Long Time, No See - Levi x Reader (Modern!AU)

17 - Exam III: How to Recover

Friday night came and went without more incidents. After we'd had dinner and watched a few movies, Mr. Williams and the two other kids came home. But by then it was late, and the younger ones were ushered up to bed. I followed soon after, not because I was tired but because I just wanted some time to unwind before I did fall asleep.

I got ready for bed as I usually did and stifled a yawn as I plopped down onto my stomach on the bed. I'd done enough work for the day, and Mrs. Williams was right; worrying myself into a tizzy over everything would do nothing but hurt me in the long run. I was far better off simply relaxing for now.

If I could, of course.

Recognizing that I should relax, and then actually doing it, were two different things.

Still, as I considered it, I felt a little guilty knowing that there was a half-complete packet sitting on the desk just waiting to be done. But I simply kept my attention elsewhere, staying on my phone to distract myself. I texted Hange, though that conversation didn't last long.

They were watching a documentary with Moblit and promised to chat later, though that wasn't likely to happen until morning because if I knew Hange and Moblit, which I did, then they wouldn't be distracted from what they were doing until they completely exhausted themselves of the topic they chose to learn. Though it was probably more accurate to say that Moblit was there to keep Hange in check and would attempt to get Hange to sleep at a reasonable time.

Not that I thought it would work, of course.

The rest of my time was spent reading, and at some point, Levi called. I answered, of course, and the two of us remained on facetime until I feel asleep. Levi had been prepared to keep trying to guide me through that packet, telling me that he managed to finish it earlier. But when he saw that I was in bed already, he decided against it with a sigh and a roll of his eyes.

Because of course. Always so dramatic.

When my yawns became more insistent, I decided to end the call. We bid each other a goodnight, then went to sleep.

And now, I found myself with Levi, sitting on that small stretch of roof that sat just outside his window. We'd climbed out once we'd gone through the packet together. And it had helped, because by the end and we'd reached the harder questions, I'd been able to do them by myself. I only hoped that it would stick, and that I wouldn't forget by Monday.

My brain seemed intent to just keep reviewing the same few thoughts in my head; thoughts of doubt, of fear, of what might happen if I fail the exam. Aside from those thoughts, it kept going through the steps that Levi had shown me in my head, replaying the questions we'd gone over time and time again.

It was a good thing that we were sitting in silence, because otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to focus on what I was doing. However, if the silence was comfortable for me, it was apparently stifling for Levi. He kept glancing at me sidelong, trying to gauge why my mood had changed so suddenly.

When we were inside sitting together at his desk, going through the packet, I'd been... happier. When I'd complete a question, I'd smile, and when I had a question, I would ask, and listen intently as he explained it – or reexplained it, in some cases – and by the end, when we'd gone down to have dinner with his new parents and Erwin, I'd chatted happily, though perhaps shyly at first.

He could figure out why my mood had changed, of course, and I'm sure he already knew. I'm sure his hesitance only came because he was unsure how to broach the subject. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed him open his mouth, as if to speak, though it seemed he thought better of it because he closed it again and looked away.