Colossal Confessions

Chapter 7: Fractured Armour

"Jasmine, I-" Levi began.

"Don't fucking apologise." Jasmine snapped as she brushed past. She walked a few steps before turning to face Levi once more.

"You know, when you said you didn't see us as anything but friends, I made peace with that. Because I value you and I value our relationship. But then a nice guy comes along and asks me out and it's like you've just gone out of your way to ruin things for me." Jasmine's eyes were stormy and clouded by tears. She gritted her teeth as she spoke and her fists were clenched like she wanted to punch Levi herself.

"Jasmine, you don't know what kind of person he is." Levi was oddly calm as he spoke.

"Save it. You know he told me all about how you treated him back then. I chose not to believe it, because I thought I knew you better, but it's like you're desperate to prove me wrong." Jasmine's words dripped with venom. Levi felt anger bubbling in his chest.

"Are you that desperate for attention? You're just gonna shack up with the first guy who'll take you? Is that it?" Levi regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. Jasmine's tears threatened to spill.

"What the absolute fuck, Levi." Her voice was filled with hurt as she spoke. As she turned to leave she saw Eld and Hange staring in shock – they must have witnessed the whole thing. She was stopped in her tracks by Commander Erwin's booming voice.

"What the hell is going on here?" Erwin's brows were furrowed in anger at having been interrupted by a petty problem – this was the last thing he needed to be dealing with.

"Well?" Erwin looked to each of his soldiers, waiting for an explanation.

"It was nothing. Just an argument." Hange stepped in, trying to defuse the tension.

"Just an argument? I have a Garrison soldier in my office claiming you assaulted him, Levi. He's an Aldridge. His father's quite high up and he's threatening to pull funding from the Survey Corps if I don't punish you." Erwin pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"They were both fighting, Erwin. It wasn't Levi's fault." Jasmine stared at the ground as she spoke. She was hurt by her friend's actions, but she didn't want to see him get into trouble. Levi turned his head in surprise – why was she defending him?

"I'm gonna go check on James." Jasmine sighed as she walked back towards the offices. She was hoping James was still there.

"I'm sorry, Erwin. I lost my cool. Won't happen again." Levi winced slightly – he touched his lip and his finger came away bloody. James must've managed to split it with the one hit he landed during the fight. Now that Levi had time to cool down he realised how stupid and reckless he had been – he hadn't acted this impulsively since he was younger. Back then he was fueled by his rage and had to rely on it to survive, but over the years, after joining the scouts, he had learned to think first before acting. His blind rage scared him, and he had to wonder if he was a bad person. He started walking away and thought about the awful things he had said to Jasmine. She hadn't deserved his harsh words. Eld trailed behind Levi at a slight distance, wanting to make sure he was okay.

"What the hell has gotten into him?" Erwin watched Levi skulk off. Hange sighed deeply.

"How much do you know?" They eyed the Commander, knowing Levi often confided in their leader.

"Enough. Probably too much. Keep them out of trouble. We can't afford to lose the little funding we have. Not before our next mission." Erwin grumbled as he thought about the incident report he'd have to fill out. He expected this kind of behaviour from his rookies maybe, but he was deeply disappointed in his senior staff.