AN: Welp, finally getting to more fanficy-like parts? Like… more ramancey-like? Hell I don't know how to say it. I'm making up words. Anywho, I hope you like it! Also I really like reading your reviews! They help me write more actually. I tend to write when I read one instead of just putting it off.
Winter was coming and it was getting colder. Nights were longer and days where shorter, yet it felt like time was still… peaceful. Leaves were starting to fall and the grounds of WOFCORP were covered in beautiful arrays of oranges and reds. It had always fascinated me how even though everything around us was dying, we found it beautiful.
The author of 'When I Was With You' refused to come to a private meeting at WOFCORP. They insisted to correspond solely through email, in order to keep their identity a secret. It was all extremely suspicious to me, but Levi didn't seem to care. He really seemed only interested in the story. I guess I should have been like that too, but something still bothered me about it. It was too personal. I knew the story, and yet, I didn't. Regardless, I had to continue my work and push my feelings behind me. All of my feelings.
It had been two months since I had sworn to myself that I would never get along with Levi Rivaille. That I would never think about him as anything more than a boss and coworker. That I would never allow myself to become close to him as a friend, let alone something else. Yet... How could I suppress the bubbling warmth inside me every time he gave me even the slightest approval? How could I deny that I looked forward to seeing him at work everyday? How could I tell myself that I hated him when he appeared in my dreams as some dark angel come to save me from the woes of the living? How?
I thought I had at least a little control over my emotions. I truly believed that I was just feeling strange thoughts because of all the grief I still felt over the recent events that had passed. That maybe I was just attracted to Levi because of his connection to Petra. That perhaps, it would ease my pain a little. I was wrong. And one day, my feelings finally broke through.
The day had begun like every other day before it. Nothing was different and nothing should have happened. By the time I came into the office, Levi was already at his desk, scribbling away notes on the manuscripts before him. I set down my stuff on one of the couches and went over to ask him what he wanted me to do, but before I got there he was already up and walking towards me. "Sit down," he ordered me and I obediently complied.
There was space between us, yet still I could feel my heart beating slightly faster. Why? There was no way I could feel anything towards this guy! Hell, the fact that he was a guy should have pushed me away immediately! But…
"Sometimes, it's good to read things aloud in order to get a sense of what is happening in a story and the tone of it." Levi told me as he handed the manuscript to me. "I want you to read to me."
The request stunned me. He wanted me to read to him? It was such an odd thing to ask. "Why don't you just read it yourself?" I blurted out my thought aloud before I could think of the repercussions I would face for it.
He looked up as me with unusually soft eyes. "Because she read to me," was his simple reply. It was obvious who 'she' was. I felt a twinge of pain in my heart at the thought. I could picture it in my head. Petra was the type of person you could just listen to for hours, and I imagine even Levi enjoyed just the sound of her voice.
Clearing my throat, as well as my mind of painful memories, I began. "'When I Was With You' by M. Chapter One. I fell in love with him the first time we met..."
The hours passed us by as I read to him. He closed his eyes and gently rested his head on the back of the couch. I glanced at him frequently, wishing I could just watch him forever, but knowing that I had to read the next sentence before he suspected anything. I was at peace when I read to him, and all too soon, I was finished.
I set the manuscript down on the table in front of us and turned back to him. He was still resting back with his eyes closed, but it was evident that he was aware of everything around him.
"Eren?" He said in a soft voice, only slightly above a whisper.
I turned back towards him. "Yeah?"
He took a deep breath before continuing. "Why is it... That things that aren't even real... Make people sad?"
"I'm sorry... What do you mean? I mean, I get what you mean but..."
"As humans, we always seem to get sad over things that don't exist. How many people cry at the end of movies, or when a character in a book dies? Even though we know that none of its real, we still cry. Yet, when people actually do die, it can be harder to find those same tears we so easily shed before. Why is that?"
I had to think about what he said for a moment before I responded. And even when I did, it wasn't with a real answer. "I don't know. I guess there could be a lot of reasons for it."
He opened his eyes and looked at me. "Neither do I."
He sat up and turned his body to face me. His eyes scanned me up and down as we sat there in silence. Finally, looking me in the eyes with a fixed gaze, he moved, but it wasn't off the couch and back to his desk as I had predicted he would. No. Instead he leaned over to me, closing the gap between us, until our lips met. He kissed me gently, and the crazy thing is, I kissed him back.
