He stood nervously outside Captain Levi's door, one hand hesitantly out to knock and the other grasping tightly onto the bouquet of flowers he had (as girly as it was) picked. His stomach churned, making him want to run back to his dorm and throw the covers over himself until the feeling went away. But he needed to do it. He needed Levi to know. Just as he took a deep breath in and mustered up whatever courage he had to knock, Jean came up behind him.

"Whatcha doing outside the Captains office?" He said snarkily. Eren quickly whipped around to face the taller male, effectively hiding the flowers behind his back.

"Nothing." Eren mumbled, feeling his voice starting to tremble – worried about how much of an embarrassment he would become if Jean found out.

"What's that? What's behind your back?" He said with a cheeky grin, leaning in the see over Eren's shoulder.

"I told you nothing."

"It must be something if you're trying to hide it so well."

"It's not-!"

"Eren. Get in here. Kirschtein, your dorm room better be completely wiped down or you'll lose your dinner privilege." The captain growled from inside his office, clearly annoyed by their bickering.

Jean rolled his eyes as he dragged himself back to his dorm with the muttering of 'yes, sir.' – Eren waited for Jean to be out of his sight before he spun around and gently creaked the door open, peaking in and asking softly.

"May I-"

"Come in - I just fucking asked you to." He gritted back. Eren quickly followed his order, mumbling a small apology as he closed the door behind him.

"Why is-" Levi began when Eren suddenly jumped, realising that Levi was eyeing the flowers he still had with him.

"I-I…Uh, look it's… I-"

"Just sit down." He grumbled, strangely enough in a slightly softer tone – though he was still clearly agitated. He was improperly dressed – or at least for the uniforms code – his cravat was half undone, his plain white shirt underneath wrinkled and a hand running through his knotted hair. As Eren sat down, he noticed the amount of cups that sat on his desk – all once filled with black tea. He looked back up at the Captain realising - by the even more obvious bags under his eyes - that Levi was completely exhausted and stressed. The captain straightened his back slightly as he noticed the pair of teal eyes focused on him.

"What's with the flowers?" He asked straight-forwardly, his question sounding like more of a statement than a question.

"Well… Today is apparently… uh, Valentines Day." Eren mumbled, quickly averting his eyes as Levi leaned in out of curiosity.

"It's… like when… it's the day you tell someone you love them." Eren dragged out, not really having a full understanding himself. He had read it in a book of Armin's and then consulted him about it, but even he only knew so little. Levi raised his eyebrow in slight interest and then sighed as he spoke again.

"What were you doing outside my door then?" Eren froze, still avoiding eye contact with Levi. After a few seconds he attempted to speak up, but it only resulted in a few words nervously sputtered. After a couple more tries – realising that Levi didn't seem to mind – he finally made a somewhat understandable sentence.

"I-I like you… more than… more." He lamely said, his cheeks burning deep red and his lip twitching slightly. He wanted to say something more meaningful. Something better than 'I like you'.

"Which is why I brought the… the flowers..." He added, though it didn't compare to what he had planned to say. Levi didn't respond, and a small part of Eren wanted to look up at him, to stand up and kiss him. To express exactly what he felt… But he didn't know if he wanted to see Levi's reaction.

Abruptly, Levi stood up. He walked around his desk so he was standing next to Eren, looking down at the boy.

"Stand up." He commanded Eren, though his tone had suddenly become so different – no longer as much of a pissed off captain, but a concerned friend. Eren pulled himself up, his face still flushed. He slowly brought his eyes to meet Levi's, surprised not to see anger or disappointment.

Levi didn't say a word. He waited for Eren to say something – a complete switch of their typical roles.

"I'm… I'm sorry for saying such silly-"

"Eren, if that's how you genuinely feel, then it's not silly."

"But-"

"Eren, do you love me?"

"Yes."

"Do you want to kiss me?"

"Yes." Eren took a step back for a second, only just realising he had answered so quickly without even thinking.

"Sorry! I-I didn't-"

"Stop apologizing you brat."Suddenly, he felt Levi tug at his shirt, pulling the boy's face to his level. The next moment, Levi's lips were softly pressing against Eren's, his hands resting on the taller boy's shirt – tugging encouragingly when Eren began to kiss back. He slowly felt Levi pulling away, and reluctantly followed, feeling completely dazed in a strange way.

Levi reached behind Eren, grabbing the flowers he left on the desk and held them out to Eren.

"Happy Valentine's Day."

"I- you can't steal my gift and give it to me!" Eren squeaked, hating the fact that Levi had been so much better at making a romantic gesture.

"Yeah, but I'm giving your gift better." Levi replied. Eren pouted and was about to make a remark when Levi stopped him.

"Shut up and take them now." He mumbled, shoving them at Eren's chest and then pulling Eren back in for another kiss.