Long Time, No See - Levi x Reader (Modern!AU)

02 - Beyond the Wooden Wall

The first few days of having Levi in the home were strange. He seemed reluctant to talk to people, even Ms. Fields. He stayed in all the places where people weren't, and that meant that a lot of the time, he was where I had showed him, up in the attic. 

I was happy I'd offered him that space where he could feel safe, and I was certainly happy that he liked it up there, but he was taking it a bit far. If he spent all of his time up there, Ms. Fields and the others would get suspicious of where he was disappearing to. 

In turn they'd keep a closer eye on him, and on me, because I was the only one he willingly went to (though even that wasn't terribly often). We'd get found out. Our spot would inevitably get found if anyone just so happened to see us go up there. And I didn't really want that to happen.

The younger ones liked to swarm him when he did make an appearance, but he was hesitant to tell them anything. I didn't blame him. I'm sure that he'd been through a lot, most of which he didn't want to ever talk about, but those kids were persistent. There was very little that would actually deter them, aside from just... removing yourself from the situation. Which he did. Often.

Once again, it wasn't as though I could blame him for that. They were terribly nosy, as most kids were, and they annoyed me quite a bit, too. So I understood the need to get away. I was far more used to it than he was, but even I had to just get away from everyone sometimes... which explains the hiding spot in the attic. I only wish he didn't risk getting that spot found in the process of him getting away all the time, though.

There had been some progress, however. He began to slowly settle into life here. He had his meals with us, and occasionally came to seek me out. If I was with the younger kids, he'd stay close to my side, not saying anything but just observing. Otherwise, though, he was on his own.

Things were... progressing. Progress was progress, I knew that, no matter how slow it was. So I was happy about that, at the very least.

I started formulating some kind of plan to get closer to him, to make him feel more comfortable around me and the others. It would be easy, or so I hoped, and would break the ice that separated him from the rest of the house. 

Because we were a family, to some extent. Not by blood or name, of course, but because we all lived together and had to help each other a lot of the time. There was a close-knit community here, supportive and loving, if he would only allow himself to breach the wall he'd formed to maintain distance between us all.

What I didn't realize was that while I was doing that, he was formulating his own kind of plan.

Except his was different. His plan was something more drastic, a little more immediate, than the one I was formulating.

Levi's plan was... to get out of here.

Simply put, he wanted out. And fast. I'd only found out about this plan of his on accident. 

Him following me around the home over the past few days was less about him trying to just get closer to me, which is what I thought, and more about trying to find the best ways to get out. I supposed I'd been naïve to just assume that he wanted to get closer to me. Yes, he'd said we were friends, but... perhaps that was all. It was easy to lie. I wasn't well-versed enough to tell if what he'd said had been a lie, but... now I couldn't help but wonder...

I'm getting ahead of myself.

It was getting late, one night... that night. Not terribly late, but Ms. Fields was making her final rounds upstairs as she went around to say goodnight to everyone. She kissed all the kids goodnight as she went, making sure everyone was settling in for bed.