.:Eren:.

My mother had always taught me to find the silver lining in every situation. I wish desperately she was with me now instead of lying peacefully in the cold ground I knew all too well. I knew somehow in that wonderful mind of hers that she would find it. She just had to, Grisha had been her husband once upon a time. The mere thought of that man caused my blood to boil with the rage I knew was attempting to burst from my frame. A blaring noise broke through my thinning concentration. The sound, I soon discovered, was the ringtone that signaled my sister was attempting to reach me. I laid there in the bed that had quickly become my prison. It wasn't hard to remember you were in a world that didn't care whether you got up or not when the only times spent outside was to fill your stomach or empty your bladder. My lips pressed into a thin line. I knew this wasn't fair to Mikasa. She was just looking after my craptastic self like she had when mom died.

"You know, Eren, it helps to pick up the phone when it starts ringing." Her voice startled me out of my thoughts causing me to bolt into a sitting position. Not that there were many in the first place. I hadn't slept in what felt like weeks since the old man walked out on us.

"Shit, Mikasa. Knock at least. You scared me." My voice was breathless as I clutched at my chest. The annoyance was evident in her posture.

"I figured you wouldn't answer the phone so I came to get you. We're going to lunch." She said with such finality to it that I knew I couldn't wiggle my way out of it. Not this time. She had been understanding at first but now I knew I wouldn't be able to keep her away since she was determined to strip me of my hermit-like nature I had adopted after Grisha left. That man was as good as dead to me. He skipped out on his son and adoptive sister but not without slapping a big fat pile of gambling debt over our heads. No one knew where the man had even managed to slink away to. He was definitely a snake.

A groan tore itself from my parched throat. Frankly, I couldn't remember the last time I ate or drank something. Apparently my stomach did, though, since it hardened Mikasa's resolve to take me out to lunch with a loud grumble. It was as if the organ was tattling on me for torturing it with my lack of appetite. To be honest I seriously doubted anyone could stomach food when they found out the man they had come to respect and even love ran away from his own life and left his children to bear the responsibility of his mistakes./p

"Give me five minutes. I need a shower." My voice was quiet but I knew she heard me with the tip of her head. Throwing the sheets off of myself I stood and made my way to the bathroom. Mikasa had left the moment I got up but I knew she wouldn't be far away. She was most likely going to be waiting outside my door like she usually did. The only reason she wasn't standing in my room watching over me like a hawk was because even though I was her brother, adoptive or otherwise, she didn't want to be seeing my dick. At all. I stripped the however-day-old clothes from my body before turning the knobs for the shower. I didn't even bother turning the knob for hot water. It would have been cold anyway. Mikasa had given up nearly everything just to make sure we had enough money each month while I was still blissfully in the torturous place known as school. College to be exact. Our money was stretched thin as it is but she was adamant on me staying in school. My body shivered involuntarily as the icy lick of water caressed my bare chest and limbs. I wasted no time washing myself simply because I didn't want her spending even more of our thinning funds to get me cold medicine.

I wasn't surprised in the least when I had no clean clothes. We could only do laundry twice a month and even then we were lucky. I chose the least smelly shirt and a pair of jeans that seemed mostly clean to clothe myself with.

"So, Where are we headed?" I already knew the answer but it felt nice to reassure myself that she wasn't trying to pressure me into some group activity that she believed would be 'good for me'.

"Armin's, make sure you bring your laptop. He said we could borrow his wifi to check our Emails while we're there." Little did I know at the time that checking my inbox that day would lead to my utter destruction as a man. At least, that's how I felt about the situation.

Most of the car ride was spent in silence which was why I appreciated my sister so much. She wouldn't force conversation with me, well, unless she was worried about me. I would never get over the sight of Armin's house whenever we drove up. When his parents had died he was left in the care of his caring grandfather who had amassed a small fortune from investments he had made when he was not quite so old. He had offered time and time again to give us money but we were much too stubborn to accept it. He was our childhood friend after all.

I smiled genuinely for the first time in days when the car lurched into park. The hunk-of-junk never seemed to be able to shift without shaking or acting like it was going to break down. Pulling the latch on the door I barreled out of the seat and shut the door before joining Mikasa on the walkway to the door. The house was practically a miniature mansion when it was compared to our grungy apartment at least. It had all the staples for a typical 'American Dream' home even though I knew in my mind it was modest compared to the other houses on their block. The door opened before we had even made it up the steps.

"Hey!" Was the breathless greeting that escaped the blonde's lips as he ran to meet us halfway.

The lunch to say the least was a good idea. I hadn't ate for quite awhile it seemed because I was still ravenous even after Armin made me a second sandwich. His gaze was incredulous when he handed me a third.

"Just how long has it been since you ate, Eren?" He asked. There was definitely concern in his eyes and suddenly it was hard to swallow past the lump in my throat. I knew he wouldn't like me answer but I also knew he would keep pressuring me until I told him so I answered truthfully.

"I don't remember." I took another bite of the sandwich and chewed slowly. My appetite was beginning to fade and my stomach that had so greedily called out for food just moments before felt like it would expel the precious subsistence.

"You don't remember? Just what has been going on with you two?" I felt guilt twist inside my chest the same time Mikasa stiffened next to me. I knew as well as she did that we trusted Armin wholeheartedly. We just didn't want him to be tracked down by the loan sharks that were steadily leaving warnings at our apartment daily. It wouldn't be long before something dangerous happened and I knew it. We had to get out of there but how?

"Nothing out of the ordinary." Mikasa supplied the answer easily. Even though it was a half-truth I knew I didn't want him worrying over us especially when he had been invited to participate in some dating game show. The opportunity in itself was extremely lucky since he would be able to see so many exotic places and historic cities he had been itching to see since we were all in elementary school. Those were the good days. I finished my third sandwich before my stomach could decide to get rid of what I had already ate.

"I'm going to go check my Email." I supplied after catching sight of my sister's hawk eyes. She nodded once to show that she had heard me before turning her attention back to Armin. He was gushing about some of the places he was going to be able to see while on that stupid show. My legs carried me towards the living room. I let out a sigh when my body submitted to it's demands and flopped down onto the comfortable couch. My laptop was in front of me opened and turned on in under twenty seconds. I hadn't thought it was important to mention to Mikasa that I had been mailing a penpal whenever we came over to Armin's for lunch which was actually pretty damn often. A smile cracked on my face as I noticed quite a few Emails from my mysterious penpal. She hardly gave away anything of herself other than that she was a woman and that she liked Experiments. She seemed like some mad scientist to me but as far as I knew she was just crazy.

Eren,

Aaaaaghh! It's been way too long since I've gotten a mail back from you! I have some AMAZING NEWS. Remember when you were telling me about how you and your sister barely had enough money to scrape by? I have a solution for that... See, I recently had to break it off with a person who had a pretty important job. We'll have to fly you out to California but you'll come right!? ... Right Eren!? Of course you would! Since it would pay out enough to completely get rid of that big bad brick of debt your dad left behind! I already emailed you the Job details and an print-able plane ticket! The plane leaves Saturday next week at 2pm sharp sweetie! Don't be late~

Hange

My face had drained of all color. I flicked my gaze to the send date. Tomorrow. The plane was leaving tomorrow. Just how the fuck did this happen?

.:Levi:.

A few days earlier

"Fuck. No." My voice was steady and cold. Hange had to be fucking crazy. No. Scratch that because I already knew that the moment I met her. I shook my head in disbelief before setting my signature glare in her direction. The impassive mask was already setting itself back into place after the initial shock of her horrendous idea. There was no way I would go through with it. Her whine was already piercing my ears and annoying me further.

"You don't even have to be nice! She'd probably get rid of you the first couple of weeks. That is, if you want to lose Erwin's bet." The woman waggled her eyebrows at me. My lips pressed into a thin line. I was most certainly not amused.

"You know I was too fucking drunk to actua-" Hange actually had the nerve to cut me off. "To think THE Levi Rivaille isn't a man of his word!" She crossed the room to lounge herself across the back of my couch behind my head. "You just HAVE to do this shortstack."

"Shut up, Shitty glasses." I was more exasperated than anything. The bet she was dangling over my head were just a few careless words between Erwin and I. He had said something about how I wouldn't be able to make a girl fall in love with me because I was gay. Which was ridiculous. Why would I want a girl to fall in love with me if I liked men? Being under the effects of alcohol had loosened my otherwise tight reign over my thoughts and I sealed my fate. Boasting that I could indeed make a girl fall in love with me if I really tried.

Her eyes were excited while she stared at me expectantly. The gaze was bound to set my raven hair on fire if she stared any harder. I couldn't keep the venom out of my voice. "Fine." I snapped. Well, my day was efficiently ruined. It would probably be worse days from now when I would be expected to stay in some mansion that wasn't cleaned specifically by me. Fucking filthy. Hange squealed with her poorly concealed happiness at my expense. She sauntered off muttering to herself about experiments. It was creepy as hell. The fuck did I just get myself into?

.:Eren:.

"No, Eren. Whatever it is, no." I expected this. Mikasa could be stubborn when she wanted to be and mostly it was over keeping me safe. I knew I needed to argue my case or she could completely dismiss it.

"Mikasa, I have to. It would clear this debt from our shoulders! We wouldn't have to live in fear anymore!" I couldn't understand why she was being so difficult. No, I knew exactly why. She thought I was putting myself in danger for handing my trust over to a complete stranger. Normally I would agree with her but these weren't exactly 'normal' circumstances. I knew it was only a matter of time before the loan sharks came knocking personally for their money. I'd rather be a scapegoat than have the people closest to me be hurt. Determination flared in my turquoise eyes and she stumbled internally for only a split second.

"I won't let you sell yourself to some man, Eren!" I knew she didn't mean it the way she had presented it but it still stung like a slap to my face. It was no secret that I preferred men but the way she put it made it sound like I would be prostituting myself. Which, from the job description Hange had emailed me I knew full well I wouldn't be doing such a thing. Her eyes widened as she realized what she said and she scrambled to try to ease some of the sting from her words.

"Eren, you know that's not-" I cut her off with a slight glare because I was simply too tired to fight with her anymore. We had already been fighting and discussing my new 'job opportunity' for close to two hours.

"You know, this seems like you're going to be the bachelorette on the show I'm going to be on, Eren." Armin chimed in after skimming through the job description. "We're even on the same flight and I'm pretty sure that's the address of the mansion I'll be staying in for the first week of the show." My eyes widened slightly before turning towards Mikasa.

"Oh no, Eren. No no no. Don't you dare." She warned her gray eyes narrowing. I couldn't help the goofy grin that spread across my lips. "I have to go Mikasa and now, I have the perfect body guard." Armin snorted while poorly hiding his laughter from me. It was true he was kind of scrawny and not very strong but right now, I would agree to anything as long as it would ensure I would be able to go. My eyes flashed with dangerous determination even when she held firm as strong and as impassive as a statue.

"No."

Of course, I wasn't about to let her keep me from what I knew would probably save us. I would be on that plane at 2pm tomorrow whether she liked it or not.