Levi Ackerman, Unforgivable

25. Silent treatment

Minutes pass like this.

I gaze at him, he gazes at me. His eyes are dark with fear and vulnerability. Non of us talks.

When Porco got out of ear shot, Levi moved up, looking down at me.

"You..." He cuts himself off.

I stand up too, looking after Porco.

Levi suddenly grabs me by the shoulders, forcing me to look at him.

"You almost moved!" He shout whispers, the pain in his voice is palable. In that very moment I understand why he is so shocked.

"You were about to chose him over... Me...?" He shutters a bit, but before I could defend myself he turns and walks away.

I gaze after him, then into the direction where Porco left. But this time I don't hesitate to follow Levi. 

I quickly catch up to him, walking behind him closely. 

It takes hours to reach our safe zone, where the others are waiting for us, but we finally arrive exhausted.

"Thank god you're here!" Armin jumps into my arms as soon as he sees me. Hange greets Levi, while Eren walks up to me. 

"What took you so long?" Eren asks, kindly invading my personal space, but I let him and surprise him with a tight hug. I pour all the stress and anxiety into the hug that piled up inside of me during the past few hours. Eren notices this and raises an eyebrow.

"I ran out of gas, so we had to walk." I answer, everyone seems relieved, Hange helps Levi's gear off of him. 

"That must have been tough... Levi... Your gas is half full..." She looks at him, he simply nods and leaves.

Everyone gazes at me.

"I... Didn't know..."

"Hey, guys... Let's go our separate ways." Hange says in a motherly way and looks at me with gentle pity. "Don't worry about him. I'll talk to him." She leaves after him.

Then Eren steps closer to me.

"You know you can talk to me, right?" He whispers. I nod at him, but then I lock eyes with Jean.

My blood freezes when I see the dired up blood on his clothes and his expression... Of someone who just saw a ghost.

I walk up to him.

"Jean?"

"Sasha... Is dead..." He says, his voice is cracking, tears flow from his face. "I couldn't just... Leave her there..."

I look over his shoulder and I see a figure under a white sheet.

"You went back for her? But the building was falling apart..."

"It was..." He looks down on his feet, a big red patch on his shoes telling a wole story. "I could have left my right foot there, but I have good reflexes thank god." He jokes, but the tears are still streaming from his eyes. "And Connie..." He pushes me away and walks off.

"He needs time on his own. Two of his best friends are... No longer among us." Armin says. "All we can do now is reach home safely."

"Everything was pointless... They died for nothing..." I whine, but Armin stops me.

"No... Y/n. Quite the opposite. We gained a information that could change our future. Stay tight, I trust you." He says and walks after Jean.

I am left alone with Eren by my side, we both are quiet, but then he gently grabs my arm and starts leading me.