I apologize in advance.

DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING

Levi held his phone closer to his body as he found a dry place to sit on the couch. He tucked his legs under him as he sat, unwilling to trip an older kid and get a alp full of beer.

He scrolled through the photos on his phone, glancing up every few minutes to make sure Hanji hadn't left the party without him. After dragging him to the party, he'd kill her if she left him here.

The couch slid back an inch as Hanji threw herself on it, nearly spilling her drink into Levi's lap.

"Whoops!" She laughed. "Sorry about that, short stack! But hey, I brought you one too!" Hanji handed Levi a drink which he immediately sat down on the coffee table. Levi turned back to his phone.

"Honestly, Hanji. You didn't even change out of your uniform." Hanji laughed and bumped his shoulder.

"Because we're celebrating winning the first game of the season! Lighten up, Levi. It's a party! Enjoy yourself!" Levi rolled his eyes at Hanji and looked back down at his phone.

Hanji continued to babble about something into Levi's ear, and he made a point of ignoring her. Levi didn't look up until a group of girls squealed from the front room. Levi's head shot up and he looked at Hanji.

"Police?" He asked, already starting to stand. Hanji laughed and grabbed his arm.

"No, silly! It's him." Levi just stared at her.

"Can't you be more specific than just 'him'?" Hanji didn't answer him, she simply nodded at the doorway. Levi turned. Everyone cheered as a boy stepped into th room laughing. He was tall, and something about his eyes made it near impossible for Levi to look away. "Hanji, is that-"

"Eren Jaeger?" Hanji finished. "Captain of the football team and most popular kid in school? Yep!" Hanji took a sip of her drink and pulled Levi back onto the couch.

"Seriously Hanji? Can we please just leave?" Levi asked. He'd never talked to any of the popular kids except for Hanji, and he wasn't trying to change that tonight.

"What?" Hanji looked at him. "Hell no." She said. "You are not leaving this party until you…" Hanji thought for a moment. "Oh! You can't leave until you kiss a girl. Or a guy. You know, since you won't tell me if you're gay or not." Levi felt his face heat up at the mention of his sexuality and he smacked Hanji in the shoulder.

"I'm not going to be kissing anyone!" Levi groaned. "You know what?" He stood and tucked his phone safely into his pocket. "I'll just walk home. Bye Hanji." Levi walked away before she had the chance to stop him. He kept his head down as he made his way through the crowd, and he ended up running into somebody. Levi looked up, gray eyes meeting large green ones. "Sorry…" He mumbled. Eren Jaeger laughed.

"It's alright." Eren offered him a drink and Levi shook his head, hoping Eren would just let him leave. God, why had he let Hanji drag him along to this stupid party?

"Hey, I didn't catch your name?" Levi snapped back to reality and looked up at Eren.

"Because I didn't offer it." He said, nearly shouting to be heard over the loud music. Eren laughed again, the sound oddly musical to Levi's ears, and for a moment, he was lost in Eren's eyes again.

"Well, would you mind telling me your name?" Eren asked, taking a step closer to Levi. Levi blinked and took a couple steps back.

"I would mind, actually." Levi answered, making sure to look anywhere except for Eren's face. ""If you'll excuse me." He pushed past Eren and all his jock buddies, swiftly weaving through the crowd, for once grateful of his small size. He pushed past a final group of drunk teenagers and out the front door, hurrying quickly down the driveway. He ended up walking for about a block before he realized that he had no idea where he was. He pulled out his phone to google a route home, only to find that he had no service. Levi sighed and pushed his phone back into his pocket. He had no clue where he was, no service, and worst of all, no jacket. He hugged himself and kept walking in the hopes that someone would stop to help him.

Levi turned at the sound of car approaching. As it slowed to a halt, he noticed that the car was vaguely familiar. When the window rolled down to reveal a grinning face and shining green eyes, he realized why. He'd seen the car at school, at games, and at the party.

"Need a ride?" Eren asked, obviously proud of himself for thinking to help Levi out. Levi rolled his eyes.

"I most certainly do not need a ride. And anyways, don't you think it's a bit odd to follow people home? I mean, you know who does that?" Levi crossed his arms and leaned forward. "Stalkers. Are you a stalker, Eren Jaeger?" Eren laughed and shook his head.

"You're something else, Levi, you know that?" Eren leaned across the front seat and opened the door.

"How do you know my name?" Levi asked, taking a step back. If it was Hanji, he'd kill her for sure this time. Eren rolled his eyes.

"Just get in." Eren said. Levi raised his eyebrows.

"No." He answered.

"No?" Eren repeated. Levi stuck his nose up in the air and tried to look as tall as he possibly could.

"That's right." Levi said. "No. Not until you tell me how you know my name." Eren sighed and stared at Levi for a moment. When he remained unmoved, arms crossed and nose in the air, he rolled his eyes.

"Look, I know your name because you're the one who keeps doing all the art projects around school. Plus, you took the pictures of the football team for the yearbook or whatever last year." Eren spoke more like he was reading from a note card than remembering things. Levi smirked and raised an eyebrow.

"It was Hanji, wasn't it?" He asked. Eren shrugged.

"Yeah alright, it was Hanji." Eren admitted, a grin breaking across his face. "But since I told you, you'll get in now, right?" Levi rolled his eyes at Eren and got in the car, careful not to look at Eren's face for fear of losing himself in those eyes again. He gave Eren his address and said nothing more, choosing instead to stare blankly out the window and ignore Eren's attempts at conversation. The silence apparently became too much for Eren to handle, as he turned on the radio and turned it up loud, singing along to nearly every song in what appeared to be an attempt to get a reaction of some kind out Levi. He failed miserably at doing so, even though most of Levi found Eren's singing annoying. He didn't say anything, however, because a very small part of his mind was comfortable, perfectly content to listen to Eren's slightly off-key singing, although Levi didn't have much time, or any time at all, actually, to act on the second feeling or give it any thought, because Eren had already pulled into a spot in front of Levi's apartment building.

"Thanks for the ride." Levi told him, getting out of the car and hoping would drive away instead of trying to start a conversation.

"Hey, Levi?" Eren turned off the car and Levi swore under his breath. "Do you mind if I use your bathroom? Please? I gave you a ride home." Luck was obviously not on Levi's side tonight. He weighed his options in his head. He could either tell Eren 'no' and never talk to him again, or he could let Eren in and give him the impression that they were friends now. Of course, Eren probably wouldn't stick around very long after seeing Levi's crappy apartment.

"Fine." He said. "Just don't fuck up my apartment." Eren grinned and got out of the car, following Levi up the stairs and bouncing slightly as he unlocked the door. "Last room down the hall." Levi said, kicking his shoes off. Eren clapped Levi on the back and rushed down the hall. Levi sighed and threw himself on the couch. He closed his eyes and was already half-asleep by the time Eren came out.

"Holy shit, dude." Levi suppressed a groan and opened his eyes.

"What?" He asked. Eren was looking around the apartment, although Levi had to admit there wasn't much to look at. His apartment was mostly just a small TV, a coffee table, ad a couch.

"Nothing, it's just..." Eren looked at Levi. "This place isn't big enough for a family to live in." Levi sighed. Eren was right. His apartment was barely big enough for one person to live in, never mind a whole family.

"Well I suppose it doesn't really matter, does it?" He said, leaning back on the couch. "It only needs to be big enough for me." Eren's eyes got so wide that Levi was sure they'd pop right out of his head.

"You live alone?!" Eren seemed incredulous. "How do you pay rent?!" Levi shrugged.

"I only pay a little. Hanji's dad owns the building, and he's letting me stay until I graduate and go to college." Levi knew that he should shut up, that talking to Eren would only make hm stay longer, but part of him wanted Eren to stay. HE liked finally having company, someone who would actually listen to him talk. He liked the idea that someone liked him enough to be here and not somewhere else. Hanji always chose a party over Levi's tiny, quiet apartment.

"That's pretty cool, you know." Eren said, flopping down next to Levi. "You're like, an adult. But... how come it's so..." Eren trailed off, waving his hand at the room as he struggled to find words.

"Empty?" Levi suggested. "Bare? Plain? Eren," he sighed, "I barely have enough money for food. I afford to splurge on house plants or posters. Or even a bike to get to school, let alone a car. Or bus fare, since the school bus doesn't stop near here." Levi hadn't meant to tell him all that, but it had just spilled out. He should have just let Eren leave thinking that, yes, he was independent, but that he was also very boring. Now he was just going to think that Levi was some broke wannabe artist trying to be an adult.

"So..." Eren still seemed to be processing. "You... walk to school? Every day?" When Levi shrugged and nodded, Eren looked completely horrified. "No. Absolutely not. The school is like three miles from here!" Levi shrugged again and Eren stood."I'm coming back here on Monday to take you to school. You better be at home. And ready!" Eren started to leave and Levi blinked away his shock. He stood quickly as Eren opened the door.

"Hey, wait a second!" Eren stopped, but he didn't turn to face him. "You don't have to drive me to school. I manage fine on my own." Levi crossed his arms to make a point, even though he knew Eren couldn't see him.

"I know." Eren answered slowly. "I don't have to, but I want to." Levi felt his face heat up.

"Why the hell do you want to drive me to school?" Eren looked over his shoulder and grinned at Levi.

"Isn't it obvious?" He asked,looking at Levi with gorgeous green eyes of his. "I like you. I think you're cute." Eren stepped through the door before Levi could move, think, or even dumbly blurt some idiotic comment like 'you too'. "See you on Monday, Levi." The door closed and by the time Levi had processed and ran downstairs, Eren's car was already turning the corner at the end of the road. Levi stood on the sidewalk for a moment, watching Eren carefully turn. He sighed once he was gone and slowly walked upstairs, thinking about Eren's words with each step. He went into his room, flopping down onto his bed and staring at the ceiling. His mind raced as he thought of Eren's words and the way he'd looked at him, all green eyes and wide smile, not a single hint of a joke written on his face. Levi could only hope that this wasn't a cruel joke being played on him by the football team. At best, Eren kept his promise and and picked him up fo school. At worst, Levi would end up skipping a day. If this wasn't a prank, he'd have a new friend, and Hanji wouldn't always be on his case about needing more than two friends. And if it was a prank, Levi would just stay home on Monday. As much as he didn't want to trust Eren, something about him made Levi trust him almost completely. Which was, of course, ridiculous. He'd really only known Eren for a few hours, and he didn't even know anything about him except for his name. He shouldn't hang around Eren. He'd see him Monday and then he'd go back to his usual routine of ignoring all the popular and being ignored himself. Levi couldn't be around him all the time, couldn't be around those eyes, so bright and green. He couldn't afford to get lost in those eyes, because he'd fall in love with them and Eren. He couldn't do that. No, he wasn't going to let a popular kid break his heart and ruin his life. That's all Eren Jaeger would do. And yet... Levi couldn't shake the feeling that he was different somehow. Better.

"See you Monday..." he murmured to himself in the dark. He thought about Eren's smile, so genuine and kind. Levi never liked jocks much, but maybe, for some reason, he could make an exception.