Prose

Are We Good?

Sorry for the late update! Things have been busy and the fun combo of ADHD and writer's block has been killing me.

LEVI's POV

"Uh...Hey Petra." I said, stunned and uncomfortable. I noticed something change in Y/N's face as I uneasily faced my ex-girlfriend.

"How have you been? And who's this?" Petra smiled warmly at Y/N.

"I've been fine." I said, allowing a chill to leave with my words. I don't want her here nor do I want to force Y/N into this inevitably awkward conversation. Maybe if I say nothing, she'll go away. Petra waited for me to introduce Y/N and when I said nothing, she chuckled.

"You haven't changed a bit, have you? Nice to meet you, I'm Petra." She greeted, extending a hand to Y/N. She accepted it and shook, having to awkwardly maneuver to face Petra behind her.

"Yeah, you too. I'm Y/N. Levi and I work together." Y/N replied, kindness in her voice, but when she looked back at me, I could see reservation in her eyes. Had she caught onto my obvious discomfort?

"At the high school? That's how I met Levi. What do you teach?"

"Not a teacher. I work in the library." Y/N responded.

"No shit! That's where I worked. Is Armin still there?" Petra asked giddily, continuing this hell for me. They continued to chat about the library, Petra making the odd glance at me. Why was she acting like nothing had happened? Like no time had passed, like she hadn't ripped my heart out and stomped all over it? I was just praying Y/N wouldn't ask anything further about Petra's connection to me.

"Well, it was really nice meeting you." Petra smiled. Fucking finally. Hopefully she'll keep her distance for the rest of the night.

"Levi? Can I talk to you alone for a minute?" She said turning to me and causing the colour to drain from my face.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

"As long as Y/N doesn't mind." I huffed.

"Uh...yeah, no problem." Y/N nodded at me, her eyes avoiding mine. I got up and allowed Petra to lead me to an quieter corner of the café. She turned to face me, a more sorrowful expression replacing her friendliness from earlier.

"I'm sorry. Pieck's a friend of mine and she invited me. The possibility of you being here didn't even cross my mind. I saw you and didn't know what to do, but I figured it would be worse if we just awkwardly avoided each other all night." She explained with an awkward chuckle.

"It's fine, Petra. You don't need to apologize for anything out of your control." I said, folding my arms across my chest.

"I'm sorry I never kept in touch. It just hurt too much, Lee."

"I really don't want to do this right now. Y/N's waiting for me." I said, glancing back at Y/N seated alone at our table, fiddling with the straw in her drink.

"I'm in town until Tuesday if you wanted to get a coffee and catch up." She said hopefully.

"I'd really rather not." I said, my eyes still fixed on Y/N.

"Is she...are you guys...?" Petra asked, her eyes following mine.

"No, but... there is something there. I think."

"I see." She sighed.

"What did you think, Petra? We'd get coffee, all that shit would just magically go away, forgive, forget, and I'd want you back in my life?"

"No. Really, I didn't. It's just hard to see you moving on." She confessed. I stayed silent, having nothing to say in response. We allowed the silence to embrace us for a few moments.