Broken Hearts, Severed Limbs (Levi x OC x Erwin)

|62| Welcome Back, Mrs. Springer

Cold. A cold body, pressed against his own. They were on their bed. She was in her gown. Her skin, pale. Just like how pale she was the night that he had rushed her in the Hospital of Trost, after her fight in Utgard Castle. It was morning. He was holding her. Her head was heavy on his chest. Her bare hand was limp, pale and cold around his belly. His eyes snapped open when the idea struck him.

“Nat?”

No response. Maybe she was still sleeping. He cupped her face. Worry twisted upon the muscles of his features. His thumb brushed across her cheek. He looked down. Her lips, a light blue. It terrified him.

“Nat!”

He pressed his fingers on her pulse point in her neck and he waited. He waited, and waited. Nothing. No heartbeat. No pulse beneath her skin. No blood rushed in her veins. She was gone.

He had lost her.

Levi’s eyes shot wide open. He jumped on a sitting position on their bed. Sweat ran down his temple. He was breathless. And then the fear struck him. He looked beside him, and she was there. She wasn’t pale like she was in that nightmare. Her lips were a lively pink. Her body was covered beneath her gown and their blankets. His hand reached for her own, pressing his thumb over her pulse below her wrist.

He sighed. His heartbeat finally started to slow down. She was alive. She was okay. She was there. Beside him. She was breathing. He couldn’t tell how early in the morning it was. The sunlight was still a light blue. The breeze was still freezing cold as it entered through their window. It must have been quite early.

“Levi?”

Her voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He turned and looked at her and for once again he forced that dead look on his face. The one that didn’t allow anyone to see what he felt. But she could see right through it.

“It’s nothing. Go back to sleep,” He lied. He allowed himself rest back down. He knew he wasn’t fooling her.

“Another nightmare?” Nathalie asked, ignoring completely what he had just said. He expected nothing less from her.

Her fingers found his own. Now her own fingers were warm, and his were cold, unlike his nightmare. He laced their fingers together before he turned and looked at her. Using that look on his face to mask his emotions never worked on her. There was no point. He allowed himself to stare at her with that same terror that he had in his nightmare when he found out she was gone. No. That was just a nightmare. It wasn’t true.

Levi only shifted closer to her. His arms slipped around her and he buried his face in her neck. He nuzzled in her warm skin and he closed his eyes. The shocking fears of his nightmare were starting to subside, especially when he pressed his ear on her chest, and her heartbeat was steady and lively beneath. Her hands slipped around him and she found his hair. Her fingers tangled in the raven sweaty hair and she started caressing. She knew how much he liked that. She knew how much he enjoyed it. Nathalie pressed a kiss on her husband’s forehead. Then, she pressed another kiss on his temple, and another a little bit lower, between his eyes.

Levi sighed in her skin. He closed his eyes. His fears were far away now. She had him. She was holding him. She was caressing and kissing him. She was alive. “I’m alright, my love,” She whispered in his hair and he tried his best to hold back a bitter chuckle.

One look. It was just one look that he had given her, and she already knew what his nightmare was. His arms tightened around her. Fingers were clutching on her clothes. She knew him so well. She loved him so much. She was so perfect. In every way, every aspect, every angle. How could he ever allow himself to let her die? How?! He couldn’t lose her. Ever.