STRONGEST HOPE (ERERI❤RIREN)

CHAPTER 4 - WONDER & REDEMPTION

WONDER

No one was around because everyone was at dinner. He looked down at the unconscious Levi in his arms and lifted his legs up as well. He didn't want anyone to see the Captain this way. Looking from left to right, Eren headed towards the officers' quarters. Moving quickly through the halls, he found the man's room. Luckily, it was open. He walked from the office into the bedroom and placed Levi gently onto the bed.

Straightening up, he gazed at the man's now-peaceful face, which gave no hint of the horrible looks he'd levied at Eren earlier. Eren felt the sting of his words like a slap in the face. The pain of his poundings emerged with the words that accompanied them. Eren bit his lip, and his eyes brimmed with tears. "I didn't know you felt like this about me," Eren whispered. He lowered his head.

Levi murmured in his unconsciousness, and Eren returned his focus to taking care of the man who had protected him these last few months. If Heichou did feel that way, Eren's care of him tonight might be his only amends.

He warmed water and used a small towel to sponge off the dirt and blood on Heichou's face and hands. He gently bandaged the scrape on his head. Lifting the Captain's small frame, Eren pulled the soiled shirt from his arms, resting his upper body on his chest. It was hard not to notice the sinewy limbs lifted up by Eren's hands...the perfect lines of muscles and tendons, wrapped in alabaster skin so white, it seemed luminescent. He gently lowered a clean cotton shirt over Heichou's head and guided his arms through the holes.

He'd intended to leave his pants on, but they smelled horribly of cheap whiskey. He made the decision to take off his pants and replace them with a pair of sweats he found hanging over a chair. It was tricky removing Levi's pants. He was terrified that he would get punched or kicked at any moment. Of course he would leave his boxers on, but it was difficult to ignore the beauty of this man's body...everything in perfect proportion, slender, but toned and sculpted. Eren longed to touch his skin, but would never disrespect Heichou that way.

He took the sweats off of the chair and bunched up the legs so he could slide them over his feet more easily. As he worked at getting the holes over Levi's feet, he was surprised when he looked up to see Levi sitting up on his elbows looking drowsily at him. Eren froze. How could he explain this?

"Captain, are you all right?" He watched Levi warily.

Tears welled up in Levi's eyes, and he looked like he was in agony. "Everyone leaves, Eren."

Eren's breath hitched and he worried his lip, trying to resist the urge to spring forward and wrap this man in his arms. Instead he squeezed his toes and didn't break their gaze. "I won't leave, Heichou."

Levi smiled a sad smile and lowered back down, his eyes closed. "Promise?" he whispered.

"I promise," Eren whispered back. Within seconds, Humanity's Strongest was snoring quietly, like a purring cat.

Something shifted inside of Eren, like a candle was lit in his heart. Bright and warm, he knew that Heichou wasn't just his Captain anymore. Suddenly, for Eren, he had become something much more.

He knew it was a privilege to see any emotion from the Captain other than his usual grumpiness, but it made him ache to see the pain in Levi's eyes. If he could relieve that pain, maybe it would help to make up for all of the sorrow he had caused the others. Somehow it made his own hurt more manageable.

Now that Levi was dressed, Eren covered him up. The Captain's hair was strewn across his face, so Eren knelt down and gently moved it off of his cheeks and behind his ear. Levi suddenly grabbed Eren's hand and turned his face up. He put Eren's hand to his cheek and gazed at him with his glistening grey eyes. Eren stood perfectly still, terrified and confused. As quickly as this happened, it was over, and Levi fell back to sleep. Eren reluctantly pulled his hand out of the Captain's and stood up.