Smile [Levi x Reader] Part 28

You were taken a back by his words, blinking several times to make sure you heard him right. A look of concern washed over Levi's features. "What's wrong?" he asked

"What...did you just call me?"

He seemed confused by your question "I called you [Name],"

"No you didn't," you reply hesitantly. Was he lying to you or did he really not know?

Levi pursed his lips, brows furrowing as if in deep thought. After a moment he finally asked "What did I call you?"

You look to him with uncertainly. Did you really want to hear his answer? You knew that he was in love with Natasha, a feeling that didn't come easily to a man like him. But did that mean he only liked you only because you looked like her? That he didn't really care about who you were as a person? "I must just be hearing things," you  finally muttered, cursing under your breath for being so weak. 

It was obvious Levi wasn't too pleased with your answer, but for once he decided not to push you for it. Your expression pained him however. He knew he had done you wrong but wasn't quite sure how to fix it. 

"The others will probably be getting back soon, we should head to Head Quarters," Without waiting for confirmation you called your horse over. She seemed to sense your sadness as she nuzzled your face in attempts to comfort you. You pat her nose in appreciation before climbing on her back. "I'm not too familiar with this area, so you better lead the way Captain," You saw Levi's face drop at the use of his title instead of his name. You couldn't help but feel a little bad, maybe he really didn't realize he called you by his ex's name. Still it wasn't something you could easily forget. 

Calling his horse over, Levi took the lead with you following silently behind him. The ride was long and awkward to say the least. Every now and then you'd catch him stealing glances at you but you always made sure to avert your eyes before they met. The two of you made it back just as the sun was setting. You could see a long line of horses tied to the hitching post indicating everyone was already back. Climbing off Oroka, you take her to the stables, making sure she had plenty of water and food before heading inside. You decide to you head down to the dining hall since you figured that was where your friends would be. On the way there you ran into Mikasa and Armin who were coming from the direction of the infirmary. It was then you remembered Eren, calling their attention you rushed over to ask how he was doing. 

"He's doing better," Armin half smiled indicating that his condition was not exactly that great "He's still unconscious though," 

'He must have really punched himself hard,'  you think to yourself as you remembered how he had tried to kill you. You were still baffled and a bit hurt as to why he would attack you. But then again, he did see you die so he probably thought it was some sort of trick. 

"What exactly happened to him, do you know?" Armin asked, breaking your thoughts. 

You found yourself hesitating. You couldn't exactly tell him how you died, came back to life, scared Eren who then tried to kill you. 
 
"What are you hiding?" Mikasa demanded sharply. 

"Nothing!" you quickly lie "I honestly don't know too much. All I do know is that he went on a rampage and was heading towards the wall. I tried to snap him out of it, even landing on his face so he could see me better, but he just tried to kill me. I escaped just in time but he knocked himself out in the process. 

"That happened to you too, right?" Armin asked, turning towards Mikasa

She pursed her lips before finally sighing "Yes,"

Your eyes widened at her response. She and Eren were so close, being raised as siblings. Surely he would never try to kill her.

"It was when he plugged the hole in Wall Rose. He lost control and went on a rampage. I tried to get him to stop but he punched himself in attempts to crush me,"

"So it wasn't the first time he acted like that?" you concluded

"No," Mikasa agreed sadly "I had thought that the Captain would have been able to help him by now," Her eyes turned into daggers, staring past you. Turning around you saw Levi, lurking in the background. You were a bit surprised to see him, assuming he had gone to his office after arriving.

"It's not his fault" You suddenly reply. Mikasa's eyebrow arched at your response. You hadn't meant to intervene, but something about Mikasa's glare made you nervous. She was the only one you knew who had the guts to take on the Captain. 

"Care to elaborate?" Mikasa probed

"Um well, you see," you reply, trying to justify your words

"No, she's right [Last Name]," A deep voice sounded from behind you. 

"Sir?" You look to him in surprise as he made his way closer. 

"We haven't made as much progress with Eren as we intended. I've have had some distractions lately, but I assure you that Eren will now be my top priority,"

A satisfied smile crossed Mikasa's lips at the Captain's words. You on the other hand felt really guilty. By Levi's tone you had a feeling that you were the source of his distraction. 

"We appreciate that Captain," Armin added gratefully. "We should go to the dining hall now. Want to join us [Name]?"

"In a minute," you smiled at his invitation "I'd like to go see Eren first," 

"Okay," Armin nodded "We'll see you soon then," After waving a goodbye, he and Mikasa made their way down the hall. 

Being left alone with Levi only intensified your feelings. Guilt had turned into sadness as you remembered what he said last. "I'm sorry I've been such a distraction sir," you said, casting your eyes to the floor. 

"We'll both just have to be more focused from now on," he replied solemnly. 

"Yes sir," You replied obediently "I-I gotta go," you quickly turned before your tears fell. You could feel his eyes bore into you as you moved away. Everything was such a mess now. You had finally managed to break down his wall only to have it rebuilt in a matter of minutes. You didn't know if you could live with his attitude or even worse have him ignore you completely. Ultimately you knew you needed to face him and find out how he really felt about you. The real you. Not just some Natasha look-a-like. That was for later though, your focus now was Eren. You had to think about what to say to him, regarding your 'death'. He was sure to be shocked and confused.

Before you realized it, you were in the infirmary. You took a deep breath before approaching your friend. Armin was right about him being in bad shape, although he did look better than the last time you saw him. His arm seemed to have grown back, looking as new as ever. 

"[Name]?" A weak voice snaps you from your thoughts. Looking down, you saw Eren's turquoise eyes widening at your figure. "How are you here?" he asked quietly, his voice pitching between shock and confusion. 

'It's now or never'  you close your eyes, bracing yourself.

"Eren, I..." you voice trails off as you look down at him. In that short amount of time he had fallen back asleep. His expression was so peaceful you couldn't bring yourself to wake him back up. Carefully you pulled up the sheets and tucked him in, planting a soft kiss on his forehead. "Sleep well Eren,"

You took one last glance at him before entering the hallway. You were a bit jealous to be honest. You couldn't remember the last time you slept so peacefully. Perhaps tonight you won't be plagued with nightmares. Perhaps tonight will be different.

Of course tonight wouldn't come until after dinner. Just the thought of food made your mouth drool. As you approached the dining hall all sorts of wonderful scents filled the air. Backed potatoes was the first thing you smelled. Sasha must be happy. Definitely some sort of vegetable was present as well and maybe, just maybe, a little bit of meat? Unlikely given the amount of space available for animals, but one could dream right? 

As soon as you opened the doors to the dining room all eyes were on you. You were a bit surprised at their faces, they were all so eager. Were they waiting for you? "Awie! [Name]! You're back!" Sasha leaped up from her chair, clutching your shoulders in a tight hug. "We all have been missing you like crazy, right guys?" Sasha beamed at the rest of your friends. Most of them smiled in agreement while Mikasa looked away with disinterest. What was that girl's problem anyway? You and Mikasa had never really been tight friends, if anything she was more on an acquaintance. She was always so concerned with Eren. The fact that he liked you probably pissed her off. 

"So how have you been [Name]?" Reiner, the blonde giant asked. "Last time we saw you was when we received our jackets,"

"Oh yeah," you smiled at the memory. Funny because you were upset at that time, yet compared to what you've been through now it had become a pleasant one. You remembered how nice it was see all your friends, just as it was now. All of them looked at you with such warm expressions, all except Ymir who instead looked at you with boredom and slight irritation. 

"Oh come on," the tan skinned girl whined "Just tell us already!"

"Don't be so rude!" Christa piped from beside her. Ymir crossed her arms and huffed, but remained quiet.

"I've been fine Ymir," you smiled despite her attitude. "I'm sorry if I seem little off, I'm just really tired," you raised your hand to stifle a yawn. 

"Being part of the Special Operations Squad must be intense," Reiner continued. "Congrats by the way," he flashed one of his tight lipped grins

"Thanks," you smile 

"I told you her skill was better than Mikasa's" The ash haired boy triumphantly grinned. "You owe me money Ymir!"

"Fine," Ymir sighed pulling out a crumpled up bill from her pocket. Mikasa's black eyes were like daggers against the girl's golden ones. "Relax Miki," Ymir laughed, slapping Mikasa's back "It was only a friendly bet,"

"Don't touch me," the raven pushed her hand off "And don't call me that,"

"I can't help it, you're just so adorable," Ymir cooed while pinching her cheek. 

Mikasa's chair flew backwards as she leaped to her feet "I said don't touch me!" 

"Please stop," Bertholdt weakly demanded, his pale green eyes looking more uncertain than ever. As usual nobody seemed to hear him. 

"I got this," Reiner patted his friend's back while climbing to his feet. "Knock it off you two," Reiner said while stepping in between the two dueling woman.  

"Reiner look out!"

With a slam, the blonde was knocked to the ground by Mikasa's fist. 

"BAHAHAHA" Ymir laughed while Mikasa looked down on the boy with shock. It was obvious that her fist was intended for Ymir. 

"Reiner, I..." Mikasa started

"Don't sweat it," Reiner chuckled, though his embarrassment was clear "It was my fault for interrupting a cat fight," 

"Are you okay Reiner?" You ask while coming to his side. 

"Better now that you're here," he slyly grinned while accepting your offered hand. 

"Real charmer," you roll your eyes and pull him to his feet. 

"Can we please get back to eating?" a voice whined from the table. 

"No one's stopping you Sasha," Connie sighed while looking at the drooling girl. 

"It's impolite to eat without everyone else!" she objected

"Stop being so polite already!" Ymir groaned

"Ymir, behave yourself of so help me-" Christa's face furrowed in annoyance at her friend 

"Alright, alright!" Ymir sighed, raising her palms in surrender. "Wouldn't want to invoke the wrath of Christa Lenz, the smallest member of the Survey Corps," she grinned while taking her seat beside the smaller girl. 

"Aren't you going to sit down too?" Armin asked Mikasa, who was still standing at the same spot as before. 

"Continue without me, I'm going to go check on Eren," Before anyone could object she left the dining hall. 

"I better go too," Armin replied before meeting your eyes "We'll have to catch up some other time, okay?"

"Okay," you nodded and watched him leave. 

"YES! WE CAN FINALLY EAT!" Sasha shouted and began scarfing down her food. 

"Don't forget to chew," Connie added as he watched her inhale her food. 

"No...thyme....for...sewing," she mumbled, spitting out bits of food with her words

"Oh god, chew with your mouth closed!" Jean complained, shielding his plate with his hands. 

You couldn't help but feel your worries melt away as your watched your friends' playful banter. It was like old times at the academy, back before everything became so complicated. 


Before you knew it, dinner was over and everyone was cleaning up their plates. "Where are you sleeping?" Reiner whispered to you as you made your way to the kitchen. 

"Not with you," you kidded. 

"You don't know what you're missing," he winked while flashing is famous cocky grin. 

"On the contrary I think you're the one missing out," you replied, moving your eyebrows up and down. You missed this playful flirting with him. While you would never act upon your words, it was still fun to tease him. 

"Hey, stop hitting on my girlfriend!" Jean scolded as he wedged himself between you and the tall blond. 

"Please," Reiner rolled his eyes "like she'd ever date a horse like you," 

"Hey!" Jean began

"Don't you mean 'neigh'?" The blond corrected. 

"Enough you two!" you snap in order to get their attention. "I don't belong to either of you,"

"Not yet," Reiner added cheekily. 

"Not ever! Because I like someone else," your eyes widen at the words you hadn't meant to say. 

"Oooooh!" You heard Sasha squeal in excitement. "You gotta tell us!"

"I'm not telling you guys!" you object. 

"Fine, then just tell us girls!" she pleaded while grabbing a hold of your arm. "We can go to my room!" 

"This outta be good," Ymir smiled as she followed behind you. 

"Ymir wait! If she doesn't want to tell, she doesn't have too!" Christa yelled before turning towards the boys. "You guys leave [Name] alone!" she mildly warned before running after Ymir. 


"Yeah right, like I'm going to stay behind and miss out on this gold," Jean replied defiantly 

"Hold your horses Jean, or rather hold yourself," Reiner corrected cheekily. 

"He's right Jean," Connie added "We really shouldn't pry into [Name]'s love life" 

"Hey I gotta know my competition!" 

"There is no competition because she's already mine," Reiner boasted.

"Like hell she is!" Jean argued, turning his face up to the slightly taller male. 

Connie sighed heavily "Come on Bertholdt, they're not going to be stopping anytime soon. Let's head to bed,"

The tall male gave once last glance at his blonde companion before reluctantly following Connie out into the hall.