(sorry it's been so long my dudes!)

————

Eren:

After much convincing and begging to my mom, I got her to let Levi and I skip school for the day. I hadn't taken a day off for fun—a sick day or a mental health day—in a long time, and it was needed.

I grabbed the keys from the front bowl by the front door as my mom made the call in to school. She knew one of the teachers, a man I was convinced she had a thing for, but I didn't ask. I could hear her talking to him, one of the chemistry teachers I never had, as i closed the door. Mikas had barely left the house with the knowledge he wouldn't be in the same place as me for a few hours. It pissed me off that--

I took in a breath, sliding into the driver's seat of the car. "Where to?" I asked Levi, glancing over at her. My heart did a little skip thing that it hadn't ever done before.

She looked at me and our eyes met for a moment before I turned to look over my shoulder to back the car out. "I'm hungry," she said, looking out the front windshield as we pulled away from the house.

I chuckled. "Didn't we just eat?" I asked, before making the realization that maybe she didn't eat the best all the time with her situation--

"Drive to a farther away place. We're close to the coast, aren't we?" She asked.

I shrugged and nodded, letting my foot ease up on the gas as we reached a stop sign. "Have you been to the beaches a short drive from here? We can go back and get some swimsuits." The house wasn't far and it was warm today. She seemed to be mulling something over. There was silence for a moment, and I jumped when the car behind me honked. I pulled out and did a u-turn that I wasn't entirely sure was legal. We pulled up to the house a second later and I dashed inside. My mom had already left for work, and I ran up the stairs to my room, grabbing two swimsuits from my drawers and shoving them into a bag while grabbing two beach towels. I stopped in the kitchen, opening the fridge and grabbing a few things for lunch; bread, cheese, meats, lettuce, et cetera. I grabbed some other beach things too.

I locked the door behind me and went to the car. My mom forgot sometimes to lock the front. The car was still running and Levi sat, still looking out the window. I got back into the driver's seat and threw the bag into the back. "Beach it is." I said, not really realizing that she had never said whether or not she actually wanted to go to the beach... I needed to calm down. I was a senior. It was May. School was almost over and I still was almost too awkward to talk to my crush who--

"I've never been to a beach." She said suddenly as I drove.

"You're kidding, right?" I asked, glancing at her.

She shook her head. "Never been. My dad never took me." she finished.

There was a moment of silence. Her dad. I wished it hadn't come up like this when I just wanted to spend the day with her. "Well, glad I can share it with you. I mean, well, I guess that--"

She put her hand on top of mine on the steering wheel. "I get it." She said, the tiny hint of a smile on her lips. I blushed and nodded. She flipped on the radio and scanned the stations until finding something she liked. I smiled to myself.

***

An hour and a half later, we had reached the beach. We'd stopped for a coffee on the way, and Levi there the cups out as I pulled the back from the back seat. "There's a bathroom over there. We can change." I said, locking the car.

She nodded and followed, not really saying much. She'd taken a nap, too. We'd talked some in the car, but she'd seemed really distant the whole time. Who was I to say things like that? I shook myself off, feeling better now that we were here.

We got to the bathroom, a gated changing spot connected to it. Levi looked at it, her grey eyes calculating. "You can take the bathroom stall. I'll change out here." I said quickly.

She nodded and pulled one of the swimsuits from the bag. She went into the bathroom and I heard the lock click. I slipped into the changing spot and pulled my shirt over my head, changing into the bathing suit. I stuffed my clothes back into the bag after slipping my shorts back on over the bottoms.

I waited a few minutes, and then knocked on the bathroom door. "You good?" I asked.

A 'yes' was said back and I leaned against the wall. A minute or so later, Levi opened the door, her jeans held in her arms and her t-shirt over the swimsuit. I smiled, not saying anything so I wouldn't screw something up and make her uncomfortable. She stuffed her clothes into the bag.

"Let's go." she said, her eyes looking out toward the ocean. We walked and reached the sand, there not being too much wind which I was thankful for. Her hair was braided back in two braids, the black strands twisted together. She must've done it while changing. I looked back to the ocean when she almost caught me looking. I felt like a middle school boy trying to get a peek under a skirt. Bad analogy?

My feet hit the sand and I kept walking, seeing the water in the near distance. After a moment, I realize Levi wasn't next to me anymore. I turned around, seeing her standing at the edge of the concrete. She seemed to be thinking again, and I waited.

She stepped out into the sand, and her face lightened a little. That's right. She'd never been to the beach before. "Come on!" I said, turning and dashing down the beach toward the water.

A little while later we laid on the towels we'd brought and were resting. I'd been in the water nearly the whole time, although Levi stayed at the edge, actually laughing when I splashed her. She hadn't taken her shirt off, and I wondered if the bathing suit hadn't fit her well enough? I could see the straps of it, so...?

"Lunch?" I asked, and she nodded, not sitting up. I smiled a little and make some sandwiches from why I'd grabbed from the kitchen. I turned to give her hers and she reached up for it. I handed it to her and she bit into it, letting out a sigh. "Good?"

"Good." she replied, eating the small sandwich before closing her eyes and resting her head on her hands.

I chewed on my combination of different foods. I dusted my hands off on my legs and turned to her to say something, and saw she was looking at me. I closed my mouth, which had been open. We were quiet for a few seconds, and she nodded. "Thanks for today." she said.

I nodded. "Better than dinner?" I asked. she laughed and nodded. I smiled and looked back to the ocean. The waves were crashing a little softer on the shore and I opened my mouth to offer that we could go swimming again, when she cut me off.

"Is it odd that I'd like to kiss you?" she asked.

I whipped my head around and looked at her calm face with wide eyes. "What?" I asked, knowing that I'd misheard her.

she moved up and rested on her elbows, looking me in the eyes. Yesterday she'd been so awkward when she'd asked me if I'd liked her, the exchange of "okay"s still fresh in my memory in all their awkward glory. Now she was asking—kind of asking?—to kiss me? "Well, I mean—"

I was cut off as her surprisingly strong arm reached up and she took my jaw between her fingers, gently pulling me to her. I was flustered at first as her lips fell on mine, and then my eyes fluttered shut. I rested my hand that wasn't holding me up on her leg. She moved her other hand to my cheek.

A moment that seemed too short later, she pulled away, her cheeks barely dusted with a blush. I felt my face tomato red. She looked into my eyes. "Shit. I freaked you out, didn't I?" she asked.

I laughed, admittedly a little shakily, and shook my head. "Well, no," I realized my hand was still on her leg and hers still held my face. She nodded, not meeting my eyes as she leaned in again, kissing me softer. And then softer. Impossibly soft, until i was leaning forward in the attempt to feel her lips better.

She chuckled a little, making one of those 'tch' sounds. She moved her hands into my hair, the wind tousled strands tangling. "Okay," she said, her eyes a stormy grey.

She kissed me once again and I fell back onto the towel, her over me, her lips incredibly soft. I moved my hands up to her wait, my heart beating a million miles an hour. She, Levi... she was actually kissing me? I touched her waist, my hands slipping just under her half dry shirt. 

I felt something on her skin, like a jagged line that was slightly raised. I felt it again and she jerked, sitting up. She looked at me, her face having an odd expression of alarm. As she'd moved my fingers had brushed what felt like similar lines. "Did I do something wrong--" She abruptly stood and ran down the beach back to where the car was. I was confused, shocked for a moment, and then I too stood and ran after her. "Levi!" 

She ran past the car, far faster than me and I was even on the track team. I chased her down the deserted road--because school was still in for the local high schools--until I ran out of breath. I slowed down, stopping, and held my knees, heaving for breath. I straightened, holding my arms. She was already out of sight. 

Why had she run? What had I done? I rubbed my face, letting out a sigh, feeling the small scar on my cheeks I'd gotten when I was younger playing too rough around out couch, which I'd eventually tripped and hit my face on. I stopped, felt the scar again, and realized why'd she'd run.

"Shit..." I said, turing and jogging back to the car. "Shit, shit, shit..." They had been scars. The lines. "Why am I so stupid?"