You could feel yourself smile as Sasha dragged you along the corridors of headquarters, of course talking incessantly of food. Mikasa was striding alongside you, a similar expression on her face, while Krista was ahead of all of you, occasionally flashing you an encouraging grin. These three girls meant the world to you and you had no idea what you would do without them. Sure, they were young, maybe five years or more younger than you and still just teenagers, but you adored them nonetheless. Ever since they joined the Scout Regiment, you've taken them under your wing, teaching them the etiquette and pitfalls of this branch of the military.
Mikasa didn't need much take care of though; she was a strong, prideful young woman who only cared about keeping Eren and Armin safe above all else. Sasha liked you mostly because you snuck her food a lot, especially meat. You and her have stolen more food than you'd care to share, only been caught by Levi once. You both suffered laps for that and no meals for a full day. You figured you got off easy though. Krista was the closest one to you of the three, having always needed someone to care for her. You could tell early on she was a broken soul and you wanted to reach out to her.
Today had been a busy day and although the sun had set over headquarters, you were still being hauled around by your closest friends. Not that you minded, since they were beautiful people, but you couldn't fathom what else what you could do with the day.
"We've been celebrating my birthday practically since dawn," you said with an amused sigh. "What else could we possibly be doing?"
"Shush you," said Sasha, tugging harder. "Today is special so we have every right to celebrate all day long."
You rolled your eyes but made no effort to reply.
"What did Levi do for you today, (f/n)?" Krista asked to switch subjects on your behalf. She giggled for a second. "Did he propose yet?"
Heat rushed to your cheeks but you laughed. "What!? No way. We only have been together for a year so..." you trailed off, flustered. "Anyways, he took me to a nearby lake and we had a picnic there. It was cute."
Krista clapped her hands together in delight. "That's so sweet!" she exclaimed. "What a good boyfriend."
Mikasa spoke up with an amused smirk. "Birthday sex."
"Mikasa!!!" you said, horrified. You weren't sure if that was supposed to be a question but you weren't very sure how she knew that. If anyone, Mikasa had no problem teasing her superior and you hated how flustered you could get by that.
"Well?" she pressed. You knew your cheeks were bright red and you stumbled over your words. No matter what you said, you knew they knew.
Sasha whirled around, cutting you off mid sentence, and gripped your hands in hers while her eyes were bright with hunger. You leaned back to gain back some of your personal space, curious as to what she was doing. "Who cares about the sex? What food did Levi make you!?"
"Seriously!?" you exclaimed, though you shouldn't have expected anything less from "Potato Girl."
"Not everything is about food, Sasha. Goodness..." Krista laughed goodnaturedly.
Somehow, the four of you managed to make it outside where the land was draped in darkness. Stars painted the night sky by the thousands and the only light was that of the full moon. It was a bit chilly out because it was relatively late into the night, so you were glad you wore long sleeves. You looked around and found all your friends standing there, holding tiny sticks and a bunch of large boxes were scattered along the grass. You spotted Levi easily enough; he looked vaguely disinterested and you eyed him curiously.
"Happy birthday, (f/n)!!!"
Before you understood what was happening, everyone's tiny sticks came to life with different colored sparks. You looked to the three girls beside you and even they had sparklers set off. The whole group began singing the birthday song for you, waving around their sparklers in whatever fashion each person deemed necessary.
The lights lit up the whole grounds as they sang on, some clearly not the best vocalists and others having far too much fun running around with their sticks of sparks.
Little tears formed in your eyes and you put your face in your hands to hide your embarrassment from all the attention. The last line of the song finished when you felt a warm hand touch your back. You lifted your gaze and found Levi smiling at you.
"Don't look so awkward," he said somewhat gently and you wiped your tears with a smile.
Before you could reply, Krista had run back over to you and practically tackled you to the grass in a hug. "See how much everyone loves you, (f/n)?"
You could help but laugh when she kissed your cheek affectionately, reminding you of a small child in some ways, before she ran off again to join the others. By now, you were mostly forgotten about since the boxes along the grass contained more fireworks and sparklers. You were just happy to see everyone else happy.
Levi put an arm around your waist and kissed your hair for a moment. "You look content," he whispered in your ear.
With a smile, you replied, "I am. This was an amazing birthday."
Levi returned the look briefly before he held out a new sparkler for you, to which you took and he lit for you. This one was blue sparks and you waved it around to light up the night on front of you. It almost reminded you of a shooting star in your very hand.
"So did you orchestrate this?" you asked, glancing back at Levi while drawing in the sky with your sparkler. You were surprised he managed to get a hold of this many fireworks; they weren't exactly easy to make and were extremely expensive and rare. Fireworks were usually only kept for royal occasions so you were actually really shocked someone managed to get all this for your sake.
Levi shrugged indifferently. "More or less. Some of the cadets helped me out but some of the higher ups like Four-Eyes and Erwin helped me with the major planning."
Your sparkler had gone out and you eyed him with confusion. "Major planning?" you asked.
Your boyfriend shook his head dismissively. "Just wait," he said before his eyes snapped to his left. "Oi! Jaeger!! Quit aiming those things at people, you dumbshit. I'm not your fucking babysitter!"
You stifled a laugh as Eren's eyes widened like a doe caught by a hunter. He had frozen on the spot, having been pointing a small firework at Jean's back while lighting the fuse. Once Jean realized just what was happening, he jumped Eren.
"Idiots..." Levi snorted.
You reached down into the box and picked up a mini rocket. It said it would shoot up a couple feet and explode into a flurry of white, crackling sparkles on the side of the package. As you positioned it in the grass, Levi lit another match before he lit the fuse for you.
While you waited for the firework to set off, you glanced around the fields full of people. Connie and Jean were playing with the ones that make a bunch of noise while the Spec Ops squad were huddled around a larger one like yours. "Speaking of..." you said slowly. You stopped when the firework you planted shot up and exploded into blue and white sparks, creating a cracking noise. You automatically clapped still staring up at the stars through the dissipating smoke.
Finally, you looked over at Levi and you found him gazing at you with a soft expression but it vanished the second you saw it. You glanced around again to be sure. "Where did Hanji and Erwin disappear to? Weren't they just here like a minute ago?"
Levi's smirk was unmistakable. "Not sure..." was his rather sketchy reply but you didn't press him. You just wanted to enjoy the night with your friends and boyfriend. Maybe Hanji and Erwin had to tend to something urgent and military related.
Time meandered along while you continued to light all the assorted fireworks with everyone. Everyone reveled in this chance to play with them, since some of the soldiers have never even seen fireworks prior to now. You've seen them just once before, as a small child. It was a vague memory but you once told Levi about it and how you wished you could see it again.
"You remembered."
Levi glanced back at you having just tossed a finished rocket into the trash pile. "Hmm?"
"You remembered I wanted to see fireworks again," you repeated. Levi paused to think before he stroked your hair affectionately. It still took some getting use to Levi's new behavior, since he has always been such an abrasive man.
"Of course I did," he replied with an air of superiority, causing you to snort. "I wanted to see the way your eyes light up when you saw them."
You blushed, lowering your eyes and burying your face in his chest. Levi was so good to you that it almost made you sick. You didn't think he would actually be the perfect boyfriend.
"Hey get a room, you two!!" you heard a familiar voice from above.
"You shut up, Four-Eyes!! And hurry it up!" Levi shouted back towards the roof. You lifted your head and found two dark figures standing on the roof of headquarters, moving around with a little candle light.
"Wait, is that Hanji and Erwin?" you asked curiously. "The hell are they doing?"
"Ready in two minutes, Levi!" Erwin called. Levi called back up with a statement of understanding and moved away from you slightly. You were utterly confused as to what was going on but you noticed everyone on the floor level was beginning to grin widely at you. Some were whispering with excitement, others were just staring straight at you.
"Hey Levi, what is going on- L-Levi!?!" you practically shrieked as you found him down on one knee before you with one hand holding a small box.
"This was really fucking difficult to pull off, you know," he said with a huff, though his gaze was the softest you've ever seen it.
"That was the worst way to start!!" cried Hanji.
Levi groaned. "Hey, shut up already!" he snapped back, not breaking eye contact with you. "Anyways...I love you (f/n). More than I thought I could. Or would. I'm not really good with this sappy shit so let me get straight to my point."
You laughed at this and he paused. The tension in the air was palpable and you could feel everyone's eyes on you but you could only stare into Levi's, lost in his gentle love and strangely rough words. This was so like him.
"Will you please do me the honor of marrying me?"
The black sky exploded into a flurry of colors and noise, blinding and nearly deafening you as you gave your quiet reply of "Yes. Yes...of course." Levi, nor anyone else, heard it but he stood up and slipped the simple, silver band and tiny sparkling diamond on your ring finger. You promptly leapt into Levi's arms and he kissed you under the deafening roar of exploding fireworks above and the screams and cheers of your friends. Tears streaked your cheeks, lost in Levi's passionate kiss.
Levi pulled away and kissed your eyelid gently before you both turned to look up at the sky at the last bit of fireworks. He slipped an arm around your waist, pulling you as close as he could. Once the last bang of color faded, Levi leaned to you ear again.
"I am a happy man because of you," he whispered. "The only wish I have now is to make you as happy as you've made this stone cold corporal."
You turned to put your hands at his cheeks and leaned your forehead against his. "I am the happiest I've ever been."
With that, you pecked his lips lightly before the crowd of people came rushing to you to congratulate you both.