Chapter Text
"I’m still not entirely sure why I agreed to this,” Levi grumbled, his fingers drumming against the steering wheel. They had been on the road for over two hours, leaving the big city behind and following the flat highway that stretched through wide fields of grass, where the trees’ foliage had turned a beautiful mix of red and orange.
Twenty minutes ago, they had reached the edge of the mountains, its light and dark grey peaks poking through the thick woodland, catching the golden light of the slowly setting sun.
"Because you love our friends as much as I do, and don’t want to ruin the fun surprise they planned for the four of us," Hange answered his question, sinking deeper into her seat and pulling her legs up to rest her shoeless feet against the dashboard. Moments later, a hand wrapped around her ankles, pushing them back down again.
A few weeks ago, Nanaba and Mike had surprised them with the idea of spending a weekend at a small, remote inn in the mountains. "It would be great to spend some time together, just the four of us—don’t you think?"
Hange had immediately agreed; due to their studies, the friends hadn’t been able to spend as much time together as they used to. They had all grown up together in a small town in southern Connecticut, but had moved to the loud, busy centre of New Haven for their degrees. Nanaba and Mike, who were high school sweethearts, had gotten their own flat at the age of twenty, while Levi was sharing a room with his blonde friend from college. Hange had moved into a dormitory right on campus.
"We managed to snatch one of the last rooms available," Nanaba explained as she announced their idea, smiling proudly at her friends. "We’ll all be sharing a room; it’ll be so much fun—just like when we were little and had sleepovers at each other’s houses. The room has two double beds, by the way, but I’m sure you two won’t mind sharing."
The nonchalance with which she’d said those words, while clearly keeping a close eye on both Hange’s and Levi’s reactions, was definitely conspicuous.
Hange knew what lay behind it.
There had been a certain feeling between her and Levi, something that had started around their last year of high school, that came dangerously close to what people called a crush. Hange hadn’t worried much about it, for crushes usually didn’t last long. But when, after a year, nothing had changed and that certain tension between them had only grown stronger, she became wary, wondering if what she was feeling was more serious than she’d expected.
Nanaba was the first to notice, insisting that she was very sure Levi felt the same way about Hange. When Mike started seconding his girlfriend’s opinion, Hange fell into a major crisis—for falling in love with your best friend, whom you’d known since you were six, who’d been through thick and thin with you and stood by your side in your darkest days… was very unsettling.
Under no circumstances did she want to ruin their precious friendship.
In the end, she decided she was just going to let things develop naturally. If something was going to happen, it would, and she would let it. If not, there was nothing she could do to change it.
Three years later, at age twenty-three, not much had changed. There had been many moments when she felt that almost delicious tension whenever she and Levi were in the same room. She deliberately stayed close to him, brushing her arm against his or ruffling his hair in a playful gesture. He never moved away, always letting her have her way. Sometimes he’d retaliate with a nudge or a little shove, his hands lingering on her shoulders a bit longer than necessary… as if he knew what was going on.
But neither of them acted on their feelings, and they continued dancing around each other, pretending nothing had changed.
It seemed that Nanaba and Mike had eventually grown tired of their back-and-forth and now were trying to take matters into their own hands… by forcing them to share a bed for the weekend they would be spending at the inn.
As if sensing they were the topic in Hange’s mind, her phone suddenly rang—a song she’d picked only because she knew Levi couldn’t stand it, and she enjoyed watching his face contort whenever someone called her.
"I’m so sorry," Nanaba greeted her, heaving a loud sigh that sounded just a little too heavy. "But we won’t make it. Mike started to feel sick the moment we were about to set off—looks like a stomach bug to me." Hange heard dramatic groaning in the background. "I wanted to call you earlier, but he insisted I didn’t, because he knew you wouldn’t want to stay at the inn without us."
"Mike's right," Hange said, shifting in her seat. "This was supposed to be our weekend—‘our’ as in the four of us. We can just postpone it to another weekend, it's okay." Levi, who was only catching her part of the conversation, studied her from the corner of his eye, his attention moving between her and the road.
"No, no!" Nanaba exclaimed, so loudly Hange had to momentarily hold her phone away from her ear. "You two just spend the weekend there and have fun. It would be unfair if you had to give up on it just because of Mike’s stomach bug. We can plan another trip for the four of us some other time." Nanaba paused for a moment before adding, "Besides, we can’t even cancel the reservation anymore. And I’m sure you’re almost there anyway. It would be sad if no one gained something from a trip we’ve already paid for."
It was an argument Hange couldn’t fight. Somehow, it felt as if the absence of Nanaba and Mike had been planned from the very beginning—a well-established trap set by her two friends. But if she was completely honest, spending a weekend at a cosy little inn in the mountains didn’t sound half bad. Who knew what could happen during these three days? Maybe this was truly the perfect moment to address certain… issues.
"You have to promise we’ll do this some other time, alright?" she said after a moment of reflection. "We’re only staying because it would be a shame to lose all that money."
"Of course," Nanaba said duplicitously, unable to hide a chuckle. "Make the best of this opportunity, Hange. You’ve got him all to yourself."
"Goodbye, Nana," Hange said, her voice deliberately loud, feeling her cheeks heat up at her friend’s words. "And wish the groaning man in the background a speedy recovery, if he’s truly sick." She slipped her phone back into her rucksack with mixed feelings, feeling both excitement and a touch of anxiety stirring in her chest.
"What’s up?" Levi asked, shooting her a questioning glance at her. He’d just turned off the main highway they’d been on for more than an hour and was now following a smaller country road winding into the thick, dark woods, leading them higher into the mountains.
"Mike has the stomach bug," Hange explained, blinking against the dark trees rushing past, her eyes adjusting to the lack of golden autumn sunlight. "He and Nanaba won’t make it."
"Oh." Levi sounded surprised, his eyebrows lifting. "Does this mean the weekend is… cancelled?"
"Not really" she replied slowly, pulling up her legs again, but this time avoiding propping them up against the dashboard and placing them on the seat instead. "They said we can still go if we’d like. It’s all been paid for already, plus they don’t allow last-minute cancellations."
"Hm," Levi hummed, and Hange could’ve sworn she saw something akin to relief wash over his face. It caught her by surprise, and she felt her heart flutter. "It would be a waste of money if no one went," he went on, his eyes briefly meeting hers. "But only if you don’t mind, that is."
"Not at all," she replied, forcing herself to smile when a flicker of nerves began to make itself known. Just her and Levi, for three whole days. But he hadn’t said no and had asked if she was okay with it, so he truly must not mind. "It’d be nice," she added, for good measure. He only gave a nod, seemingly satisfied with her response, turning his attention back to the road.
And just like that, it was settled.
Fifteen minutes later, they came across a sign indicating the turn-off they had to take to reach the Concord Colonial’s Inn. Hange had tried to find a website in the days before, but had only come across a name and a phone number, and definitely no option to book a stay online.
Nanaba had insisted the inn was a little gem known only among the people living in the small towns surrounding it. Her mother had fallen in love with her father there, she’d added with a wink in Hange’s direction, assuring her it was a cosy little place with a lot of interesting history and beautiful landscape.
The lack of information available wasn’t exactly indicative of a well-known place. But Hange was curious about the inn, which finally appeared in the distance, perched atop a small hill, behind which the mountains stretched up majestically.
They drove through a short stretch of forest before reaching the bottom of the hill, where green pastures spread out on either side of them. The road slowly wound upwards, so sharply that Hange was relieved they had made it before night fell. Eventually, the path levelled out again, and after a few more minutes they reached a small, iron gate.
Hange slipped back into her shoes and hopped out, fumbling with the latch until it finally clicked open. When she stepped onto the property and pushed the gate open, a sudden shudder ran through her, as if the air on the other side were much colder, and a strong gust of wind came up, tossing her hair from her face.
She pulled up the collar of her hoodie, giving Levi a thumbs up as she held the gate in place and cast a glance to her right. The main building was not too far away—a light grey building with dark roofs and white windows, somehow looking just how she had imagined it.
Hange quickly shut the gate and jumped back into the car as they drove the last few metres, parking on the lawn right in front of the inn. "Look, the woods already start there, almost right behind the house!" she exclaimed when they finally stood outside, pointing at the impressive trees towering not too far away.
"Mhm, looks nice," Levi said with a nod, glancing at it for a few seconds before stepping around the car to unload their bags. Hange chuckled.
There was something exciting about the place, she thought as they climbed the stone steps to the front porch, something she'd never experienced anywhere else. She turned once more, looking down the hills and spotting the main road they’d come from in the twilight of the sun. Despite being completely booked out, theirs was the only car on the lawn, and she asked herself why, and whether all the other guests had arrived on foot or by cab.
The front door was heavier than it looked, and Levi pulled it open with a little effort, carefully peeking into the lobby. It was unexpectedly dark—Hange would've assumed more lights would be on. Even though there were, their glow didn’t reach far, casting a bright halo only around each lamp and keeping the rest in shadow. The dark wallpaper, a brown background with ornate beige scrollwork, swallowed every tiny bit of light that reflected from the lamps.
"Weird," Levi mumbled, probably feeling the same unusual sensation. His eyes swept over the entire room before coming to rest on the reception desk. "Of course, it’s empty." He straightened up and approached the desk, firmly tapping the bell, its sound a little too cheerful for the rather gloomy room.
"Look at this," Hange said, approaching one of the statues standing on a plinth. "This looks kind of cool." It was the head of a lion, carved out of wood, baring its sharp teeth. Its honey-coloured eyes looked so real it felt as if they were staring right at the onlookers, no matter where they stood.
"I’d say rather freaky," Levi replied, cocking an eyebrow. He had turned to her, eyeing the static animal with no small amount of scepticism, his gaze drifting over to its twin that stood on the opposite side of the door.
"They’re made from mahogany, and are over a hundred years old," a voice suddenly sounded from behind them. Hange and Levi startled, whirling around to find an old, bearded man standing behind the desk, having appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Neither of them had heard him enter the room, nor the sound of his footsteps as he'd approached.
"What the fuck," Levi muttered, running a hand over the back of his neck to steady himself.
"Did I startle you?" the old man asked, the corners of his lips lifting in what was meant to be a smile. To Hange, though, his expression looked rather frightening.
"Yes, you did," she replied, forcing a smile and stepping forward to join Levi at the desk. "But it’s alright—I enjoy a little thrill. Makes me feel alive again, you know?"
"Is that so?" the man asked, his gaze lingering curiously on her. She shuddered, immediately regretted having opened her mouth in the first place.
"We have reservations for this weekend," Levi stepped in, placing his hand on the desk. "It might be under our friend’s name—Mike Zacharias?"
The old man gave a nod and pulled out a heavy logbook, which he flipped open. "Your friend called earlier, saying only Levi Ackerman and Hange Zoë would be arriving?" he asked, withdrawing a pen from a drawer.
"Yeah, that’s us," Levi said, exchanging a glance with Hange, who wasn’t sure whether she felt uneasy or excited about the whole experience.
It was a little unexpected that their information was still being written into a physical logbook rather than a computer, as if the man didn’t want modernity to reach this place. The entire establishment looked very old, too—wooden furniture with engraved decorations, heavy curtains with tassels ending only millimetres above the ground, and the floorboards creaking with every step they took. Hange wasn’t sure she had ever come across such a quaint little house.
"Wonderful," the innkeeper said, gifting them another one of his wry smiles. "Please sign here, and then I’ll show you to your room."
Once the formalities were over, the innkeeper—who introduced himself as Mr Crane—closed the logbook and moved around the desk, pointing to a door on their right. "There’s a reading and leisure room on this side. Feel free to take any book that interests you. I only ask that you don’t take them into another room, as some of the editions are quite old and valuable." Then he pointed to the other side. "The dining room is on your left. Breakfast is served from 8:00 to 10:00, and lunch and dinner can be prepared until 9 pm. If you have any food intolerances, mention them to my wife who takes care of the food."
They climbed a narrow staircase to the first floor, where the seven bedrooms lay. It was only then that Hange realised how oddly quiet the entire building was. The inn wasn’t big, but she expected to at least come across a few people or hear some voices in the distance. And yet, there was not a single soul in sight except the inkeeper. But hadn’t Nanaba said they had booked the last room available?
"Aren’t any other guests staying here?" she asked as they walked along the corridor, its floor lined with a thick, red carpet that swallowed their every step. "The place is so… quiet."
The innkeeper laughed, short and raspy, looking back at her over his shoulder. "Don’t worry. It isn’t always this quiet." He didn’t answer her first question, though, silently coming to a stop at one of the doors.
"This will be your room," he said, fetching two keys from his pocket and unlocking the door.
Compared to the rest of the inn, the bedroom was much brighter, papered in a light beige wallpaper adorned with an elegant diamond-shaped pattern. The red curtains were a beautiful match for the reddish wood of the bed and other furniture, and together with the warm light radiating from the lamps, it looked almost inviting.
"Why is there only one double bed?" Levi asked, his brows furrowed. Hange hadn’t even noticed that, instead of the booked twin room, they were standing in a standard double room.
"Since only half of your party arrived, I moved you to another room, assuming one bed would suffice," Mr Crane said in a calm voice, handing Levi the keys. "Your friend assured me it was all right."
"Idiot," Levi grumbled, running a hand over his face in frustration. "Could we… maybe get a second room? We’re not exactly… you know?" He made a sweeping gesture with his hand between himself and Hange.
"I’m sorry, but I am currently unable to offer you another room," the innkeeper replied, shaking his head. "I will, of course, only charge you the price for the double room."
"It’ll be fine," Hange chimed in, taking one of the keys from Levi’s hand. "We can share." She flashed both men a reassuring smile, and Mr Crane nodded contentedly, while Levi looked less happy but didn’t argue.
"Have a pleasant stay. If you have any questions, feel free to ask at reception." The innkeeper paused at the door, turning around. "Oh, and please don’t leave the property after nightfall. The fog can be very erratic. We wouldn’t want you to get lost or end up in an… accident."
For the second time since they arrived, an ice-cold, nonexistent wind blew through the room, and Hange felt herself shiver at the sudden drop in temperature. She instinctively shifted closer to Levi, seeing him pull up his shoulders, his eyes flitting around the space before assuring the innkeeper that they would stay inside.
The moment Mr Crane closed the door behind him, Hange let out a tense chuckle, plopping down on the bed. "Wow. This place is… interesting."
"Interesting, my ass," Levi grumbled, fumbling with the room key. "Why on earth did Nanaba pick such a weird place?"
"The room’s cosy, though," she offered, leaning back on the white bedding, running her finger over the soft padding. "Did you feel it too? The sudden wind?"
"It’s probably just a window that’s left ajar," he mumbled, walking over to the heavy curtains and pushing them aside. "Or a draft coming from under the door."
"Maybe." There was indeed a small gap in between wood and floor, though Hange didn't really believe the breeze had come from it.
"What I don’t understand, though, is why he couldn’t offer us a second room," Levi said. He’d opened the window and was leaning out, letting his gaze sweep over the landscape stretching out in front of them. "We’re pretty much the only guests, so why not just let us have two rooms? I’d have paid for it, of course."
"Maybe a group of people will arrive tomorrow. Or he was a little cross about the chance of plans and wanted revenge," Hange mused, squeezing herself into the free space next to Levi, holding her face in the cool autumn air.
"It doesn’t make sense," he insisted, and Hange couldn’t help but agree. If he’d moved them from their original room to this one, there were technically two rooms available. There was no logical explanation for why he didn’t let them use both.
"Nanaba and Mike might've paid him a little extra to have him force us into one room," she joked, directing her focus to the yellow glow of the sun hiding behind the fields.
"Why should they do that?"
"As payback." The words had slipped out before she could think about them, prompting Levi to lift his eyebrows in confusion. "For that one time we left them waiting for us at the beach for more than an hour," she added hurriedly, ducking her head.
"Tsk, idiots," he mumbled, though he kept his eyes locked on hers. For a moment, she wondered if he could see what was going on in her mind.
All of a sudden, a crow from one of the nearby trees let out a piercing caw, spreading its wings as it fluttered across the meadow. The sound made them wince, and they turned their bodies away from each other again, their gazes lingering on the distance where the sun had now fully disappeared.
The air around them immediately grew colder again.
They found out the signal in their room was absolutely terrible. When they tried accessing the WiFi network on their phones and Levi’s laptop, the connection dropped after a few minutes, if it even lasted that long.
"Well, at least we have a TV that works," Hange said hopefully, flopping onto the bed.
"Oi, shoes!" Levi exclaimed, instantly by her side, pulling off her sneakers before they could soil the blanket. "You know there’s a coat hook at the door,. he grumbled, taking her jacket she had bundled up against one of the bedposts, and placing her things near the entrance.
He started unpacking the few things he would need later that night, while Hange leaned back to take a break, idly zapping through the channels, deciding she’d unpack once they were back from dinner.
When they eventually headed downstairs, the small dining room was completely empty. The moment they sat down at one of the wooden tables, a grey-haired woman—presumably the innkeeper’s wife—emerged from the door behind the counter.
She seemed kind, patiently waiting for them to pick their food, asking where they had come from and what their first impression of the inn was. Though she spoke in such a hushed voice that it was sometimes difficult to understand her, and it made their conversation feel as if they were doing something forbidden, something no one else was allowed to hear.
"Feel free to go apple and pear picking during your stay," Mrs Crane said when they paid for their food about an hour later. "There are many trees planted on this property—some are a little hidden, but they’ve been giving us an abundance of fruit for many, many years. Baskets and ladders can be found in the shed outside the house; feel free to take as many as you like."
When they thanked her for the offer, she replied with a nod, said goodbye to the two newcomers and quickly left the room.
"That sounds nice," Hange said, leaning back in her chair to give her body a good stretch. "What do you say, Levi—shall we go fruit picking tomorrow?"
"Sure, if you’d like," Levi replied, his eyes still lingering on the door behind which Mrs Crane had disappeared, quietly shaking his head. They went up to their rooms soon after.
While Levi excused himself to the bathroom, Hange finally decided to tackle the task of unpacking her sleepwear, slippers, and toothbrush. When she crouched down next to her bag and grabbed the zipper, she frowned, her hand pausing mid-air.
Why was her bag already open if she hadn’t touched it at all?
"Why’d you go through my stuff?" she asked Levi when he returned, flapping open the lid to take a look inside. Someone had definitely messed up her organised chaos—she’d never place her books on top, since they would be the first thing to fall out and get ruined if the bag opened unexpectedly.
"I would never dare touch your bag,” Levi grumbled, perching on the edge of the bed. "Too much chaos. But I have a question for you as well—why’d you leave water stains on the bathroom floor? You could’ve just wiped it up, or at least asked me to get something."
"I didn’t go to the bathroom yet!" Hange exclaimed, turning to him as she balanced on her heels.
"Not even to wash your hands after we arrived?"
"No. I used the disinfecting wet wipes you handed me; it wasn’t necessary."
They looked at each other for a moment, the room suddenly feeling a little less cosy than before.
"Maybe it was me who spilled the water," Levi mumbled, though Hange knew he’d never be so negligent.
"And I might’ve already opened my bag when we got here," she offered, fully aware it was a lie, and he nodded, seemingly reassured.
They watched some TV and texted their friends, who wished them a wonderful good night’s sleep (once the message eventually came through). After getting ready for bed and a quick shower, they slipped under the covers with their backs to each other. Levi had offered to sleep on the small couch, but Hange had pulled him towards the bed and pushed him onto the mattress, arguing that they had shared a bed so many times when they were little, and that it was no different now.
Of course, it was different, she knew that. Being so close to Levi, and in such an intimate way, made her acutely aware of her feelings, and she wondered if he could hear her rapid heartbeat thrum in the quiet of the night. She really hoped he didn't.
They had left the curtains open at one of the windows, but the moon was obscured behind thick clouds, letting only a little light through. The window was a shimmering grey, its glass pale and opaque, and Hange fixed her eyes on it, listening to Levi’s irregular breaths behind her.
It took her quite some time to fall asleep, sinking deeper under the warm covers, curling her toes and uncurling them until she finally drifted off.
