It Started With Cadet Training (Reader/Levi/Erwin/Hange/Mike)

Waste Your Time

"I highly doubt you just hit a tree," he mumbles as he pours the shampoo on your hair.

"It was just a tree," you protest. You know it's a lie, you'd crashed into the tree, your blade scraping across your back. You knew it was bad, you just weren't prepared to admit it to them.

"Mike hit a tree and it looks half as bad as that," Erwin argues, a gentleness to his tone as you keep your eyes closed.

You can practically feel him breathing against the top of your head, his chest nearly pressed against your back. The proximity is making your heart hammer loud enough you swear he can hear it. You try and force yourself to stop, but you can't.

You've been losing control of yourself for weeks, teetering dangerously close over the edge to confessing. Yet every time you do, your mind circles back to "who". You can't possibly have all four of them, life's never easy. Yet in the dead of night, you found yourself wishing it was possible.

"Maybe this was a bigger tree," you mumble, tilting your head back as he rinses out your hair.

He goes silent for a long while, rinsing out your hair carefully before placing the showerhead back in it's holder. You tilt your head back, your heart thundering about the possibility of him walking off, but instead he brushes your hair back so it's away from your shoulder and a clothe is pressed to your wound.

You flinch at the sting of chemicals, but a strong hand on your shoulder keeps you steady so he can clean out the wound. His touch is free of any heavy handedness, gently brushing away dirt and blood as he holds you carefully.

Tears prick up to the corners of your eyes as he rinses out the clothe and returns to cleaning, leaning forwards to whisper in your ear:

"You're doing so well, I'm almost done."

Instinctively, you reach a hand up to place it over the one on your shoulder holding you still.

"O-okay," you manage to reply, the words wavering and giving away your wrecked emotional state.

In an instant, someone moves in front of you to distract you. You're met with the smile of Hange, void of glasses as they put their hands on your cheeks.

"Hey, (Y/N), don't cry. He's almost done," they murmur, brushing their thumbs against your cheeks.

A sniffle escapes your nose as you nod your head, yet you cannot stop the tears leaking down your cheeks.

They remain in front of you until Erwin finishes, murmuring words of encouragement and keeping your focus on their face. It's not hard to find yourself lost in their eyes, you could spend days lost in them without regret. You can't stop yourself before their name stumbles from your lips, intent on telling them how you feel.

"Hange, I-" you start to say before they cut you off.

"I know. We'll get you fixed up soon," they murmur, giving you a reassuring smile.

You close your mouth, swallowing your words as you nod your head. You're not sure what they thought you meant, but perhaps it was for the best that they stopped you. Perhaps they really did know and they were avoiding the topic. Perhaps you were just that obvious.

"All done, let's get both of you bandaged up, okay?" Erwin hums, rubbing his thumb on your shoulder where he still had his hand resting.

"Mike's patching up Levi in your room Erwin, so let's get our butts there," Hange explains, stepping out from under the water and passing you a towel.

"Hange, where do you think you're going?" Erwin asks, folding his arms as you dry off your hair carefully.

"Er- to your room?" they say with a nervous chuckle.