THE PROMISE YOU MADE|| {Levi x Furlan x OC Fem}

28. Punishment

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She woke up on the same couch, covered up with a blanket that she didn't remember taking. Her clothes were still the same as the night before, which meant that she had never left the couch. She was confused and her head was spinning, then she remembered what happened; Levi came back after months away just to deliver bad news and, for an instance, she thought she had just woken up from a terrible nightmare. The relief didn't last much as she started to smell the characteristic aroma of tea and burnt toast. She was not alone, and then reality hit her back, Levi was indeed there, in an attempt to make breakfast. Again, she was overcome by grief when she understood what that meant.

"Morning." He greeted her with a husky voice. He served her some food and a cup of tea. She looked at him in a way he never saw before but, he could tell she was not happy to see him.

Hours turned into days and days into weeks and Ella had barely left the couch she sat on the night Levi returned. The few times Levi managed to feed her, she would eat on the couch and, on the nights that her cries would allow her to sleep, she would rest on the couch too. She could not bear entering the room that once was Furlan's, that was simply too painful for her.  Although Levi was known for not being very patient, he couldn't but feel compassion for the woman so day after day, he tried to take care of her without visible improvements. "At least she has not died yet..." he used to tell himself daily. He had to be strong for both of them. She had never spoken a word to him since his return, it was like living with a spirit who did nothing but cry in grief. He was concerned about her, he never saw her like this before, and although she was not eating much, she looked bigger day to day. He thought that the pain was consuming her and filling her body with sorrow. He was used to hearing her cry every night, but he couldn't bear with it anymore however, he couldn't give up on her. After so many years of hard work, he finally had a purpose with the Survey Corps and the right to live above and leave that shithole he once grew up in. Nevertheless, he could not abandon her, Ella was all he had left from his previous life, and he would do whatever he could to take her out of her misery and give her a good life on the surface.

A month and a half after his return he was coming home from the market, and when he entered the room, he realised that Ella wasn't there. He thought that maybe she had to go to the toilet, so he didn't give it much importance and started to do his chores however, he realised that she hadn't returned. Worried, he went upstairs to the bathroom and knocked, but nobody replied. He opened the door slowly, calling her name, but his surprise was bigger when he realised that she wasn't there.

"Ella!" He called in vain. She obviously was not there and therefore she couldn't hear him and even if she did, it was more than a month since she talked for the last time, what were the odds that she would reply back? He put his boots on and went out trying to find her without results. Levi was frustrated but mostly worried, what if she would have tried to do something stupid? Or what if she got hurt on the way? The possibilities were endless. He tried to picture all the places where she could be. He had it. Furlan once told him about the day she took him to her favourite plaza, and she told him about her family. Levi knew every corner of the Underground and did not take much time to find the plaza Furlan mentioned.

Far in the distance, he found her sitting on an old bench, wrapped up in the blanket she usually slept with. In her hands, she was carrying a book that Levi recognised. It was the poem book Furlan gave her as a gift. Suddenly, he felt tired of running around but he was relieved to see her safe and sound, but Levi felt sorry for her. He remembered the first time he saw her for the first time, covered in her own blood and terrified. That young woman was not that different from the one that he had in front of him right now. He approached her slowly.