, then pulled out her laptop. "Actually, I found some houses in pretty decent neighborhoods that aren't too bad – if I get on to one in time."
"So you've done your research," said the investor, a smirk on her face. "Fine, let's get started."
Rose didn't want a big house. Just a couple of bedrooms, at least two bathrooms, a quaint kitchen, and maybe even a backyard – or land to fence a backyard in. Nothing crazy. And she'd found a few houses that fit the bill.
She didn't want to think too far into the future, but she wanted it to be her and her special person someday living in this house. Like she'd told Levi, somewhere in which they could grow, blossom, with room to even have a family… maybe even one child that looked just like him…
"Which house were you thinking?" asked the investor, pulling Rose back to the present.
"Oh! Uh, I was thinking this one…"
At last, now that her money situation was taken care of, she went to her school to take care of her student loans and get herself out of this stupid debt. At the bursars office, they guided her through making the payment, and who to make the check out to – not the school, but the department that gave her the loan in the first place, but the school would send the check for her. She would then need to sign some paperwork relinquishing her right to the student loans she'd previously signed up for, which she gladly did.
Just as she was heading to her car – she was going to drive to her job to quit it, since she would be moving states anyway – someone called out her name.
Turning around, she saw it was Jake waving for her attention.
"Hey," she greeted him with a smile. "I thought you would be in Atlanta by now."
"Next week," he corrected her, wiping sweat from his forehead. He must have just come from practice. "Are you… about to head back to Paradi?"
"Soon… I have to take care of one more thing. I'll probably be there tonight." She didn't know why she felt the need to tell him all that; probably because they were close friends. Probably because of the strange humming in her head that occurred every time they were around each other.
Who knew?
"I'll be there, don't worry. But – don't wait up for me, either." He winked at her, then trotted back toward the gym.
What did he mean by that?
After putting in her notice with her job, explaining that she had decided to move states and thus needed to handle some things at home before then, she drove back to her cluttered apartment, opening the door carefully and maneuvering around the piles of boxes to get to her bedroom.
Right now, all that was left were some boxes of clothes and an air mattress in the middle of the floor – not even that old, rickety yet dependable desk remained. She looked at herself in the mirror – a plain white dress with a bow on the back, half up and half down – and figured she would change once she arrived in Levi's office.
She pressed her hand against the mirrored closet door and watched as a portal appeared, a picture of Levi's office solidifying itself before her. She couldn't help the smile as she watched him work for a moment, before stepping through the portal and onto the wooden floor of his office.
He glanced up, ceasing to do his work further, grey eyes looming up and down her. She always felt shy under his gaze, she didn't know why; she felt she should have been used to it by now.
Standing up from his desk, he moved around it to join her by the other end of the office, expression revealing nothing, to her behest. "It's been almost two days."
"Sorry, I was busy buying a house."
"And?" he queried, as if he expected a further explanation.
"And… you're going to love it." She beamed at him. "It's next to a coffee shop."
"I hate coffee," he said, but his voice was gentle.
"Well good news for you – they also serve tea."
