~ AN: Trying something new so let me know if you like it! :)

"It will take about a month or so to heal so in that meantime, please get plenty of rest before you go out and fracture your knee again. That means NO expeditions, Eren."

You say this as you pointedly stare at your patient, who has been visiting you one to many times as he often was quite reckless both on the battlefield and off. Eren Jaeger groans loudly, "But Doctor, how am I supposed to help out with the expeditions? They need me out there! They're too weak!"

You pick up all your papers and smile at him as you stack them neatly on your desk. "Trust me, you're better off as a temporary cripple than dead."

You scribble a quick prescription for painkillers and once you hand it to him, he mutters a polite thank you before walking out in defeat. As soon as you know he has left, you allow your smile to drop and you slump into your leather desk and rub your temples with your fingers.

"Just… a few more hours."

While you were the ionly/i doctor stationed in the Survey Corps headquarters, it wasn't the reason why you have been feeling so drained and tired for the past several months. No, you were extremely skilled at what you did. You thought quickly on your feet, you worked best under pressure, and during your residency at the best hospital in Wall Rose you showed a particular talent in trauma care. You were given the chance to show your talents when Chief Erwin Smith of the Survey Corps requested you for urgent trauma care after a particularly devastating expedition outside the walls. Many were killed, many more were severely injured. So severely injured that the least amount of damage was a compound fracture.

You never would have imagined that you would meet your future husband among the heap of the injured.

Corporal Levi Ackerman. Or just Levi, as he always was to you.

You find yourself leaning onto your desk and prop an arm to place your chin on. You gaze absentmindedly into the distance of your neat office as you remember the good times you both had during your romance.

"Dr. (l/n), our corporal is still out there! Jaeger and Ackerman reported that he's sustained heavy damage to his chest!" bellowed Erwin Smith, now your employer, through the hoards of interns and residents assisting the hundreds of injured soldiers. You look up immediately after quickly wrapping a crying girl's arm and with one swift nod, you pick up your emergency bag and dash forward in search for who is in fact widely known as the most powerful, valuable soldier.

You run through the field of injured bodies calling out, "Corporal Ackerman? Where's the corporal? I need to find him!"

No one knows, and no one answers. Your instincts as a doctor tell you that there's a chance that he may have remained within the forest so you run faster than ever, despite the wild yells behind you warning you of a possible titan encounter.

It doesn't matter to you. Patients are always first and you are bound to that rule.

Sure enough you come across a mangled body, almost unrecognizable by the amount of blood and mud it was covered in. You change course towards it and quickly flip it over.

Not it, he. He's alive.

"Are you Corporal Levi?" you ask assertively, but not loud enough to attract the attention of any lurking hazards like titans.

The injured man groans instead and doesn't respond. You wipe off the grime and gore out of his clothes at first to find any identifiable objects or symbols on him that would single him out as corporal. Nothing. He must be just another cadet as well.

"Goddammit…" you mutter under your breath as you whip out your medical bag and find gauze to clean his face with. The first thing you notice are his deep steel grey eyes. They flicker a bit before slowly setting them on you. You almost pause, entranced by the way he looked at you under those heavy lidded eyes but force yourself to clean the rest of his face. It doesn't get any easier, as he's revealed to have a very attractive face as well.

You keep these thoughts to yourself and turn to the fallen soldier. "I'm Dr. (l/n), I'll do all I can to keep you alive. You hear me? Keep you alive. Right now all I have on me are basic materials and my hands so you will hurt, you will scream, and you will be in worse pain until we get you to a hospital. But as of now your comfort comes second to my ability to keep you alive." You repeated this many times to countless soldiers but you found it hard to keep eye contact with this man in particular. While he was young as well, there was an air of maturity with the way he looked at you and stiffened his face despite being in a lot of pain. "Tell me where it hurts," you ask.

The man grunts a bit before taking a weak hand and pointing at his chest. Without hesitation you rip open his shirt with a few yanks and almost immediately you feel yourself ready to blush deep crimson. You knew you were dealing with a well-seasoned soldier by the extremely muscular way his body was structured. Lean, well toned, and without virtually any body fat. Flustering thoughts aside, you find that he has a large, deep gash on his perfectly sculptured chest, still oozing blood. You search in your medical bag and to your intense frustration you realize you have run out of gauze.

"Shit!" you curse angrily. Running out of gauze, especially in the battlefield, meant that you had to use clothes. More often times than not it meant iyour/i clothes.

You button down your white shirt and shrug it off, leaving you with nothing but your sports bra. You take off your belt and use it as an additional sling for the man's arm, which appeared dislocated. Swallowing all your inhibitions, you quickly straddle him and push down your shirt down on his wound hard, which is still bleeding rather fast. You have no choice; he needs to have a lot of pressure applied to his wound. You take out your cell phone with one hand and quickly dial Hanji's number.

"Hanji! I can't find the corporal now, I have another bleeder about .4 miles from where you are and he's bleeding fast. Send a fifth year resident with an intern to search for Corporal Ackerman and I need you to bring me a carriage NOW." You hang up and keep applying pressure, reminding yourself not to gaze at the young man's face, or body.

"…why… a-aren't you l-looking *cough* for the… corporal now?"

He spoke to you at last through labored breathing. You look up stunned and notice that despite the pain he ishould/i be feeling, he retained a rather calm but stoic demeanor.

"You… you're my responsibility now. He may be of a higher rank or importance, but you're severely injured and I can't leave you to die. You aren't any less important."

"You're gonna save me by sitting on me and pushing your breasts at my face?"

The wanton remark was enough to throw your concentration off and you whipped your face around, "W-what?"

You realize that you have been so busy to notice that with the way you were applying pressure, your arms must have been pushing your breasts closer to each other. It didn't help that you were on top of him to.

He smirks and you lose it. You quickly fumble to get off of him only for your knee to slip on the same grime he's covered in and fall flat right on top of him. He looks stunned just as much as you are, both breathing heavily as you both stare into each other's surprised faces too shocked to do anything else.

At that moment, you could hear Hanji calling out your name and the sound of hooves beating the ground, signalizing the help that has come. But it was too late. Both of you were instantly taken by each other.

A knock at the door interrupts your thoughts and you quickly shake off the intoxicating memory away. You clear your throat and call out, "Come in."

It's no one other than your beloved colleague and close friend, Hanji Zoë. She comes in but smiles weakly at you, which is quite unusual.

"Hey (f/n)… so uh, his lawyer sent these again. I think you should really consider them signing them now…" She slowly walks to you desk and carefully places a large envelope in front of you. You can feel your already broken heart ungluing it's broken pieces once again as you shakily open them, knowing what to expect already.

Divorce papers.

"I think it's pathetic how he can't do it himself really. Or the fact that he hasn't shown up in like 9 months, give or take," Hanji quickly adds.

She has tried to make you feel better ever since Levi abandoned you and has sent you about three divorce papers ever since. You could never bring yourself to sign them, as you still were deeply in love with your husband and although you knew all hope between you was lost, all you had left between you was a marriage. Even if it was a broken one.

How could he keep doing this to you? Wasn't his betrayal humiliating and dehumanizing enough? Didn't he love you at first sight?

You remember performing surgery on that young man after help had come. He was discharged before you ever got a chance to actually know his name, so you never thought you'd see him again. That is until you got an invitation to a Military Ball held to honor those who served and succeeded in the expedition as well as the medical team you were in that helped decrease casualties by 85%. It was to be held in a high class hotel somewhere in the outskirts of Wall Sina.

Dressed in a long, deep red evening gown, no one could at first glance recognize you as the skillful, devoted doctor with blood soaked hands from the battlefield. Your (h/c) hair was not up but let down, cascading beautifully from your back and shoulder. You, like the rest of the ladies, wore eyeliner, mascara, and powder but you set yourself apart by wearing red lipstick, which accentuated your (s/c) features. It was quite funny, you had to admit, having young cadets come up to you trying to desperately talk to you but once you introduced yourself as Dr. (f/n) (l/n), their jaws dropped and quickly apologized to you.

Erwin Smith came up to you and bowed deeply. You smile slightly and politely nod at him. He looks up and allows himself to look down and up at you.

"Dr. (l/n), I got to admit, you are quite stunning in a ball gown. No one would suspect that the belle of the ball is actually the trauma surgeon herself," he smiles a dazzling white smile at you, dusting your face slightly pink in the process.

"Commander Smith, just call me (f/n). As cliché as it sounds, I'm just doing my job. But thank you very much, you are too kind."

You allow your eyes to divert away, knowing that he was somehow trying to get your attention in the same way as the other soldiers have. Hm, wonder if that young man has recovered enough to…

"Oh! Before I forget, Corporal Levi has requested to meet you, (f/n). He said he wasn't able to thank you the first time," Erwin adds.

You stop paying attention to some of the soldiers dancing in their best clothes and say, "First time? I never even met the Cor-"

You turn around and your voice trails off upon seeing orbs of steel grey eyes behind straight, neat black hair.

It's ihim/i…

Corporal Ackerman confirms this as he throws another smirk at you.

"Dr. (l/n)? Dr. (l/n)…. Uh… Dr. Ackerman?"

Your attention is caught and you look up from you daydream at Hanji.

"Huh?"

Hanji frowned and tilted her head, "You still respond to Dr. Ackerman but not your maiden name… this is bad."

You shake your head and defiantly state, "No no no, I was just deep in thought, you don't have to call me Ackerman anymore." It really stung to say that.

Hanji reaches out and touches your hand in comfort. You sigh and dig your face in your arms. "I can't keep doing this to myself."

"Especially now that you and Erwin are…" Hanji adds but trails off.

"I know, I know… he's been nothing but good to me, so might as well…" With a heavy heart, you pick up your fountain pen and slowly sign your name on the dotted line needing your signature. You stare at it for a bit before giving it to Hanji and quickly looking away.

"Leave me a message when his lawyer gets these. I need to be told the moment I've officially become divorced. Thank you, Hanji," you mutter without looking at her and draw your attention to some X- rays on your desk that need to be interpreted.

Without another word, she leaves.

You pick up a chest X-ray and immediately regret it, because it reminds you of him once again.

Levi stretches out a hand and lazily retorts, "Pleasure. I don't do bowing."

You take his hand and shake it firmly, "I didn't expect you to." You keep a stoic look on your face despite the butterflies shaking your very being. You were quite good at playing professional.

Erwin looks at you and Levi back and forth. "Do you both know each other?"

Levi runs a hand casually through his thick black locks and in a bored voice says, "Yes, this is the brat I was talking about that saved my life by stripping down to her underwear for me." The casual way he said it was almost as casual as him commenting about the weather, and it made your jaw drop and (e/c) eyes widen in horror.

Erwin looks at you with an equal expression on his face and waits for an explanation. You don't give one, but rather you throw Levi an angry glance and stomp away, meaning to leave this ball if it meant getting away from such a haughty and ungrateful bastard like himself.

After all you did for him! Wasn't he in any way thankful you had to humiliate yourself a bit to save his stupid life?

You pick up the pace and get pass through the big doors of the reception hall, ignoring the perplexed looks people through at you. You make your way down the elegant stairs that lead to the entrance of the hotel until you feel your elbow grabbed firmly but gently.

"Wait," a man's voice calls out.

You turn and find yourself facing Levi again. But without that haughty look on his face which is instead replaced with a slightly urgent one.

"What do you want this time? You haven't given me a hard enough time yet?" you snap as you struggle to fight his grip off of you. He holds on tighter as he yanks you to turn around completely and you stumble, falling against his chest. Levi holds both your arms to support you and you find yourself at the mercy of the devastatingly handsome young soldier as you melt like lead into his arms.

"I apologize. I should not have said that so blatantly. I have a tendency to not fully filter what I say, or express what I truly think. What I should have done is thank you profusely for saving my life and comment on how beautiful you look this evening," Levi says rather smoothly as he retains his stoic demeanor.

Your eyes widen and you feel your heart beating ever so faster. Levi stares down at you waiting for a response.

"D-do… do you have Asperger's?" You immediately regret opening up your mouth.

Levi blinks.

"Dr. (l/n), are you seriously trying to diagnose me while I'm trying to flirt with you?"

"I'm sorry I can't help it, I'm a-" you suddenly take in what he said last. "Wait did you say you're trying to flirt with me?!"

"Flirt, woo, court, whatever you want to call it. Will you let me make things up to you with a dance?" Levi says, again rather too casually.

You stare at him hard but then it hits you, Levi is just a very upfront person. You find yourself slowly forming a smile, which in return softens his stoic features more and more. "Is that a yes?"

"It would have been a yes if you had asked me while I was in the ballroom; I really don't feel like going up the stairs again, Corporal-"

Without a warning, Levi bends and lifts you up quite effortlessly into his arms bridal style. You gasp out in protest, "Hey what are you doing?! P-put me down! Corporal!" He ignores you as he walks up the stairs, into the reception hall and stares straight ahead as onlookers stare at the two of you. Feeling your face heat up in embarrassment, you dig your face into his shoulder hoping you could just disappear.

You can't help but notice how intoxicating his scent is, how muscular his shoulders are, his deep calm breathing, the firm way his hands were on you….

Levi makes it to the middle of the dance floor and sets you down gently. You are slightly dazed, confused, and a little scared of what this unpredictable man would do to you now. To your utter surprise, he bows deeply to you and looks up and says, "Would you honor me with a dance, Dr. (l/n)?" He puts out a hand for you.

You hear excited whispers and chatters and some catcalling from the rest of the guests and notice that it was just you two on the dance floor. You nervously look around as you clutch your necklace, unsure of what to do. Then you meet Levi's eyes again. His steel grey eyes are no longer much steel, but have much more warmth as he gazes across your face. Then he smiles. Not smirks but smiles and though it is small, it's genuine.

Slowly you reach out a trembling hand and place it on top of his. He wraps his hand around it and pulls you into his arms quite gracefully, with a hand wrapped around your waist. He begins to lead both of you and you follow like a puppet, completely entranced by such a masculine, assertive man. You've usually been the assertive and independent type yourself, so it was quite nerve wreaking to have someone finally exert some control over you.

"Nice dance moves," you say quietly, too shocked to believe you were dancing with the strongest soldier in all of humanity, who also happened to be the most attractive and desired man within all three walls.

"Nice boobs," he retorts back, causing him to get his foot stabbed by your stiletto heel. Okay, this feels more like reality now.

Another knock on the door interrupts your nostalgic indulgence, and you grow agitated. "Hanji, I'm off for the day I can't see any more patients! You have got to sto-"

The door opens and you come to deathly halt. Levi walks in quietly and closes the door firmly behind him. He turns to you and stares at you with glassy eyes. You stare back, feeling like your knees could give away any second. After all this time, you finally see him again.

"(F/n)…" he breathed, before you quickly hold up a hand. "Get out, my office is only available for consultations or patients so unless you're injured, get the hell out of my office," you say in that same "authoritative doctor" way you have of speaking.

Levi shrugs and takes out a pocketknife. "Whatever you say, doctor." To your horror, he proceeds to slide the knife across his shoulder, without making any sounds. You quickly run from your desk to him and yank the knife out of his hands.

"Are you fucking crazy?! What the hell is wrong with you, Levi?!" you cry out as you search for gauze in your cabinets. Levi goes over and sits on an empty cot you use for examinations and calmly replies, "If this what I have to do in order to see you or talk to you then it'll do."

"As much as I have enjoyed stabbing you with worse things in my dreams, you shouldn't have done that. What if you teared a vein? Or what if that knife wasn't cleaned and this became infected?" You walk over to him, dreading his growing presence, and distract yourself with the work ahead of you. "What if…"

"No injury hurts more than this," Levi says darkly as he looks up at you through heavy lidded eyes. Those eyes…

Your lips form a thin line and you try your best to avoid eye contact. Your fingers work quickly and you begin stitching him up. "You'll be out in 5 minutes after I'm done with suturing this. If this becomes infected or discolored or if the stitches loosen, you need to see a medical doctor right away, preferably not me, and-"

Levi takes your hands away from his shoulder and you drop your needle. You steel yourself, ready for what he's to say.

"I want you back, (f/n)."

You were not expecting that….

"Why? Did you get bored with all those other girls and think that I still loved you enough to forgive you and take you back? You can't just throw me away and pick me back up again whenever you please, you bastard!" you yell out angrily. You shove his arms away and back away slowly, only for him to stand up and slowly walk towards you.

Levi's eyes are clouded with desperation and remorse. He looked as if he hasn't slept at all for years and his hair was uncharacteristically unkept. "I don't deserve you, (f/n). I know that damn well, so I want to fight for you once again. Whatever it takes, I don't care. I was a fucking idiot that doesn't deserve your love but goddamit you're mine and I will do whatever I have to do to make it up for all I've done to you!" he yells back at you defiantly.

You gasp out for air as tears start to swell in your eyes. "Levi… you don't even deserve my forgiveness… how can you do what you've done to me and be forgiven? Not just one, but dozens of women!" The tears fall heavily upon mentioning those women and you sob out in agony.

Your husband feels himself getting deeply hurt and distressed deep inside his heart at seeing his innocent wife break apart so much, and he could not be any comfort to her. He was the root of all her suffering and the thought of it tormented him endlessly, even when he tried to forget her. Even as she cried, he couldn't help but note that despite the hardship she endured, amazingly enough she still retained her beauty even though she had lost weight. All because of him. All because of his careless, unforgivable mistake.

"I know I left that night but let me explain myself, (f/n)! I was miserable too, you were rarely home and ever since you became an attending I can't even see you at home anymore! I got frustrated as hell; I couldn't come home to relax with my wife, eat a homemade dinner with her, talk about my day with her, I couldn't even make love to you at all! Do you know how insanely frustrating that is to not show your wife how much you love her and want her AT ALL!?"

You scream back in defense, "I'm a goddamn doctor, Levi! I can't help it! I was frustrated as hell too but you didn't see ME running out to have sex with other people!"

"It's not like-"

"YOU WENT TO A BROTHEL! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO EVER UNDERSTAND THAT?!" you yell out, overcome by sorrow and pain at the mention of that memory. The reason why you never allowed yourself to remember anything but good memories. And now he screwed that up.

Levi ran up to you and grabbed you firmly by the shoulders as he gently pushed you against your wall. After two years of marriage, you knew any effort to fight off such a muscular man was futile. "I don't want to divorce you anymore! (F/n) hear me out, what happened that night really didn't-"

You didn't want to hear any more. You didn't want to remember. And it didn't matter what he wanted, all you really wanted was to completely obliterate any memory you two had left. So you gave him the news.

"I'm getting married to Erwin today."

You see your husband's face drop and he stares at you, horrified. You don't look at him, but rather keep you face to the side.

"But… but you're still my wife…" he grips your face with both of his hands and brings you closer to his face. "You're still my goddamn wife, brat!"

My phone beeped at that instant and interrupted us both. Hanji's voice could be heard through the speaker. "Hey (f/n), just letting you know that Levi's lawyer faxed the papers to the judge. I guess you're free now, huh. I'll come by with your wedding dress and we can take off then. See you soon. Bye."

One beep and she was gone.

You shakily turn to your husband and meet his cold, dead eyes still widened from shock. You tearfully reach up and briefly touch his warm hands with your fingers before gently taking them off your face.

"Not anymore…." you quietly whisper out.

"Sweetheart? I'm coming in, okay?"

You look away from your vanity and look up to see your fiancé, Erwin, walk in. He has a wide smile on his handsome face and his blue eyes have a distinct twinkle in it.

You give him a half smile. "Hello. You look handsome."

And he does. He looks quite dashing in his black tuxedo and neatly combed blonde hair. He grins and takes you from his hand to make you stand, as he looks up and down at you in admiration of your wedding dress.

"And you look breathtaking. I still can't believe I'm getting married to you," he grabs your hands and kisses them both, "I won't hurt you. I'll take care of you as long as I live, (f/n)."

You try your best to give him a warm smile despite the awful aching in your heart from what had transpired only a mere few hours ago. Levi… was officially no longer your husband. After so many months of holding on, it truly hurt. You still couldn't believe it. But he wasn't a good man. Erwin is. And marrying him entailed have a good life, the kind you deserved with all the love and care in the world. You shouldn't feel bad anyway; it was Levi who wanted the divorce and initiated it, not you. You shouldn't feel bad, you kept reminding yourself.

"Since we have about half an hour until the ceremony, why don't you just open your wedding gifts, sweetheart? It'll keep you busy until then," said Erwin, as he leaned down to give you a gentle kiss on your cheek. He whispers in your ear, "I really cannot wait for tonight. I will finally get to show you just how much I love you, (f/n)…"

He walks off with a wink out your door. You feel slightly dizzy but not from anticipation, but fear. Is it possible to make love when you're thinking about another man….? What does Erwin want to do with you and your body tonight…?

You quickly walk over to the table holding many wedding gifts to keep your mind off things. You uninterestingly scan the gifts until something catches your attention: a lone blank envelope. Addressed to no one.

You curiously open it up and read the letter inside.

(F/n), my love.

I almost fell to my knees when I saw your face again. You still look the same way you always have from the moment I fell in love with you to the moment I married you. I'm a coward for not being man enough to have admitted to you what happened that night I left. I was a drunkard who sought solace in alcohol and the company of women but what I never got the chance to explain is that I only desired the company of those women while I was drunk because it made it easier for me to pretend that it was you in my arms. While you may think this is a shitty excuse, I just want you to understand what I went through during that time. I, being in love with you, naturally became angry and frustrated that work kept you away from me so much. After the first year my patience wore thin and I became an alcoholic. But after another year, that didn't help anymore. I longed for your touch, your kisses, your body, all of you. But you never let me. You were either busy or tired. So that's when I went to the brothel, drunk as hell, hoping to escape this maddening frustration. But what you don't understand is that I never slept with any woman. I kissed and touched them, I admit, but I never slept with them. Because I broke down right then and there and ran out, not fulfilled in any way. When I saw you and knew I've been caught, I left because I thought you were the cause of all my problems and I'm better off without you. Truth be told, I realized you were the one who was better off without me. I never got over you, and I realized that while I did not have you around physically most of the time, at least I still had your love. And now I lost it.

I hope this marriage makes you much happier than your marriage to me ever did. I honestly hope that Erwin will make you happy, and I'm sure he will. You deserve a patient and understanding man, (f/n). I'm so sorry I failed you, especially as your husband. I will continue to hope for your happiness as much as I will continue to always love you for the rest of my life.

P.S. I don't think this would matter to you anymore but I never signed the divorce papers. I couldn't bring myself to let you go no matter how hard I tried. You're still my wife, but as a wedding gift from me to you, I'll sign them and give them to the judge so you can have the man you deserve.

- Levi

The letter in your hand slightly crumples as you grip it tightly, holding on for dear life. Tears flood out of your eyes much too fast and your knees finally give away after holding you up for so long and you fall to the ground to your knees. You start to sob out in agony and excruciating sorrow as you hold the love of your life's letter tightly against your chest. You break down, overwhelmed with the impact his confession had over you. You loved him, you still did. And you always will know that deep down, you belonged together. But within a matter of minutes, you will soon belong to another man.

What can you do now?