By Your Side: Three
Rose didn't go to the Cleaning Club the following day – though she did keep her promise and delivered the cupcakes she'd made to Levi.
"Why are you giving these to me?" he'd asked.
"Because if I give them to Hange you guys won't have any."
Rose had to babysit for her neighbor, which she didn't mind doing. It was extra income – though, as said before, she tended to pour the money right back into fixing her apartment, since her landlord was always dropping the ball, or it went toward her medications – as well as a semblance of peace from the chaos that was school.
Arriving back home, she quickly changed out of her uniform into something more comfortable – a pair of sweatpants and a cropped hoodie – and then, with her book bag in tow, as she was allowed to do her homework so long as Emma was taken care of, she made her way downstairs and down the hall to her neighbor's house.
Sierra was a single mother who worked for the government, and only lived in Section Eight housing because of the fixed rent prices. She said it was easier to save money this way, with her biggest aspiration being to buy a house eventually. Rose really hoped that her and Emma could get out of this neighborhood.
Though it was quiet on most days, it had its terrible moments. There were constant drug deals going on around each corner, there were working girls that came out late at night to get their latest buck – and fix – from whoever would stop for them, and the gun violence was awful. Definitely not the most ideal place to raise a child, and also not ideal for someone as meek as Rose to be alone all the time.
Though she knew her uncle loved her, as he expressed as much when he actually did come home to take care of business – and on birthdays where he insisted still on having some type of party with just the two of them, though now at seventeen Rose wasn't interested in that sort of thing anymore – he was always away "working".
Want to speak about drug deals? Rose's uncle was the Charles Aer, who was notorious for his exchanges of pharmaceutical medications – mostly pain meds or uppers, but sometimes people would ask for something else like to help them sleep and he always seemed to be the guy to find just what they need, at just the right price of course. Rose didn't ever tell anyone her uncle's name, save for Bunni, because of his reputation. Though, Aer was a rather unique name, so people undoubtedly knew they were related. However, if people knew that she not only lived with the man but watched his dealings happen right in their home sometimes, she knew she would be outcasted for sure.
She was already different as it was at school – at least, to her – and she didn't want to add to that.
"Rose!" exclaimed Sierra as soon as she opened the door. "You're early; that's great. I need to get myself a cup of coffee before I head to the office."
"Understandable," Rose replied, stepping into Sierra's apartment.
Unlike her own, which was just furnished with the basics and was pretty bare otherwise, Sierra's apartment felt like a real home. She had decorations all over the walls as well as pictures of her and Emma – mostly Emma – as well as a nicely decorated living room and bathroom. The bathroom was frog themed, as that was Emma's favorite animal – as far as anyone could tell. She said the word a lot.
Now inside, Rose set her bag on the floor by the shoe rack, taking off her shoes in the process. She then made her way to Emma's room, where the young girl seemed to be just waking up from a long afternoon nap.
"Hey, girly," said Rose gently, reaching down into the crib and picking up the young girl.
She wasn't quite two years old yet, but she was starting to say a few words as well as walk well on her own. Rose was cautious about when she walked; she was always afraid she'd run into something like the coffee table in the living room and hurt herself. However, Emma seemed to have Sierra's intelligence and intuition, as she went around things like that, doing so much as holding onto the object in question to balance herself sometimes.
Emma smiled at Rose and wrapped her little arms around her neck, giving Rose a short hug, before leaning back into Rose's arms. Rose carried the little girl into the living room, setting her on the floor in front of the television and proceeding to change the channel to something more appropriate. Then Rose went to the small toy pile in the living room and got out one of her babydolls, to which Emma immediately started holding and "cradling" – as much as her little arms could – the thing.
"I have her dinner ready in the fridge, as well as her bottle with all the milk she should drink tonight. Remember, if you refill it, it's – "
"The whole milk," Rose finished, waving Sierra away. "Go on, we got this. Get your coffee."
"Right." Sierra came over to the little girl and kissed the top of her head before rushing out the door, waving one last time at Rose before leaving.
Rose went to sit next to Emma, watching the little girl instead of the television. Emma resembled her mom in a lot of ways – wild red hair, big brown eyes, freckles across her face. She really was cute as button, and pretty well behaved, which was why Rose didn't mind watching her most days. After some time, Rose opted to heat up Emma's dinner, hoping she would actually eat the food instead of getting it all over her. Though Rose was a professional at giving Emma a bath at this point, it was a pain to do.
The night went on pretty uneventfully. Emma eventually fell back asleep as she was playing dolls with Rose in her toy corner, nodding off against the dollhouse. Rose put the girl to bed, turning on her nightlight to ensure she wouldn't get spooked lest she way up. Then the teenager went back to the living room, switched the channel to some crime investigation show, and pulled out her homework.
Just as she'd started on her work did her phone buzz; she wasn't going to answer it, but then the ringer started going off, and Rose immediately answered it without looking at who it was.
"Hello?" she said quietly, trying not to disturb the little girl in the next room.
"Why are you whispering?"
Her heart skipped a beat; it was Levi. Why was he calling her? She nearly forgot that he had her number, but they'd exchanged them after the meteor shower last year, and other than through summer break, texted each other at least once a night.
"I'm babysitting," she told him, her face warm suddenly. "And she's asleep. What's up?"
"I thought about coming over, but I assume that's not an option."
Rose's eyes widened then, surprised by what he'd said. Come over? To her place? Well, she technically wasn't at her home, but she was in the same building so it was all the same. However…
She reminded herself of the type of neighborhood she lived in, which most of her classmates – save for Bunni and even Jake – didn't know about.
"Ah… I'm sorry. Maybe next time," she offered, her fingers playing with the pages of her textbook nervously. She hated the fact she got so shy sometimes when talking to him. She had no reason to be – they were friends after all.
Her feelings, of course, got in the way sometimes but he didn't have to know that.
"Yeah, next time." She expected Levi to hang up, but instead he said, "Don't you live close to the school?"
She really didn't want to have this conversation. Though she liked Levi – a lot – she didn't want anyone, not even him, to know about her living situation. But… he wouldn't tell anyone, she knew. So, pulling the phone away so she could heave a heavy breath now filled with determination and courage, she decided to tell him.
"I live on the south side, past the highway." Anyone who'd lived in this city long enough knew that the south side across the railroad was the worst part of town.
He didn't say anything for awhile, and Rose looked at her phone to see if he was still on the line; he was. Then, finally, he asked, "And you're alone?"
"Just me and Emma," she answered.
"Give me the address. I'm coming over."
Rose blinked, confused again. "What? No, it's… I'm sorry, but it's dangerous."
"Does it sound like I care?" It didn't, in fact, appear he did. "Text me the address, Rosemary."
A small smile crossed her lips as he said her name; every time it brought her a bit of joy, maybe more than she'd care to admit. "Alright. Just… be careful, okay?"
They hung up, and Rose immediately went to their exchange of messages to send the text. After sending it, she scrolled through their messages; they were short conversations, but she liked that Levi – like Bunni and Jake – allowed her to express her interests, if even a little bit. She sent him pictures sometimes, to which he would send single emojis expressing how it made him feel – typically a thumbs up or something of that nature. But sometimes he would actually give her something to talk about, responding with a question – usually a quick "wtf?" or something to whatever she sent him.
She knew she was weird, but he allowed her to be, and she appreciated that. It was just sad to look at the last message before her recent one – sent at the end of May. The fact they'd gone that long without talking made her believe that he really had no interest in her, but him coming over right now showed he cared, right?
She could only hope.
After about a half hour, her phone buzzed again, interrupting her homework session. Glancing at the text, she couldn't stop the smile from coming to her face: 'I'm here.'
She went to the door and opened it slowly, so as to not make any noise like it creaking. There before her was Levi, dressed in a black jacket, grey shirt, and black pants. She liked seeing him casual, almost as much as she liked to see him dressed up.
"Hey," he said simply, peering past her for a second as if to check if anyone else was in the apartment, before fixing his icy eyes on her. "You going to let me in?"
"Oh!" She exclaimed, then stepped aside, allowing Levi in. Once he'd crossed the threshold, Rose shut the door behind him as quietly as humanly possible. She instructed him to take off his shoes, then she asked, truly curious, "Were Hange and Erwin busy?"
"No," he answered, hands now in his pockets, eyes on her, watching her like always.
"O-oh, I see." She really didn't understand, then, why Levi would want to hang out with her, but she was glad for it anyway. "We… already ate dinner, sorry. Wish I had something to serve you."
"I didn't come over to eat, Rosemary," he said, heading toward the living room now. "You shouldn't be alone in a place like this."
"I'm used to it," she admitted to him, following after him and then sitting on the floor in front of the coffee table. "Honestly, after awhile, it's not so scary."
Just as she'd said that, there seemed to be some type of commotion outside; people were yelling, there was the sound of something like glass breaking.
Of course.
"It… could be worse," she said then, daring to look at him. His expression revealed nothing, to her dismay, but his eyes seemed to show something like worry in them. She wasn't sure.
"I guess." He sat on the loveseat, leaning back into it. "Did I interrupt your studies?"
"Er… no. It's fine." And it really was. She was glad for his company, and to be honest, she really did feel a little safer with his presence. "I was kind of stuck anyway."
"You?" He seemed truly surprised by this revelation. "Aren't you the class genius?" He stood up then proceeded to sit across from her, taking the textbook from her. "Ah, I remember these problems. I had to show Hange how to do them last year. Want me to teach you?"
Rose knew that if he started doing that, she probably wouldn't pay a lick of attention to him. However, to be tutored by Levi, that had to be quite the honor. She wondered if Hange thought so? She would have to ask them… if she ever got brave enough.
"Sure," she answered, giving him a smile in gratitude. "I'd like that."
Levi, despite his attitude sometimes, was a patient teacher. He broke down the math problems she was struggling with piece by piece and helped her solve them, eventually on her own. After an hour, she was finally done with the dreaded assignment, and she nearly collapsed onto the coffee table I relief.
"Thank you," she said to him, sitting up to smile at him. "Really. I think you saved my butt."
"Don't mention it." She didn't know if he really meant that or not; to see this different side of him, she wondered if he liked the idea of others seeing him like this – soft, approachable even. Levi acted that way around his fellow classmates and friends, Erwin and Hange, but usually not with anyone else.
Except, now Rose.
Rose looked at the time on her phone and sighed. "I think Sierra will be home soon."
"I figured." Levi got to his feet, then immediately headed to the front door, bending down to put on his shoes. "And you'll be okay on your own?"
"Always am. But… thanks for visiting. It was nice."
"Yeah. It was okay." But, though is face showed its usual stoic expression, his grey eyes widened just a little bit as they fixed on her. He seemed to want to say something to her, but instantly changed his mind, it appeared. "Good night, Rosemary."
"Good night, Levi," she said back, waving to him. She watched him leave, thankful he shut the door silently behind him, then she quickly locked the door. Not because she didn't want him to come back in, lest he changed his mind, but with a neighborhood like this, you never knew who lurked around the corner, waiting for the perfect opportunity to try and break into someone's home.
Just as expected, Sierra returned home about thirty minutes later, exchanging small pleasantries with Rose as the teenager packed her things to leave – was Emma alright? Did she eat all her food? How was the rest of the evening?
Sierra really was a great mom. Rose wished she could say the same about her own, but she didn't really remember much about her. Since being orphaned at age six, she didn't have much time to make memories with her parents.
Rose hoped that Sierra and Emma would make memories for decades to come.
Taking her payment, she rushed from Sierra's apartment to her own, locking the door immediately behind her and leaning against it. She couldn't believe the night she'd had; she got to spend time with Levi outside of the shop and school. She wondered if she would ever get opportunities like that again, or if this was a once in a lifetime thing? She wished she could ask him, but alas, she didn't think she'd have the strength to do so.
Maybe someday.