You've never hated yourself more than you do the next morning.
You vaguely recall Mikasa piling you, Eren, and Armin into her car (she, alongside Levi, Erwin, and Annie were some of the only ones who had remained mostly sober) and taking you home. You'd been coherent enough to strip yourself out of your work clothing, take a shower, and collapse in bed.
Now, it's just before noon the day after and you keep replaying your conversation with Levi in your head.
You like them short?!
What the hell were you thinking?
You spend all day cursing yourself in your head, trying to remember how much you rambled and if you made a total fool of yourself. No, you're pretty sure you had a decent handle on your behavior, but still.
On Sunday, you go grocery shopping. There's a local store a two minute walk from your apartment which is both a blessing and a curse: close enough to make it walking distance, but too close that it makes your late-night cravings easy to satisfy. You head through the aisles, trying to avoid bumping into other people, and grab what you can find on sale.
On a whim, you buy a pack of cookies. These are the type that Sasha claims to love, right?
When Monday rolls around, you spend the entire bus ride fidgeting nervously. You should not be this concerned about it. It's Levi. You doubt a little comment like that bothered him.
Either way, when you head into his office that morning with a mug of green tea in your hands, you can't help but start with, "I apologize for my behavior on Friday."
Levi says nothing, instead raising an eyebrow at you and taking his tea mug.
He's wearing a black collared shirt which suits him and he looks way too hot for you to be doing this right now. "It was inappropriate," you say quickly, avoiding eye contact, "and I was intoxicated."
He takes a sip. "Is that all?"
You swallow, then nod. "Yes. Sir."
Levi sets his tea mug down and hands you two files. "Those need to be updated based on what we have in the computer system," he tells you, eyes on his own computer screen. "And would it kill you to try a bit of variety?" Levi adds, holding up his mug. "If you make me green tea one more time I'm going to throw it at you."
You have no doubts that he would follow through on his threat. "I'll be sure to mix it up," you say, your shoulders relaxing. He doesn't care about what happened on Friday. Good. "Anything else?"
"No. Get Mikasa to show you the section in the archives on those folders."
"Yes, sir."
You shut the door behind you and exhale in relief, pressing your forehead into your free hand. He doesn't care. And you shouldn't either, for that matter. You can put the matter behind you and just finish your four months with your head down. No big deal.
You look up and realize everyone is staring at you. "What?" you ask in surprise.
Ymir, whose desk is closest, leans over to you and frowns. "Nope. No tears."
There's a loud groan from Jean, who slumps against his desk, and Connie starts cackling at Sasha, who's sinking lower and lower into her desk. Ah, their bet, you realize. "Sorry to disappoint," you say sarcastically, sliding into your seat.
"No disappointment here," Ymir says brightly, grinning at the miserable look on Jean's face. "I'm still in."
"Sorry," Sasha confesses, rubbing the back of her head. "I thought you'd be out by last week."
"And to think I was going to give you cookies," you murmur.
There's the sound of a chair rolling across the floor, and Sasha stands up so fast that she nearly throws her computer monitor into you. "You what?!" she screeches, causing Connie to clap his hands over his ears. "I'm so sorry! I'll never bet against you again! I-"
"Sasha," Erwin says from Historia's desk- holy crap, did he hear all that? "What did we say about groveling?"
Sasha mumbles something under her breath and sits back down. Erwin smiles and turns back to Historia. You smirk to yourself and reach into your bag, pulling out a cookie for Sasha. She beams gratefully and takes it from you, her eyes bright.
You can't believe this is only day six; it feels like you've been here for years.
.
On day thirteen, a warm September Wednesday, your computer crashes.
You're not sure where it comes from or what you did to cause it, but either way, it happens. You stare at your computer in shock as it goes black. Then, a small circular icon comes up, spinning lazily in a circle with a small note under it that reads restarting.
Your jaw slips open, and "oh, shit," escapes your lips.
You'd just been working on a huge case file for one of Levi's next clients, someone he was going to pitch a big sale too. You'd been working on it for most of yesterday and all of this morning, and it's gone.
"No, no, no," you whisper under your breath. You'd saved it, right? It'll be around here somewhere. Right?
You glance up. Sasha and Connie are both absent and have been since ten this morning; they're out in meetings with clients. You turn back to your computer. It's started up, and you enter your login information and click quickly for the folder you thought the document might be in. Not there.
Shit. Levi's meeting is today, this afternoon, and you just lost the file you were supposed to give him.
"Oi, how's that case file coming?"
Oh, Levi's timing couldn't possibly be worse. You turn in your chair. He's leaning against his office door, flipping through a few sheets in his binder. "I, uh..." you start, voice trailing off.
He looks up. He must realize how panicked you look, because his eyebrows raise. "Now what?"
You feel ridiculously small as you whisper, "my computer crashed."
"And?"
"And I can't find the file where I thought I saved it."
"You've tried the search function?"
"Yes."
Levi's frown deepens and you want to sink through your seat, into the floor, and never come back. He walks towards your computer, putting a hand on your mouse. "Shit happens," he says gruffly, leaning over you. He starts clicking and scrolling through your folders. "You think you're the first person that this happened to? We've got a back up drive."
"Oh," you murmur, shoulders sinking in relief.
Levi's hovering quite close to you, leaving only a few inches of space as he navigates through your computer screen. You're about to move when you feel his fingers lightly settle on your back, and your whole spine straightens up. "Relax," he mutters, and you're not sure whether he's telling you to relax about the computer crashing or his two fingers on your back.
You bite your lip, keeping yourself quiet. It feels like his touch is sending electric currents up your spine.
"There," Levi says, letting go of the mouse and pointing at the screen. "Our back ups. Everything you save is automatically saved here as well."
"That's great," you say in relief. "Thank you so much."
"Is this it?" he asks, cursor hovering over the file. You nod, and he clicks on it. "Holy hell, intern, you were going to make me read all that?" Levi says incredulously, scrolling through the summary pages you made that were much too long. "Would it kill you to summarize?"
"Well, that's-"
"That's your summarized version, isn't it?" he interrupts, and when you don't reply, he knows he's right. "Summarize it better. If I see more than four bullet points in each section, I'll delete it."
You nod, swallowing the lump in your throat. He still hasn't moved his fingers from your back. "Yes, sir."
"Good. I need that in half an hour. Got it?"
"Yes."
He steps away from your computer. You gasp when his fingers lift from your back. He nods and heads back into his office, closing the door behind him, and you're left wondering if he could feel how badly your back is burning from his touch.
.
You start occasionally working late.
It doesn't bother you all that much. Besides, you're paid hourly, so any overtime hours get you a bonus on your paycheck. It's not like you have anything to do in the evenings anyways; you'd be curled up on your couch, watching some sort of show.
It doesn't happen often, either. Your first time working late was only an extra half hour because Levi had to get a proposal submitted. You weren't the only ones who stayed late; Erwin was there as well, and apparently Annie and Bertolt had some important business to take care of, so they were there too. Levi ended up kicking you out after half an hour, saying he could do the rest of it himself. The second time was very similar: you only got half an hour in before Levi kicked you out, saying he'd make Eren do it.
The third time, which happens in the second week of October, is much longer.
You glance up at the clock reading seven o'clock and then back down at your presentation, sifting through it yet again. Levi was supposed to have a meeting with several of the other regional managers next week about budgeting but at the last minute, they moved it up to tomorrow.
Naturally, Levi spent the rest of the day in a foul mood, trying to prepare everything he needed for tomorrow. He handed you four different reports that he was supposed to present at the meeting, telling you he needed them summarized, highlighted, and put into a report, then went back into his office and hopped on the phone.
That was 3:30, and now it was 7:00. You're not sure he's had more than five minutes off the phone since.
Erwin left the office around six, and asking assuring him you'd be okay with just Levi, he left. And honestly? It was fine. Sitting alone in a huge office was a little weird and it made you a bit jumpy, but you can still hear the muffled sound of Levi on the phone, which keeps you from being in total silence.
"Well, it could be worse," you muse to yourself as you scroll through the presentation you'd drawn up. It had been a little over fifty slides, but in the past half hour you'd managed to condense it to thirty. If you'd learned anything about your boss, he liked to get to the point.
You amuse yourself with editing the fonts and playing with graphs and charts when the door to Levi's office finally opens. He looks pissed. "You're still here?" he asks sourly.
You nod. "Why, was I supposed to leave?"
"You could've left two hours ago and I wouldn't have blamed you," Levi mutters, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Fucking Garrison."
You hum in assent. "How were your calls?"
"Shitty. Had to reconstruct my whole schedule and get shit done for tomorrow because of this stupid meeting." He raises an eyebrow at you. "What're you working on?"
"Your presentation," you say, scooting your chair back and tilting your monitor so that he can see.
"You did that?" Levi mutters, stepping towards you.
You shrug. "You told me to."
He doesn't reply, just studies the screen. You try not to squirm anxiously in your seat; you feel like a child showing off their artwork to the teacher and awaiting praise. "And the files?" he finally asks.
You hold them out to him. "Summarized, and I've tabbed the appropriate figures you'll need for tomorrow. I cross referenced it with some of our other online databases so all the information should be accurate. And, uh, I've got a rough presentation outline," you add, handing him a few pages clipped together. "Just important notes worth talking about in your presentation tomorrow. Sir."
Levi takes them from you carefully, eyeing you, then turns his attention to the folders. He flips through them, turning to the pages with the tabs.
You wait, pinching your leg as a reminder to be patient.
"You saved me a few hours of work tonight," Levi says slowly, and you straighten up. That's the closest thing to a thank-you that you're going to get.
"Well, that's my job."
"You'll be coming with me tomorrow."
Your eyes widen. "To- to the meeting? With the other branches?"
"Yes. You'll be note taking and observing, that's all. It'd be stupid for you to miss out on what your work went towards." He looks up at you, and you can see the exhaustion in his eyes. The last three hours on the phone must've been painful. "Go home."
You nod, smiling to yourself, and collect your things. Levi heads back into his office to grab his coat, and the two of you head down the elevator together and out the door. You pass a security guard, who waves to you as you both step out.
The air is cold, and you wish you'd brought a warmer coat. It's also pitch black outside, which is already causing your anxiety to spike. Waiting for the bus is going to be painful.
"You take the bus?" Levi asks. He's already halfway down the sidewalk to his car. You nod, and he scoffs. "C'mon. Get in."
You blink. "Pardon?"
He glares at you. "I'm driving you home. You're not waiting for a bus at this hour. Get in."
"It's no problem," you assure him, "I can-"
"You stayed late on my behalf," Levi argues, his eyes narrowed, "so I'm driving you home."
He doesn't say anything else, just swings into the driver's seat of his car: a shiny, black vehicle that looks way too expensive for you to even be near, let alone be in. Swallowing, you walk over to his vehicle and open the passenger door, letting yourself inside.
Just like his office space, it's spotless. The car looks brand new. You set your bag by your feet and carefully lean yourself back against the seat. "Your car is nice."
Levi shifts into reverse and turns, putting his hand behind your headrest as he looks over his shoulder to back out of his parking spot. You can't help but stare at him. Sharp jaw line, narrowed eyes, arm stretched out: he's ridiculously handsome. You've always thought he was, but there are moments like this where it's so much more apparent.
You avert your eyes and try to erase those sorts of thoughts from your mind. Levi shifts the car into drive and presses down on the gas.
It normally takes about ten minutes to get to work: thirty second walk to the bus stop, seven minute bus ride, then a two minute walk to your building, give or take. Driving, it only takes a few minutes.
And holy shit are these the longest few minutes of your life.
You can't help fidgeting, messing with your jacket sleeves, crossing and uncrossing your ankles, shifting in the seat.
Eventually, Levi snaps, "for fuck's sake, stop squirming."
You freeze immediately. "Sorry."
He huffs, and you're not sure whether it's a scoff of amusement or exasperation. Probably the latter. "You fidget so much you'd think you have ants in your suit," he mutters.
"Sorry," you say again, and you inwardly curse yourself for apologizing so much.
Levi slows for a stop sign, and he glances at you. "Do I make you nervous?" he asks casually.
"Yes," you say immediately. You resist the urge to smack yourself in the forehead- you really need to start thinking before you speak. "I mean, you're my boss, of course you make me nervous," you amend quickly.
He takes a right. "You're not a very good liar."
What's he trying to imply? "I'm not lying," you tell him.
Levi doesn't reply. He glances at you one more time and then turns back to the road. You pinch yourself in the leg, trying to ground yourself. It almost feels like he's goading you into thinking about that night, thinking about one of the best nights of your life. Trying to get you to talk about it so that he doesn't have to.
It's only when Levi pulls into the parking lot of your apartment building that you realize you never told him your address.
The realization hits you like a brick as he parks his car and unlocks the door so that you can get out. "I never told you my address," you say hesitantly, wondering if you can make him bring the topic up this time.
He takes the bait. "I remembered it," Levi replies.
And it happens again: a stare down with Levi in which you can't seem to look away. It's been over a month since the night you both silently agreed not to talk about, yet since then, there's been several moments that make you want to explore it. Moments that make you want to find out if Levi wants you as badly as you want him, because it feels like your want gets worse with every passing day.
Levi's eyes slowly trail down, from your eyes to your lips, then down to your neck and chest. It's slow and it's deliberate. When he meets your eyes again, you see a fervor in them that wasn't there before.
Chills are running down your spine, and in that moment, you know. He hasn't forgotten your night together either, not by a long shot.
Levi shifts forward at the same time you do, and-
Your phone rings.
Both of you pause. Levi sits back first, turning his gaze to the front. The moment is broken. You reach for your phone, and nearly groan when you see your best friend's number.
"I'll see you tomorrow," Levi says, and that's the end of it.
You nod, fumbling with your bag, and say, "thanks for the ride."
As soon as you step out of the car and close the door, Levi reverses and backs out of the parking spot. You click the green button on your phone, and through gritted teeth, snap, "you are the worst cockblock and I hate you."
There's a laugh on the other end. "Love you too. Guess who got a job?"
You banish your frustration and force a happier tone as you reply to your friend, asking about her new job. You glance behind you, but Levi's car is already gone.
.
A/N: Hi friends- this fic is available here and on ao3! You can see it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29210277/chapters/71721240
Thanks to those who have read and enjoyed this so far!