Silver Lining | ʟᴇᴠɪ ᴀᴄᴋᴇʀᴍᴀɴɴ

Chapter 7

We fight for what feels like ages, but I simply can't manage to overpower Captain Levi. He's too fast for me to hit him, and on the rare occasions I do manage it, his footing is always too strong. The others have gone inside quite a long time ago, and the sun is almost completely down, but Levi has ignited the fire and a few other lamps around us. I know that if I were to stop moving now, I would realize how cold the air is and how hungry I am.

I grab him around the waist, and I am startled for a single second at how... firm he feels, and that's all he needs to knock me back down. But I don't let go of him and drag him with me.

"Finally!" he says as he collapses on top of me, and my back connects with the ground. I guess he has waited a long time for me to take the opportunity and continue fighting him even when I'm down.

Levi is on top of me now, but I have my legs wrapped around him so firmly that I manage to spin us around.

"Good!" he says.

I'm panting, gasping for air, ignoring the tingling at the back of my head. My legs are on either side of Levi's body, and only when we both calm down do I realize how inappropriate this position is. I widen my eyes in shock and climb off of him, falling into the grass next to him, exhausted. He snorts, and I turn my head just fast enough to see the smile vanish from his lips. Damn, how I would love to see it!

"That was good," he says and gets up, reaching his hand out to help me up. "The training, I mean."

His eyes are dancing with humor, and I can't look away. Silence falls over us as we look into each other's eyes for a moment. And I feel warm. Very warm. I don't even think about the fact that my clothes are dirty and sweaty. I think about how Levi would look when he smiles, how he would sound when he laughs. I think about the dream I had last week. Then I blink, and he looks away.

"Dinner," he says pointedly.

I nod and follow him inside. Hange made potato-carrot-soup today, and Levi heats it up on the stove again. I watch him without saying a word. He's not saying anything, either. We are like this for a while - Levi at the stove, stirring the soup, and me at the table, watching him stir the soup.

"You've improved a lot," he says while dividing the soup into two bowls. "I like seeing that."

My head snaps up, and I blush. He's already looking at me. "Thank you, Captain," I reply and try very hard to stay calm about this. Maybe he compliments the others as well when he's alone with them. This doesn't mean that I'm special.

His lips do that twitching thing again as he sits down. It's almost as if he's amused by my reaction. Sometimes, I think he says things like that only for the sake of seeing my reaction. I start to eat, but he's still looking at me, not touching his spoon. I freeze when I notice and glance up at him through my eyelashes.

"Everything okay?" I ask.

He blinks but doesn't reply immediately. "I think so."

The answer is so confusing and surprising that I frown. I wish I knew what he was thinking the same way he always seems to know what I'm thinking. Unfortunately, I don't have that talent, so I have to just ask. But before I can, Levi opens his mouth.

"Do you want to eat outside?" he asks. I almost drop my spoon. "It's a bit too warm in here for soup," he adds, and that sounds more reasonable than my silly thought of him wanting to be under the stars with me.

So I nod, but not because it's too warm for me in here, but because I want to be under the stars with him. I don't know why. I don't know what is wrong with me. This man has said maybe two nice things to me, and the rest of the time, he is as cold to me as to everyone else. So why? Why do I feel like this? I can't find the answer until we go outside.