A/N: Eren almost lost his life that day, deciding that a text was much more important than actually looking both ways before crossing the street. Honestly, he would have made a much bigger deal
out of it than he did, but he was too distracted, too infatuated with the man who happened to save his life. He walked right out of Eren's life as fast as he swooped in and rescued him.
And Eren didn't expect to see him again; he went on with his life, with helping his financially struggling mother, with helping with the foster kids, with going to college to get his education, with turning 21 because it was his birthday, and with allowing himself to get dragged off to a gay bar by his best friend. And then he landed himself in a dirty situation. Literally.
He got himself a name and a reputation, gave everyone a reason to look at him and smile. And Carla was a bit suspicious about how her son was suddenly getting so much money. Eren made himself a running business in that gay bar, but in that same gay bar that happened to be owned by someone who didn't like what he was seeing. And Eren didn't like that he was seeing it either.

WARNINGS: This story contains sexual content/tension between males and I suppose a female/male too, homosexuality, rape/non-con, angst, cheating, hardships of relationships when a partner cheats, sex for money, slut-shaming, strip clubs, gay bars, drug & alcohol abuse, profanity & foster care kids. If none of this bothers you, then read on and enjoy! :)

Or not? .3.

Coconut Head: My contact name isn't He-Man Shouta anymore, right?

Eren: Nah! Thats so two weeks ago!

Coconut Head: Blond Sidekick?

Eren: Three weeks ago.

Coconut Head: Eren seriously.

Eren: I promise its just under Armin ;)

Coconut Head: I don't trust you OR that winky face…. -3-

In the cold air of a december morning and despite his super dry lips, Eren managed a smile from behind his scarf as he looked down at the phone in his hand. Nothing made his daily stroll to Shingashina University better than an Armin who actually managed to get his homework and studying done the night before so he wouldn't have to be rushing in the morning to finish it before class; it meant the two could text.

And nothing amused Eren more than his little blond, blue-eyed and round faced friend probing him on his new contact name; something that Eren started doing after being inspired by his idiot-friend, Jean's, comment about Armin looking like that one kid from the show Ned's Declassified.

However, today the brunet was fresh out of ideas this time around and resorted back to "Coconut Head", not that he was that disappointed with it (he'll admit that's his favorite one). And he was happy to see that Armin had resumed to being his normal self; happy and not seemingly stressed from working too much.

Juggling school and his recently newfound job at the same time not only sapped what little energy the guy had left, but it also pried him out of Eren's life for a bit. The only time he'd see Armin would be at school, then he'd work afterwards and come back late to the apartment they shared, literally collapsing on his bed with a loud groan before passing right the fuck out. It amazed Eren that his job killed him that much; whatever it was he was doing must have been so much more than his having to hold a tray with a bunch of shit on it with one hand while walking around and dealing with shit-mannered customers and Auruo's terrible jokes because even Eren didn't pass out like that when he returned home.

It made him wonder, but every time he tried to milk the information out of Armin; he'd always come up with some lame excuse with an, "I'll tell you later," added at the end which he never does.

Frankly, Eren was starting to think that maybe Armin was a prostitute and that his innocent-boy persona was nothing more than a fetish he practices or something to cover up his dirty little secret. But no matter how many times he considered it, he couldn't believe it because Armin was Armin and the male was as intelligent as they come.

Maybe he just needed to let it go and let his friend do his thing. It helped pay for the groceries, rent and bills, so why not?

Eren let his scarf slip down and exhaled, slightly amused by his small puff of "dragon breath" as he and Connie called it. The two always thought the best part of cold temperatures was seeing their breath in the air; and being so close to turning 21, Eren couldn't help but feel somewhat childish. But Connie was the definition of childish; Eren just liked going along with the guy.

Buttoning up his navy blue jacket to the top, the brown-haired male looked down at his phone once more as he started typing his reply to Armin with a cheeky grin plastered on his face.

And he must have not heard the car coming because time seemed to slow down momentarily. One minute he was glancing down at the glowing screen of his cell, the next it wasn't in his hand and there was a loud honk followed by multiple gasps, and someone had shouted, "Watch it!" And Eren lost control of his own body; and he felt himself get shoved, felt himself slip on the icy ground beneath his shoes.

Well almost slip.

Someone had caught him and had they their arms wrapped around him. And then he forgot about everything around him, forgot about his phone, forgot about Armin's secretive job, forgot about Armin. And all he could think of were the pools of steely dark, grey eyes under black fringe of an undercut hairstyle. And under them were dark shadows; an accessory that added age and made the owner look tired and practically fed up with people's bullshit.

Maybe he was fed up with Eren's bullshit in particular; perhaps he was gripping the man's shoulders a little too tightly and he was sure he didn't appreciate the nails digging into his very nice black trench coat and probably into the smooth white skin underneath it either.

The younger male relaxed his grasp, green eyes wide from shock and mouth extremely dry. "I-I…." Eren tried to speak, tried to apologize for his iron grip, but he couldn't and he didn't know why. He tried to tell himself he was overwhelmed from nearly being roadkill and was majorly mind fucked (that's what it had to be). This guy really had came out of fucking nowhere, like an angel hidden in the crowd and saved Eren from suffering from a broken body part that he'd have to explain to his mother, his friends, to Armin, and even worse, to his adoptive sister, Mikasa.

And boy, that would have been hell served on a dinner plate. But what Eren tried not to admit was the odd attractiveness he was feeling; this man was a magnet and Eren felt himself being pulled in against his will. He didn't know why. But he most definitely didn't like it.

The man raised an eyebrow at the college student, stilling holding on to him much to his surprise. "Oi, kid. Are you going to stand up straight or do I need to drop your ass?"

Eren blinked, coming to a slow realization that this man was literally holding him up and that if he were to let go, he really would fall on his ass. He straightened himself up quickly and, for the first time, noticed the worry faces of the people who happened to be nearby when he almost got hit by…

When he almost got hit by a car!

Eren's face scrunched up. He didn't look where he was going and he almost got hit by a car. His mother had always told him to look both ways before crossing the street...and...and he didn't! He didn't listen and she would be very disappointed in him. Heck, he was disappointed in himself. This was kid knowledge and he was already an adult! But worse, he could have died or gotten hurt or….someone else could have!

"Your expression looks like a mixture of anger, self-pity and constipation."

There was a twitch in the corner of Eren's lip at the comment; his silent scolding came to a sudden stop. His brow may have even furrowed a bit as he retorted, "I-I almost got hit by a car and you say that-!"

Something was shoved into his chest and Eren glanced down to see his phone in the man's hand, looking unharmed from its sudden descent. He stared at it quietly.

"You're fine," the man offered, and despite his monotonous voice giving off no emotion, Eren still felt some comfort in his words at least in spirit. "Take it. People are staring and if you just stand there it's probably going to worry someone."

"Thank you…" Eren murmured, reaching out for his cell only to accidentally ghost his fingers against the stranger's. His skin was surprisingly warm for the wheather they were in and Eren could have sworn his dark eyes flickered towards him when they touched. But he pulled back his hand rather quickly.

"Mm. Look both ways before you cross the road, you shitty brat," his savior breathed before brushing past the college student. And Eren turned and watched in silence.

And then his slowass caught on.

"I am not a shitty brat!"

At that, the man looked over his shoulder and there was a brief flicker of slyness in his eyes.

Eren stared at Mikasa's dark, glazed over eyes; her head was propped up on her arm and she looked about ready to pass out. He found it droll and comical whenever she was tired because usually she was the average pretty, strong-willed girl you'd find as the female lead character of a manga or anime; specifically an action-based one that may or may not include death and blood (and naked people). She had long, black hair in the past, but it was now shoulder-length, her skin was beautifully snow-white and her lips were tight. And currently, she was about to cross the fine line between holding herself up and face-planting the table.

And it was barely even half way through the day.

Eren peered over at Jean and Armin villainously; and while the blond gave him a disapproving look, Horseface seemed utterly confused. And that wasn't surprising, Jean was stupid.

The brunet turned back to Mikasa, waiting for the perfect moment before using his pencil to shove his small tray of applesauce right under her, and he would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for a group of meddling kids and their dog, Reiner-Reiner-Roo.

His adoptive sister sat up with a jolt when Reiner, Sasha, Connie, Ymir and Christa all bombarded the table with childish yells of quotes from pokemon (probably the newest ones because Eren liked the original and he's never heard those lines before). Besides Christa who was smiling and Ymir who appeared blatantly disappointed, it was only Sasha, Connie and Reiner who were yelling these terrible lines.

"I pikachu when you're naked."

"YASSSSS!" Sasha cried.

"You guys are fucking nerds," Ymir said, pinching the bridge of her nose as she leaned against the small female blonde next to her. "Reiner, dude. Their stupidity has rubbed off on you."

Connie snorted. "Someone needs to catch them all," he nudged the brunet, Sasha, smiling triumphantly as she giggled. "Eh? Eh? Reiner?"

The blond male seemed unamused by that one. "Come on now," he groaned.

Eren was thankful that even that joke went unrecognized; it was clearly shit, but that was Connie for you. Idiot comedian of the year and the last airbender.

Mikasa was rubbing the sleep out of her eyes now as her, Eren, Armin and Jean migrated around to make room at their table, leaving three spots to be lonely and lacking a body.

"Where's Annie, Bertholdt and Marco?" Armin inquired, regarding the empty seats.

"Annie overslept. She'll be late…" Mikasa answered, yawning so hard that Eren couldn't believe she could open her mouth that wide.

Ymir had locks of Christa's hair in between her fingers. "Marco and Bert are in art. Same profesor I have and jesus," she rolled her eyes. "Talk about clean up. The guy doesn't let anyone leave until his room is spotless. And you know artists, they can be fucking messy."

The horse faced sketcher, Jean, glared daggers at the tall female. "What?"

"Y-Ymir!" Christa cried.

"I mean artistically unorganized. Calm yourself, War Horse."

This elicited a laugh from the entire table (except the tired Mikasa who just looked lost) and being the closest to Jean, only Eren was the one to get punched in the shoulder much to his dismay. Honestly, it was great to be back. Shingashina University had closed down for a while due to the snow and while the brunet was content with no school, he soon realized how much he missed his stupid friends and it wasn't long until he (surprisingly) missed it. It wasn't the same just seeing Armin all day and visiting his mother here and there; it lacked the comic-relief that was Reiner, Connie and everybody else.

And as soon as the snow started to melt, being replaced by icy roads and sidewalks; the announcement of the resuming of classes actually made Eren jump for joy. No, really. He jumped for joy in his boxers when Armin shared the news with him. He was that happy to return to his routine. But then he made sure to threaten the blond about never, ever telling anyone what he saw that day. His reputation as an angry, cheeky asshole depended on it.

By the time noon rolled around, their lunch break was over and they all went their separate ways; though Christa and Eren walked together because they were both headed to Music Theory II.

The girl held her books to her chest protectively and Eren was once again thinking about how short she was. She was really, really short yet she made him feel so tied up just by her presence when nobody else was with them. But she was cute despite the fact that Eren didn't roll that way and neither did she.

And then, there was also the whole her-father-was-his-boss thing.

At the restaurant Eren worked at, Reiss; her father was the owner and it was a family business. And simply because the brunet had opened his big mouth one day, complaining about how it was so hard to find a decent place to work; she offered for Eren to work there. And because she had that can't-say-no-to-that smile and pulled the whole "it'd be nice having another friend work there with me too" card, he just couldn't refuse. So he became a waiter and Christa and Ymir sure had fun teaching how to not trip, fall, spill everything everywhere, be polite to assholes, smile unnecessarily even if your day was shit and the like.

He had to admit those were some useful skills though.

"Ready for some music studying again?" Christa asked sweetly, looking up to Eren as the continued to walk. She had honestly caught him off guard and he turned to return the eye contact only to stare at her as he tried to form up his answer.

"Yeah, I guess," he responded, sounding a bit bored. "So far we've only been learning things I already know about music. It's weird that Music Theory I gave me more knowledge compared to this year in its second class."

Christa made a face. "Same thing with my psychology course! But first semester is coming to an end so maybe we'll learn more in the second semester. Maybe it'll be interesting too; wouldn't want to have to watch you suffer through class, bored out of your mind for another few months. Profesor Ral is probably just saving the best part for last."

"Maybe," Eren murmured, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

The blond hummed quietly to herself for a little bit before nearly startling the male beside her when she cried out, "Oh yeah! I knew I was forgetting something important. Are you okay?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"This morning," she whispered softly. "You almost got hit by a car, right?"

As surprised as Eren was to hear that Christa knew about that, he tried his hardest to seem composed. He felt his ears turn red though. "Yeah...um.. Armin told you, huh?" It wasn't really a question and he didn't need her to answer it either because he already knew, because Armin was the only person he had told about the incident this morning.

And about that mysterious man too.

The girl nodded quickly, seemingly observing his face with her killer sea-blue pupils.

"Ah…" Eren cooed, looking ahead. "Well no. I mean I'm perfectly fine. I almost got hit, but I didn't so there's no need to make a big deal out of it."

"Yeah, but that person driving needed to watch where they were going too! The must have barely just missed you…"

The brunet became alert, eyes snapping to attention as he glanced down at Christa. She was regarding him with a mildly upset and concerned expression, but that wasn't what got Eren. What got him was what she said. There was no, "I'm glad you got saved" or "did you know the guy" coming from her. It was as if she didn't even know the entire story. Perhaps Armin didn't get to that part. And if that was the case, he was grateful for it.

"Mmm…" Eren mumbled, playing along with her. He wanted to drop the subject. He didn't want to let his friends know that he had almost ended up in a body cast or possibly lost his life that morning; and he most definitely didn't want them to know about the man who had rescued him either. He didn't want reminders because the sad part of the entire situation was; he was taken aback by that man, he wanted to know more, to talk more, to at least have gotten a name to add to that face with those pissed off-looking facial features of his.

And he was probably never going to see him again.

Eren suffered through Music Theory II and the rest of his classes; too impatient to even wait for Armin and walk home together. He decided to send him a text instead:

Eren: Going on ahead. I want to go to the music store before visiting mom again

Coconut Head: Thanks for letting me know. I don't work until late so don't think you've escaped telling me about that man from this morning. I want all the details.

Eren: Yeah yeah yeah -3-

Coconut Head: Seriously be safe, okay? I'm not going to text you cause you apparently can't walk and text outside. Don't walk and text. Please babe. For your own good.

Eren: Fuck you and your shouta face

Coconut Head: Bye, love. 3

Eren shook his head, unable to hide to grin on his face. This and many other reasons is why he considered Armin to be his best friend. Slipping his phone into his pocket, he continued walking down the now less icy sidewalks on his way to the music store.

Despite the chilly coldness in the air; the sun was out and the day was looking much more beautiful than it had this morning. It almost made Eren wish he had brought his headphones along so he could listen to music as he strolled. But it was nice enough without music too.

Entering the little music shop on Trost street, Eren was greeted by the shopkeeper Hannes who waved him over as soon as his other foot crossed the threshold of the store. The brunet walked over to the counter that he stood behind and smiled at the man.

"Hey, Hannes."

"Hey, kiddo," the older male responded. He pointed behind him to the door marked, "employees only" and grinned. "Ed Sheeran came in. It's in the back. That what you came for?"

Eren's face lit up and pretty much leaned over the counter in excitement. "Really? I didn't expect it to come in so early and I thought if it didn't, I would just look for something else for Hitch. But if it's here, that's great! I'll take it," he said, pulling out his wallet. "How much was it?"

Hannes shrugged his shoulders. "Mmmm, actually don't worry about it. It's on me."

"No, I couldn't-!"

"Eren," the man said. "You know you're my best customer and it's really the least I can do. You're a good kid and your mother does so much for those kids. And it's just a CD." He winked before walking backwards to the employees only room. "It's on me so shut your mouth."

There was really no time to start another argument so Eren sighed heavily and waited as Hannes left him in the shop. He shoved his wallet back into his pocket and allowed the counter to support his weight.

Sure, Hannes did have a point, but he still wanted to pay himself (especially since he went as far as ordering an Ed Sheeran CD because there was none in stock). His mother did do a lot, especially for those kids. Without the help of his shithead of a father, Grisha, Carla was left to hold up the family bakery that honestly didn't do much financially and despite this, she still followed her dream of managing a foster home for kids. She was struggling and even after Eren moved out, he still continued to help her in whatever way he could. But she still stressed herself out and it upset him a lot. He almost wished he had enough money to help things be a little easier for her.

Hannes snapped him out of his thought, poking him with the bagged CD. "You seem tired."

"Oh, thank you…..and yeah, a little," Eren murmured as he took the CD, rubbing the back of his neck with a nervous laugh. "A lot has happened today, I suppose."

"Yeah? Want to talk about it?" Hannes offered, but as soon as the boy looked down at his watch, he added, "unless you want to wait until dinner? Carla asked me to come over tonight."

As much as he didn't want to speak of almost getting hit by a car and being saved by an older man who he found oddly attractive, to anybody especially his mother who would probably freak out and start scolding him about looking both ways, he smirked at Hannes.

"I guess I'll see you later then?"

"Yeah," Hannes confirmed, shooting Eren a grin in return. "Later."

He was turning to leave and was stopped at the door when the shopkeeper called out, "don't forget to tell Hitch to enjoy her CD!"

Eren smiled at that and responded with, "you can tell her that later."

"Right!"

Eren nearly dropped the guitar pick, tapping his foot to the beat, strumming his fingers against delicate strings, lost in the music and in the ten year-old Hitch's beautiful voice as she sang. "So kiss me like you wanna be loved. You wanna be loved. You wanna be loved~"

Carla was clapping with a four year old Mina in her lap, who was smiling in awe at her singing friend. Isabel and Rico were swaying their hands in the air, both holding a flickering pair of light up sketchers. Hannah seemed on the verge of tears from her spot by Carla's feet and the only boy, twelve year-old Marlo, sat away from the group against the wall, but it was easy to tell how much he adored Hitch's singing with the way he watched in pure admiration.

"This feels like falling in love. Falling in love. Falling in love…"

After the fade, there was chorus of clapping and Hitch took a bow from her place next to Eren as he put down his guitar and joined in the applause. "Thank you, thank you! I'll be here all week, everyone! But I don't do free autographs," She bowed again and her shaggy, chin-length brown hair seemed to bounce with her and her yellow sun dress.

Carla wrapped her arms around Mina only to lift the girl up and put her down on her feet.

"What?!" The eight year old girl exclaimed. "That's not fair!"

"I don't care," the catty Hitch said, sticking out her tongue. "My talent shouldn't be wasted!"

All the younger girls seemed to join in now, starting to argue over whether it was fair or not to for Hitch to charge them and as far as Eren listened, he found it hilarious that the nine year-old Rico thought they deserved a family discount at the very least. She was going places for sure in the future. Carla shared a glance with her son and it was obvious they were both enjoying the little dispute going on between the army of cuties.

"Marlo, why don't you decide?" Eren chimed playfully, looking at the boy from across the room. "You're the big boy of the family here."

All the girls stopped and turned to Marlo, glaring red lasers of death that made the boy feel a bit uneasy. Eren hoped he didn't go too far with that, but the boy wasn't given much time to make a decision anyway.

"No, you're the oldest, Eren!" Hitch shouted, making the brunet wince. "You're the biggest boy here and my future manager so you need to tell them they have to pay!"

The college student grinned and leaned forward silently, eliciting all of the girls to also lean in with curiosity. "Last person that I find in hide and go seek gets to decide; ONE, TWO, THREE, GO!" At this, the girls screamed with smiles on their faces and basically stumbled over each other to get out of the living room and find a place to hide. It never ceased to amuse Eren how serious they were when playing hide and go seek.

Carla was laughing at their desperation to escape from the room and after they left, she looked at Marlo softly. "Make sure they don't get into too much trouble or break anything, sweetheart? Preferably, Hitch and Rico." Only a few seconds passed before the boy stood up and sluggishly walked out of the room, leaving Carla and Eren alone.

She turned to her son with a genuine smile on her face. "I keep forgetting how good you are with them whenever you're gone too long," she murmured. "I'm glad they like you so much…"

Eren shrugged. "Yeah...but Marlo…"

"He's just being distant," Carla said, walking over to her son to brush the brown fringe from his eyes. "The older they get, the more they start to think negatively because they're a foster child. Their initial thought is that their parents didn't like them or didn't want them. And unfortunately, Marlo is going through that by himself because the other girls are too young to understand. And Hitch…."

Eren looked up at her, suddenly concerned. "What about Hitch?"

"She's getting close to that age….she'll be eleven soon and it would be wrong of me to keep such a thing from her for too long."

"Let me tell her."

"Eren…"

"You did it for Marlo. Let me for Hitch," he said, blinking his green-colored eyes at her; the eyes that he got from her. Hitch liked him enough; in fact, it wouldn't be too much of an overstatement to say that the girl loved Eren, he could tell she was absolutely infatuated with the brunet and at least that might help ease the pain of the honest truth. But that wasn't why he felt obligated to do this. He had other reasons; very clear, solid reasons. "Dad isn't here for us...for you….so let me take his place and support you."

Carla's breath caught in her throat and her bottom lip quivered as her eyes grew glossy. She ruffled her son's hair and leaned down to kiss the top of his head. "Thank you...so much.."

Eren smiled, and he stood up just so that he could embrace the lovely woman who brought him into this world and cared for him for nearly twenty-one years.