His Little Brat. {Levi x Reader}

Warmth. (Husband!Levi x Weak!Reader)

-Holy moly, it has been a long time since I sat down and wrote something for Levi. I am so sorry for neglecting you guys, fam. I hope you enjoy!-

    Winter has made it's way through the order of seasonal change. You probably had a hate love relationship with this cold period of time. You loved it because it would snow, and everything about the white made you feel happy. Maybe it was the purity behind the colour, but it managed to warm you up emotionally. However, there was one downside to it too. The cold wasn't very pleasant, and you were always the weak child out of the bunch who frequently succumbed to the harshness of the numbing cold. Being born in an unfortunate situation where your family had to struggle for morsels of food, the winter was always a devastating disaster every single year. Even in the present, with a decent home and a loving husband, you still feel the chill of the frostbite and the small but painful icicles forming around your already-rigid nostrils. You probably hated the memories that came with the frost.

  The chill licked at your face and crept under your clothes. Even with the fire crackling right in front of you, the shivers violate you nonetheless. The layers of thick wool seem to do nothing for you, and you gradually feel yourself growing colder and colder. Your muscles spasm painfully and the teeth chattering drilled at the back of your head, enunciating the headache that was already bad enough. You never really thought it was possible to feel hot and cold at the same time, but the discomforts of both feelings seemed to be cooperating to make you feel miserable. You could've been at work, but being pulled under by the nasty congested plague meant that you were confined at home. There was no way that your significant other was going to let you wander around the city in your condition. He almost lost you once to negligence, there was no way he'd risk the chance of that happening again.

  From the haze of the dizziness, you hear the metallic crinkle of the keys before the door unlocks. A cold breeze hits you almost automatically, it's as if he brought the cold with him from the outside. You shrivel up again as you inhale a painful breath of the icy air. The footsteps echo as a series of curses escape his lips. He seemed to be struggling with his shoes, and you smile despite the nauseousness. Your love has always been vulgar, you're glad that he didn't change as much as you did. You don't even have the strength to look up when you hear him calling for you. Like a beacon, he got brighter and brighter as he drew closer to you. You feel his hands against your forehead, and you hear him call out your name with a sense of urgency, but you just don't have it in you to greet him like you used to. Your body grows limp, and you fall. You fall into his outstretched arms as he shouts at you to snap out of it. You feel horrible. You don't want him to come home to you like this. You know that he already has a hard time at work. It was just immensely unfair of you to burden him like this.

  When you wake up again, you feel disorientated. The room is unfamiliar, and you have to struggle to remember when you moved yourself into the bedroom. But your mind eventually recalls the incident that occurred a few hours ago. It must late now, as the sky seems darker than usual. Your hands clench over the warm bedsheets, and when you are about to burst into helpless tears, you sense a presence at the door to see him leaning against it. His lips are in a tight line and his eyes are cold as steel. A shiver runs up your spine. This time, you don't think it's just the cold.

"Why didn't you tell me?" His voice sounds rough, and you can already hear the stress and tiredness from just one simple phrase.

"Tell you what, Levi?" you whisper under your breath. You try to feign ignorance, but the quick shift in his neutral expression is quite telling. He is annoyed with your response.

"That you were this sick. You should've called." he hisses.

"You were at work." You suddenly have more interest in your numb fingers than in the conversation at hand.

"That doesn't matter!" he explodes suddenly and you can't help but jump. He's never really raised his voice at you like this before. But you know that he has every right to. He seems to falter a little bit before regaining his composure. He takes your valid silence into account before heaving another one of his famous sighs. "You had such a high fever, I thought you wouldn't make it this time."

  It's cold. That's all you feel at the moment. You can't seem to bare it any longer. The cold slashed through your bone marrow with continuous blows, and you just bite your lips as you endure the pain. Maybe it's more emotional than you thought. There is like a personal blizzard whirling around you. Anybody who dared to reach into it would be scalded, not by the heat, but by the scorching frigidness of your heart. Suddenly, you feel a sensation of warmth. You open your tightly shut eyes to see Levi's arms wrapped around your body. It's been so long since you've experienced warmth. This year's winter dragged on for so long, you thought you'd end up dead before you could see the welcoming of the June Solstice. Your frail body is beaten almost to a pulp, and you just want to hibernate for the rest of eternity, but you're suffering because you're selfish, and you know that relatively well. You want to be there for Levi, even if there is nothing much you can do to support him. At least that's what you thought.

  In reality, he was the one saving you. His warmth and love kept you alive physically as well as mentally. The fire crackled and popped. Each scarlet flame radiated heat and thawed your frozen fingers. You bury your face into his chest, his beating heart reminds you that you're safe with him. He is so warm, all you need is that warmth to tell you that you won't lose him again. It's kind of strange, y'know? The oh-so-familiar cold leaving your heart and being replaced by fervour. He holds you closer and tighter, and you do the same. Much like a fireplace, he took on the burden of your frigidness and emitted only love and heat for you to heal. With him by your side, you feel as if this winter won't be so bad after all.