#chubby!levi

Little shops began appearing on the cobblestone streets of Marley, and one that caught your eye was a tea shop nestled right in the middle of a long row of shops. It was named simply Black Currant Tea. Even though it sold all types of tea imported from all over the world, the most famous brew was black tea. The favorite flavor of the once well-known "Humanity's Strongest." 

At first, you were intimidated when you found out the man you had watched from the sidelines of the town was the owner of this humble tea shop. But the inside of it drew you in and held you. It was quaint inside. The smell of freshly brewed tea leaves tickled the air, and dark chestnut walls framed the single room inviting a cozy atmosphere. 

No one else was there just yet, no one besides the owner. Two heavy lines of scars covered the right side of his face, like a perfectly placed imperfection. But something about those two scars only draws you to him more. Levi has always been beautiful to you. Memories of watching him ride through the town's streets before missions flew through your mind.     

You're so caught in your memories that you didn’t realize you'd been staring at the man directly and the infamous Levi Ackerman until he cleared his throat. 

"Ah! Sorry! I just wanted to see what you had here!" You stumbled over your words as you took him in. He was leaning on one of the dark wooden counters, arms crossed over his chest as he surveyed you. 

"Tea, as suggested in the name," he replied blandly as he brought a slender hand to his left temple and massaged the area.  

You felt embarrassed, unsure what to say next, and decided instead to look over the little boxes set neatly on the counter filled with all different types of tea. Levi ignored you as you pondered, instead he focused his attention on the cash register, flipping idly through the bills. 

You let your eyes move back to him; he's filled out since the war ended. His face is a bit rounder with age and the lack of extensive training. He was still incredibly handsome, though, so much that it's hard not to stare at him. Like a stoic deity that has come to Earth, he was beautiful with all his imperfections.

His eye snapped up to meet yours, those reflexes from years on the battlefield still wired deep within him. "Did you need help picking something?" His tone was a little softer than before, not nearly as harsh. But before you could answer, he cocked his head to the side, taking you in more deeply than before. "Do I know you?" 

Shock and panic ran through you. You hoped with your entire being he didn’t remember you being at almost every going away crowd for the Survey Corps. That would be embarrassing. Thoughts scrambled in your head as you tried to come up with some reason other than being a complete stalker for why he would know you.

"Well, I-"

"You used to sell pastries, right? That little cobblestone shop in Trost?" His words were pointed, and you're not sure how he knew that you did sell pastries before your shop was destroyed by the Colossal. 

But you do know that he never visited your shop, you were sure you would've remembered him coming. You were the only one who ran it, so there's no way you would've missed him. 

"Um, yes?" you responded hesitantly. This is not where you thought this visit would go. Levi's gray eye scanned your face, irritated that you responded to him with a question.

He'd recognize you anywhere. He saw you every time they would leave on a mission, standing in the crowd staring at him like an excited child. At that time, he chalked it up to lost dreams of being an adventurer but now, as he watched you fumble over yourself, it clicked together. You truly had been looking directly at him, and it wasn't a dream of being with them that made your eyes shine; it was him. 

He was unsure what to do with this information, especially now that life has changed. Before the walls fell, you wouldn't have even been an option, but now he could create a life. This is what he's been trying to do with this tea shop, explore love and pass time that he couldn't in a world filled with terror. And although he recognized you and remembered your beauty from long ago, he was asking about your past profession for a good reason. Gabi and Falco, older and wiser than before, were still annoying and persistent that he should add some sort of food item to his shop.

"People want to eat with their tea, Levi. It's boring to just sit there and sip tea," Gabi complained one day as Levi tried to tune out her words. He fought every moment after the war, learning to walk again and live in this new body. So listening to some snot-nosed teenager trying to have a say in his life is not how he wanted to spend his day. 

But after multiple customers asked about scones or pastries, he decided to take this chance even though his well-laid-out menu was within plain sight. 

The two of you chatted a bit longer, Levi conveniently forgot to bring up how he truly knew you and instead discussed how Erwin had brought him food from your shop before. Omitting the fact that it's one of the best things he ever tasted. Years of starvation changed his eating habits for life, but he could still remember the first time he tasted one of your freshly made croissants. It had melted in his mouth, and Erwin had made ridiculous comments about the bliss that flashed across Levi's face. 

Levi needed money to go to your shop, though. Money he didn’t have, so he could only partake in your pastries when Erwin would stop by. But he did pass by your shop every now and then. He would catch small glimpses of you behind the counter with a dazzling smile as you talked to customers. But Levi left that out, too, as he asked if you would make some pastries for his shop. 

He let you know he'd install anything you needed and pay you well. And how could you resist that?

That's how you spent six days out of the week with the man you've watched for years on the sideline. A small oven and counter space area were dedicated just for you, and you spent time researching the best things that would match Levi's vast collection of teas. At first, everything was awkward. You fumbled over your words anytime Levi talked to you and could feel heat rush to your face. But the worst was when Levi caught you staring at him.

You marveled at his beauty, even now. Somehow he seemed even more handsome after the war. His body was more filled out, his waist a bit more pronounced, but still stunning. And it was hard to tear your eyes away from him.

But Levi was sure you were comparing him to his past self. Lithe, fast, and strong. Everything he wasn't now. Who was he kidding? He's not the man he used to be. In his mind, you were only idolizing a past Levi. 

But those thoughts didn’t stop your growing relationship with him. The two of you clicked, sharing an identical sense of dry humor. As well as being able to remember home and the good times before the world went to shit. You ended up being a comfort to Levi in a world where he never expected to have one.

And after six months of working side by side, he can't hold himself back any longer. The two of you sat at one of the little tables at the end of a busy day. The sun was setting through the glass window at the front of the shop. 

"You used to come every time we would leave." He said calmly, evenly, to not scare you away.  Would you hate him because he knew all along?

You slide your gaze over to him, anxious now. Even though the two of you had built a good working relationship and your schoolgirl crush had cooled a bit, you thought you had gotten away with watching him every trip out of the walls. But you should've known that he saw you. You were there every single time. Of course, he wouldn't have missed you. He's Levi fucking Ackerman, for god's sake.  

"Um? Yes?" Again you answered him with a question like you did when he first spoke to you. A statement that had irritated him back then he finds endearing now, cute even.

"Why?" His question was soft as he took his left hand and placed it on top of yours. You're warm. It felt nice with the cooler weather setting in.                                       

You let out a rush of air from your lungs, not sure how to reply to him. His hand weighed heavy on yours but was still comforting like he's known your secret all along. You didn’t want to sound crazy, but you knew very well you were there for him, and you knew Levi well enough now that he can see through any lie you tried to spin to save your dignity. 

"It was for you, Levi. I wanted to see you. Just in case it was the last time," your voice was quiet as you looked towards the chestnut table, tracing the patterns with your eyes. Looking anywhere but at Levi. What if he laughs at me? What if he thinks I'm pathetic for pining after him? The questions flowed through you like a waterfall as you waited for the rejection.

"I'm not him anymore, but I would like to–fuck. I know I'm broken now and that I don't look like I did in the past, but if you'll give me a chance–"

You cut him off, thrown by his pain of losing his past self in the war, "Levi, I don't care how you've changed. You're just as handsome as you were with each mission. I've liked you for a long time and–" You moved around the table to sit in the chair closest to him. 

"And I love every part of you, especially now that I've gotten to truly know you." You moved to kiss his cheek, a bit rounder than it was from the days in Paradis but it’s still Levi. Levi who smells of black tea. Levi who didn’t let the world in. Levi who could finally chase his dreams.

"I'm not the same anymore," Levi said solemnly as he gestures towards his waist and stomach, no longer toned after years of rigorous training. 

Levi wakes up in the morning before you, he always has done that. So every morning you wake up to a cold empty bed, you actually always wake up to being cold because your lover is gone and is downstairs or in the bathroom. Levi is in the bathroom taking a shower and some pills that he has kept away from you… that reason is because that they are weight losing pills (idk if those actually are real, just work with me here) the bottle says the only take 2 a day but Levi wanting to lose weight for you. He may in the outside show this cold-hearted personality and pushes everyone away but on the inside he’s really a sensitive guy. So he takes 4-6 pills a day, to lose weight faster. Although it has worked the side affects for overdose of getting sick and can be fatal if you continue that for over 2 weeks, but of course Levi didn’t see that so he does not know about that. Levi had been taking those pills for 2 months now but he did see that overdose makes you sick for he takes Ibuprofen and DayQuil to make him not get sick. So you wake up it’s around 9:35 or so, you get up to go to the bathroom, Levi thinks you are going to get up at 10:00 cause that’s when you normally get up. Do you quietly get up to scare Levi, when you see the pills and medicine. That makes you worried about him do you walk on and ask him “What the hell are you doing?!” Levi turns around shocked “Oh shit” he says cause of the fact that you now know about his pills and shit. “Why are you taking those, you do know that those can fucking KILL you right?!” He just gives you a :0 face, turns and looks at the bottle picks it up and reads all of the warnings and see that is does if fact say “Warning- taking these can resolve to fatal consequences or death” on the very fucking bottom it want to say that it can kill you. You run up to Levi and snatch the bottle away from him “I am confiscating these from you mister!!” you say that like a mother that just say a child taking cookies from the jar. “Why are you trying to lose weight you know I love your body right?! I love every part of you Levi, you act like I’m am shamed of you and it makes me upset!” You said as your eyes started to water and a salty tear come down from the side of your face. And the more you blinked because their were tears in your eyes the more you started crying. “No no no baby, I know that you love me but I trying to lose weight for you.” He reply’s. Levi walks over to you and gives you a kiss and wipes away your tears. He promises that he’ll never take those and you both throw them away and y’all make pancakes and muffins for breakfast. (Or whatever breakfast you prefer)