It has been four months since Corporal Rivaille decided that he and Eren are dating.
During those months, the visits to their "special place" became less frequent due to work.
Any romantic encounters are now forced to be quick, lacking compassion.
"Levi…I…" Eren was cut off by Rivaille's lips pushing hard against his. The two boys stood far off from the other soldiers, using the surrounding forest to hide themselves. Eren had his back pressed up against a tree as Rivaille ran his hands all over Eren's body, guiding his lips up and down his neck. "Levi!" Eren yelled and pushed his superior away.
"What? We still have a good two minutes before the others start to get suspicious." Rivaille stepped towards Eren, reaching his hands to cup his chin.
"No!" Eren jerked his head away and began pacing.
"Eren, what's wrong?"
"We can't keep doing this! This isn't how our relationship is supposed to be!" Eren shakily walked towards the nearest tree and collapsed against it.
"Well, it's not like we can just start stripping right here! Although…" Rivaille's voice trailed off as he peered through the trees to see how preoccupied the other soldiers were.
"No, we can't," Eren stated, running his hand through his hair in frustration. Seconds past with both boys silently looking down. Finally, Rivaille moved to sit next to Eren.
"Then, what do we do?" Rivaille gently laced his fingers with his comrade's as he let his head fall onto his shoulder.
"I…I don't know, but I don't like this. It doesn't feel right. I hate that we have to sneak around like this." Eren rubbed his free hand up and down Rivaille's arm.
"I'm sorry, Eren. This is my fault. You are unhappy at my choice to keep this a secret." Rivaille pulled away from Eren and stood up.
"Well, I know that you have good reasons! It's just that…" Eren's words left him as he felt Rivaille's soft lips against his forehead.
"I know… Just let me think about it, okay?" Rivaille turned away slowly, "And, Eren?"
"Yea?"
"I truly am sorry." Rivaille kept his eyes locked on his boots as he shuffled away.
"Levi," Eren whispered, dropping his head. He wasn't sure when he began to cry, but he couldn't stop. The tears quickly fell into his palms. More and more. It seemed like they would never end. "I'm so stupid! Why did I have to go and say all that stuff! Now Levi is upset! Dammit Eren! Why are you so stupid!?"
"Eren!" Mikasa ran towards the crying boy, gently placing her hands on his clenched fists. He looked up at his friend and let out a sob. "Eren! What's wrong!? Are you hurt!?" Mikasa's eyes darted all over Eren's body, but she found no injuries.
"Mikasa…" Armin spoke softly, walking towards them. "You should just leave him be for now."
"Why!?" Mikasa yelled and pulled her weeping friend to his feet. "Rivaille did something to you, didn't he!?" She threw her hands on Eren's shoulders and began shaking him. "Tell me what he did!" Eren was unresponsive. He let his body flail about lifelessly. "Eren!"
"Mikasa!" Armin wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled with all his might. Soon enough, Mikasa let go of her silent friend and watched as he fell to the ground.
"Eren!" Mikasa sobbed as she was being led away by Armin.
"I wonder if they got into a fight…" Armin stole one last glance back at his somber friend before returning his gaze to the camp.
"Eren! You're back!" Connie ran towards his pal and threw his arm over his shoulder. Eren forced a smile.
"Sorry, man. I just had a lot on my mind."
"Must have! You've been gone for hours!"
"Was it really that long?" Eren shifted his eyes up to the darkening sky. "I guess I was gone for a long time…"
"Eren?" Connie waved his hands in front of Eren's face. "You still have some thoughts that didn't get cleared up after all that time?"
"Huh?" Eren brought his gaze back to his friend, "Oh, I guess so." He forced a light-hearted laugh while Connie led him to the others.
"Eren?"
"What?" Eren sat down beside Jean, avoiding his gaze.
"You look like shit, man."
"Gee thanks, Jean." Eren rubbed his eyes, attempting to ignore Jean's chuckling.
"Seriously though, are you okay?" Jean eyed his friend.
"Haha, yea. I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me." Eren stood up, slapping Jean on the back of the head.
"You are gonna pay for that, Jeager!" Jean jumped up and began playfully punching Eren. The two boys, along with Connie, hung around jokingly fighting until it was time for dinner.
"Armin, it's your turn to keep watch tonight." Commander Irvin placed his hand on Armin's shoulder then began to head towards his tent.
"Let me do it instead." All eyes darted towards the Corporal.
"Not a chance, Levi. You need rest."
"I've never had to keep watch, so I'm fully rested. Listen, I'm keeping watch tonight and that's final." Rivaille crossed his legs, showing no intention of taking no for an answer.
"I sometimes don't understand you, Levi. But, if you really want to, then fine. You know to come get me if something happens." Knowing that he lost the brief argument, the Commander wandered off to his tent.
"You should all go to bed now. We have a long day tomorrow." Rivaille quickly met eyes with Eren, giving him a questioning glance. He sighed as he watched Eren turn away and walk to his tent.
Hours passed as Rivaille continued to keep watch. He judged that it was around 2 a.m. His hopes for Eren to come join him were beginning to fall. "I really screwed things up this time. Why am I so obsessed with hiding this? Now Eren is hurting, and it's all my fault. I really know how to ruin things."
"Levi?" Rivaille jumped in fear at the sound of a voice.
"Eren?" Eren moved closer to the fire, making himself visible to Rivaille. "Eren…Come sit." Rivaille motioned for Eren to take a seat beside him. Eren slowly walked towards Rivaille, sitting down after hesitating for a moment. "You've been crying." Rivaille glanced at Eren. "Why have you been crying so much?
"I'm afraid." Eren couldn't meet Rivaille's worried gaze because he feared he would start to cry again.
"Afraid?" Rivaille inched closer to Eren and gently pulled his chin so that he would look at him.
"I'm afraid of losing you…" Eren finally forced his eyes to meet Rivaille's. Rivaille could see the tears beginning to puddle up in his comrade's eyes.
"What makes you think that you are going to lose me?" Rivaille softly brushed his thumb against Eren's cheek, pushing away a single tear.
"Because of what I said earlier," Eren whispered, choking back a sob.
"But, you were right. We lost the compassion we once shared. However, I don't believe it's because we are losing feelings for one another. I believe it's because we can only share brief moments with each other whenever time allows. And that, Eren, is my fault."
"So, how do we fix this?" Eren ran his eyes across Rivaille's face, fighting the urge to kiss him.
"I think we need to take a step back."
"What!?" Eren yelled.
"Be quiet, you idiot! Do you want to wake everyone up!?"
"Sorry… What do you mean take a step back?"
Rivaille sighed and stood up, only to quickly sit back down on Eren's lap.
"Levi, if someone wakes up…"
"Just shut up and listen. Obviously, our meetings have turned into rapid make out sessions. I believe that we should step back and start talking more."
"You wanna talk instead of kiss?" Eren cocked his eyebrow as he wrapped his arm around his superior's waist.
"Well, I'm not saying that there won't be ANY kissing," Rivaille quietly laughed and leaned his face closer to Eren's. "Besides, I don't know how long I could go without," he paused to press his lips firmly against Eren's, "kissing the man I love." Eren tightened his grip around Rivaille's waist and moved in for another kiss.
"Ummm, Eren? Corporal Rivaille?" Eren jumped and threw Rivaille off of his lap. He looked up at Armin standing a short distance away. Rivaille grunted as he sat up, dusting dirt off of his shirt.
"Armin! Th-this isn't what it looks like!" Eren stuttered, "Ri-right, Corporal?" Eren's eyes darted from the calm faces of the two boys.
"It's fine, Eren. I suspected he knew." Rivaille pulled himself back onto his seat and crossed his arms, never breaking away from Armin's gaze.
"I've known for a while," Armin said apologetically.
"Wha…How…I don't understand!" Eren jumped up and began to pace.
"Eren, how many times am I going to have to tell you to be quiet?" Rivaille unconsciously began fixing his hair and continued, "Now sit back down, and stop making a scene." Eren obediently made his way back to his seat, inviting Armin to come over.
"How did you find out?" Eren attempted to sound calm.
"It was kind of obvious. You two were always finding ways to be placed in missions together, and you would always disappear at the same time and come back five minutes apart. When I saw Eren crying earlier, I assumed that you two got into an argument."
"Yea, something like that," Eren mumbled. "Are you the only one that knows?"
"Well, my first intentions were to ignore your suspicious activity, but then I was approached by Hanji."
"Hanji knows!?" Rivaille twitched at the thought.
"Yes, she came up to me requesting that I find out what exactly is going on; however, I feel that she knew all along."
"I will never hear the end of this," Rivaille groaned and placed his head in his hands. Eren reached his hand to rub Rivaille's back but pulled away, remembering that Armin is watching.
"It's okay," Armin said gesturing towards Eren's hand, "It doesn't bother me."
Eren placed his hand on Rivaille's back while giving Armin a quizzical look. "How come it doesn't bother you?"
"Well, love is love. Besides, I have my own crush, you know."
"Who?" Eren drew all of his attention to Armin.
"Why would I tell you that?" Armin laughed and stood up. "You don't have to worry about your secret getting out, but you should be more careful."
"Thanks Armin, we owe you one." Eren smiled up at his friend.
"Yea, I will hold you to that." Armin returned the smiled and walked back to his tent. Eren let out a loud sigh and stood up.
"I should probably go to sleep now, too." He pulled Rivaille to his feet and wrapped his arms around his small yet muscular body. After a moment, he let go of Rivaille and began to walk towards his own tent. However, he only made it a few inches before being pulled back by Rivaille. "What happened to taking things slow?" Eren asked as Rivaille pressed his lips against his.
"Not that slow." Rivaille stated as he let go of Eren. He waited for Eren to turn away before slapping his ass.
"Levi!" Eren spoke through gritted teeth, not able to stop the smile from spreading across his face.
"Night, Jeager." Rivaille waved his hand as he walked back to his seat. "Ha! I bet I got the kid looking as red as a tomato!"
"What the hell was that for? Oh fuck, I'm blushing like crazy! That bastard! He just enjoys this doesn't he! Hmmph, how did I end up falling for him?" Eren stopped at the front of his tent to let his face cool down. "I'm glad things are okay between us." He quietly crawled into his tent, hoping that no one would hear his fluttering heart.
"All right! Let's move out!" Commander Irvin hopped onto his horse and began leading the others. Eren had just hopped onto his horse when Rivaille appreared next to him. He reached for Eren's hand and gave it a tight squeeze before riding away. Eren smiled and directed his horse to follow the others.
"Yea, I'm really glad things are okay between us."
There's part 2! Hope Everyone likes it!