The Humanity's Strongest & The Graceful

Protect and Lie

Tessa's POV:

When Tessa looks into Levi's storm-colored eyes, she feels time freeze and her body trembling as she loses herself in the thunderstorm. Embracing the familiarity of the softness she would see in the chaos. When she feels Levi's cool fingers intertwining with hers, it sends sparks throughout her body as she waits for his gentle baritone voice to speak again, but he doesn't. Instead, Levi lifts her chin to pull her into a deep passionate kiss. When Tessa feels the smoothness of Levi's lips against hers, causing her to let out a small moan, resulting in Levi tightening his hold on her jaw and for Tessa to wrap her arms around his neck to chase after another kiss of black tea, strawberries, honey, and chamomile. Tessa could feel Levi's racing heartbeat against hers because they were in sync, and she wanted more to feel the rush consuming her, but something told her to stop, which they did after another shock to her core.

After they break away from the kiss, Tessa sees Levi's face is flustered, but she knows he isn't the only one because she can feel the emitting from her cheeks. Tessa feels a light thump underneath her other hand, quickly realizing she is touching Levi's chest. She notices his heartbeat slowing down while the rest of his body remains tense, which makes her bite her lip at what she should do because she doesn't want to pull her hand away. Before Tessa moves, Levi rests his forehead against hers, causing her to meet his gray eyes again to see him smiling at her, "I needed to act on impulse as well, Tessa." He confesses as he runs his thumb across her cheek, which surprises Tessa, leaving her speechless. When Levi looks at Tessa, he notices that she's silent, and his smile slowly fades along with the softness in his eyes. Tessa noticed Levi analyzing her silence and shocked expression as if he realized he may have made a mistake. Suddenly, Tessa watches Levi pull away before he goes to turn away.

Before Levi can turn away, Tessa touches his face, "Levi, look at me, please." She whispers, but he doesn't, causing her heart to shatter because maybe she has messed everything up between them. Tessa takes a deep breath before running her thumb across his cheek, "Levi, please look at me." She pleads while closing her eyes, hoping he does this time. When Tessa opens her eyes, she finds Levi's gray eyes staring at her, making her gulp, hoping her voice doesn't waver for what she's about to say, "Why were you fighting with yourself?" She asks while watching Levi hold her hand that held his face, squeezing her wrist as the chaotic storm in his eyes goes calm, "The last thing I want to do is hurt you, Tessa," He confesses, "All I have done is protect you from danger, and now, I have to protect you from me." He explains. Levi watches panic appear on Tessa's face, which brings pain to his heart because how can he tell her about the mission? He didn't want to lie to her, but he didn't want to tell her the truth. Suddenly the sound of Tessa's soft voice takes him away from his questioning thoughts, "Levi, I have dealt with worse things in my life just like you have," Tessa replies, "I can handle danger better than you think. Why else do you think I joined the Scouts?" She asks while raising a brow, making Levi tilt his head and smirk, "Tch, you're so stubborn, brat," He chuckles, "Come on. We can finish this later because you still need to check my vitals, Doc." He winks while walking over to the bed, only for Tessa to roll her eyes, "You're worse than me, dork." She teases while looking at her desk.

While Tessa is busy searching for Levi's file on her desk, she's unaware that Levi has his jacket off until she turns around, causing her cheeks to go red and almost dropping the file. 'Oh, fuck. I was right because his physique does look more noticeable without the jacket.' Tessa cursed as she eyed Levi's toned form in his white-button shirt, admiring how his muscles flexed as he moved. Tessa feels the heat rush her cheeks, causing her to turn away before Levi can see them and possibly from embarrassing herself further. Yet the heat only surges through her body, and Tessa takes a deep breath, "So much for maintaining my composure." She mutters while taking off her jacket to drape it on the back of her desk chair. Still feeling the heat on her face, Tessa takes a minute before turning around, wanting it to fade before moving on to the task. However, it takes longer than expected.