Chapter Text
"You're such a sappy old man," Levi teases as he climbs out of the car and into the frigid December air. Erwin closes the door behind him and motions for Levi to take the lead, falling in-step next to him. It's New Year’s Eve and snowing like crazy, but Erwin had insisted on taking Levi out to dinner for their anniversary, despite how crowded the restaurant may be or how awful it may be outside.
"Why do you say that?" Erwin asks in return as the two of them round the corner to the small Italian place. It's a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant, but locals know it well, and it looks fairly busy as they near it. Distantly, Erwin is thankful that he decided to call and make a reservation, just in case.
"This is where we had our first date," Levi replies, glancing up at Erwin with a smirk on his face, "It may have been five years ago, but my memory isn't that bad, okay?"
Erwin chuckles and shrugs, "So I'm just being sentimental. Is that a problem?"
"I think you're just hoping to get some when we get home," Levi teases back.
Erwin opens the door for him and steps in behind Levi to the warm, busy building. He leans down once the door closes behind him, voice soft in Levi's ear when he speaks, "Is it working?"
And though Levi is facing away from him, Erwin doesn't miss the smirk on his face when he replies. "We'll see."
Thankfully, the two of them don't have to wait for their table, and before long, they're sitting in a small booth across from one another. Erwin orders some wine - one of the more expensive bottles on the menu, Levi notices - and sits back, smiling at his fiancé.
"What are you looking at?" Levi bites, but there's no venom in his voice. Erwin learned years ago that it's just the way that Levi is.
"It's just crazy," He replies softly, leaning forward on the table, "Five years ago, we had our first date here."
Levi snorts. "I'm aware of that," Then, quieter, "Oh god, we're not like some gross old married couple, are we?"
Erwin shrugs, "You're always calling me gross and old, and we're almost to that married point, so-"
"So that's a yes," Levi returns with a smile, "I see what you're doing, now."
"And what's that?" Erwin asks, playing along.
"You're trying to one-up last year’s anniversary," He accuses, "Which isn't going to happen. I don't really think anything beats a proposal."
Erwin laughs, "Caught me there."
At that, Levi reaches across the table, fingers ghosting against Erwin's knuckles before he squeezes his hand. "I appreciate the sentiment," He murmurs softly, "Old man."
Erwin will admit, he is being a little bit sappy. But still, it's crazy to think that five years ago, in this same restaurant, the two of them went on their first date. Five years ago, Levi had entered his life, and Erwin has never looked back. If he's being honest, he doesn't even want to remember a time that Levi wasn't in his life. Because while he hasn't always been a hopeless romantic, he does love the man sitting across from him.
Dinner goes by fairly quickly. While Erwin and Levi both enjoy the small little Italian place - and eachother's company - the restaurant does seem to only get busier and louder as the night goes on, and before long, the two of them are aching to get out of the loud building and home. Because apparently, Levi is right. They are like an old married couple.
"I'm not saying that it was a bad idea to go out on New Year’s," Levi teases lightly as they climb back into the car a little over an hour later, "I'm just saying that maybe next year, we could stay in."
"And do what?" Erwin asks in return, sitting in the driver's seat and starting the car. He turns to look at Levi as he waits for the vehicle to warm up, and the smaller man shoots him a little smirk.
"I dunno," He mumbles, "We could celebrate by fucking all night or something."
Erwin chokes out a laugh, "I thought we were old men."
"We might be," Levi returns, "But that doesn't mean that I can't get it up."
Erwin rolls his eyes in mock-annoyance, but can't hide the smile on his face. "Fine," He agrees, "Next year, we can stay in."
And if Levi wasn't already giving Erwin enough shit about being old, he's surprised that the other man doesn't make a comment on his driving on the way home. While they'd been at dinner, the snow had picked up and accumulated a little, and while there's quite a few snow plows out, the road is a little slick from the cold, so Erwin takes it slow.
Still, regardless of how slow he goes, it doesn't mean that there aren't other drivers on the road who don't share his same sense of caution.
They're almost home, climbing up the winding road that leads to their driveway, when the oncoming car veers into their lane. Erwin sees it, but only as they crest a hill, and he distantly hears Levi yell his name before the bright headlights are blinding him and he's swerving sharply to the left.
Erwin distantly registers the feeling of loss of control as they hit a patch of ice, and the panic that shoots through his body as he throws his arm out in front of Levi's chest as they go off the road. There’s a sharp pain that shoots through his arm before the car comes in contact with a tree, and then suddenly, everything is going black.
When Erwin awakes, it's to the soft, steady beeping of hospital machines and hushed voices speaking on the other side of the room. When he awakes, it’s with a groan as he turns to his side, then a sharp, shooting pain through his shoulder. And when he gasps as the sudden pinching feeling, he hears someone stand, murmuring his name.
"Erwin?"
He groans again, but manages to blink his eyes open, and for a moment, Erwin is staring up at a white hospital ceiling. He blinks a few times, takes a few deep breaths, and tries to steady himself. If he moves too much too fast, he realizes that he feels nauseous, so he turns his head slowly to look to the side, where both his mother and father stand, a few feet away from the bed.
"Erwin, honey?" His mom says, voice soft, "Are you alright?"
He knows he's in a hospital - the beeping machines and stark white walls are a dead giveaway - but why? The last thing he remembers, he was driving home from dinner with Levi. It was snowing and-
And then suddenly, it all hits him. The other car, the way he'd swerved to miss it, how their vehicle had gone off the road. He remembers throwing his arm out in front of Levi, as if to protect him, and then everything else is blank.
Levi.
He turns sharply, ignoring the pain in his shoulder and his nausea when he does so. "Levi," He rasps, "Where's Levi?"
The day ticks by at an agonizingly slow pace after Erwin wakes up. After he talks to his parents, who tell him that Levi is still out, as far as they know, in ICU. That Levi’s aunt got to the hospital not too long ago and she's been keeping them updated.
And the day goes by slowly after Erwin finds out that he won't be able to see Levi for another few hours, if not for another day. The day goes by slowly, when he learns that Levi suffered more head trauma than he had, even though he'd been wearing a seatbelt when they'd gotten in the accident. And the day goes by slowly when he learns that Levi is going in for tests, to make sure there's no internal bleeding.
Levi doesn't wake up. At least not for almost a week.
And by the time that Erwin is well enough to be discharged - sent home with a sling for his dislocated shoulder and heavy pain meds in case he's uncomfortable - he stays. His parents insist that he go home and get a clean change of clothes, which he does, but within the hour, he's back at the hospital, waiting outside of Levi's room. Waiting for good news from his aunt or the doctors or something. Anything.
And it's frustrating. It's frustrating, because for the first two days, he's not allowed to visit Levi. He's not even allowed to see him. It isn't until he's moved to a different room that Erwin is allowed in, under the supervision of a nurse of Levi's aunt. And it's frustrating looking down at Levi, face battered and scraped from the accident, knuckles bloody and skin pale.
And it's frustrating when he doesn't wake up.
Erwin doesn't go to work, and thankfully, they understand. Instead, he spends the majority of his time sitting in the hospital waiting room or sitting in a chair at Levi's bedside, clutching his hand and willing for him to wake up.
Wake up, wake up, wake up.
Because he doesn' t know what he'd do without Levi. He doesn't know how he'd be able to return to their empty house without the other man by his side. He doesn't know how he'd be able to sleep in their bed without Levi's warm body pressed against his own. He just can't.
So Erwin spends the majority of his time at the hospital, sleeping in the waiting room and eating when he doesn't feel terrified or nauseous.
And then one day, almost a week later, Levi wakes up. Levi wakes up, and everything changes.
It happens on a Monday. Erwin is sitting alone in Levi's room - his aunt stepped out to grab something to eat, and had smiled sadly at Erwin when he'd declined her offer for lunch - and it's just after noon when Levi stirs. It's not much, but it's something. It's more than he's given them in almost an entire week, so Erwin can't help the way he jumps up from his chair on the far end of the room, hands shaking.
And he can't help the way he's taking a shaky step forward when he hears Levi take a sharp, gasping breath, his eyes blinking open.
"Levi?" Erwin asks, voice quiet, trembling, stepping forward to stand next to the bed as the nurse rushes forward, checking his vitals. "Levi, can you hear me?"
While he doesn't say anything, Levi stirs in the bed again, groaning as he turns, clenching his eyes shut before finally opening them again. And Erwin's certain that he's never been happier to see those gray eyes looking back up at him. He reaches forward without hesitation, grabbing Levi's hand gently and squeezing, smile spreading across his face.
And Levi doesn't say anything at first. At first, he just blinks his eyes a few times, taking a couple of gasping breaths. At first, he doesn't say anything to Erwin, who steps away to give the nurse some room as she finishes checking his vitals. After a moment, though, she’s gone, rushing off to retrieve the doctor, and Erwin is left alone with Levi for the first time in almost a week.
And at first, it's quiet. Neither man says anything for a few moments, and when the silence is broken, it's Levi who speaks first, voice so raspy and quiet that Erwin has to lean forward to hear him.
"Where are my parents?" Levi murmurs softly, and the question catches Erwin off guard. It comes as a surprise, because Levi's parents aren't there. They won't be, and the question pulls at Erwin's heart. And he doesn't know how to answer, because he only met Levi's parents a small handful of times before they passed away, over three years ago.
Erwin swallows, stuttering out a soft, "W-what?"
"My parents," Levi repeats softly, "Are they here?"
Erwin doesn't say anything. Hell, he doesn't know what to say. He opens his mouth and then closes it again, trying to find the right words. Levi is obviously confused. He's been out for a while, and he just needs some time to come-to.
That doesn't stop the pain that Erwin feels in his chest, however, when Levi speaks again.
"Who are you?" He asks quietly, "Are you my doctor?"
Erwin narrows his eyes in confusion at that, even taking a small step backward. Because while he expected Levi to be confused, he hadn't expected this.
He clears his throat.
"Levi, it's me," He murmurs softly, and when Levi just shoots him a puzzled look in return, he continues with, "I'm Erwin. Your fiancé. Do you remember me?"