Deviate | Levi Ackerman x OC

Ch. 39

I gasped against the unforeseen contact and just as I was preparing to make some kind of noise, there was a 'Shhh' spoken low but firmly into my ear. After everything tonight, this would ordinarily kick my suspense into overdrive, but even as just a snippet, that voice immediately registered as familiar. I used both of my hands to pry the one off of my mouth and spun around.
"Levi?!" I whispered harshly upon seeing him, taking a step back to make sure my eyes weren't deceiving me. "What the hell are you doing here?!"
He stepped forward and dropped the hood to his jacket, shaking his head. "Helping to get you out of there."
"But wha– how could you have known I–?" I tried piecing together a coherent sentence but my words kept falling short. Levi's face remained stoic and he watched as I processed everything. There was physically no way he could've returned to the cabin with the others and come back by now. But that had to mean the only alternative was...
"You stayed," I forced out quietly.
Silence fell upon us for a moment, the many emotions from the night fully consuming me with the addition of this new information. He broke it with an assured, "Took you long enough."

I sucked in a breath and closed the distance between us in a flash, wrapping my arms around him in a tight hug. I felt him return the embrace on his end, one hand coming up to rest against the back of my neck and the other around my waist. I let myself fall apart just a little bit now that I felt safe again, tears falling down my face while it was hidden. I thought I had disguised it well enough until my voice broke as I thanked him. He held me a few moments longer before pulling back to get a better look at me. His hand cradled my face and his thumb wiped my damp cheek. Levi opened his mouth to speak but I shook my head before he could.
"Later. Please. Right now, I'd really just like to leave."
He studied my expression, very obviously wanting to know more but accepting anyway. He pulled his hood over his head again, turned to the side and gestured for me to proceed forward. I reached out to grab his hand and interlocked my fingers with his before continuing on.

Was I being a little on the needy side right now? Totally, and it was very out of character for me. But after how close a call that was tonight, I was going to cling to the sense of security Levi brought with him and not feel bad about it. Despite it not being our norm, he allowed me to lean on him as much as I needed to, turning to kiss the side of my head as we navigated the streets.
"Can I ask you something?" I spoke a few minutes into our journey. He didn't verbally answer but when I turned to face him, he looked like he was waiting for me to continue. "You said you were helping me get out of there, right?"
He agreed with a bow of his head.
"How exactly did you do that?"
Levi's gaze diverted now and he pursed his lips.
"Le–"
"It doesn't matter," he finally remarked. "What matters is the fact that you're here now."
"Of course," I mused quietly, pondering to myself. A thought crept into my mind then that I couldn't shake; although it seemed completely unlikely, I couldn't fight it back any longer. "Were you, uh... close enough to see whatever the disturbance was at the gate?"

He drew a breath and avoided my line of sight.
"Levi," I knew I shouldn't press since he didn't push when it came to mine, but his discreet reaction made it impossible to shove it back down. "What did you do?"
"Nothing," he insisted plainly.
"Nothing?"
"Nothing... fatal or otherwise untreatable."
I snorted out loud before I could stop myself. I wasn't going to try and get further details out of him – at least not right now – but I couldn't deny how perfectly fitting that was for him. Levi had his own unique ways of showing he cared and I don't think I've ever been so grateful for that as I was tonight.
After a bit of a trek, we finally returned to where he'd kept his horse and began the journey back. Our ride was calm and felt quicker now than it had coming out earlier in the day. I held onto him tightly, like part of me still couldn't believe this was real. His even breathing and the sound of the horse's hooves helped to ground me, further serving as physical reminders that I was safe away from that monster of a man and situation. So maybe this mission wasn't my brightest idea, but at the very least I emerged somewhat victorious with a keepsake I prayed would be of use to us.