Chapter 5
Saturday Morning:
You finish your breakfast and place your dishes in the dishwasher. You then try to burn off your nervous energy by straightening up the kitchen. A sudden gasp of surprise startles you from behind. You turn around to see Eren staring in awe at the plates on the table containing eggs, pancakes and bacon. "Whoa, (y/n), is this all for me?" He asks with a wide grin. "Yes, Eren, who else would it be for, I made extra since I might not be home until after dinner."
Eren pauses from shoveling food onto his plate and furrows his brows in confusion. "Are you going out today, (y/n)?" He asks, as he drowns his pancakes in syrup. "Eren, I've told you at least three times this week that Claire had invited me to the fundraiser picnic for the hospital." Eren's eyes widen for a moment and then a smirk appears on his face.
"So that's why you're all dressed up." He teases. You glance down at your new sundress and strappy sandals you had purchased earlier in the week while out shopping with Mikasa. "I am not 'all dressed up', I thought it would be nice to be able to go somewhere without wearing clothes splattered in paint and dried mac and cheese for once." You scoff.
The tall brunette lets out an amused chuckle. "I am sure Claire could care less about what you're wearing (y/n)." A faint blush creeps onto your cheeks. "I don't know what you're trying to imply, I just wanted to wear my new dress while the weather is nice." You reply trying not to sound too defensive.
"Oh come on (y/n), everyone knows that you and Dr. Crankypants have a thing for each other, he's been coming to pick up Claire instead of Hange lately." He accuses, green eyes lighting up in amusement. "First of all, you guys should be paying more attention at work instead of gossiping and second of all, 'Crankypants'?, what are you, five?" You respond, raising your tone slightly. "Ok, ok I'm done teasing you, I couldn't resist, you make it too easy." You smack him lightly on the head with a roll of paper towels from the counter.
"I said I would stop (y/n), seriously, you haven't smiled like that in a long time and if you're happy, I'm happy." He says sincerely locking his eyes with yours. Your expression falters for a moment but a small smile returns to your lips. "Would your response have been the same if I had said I was going somewhere with Jean?" You ask, trying not to laugh at the sudden scowl replacing Eren's playful grin. "Not funny, (y/n)." He mumbles into his forkful of eggs. "Besides Levi's actually been less of a dick to us when he comes to pick up Claire so we all benefit." He says, falling back into his usual smartass persona.
You glance over at the clock on the wall noticing that it was time to leave if you want to arrive on time. You grab your keys and purse pausing to pat Eren on the head, causing him to swat your hand away with a laugh. You say your goodbyes and head out to your car.
Your head is swimming with a flurry of emotions as you drive towards the grounds where the picnic was being held. You haven't seen Levi since your baking session a week ago. Of course your thoughts keep drifting back to the unexpected hug that occurred between you and Levi, even though it was actually initiated by Claire. 'Why am I making such a big deal about this? I'm sure he hasn't even given it a second thought.' You think to yourself sadly. You then remind yourself that you were here because Claire wanted you to come and you decide to have fun and not think about feelings you and Levi may or may not have for each other.
After pulling into a parking space, you grab your purse and exit the car. You quickly pat the front of your dress to smooth out any wrinkles and survey the parking lot. Levi had told you that he, Hange and Claire would meet you there with the cupcakes since they were being stored at his house. He had the extra space and you couldn't risk having the treats raided by Eren in his next midnight snack binge. When it came to junk food, Eren was a bottomless pit.
Soon enough, you heard Hange calling out to you and you started walking towards her. As soon as Claire sees you, she runs ahead and almost crashes into you. She looks adorable in her pink dress and pigtails with matching ribbons. "Miss (y/n), you came!" She cheers and immediately grabs your hand walking alongside you. "I promised you, didn't I?" You ask with a smile. Claire nods and smiles back.
"Hey brat, you said you were going to help me with the damn cupcakes!" You hear a familiar voice shout. You turn to look back and see Levi pulling Claire's wagon that contains the cupcakes. Claire drags you over to the wagon. "Me and Miss (y/n) will pull the wagon, Daddy!" Claire announces and she takes the handle from Levi and gives it to you. "Tch, ditching me already, thanks a lot brat." He teases, flicking one of Claire's pigtails.
You turn towards Levi and you freeze for a moment, both of you feeling slightly awkward from the last time you saw each other. It doesn't help that he somehow looks more handsome than usual today. Even in just jeans and a t-shirt. "Thanks for coming, (y/n), you look...different." Levi comments quietly. Hange cackles and thumps him on the back playfully. "Wow, way to go shorty." She says sarcastically. "I think that's Levi's emotionally constipated way of saying that you look lovely today (y/n)." Hange replies cheerfully, ignoring the death glare from Levi, who appears to be blushing slightly. "I don't remember inviting you, four eyes." He grumbles.
A few minutes later you finally reach the picnic grounds. There are colorful tents everywhere housing different activities and games, tables with all kinds of culinary offerings were all around and just the smell alone was enough to make you hungry. Before deciding on a plan of action, you head over to the dessert table to unload the cupcakes which you were thankful for, dragging them around was starting to make your arm muscles hurt.
Just after your had successfully deposited the cupcakes on the table you are startled by a deep pleasant sounding voice. "Those certainly look delicious." You turn around to find a tall handsome man with blonde hair and a dazzling smile gazing somewhat lovingly at the cupcakes on the table behind you. He then notices you standing there snapping him out of his trance. " Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there, I don't believe we've met before." He smiles and extends his hand to you. "Dr. Erwin Smith, I run the emer-" He pauses as he notices an irritated Levi heading towards you both trailed by Claire and Hange. You had gone ahead of them while they were handing in the invitations to the picnic.
"Oi! Erwin, get the hell away from those cupcakes!" Levi shouts causing Erwin to chuckle. Erwin is then bumped slightly when Claire charges forward and throws her arms around him happily. "Uncle Erwin, I missed you!!!!" Erwin lifts her into the air. "I've missed you too, Princess Claire!" He says with a laugh and then sets her back down.
"I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to warn you about this one, (y/n), he's a sneaky bastard." Levi states pointing to Erwin. "So this is (y/n)? I've heard so much about you!" Erwin says extending his hand to you for a second time which you shake successfully. "What the hell are you talking about, I only mentioned that Claire was bringing (y/n)." He then notices Erwin glancing at Hange who was waving her hands in a stop motion.
Levi glares at her and Hange giggles. "Hange and I are also friends, Levi, I wasn't aware we had to consult with you first." Erwin teases. "Don't you have some bullshitting to do to bring in some donations to the hospital?That's why they put you in charge of this shit, right?" Levi inquires with a smirk. "Need I remind you that I am still your superior, Levi and that the hospital benefits greatly from these donations?" Erwin chides. "In fact I would like to introduce you to some new guests joining us this year." He continues motioning for Levi to follow him. Levi follows reluctantly. "Cheer up Levi, Erwin will do all the talking, you just stand there and look pretty!" Hange shouts after him to which he responds by flipping her off.
"Good, he's gone!" Hange cheers victoriously. "Now let's go stuff our faces!" She shouts grabbing both you and Claire by the hands and charges towards the food tents.
You and Claire are seated at one of the tables eating some lunch while Hange is off refilling her plate for the 4th time. "Do you like my Daddy, Miss (y/n)?" Claire asks innocently,her grey eyes hopeful. You cough, choking on your water. "Um, I don't really know him that well, Claire but I hope maybe someday we can become friends." You smile warmly at her. "My Daddy doesn't have a lot of friends." Claire responds quietly. "Auntie Hange says it's because people are scared of him." She pauses and then looks up at you."But you don't think he's scary, right?" She asks.
You ruffle her hair. "No, I don't think your Dad is scary Claire, he's actually pretty nice once you get to know him." She smiles. "So would you be his friend, Miss (y/n)?" You blush slightly. "Well if he asked me to, I would say yes." Claire seems happy with your answer. "So, if I asked you out to dinner next week instead, would you still say yes?" You look back to see Levi standing right behind you. "Oh my god, how long were you standing there?" He smirks. "It's a simple yes or no question, (y/n)."
You try not to laugh."Yes but only because I don't want to disappoint Claire." You tease back. Hange finally makes her way to the table and plops down with a confused look. "What did I miss?" She asks. "Daddy is taking Miss (y/n) to dinner next week!" Claire relays happily. Hange squeals and runs over to Levi hugging him tightly. "You finally did it! I'm so proud of you shorty!" She says happily. Levi finally manages to slip out of Hange's death grip. He reaches out his hand to you. "Can we go for a walk, I want to get away from this idiot before she causes a scene." "Good idea." You agree and quickly follow behind him.
After walking the grounds for a bit, you and Levi settled on a bench near a small pond. You sat in silence for a few minutes, watching a small group of ducks swim around. "(Y/n)?" Levi asks breaking the silence. You turn towards him. "Are you alright, you look constipated." He says bluntly causing you to smirk slightly. "Um, no I've just been thinking about some things." You reply quietly. Levi frowns. "Look, if it's about asking you to dinner, I'm sorry, I realize I was being too forward, you don't have to go if it's making you uncomfortable." He blurts out quickly.
"No, it's not that exactly, I do want to go,it's just been a long time since I've been on a date and I've been thinking about things that I haven't thought about in four years." Levi is quiet for a few moments, he looks at you and waits for you to continue. "I just realized a few minutes ago that next month would have been my fourth wedding anniversary." You answer quietly. "I didn't know you were married, (y/n)." Levi replies looking surprised. You shake your head. "I'm not, the wedding was cancelled." You stare straight ahead watching the ducks. "Cold feet?" Levi asked also staring at the ducks. "N-no, my fiancé was killed in a car crash on his way to the wedding by a drunk driver." You respond sadly.
Levi turns to you with a shocked expression. "Shit, I'm sorry (y/n), you don't have to talk about this." He says, features focused on you with concern. "No, Levi it's ok, I need to talk about this, I've bottled it up for too long." You pull out your phone scrolling through some pictures and then hand it to Levi. "That's Mike, We met in school 6 years ago." You tell him as you point to the picture of you and Mike from when you first started dating. "So you went to school together?" He asks. You let out a small laugh."No, I was assigned to his class as a student teacher in my last year of college, he taught kindergarten." Levi smirks. "Seriously, a kindergarten teacher, I thought you were going to tell me he was a wrestler or some shit." You laugh.
"It's okay, he got that a lot." You say with a smile."He was an amazing teacher, the kids loved him." You scroll over to a picture of the class all hugging Mike on the last day before summer vacation. Levi takes your hand and hands your phone back to you. "Thank you for sharing that with me, (y/n)." He looks at you sincerely. You nod. He takes out his phone and hands it to you. "That's Petra." He says softly. Your eyes go wide for a moment when you see the familiar copper hair and dazzling smile."Oh my gosh, Claire looks-" He nods. "just like her, I know." Levi says with a smile.
"We met when I was in medical school, she worked at a cafe that I would go to when I needed to study for exams." He smirks. "She was always pestering me about not eating enough and always looking tired." He lets out a chuckle."She also made damn good tea." You can't help but chuckle as well. He scrolls ahead and stops at a picture of Petra smiling lovingly while holding a tiny newborn. "And there she is, the little brat.." He says pointing with a small smile. "Aw, she was cute even then." You say softly. "That's because you didn't have to hear her shrieking every 2 goddamn hours every night or change her disgusting shitty diapers." He responds with a smirk.
Levi goes on to tell you that shortly after Claire was born, Petra became very sick. After extensive testing it was revealed that she had breast cancer that had went undetected due to her not having any symptoms until then. Unfortunately because it was not found sooner, it had metastasized to other parts of her body including her brain. Levi had taken her to all the best cancer specialists he knew through connections at work and even after radical chemotherapy treatments the cancer still remained and Petra passed away shortly after Claire's first birthday.
"I'm so sorry Levi." You say as you hand him his phone back tears running down your face after learning about Petra's fate. He looks over to you and tries to brush the tears from your face. "No, Im sorry (y/n), I shouldn't have dumped that depressing shit on you like that." He says apologetically. Your shake your head. "Don't be, I think we both needed to get these things out as difficult as they were to say." You touch his hand gently."Thank you, Levi." He shocks you by taking your hand and squeezing it gently."No, thank you, (y/n), I do feel better after holding that shit in for so long."
You squeeze his hand back. "Do you still want to go out to dinner after I ruined the day and made you cry?" He asks you. You meet his gaze intently."You didn't ruin it,Levi, if anything I feel even more of a connection with you now." Your say smiling softly. Before he can reply Hange comes bounding over to you both. "Speaking of ruining things.." Levi mutters and you giggle. "We've been looking all over for you two!" Hange exclaims panting heavily. Claire is slowly making her way over as well. She approaches Levi and climbs into his lap. "Wow Daddy you're really good at hiding!" Claire exclaims and gives him a hug. "I wasn't hiding brat, (y/n) and I wanted to see the ducks without Hange's big mouth scaring them away." Claire giggles and then yawns widely. Levi checks his phone. "Shit, it's getting late, it's almost bedtime for the brat, we should start heading home." He says as Claire pouts.
Hange leans over to pick up Claire in her arms. "Thanks for coming today, (y/n), you made Claire's day, I'll see you next week!" She brings Claire over who hugs you and yawns yet again. "I had a lot of fun,I'll see you on Monday right Miss (y/n)? You hug her back. "Of course,Claire." You assure her. "Well we're going to start heading back to the car, this kid is getting heavy!" Hange says with a cackle.
Levi walks you back to your car. "I had a nice time, Levi." You say suddenly feeling a little shy. "I did too (y/n)." He says, both of your eyes meet and there is an awkward silence. "I guess I'll pick you up on Friday at 7?" He asks breaking the silence. You nod. "Sounds good, I'll see you then." You both exchange a hug and Levi starts walking away as you dig out your car keys from your purse. Suddenly he stops and says "oh fuck it." He walks back over to you.
He stands in front of you and lifts your chin up to face him and leans in kissing you gently on the lips and pulls away. "Goodnight (y/n), see you next week." He says with a crooked grin and walks back towards his car. You stand there for a moment processing what just happened and climb into the car. You drive back towards home, your heart fluttering happily for the first time in years.