Capable of Loving You

Chapter 2: A Surprised Levi

With the confidence boost from Ymir and Mikasa and her heart telling her to just do it, Sophia made up her mind to confess her feelings to Levi before dinner. After the raking, she returned to the showers and scrubbed herself raw with her favorite soap. She quickly ironed her clothes, brushed and braided her unruly hair, and polished her boots. She inspected herself in the mirror, satisfied with the results and marched to Captain Levi's quarters with her head held high.

But the closer she got to his quarters the more uncertain she became. As she stood in front of his closed door, the thought of rejection crossed her mind and she almost ran back to her room from fear of it. This is such a bad idea! What am I thinking! I'd much rather fight a 15 meter class, she thought. However, her muscles had another plan. While she was having this internal debate, her hand involuntarily knocked on the door. She didn't realize what she had done until she heard Levi's bored voice telling her to come in. Shit!!! What the hell have I done?! thought Sophia. She stood frozen like a statue.

"I said come the fuck in," Levi said again, this time in an annoyed tone. Sophia gulped, offered a quick prayer to whatever deity would listen, and slowly entered.

Only one word described Levi's quarters: immaculate. They were so clean you could eat off the sparkling marble floors. His office was a moderate size with double doors on the right leading to his private bedroom, a fireplace amidst the bookshelves on the left, and a large French window in the center overlooking the courtyard.

Presently, the man sat behind his neat, mahogany desk writing something on a stack of papers. He had changed from when he was outside and no doubt bathed too. Now he wore a black button down, similar in fashion to the white one. He looks even better in black, thought Sophia.

He looked up to see her walk towards his desk. "Cadet Falco," Levi addressed Sophia, "what do you want?"

Sophia saluted him, "Captain Levi, I have something to tell you," she began nervously. It's now or never, she thought.

Levi leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, "Ok." The fabric of his shirt was pulled taut over his defined muscles. Focus! Sophia chastised herself.

"I—well I wanted to...," Sophia stammered. "Umm well what I wanted to tell you was..." She just couldn't get the damn words out!

"Falco, I don't have all night and I need to get this damn paperwork done," Levi deadpanned.

"You know what? It's nothing. Nothing at all. I'll just leave you alone. Sorry for bothering you." Sophia said quickly and was just about to turn around and rush out when Levi spoke again.

"Spit. It. Out." He growled.

Sophia flinched a little at his tone but still thought it was super-hot. Yup. I'm definitely a masochist, she thought to herself. She looked up to see Levi staring at her with his cold, steel gray eyes. She blushed and suddenly found her boots very interesting.

"Captain Levi, I'm in love with you. And I was hoping you would feel the same towards me. And if not, I was wondering if we could get to know each other better and then maybe—maybe you could learn to?" She peered up through her lashes and was surprised to see an even deeper frown on Levi's face and his thin eyebrows pulled together. Sophia's stomach twisted in knots as she waited for him to respond.

"Sophia," he began surprisingly softly, "I'm flattered. Truly I am. But you don't love me."

Sophia's heart plummeted as tears threatened to spill. She blinked them away furiously, refusing to seem weak in front of Humanity's Strongest. "How do you know I don't love you? Have you looked into my heart? Even before I joined the Survey Corps, I would watch you ride through the gates and I admired you so much! I loved your strength and bravery! I loved your need to protect humanity! And I still do! I love you!"

"Sophia," Levi's gray eyes became warmer as he tried to reason with her, "I think you love the idea of me but I'm not the knight in shining armor you think I am. I can't be there for you like another man can. This job won't allow me to and honestly I don't know how to. I am not looking to be in a relationship not just with you but with anyone. I've been alone for so long and now I'm used to it. I suggest you find someone else. Someone with similar interests to yours. Someone who will also be a willing participant in the relationship. I am sorry, Sophia."

Sophia didn't even try to fight back, to convince him otherwise. "Ok," she whispered as she tried to hide her face behind her bangs. She turned around and walked back to the door as if in a trance. "Good night Captain and I am sorry to have wasted your time," she said one last time before leaving his quarters for the night.

Levi sighed and ran a hand through his hair after Sophia left. "Shit," he muttered. He sighed once more before reluctantly going back to his paperwork. He just wanted to eat dinner and go to sleep.

*************************************************************************************************

A/N: Sorry if it's too short but it'll pick up I promise :)

Comment and Vote!!!