Despite the cold wind that came from the front, the clothes, gloves, and scarf kept me warm and safe from its bite. From beneath the helmet, the street looked so clear, the approaching cars smooth, the buildings shiny and sharp. It feels as if I was driving through this city for the very first time and I was about to get drunk from all the new impressions.
I would've been very fine if we would just drive around the city, on and on, never stopping, but soon, I figured where Levi was heading for. When the buildings, traffic lights, and signs became fewer, the street more empty, I saw the sign that leads to the nearby highway.
On the driveway, I felt him speeding up a bit, and once he made sure there was no car behind us, he let it rip. I only saw him turning the handle, but the acceleration this simple action caused was incredible.
I felt the wind tugging on my body, yanking me back in my seat as I kept holding tight to Levi for dear life.
I screamed ecstatically under my helmet, drugged and intoxicated by the rush of speed. Levi pushed his machine to 75 miles per hour, the short fur on his collar flattering from the strong wind, his grip firm on the handles, so as mine around him.
There was no car behind us or ahead, we had the whole highway for just ourselves, and I wished this moment would never end. My first ride on a motorcycle, and it's exhilarating! Better than anything I'd ever done in my whole, lonely life behind the screen of my computer.
There was just us, the machine and the street, the lights from the city in the distance, the wind and sky our only companions as we hit the road to an unknown destination.
The longer we drove, the more I got hooked. I couldn't get enough of this incredible feeling of freedom as I heard the blood rushing inside my ears with each excited pump of my heart.
We kept driving north for about 30 minutes when I checked the little clock next to the speedo for the last time when Levi finally motioned that we're close to our destination. He let go of the right handle and pointed to the big sign that had the next coming exit announced. By now, I was sure that he was going to take us to the nearby beach town.
During summer, I visit that town a lot, but it's more a chain of beach towns that follow behind each other. There's one single shoreline-street that leads through all towns, which are five in the end. It's a lovely place, with nice, little beach houses, crystal clear water and sand as white and smooth as snow.
I wonder what Levi was planning if he's heading there, but who cares?
I nodded with my heavy helmet and in return and received a few gentle pats on my thigh from him before his hand gripped the handle again. If he could only see my happy face right now. From all the joy, I had no idea where to go with it during the ride, my jaw hurt already from all the smiling, and all I could do now was giving him a short, but firm squeeze from behind. I will show him my gratitude later, very thoroughly.
We had entered the chain of towns a little later and had passed the first little mile, and Levi kept driving slowly along the promenade with a few other cars. Regardless of the late hour, the town was lively and crowded, all the cafe's, shops and restaurants brightly lit up to serve the people's desires and needs.
I looked around excitedly, asking myself over and over again where Levi was heading for or what he'd planned, and I finally got my answer when we entered the second town in the chain.
It was very popular for its nightlife and fancy restaurants, and Levi parked the motorcycle right in front of the place he was obviously looking for.
I hopped down first, taking off the heavy helmet and inhaling deeply once it was off. With a few grasps, I tried to arrange my hair, but I sure will look like a haystack again nonetheless. The bike's roaring ceased and then, Levi put the machine on its stand, stood up and also released himself from the helmet. I watched him when he shook his head to loosen up his raven tresses, running a gloved hand through his mane to fix his hair. I would give anything for a remote to rewind this scene and watch it again. It's unbelievable how damn sexy he looks in the most common situations and doing nothing special at all.
"Alright, here we are. Enjoyed your first ride?" He asked grinning.
"You can bet your amazing ass I did! It was incredible! Can we do this more often in the future?!" I almost skipped over my own words and stuttered from my hyper mood and my arms and legs still trembled from all the adrenaline.
"Tsk, calm down at first and let the rush subside. I already planned to repeat this with you, don't be a fool to expect the opposite, but for now, we're going to stay here for a while. I hope you're hungry, cause I'm going to take you out for a nice dinner."
"Gosh, Levi...I don't know what to say. You're spoiling me. You know I get flustered and embarrassed when you do this." I murmured coyly, coming closer to my beloved to lace my arms around his nape, cuddling my cheek against his. His warm lips landed on my forehead, a hand holding onto my waist the other brushing stray locks from my face to tug them behind my ear. It's so easy for him to make me blush. I didn't feel the cold beach-air at all from the sudden heat that spread from my cheeks through the rest of my body.
"I know, baby. That's the reason why I do it. To see this look on your face is worth every cent I spend on you." The very few inches I was taller than him didn't matter now, they never did. He simply pulled me a little down as he took my chin between his fingers, using no force or strength to make me oblige his request.
I closed my eyes the moments our warm lips met, my hands melting against the skin of his neck as my thumbs stroked along his edgy jawbone.
Levi is so sweet and kind. I don't deserve him. He's doing so much for me, and I have nothing better to do but to fall in love with his best friend. I'm worthless scum, human trash. I wish I could tell him everything and expect nothing but a loud scolding in return, but I'm more than sure that it will end with a break-up.
Somehow, I was already prepared for this, or at least as much as someone can be prepared for a heartbreaking situation like this.
Sooner as I'd planned, I broke the soft kiss with Levi and switched to hug him, wrapping my arms as tight as I could around his neck and cuddling into his crook, holding and choking back my tears at all costs.
"Is everything alright, darling? You seem a little tense." I felt his arms hooking around my waist, one hand brushing up and down my back. If I lose my shit now, there's no chance that I'm going to survive this night without breaking down, or a break up. I have to keep up my mask, no matter how much it hurts.
And damn...it hurt so fucking bad. The glowing knife I felt the night when Erwin confessed has returned, hotter, sharper than before.
"N-No. I'm okay. I'm just...so damn happy that you're here with me. So happy...Levi, thank you. Thank you for...for everything you ever did for me. Thank you. I love you." I said bitterly, tormented by all the hurting feelings that rip my heart apart into pieces.
"My darling. Please don't cry. There's no need to. It's going to be a wonderful night with just the two of us. And I have a little surprise I brought with me from London. So you will, this is going to make our night even more thrilling and interesting, but only if you stop crying instantly. How is it?" He tried to calm me down, his words so sweet like dripping honey as they poured from his lips right into my heart. I was tempted to tear down my dams and cry like a baby, just to bring relief to my wounded soul and heart. I fought long and hard with myself to turn down this urge and holding back my tears, and Levi's words helped a lot.
"Okay..." I mumbled, retreating from my safe hiding place, wiping one stray tear away before Levi kissed my forehead, cheeks, and lips.
"That's my good girl. Now come on. I'm hungry, and I think you could need something good too." He took my hand and placed it on his arm. Like this, we went the few steps right into the restaurant we were standing before.
I couldn't see the sign with the name, but once we were inside, we were greeted by a very modern interior. Mostly kept in white and gold, with a few specks of black here and there, baroque patterns decorating the furniture and walls, it looked like we jumped right through time into the last century.
With our biker-wear and the helmets, we seemed a bit out of place, but as I looked around a little, most people in here were dressed very eccentrically, two more won't hurt.
A friendly waiter greeted us and Levi said that he reserved a table for two, adding the note that it's for 'Ackerman'. The waiter seemed to know what that meant because he guided us away from the regular tables into a separated area through a dark-red curtain.
My eyes went wide when I saw what was waiting behind that curtain. A long corridor stretched out before us, the floor covered by white marble. To the left and right were four separate cabins, all of their entrances covered by a thin veil in deep purple. As we walked further into the room, I could see several dark silhouettes behind those veils, but not enough to see their faces. It was perfect for eating in absolute privacy.
The waiter lifted the veil from the last cabin on the left, placed the menu on the table and left us as soon as we took our seats. Levi was all gentleman-like when he took my jacket and helmet to place them next to him on the bench.
"Levi, this is amazing. How did you come up with that idea?" I whispered, gaping around the booth we're sitting in as he took my hands in his to pull them a bit into the center of the table.
"I figured very early you're a lot like me in a few cases. Which brought me to the guess that you probably don't like to be around many, foreign people or at parties. So this was my solution. You like it?"
"You're right. I love it. It's new, it's fancy, and it's finally just the two of us. You make a very happy woman out of me, you know that?" I whispered, feeling overwhelmed and small inside this mysterious environment that I didn't dare to speak louder, my hand slightly squeezing him and brushing my thumb over his palm.
"I know, and as I said before, that's why I do it. To see you happy, smiling, is the best present you could ever give to me. If there's one thing on earth I want to see for the rest of my life than it's that warm smile of yours. I know it's stupid to ask this, but...I find it important that you know." Oh, my stars...I LOVE it when he gets flustered to the point to blush. Its a sight as rare as warm summers on Iceland. And his rare, lovely moments when his words express how he feels are so beautiful. Levi is a man of few words, but it makes them so much more valuable.
I put my elbows firm on the table, using the strength in my arms to rise from my seat, his hands so subtly holding onto mine. He leaned closer, even without me trying to make him, and I gladly obliged, leaning closer as well, close enough that I felt his hot breath against my lips.
He wants to see me happy, he said. Does that include enduring that I developed feelings for Erwin and I could live with them, without fearing to lose both men? As crazy and ridiculous as it seems, this would make me happy.