Chapter Text
"Where is all of this coming from? He was fine one minute and now he-"
"I still can't fucking comprehend how dumb you can be? After a whole fucking year, you would think something might have been mentioned?How many years have we known each other? You would think after all of those years you would have trusted me. You used to tell me everything, but ever since his stupid ass got in the picture, it's like you completely turned your back on me! Now all of a sudden you need me again?"
She attempted to process what he was saying, soaking in all of his words. Had she really been that pathetic?
"It doesn't fucking make sense! Why would you even stay with him? You can be stupid sometimes, but this idiotic? I think a fucking child can do better!"
Levi wanted to say so much more. He couldn't bring himself to do it. He wanted to scream out all of his frustrations and demand that she provide answers to his questions.
"You fucking blew me off for a whole year, and I come and save your ass like I always do."
Her heart felt as if it had just completely dropped. Her throat felt sore and her eyes burned so bad they felt like blisters. Everything he was saying was just a reminder that she was nothing. She was a waste of space and more importantly a waste of time.
She couldn't blame him though. She had done him wrong, she knew that. But she felt like it was her only option. Maybe explaining that would lighten the situation somehow? Normal best friends fight occasionally-right?
"I did the best I could Levi. I didn't want to start anything-"
"How long did you think that was gonna last?"
"I didn't want you to interfere okay? I'm sorry for disregarding your feelings. I really really am! I was being selfish. Trent was right..."
Levi watched as a tear fell from her red eyes, trailing down her cheek as she choked back a sob. She felt absolutely vulnerable and just down right useless at the moment. She understood his frustrations, most people would be upset when they found out someone they cared about was being abused. She hadn't even bothered mentioning it to him.
"What the fuck did I just do?" He asks himself.
Why did he say those things? She just got out of an abusive relationship, just a few hours ago she had gotten the shit beaten out of her. Who knows what Trent has said to her for the past year! Yet here he is. Unloading his own frustrations onto her. He had acted so aggressive and hostile only because he was overthinking and felt provoked.
He was grieving on his own somehow, he had unknowingly ignored her feelings at the moment. He knew he could say terrible things at times, she could handle it. She always did, growing up. They spit insults back and forth almost all the time.
But this...
He didn't mean to make her cry. It disappointing him She rarely did it, but when she did...
"W-wait..I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. I-um..." He removed his hands from the side of the tub, glancing down at her. Her hands were now covering her eyes as she sniffled and choked back sobs. The bruises and cuts that rest upon her skin forced him to think of everything she must have gone through. The times she cried alone. He imagined Trent hitting her and kicking her, her screams begging him to stop rang in his ears.
Before he knew it his clothes were soaked and wet and he was clinging to her like a koala and a tree. He didn't know what to do to make her stop crying. He just wanted her to know that he was there and he wasn't going anywhere. he had hoped the water would clean him, wash away this guilt he felt, along with her pain.
His arms wrapped around her as he pulled her close, his hand resting on top of her head.
"Shh shh...I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything. I'm still just upset. I'm worried about you... I didn't mean to scare you and hurt your feelings. I don't know what came over me." He leans back against the tub and holds her against him.
Awkwardly.
Speaking such emotional words were so unlike him, so this was definitely new. He tried to ignore his now wet clothes clinging to his skin as he attempted to comfort her.
"Erhm...Please stop crying." He whispered, petting her head.
Typically, nude bodies were frowned upon and were a major distraction to the majority of people, but Levi was focused on the task at hand. Her. Not her body. He was more concerned with the discoloration that blanketed her skin.
Once she took deep breaths and finally managed to calm down, her face felt hot and she turned to look at Levi.
"Levi, why did you jump in the bathtub?"
"Oi! I didn't know what to do- you were crying!"
"So your first thought was to jump in the bathtub and glomp me?"
"Well- technically, you're glomping me."
She looks around the bathtub to see that she was laying on top of him, gripping his soaked shirt.
"Oh, yeah-I guess you're right." She admits.
"Yeah, so get off."
"No, maybe I don't wanna."
"So help me God. What am I ever going to do with you?" He sighs, leaning back into the tub with a deep sigh. He knew for sure he was going to try to be more understanding.
"Okay. Jokes over, up and at 'em." He grips the tub with both hands sitting up.
"You get out first." She stammers insecurely.
"What the- Why?"
"Because." She begins, whispering. "I'm naked."
He mentally facepalms as he climbed out of the tub, his shoe connecting to the tile floor. He was still wearing his shoes?
She stood up and glanced over to him and looked down.
"I thought I felt something step on my pinkie toe." She snickers, reaching for the towel.
Levi snatches the towel and hurls it at her, growling back, "Fuck you...and your retarded pinkie toe."
He then stomps out of the bathroom to retrieve a mop and other utilities to aid in cleaning up the glass and tea all over his tile floor. Meanwhile, she pulled the drain plug, allowing the water to drain. Her small chuckle echoed over the bathroom walls.
"Levi, your clothes are still wet!" She hollers to him.
"Oh fuck! My carpet!"
Within a blink of an eye, he was back in the bathroom, slipping along the glass tile with bare feet with clothes in his hand.
"I got clothes instead of the shit to clean the damn mess." He sets the clothes on the counter and begins taking off his wet shirt. Once doing so, he bent down to grab a towel for him to dry off with.
"Oi turn around! Stop staring at me, weirdo."
"I- I wasn't!" But she was. She knew she was. She hadn't remembered Levi being so well built. Especially with his skin so damp, it was surely a sight to behold.
"Tch. Whatever just dry off and get dressed."
Once she dried off her body, she grabbed the clothes on the counter next to Levi's and slipped them on.
"Levi you could have grabbed me the sweater, I packed plenty."
"What do you need the sweater for? The house isn't that cold."
"Because of...my skin."
Levi lets out a sigh as he dried his hair with the towel. "There is no reason to hide it anymore. Your face looks shitty though. No matter what, your bruises will still show. Better to just embrace it for the time being."
"My face? Is it that bad?" She walks next to Levi to glance in the mirror.
This was not her.
This was not the woman she knew.
She was not the woman she wanted to be.
Her skin was yellow, her eye was swollen and bruised. Her lip was busted and slightly swollen. There was still a faint handmark on her right cheek. Levi had made her take painkillers earlier to help the pain, she had still felt the stinging and slight pressure.
But looking at it...
She wanted to hurl. Her stomach dropped and goose bumps made home onto her skin.
The red hue in her eyes brought out its beautiful color, more vibrant and visual to say the least. But even then, if someone were to look at her and say "Her eyes were her most noticeable features" They would be liars.
The bruises were so visible on her skin, so heavy. She didn't want to think how it would feel when the pain killers wore off. She wanted to bite her lip to stop the tears from falling, but in fear of bruising her lip even worse she held back from doing so.
She clenched her teeth, gritting them and grinding them until she felt like they would be nothing but little particles in her teeth. Speaking of teeth, how did she still have them? With as much pressure as Trent had applied with every hit, one would think they would have been damaged.
Her mouth became dry. Her tears stayed behind closed doors, she wanted to completely shut off that part of her. No more tears. No more crying. No more.
But it hurt. And she was tired.
"Hey...you okay?"
She turned to look at Levi, only for her eyes to immediately find the floor more comfortable. She didn't want Levi to look at her any longer. She turned around and walked away, grabbing the clothes after one last glance in the mirror. She exhales a fire of intense remorse before finally finding the courage to walk out of the bathroom, to run away from the hideous monster that stared back at her.
She felt disgusting. Every drop of confidence she had left was now down the drain, not that there was much to begin with. Trent had made sure she felt insecure enough.
"Nobody loves you besides me, but some days, you piss me off to the point where I consider leaving your stupid ass."
"It's remarkable how I even put up with you for the past fucking year!"
"You have 'till the count of three to get the fuck away from me."
"You're too big for my liking. You should try to lose some weight."
"Your eyes are too small"
"You have too many stretch marks, nobody is going to like that-I don't even like that!"
"Don't apologize - you don't deserve forgiveness."
She let out a frustrated growl as she closed the door behind the bedroom Levi let her use. A tear managed to fall down her cheek as she dried her hair to the best of her ability. She finally began slipping on her clothes, this time looking for her a sweater to wear.
Once her clothes were slid on, she heard a knock at her door.
"Hey, you good in there?" Levi shouted to make sure she would hear.
She sniffs before calling back, "Yeah."
"Okay, I just finished getting dressed and cleaning the floor. I was wondering if you wanted me to order some pizza?"
She thought for a moment. "I'm not hungry." She decides to reply.
"Nuhuh, don't pull that shit on me. You haven't eaten anything all day, aside from sneaking a grape or two while feeding the ducks. It's already 6 o'clock."
"I'm still not hungry-"
"Okay, that's it. I'm coming in." And with that he swung the door open to see her lying sprawled out on the bed, staring up at the ceiling.
Levi lets out a skeptical sigh as he walked closer to the bed, hovering over her.
"What are you doing?" He asks her, a frown appeared on his face. Well, that was just Levi. He always frowned.
"Laying down."
"You tired? We can call it a night if you want. It's been.... a long day."
"I know but I can't sleep."
Right. Levi remembers she had insomnia like him. Had she been able to sleep enough lately? If he was lucky he would manage to catch four hours, but she looked like she hadn't slept in weeks.
Well, that and she was recently used as a punching bag.
"Okay, you're getting all depressed. You need a drink." He decides, tugging on the pillow.
"What? I haven't drank in like a year, you know how annoying I get."
"If it will get you in a happier mood for tonight, and it will help with the pain. But, we will not, I repeat NOT be making that a habit. Hell, I even think once a month is too much."
"You can't even get drunk." She indicates.
"So?"
"So why do it?"
"It still relaxes me, I hardly ever do it though. That's not the point, get your ass up and go sit on the couch. I'm ordering the damn pizza and you're drinking a few glasses of wine." He grabs her wrist and reaches to pull her up and out of the bed, but notices her eyes shut tightly as she pulled her arm back.
Memories of Trent came flooding back. Trent never knew how to be gentle, with anything. Even his hugs felt deadly. Rib crushing you could say. Overwhelming was an understatement to that, well anything he did really.
"Tch. Sorry, come on." He softly placed his hand on hers, and gently guided her out of the bed. He awkwardly held her hand all the way to the living room and let her sit on the couch.
"Kay, I'll call the pizza dude or whatever. Remote is on your left." And with that, he walked away to grab his phone and make a call.
As he was on the phone, she heard his soft voice from down the hall. It was soothing, but it was stern. It had always been, but she had learned to live with it. Sometimes he could be monotone though, quite boring too.
Once he was done with the call he walks back in the living room to find her huddled up and flipping through channels.
"Pizza 'oughta be here in about thirty minutes or so."
"Okay, I have cash in my bag somewhere so you can-"
"No." He interrupts.
"Levi, I can pay for things."
"No." He says a bit more stern and demanding.
"Whatever. It's there if you need it."
He shook his head as he walked to the kitchen to dig through his pantry. At the top shelf lay a bottle of wine. Grabbing it, he closes the pantry door to grab a two wine glasses in the cabinet next to it. He then starts making his way back in the living room.
Once in, he sets everything down on the coffee table in front of the couch. "We shouldn't drink on an empty stomach, so we need to wa- hey stop being so stiff. Just relax." He walks closer to where she sat and pulled the lever on the side of the black couch. She suddenly felt her legs push up into the air.
She felt much more comfortable, just laying back with her feet propped up. Levi plopped down next to her, reclining his side. It was a two cushioned couch- a love seat that connected their cushions. With both of their seats reclined, it looked like one giant chair that reclined. Or a bed that was adjustable to where you can make it sit up or lie flat.
"Do you want me to put on a movie?" He asks, staring at the TV as she flipped through endless channels.
"Mmmm, yeah. I can't find anything worth watching." She answers, handing him the remote.
He launches Netflix and begins searching for movies. "Eh, what do you wanna watch, Comedy?"
"Anything is fine."
Levi thought about putting on something to lighten the mood.
"Instead of a movie, do you wanna watch a show?"
"Yeah, that's cool."
Levi flipped through the shows in the comedy section, before he finally found something.
"The Office?" He reads out loud. "Oh shit, (Y/n) it has Steve Carell; you like him right?"
"Oh yeah, he's pretty funny."
And with that Levi starts the show. They both sit back and watched the first episode.
When she saw that one of the men had kept putting the other man's office supplies in jello, she couldn't help but chuckle.
For some odd reason when she giggled, Levi had felt his heart pound vigorously. His stomach felt queasy every time she smiled and snickered at the characters antics.
"Am I getting sick?" He asks himself.
As time progressed, the first episode was coming to an end. The doorbell suddenly rang, causing Levi to sigh and push himself off the couch after pushing the recliner back with his legs.
He grabbed his wallet as (Y/n) got up in case he needed help. After Levi had already opened the door the delivery man began to speak.
"Delivery for Levi Ackerman?"
"Yeah." Levi answers, grabbing the receipt to sign after handing him the money. As he signed the small paper, the delivery man glanced behind Levi to see (Y/n).
"Dude what's up with her face?" He asks Levi, this caused Levi to tense up and grip the pen hard. As he finally went to exchange the receipt for the pizza boxes, Levi nearly crawled out of his skin when he heard (y/n) yell;
"OH SUCK MY ASS!"
He jolted his head around to see her middle finger raised proudly at the delivery man. The man furrows his eyebrows and rolls his eyes, biting back any insults to throw at the bruised woman.
Levi lets out the thousandth sigh of the day before shutting the door in the man's face.
"I swear to God (y/n), what am I ever going to do with you." It sounded like an insult but;
The smirk on his face and the gleam in his gunmetal gray eyes only contradicted that.