An Awaiting Promise

                                    

                                          


You swallowed, hearing your brothers footsteps trail away.
You let out a short sigh of relief as his stomping finally faded, Levi raising an eyebrow. 
"What?" His deep voice asked you.
"What do you mean what?" 
"I mean why are you avoiding him?" 
You scrunched your nose, "Well, he shouldn't see this- or us together." 
He scoffed, "Who cares? It's not like thinks we're together or anything. He's mentioned before that he 'knows that you hate me'. It's not a big deal, y'know." 
You shook your head slowly, "Not really.. only last week he said that he thought me and you were- Nevermind."
His face scrunched, "Don't give me that. Spit it out." 
"That.. we were and are an item." Your nose wrinkled with embarrassment. 
"Huh." He seemed slightly unsurprised by what you had said which shocked you, his face easing back casually, "Whatever, I guess." 
"That's.. it?" 
"What do you mean thats it?" He coldly asked you with disgust. 
You smiled, scoffing as you struggled to realise if he was joking or not, "You didn't say anything like Oh, thats disgusting or why would I ever be an item with you?" 
He shrugged, looking down at the floor, his eyes glued to a candle as a drip of wax poured down, "Well, it's not a big deal or anything, is it?" He asked you rhetorically, "I mean, can we really be surprised if other people think we're a couple?" 
"But why would people think that were a couple?" 
He scoffed, before stretching out his arms, gesturing to his office that was decorated for a surprise he'd planned just for the two of you. 
"This, for starters." He lowered his hands, his eyebrow raised, "Plus we're always around eachover, you have a habit of following me everywhere." 
"No, I do not-!"
"And," He shrugged once again, keeping his usual poker face, "You can never seem to keep your hands off of me. Right? It's no wonder people are so curious on our relationship.." 
"Hey, now you're-!"
"But anyway," He changed the subject before you could argue back with him, a smirk on the tip of his lips as he cockily drank more alcohol, "Why actually are you avoiding him? Because I know for a fact that you don't give two shits if he sees us together."
You let out a sigh, hating that he was right.
"Last week.. right before I had my panic attack," You began to admit to him as Levi's eyes suddenly widened, his expression more alert as you mentioned the other week, "Me and Zeke had an argument." 
His interest peaked, "Did it have anything to do with it?" He gripped onto his glass a little harsher as you swallowed. 
"No. Well- Maybe.. just a little."
He placed a hand against the floor behind him, pressing it against his weight as if to pull himself up from the floor, however, he was stopped as you laced your hand around his wrist, preventing him from leaving. 
"But it's fine now." You sternly said, worried he would be angry with Zeke, "It's been sorted out." 
"What did he say to you?" His tone sounded even colder than usual - somehow more serious. 
"Genuinely, it wasn't anything that bad, it was just something small that tipped me off of the edge," You shrugged, "He was basically just complaining about my efforts in expeditions.. it's honestly not a big deal." 
You left out the part that involved him. 
Levi's body slowly relaxed back into position as you felt your heart race a little quicker, only noticing now that your cheeks felt warmer than usual. 
He looked to the side as you analysed his fixed expression: you wandered what he was getting up to do - he looked angry, no, infuriated, and he didn't even know what it was about, just that it had caused you to be upset. 
"Well-.." Levi began to slowly calm his sudden intensity, letting out a shallow breath, "I think that you're doing well, from what I've seen. You're not falling behind any of the other shifters, in fact, lately you've been doing most of the heavy lifting in the group." He scratched the back of his head, fingers running through his hair, "So, I don't know what he was talking about." 
You awkwardly laughed, "Yeah.. but still. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to do better," You agreed with your brother, "I haven't been training since I got to Paradis, so I should start again soon." 
Your Captain's face suddenly lit up with your words, his eyes wide as he parted his pink lips to speak; "I could always help you train."
"Huh-?" Your face scrunched, "But.. why?" 
He sighed through his nose, "Mmph. Well you are apart of my Squad, so when it comes to it I'm in charge of you. Surely I should be helping my Squad members if they want to get better."
You raised an eyebrow, "Would you have offered if Connie or Eren had told you that they wanted you to train?"
His face scrunched, "No, obviously not, why?- Oh.. nevermind." His face slowly dropped as he watched you giggle, nudging him in the arm as he admitted to wanting to help you over your other Squad Mates. 
"Aww.." You teasingly laughed, leaning closer to him as he gave you a look of pure repulsion, "I knew I was your favourite, Captain." 
He pushed you away lightly, "Arrogance is not a good look on you, you know." 
You sighed through your nose, the smile unable to leave your lips, "Hm.. okay then, it's a deal, right?" You asked him, extending your hand towards his, "You help me train and I won't tell people how much you adore me.." 
"I don't adore you." He spat out, "I just so happen to find you less irritating than most other people.. that's all." 
Your face slowly eased. 
Your lips curled into a smile, as he quickly changed the subject, hearing him ramble on about something else before you could tease him again about what he had admitted.