Silver Lining | ʟᴇᴠɪ ᴀᴄᴋᴇʀᴍᴀɴɴ

Chapter 2

"Get up."

I squeeze my eyes shut, but it's no use trying to ignore the stabbing pain in my lower back. My head hurts because one of the buttons of Jean's jacket is pressing against my skull.

"Hey, brat. Get up," the unfamiliar voice says again. "Don't sleep in the dirt."

That made me open my eyes. It's still night, but the fire is ignited again, illuminating the face of the man hovering above me. And it immediately takes my breath away. I blink once. Twice. I sit up. Jean is also blinking awake, and when he notices that we're no longer alone, he snaps up as well. To my surprise, Jean grabs his jacket and gets to his feet. I have to tilt my head into my neck to look up at him, at the suddenly stern face he puts on.

"Captain," Jean says, and I'm so startled that I almost let out a gasp.

I get up as well, but I can't move, can't speak. Captain Levi's eyes narrow as he looks me up and down. I feel suddenly very aware of the dirt I was just lying in. I wish the captain would stop scrutinizing me so I could go inside and wash myself. The longer he looks at me, the dirtier I feel. I rub my palms on my pants and shift from one foot to another.

"Why are you out here, soldiers?"

The voice was so harsh and deep and rough. It sent a shiver down my spine and tingles through my veins.

"This is what we call 'sleeping', captain," I reply, and as soon as I say it, I realize that I shouldn't be this snappy with him.

Jean knows that as well because I hear him take a sharp breath. I've never been good at watching my tone, and it's gotten me in trouble once or twice before, but as little information as people may have given me about Levi, I know that he's not one to talk to like that.

Captain Levi turns to Jean, who is hovering a little behind me. "Go inside."

I let out a breath and want to turn away, but Levi stops me. "Not you," he says. "Jean, go inside. Alone."

Jean and I share a quick look. I'm still looking at him when his eyes narrow on Captain Levi for a second before he nods and turns away. I watch him hurry off into the darkness before he disappears inside the castle. Then I turn back to the man in front of me. He's still eyeing me with an intimidating look.

"You must be (y/n)," he says, and I nod because I don't know what else to do.

I feel my skin itch and tingle at the thought of the dirt that might be on my hands. I feel my scalp prickle, remembering that my long hair might have spilled off of Jean's jacket and onto the floor.

"So you and Jean didn't-"

"Oh! No!"

Levi raises an eyebrow, but I take a step back. "No. Me and Jean definitely did not. He and I grew up together. He's like my brother, and I'm like his sister. No. We're not..."

Levi nods his head once. I would really like to talk to him, to get to know more than the little bit I already know. But I just can't. The feeling on my skin has become so unbearable that I think I might break down if I don't get some water and soap.

And I tell him that. "I'm so sorry, Captain, but could I be excused? I promise I will introduce myself properly in the morning, but I really need to wash myself."

His eyebrows lift almost imperceptibly, but I notice. I frown, but before I can say anything, he nods and dismisses me. I hurry away from the circle of light around the fire and find my way to the castle. The hallways are lit with torches, so I easily find my way to my washroom.

Relieved, I pull my clothes off my body. As soon as water touches my skin, I feel like I can breathe again. I feel like all the times people shoved me into the dirt, literally dragged me through the mud, and pressed their boots to my spine to keep me down, are washed away and I can forget them.

I barely speak to my parents anymore. Jean and I have that in common. My parents were never really there for me when something happened to me. I never did anything wrong, but for some reason, the children in our neighborhood didn't like me. The girls thought of me as "not girly enough," and the boys thought of me as "too weak" to be of any use. Only Jean was my friend. Maybe because our parents were friends and they sort of didn't give us a choice but to know and like each other. Maybe because he saw me for who I was and liked what he was seeing. I still don't know which it is, but I stopped asking myself that question a long time ago.

Finally clean, I climb into bed and try hard to slow down my breathing. I try hard to drown out the feeling Captain Levi's deep voice gave me and the feeling of his eyes on my skin. Even tucked into my thick blanket, I shiver at the memory. Even more am I dreading that I will have to face him in the morning and "introduce myself properly" because I thought that was a good thing to say.