I'm late, I know, I'm sorry.
I'll just leave this here… next chapter will be up on time and shit happens…

The next three days are much the same, staying in bed with Levi until I'm too hot and bothered. I wake him, feed him and help him to the bathroom. When I finally lay him down to rest some more, Hanji arrives to check on him. I leave her to it and head down to the gym, where no one is in a particularly talkative mood.

Eld is sporting a black eye and Gunther has yet to make an appearance. No one wants to tell me what happened, though they aren't exactly telling Petra either. I train for as long as I dare, before heading back up to take care of Levi. Where I find Hanji patting his hair and murmuring something to him softly while he sleeps.

She claimed that his fever was not due to infection, more the physical embodiment of his inner turmoil. She mentions that it wasn't life threatening and that it stayed constant, so there would be no lasting damage. How long this low fever would last, on the other hand, she could only guess.

So when the fourth day rolled around and I wake up to no Levi, I have to say that I had a rather manly panic attack. At first I thought that maybe he was in the bathroom, but the door was open and no sound came from within. I search the entire apartment from top to bottom, but there are no traces of him anywhere.

I even check the laundry basket, just to find his sleeping clothes there. Okay, so he must have gone out. Is he okay? What if he collapses in some strange, deserted part of the tower and no one finds him? Shit, what do I do? Where do I even begin looking- wait, Hanji might know. Yes, let's go to Hanji.

So I throw on some clothes and run out the room. I sprint down the passages, dodging angels left and right, even leaping over a human who had stopped to tie their shoe. When I hit the landing, I take the stairs two at a time.

Eventually, I make it to the doors that lead into the infirmary, which I burst through. I shove the doors open so hard that they bounce off the walls and swing shut behind me. Hanji glances up from where she is redressing Gunther's wounded shoulder. So this is where he's been.

"Yo, Eren,"

I smile at the greeting; Gunther has a giant grin on his face. Though his skin is paler than normal and there is a hint of pain in his eyes.

"Hey, Gunther. You okay?" momentarily forgetting about my mission.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just picked a fight with the sharp end of a knife, you know? It's nothing serious, hardly needed any stitches,"

I know he's lying, but I play along anyway.

"Don't tell Petra that though, she likes her guys tortured looking and dangerous,"

His brow furrows and I explain that she and I watched a movie and that the main male lead was tortured. I also told him about how she sobbed over it. By the end of my explanation, there was a lopsided smile on his face and he didn't even notice Hanji working.

"So, what can I do for you, Eren?" she asks as she finishes off working.

"Oh, have you seen Levi?"

"What do you mean? I thought he was with you,"

"He was, when I went to sleep last night, but he was gone when I woke up this morning,"

"And you're sure he wasn't in the bathroom?"

I give Gunther a sceptical stare. "Do you think I would sprint here if I hadn't checked every corner of his apartment?"

"I take that as a no,"

Hanji had grown eerily quiet throughout the conversation. "I'll go talk to Erwin. Eren, keep looking- no, you stay in bed, Gunther-"

"But-"

"You need to rest, you lost quite a bit of blood and I will not have you pass out and tumble down a flight of stairs. And don't even think about flying in your condition."

She glares at him, hands placed on her hips and her chin juts out towards him. "Don't make me have to strap you down; you know I'll do it,"

Her threat scares him back into his bed, though he grumbles unceremoniously. "If you do, I want a safe word…"

His humour is lost to me. Nervousness courses through my arteries and I find myself sprinting again. My feet carry me to the gym, where Petra is dancing to booming music and cannot possibly hear me calling out to her. I go over to the stereo and stop the music, plunging the room into a deafening silence.

"Hey-"

"Have you seen Levi?" I interject.

The look on my face causes her to recoil. I'm not sure what she saw, but I see fear in her eyes that reflects my own.

"I'm sure he will be fine-"

"Not if he's sick,"

She gulps, and then nods in understanding. She and I set off together to search for the missing angel.

We search everywhere we can think of, the last place he might be and everywhere in between. It's not until we reach the café that we run straight into Hanji and Erwin, who have actually been looking for us.

"Levi is fine; he came to see me this morning for a debriefing. He said he wasn't feeling a hundred percent so he went back to his apartment-"

"Eren!"

I don't even bother listening to them anymore, my bare feet pounding on the tiled floors as I sprint back the way I had come. In the back of my mind I know that my feet are actually sore from all the running, that my lungs are screaming for oxygen and that my legs are burning. But right now I don't give a fuck, because I'm angry. No, I'm fucking furious.

Again I find myself dodging angels, which I later found out is actually untrue because they were dodging me, and I reach that all too familiar door. I throw it open with all my might, to find Levi and Eld standing in the lounge, talking in hushed tones.

"Eren-"

Whack.

Levi's words are cut off when my right fist connects with his left cheek in a staggering blow. He literally stumbles backwards and Eld moves to his defence. "Get the fuck out!"

Eld pauses for a moment and glances over at Levi, who had managed to catch himself and was rubbing his jaw. The raven haired man nods his head, his eyes glued on mine and a storm brewing in their grey depths.

Eld moves away slowly, waiting for indication from his captain to take out the male human who had decked his leader. But the signal never comes and he closes the door quietly behind him.

"What the fuck, brat!"

"Don't 'what the fuck' me, you fucking bastard,"

I lunge at him, pulling my fist back to punch him again when his knee comes up to my stomach. I tense my muscles and roll to the side so that it is just a glancing blow. He grabs hold of my hair and pulls my head up to his face.

"What the fuck is wrong with you-"

"No, what the fuck is wrong with you? What the hell were you thinking, just leaving like that? I didn't know where you went or what you were doing or even how you were doing-"

"Who the fuck do you think you are? You're not my fucking mother, I don't have to tell you jack shit-"

"I took care of you for three fucking days and this is how you repay me? You were so sick I had to carry you to the bathroom! I thought you might pass out, fall down stairs and break your fucking neck, you prick! I was scared!"

Levi flinches, as though I've moved to punch him a third time.

"I ran around the entire tower looking for you. You could have died,"

I press my hands to his chest and give a hard shove.

"You could have fucking died," I whisper as tears start rolling down my cheeks. The thought of Levi lying at the bottom of a stair case with his head at an unnatural angle hurts my heart so much that I struggle to breath. I press my palms to my eyes and I feel Levi releasing his grip on my hair. I sink to the floor, no longer trying to hide my sob.

I feel his hands in my hair as he sinks down in front of me; he wraps his one arm around my neck and the other around my waist, and hugs me to his chest. I feel something brush over my legs and sob even harder when I realise that he is wrapping his wings around me. It's so soft and it's quiet.

He holds me close and plants a kiss on my temple before nuzzling at my hair. My hands drop from my eyes and make their way around his stomach. "I- I was so- so scared, I don't want to lose you. Don't leave me like everyone else did," I utter so softly that I'm not even sure the words ever left my mouth.

Levi heard me though; I know this because his arms tighten around me and his feathers poof slightly. He pulls away just enough to look at me. "Eren, look at me,"

I lift my chin marginally, suddenly all too aware of my snotty state and I blush. Nothing surprises me more though, than when Levi's lips meet mine.

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