The Doctor and the Barista (Levi Ackerman / OC)

Chapter Five - Espresso

The elevator ride up to the apartment was silent. Neither one so much as glanced at the other. Marley could feel the anxiety bubbling in her chest as Levi unlocked the dark gray door into his apartment.

The space itself was big with an open concept that gave sightlines into the kitchen and dining room from the living room. Huge windows surrounded the entire exterior giving floor to ceiling panoramic views of Trost. The color scheme was muted grays and beige and white, making the apartment look like it was more of a model home than an actual person's living space. It smelled clean, not so sharp as to sting her nose, but clean. Like fresh cotton and lavender.

"Ah, the maids changed the decor, I guess," Levi says, sitting down on the sofa.

Marley quirked her head to the side, hesitantly stepping into the large home. She was from an upper middle class family herself, but this was just plain unreal. "Changed the decor?" she echos, unsure if she should leave her shoes by the door or not.

"The people at the maid company change out the pillows and linens and decorations every now and then," he shrugs. "To fit the season, or something like that."

"How do you have so much money?" she asks before she can stop herself. She was exasperated; she knew how much a surgeon made, but this was unreal.

Levi stared at her for a few seconds before sighing. "I did a lot of research in my time at school. I still get paid royalties."

"How much research?"

"I think it's time for you to go to sleep," he says, voice stern and in its usual monotone sound. "I have a guest room. It has its own en suite if you want to shower now or something. I'll grab you something to wear to sleep, wait here."

Levi got up from the couch and disappeared down a hallway, reemerging a few minutes later with a pair of black sweatpants and a gray t shirt. He looks at her for a few seconds before mumbling a quiet "come on", leading her behind a frosted glass door into a guest room.

It was a good size for a guest room. It was about the size of her one bedroom at home, only her room at home didn't have it's own bathroom and a large (possibly walk in) closet. The comforter was a plush white with navy accent pillows. The bed was facing another large wall of windows that showed the twinkling lights of the never-sleeping Trost. Levi left the clothes on the bed, pointing out the bathroom to her before heading for the door.

"Um, Levi," she says awkwardly, kicking off her heels. "Thank you, really. For everything."

"It's fine," he replies flatly. "I'll be in the living room if you need me. Goodnight."

He shut the door quickly before she could question why he'd still want to be up after working all day. She exhales a long sigh, falling backwards into the bed and getting cuddled by the soft and fluffy material. She could hear the tv turn on inside, closing her eyes and wondering why in god's name Levi wasn't just heading to sleep.

She sends a quick text to Jean and Marco, asking them to bring her keys to the cafe tomorrow and that she'd pick them up there. She quickly changed into the clothes Levi brought her before escaping to under the warm comforter. She was far too tired to shower now. She could hear the faint hum of the central air, frowning as she saw that it was set to 65 degrees. She debated changing it for her room but decided against it, letting the sheets keep her toasty.

When she woke up the next morning, she could hear the tv on in the living room again. Her phone was filled with worried messages from her friends, mostly all of the JeanMarco's employees who were wondering where she spent the night, considering that Jean had her keys.

She gave a quick response to the group chat before going into the bathroom, taking a quick shower, exhaling a sigh as the hot water cascaded down onto her tired body from the rain shower head. She almost wanted to laugh at the fact that there was freshly cleaned bathrobes folded and left on some open shelving, waiting to be used. The was a basket on the dual sink vanity filled with sample sized bottles of different brands and kinds of shampoos and conditioners and shower gels. There was a folded note card saying that extra towels could be found underneath the sink with a hair dryer and a hairbrush, and that anything that was used should be left out to be cleaned.