SORE • l. ackerman ✓

𝐗 | 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ Levi  ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

I reread the texts Hanji had sent me for what felt like the hundredth time, my cheeks burning a bright red as I fully processed every word.

2 : 2 1 AM

Hanji: Use protection Levi
Hanji: You're not responsible enough to be a parent

Reading them didn't make me as angry as they would have had it been anyone else, but because it was just in Hanji's nature I tried to brush it off.

"Thinking about your steamy night, Levi?" Hanji asked in a teasing way. I was caught off guard and my breath hitched. ____ Laughed and shushed her while I struggled to think of something to say.

"Damn it, four eyes, stop it. Nothing happened." I shut her down. The two continued to laugh and Hanji kept her eyes on the road.

I still needed time to rationalize my feelings. What were they, and why were they there in the first place? After some thinking, I narrowed it down to two things:

1. I was genuinely starting to have real feelings again and wanted to build something and work on my trust issues like a normal human.

2. I was being overdramatic and reading too much into it.

I couldn't decide which one it was but couldn't be bothered to figure it out right away, no matter how much it was eating away at me. I hadn't even known her a week and I was already letting her in. It wasn't a smart decision on my end because I didn't want what happened before to happen again.

We decided to go to a diner near Hanji and ______'s work. 

I had only been there once with Hanji and Mike after we graduated a few years back. It was small and retro themed, with a pink checker patterned floor and a red/pastel color scheme. a jukebox stood against one of the walls playing popular music from the 50s. We sat in a booth, Me and _____ seated on one side and Hanji across from us.

"I invited Marco, I don't know if he's coming or not though,"

_____ looked confused, an eyebrow raised at the mention of the man unfamiliar to her.

"He's a friend of ours," Hanji explained.

I leaned my head against the wall beside me and tried not to focus on the intense throbbing in it. We ordered our drinks, and after waiting almost 20 minutes for Marco to show up, he finally did, late as always. He slid into the booth next to Hanji.

"Hey guys,"

"Marco, good to see you decided to come," Hanji smiled.

"Nice to meet you, uh-"

"____. Nice to meet you,"

Why did my chest feel tight whenever she spoke? It was never like that before. It was the same sore feeling as the day before when I'd first gotten to her house. Was it excitement? Nervousness? Both?

The three talked while I tried my best not to throw up as my vision became increasingly blurry. I was never able to handle hangovers very well, and Hanji was aware of that, so I didn't understand why she dragged us into public. I grabbed the glass of water in front of me and gulped it down, the icy temperature soothing the burning sensation in my ears.