Levi x Reader | Lemons | [You Were the One]

The Boy

The first time I saw him he was just a boy not much older then I was maybe eleven or twelve years of age. He was fighting, it seemed like he was always fighting whenever I saw him. He had raven black hair, cold grey eyes, and not much taller then me. He was thin, and his clothes were dirty and tattered like mine were. I looked at him with admiration from afar, wanting to be strong like him. I knew that if you were weak, you would surely die here in this tomb of a town, I didn't want that to happen to me, stuck here, forgotten to the rest of the world up above.
Seeing him made me want to keep fighting for my life and work hard to get out of this dark place and into the light, I'm not just going to roll over and let this place consume me. My thoughts of him were what carried me through each day back then. He had given me hope that there would come a day when I no longer would have to be scared.

Never approaching the boy but sometimes when I would see him swiping bread our eyes would meet one another's I would instantly look away, but not for long before I would turn my face back towards those strong eyes of his to see them one last time till they would quickly turn the other way. Why was I so fearful and scared to approach him? I hated that about myself, I was weak then, not understanding of what my own feelings meant. That's why I strived to keep faith in myself in order to one day be able to thank him.

I took an interest in medicine, and knew that my best chance to get out was to try to become an apprentice at the one and only small clinic we had in town. I was hoping to get noticed by one of the traveling doctors that would come by if we got lucky, once a month.

It was there that I took up residence where they offered me a bed when I had shown up when I was twelve telling them I would be a hard worker and wanted to learn their trade. They were more than happy to accept my proposal. I will forever be in their debt, because I don't know where I would have ended up if it weren't for them and the kindness they had shown to me.
There was a large room right above the clinic itself where the other women, most of them widows would sleep. That would be my new home for now on and I couldn't be more happy that I would be sleeping in a bed instead of the streets.
There was always work to be done and they kept me busy. I started off doing the mundane chores, like washing the linen and mopping the floors. I was taught that a clean environment would help control the spread of disease and infection. So I was meticulous in my cleaning duties. What I was most interested in though was wound care and management. I was always the first one the healers came to when someone came in that had a wound that they had left festered or a stabbing victim. They knew that was my forte. Most of the time the outcome would be a positive one, but there were often times when I would have to tell the sick that we would have to amputate because the infection would only spread to the healthy tissues.
In most of my spare time the widows would help me with reading and writing, to better give me a chance to peak a doctor's attention. I would study the books the doctors would leave behind for us learning as much as I could. There were all kinds, one of my favorite book was the one where it talked about the history and development of the Three Dimensional Maneuver Gear, better known as 3DM Gear.
I was fourteen and had been working there for at least two in a half years when I finally met the boy that I had always admired from afar.

He had been in a fight that much was obvious and his friend had brought him in. He had a large gash across his right forearm where it looked as if someone had slashed it with a knife.

"Bring the boy over to the table and lay him down." One of the healers called out to the two boys. She then looked at me, "y/n fetch some hot water, clean linen, and a clean syringe to flush the wound. Can you do that?"

"Yes ma'am" I called as I briskly walked to the back to retrieve what I needed from the small kitchen we used as a prep area. Was he really here, is that the boy that I have seen so many times? Filling the basin with boiling water from the kettle that had been over a small fire in the fireplace. I put some clean linen in it along with a clean syringe to make sure it was sterilized properly. When I returned to the room the healer was seated in the wooden chair next to the bed applying pressure to the boys wound with a white piece of cloth now stained red with blood. He was laying there on the bed right arm extended as his left forearm was draped over his forehead, his fist tightly clenched. His friend had already been ushered out to the waiting area for lack of space in the one small room we had.

I rushed over to the side of the bed with the supplies and set it on the small nightstand next to the bed that had the lantern on it which was making the stone walls dance with light from the flickering flame.

"I will leave you to clean this y/n. I will go and prepare a needle and the catgut so you can suture the wound, do you think you can manage on your own?" The healer asked me as I reached towards the cloth she was holding to his arm.

"Yes, leave it to me please." I replied nodding my head in agreeance as I took the healers place on the chair by the bed.

I slowly lifted the cloth to see if the bleeding had subsided enough to start the cleaning process. To my surprise most of the bleeding had stopped which was a good sign. I then looked up to his face he had his eyes closed. I stared for a moment, almost not believing he was really here next to me. I wanted to reach out and touch his cheek to verify he was truly here in this room. He looked pale and extremely tired.

"It will all be alright now, okay" I said reassuringly to him in a soft tone. He then opened his eyes slightly with the sound of my voice, his arm was still draped across his forehead as he looked at me. All I could do is look back into those soft grey eyes of his. I couldn't look away now as the seconds flew by holding my gaze to his. He had never been this close before and my heart pounded as he continued to study my face. He finally parted his thin lips and spoke is voice smooth and silky in a low tone as the words left his lips.

"I've seen you before haven't I?"

I looked away at once, my mind racing thinking back at all those times I had seen him, but never could bring myself to say anything. Did he recognize me? He couldn't have, I was just a faceless nobody. I got my composure back and glanced my eyes at him long enough to reply.

"Have you?" I smiled politely and then turned my face towards the steaming water on the night stand to the right of me, my hand reached for the cloth inside it to start cleaning the blood that had dried around the wound.

"This might sting a bit, but please bear with me, ok?"

His left hand reached for my outstretched hand and stopped me before I could even reach the basin.

"My names Levi" There was a slight urgency in has voice.

Still looking at the basin, I could feel his warmth on my cold hand and his eyes looking upon me. My heart started to race faster than it already was, what was this? I had never had anyone reach out for me like this before.

Looking up at him, his grey eyes just piercing into mine as if he was searching for a name with my face. I felt utterly lost in the moment of silence that surrounded us, and then I finally replied "And my name is y/n."