Coldness.

The word.

"Y/N, Men do strange things when they're interested in someone. Not to mention, you are kind of oblivious."

"Oblivious?!" 

"Well, You didn't notice Levi was into you until he kissed you, and even then you weren't certain. You definitely don't notice the way some others are towards you either."

He had a point. You never for a second believed Levi liked you, even when everybody else was constantly telling you, but still, Erwin? You highly doubted that.

You rejoined the group to continue target practice, it was beginning to get competitive, you were really enjoying this, and soon enough it became a full on competition, with Sasha as the judge.

You all took it in turns to shoot as Sasha added up the scores, and most of you were pretty good. It was a very close call in the end, except for Connie, who completely missed the target every time, claiming that he purposefully aimed for the trees behind it.

Mikasa came first place, Jean second, You third, Armin fourth, Eren fifth and of course, Connie was last.

Afterwards you all went to the tea shop. You all took this time to unwind and laugh about the target practice, before heading back to HQ. You quickly showered before heading back to your room.  You had been spending a couple of nights a week in your own room to give Levi some time and space to attend to his work, and you enjoyed the time to yourself despite missing him.

You liked that he encouraged you to spend time with your friends, which was a big change from when he rescued you from Kenny. He was only overprotective out of concern for you, but you had been longing for some time with your friends for a while now, so it was more than welcome when he began to encourage it again.

When you entered your room, you noticed a folded piece of paper on the desk. You picked it up and opened it, reading the words carefully.

Meet me in my office, we need to talk.- L.

You quickly changed into some comfortable yet presentable clothes and headed for Levi's office. A nervous feeling consumed your gut, what could he possibly want to talk about? Was he ending things? Obviously he had been tense recently, but you stood by him and had his back through it all. You were almost certain things were fine between the two of you until reading that letter. Now you weren't so sure.

The walk to his office seemed to be in slow motion, yet it went far too quickly. You were dreading what lied ahead, so you tried your best to take as much time as possible to get there. Soon enough, you couldn't put it off much longer.

When you reached the door, you decided to knock this time, just in case.

"Come in." his voice rang out coldly.

You entered to find him sat at his desk, hands in his hair, looking completely exhausted. Papers littered the desktop, along with a few scattered on the floor around him. This couldn't be good.

"Levi, What's wrong?"

"We should talk."

"Sure, what's going on?"

"Please.. Don't hate me for this."

Your stomach dropped.

Oh shit...

He really was ending things wasn't he? Before you had even made it official, before you had the chance to tell him how you truly felt about him. You were convinced you were just worrying too much, but now it seemed undeniable.

"Levi. Are you breaking things off?" you asked shakily.

Levi glared up at you.

"What? No of course I'm not, idiot!"

You breathed a sigh of relief, but you still had lingering worries about what this conversation would be.

"Then, what is it?"

"You're not coming on this next expedition."

"Why not?"

"Because it's an order."

"From who?"

"From me."

"What the hell Levi. What made you come to this conclusion?"

"I've been sick with worry Y/N. I can't stop thinking about what could happen. I don't want to lose you."

So that's why he was so quiet about it? Of course you understood his concerns, and you would gladly sit this one out if it put his mind at ease, but what gave him the right to make this decision for you without even talking to you about it first?

"and does Commander Erwin know this?"

"It's the first thing me and Erwin have agreed on in the past few weeks. In fact, he insisted I keep you here"

What the hell.

"Levi, I don't mind staying here for this one. But please, in future can you just talk to me? Let me make my own decisions?"

"And what if your decisions get you killed?" he snapped.

"Then that's my fault."

"Do you really think I could live with myself if you died on my watch?" He raised his voice.

"I'm not a fucking child Levi, I can take care of myself!"

"Tch. Please."

"What? Do you think I'm incapable?" you yelled back.

"No, I don't."

"Then what? Why do you insist on making these decisions for me?"

"I have to for my own peace of mind and your safety."

"Why?!"

"Because I'm in love with you for fuck sake!" He boomed.

You froze. Had he really just said that? All thoughts of the argument left your mind as you stood there stunned. You were almost certain you had just imagined it.

Levi was in love with you.

He looked embarrassed that he had even said that out loud. He was clearly awaiting your response, terrified of what he may hear next.

"Levi, I'm in love with you too." you breathed.

His shoulders relaxed and a broad smile broke out on his face, you would never get used to seeing that smile. He looked perfect.

He stood up and you rushed over to him, taking him into your arms as he did the same. You didn't care about any arguments you just had, you were too happy.

Of course you still wanted him to treat you like an adult rather than making all of your decisions for you, but you loved him too much.

Plus with how on edge he's been recently, if he was behaving that way during the expedition due to worrying about you, he would be putting himself in danger too, and you never wanted that.

"I really mean it brat. I've never felt this way before, ever." He whispered into your ear, sending shivers down your spine.

"Me too." you whispered back.

You turned your head ever so slightly to look at his face, and his lips were on yours in an instant. He breathed you in with one long gentle kiss before pulling away and looking deeply into your eyes. His finger traced your cheek as a look of worry spread across his face, and you realized you had shed a single tear. This was a happy tear, but Levi still worried all the same. He placed a gentle kiss on your forehead before leading you to his bedroom by the hand.

You both climbed into the bed and then you curled up into him, his arms squeezing you tightly as he traced circles on your back with his finger. You could stay here forever in his arms. There was no sex this time, but you were both absolutely fine with that, you didn't need it right now. This moment was perfect enough exactly how it was.

You were originally supposed to be staying in your room tonight, but you quickly dozed off in Levi's arms, a persistent smile still plastered across your face.

You were in love.