Levi x Reader [Thunder]

    A brilliant fork of lightning cut through the rainy night outside of your window, briefly illuminating the world beyond and casting the shapes of your fellow cadets on their bunks into stark contrast. You clutched your pillow tightly to your eyes, bracing yourself-
    Crack! The sound of thunder cut through the silence of your dormintory with a defeaning boom, temporarily drowning out the sound of the rain hammering against the window, as you clutched your pillow so tightly your knuckles whitened from the strain.
    "Fuck!" you swore loudly, clenching your eyes shut.
    "What's up, (f/n)?" came a sleepy voice from your left. You jerked, unaware that you had woken your fellow cadets with the noise you were making.
    "Nothing, Armin!" you called tentatively across the room, "Go back to sleep!"
    "Could it be?" came a loud voice from a top bunk somewhere else in the dark room. "Is the high and mighty (f/n) scared of thunder?"
    You moaned. Of all the people you had to wake up.
    "I'm not! Now shut up and go to sleep, horseface!"
    "Yes you are" sang a triumphant Jean, "Is little (f/n) a lwittle scared of the lowd thwunder?" he whined in an imitation of a baby's voice, "Does she nweed uncle Jean to go and gwive her a hug?" You were considering getting out of the comfort of your blankets, cold floor or not, to punch Jean in the face, when Eren piped up.
    "Stop picking on (f/n), horseface!"
    "Make me!" challenged Jean. You moaned as the two started exchanging obscenities across the dark room loudly, fearing that the rest of the cadets would be woken. Sure enough, in a matter of minutes the room was filled with threats, insults and complaints, people getting out of their beds. You tried to stuff your ears with your fingers to block out the noise, but it was no use. As the turmoil grew around you, you dragged yourself into a sitting position, and, rubbing sleep from your eyes, started towards the door.
    "Where are you going, (f/n)?" Armin called after you as you heaved open the door.
    "Somewhere less noisy." You let the door slam shut.
                                                                    
    The stone floor of the HQ was cold beneath your bare feet, and you cursed yourself for forgetting to bring socks in your drowsiness. None of which remained, you remarked gloomily. The combination of cold, despite it being summer, and the stone around you, which magnified every thunder-crack until it seemed to reverberate in your ears for an incredibly long time, made you a bit annoyed, and you kicked a stone wall angrily, almost stubbing your toe against the hard surface.
    The walk to Levi's quarters seemed much longer than usual, and the dark corridors were slightly unnerving at the best of times, so you were grateful as you rounded a final corner and saw a golden sliver of light seeping out from underneath his door. You raised your hand and knocked lightly on the wooden surface.
    "Name and business." came Levi's monotone voice from within the room.
    "It's me." You said softly, wary of waking up any of the other officers, who would probably reprimand you for being out after curfew.
    "The door is unlocked." Levi's voice softened slighty, making him sound tired all of a sudden. You gently pushed the door open with a creak.
    Levi was sitting behind the little desk in his office, immaculate despite the late hour, reading something by the light of his small desk-lamp. As you entered, he looked up quizzically, and you noticed the dark shadows under his grey eyes.
    "What brings you here at this hour, (f/n)?" You walked forward, seating yourself on the chair in front of his desk with a sigh.
    "I, um, couldn't sleep." The corporal looked at you strangely, but he didn't press the subject. You didn't want to tell him about your fear of the thunder, so you quickly changed the subject.
    "Levi, why are you up so late working again?" A concerned edge crept into your voice, but he just rolled his eyes.
    "I have a shit-load of paperwork to finish." 
    The office was illuminated briefly and you had a split second's warning before Crack! You gritted your teeth against the noise but pressed on.
    "But you still need to sleep! You look like you haven't had a good rest for days!" You leaned forward in your seat, brushing your fingers against his.
    "I'm going to go to bed. Would you care to join me?" You smiled at him, letting just the right amount of mischeviousness into your voice for him to raise an eyebrow at you. Then he leaned across the table and pressed his lips against yours. You smiled slightly, savouring the feeling of his mouth on yours. However, he pulled away a mere second or so later, returning to his paperwork, leaving you pouting at him unhappily. Seeing your gaze, he sighed and gestured towards his bedroom.
    "Shitty brat. Do you really think that'll work? Just go to bed already, I'll come once I finish what I have to do."
    "But Levi, you need to sle-"
    "And clean your feet, Cadet (l/n), that is an order. If you dirty my linens I'll have you wash them, and all my other bedclothes, for a month."
    You sighed unhappily, then got up and turned as if to follow his orders. Levi nodded in approval, apparently thinking he won, but before he could move his gaze from your pyjama-clad figure to his work you did a 180 and walked briskly to stand behind the corporal's chair, your back facing the rain-spattered window.
    "What are you doing, (f/n)?" He asked slowly, not turning to face you.
    "I'm going to stand here until you go to sleep."
    He let out a frustrated sigh, but soon the sound of his pen scratching paper reached your ears, almost drowned out by the pounding of the rain outside. Slightly disappointed at his reaction, you shrugged, leaning against the windowsill and snaring one hand into Levi's ebony locks. He let out a disgruntled grunt, but ignored you all the same. You gently stroked a strand of hair, marvelling at how soft it was. You continued running your hands through his hair, so absorbed in what you were doing you completely shut out the world outside, drowning out the rain and occasional sound of thunder, systematically toying with each strand of your boyfriend's hair.
    Crack! A particularly loud boom of thunder sounded, cutting through the noise of the rain like a whip and snapping you out of your reverie, causing you to jolt sharply in surprise, and slight fright. You hand, which was entwined in the corporal's hair, jerked, and pulled painfully on one of his locks, making him turn with a glare on his face. You quickly removed your hand from his hair.
    "What the hell?" He rubbed his scalp in dismay.
    "I'm sorry!" You stammered, still a bit shaken from the thunder-crack. "I just, um, was going to scratch my nose and I forgot my hand was still in your hair?" You wanted to face-palm yourself as soon as the pathetic excuse escaped your lips, and Levi narrowed his eyes suspiciously as you, making you press your body hard against the windowsill. Even though you had dated for quite some time, he could still be very intimidating when he wanted to.
    You braced yourself for scolding, but to your surpise Levi's eyes softened, and he turned his chair slightly so it was facing outwards, away from his desk.
He patted his lap.
    "Plant your sorry ass here."
    You approached slowly, unsure if Levi had been taken by some sudden masochistic streak, and cautiously placed a small portion of your weight in his lap. He rolled his eyes and growled slightly.
    "I don't bite." You settled more comfortably in his lap, leaning your head against his shoulder as he placed his arms around you.
    "Why couldn't you fall asleep, (f/n)?" You stiffened slightly.
    "I... the rain was too loud."
    "That's bullshit. You've slept through half your squad shouting at you to get up."
    You sighed. Levi was so perceptive sometimes.
    "Okay then, fine. I was, uh," you scratched the back of your head, "...promise not to laugh?"
    You couldn't see him roll his eyes, but you knew he did anyway.
    "Am I the type to laugh easily?"
    "Fair enough. So I'm, um, sort of, scared of thunder." As if on cue, a fork of lightning cut through the night sky, and you winced at the noise that followed. When your eardrums stopped reverberating you looked up at Levi's impassive face, waiting for him to say something. Instead, you felt his legs vanish from under you as you were lifted into the air.
    "Levi, wha-"
    Faster than you thought was possible, Levi crossed the room and kicked open the door of his bedroom with a slam, barely stopping to throw you, bewildered and slightly breathless, onto his bed. Stripping off his white shirt, he replaced it with an almost identical nightshirt, then did the same for his pants. You pulled the neatly folded blankets up to your chin, even though you were wearing full pyjamas,and watched him take off his boots and climb into bed next to you, glaring at you as he did so. Then he grabbed you roughly and clutched you to his chest so hard you could feel his abs against your abdomen. Which did not help with the fact that you couldn't breathe.
    "Can't breathe!" You choked, and Levi quickly released you from his rough embrace, but you could still see the angry expression on his face in the darkness.
    "So is that why you came to me tonight? Because you couldn't sleep because of the thunder?"
    You decided to omit the part about the other cadets teasing you about it, since you didn't want there to be any bloodshed.
    "Well, yes."
    "And why didn't you tell me about it?" His narrowed grey eyes searched yours, and you looked away, putting your arms around him and burying your face in his chest.
    "I was afraid you would laugh at me." You whispered, voice muffled by his shirt.
    Gentle fingers lifted your face, and you lifted your gaze to look into Levi's normally unemotional eyes, filled with anguish.
    "Why would you think that? I wouldn't laugh at you for such a small thing. Everyone is scared of some shit. I'm just angry that you wouldn't talk to me about it. I'm your boyfriend. You can tell me these things, and I'll never judge you, and I'll never stop loving you for it."
    You leaned up to brush you lips against his cool ones.
    "I love you, Levi. And thank you."
    He growled menacingly, but pecked you on the forehead.
    "Don't thank me, shitty brat. I love you too."
    A flash of lightning illuminated the room, and for a brief moment you saw Levi look at you with such a tender look that you had to turn your head away, blushing slightly.
    "R-right. G'night, Levi."
    "Good night, (f/n)."
    He closed his eyes, but you lay awake for a while, looking at the ceiling of his bedroom and listening to the sound of the rain and the occasional sound of thunder in the distance.
    "Levi?" You thought he had fallen asleep but his response came immediately.
    "You said everyone's scared of something. So," you winced slightly as a huge crack sounded outside. "What are you scared of?"
    He seemed to ponder it for a long time, and just when you thought that he might have fallen asleep he spoke slowly, as though choosing his words with care.
    "A lot of things. I'm scared of the titans, and I'm scared for my comrades, and I'm afraid I'll die and never be able to keep all the promises I gave."
    You looked at his shadowy figure, his short hair spread across his pillow like a small halo.
    "I never knew you were scared of titans. And yet you still choose to fight them as a way of living?"
    He shrugged. "A little fear is good for things like that. It means you never let your guard down."
    You nodded. "You're brave, Levi."
    Silence.
    "I'm not. I just learn to live with my choices."
    A flash of lightning lit his face, and the expression you saw on his face reminded you of all the things he had been through.
    "What's your greatest fear, then?"
    "That's easy." His reply, voiced in a flat voice, came instantly. "Losing you." At your silence, he added "Well, other comrades too, but mostly you." He took a deep breath. "I have nightmares, sometimes. Sometimes, they're about Farlan or Isabel. Or about the others I couldn't save." You opened your mouth to interupt, but he pressed on, his words coming faster now. "And then there are the one's about you. You, being crushed between a titan's teeth. Or drowned, your hair spread around your face in the water. Murdered by a soldier. Regurgitated on the streets." He stopped, looking at you, pain in his eyes.
    "I'm not going anywhere, Levi." You gently pressed your lips to his, and felt him respond in kind.
    "I promise."
    You fell asleep in Levi's arms that night, to the sound of thunder shattering the summer night outside.