Recap:

I gave him a reassuring smile and added on.

"Trust me."

He made a face before gently pushing his way past me and into his bed.

"I do."

A warm feeling instantly flooded my cheeks but I turned to grin foolishly at him. It didn't take him long to scoff at my gleeful expression, followed by rolling his eyes and shoving a spare pillow into my face.

"Get that stupid smile off your face."

I chuckled, pulling the pillow off.

"I can't help it. You would do the same if your-" I stopped abruptly as my mind shot up a thousand possible words for me to say. What was our relationship now? Would we want to even put a label on it? Were relationships always this difficult? Levi caught onto the hesitation and raised an eyebrow at me. Clearing my throat awkwardly, I continued.

"-ahem. If your partner said the same thing to you."

Unfortunately, it seemed like Levi enjoyed watching me be uncomfortable - the sadist.

"Well, do you then?"

I blinked to focus on his question. "Do I what?"

"Trust me?"

I internally relaxed at the question and flopped onto my back again, folding my arms behind my head. Avoiding his gaze was the smartest choice to make, lest I make another embarrassing moment to add to my unending list.

"Without a doubt."

Silence followed and I took a peek at him, grinning again when he refused to meet my eyes, a dusting of pink on the top of his ears. Then a knock on the door surprised the both of us, whipping our heads towards the sound.

"You expecting someone at this time of night?" I raised an eyebrow at him. "My my, Captain, that's very adventurous of you."

"The only person I would willingly let into my room at this time would be you, Hazura."

My heart strings tugged at how nonchalantly he said it. Well, until he finished his thought.

"You're one of the few I'd trust to not kill me in my sleep."

"Hah – if we go by that reasoning, this assassin must be polite enough to knock on your door."

As the Captain begrudgingly crawled out of bed again, he slyly moved the pillow onto my face again in retaliation. I laughed and swatted it off. As I listened to Levi's footsteps padding to his door, I got a thought and quickly followed after him. Rushing to his desk, I hastily sat in the spare seat in front of it. A simple questioning look from him had me grinning sheepishly.

"In case it's someone random. I don't necessarily feel like explaining to why I'm in Captain Levi's personal quarters."

He nodded in agreement and turned back to the door.

"Name."

"It's Hanji, Levi! I'm looking for Rina."

At this, we swapped glances at the surprise request. As I got up from the chair, Levi opened the door wide and silently returned to his bedroom. I blinked as the brunette scientist came into my sight.

"Hanji, what did you need me for?"

"I thought to give you this." She winked and handed a bundle of clothes over. Still confused, I instinctively took the hanger and peered at the fabric warily. It didn't take long for me to figure out what it was.

"My sleep wear? My uniform?"

"You don't want to be doing the walk of shame in your old clothes tomorrow morning, right?"

My eyebrows furrowed as I thought harder until her implications finally made their way to light. Seeing the second I realised her intentions, Hanji winked again. Squashing the urge to reach out and pull on her goggles, I clicked my jaw to keep the blush at bay and lowered my voice.

"Walk of shame, my ass. Hanji, I wasn't planning on sleeping in his quarters. We were just talking."

"I'm not doing this just for you but for the good of the Survey Corps."

I pinched the bridge of my nose with my free hand, now even more confused than I was before. It was impossible to follow her train of thought.

"How is sleeping in Levi's quarters for the good of the Corps?"

"We all know how much of a workaholic Levi is. It's also no secret that he suffers from insomnia. By having you sleep here, you can help him with both issues. Two birds with one stone, so to speak."

I gave her a funny look and waited silently for her to continue. She sighed when I still didn't get the picture.

"You can make sure he gets a good night's rest before the Expedition starts. I don't know what magical mooju you did the last time you slept here but the next morning was the perkiest I've ever seen him. If perky is the right word for that stoic bastard."

As I thought back to the last occurrence, it did occur to me that Levi didn't wake up once that night. The scientist pounced on my hesitation.

"Look, just do it. You already have a fresh set of clothes for tomorrow."

I gave her a flat stare, which she returned with a toothy smile.

"You won't leave me be if I didn't."

Hanji simply stuck her tongue out at me and walked off, waving.

"Have a good night, Rina! See you in the morning!"

Groaning internally, I closed the door and draped the uniform over the office chair. Heading back to his bedroom, I called out, fully intending to still leave.

"Hey Levi, it's getting pretty late so I might…" as I took a glimpse of the Captain, my voice trailed off at the look on his face. "What is it?"

"What did Four-Eyes want?"

I scoffed playfully. "Trust me – nothing."

"And what did she give you?"

"Levi, what's with all the questions? This is Hanji we're talking about." I sat back down on the edge of the bed, twisting to give him a side-eye.

"Tsk – all the more to worry. Besides, I heard you drop something by my office space. If anything falls out of place-"

"-it was a clean set of clothes." I gave in to his probing and that answer effectively shut him up. "She was under the assumption that I was going to spend the night here." Shaking my head in amusement, I thought back to the conversation. "I don't even know what could have possibly given her that…idea…"

It was the second time that night I had trailed off but this expression from Levi was different from the first. It was so unlike him and so unexpected that my heart stuttered. I barely believed the next words that came out of my mouth.

"Unless...you wanted me to stay?"

With the four letter word out, Levi ripped his gaze from mine and silently dived under the covers. As I started doubting what I had seen, his reply confirmed that it hadn't been an illusion. It was another second before his deep voice sounded from underneath.

"Your choice."

Another stupid blush overtook my face and I instinctively pressed my colder hands against my cheeks, thanking the gods that Levi couldn't see my face. Wall Maria, when had I turned into such squishy emotional person?

"And give Hanji the satisfaction of knowing she was right?"

Levi scoffed loudly. "If anything, her persistent ways of working would have her camping outside my door this very second."

I laughed at the picture that painted. "You wouldn't be wrong. If that's the case…"

I stood from the bed and headed to the office. Reaching the doorway and before I fell out of his sight, I glanced over my shoulder. As expected, a pair of striking grey eyes stared back at me.

"Move over."