Forever and Always

Chapter 16 - Miracles

It was about four in the morning when I felt Levi's fingers twitch in my hand. I was immediately fully awake and looking for any more signs of life out of my comatose lover.

I heard a quiet curse sputter out of his sleeping mouth. "Eren," he muttered almost inaudibly. "My everything hurts."

"I'm right here," I whispered, rubbing circles into the back of his hand with my thumb. "Come back to me, Levi."

"You- shithead," he panted softly. "I'm not fucking dead. No need to start writing eulogies."

"Oh, thank God you're okay," I murmured, leaning up to kiss him. His lips met mine very briefly before I heard him gasp and look past me.

"How fucking hard did I hit my head?! Is that Kenny?" Levi was instantly more awake, his silver eyes wide.

"Yeah. And we've had just the most wonderful conversations while you were asleep. He told me to wake him up when you woke up."

"God. Okay. Cool. Gimme just a second before you wake him up. But be fucking quiet. He's a light ass sleeper. And he better be on his best behaior or he's getting a foot so far up his ass he won't be able to shit for a week."

"O-okay," I sighed. "And I dunno. He hasn't hurt you, if that's what you mean."

"No, I mean did he hurt you? He wasn't being a dick was he? It's only okay when he's a dick to me. If he hurts your feelings I'll fucking kill him."

"It's okay. I know he was just bullshitting," I smiled weakly.

"Kenny is a lot of things, but he isn't a liar. He's great at manipulating the truth and shit, but he never tells flat out lies."

My stomach dropped, realizing that everything Kenny said had been true to some extent. Kenny really thought it was another suicide attempt. I prayed that it wasn't.

"You weren't trying to kill yourself, were you?"

"Is that what that asshole told you? Of course not! I haven't been happier in my life than when I'm with you. I could never endanger your life trying to end my own. That's just fucked up that he would try to tell you that."

"R-right," I stuttered, totally baffled. I wasn't sure who to believe. Of course, Kenny had only been guessing, but it did make sense.

"Why don't you give me another one of these?" Levi said, pulling me close to him by my chin and kissing me softly. His lips moved against mine, full of longing.

"I missed you," I whispered against his lips, unable to hold back the tears any longer. They came again, stronger than they had before. "I was so fucking scared. Nobody told me anything and I thought you were gonna-"

"Hey," Levi hummed. "Hey, Jaeger. Calm down. Everything's okay now. I'm just glad you're okay. That's all I was worried about."

"So? I'd rather be the one in that bed right now." I folded my arms, ignoring the tears stinging my eyes as they rushed down my face.

"Don't. Don't say that. You're the important one here. What happened to me anyways? I feel like shit."

"You broke some ribs. One of them punctured your lung, I think. I'm not sure, I was crying too hard. Your left arm is also broken. But no, there isn't an important one or an unimportant one. You're more important to me than anything else. I wouldn't know what to do if I lost you.  You can't ever do that to me. Never ever leave me."

"You'd be okay, Eren. If I died, you're already in my will. You'd be set for life when that bastard dies." He pointed at Kenny. I gasped quietly at the thought that Levi already had a will. He was barely eighteen and already thinking about when he would die.

"I'm not talking about money, stupid. I would literally live in a cardboard box on the side of the road for the rest of my life if I could do it with you." Levi stiffened up, obviously uncomfortable, before trying to sit up in bed. He gasped in pain, falling back into the bed, unable to move.

"Aah! Fucking hell! Okay. Wake him up now. I'm ready to see him."

"Okay," I sighed, walking over to Kenny's chair. I feigned a slap to his face before I reached over and shook his shoulder. Levi rolled his eyes.

Kenny Ackerman sucked a sharp breath through his nose, his entire body becoming rigid as he woke up.

"He's awake," I spat when Kenny's eyes focused on me.

"Hey shrimp," Kenny whispered. "How ya feelin'?"

"Like I got eaten out by somebody with a chainsaw for a tongue."

"Wow. That was descriptive."

"What can I say? I'm an artist."

"Or a madman. What were you thinking, you son of a bitch? You were a half turn away from a dead fiancee. I didn't raise you to be so fucking reckless, Levi. If you loved him, you wouldn't be trying to commit suicide with him in the car," Kenny lectured. I felt bad for Levi, but I knew he had taken worse from him before.

"You didn't raise me to do anything at all! And it wasn't suicide. It was just a car accident, but thank you for scaring Eren. And thanks for coming all the way out here to see me, but if you're gonna terrorize my fiancee and make him feel like shit, please hop on the next flight out. And no drinking. I'll be asleep and I don't need you taking anything out on Jaeger when I can't defend him. I can't exactly move right now."

"Right. Okay," Kenny smirked. It was odd how diplomatic each one was being, like they were choosing to ignore the elephant in the room of Kenny's abuse.

"Well I'm really tired still. I think I'm gonna fall asleep again. G'night." Levi watched as Kenny settled back into the chair. He tried to shift his body a little, but his broken bones weren't having it. He gasped loudly, nearing the point of an agonized scream. My eyes were wide as they searched his.  "I- I'm fine," he barely managed to breathe.

I gently started to play with his soft hair, tugging gently at the roots and scratching his head. He leaned his head into my hand sighing contentedly. "Hey can I sleep with you tonight?" I pleaded.

Levi thought for a moment before nodding, stretching out his good arm and gesturing for me to lay with him. I gracefully crawled into bed with Levi, being careful not to jostle him. He hugged me tight to the unhurt side of his body. I strategically wrapped my arm where I knew that I wouldn't hurt any broken bones. It felt so good to have him back. It felt so good to be in his arms, even in the cramped hospital bed.

"I love you so much, Eren. I'm glad you're okay."

"I love you, too, Levi. I'm so glad you're okay. Sleep well." I sighed, settling into bed and trying to sleep, but my mind was running a mile a minute. Eventually, I needed to break the monotonous drone of the heart monitor with the first thing that popped into my head. "Levi, how big are you?" I blurted, instantly covering my mouth.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Levi snorted.

"Um, yeah. That's kinda why I asked."

"Or maybe you're avoiding some kind of painful emotion by pestering me with random questions." He knew me too well. I couldn't get away with anything with him. Levi kissed the top of my head when I nodded. "I'm big enough, brat." He paused for a moment. "Actually, I've never cared enough to measure. If you would like to sometime, be my guest."

I nodded, breathing a chuckle into his chest. "Sounds like a plan."

"But how big are you?" Levi asked, flicking an eyebrow up in the dim light.

"Eight inches. And you're a lot bigger than me."

"Enough with the dick talk it's bedtime. And Levi's ten inches flaccid and twelve hard. More like eleven and a half." I felt Levi tense up and shoot blades at Kenny with his eyes.

"What. The. Fuck?!" I exclaimed. "That is so messed up."

"I was being helpful, brat. You could thank me."

"You're disgusting! How the fuck- what- why?!" I pleaded, trying to defend my fiancee, but I was at a total loss for words.

"Shut up, Eren. Just go to sleep," Levi snapped at me. Levi closed his eyes and I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to unlive what had just happened. I wasn't sure how much longer Kenny Ackerman would be alive if he kept it up.