A/N: After reading the amazing masterpiece 'The Intern' I decided to write this story. It's not the greatest but I hope whomever decides to read it will enjoy!

Disclaimer: I claim no ownership over any characters mentioned in this story. I am borrowing them for fun and entertainment purposes only.

Chapter 1: It started with a cup of coffee

"I'm only going to pay for the mortgage. The rest of the payments are on you. Time for you to grow up."

That was the last thing I had heard before the call had disconnected. It had been almost 3 months since that day. Three months since my own father basically abandoned me. 'Grow up' he says? How the hell am I supposed to do that when I'm still in fucking high school? Between my junior and senior year sure, but come on. This is just bullshit.

When I told my best friend Armin Arlert he nearly flipped his lid.

He swore.

Sweet, innocent, cute, loving, Armin actually swore.

If I remember correctly, his exact words were, 'That low down rotten son of a bitch.'

Needless to say he took the words right out of my mouth. Almost literally to be honest; because I had never in my life ever expected him to say anything like that.

When I told my foster sister Mikasa she threatened to hunt him down and demand an explanation. But I told her it wasn't worth it, especially since he was still sending money to her. But she knew what I was going through. She had, had a taste of it before she had moved into the dorms with her roommate, Sasha.

Despite being the same age as me, Mikasa was very smart and had managed to graduate early. She began attending college almost immediately after escaping high school.

When I asked her why she'd want to back to the torturing lectures known as 'lessons' she simply told me, 'The sooner I get done, the sooner I can get out from the debt I owe to Grishna."

It made sense to me I suppose. My mom and dad took her in after no other family wanted to. As a bonding gift I had given her a red scarf, which I had made myself.

When people find out I know how to knit, I get crap for it all the time. But it was something I would watch Mom do and I became fascinated with it. After watching her constantly I picked it up and made plenty of misshapen potholders. Mom would still use them or hang them up on the fridge. In fact a few are still there.

The last thing she helped me make was the red scarf. Several weeks after that, she ended up on the receiving end of a drunken idiot's car bumper.

After that Dad buried himself in his work. Mikasa took charge and began taking care of me, even though I never actually asked her too. But both of us at the tender age of 15 just entering high school, and we were basically on our own. Sure dad would send us money to pay the bills and he took care of the mortgage. But soon the money started becoming less and less. Pretty soon I was using candles for light or lanterns. I even ended up getting rechargeable batteries for flashlights and charging them at the local library. That way I'd use as little electricity at home as I could. I took showers at Armin's place and barely used the water at home. But it still wasn't enough. He still cut me off.

Dad knew he couldn't stop paying for the mortgage and I knew it would be too much of a hassle to turn him into social services so I knew the only way to make this work was to work with him. As much as I hated it.

It got to the point where I knew I was going to have to get a job of some sort. So here I was 17 and a half-year-old high school student working a crap job to pay for crap that I shouldn't be responsible for.

It was three weeks away from the first day of our senior year, and Armin had insisted we go on a picnic. It was a tradition we had ever since we had started school way back when we were little.

Mom would always pack us peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, juice boxes and little animal crackers. But when we were old enough we insisted on making the lunches ourselves.

This year was no different. Well save one thing. Armin made the sandwiches this year, and instead of the juice boxes, we had water because this was the hottest summer the town had ever seen.

"Do you have to work again tonight?"

I leaned back against the picnic table as a took a sip from my water bottle, "Name a night I don't have to work."

Armin chuckled as he grabbed another handful of cashews, "Very true." He put the lid back on the canister and placed it back in the picnic basket, "What are you going to do once school starts? There's no way you'll be able to stay awake in class get your homework done, and do your job."

"It's not like I have a choice." I grumbled, "I swear I have the lowest bills on the block though."

"Has your dad stopped in lately?" Armin asked pulling me from my thoughts.

"Not since last month. He stopped in at the bank to pay the mortgage for the next three months and he stopped at the house briefly I guess. I wasn't there though."

Armin sighed, "Let me guess; you were working?"

"Like I said I don't have a choice."

Armin wrapped an arm around my shoulder, "You know you can always come over and eat with me and grandpa. With just us two there's plenty to go around."

I nodded knowing how true and sincere that invitation was. The fridge at home did have plenty of Tupperware containers filled with leftovers from Armin's place. Some of which I knew I would have to return soon.

I glanced at my watch and groaned. "I have a short shift tonight but tomorrow I'm pulling a double shift."

Armin gasped, " A double! Eren what the hell are you thinking?"

"I told you I put in a request for more hours. The boss didn't slap a guarantee but she did say she would give me the hours that needed to be covered, should there be any. And Lo and Behold some hours needed to be covered tomorrow.

"What time do you work?" Armin asked pulling out the box of teddy grahams.

"Well tonight I do the closing shift 3pm to 10pm. Tomorrow I'll be doing the 9am to 2pm and them my original shift 5pm to 10pm."

"Are you serious?" Armin asked having spat out his own water after taking a drink. You're not going to get any sleep!"

"I'll get enough to function." I argued.

"What about the day after. Please tell me you have that off."

I shook my head, "Nope. I only go in for 3 hours so it's a short shift but I-"

"Damn it Eren? Are you trying to send yourself to an early grave?" Armin nearly shouted. "What do you think Mikasa will say when she finds out about this?"

I was on my feet in a second, "She's not going to find out. And you better not tell her. She's got enough to worry about."

"Well how about one less thing, her brother's damn funeral."

I had never seen Armin so angry before in my life. No wait scratch that. When he found out about the last phone call from my dad. But this was close, dangerously close to this.

"Armin, please. Once school starts I promise I'll be careful. But for now, I'm getting as much work in as I can."

Armin pulled me back down onto the bench and made me lean against him. Most of the townsfolk knew how close he and I were so they never batted an eye at our gesture.

"Eren, I'm sorry. I just, I worry about you." Armin spoke, as he held tight to me.

"I know, and I wish you wouldn't. But I know I can't stop you." I responded taking this moment in.

"Well, let's enjoy the rest of the day. It's not like we're going to have many of these left."

I chuckled, "Very true. But like I said, I'm taking every chance I can get to earn more money."

"As long as you don't over work yourself, that's all I ask." Armin spoke in a small voice.

"When have I ever broken a promise I've made to you?"

"Never, and I'm grateful for it."

I smiled for the first time in months. Well a genuine smile at least. Armin always knew how to make me happy and I always felt there wasn't much I could do in return, "Hey Armin, I'm going to doze for a short time, mind if I use you as a pillow?"

Armin smiled as he adjusted himself so I could use his lap to rest my head on. "Sure, I'll wake you up before you have to go into work."

"My uniform is in my locker there. And it should only take me twenty minutes if I run." I spoke through a yawn.

"Get some sleep you dork."

I had already drifted off by then.

"He made it with five minutes to spare."

I ignored my coworkers as I headed towards the break room and pulled my work shirt and nametag out. I also snuck my charger and batteries out and plugged them in. By the time my shift was done I knew they'd be ready to go. After quickly changing I moved to clock in and looked around. "Has it been busy?"

Working at a coffee shop hadn't been my first choice. But it had been the first job to hire me. I wasn't about to throw away that opportunity because I couldn't chance it. I was hired and I was making money. It wasn't much but that's what the extra hours were for. What Armin didn't know was, I had planned to look for a second job. If I could find one that paid better I would, put in my notice. For now this sufficed.

"It's been decent. We've had our share of rushes but that's to be expected. You're going to be on running position today. But tomorrow I'll just have you clean. Since you're pulling a double I can't have you collapse from exhaustion. Oh and as a thank you for covering those hours, you get one free meal."

Sasha Blouse: owner and founder of the Colossal Café. It was a quaint little shop but it had its fair share of regular customers. The staff was okay, for the most part too. They had taken me in and accepted me even though I was just a lousy high schooler. But I was a hard worker too so they couldn't say anything negative when it came to that subject.

"Who all is on staff tonight?" I asked as I scanned the dining area. There were only a few customers, some regular some newcomers.

"It's you me, Jean, Marco, and Krista."

"Who's hours am I covering tomorrow then?" I asked even though I honestly didn't care.

"Oh those would be Marco's. He has a family event or something. So he requested tomorrow off. " Sasha explained as she turned her attention to a customer.

As soon as the order was rung up I looked at Krista who was already making the drink. As the runner, it would be my duty to carry the drink to the customer. It meant I didn't have to make the drinks unless we became busy.

Before my shift ended we had three rushes and I had to pull double duty each time. It didn't matter to me. Moving around kept me awake and alert. I preferred it that way.

By the time closing hour was near I was beyond exhausted. In fact I was almost regretting taking those extra hours. But then I reminded myself that I needed them. I knew I had promised Armin I wouldn't run myself into the ground but it wasn't like I was working back-to-back shifts.

"Okay, I'm going to go count the tills. Jean and Marco you're on dishes tonight, Krista tear down the machines and Eren, you head out." Sasha spoke as she turned to head into her office.

"Hey why does Jaeger get to go home early?" Marco asked.

Before I had a chance to speak Krista spoke up for me, "Because smart ass he's covering your hours tomorrow. And he did more work then the two of you idiots combined, so shut the hell up and get to those dishes. I actually want to be out of here in an hour."

I threw Krista a smile as I headed to the break-room to change out of my uniform. During the rush I had almost spilled a drink or two so I knew laundry was on my to do list the day after tomorrow. Luckily had a spare shirt.

After changing into my street clothes and grabbing the batteries I had plugged in before, I headed out of the shop bidding everyone good night.

Pulling out my phone I glanced at the minutes and groaned. I had one of those prepaid phones and I was low in airtime. Damn it. Whenever I could I would buy plenty of them to last me for a while. But now I was in need of more. Knowing it would be best to figure things out later I set my alarm and kicked off my shoes.

After dad had made his decision I had sold everything I had no use for, including my bed. I barely slept at home anyway to all it was doing was collecting dust and bed bugs anyway.

The love seat in the living room sufficed just fine and I found myself crashing on it almost immediately. One more day to face and then I could look forward to pay day.

Sasha never paid us minimum wage. She paid whatever she felt we had earned that day. At first I admit I did the job half assed and regretted it almost immediately. But soon I was putting everything into it and it was getting to the point where she would tell me to relax a little.

But I could never relax. I knew that dad would only pay for the mortgage as long as I was in school. Once I graduated I was going to be on my own. I was going to prepare for the future and I wasn't going to rely on that son of a bitch.

I had a financial goal. And until I reached that I planned to work as much as I could.

As I thought over my plans I felt my eyes drift shut. I knew I would wake up feeling like I had only just fallen asleep minutes before. But it was better than not getting any sleep at all.

Morning came sooner than I wanted and I almost hit the snooze button. Only my grumbling stomach was enough to wake me up fully. Meandering into the kitchen, I hesitantly plugged in the toaster and placed two slices in. While my breakfast was cooking I changed into a fresh pair of clothes before fixing my hair to the best of my ability.

After a quick breakfast of buttered toast and a glass of orange juice, I made my way to the café. I knew I would be facing chaos when I arrived so I headed towards the back door to slip in.

Morning shifts were always a bitch and I hated working them. Sasha knew it as well, but in order to cover Marco's hours, she had to switch things around.

"Morning sleepy head. Did you get any shut eye?" Krista asked as she buttoned up her own uniform shirt.

"Enough to function." I replied as I changed as well.

"Well Sasha wants you to help out with running again during the rushes but other than that you're on cleaning duty today."

I groaned, "I'm assuming that means the dishes too?"

"Only the ones during the day shift. Mike's coming in for the night shift. He's taking care of them." Krista shut her locker, "And quit complaining, you love doing the dishes."

"Guilty," I chuckled as I locked my locker and leaned against the nearby wall. We still had a few minutes and I was going to enjoy them. "If Mike's coming in tonight, Sasha must be desperate. I'm surprised she hasn't put out a 'now hiring' sign.'

Krista shut her own locker and glanced at me, "It's not like she can afford it. Heck if you work any harder she may have to let you go. You get paid more than any of us."

"I have my reasons for working my ass off. All of which are good ones."

Krista chuckled, "I don't doubt that. Now come on, time to face reality."

I rolled my eyes as I followed her out to the main part of the shop.

Our timing was perfect as Hannah finished up with the last customer.

"So you two finally decided to show up huh?" She asked after returning from delivering the desired beverage.

"Is it just you?" I asked looking at the filled tables. Morning rushes were always the craziest, thanks to everyone and their uncle wanting coffee or some type of caffeine to help them function. I had personally never touched the stuff and I never planned to.

"No, Mina and Connie are here too. I'm just faster then them so I told them to keep up with their original tasks."

"Who's got the floor today?" Krista asked.

"Oh, Lise does. Then Mike's in tonight as well. "Hannah answered, "Tonight's shift will be Mike, Jean, you Eren, and I think Rico, but that's it.

"It doesn't matter to me who's working. I'm on cleaning duty, that's what Sasha told me." I stretched as I looked over at the emptying tables, "By the way I plan on using the sofa in the break room to take a nap in between my shifts. No point in leaving just to come back right away."

"That's fine, Sasha figured you'd say that." Hannah smiled. She reached under the counter and tossed me the cleaning rag and agent, "Now start doing your job kid."

I caught them with ease before going around the counter and making my way to the first empty yet used table, "Let me know if you need me back here." I didn't wait for an answer as I set to work.

I actually enjoyed cleaning duty. It meant I didn't have to handle the customers. If they had just entered the café and I was near the door, I was supposed to greet them, sure. But I wouldn't have to worry about taking orders.

When I was first hired I immediately told Sasha I preferred not to be put on the register. I had my reasons and when I explained them to her she agreed. I did however have to learn how to run the register in cause I would ever need to be put in that position. So far that situation has yet to arise and I couldn't be more grateful.

After restocking the straws, napkins, and lids I did a quick sweep before heading to the back to work on some dishes. There wasn't many this early in the day but enough to start a pile. I preferred working on them right away.

One time we had run out of clean cups and it had been pure chaos. Sasha and I both vowed never to let it happen again. It had been one of the scariest shifts in my short career. Now to avoid that catastrophe, everyone knew I would do dishes every chance I got.

I didn't mind them in the least. Working on the dishes meant I could just let my mind wander and I got paid for it too.

I had only been back there for about a half hour when Lise poked her head around the corner.

"Hey Eren, let me know when you want to take your break."

I looked up evidently confused, "I wasn't aware I get one today."

"Well normally you don't since you have a short shift. But Sasha told me to offer you 10 minutes of freedom." Lise explained.

"In that case mind if I take it now?" I asked drying my hands on the provided towel.

"Not at all. Go ahead and grab a sweet on your way out too."

I stopped and looked over my shoulder "How much is going to be deducted from my check?"

"Nothing, I promise. It's on me today." Lise chuckled, "Now go on before I change my mind."

I offered her a small smile before heading around the corner. I was not ready for what greeted me.

Hannah immediately shot me a pleading expression. Connie and Rick were making the drinks and I automatically knew what they wanted me to do. I was the best in the 'running position' so I set to work.

Finally the last order was made and Lise handed me the drink: coffee black with three Titan shots, and one sugar. A Titan shot was one of the strongest espressos known to man. No one had ever ordered more than one, so three was an eye opener. This was definitely going to be an interesting run.

When I reached the table I nearly dropped the ordered drink but managed to steady myself at the last minute.

Sitting in the far corner was the most gorgeous man I had ever laid eyes on. He had jet-black hair, striking blue eyes, and a narrowed expression. I couldn't help but be drawn towards him. He was so captivating. But those eyes turned and had started glaring daggers right at me. But it didn't matter. I couldn't move.

"Sasha really knows how to hire them doesn't she?"

I was pulled out of my trance when I felt the coffee cup being removed from my hands. "Oh I'm sorry I- "

"Don't apologize kid. Just stop wasting my damn time."

Without realizing it my hands balled into fists, "If you need anything else sir, the rest of the staff will be more than happy to serve you." I spoke in a clipped tone but I honestly didn't care that that point. This guy had no right to treat me like this.

"Hopefully they will do a better job than you."

It took every ounce of my will power not to turn around and say something I knew I'd regret later. "If you have a complaint about my service sir, I will be happy to take it to the manager. Otherwise I hope you enjoy your coffee." And choke on it while you're at it. I mentally added. I didn't wait for an answer as I headed towards the break room announcing I was taking the 10 minutes I was promised.

There was no way in hell 10 minutes was going to be enough time for me to cool down. But I knew I didn't have a choice. Unfortunately for me I wasn't going to be able to use this time to cool down as Lise pulled me into the acting manager's office.

I closed my eyes and tensed up. "If you're going to fire me just get it over with."

"Actually I was going to ask you what happened?"

I sighed as I plopped down into the provided metal chair, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you and if you did well…"

"Try me."

I leaned forward resting my forehead in my hands, "I froze up because I thought the customer was good looking. I mean really good looking. I don't know if I was staring too much or what but I-" I sighed, "I really fu- screwed up." I caught myself in time.

Lise chuckled, "You handled that better than most. That customer is considered one of our rare regulars"

"Rare regulars?" I was almost afraid to ask.

"Yes, the people who come in and get the same thing but only show up out of the blue are rare regulars. That particular one is Levi Ackerman. He has a reputation around here of being the only person whom can stomach up to 4 Titan shots. "Lise explained, "And he's acquaintance with Sasha and Mike."

"I knew I'd regret it later t I had to ask, "So what made him so short? His espresso intake or the weight of his big head?"

Lise chuckled, "I think we are all trying to figure that one out. But listen you did okay on our first meeting with him."

"Please tell me he won't be here that often." I didn't know if I could handle it. Just picturing that guy's face in my head was making me angry.

"I can't promise anything. But he hasn't been back here in almost a month. To be honest I was actually surprised to see him." Lise answered, "Look why don't you just take an extra five minutes cool yourself down and then come out."

"Hey Lise, do you remember how long he stayed last time he was here?"

Lise took a moment before looking at me, "Well, last time he only stayed about an hour. But he's known to stay longer than that sometimes." She headed towards the door; "I'll see you out there."

"Okay Lise, thanks." I headed towards the break room and rested my head on the provided table. "Of all the days I choose to pull a double shift, my worst nightmare decided to order. I sincerely hope he's gone soon." I sighed, "But knowing my luck he'll be here for a long time." I sat there for another minute before walking towards the break room door. I could see, what was his name? Levi. I could see Levi from here and as I watched him I was overcome by the same feeling I had experienced earlier. I tore my eyes and leaned my head back against the wall.

Damn it.

I was in deep trouble.

A/N: Okay that's it, hope you enjoyed. If you'd like me to continue 3 reviews = chapter 2!