Art of Romance [Levi x Reader] [AU]

The tiny flames flickered and danced at the center of the table, casting little shadows along the walls of the dimly lit cafe. Delicate whispers from lovers, too infatuated with one another’s company settled within the atmosphere. Soft piano music drowned the attendants in the sentimental ambience, and a collage of aromas of the dishes being served caused every mouth to water.

This pretty, little place...was completely the opposite of the man sitting before you.

Levi ducked his head into the menu, as if to hide his shame from you. It was your birthday, but you were expecting to go through the day with well wishes from your friends and family, perhaps some small gifts or silly cards, and then topping it off with a relaxing evening with your fiance, sitting with your favorite pizza, cake and ice cream, dressed in your finest pajamas, and catching up on your favorite TV shows, cracking smart comments along the way. To be honest, you would have been perfectly happily with this. You were a laid back person. He wasn’t close to the same vicinity as romantic. You balanced each other out perfectly.

It was weird, almost wrong, that he was suddenly being so sweet and romantic. True, it was your birthday, but he didn’t need to go this length.

You wondered if maybe your roommates, Hanji and Nanaba, talked him into this.

Despite the strange sight, your heart swelled at your fiance’s struggle at being so cheesy. He greeted you, dressed in his best suit, holding out your favorite flowers, and stumbled over every word. He was absolutely horrid at this, and he knew it.

But, he’d walk over red-hot nails for you if he had to.

After placing your orders with the smartly dressed waiter, you continued in a quiet droll of conversation, going over your studies, your job, the idiocy of your friends, the boring aspects of everyday life that filled your week. On the other side of the table, Levi concealed with his face by his black bangs, hands in his lap. Except what you could not see was the crumbled piece of paper he fidgeted with beneath the table. After all the torture he had gone through to please you on your birthday, after all the sappy stunts suggested by your moronic roommates, he was about to stoop himself even lower.

The girls insisted you deserved swoon-worthy treatment from your fiance. After all, you two were getting marred in a few months, and he never took you to one expensive restaurant or slow, moonlit walks or taken you shopping to any fancy stories. You didn’t care. You were happy with your calm relationship. In fact, that was what you wanted, and you expressed this a million and one times.

So, why did he suddenly feel so insecure?

This was why he was here now. The paper now covered in wrinkles and Hanji’s chicken scratch were a list of some of the shittiest, sappiest move quotes of all time, sure to reduce you to tears. How the fuck anyone would fall for this was beyond him, but if anyone knew it’d be your best friends.

He slowly inhaled, waiting for you to finish your sentence.

“Well, I guess that’s pretty much is,” you sighed, taking a sip of your wine.

Levi gave you no response, so you wondered if you might have bored him with your story.

That was, until he cleared his throat:

“So, today’s your birthday, right?”

You stared at him and raised an eyebrow. “Uh-huh?” he couldn’t be proposing. He had already done that. What the hell...?

With a swig of his drink, he straightened his tie and flipped his ebony locks. “Well, then, brace yourself, ‘cause I’m gonna drop some romantical shit on you, you won’t even know what hit you.”

Oh, damn. The urge to life was undeniable, but you just swallowed and nodded. “Alright?”

The paper was spread semi-discretely beneath his plate. If only you could’ve seen how much he was shaking.

“Ahem,” his grey-blue eyes glanced up at you, expression as blank as ever. “You had me at hello.”

You just blinked at him.

Again, he looked down. "I could die right now. I'm just... happy. I've never felt that before. I'm just exactly where I want to be,” his mouth twitched a bit as you still remained unresponsive. "When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."

“Levi?” you finally said. “What is-?”

“Shut up,” he snapped, brows furrowing. “I’m trying to romance you, okay?”

Your throat tightened. Shit, it was so hard not to laugh. Your cheeks ached as it strained to hold in the giggled bubbling in your throat.
He turned back to his paper, and a blush redder than the roses on the table crept to his cheeks.

"Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while,” he paused. "You're a beautiful woman. You deserve a beautiful life....Love is too weak a word for what I feel — I luuurve you, you know, I loave you, I luff you, two F’s-What the actual fuck is this shit?”

“Levi-”

He stopped in his tracks, looking up at you through his dark lashes. “What?”

You couldn’t take it anymore. Hearing these lines spat out by a midget thug was just too much. Finally, you unleashed a muffled laugh, hand clamping over your mouth. Levi’s heart thudded in his chest. He certainly failed at wooing you properly, but he had you laughing, your eyes glittering with tears, the delicate sounds warming his core. With a huff, he tossed the paper on the table and buried his face in his hands.

After composing yourself, you gripped his hand and kissed the back. “Aw, it’s okay, Levi!”

“I just made myself look like an ass,” he grumbled.

“No, it’s okay!” you grazed his fingertips with your lips. “Did Hanji and Nanaba set you up to this?”

“YES.”

You chuckled again. “Levi, sweetie, you just made my shitty week a million times better.”

Slowly, he raised his eyes to meet yours, mouth slightly agape. “R-...really?”

You nodded. “Of course. I love our laid back relationship, but you just proved to me that you’d do anything to make me smile!”

He didn’t know his face could possibly redden even more, but it did. Despite all those years of dating you, you never ceased to surprise him.

One of the many reasons why he loved you so much...

With a wide grin, you released his hand and said,”

“So, how about we go home, get some pizza and all that good stuff?”

“Tch, no way, this shit is expensive,” he crossed his arms. “And they already took our orders.”

You snickered, folding your arms on the table. “Okay, tomorrow. Pizza date with cake, ice cream and ‘The Walking Dead.’”

He cocked an eyebrow. “Deal.”