His Wounded Heart Beats For One (Levi x Reader Fanfiction)

26: Soldier, Nurse

It's daytime. 

You wake up in Levi's arms, dim sunlight sifting through the clouds and breathing on your entwined bodies. Your cheek is scrunched against his shirt, the fabric wrinkled. Residual drops of rain plop on the ground around you, dragging you out of slumber with their faint, inconsistent rhythm. Lifting your head, you discover you're not beside Levi, but atop him. 

"You're up."

His smooth voice vibrates his body and seems to gush into yours, filling you with a fresh wave of thrilled ecstasy. Toned arms lace around your back, and a strong hand instantly rests on your skull and coaxes it back into his chest. 

"Relax, and stay quiet. The rain is drying up." He hugs you firmly, cloaking you in his body as much as he can. "So we need to stay quiet." 

"Levi," you whisper, pleased to find that, yet again, this is no dream. His heart beats against his chest, rhythmically thumping in your ear. He's real, and this embrace is just as real. 

"We're not in any rush, so stay still." Levi smooths a hand over your back, frissons gushing across your skin in his wake. "Please."

Your body relaxes without a second thought, sinking its full weight into Levi's chest. "Yeah."  

Minutes pass wherein you share body heat with Levi and match your breathing with his, the two Scouts bound to each other. Neither of you are ready to face the world, comforted enough in the presence of the other. His mere touch is enough to excite your heart, your mind dancing with thoughts of how he's Levi and he's with you and he's holding you. 

When Levi murmurs your name, it just adds another layer of glorious joy that you're so grateful to receive. You have to remind yourself to answer him amidst mindless jubilation.

"Yeah?"

"You amaze me." He says this dully, but it's spoken out of deep admiration.

Still, it's unusual. "Why's that?"

"You lived."

It's simple in nature, but it must hold some significance to the soldier. You don't want to undersell his thoughts, even if you can't fully grasp them. 

"On the previous mission," Levi resumes. "I lost my two closest friends. It was our first time outside the Walls." 

Another raindrop splashes on the floor. You curl in on Levi's chest, overcome with sorrow. 

"I think about where it went wrong, and I can't figure out when. If we had stayed in the Underground, if we hadn't gone outside the Walls, if I hadn't gone after Erwin alone—I don't know when." His voice doesn't indicate any sign of shattering, but it has significantly dropped in volume. "I don't know which choice I made that took them from me. All I know is that when I came to find them, they were gone." 

He's holding you so tightly your ribs might crack, but you say nothing. He's clinging to his cornerstone, embracing his only solace in this cruel world. 

"I couldn't accept that it would happen again. The entire trip here, I thought about them—seeing their bodies in the dirt. I thought about you."

You can make the connection. If something had happened to you, he would've been forced to stumble upon that gut-wrenching sight a second time. 

"But you...fuck, you lived. Thank you."

"Levi," you whisper, desperate to console him.  

"I'm never leaving you behind again." His fingers card through your hair, refusing to let you lift your head and see his expression. "No authority, no monsters are going to separate us. I won't allow it."