Don't Write Me Notes || Levi x Reader

4. it doesn't count if it's to convince the in-laws

There's multiple choruses of "Merry Christmas" from a dozen other people over the phone. You wave at your camera: you can see your father, aunts, uncles, and cousins all packed in together. God, you're glad you're not there right now.

One of your cousins- Sasha- leans in towards the camera. "Are you at your boyfriend's?" she chirps, and this sparks several more interested hums. "Can we meet him?"

"You'll meet him when I see you guys in a few days." You're not about to wake him up for this.

Your mother clicks her tongue. "Oh, please tell me you're not running around at your boyfriend's house looking like that."

You peer into the tiny image of yourself on your phone screen; sure, your hair's a bit of mess, but do you really look that bad? "No," you defend meekly. "I- I just got up."

"Just got up? It's nearly ten in the morning."

"Really?" You check the time on your phone. Shit, she's right. "I slept really well," you defend. "He's- he's got heated blankets."

"Whatever you say, darling. I just know that if I decided to go around looking like that, your father would divorce me!" your mother says with a laugh.

You're reminded once again how little you're looking forward to seeing your family. Quick remarks sit on your tongue- well, at least my boyfriend's not as shallow as Dad, then- but you can't bring yourself to say it. "How are you?" you ask, changing topics.

About fifteen minutes later, the call is over. The phone sort of gets passed around the room, so you get a brief minute to say Merry Christmas to everyone before you say that you need to go and the conversation ends. You sit by yourself in the bathroom for another minute or two after that, composing yourself again and cursing your mother in your head.

When you exit the bathroom, Levi's standing in the corner of the room where he's got his dressers and a full length mirror. He's already dressed: black dress shirt, grey slacks. Shit, you'll have to dig out your best tops. "Sorry," you blurt out, and he looks over to you. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"I was already awake," he replies, looking back to the mirror. He's adjusting his collar. "How much time do you need to get ready?"

Fuck, how much time do you need? "Are we in a rush?" you ask.

Levi turns back to you again, now fiddling with his sleeves. "No. Take your time. We normally bring breakfast into one of the sitting rooms and do gifts there."

Gifts. "Right, gifts. Uh, I brought some-"

"I've got it," he interrupts.

You frown. "You what?"

"I've got it covered." Levi crosses his arms. "My family, my problem. I've got gifts covered. Just get ready, take your time, and we'll go out when you're ready."

Oh. He's got it covered. "You're sure?" you ask, and he nods. "Okay. Okay, thank you. Yeah, I'll... I'll do that."

He leaves you to it. Although he told you to take your time, you still rush a bit as you struggle to make yourself look presentable. What your mom said is getting to you: yeah, you had just woken up, and yes, he's not actually your boyfriend, but you should still be making sure you look okay. Levi is going to see you at some serious lows on this trip, but your appearance is still within your control, so you can focus on fixing that at the very least.

You settle on a warm green sweater and black trousers, hoping that's acceptable for celebrating Christmas with Levi's family, and you're fussing with your hair in front of Levi's mirror when he finally calls, "how close to done are you?"