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

|94| Success

It was one of the few times that her theory was proven correct and she hated it. She was right. Dissolving progesterone was a side-effect of the Resurrection Serum that she used to fight off her disease. It wasn’t right to take progesterone by pills only. Which meant that Nathalie couldn’t bear children if she wanted to stay alive.

Perfect. Just perfect. It wasn’t really something she could hide from Levi, even though she wanted to. She wanted to curl up in some corner and cry, because life was so damn cruel and unfair. Everything came with a cost, and that was a lesson that she had very well learned the past few months.

And now Nathalie just stood there, in the utterly uncomfortable silence that fell between her and her husband. They had just returned from the Interior, where she took a few minutes to test her suspicions that were proven correct. And now, she had just finished explaining it all to him. She had a tight knot in her stomach, and her fingers wrinkled on her ankle-length grey skirt in utter nervousness as she stared at him, and waited for him to say something. Anything. The more seconds passed, the more worried she got.

What was he going to do? Was he going to leave her? She wouldn’t be surprised if he did. There were lots of women out there. Far prettier, and far better than her in every single way. But the idea frightened her. It terrified her to the core, and her fingers almost trembled on that thought. But he wasn’t yet speaking. He just stared blankly outside the window. His back, turned at her. That unreadable expression spread across his face and it mirrored on the window.

They were in his office. His hands were tucked in the pockets of his black pants. He was wearing a white shirt that he had stuffed within his pants and he was staring blankly outside the window. She was frightened of what he was going to say. He wasn’t looking at her for now, and it drove her insane. Her mind wandered to the worst, but it did not linger there when he finally spoke.

“It’s alright,” He finally said, and for a moment she was afraid that she mustn’t have heard him correct. Maybe it was just a trick of her imagination.

Levi turned and finally looked at her. She had that worried expression on her face and he hated it. He didn’t want her to be worried and afraid. There was nothing in the world that would make him abandon her. No. He’d be damned. He didn’t care whether she could bear his children or not. It’s either that or she dies. He didn’t care. Her health was his top priority. What’s the point of having a family if she’s… not around?

Arms slipped tightly around her, pressing her body against his own. His thumb found her chin, bringing her close enough to press a kiss on her forehead. Nathalie sighed in relief and her eyes closed briefly.

“Nat,” He cupped her face. “We don’t have to have children-”

“But you want to-”

“I want you to be healthy and happy,” Levi cut her. It didn’t matter whether they wanted children or not. His Nathalie just had to focus on staying alive. Her health was all that he cared about.

Nathalie’s arms slipped around his shoulders and she buried her face in his neck, to hide the tear that threatened to fall down her cheek. She bit her lip, holding back a sob and she just shut her eyes. Why? Why did it have to be like this? Why did she have to be a goddamn Burgess? His hand found her hair, and he pressed her against him. Fingers buried into the messy brown strands and he caressed gently.

“I’m so sorry,” Nathalie whispered against his neck. Her voice cracked, and he knew she was crying. He knew she was apologising for her ancestry, but that wasn’t something to apologise about. It wasn’t her choice to be born a Burgess. A family of people who died young, and the only way to keep her alive, was never bearing children.