𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 (𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐢 𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫)

[24] a fresh start

TROST DISTRICT

***
(Levi's POV)

Levi felt his eyes physically widen as (y/n) hastily pressed her lips to his. Every particle of oxygen his system held was instantly sucked out of his body the moment (y/n) decided to kiss him with so much passion that it made Levi's mind feel fuzzy.

(y/n's) lips were firm against his, their pressing touch intoxicating him with a poison that the captain never wanted to get cured out of him.

Levi always thought he was incapable of love, that he was incapable of ever finding someone whom showed as much compassion and adoration as (y/n) did towards him. However, despite (y/n) being an unlikely occurrence to happen by in his twisted life, Levi always felt comfortable and at peace with her at his side all the same.

(y/n) was one of his dearest friends, a person who understood him like no other.

Levi thought that he would never be ready for love, that it would take years upon years for him to mature to such a feeling. But (y/n) was the exception - as she usually was. Levi always had a soft spot for the doctor and adored being her friend and the person she entrusted with her past and troubles, and the captain never really thought anymore of it...until this exact moment when (y/n) put a thousand doubts, assurances, and thoughts into a singular, searing kiss that Levi was dammed to never forget.

Gods, it left him breathless. It left him slightly confused, surprised, and heavily dazed. Levi never experienced anything like it, for he never had the chance. Or rather, he never let a single soul grow close to him as much as (y/n) had.

(y/n) who was just a trick of fate. (y/n) who cared for him and understood him unlike anyone else Levi ever encountered. (y/n) who swore to be his friend until the end of time...(y/n) who kissed him so roughly yet delicately that Levi was momentarily paralyzed from the feel of it.

And Levi was dammed to see the slight hesitation and guilt in her (e/c) eyes when she finally broke away.

The captain knew she had previously been in love with another scout, so much so that she married him and swore to love him to whatever end. Levi was aware of that and yet somehow knew that the guilt and shyness reflecting in (y/n's) eyes was not because of that. No, Levi knew (y/n) was always aware of her emotions and would not act on him unless she was sure and ready to do so.

So Levi did not hesitate or give a chance for (y/n) to soak in self doubt or over thinking before he touched his lips to hers. His kiss was soft and very much so the briefest kiss Levi ever came to witness in his long life. It was more a touch of assurance than anything else, but the captain did not miss how (y/n) relaxed into the touch, her body swaying slightly into his as Levi hastily pulled away.

They had this dance with each other from the very beginning; from the exact moment Levi walked into that medical wing all those days ago. Even when Levi didn't necessarily feel...whatever he felt now, something in their very souls seemed to pulse and pull taut ever since that first day.

They were both damaged then -and still are- in their own ways, yet they didn't seek to fix each other. Because you don't just fix someone. Progress and life altogether is simply not that linear. Levi never moved to fix (y/n) because she was not his project nor pastime. She, too, did not mean to patch Levi up because that's not what friends do. No, friends do not try and mend each other with a sense of false hope - friends walk side by side through the thick and thin and that was how Levi saw himself and the talented doctor at his side; two twin soldiers holding onto one another for support when the other struggled to keep walking in a straight line with the rest of the world around them.