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“Are you ready to go Armin?” You called through the garage door as you packed up the car for the picnic at the beach you had planned.
There were little footsteps rushing towards you, and when you turned to see where they were coming from, you saw Armin running out of the house with his backpack strapped to his back. A giggle erupted from your throat as you saw the backpack was over filling with notebooks and pencils and all the books he wanted to bring with him.
“I’m ready!” He beamed as he stopped beside you as you shut the trunk of your car.
With a smile you ruffled his blonde hair and placed your hands on your hips, “Great! Let’s get going then, we don’t want to get there before it gets too crowded.”
Even though he was already eleven years old, you always felt the need to open the door of the car for him and help him in, he started ressiting it. He was a big kid after all, so he could do it by himself. Oh well, you would hopefully grow out of this phase as he gets older.
Just for today, you let him sit in the passenger seat instead of in the back. The reasons were 1- you wanted to give him a little freedom, and 2- you had to fold down one of the back seats to fit the umbrella in the car.
After you pulled out of the driveway, you turned on the radio for some background music, “Did I already tell you that Hange was going to meet us up there with Mikasa and Eren?”
He nodded his head excitedly, “You told me! And they told me yesterday at school.”
"Well good, this will hopefully be a very fun day out for you." You replied with a smile.
You didn’t live far from the beach, it was only a half-hour drive. You happily sung along to some of the songs you knew that came on, Armin singing or humming along with you from time to time. He watched everything go by through the widow, eyes filled with excitement.
There were a few empty parking spaces really close to the beach, making you thank yourself for wanting to leave early. With Armin’s help, you got everything unloaded from the car in one trip.
Armin chose the spot where he wanted everything to be set up because he said that right there was close enough to the water that, even if the tide was to rise at any given moment, your guys stuff wouldn’t be bothered. You checked the time on your phone, seeing that you weren’t expecting Hange for about another 30 minutes, so you got everything set up.
Armin helped by laying out the blankets while you put up the umbrella. You brought the cooler under the shade of the umbrella, and Armin took off his shoes and started getting out his notebooks and books to go off into his little world of knowledge. Your nickname for him was your little 'encyclopedia’. Once you slipped off your shoes and sat down beside Armin, you grabbed your beach bag and pulled out the sunscreen.
“Please take your shirt off so I can put sunscreen on your back.” You asked polietly, already putting some of the lotion in your hand.
There was a slight groan from him, since he hated wearin sunscreen, but did as told and pulled off his shirt and turned his back to you.
With a smile and a 'thank you’ you started lathering the white lotion onto his back, making sure not to leave an inch uncovere. He was prone to burning like toast in the sun, and you didn’t want to hear him moaning later on how bad his back hurts. He already had his swimming trunks on, so you put a little sunscreen on his knees and shins because his legs were in the sun while his torso and head were under the shade of the umbrella.
You too already had your swimsuit under your tank top and shorts, and when you were finished applying his sunscreen, you took off your clothes to put some on yourself. This was easy for you, but you were going to have to wait for Hange to get the rest of your back, since you can’t quite reach.
Being a high school guidance counselor consisted of you rarely having time for yourself. Any free time you had was Armin's time. But it was the end of the year or rather to put it as the busiest time of the year for you, so you kicked back and read the book you’ve been too busy to finish. It was something small you could do for yourself for once.
About fifteen minutes later, your cellphone started ringing. When you saw the caller ID was Hange, you immediately picked it up.
“Hey, you here yet?” You asked.
“Yeah, I’m walking on the beach right now, where are you? I can’t see you.” You heard her familiar voice say.
There was a smile on your face as you closed your book and stood up out from under the umbrella, “I’m the big white umbrella, can you see it? I’m looking for you.” You looked around for the eccentric brunette.
“White umbrella…” She mumbled, “Oh! I see you! Eren, Mikasa, come on!” she beamed and you heard her hang up.
You spotted her immediately, she was bounding towards you with Eren and Mikasa trailing behind, there were also two other men following them that you didn’t recognize one of them, but you recognized Erwin right off the bat. “They’re here Armin.” You said with another small laugh as the three came up to you.
“Armin!” Eren yelled as he ran up to his shorter friend, and the two started talking rapidly, Mikasa walking up but staying silent after her simple 'hello' greeting to you.
Hange threw her arms around you, making you stumble a bit before you returned the hug, “I just saw you yesterday at school, you’re acting like we haven’t seen each other in years!” You laughed when she finally let go of you.
“All I ever see you is at school, so I’m glad we can hang outside of that environment for once! Just like old times.” She said before setting down her own beach bag on blanket.
You smiled and turned to Erwin, “And it’s always a pleasure to see you, Erwin.” You gave him a quick hug before glancing at his friend, you assumed it was a friend of Erwin's at least.
His short black hair stood out against his pale skin, and those sharp grey eyes caught you staring at him. But you didn’t blush like a normal girl, you just owned up to your staring and smiled at him, “I’m [Name], I assume you’re a friend of Hange or Erwin?” You said polietly and stuck your hand out towards him.
He looked at you quizzically before shaking your hand, he was about to introduce himself to you, but Hange wrapped an arm around his shorter self, “[Name], this is Levi, he’s Erwin’s partner at the firm. I’ve talked to you about him before, right?”
You let go of his hand and gave him a brighter smile, “Ohh, you’re Levi! Then it’s really nice to meet you!”
“Yeah, likewise.” He stated curtly.
Hange left the two of you when Eren asked to go swimming, of course she said yes, but he and Mikasa needed sunscreen before they could go in. So she and Erwin started lathering them up in the white sun protectant.
There was a small smile that crawled on your face when Eren started resisting the sunscreen from Erwin.
You sat back down where you were reading and motioned for Levi to do the same thing. Which he did after he took off his shoes to prevent any more sand getting on the blanket.
“How do you know Hange? You seem more civilized than her.” Levi commented with only a glance thrown your way.
“Oh, she was my lab partner in my junior college chemistry class, we became fast friends I guess. Even after I switched majors, we stayed close.” You answered him.
“Yeah! She is quite talented with a beaker and pipette.” Hange said as she sat down with the two of you, Erwin sitting behind her to wrap his arms around her bare middle since she took off her tank top.
You noticed the three kids running off to the water, so you started putting up Armin’s things, so they wouldn’t get ruined. “You flatter me Hange.” You said with a grin.
“What did you switch your major to?” Levi asked curiously, even if his face didn’t show it.
“From Biochemistry to Sociology, I’m a guidance counselor now.”
He nodded and took a sip from the water bottle he was carrying when he walked up, “I’ll assume you work at the same school as Hange?”
“You assume correct.” Hange was the AP chemistry teacher at the school.
“Didn’t I tell you that shorty?” She said, only making Levi practically growl at the nickname.
The four of you chatted a bit as you watched the kids in the water like hawk, not wanting them to get hurt. But before long, like you thought was going to happen, Armin got bored with swimming and asked you to build sand castles with him. To which you happily accepted.
You got the plastic buckets you packed and brought them only a few feet away from the blanket, only to be safe no sand got all over the sandwiches and other snacks you brought out for everyone to enjoy. You we’re glad you packed extras because you didn’t know Levi was coming. From where you and Armin sat in the sand, you could still hear everything they were saying.
“Don’t you think she’s pretty?” Hange asked with a small smirk inching to her face to Levi.
“What the hell are you talking about?” He snapped.
There was a sly grin on her face, “You know, you aren't very sneaky with your staring. You've been looking at her since we got here. So I was just stating the obvious since you didn't seem like you were going to say anything.”
“Shut up shitty-glasses.” Levi snapped once again.
You saw Armin visible flinch at the use of such a vulgar word, and something boiled in you. You didn't like that kind of language used around Armin or Mikasa and Even for the matter. That was not ok, and you weren't going to let him think it was ok.
“Levi?” You questioned as you turned to him, he just rose an eyebrow at you, “I would appreciate if you didn’t use such language around my child.” Your words were dripping with a dangerous warning.
When Levi gave you a shocked look, not expecting such a sweet person like you to hold such an intimidating voice. It made Hange snicker, she knew something like this was bound to happen. He was busted. You asked Armin what kind of soda he wanted and got up to fetch the drink from the cooler.
Your lips were pursed as you went around Levi to get the drink. “I’m warning you, don’t say anything that vulgar again.” You added not as intimidating, but still firm.
“I’m sorry.” He said right off the bat, still shocked that you could hold such authority.
You smiled, “Thank you for apoligizing, I appreciate it.” And you walked back to Armin and handed him his drink and opened your [preferred soda or drink].
The rest of the day really well. Levi didn’t curse anymore, he did have to hold his tongue a few times to please you, but it wasn’t too bad. You were glad he was actually listening to you. From all that Hange has told you of him, he really seemed like the alpha type, so you were glad he stepped down.
It was pretty cute when Erwin had to physically remove Eren from a jellyfish that washed up on the beach. It was still alive, and not knowing the type could mean it could have hurt him. But it was a cute sight, until Armin popped up and said it was a box jellyfish, and everyone backed away.
When the three kiddos went off to swim again and the adults got tired of swimming, Levi came and sat down by you again. He sat beside you silent, but his body language was rigid and tense. It felt like he wanted to say something, so you stayed silent.
“Sorry about earlier, I wasn’t thinking.” He said, his cold voice seemed more tender than you found yourself used to.
You smiled at him and nodded, “Thank you, I forgive you. I’m just over protective of him, so I get pretty defensive about that kind of stuff. I hope I didn't come off as rude of anything.”
“I can understand that, and no, you weren't rude at all.” There was something he wanted to ask, but now he didn’t want to seem rude, so he hesitate.
You giggled and leaned back on your hands as you let the warm sun dry your wet skin, “Since you haven’t asked yet, I’ll tell you. Armin’s not mine.” He let go of a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “Everybody asks because he doesn’t quite look like me, but it’s alright. I adopted him five years ago, same year Hange and Erwin adopted Mikasa.”
“Ah, well, I didn’t want to seem rude if I pried.” Was he embarrassed?
Another small laugh escaped you as you nudged his arm playfully, “Don’t worry about it, I don’t mind talking about it since I believe it’s one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life.” And for some reason, you felt like you needed to tell him your story.
“I was 22 when I found out that I couldn’t have kids. They said my uterus couldn’t support a growing life. I was heart broken because I was trying to be insiminated, I wanted a baby so badly. So when I found this out, I thought I could just adopt a newborn. A year later, after all the legal work with just having to be able to adopt, I went to the adoption agency. I was going to meet a few of the newborns, but then a social worker walked through the office with Armin and I fell in love. I just knew that he came through that door to walk into my life.” A peaceful look was on your face as you looked at him swimming, “And when I heard his story, it was like sealing our fate. I knew that since I was adopting an older child, there would be more paperwork and more background checks, but I didn’t care. I knew since he was 5 at the time, he may not adjust to a new life easily, but I hoped that I would be sufficient enough for him and that he would grow to love me and maybe even call me mom one day. That's all I wanted, and still want, is for him to be happy.”
As you laid it all down for him, your whole story, he felt as if he was starting to see the world in a new light.
Lawyers were known as sharks, and he was fine with that. Until a few years ago when he joined Erwin’s law firm, he was considered one of those sneaky, selfish bastard lawyers who only cared about the paycheck. He had gotten better when he joined Erwin, but with this new light, he knew that only caring about himself had blinded him to so many things.
At merely 22 years old, you were told you couldn’t have kids, for someone who wanted to have kids, it was like a knife to the gut. But you kept striving to find a way to make your life worth while, and you made the step forward to raise another person’s child. He admired you for this, he really did.
When he fell silent, you looked over at him in concern. Just as you were going to ask if he was ok, he spoke up, “Will you go out to dinner with me Tuesday? I would ask you out on a weekend, but Tuesday is my only day off next week.”
Hange turned to the two of you, fully hearing everything and her jaw dropped to the ground. She didn’t know what to think, she did not expect to hear those words come from Levi.
You blushed at his request, not knowing what to think, “U-Uh, wow. The last time I was asked out on a date was in high school.” You commented, “But, sure. That would be nice, and Tuesday is fine.” You smiled at him.
Levi thought if he was ever going to forgive himself for all the horrible things he has done, then he was going to do something right for the first time and not regret it later down the road.
He respected you greatly, you were kind, and he would admit you were attractive so that was always a plus. But not only did he respect you, he had that admiration towards you. And if he left today and never asked you to dinner, he knows he would regret it. He wouldn’t let his pride get in the way of him doing something right for a change. Levi never had a love life, only one night stands that he was never proud of. Today he was going to start something new.
He was willing to start over his awful love life with you, because he hasn’t ever looked at a woman like he’s looked at you.
There was a new outlook he had on everything because of you, it was only right he treated you correctly, and accordingly. He didn’t want to ever upset you again, he didn’t want to hurt you, he didn’t ever want to let you down.
Levi could see himself living the rest of his life with you by his side. He could see you two getting married, he could see you by his side as he furthered his career and as you achieved your life goals.
He wanted to start a new chapter with you, with you and Armin.