Her eyes opened, squinting to avoid the rays of the early morning sun. As much as she tried to get thick curtains, they deemed useless after all.
For the first time in weeks, she genuinely smiled as she woke up; her heart fluttered remembering Levi.
The sound of items shuffling around her house summoned her outside.
"'Morning." he greeted her, not taking an eye off the shelf he was arranging.
"Good morning," she smiled at him. "Seems like you still remember where my cleaning supplies are."
He clicked his tongue. "It was hard to find with all you shit all over the place. This place is a mess. How did I let you live like this?" he ran a hand through his black hair.
"You didn't." she chuckled and went off into the kitchen. "I remember thinking my house was clean enough and you went in, berating me for it being too messy. But I guess it's kind of my fault for not maintaining it while you were gone for a bit." A bit seemed like an understatement for her. "Sorry, Levi."
"... Just... make sure you put things back where you first got them." he continued on with his work. "Otherwise it will turn out like this again." he sighed.
"Well, you should rest for a few more days, Levi- you just got out of the hos-"
"I'm fine. This helps me think. I hated being confined." he looked at her to reassure her. "I feel like I haven't moved in a while." he continued to put her books away.
"Okay. I'll make you some breakfast. What do you want to eat?" she opened the refrigerator and pursed her lips.
"You choose. I don't remember what I used to eat." he went into the kitchen.
"Okay, I'll make you something nice since it's our first breakfast." she gave him a warm smile.
He looked at her for a while. It was such an unfamiliar feeling in his stomach that he did not know whether he liked it or not. He pushed it aside.
"Something wrong?" she met his eyes; to which he quickly avoided.
"Teach me how to make food. I don't remember anything." he pointed to the eggs on the corner of her fridge. "Teach me how to fry eggs or something." he ran a hand through his hair. "I don't want to be completely useless here."
She smiled at him again and nodded.
She taught him a lot of things,and showed him where her kitchen utensils belonged, and after a long while they finally finished.
"Here," she set down a cup of hot tea infront of Levi, and sat down on her own chair and started eating.
He looked at it with curiosity, looking into the steam eminating from it. "I forgot how this tasted like."
She fanned it with her hands so as not to burn him when he takes it. "Careful."
He took the hot cup from his hands and drank from it.
She grinned as he squinted, trying to determine whether he liked it or not.
He didn't say a word and kept drinking.
She couldn't wait to tell Marco about him coming back.
Her eyes widened as she came to a sudden realization, "Shit." she murmured under her breath.
His head rose up up from his food and gave her a questioning look. She was going to be late for work.
"Sorry, Levi. I have to go to work for a few hours. I completely forgot." she slapped herself in the head. "I was even going to take you arou-"
"Go hurry. Just take me another time. I'll look for something to do around the house." he interrupted her. He was bound to learn a couple of things while she was gone.
"O-okay. I'm sorry." she rushed into the bathroom.
---
"Marco!" she ran into the bookstore where Marco was already prepared to work, panting for her dear life.
"(y/n)! You're tardy today. What happened?" he smiled at her.
She put her hands on her knees and rested, trying to catch her breath. "He's home."
Marco's eyes widened with suprise. "He is?"
She ran to the back of the store to put her things away and quickly ran out.
"Tell me everything." he patted the counter, as if to call her closer.
"I saw him in my house and he thought I was a thief until he recognized me." she put her nametag on and fixed her hair. "Called my name and everything. He said he was dreaming of me when he was confined. The hospital told him that he girlfriend was some girl named Petra. You haven't met her, but she's also from your book." (y/n) looked off to the side, not even hiding her face of jealousy.
"Did you tell him that you were his girlfriend?" he scratched his head.
"Yeah, of course I did. I wouldn't let him go just like that. I still love him." she started playing with the hem of her shirt.
He examined the expression on her face. "You still love him, but...?"
"It's just... what if he falls in love with her again? It doesn't feel the same between us, and I feel like he doesn't see me the way I see him." she let herself spill her thoughts and didn't even notice, and frankly, she didn't care. She knew how much of a little school girl she sounded like saying those kinds of things.
"He wont do that. And I don't think it will ever feel the same way again, but it doesn't mean he wont ever love you again." his efforts to console her didn't seem to work even if she did convince herself. "Ask Jean for help. See how he's coping with how I've forgotten everything about our friendship. Ask him if its the same as before. He probably feels the same way you do."
She pouted and gave up. She didn't want to think further of it. "Okay fine. Thanks Marco."
"You're welcome, (y/n)." He patted her head. "Now get to work, Ms. Tardy or else we'll get in trouble."
"Yessir Mr. Bott." She saluted and walked away. "By the way," she turned back around, "is it okay if Jean doesn't come over for this week...? If Levi sees him, he's gonna start asking a lot of questions that will take more than my willpower to tell him at the moment."
"Yeah, no worries." he smiled at her. "Just tell Jean, otherwise, he's gonna be waiting in front if that closet until daytime."
"Gotcha." she walked away and started her work for the day.
She felt like the roles now were reversed; instead of Levi sneaking back into his world it was her sneaking away. It frustrated her that it all was going back around; the fact that Levi had to hide the existence of his world was now a reversed role.
Of course she was planning on telling him of that world one day, and where he came from. But she didn't know when. Whether it was for her personal reason or for Levi's wellbeing she knew it wasn't the right time.
