Notes: Chapter 3 will be up very soon! I apologize for the long wait on chapter 2 but I was having troubles getting the document onto ! I hope you all enjoy!
IMPORTANT MESSAGE: Levi's P.O.V.
This chapter gives us a few hints as to how Levi is currently living. There are a couple of points made on how he used to live but there is more to come!
Chapter Three Info:
When Once Becomes Twice and Twice Becomes Thrice... (Part 2)
Levi's P.O.V.
More hints on Levi's current and past life
First meeting
Chapter 2:
When Once Becomes Twice, and Twice Becomes Thrice
Levi's Point of View
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ - Indicates Time Skip
Days seem to simply go by. The pains of yesterday forgotten by the somewhat brighter, new days. Sure my past isn't something to be proud or happy of but I've taken the high road into a better way of living. I mean seriously, look where I am now! I own a three bedroom house on the outskirts of a fairly rich city and I'm the captain of my own chosen crew at Trost; a company that designs and sells catalogues on our fellow business's materials.
The job doesn't sound like a lot but it's always a bitch to meet deadlines when you're whole crew specializes at one certain part of the process and can simply throw everyone off if they don't do their job right. So, as my team is separated by photographer, writer, editor, and computer designer, I am the only one capable of doing all four jobs efficiently. So, I help out wherever I can before sharing the final copy and sending it to the printers. Sometimes after especially hard weeks my group and I grab a quick drink or I go home, sit on my porch, and enjoy a good cigarette.
"Two rejects in one fucking week," I click my tongue in irritation as my teammates practically collapse from exhaustion before my eyes. "Everyone rest up this weekend and be ready for yet another busy start on Monday," I finish our meeting up with words of care for my somewhat annoying co-workers.
Once every member is safely on their ways home, I stop in by my Boss, the C.E.O. of Trost; Erwin Smith. We have a brief meeting about the final product before I'm released to go home for the weekend. I give the other's on the floor a wave goodbye as I head into the neat elevator. I grip the needed documents in my right hand as the elevator opens to a dimly lit parking garage where I and many others leave their cars.
I take the 1969 black Corvette for a ride through the town until the sleek car pulls into a familiar driveway that sits on a quiet little street known as Rose Boulevard. My body, as if by memory, moves by itself, carrying me into the neat blue-ish house. Dropping the materials, I kick my shoes off and go to change into some decent casual wear.
Once my body is cloaked in a more comfortable manner, I slide my outdoor slippers on and take a seat on my simple wooden porch. As I light my first cigarette of the day, my silver eyes catch the beautiful oranges and purples of the evening sky. I take a few long, soothing drags, my peace suddenly interrupted by the sound of bickering and the sight of a moving truck.
My body turns away from the view of the lover's quarrel as my mind practically dares me to sit and watch as the couple yell openly at each other. The dark side wins and I can't help but watch the two out of the corner of my eye as I listen in to the heated conversation just a mere 4 houses down.
"It was your idea to move here and now you're upset that you have to help us carry the furniture in! Grisha, what the hell is wrong with you!" The seemingly young spitfire yells at the older looking male.
"Carla, I'm the man of the house and I make the rules!" He aggressively pointed towards himself to show emphasis. "If I pay for the house then it's your job to earn your keep!"
"What!" She retorts loudly, voice traveling a ways. "I'm not some slave, Grisha! I'm your wife!" Her words startle me slightly seeing as she looks a good ten years younger than the other.
"Then get your worthless son to help," he rolls his eyes, hands being thrown up in increasing anger.
"Eren shouldn't have to work so hard! He's got enough on his plate right now seeing as he'll be starting school with a body full of bruises thanks to someone," she clearly hints at the last part causing the other to snap.
At the continued mention of their child, I expect to see an elementary school brat run out seeing as the mother looked to be only a few years older than me, if even that. To my utmost surprise, a teen runs out to break up the battle.
At this point, many thoughts are running at the sight of this peculiar, three person family. It was obviously clear that 'Grisha' was the father and 'Eren' was the son but…. was 'Carla' truly the boy's mother? During the dispute I remember clearly hearing the word 'wife' out of the woman with a messy ponytail that lays her hair over one of her petite shoulders. Was 'Carla' perhaps the stepmother? No, the boy looked too much like her to be from another's womb. I shake my head in confusion, flicking the worthless cigarette butt to the ground before stepping on it and heading back inside to clear my mind.
Only two days later and I was receiving a gentle set of knocks on my door. I stopped, mid-cleaning, to welcome the uninvited guests.
"Hello, my name is Carla Yeager and this is my son, Eren. We've recently moved into the yellow house just down the street," she kindly greeted, raising from her bow. I gave her a simple nod before my eyes found the other standing behind her.
My breath slightly hitched as my silver orbs landed on the other's face. His eyes could only be described as the color 'Strong Titan Green'. The irises were a gentle mix of blues and greens that practically pulled you into them. As my whole being felt as if it was being absorbed into those enticing eyes, Carla spoke words that went unregistered.
After a few more seconds of swimming in the pools of Eren's teal orbs, my eyes were moved to the dessert that the young woman presented to me with a warm smile. I gave my thanks before my metallic eyes once again moved to Eren. His rough, stone-washed jeans, and baggy sweatshirt didn't come close to matching his mother's neat yellow button up with brown shorts.
"I welcome you to the neighborhood," I replied, extending a hand to take the gift. "My name is Levi. It's a pleasure to meet you both." Carla and I shared a firm handshake, Eren staying behind with a bored, lost expression on his face that most likely mirrored my own emotionless face.
"It's a pleasure to meet you as well Mr. Levi," the young woman smiled. "Oh, before I forget, that's some homemade raspberry pie." My eyes glanced down to the warm dish in my hands.
"Well, to show my thanks, would you two care for some tea?" As much as I disliked to invite people into my clean house, I couldn't help but want to learn more about the peculiar family.
Before answering, Carla sent a questioning glance to the teen. Eren gave a simple shrug and so she accepted the offer. "We'd love that! It's a good chance for us to get to know some of our neighbors." They followed in behind me, taking their shoes off quickly before exiting the entry way.
Carla and I had held a decent conversation for a good hour. She had now discovered a lot about me, but I had also obtained a fair amount of information on her own life and family. Many of my questions had been answered therefore I gave the time to reply to any of her inquiries. I had now learned that Eren was currently sixteen going on seventeen in a few months. Carla herself had just recently celebrated her thirty-second birthday. Once the ages came out, I openly asked the young woman about her family. The brunette was surprisingly open about her teen pregnancy however she did clearly avoid the subject of her thirty-nine year old husband; Grisha.
During our time spent drinking a rich Rose Jam Tea, Eren remained a closed off mute. To my astonishment, Carla had quite the interesting life; she moved from Germany to America at the age of eleven, got pregnant at fifteen, raised a little boy by herself, and completed her education. She happened to be quite the inspiration, my story now seemingly dull in comparison to hers. It wasn't a surprise to see that my fake life story was boring considering the fact that I made it all up in a matter of minutes.
I spent a fairly good night staring at the ceiling, letting my imagination run wild. As one painful memory lead to another, the bright light of the sun began to childishly peek over the massive mountains. To my dismay, my weekend was quickly coming to an end.
Two seemingly uneventful weeks went by and my life was as conventional as ever. The only major differences in my simple life were the disturbingly unsanitary bottles that lay scattered in the Yeager's yard and the annoying bursts of yelling at awkward hours of the morning (despite the fact that I usually don't sleep). My first initial thought was that Eren was simply a druggie who had rowdy friends over sometimes. I also figured that his parents might've been too busy with work to clean up their yard and take care of their child.
My thoughts however changed slightly when I found out that Carla was a stay-at-home mom who held many bruises on her young, tan skin.
"Oh my gosh!" Petra whined, "they want us to do it again?" Everyone in the crew freaked out when our plan had been rejected for the third time this week.
"Change the backgrounds on pages two, three, six, and ten; they look like shit. Oluo, fix your fucking descriptions on the rustic kitchen set and the child's desk-bed. Gunther, check the frickin' pieces once Oluo's done with that crap. If we can pull through and get this shit done today we may actually get to go home while it's still fucking Friday!" I explained the plan and they all got set on the tasks at hand.
Four hours were over in the blink of an eye and we somehow managed to complete the final copy earlier than expected. What usually takes us a good six hours to fix was completed in only what seemed to be a few short moments.
"They accepted the final product so we may all head home, take a shit, and get to bed early for once," I informed the team from behind the completed project. A huge wave of relieved sighs washed over our conference room as everyone sunk into their cushioned chairs. "Have a fucking wonderful weekend and be ready for the shitty rush on Monday," the debriefing concluded and we all headed our own ways. My path first led me to Erwin's office just over two hours earlier than usual.
"Levi, what do I owe the honor of you visiting me this early in the evening?" He spoke, reading over multiple packets of paper.
"We completed the fucking project," I threw the catalogue on his desk, the sound causing him to look over at the piece of work. His sky blue eyes then met mine.
"Your team is our elite group that produces the best material however I do openly admit that I'm surprised to see a finished product on my desk before six o'clock."
"Yeah, whatever, just look at it so I can go home and enjoy a fun-fucking-tastic weekend."
"You're as blunt as ever," he scoffed.
"Whatever Captain frickin' America. Now, will you please look at the shitty piece of junk?"
"Yeah, I guess I could since you were kind enough to say please," he smirked, my eyes naturally rolling.
I spent a good ten minutes in complete silence as he read through and took in all the details of the project. After a few moments, I began to tap my fingers out of habit. My neatly trimmed nails clicking against the wood of the chair's arm caught his attention.
"Alright, looks good." He smiled as he ran a hand through his slicked back bangs.
"That's it?" I raised a curious eyebrow at his brief conclusion.
"Well, it's been completed nicely. I have no real complaints on this catalogue's look so either you can stay and wait until you get bored or you can escape before Hanji gets here with my dinner."
"Yeah, I really don't feel like dealing with-" A foot connected with the door and in barged the brunette with a single plate of food in one hand.
"Ewin!~ I brought you're-..." Brown orbs connected with black silky hair and gray, stormy eyes. "OH MY GOD, LEVI!" She squealed, throwing the plate up in pure excitement.
My eyebrow twitched in annoyance as her arms wrapped around me in a tight embrace. "Shitty glasses, you better let go in the next five seconds or I'm going to kick your fucking filthy ass all the way into the next state!"
"Oh Levi," she twirled around with her arms still keeping me in a disturbingly dirty hell. "I've missed you so much!" She ruffled my clean and neat hair. "Ever since Erwin moved you from being his apprentice, I haven't gotten to see you much!" The room then oddly fell silent, her fingers snaking their way to my arms. She held my shoulders tightly enough to leave brownish yellow bruises.
"Oi, what's your problem all of a sudden, shitty glass-" my voice caught in my suddenly dry throat as I noticed her bi-polar expression change. Brown eyes no longer blown open wide but in a deep, serious glare. I quickly shifted my eyes to Erwin, his face also pensive.
"Levi," her voice called me back, my attention once again on her. "Has everything been going okay?" Her brown eyes were taking in every detail of my face and body.
"If you mean what I think you do, then yes, everything is fine. If you don't believe me then check," I spoke, my gaze unwavering. Her hands moved down from my buffed arms until they reached the pronounced bump of my wrists. She wrapped her long, dirty fingers around the cuff of my button-up as she looked over to Erwin. Captain America gave Shitty Glasses a nod and then the woman was suddenly up in my face again.
"Get the fuck outta my face sh-
"Levi," she interrupted my usual name calling, "it's not that we don't trust you but it's better to be safe than sorry, right?" Tears had filled her insane eyes for some reason. Her body trembling with both guilt and curiosity. I rolled my eyes at her over-dramatic manner as she unlatched the little black buttons on each of my sleeves. She suspensefully rolled the large arms of my shirt up until both my inner elbows were bare. My porcelain flesh held no marks, wounds, or bruises and Jani let out quite the audacious sigh of relief. Her hands were finally released from my body as she gave Erwin a reassuring nod.
"I've already told you guys that I haven't touched any of that shit once I started this fucking shitty ass job." I unrolled my paper white sleeves, rebuttoning the cuffs.
"It hasn't even been a full year yet, Levi. We just want to make sure that you don't relapse again." Erwin spoke, his large hand gripping my shoulder gently. Disliking his dirty fingers on me, I slapped his palm away.
"Yeah, yeah, I know." My eyes did yet another antagonized lap as I applied pressure to the aching bridge of my nose. "I'm doing fine without you two worrying and nagging like mothers," my orbs moved from Hanji to Erwin.
"Well, I'm sorry if I care about you too much Levi but we just don't want to find you in some dark alleyway beaten up and high as a kite again." Erwin's orbs held a level of authority.
"Seriously, shut the fuck up."I truly didn't feel the need to talk about my shitty drug addiction at work of all places.
"Levi, you were so high that you didn't even know that you were bleeding out! You just sat there talking about some dead guy as your stab wound was practically gushing blood everywhere!" Hanji spoke, her usual tone as loud and vexatious as always.
"Whatever," I turned my back to the worrywart duo, "I'm heading home." I wanted to get off the tough subject as soon as humanly possible and the only way to do that, was to get out of Hanji's field of vision.
"Levi, you have to stop running from your past!" The young woman tried stopping me. Truthfully, her words caused my hands to clam up into tight fists, knuckles quickly turning white. Neither Werin or Hanji new everything of my rotten past and I wasn't going to sit down and tell them anytime soon either.
"Goodbye shitty glasses." I made my way to the door, turning back to make proper eye contact with the handsome blond. "Have a fucking wonderful night, Eyebrows." I then took my leave after saying my evening farewells.
Supper was a success, the dishes were now clean, and it was my time to destress. I grabbed the white, plastic wrapped box and moved out to my front porch. I sat down on the top step, feet planted on another. The carton now lay in both my hands my thumbs running over the embossed text. A heavy sigh slips from my dry lips as I realize just how weak I really am; using cigarettes as a legal replacement for the old heroin and cocain that I used to intake.
My substitute realization caused unneeded thoughts and anger. I messily tear the plastic off, break open the package, and trash the foil. Twenty white and orange sticks sat neatly in the carton, filter-side up. A puff of air travels out my nostrils as two of my fingers gently pinch the first cigarette in the box, pulling it out carefully. Once the one white and orange cancer stick was free of it's previous confines, I moved it so it sat comfortably in my small hands. Like some, I held the cigarette between my pointer and middle finger. I part my cracked lips, placing the toxic object part way into my mouth. I then rest my muscles, the cigarette hanging off my parched lips at an angle. My free hand rummages through my generally empty front pockets, soon finding a cheap lighter. I brought both of my pale hands up, quickly lighting the cigarette. I began with generally small intakes, moving on to long drags only shortly after. Every few inhales of the tainted toxic oxygen, I would flick my wrist carefully to knock off any access ashes. My actions continued through three of the white and orange cancer sticks.
As I unconsciously went to grab and light yet another, my seemingly repetitive actions were stopped by loud, thunderous yells that couldn't quite be understood by someone sitting outside.
As my fingers tightly gripped the white package, eyes staring down the street, the random audacious sounds continued. It wasn't entirely uncommon for families to fight but it was quite rare to be able to hear it from a few houses away. To no surprise, the sounds continued for a while, the sun now setting behind the far off mountains.
A few more minutes and I had completely lost interest in the current feud going on just down the road. I got up from my spot, stretching quickly to relieve the aching muscles that had developed over the last refreshing hour or two. Just as I was heading into my home, my stormy eyes caught the new neighbors' white door flying open. To my astonishment, the voices of the family could be easily heard over the maddening silence of our little community.
"Grisha, let Eren go!" The first sentence clearly coming from Carla held weak sternness but great concern. Inexplicably, a reply of slurred curses and gibberish filled the empty streets.
My curiosity and general human worry drove me to move only a few steps closer. Just as I made it off my large white porch, my whole body tightened at the scene playing out in front of my eyes.
Hands gripping the young boy's shirt tightly, Eren now outside on the small deck as his attacker remained hidden behind the stuck door. Next thing I knew, the kid was brutally pulled forward, a fist connecting with his cheek, the power behind the punch clear as Eren brusquely stumbled. Seeing as the brat was shoved back into a type of free fall, his footing was off, causing him to miss a step. He clearly landed roughly on the ground however he was quick to scatter to his feet and dodge an oncoming liquor bottle. The boy was hastily running away as Carla and the long-haired man yelled at one another. I was unsure if I should step in or not but decided against it seeing as my whole body was stiff as a board.
As I hesitated on the corner of my property, Eren flashed by. Our peculiarly unique eyes met for a mere millisecond during his brisk escape but it honestly felt like we were standing there for hours, frozen in time. So many emotions were trapped in his teal orbs that I felt like I was being crushed beneath the accumulated burden of them all. Despite my past, I was not able to register his rapid movements fast enough to stop him from running away the pain. My delay had been due to my mind trying to memorize his tear-stained face in just a brief moment of eye-to-eye contact. I was unable to save him from running head first into a bigger mess and it was all because I was too enticed by how revealing his foreign eyes truly were.
I stood there, still as a frickin' rock. My body riddled with guilt knowing that I didn't do anything at all even after seeing Eren's pained expression. The boy had had tears caressing his sun-kissed skin, blood dripping from his nose, a cut up lip, and a terrified look that was practically begging someone, anyone, to save him.
I had clearly missed a huge opportunity to better someone's life; something others usually had to do with me due to my sketchy past. I had guiltily let someone go and suffer on their own, personally knowing just how lonely and miserable it is to grieve in silence. My ambivalence could lead to this kid getting seriously fucked up; he could be kidnapped, raped, killed, or even forced to do drugs. I had practically let a shitty brat go and take a chance at ruining his life. I could have easily grabbed him and helped him but I had simply left him to his own devices; something that could prove to be fatal if he makes any choices resembling the ones that I had made when I was about his age.
The thoughts and guilt struck a cavernous nerve within me. 'This fucking shitty brat could turn up dead and it could have been stopped by the simple act of offering up a safe haven to escape to.' My mistake may very well have just created a fucked up monster modernly parallel to the 'Rivaille' that roamed the streets only months ago.
Notes:
Hey there again everyone! I've got a few things to say and ask before you can get on with your beautiful lives!
1.) I'd like to thank my friends and beta readers; Oreogirl, not harley, and Jason Sixx for helping me to edit this long chapter!
2.) I'd like to ask how you, my readers, feel about monthly updates (30-35 days)? Is it too long of a wait?
3.) If you have any songs that fit to the story so far, please do share them with me so I can add them to my song list!
4.) Do you have any ideas, comments, questions, edits, or critiques for Relapse? If you do, feel free to comment bellow or contact me at one of the following links:
E-Mail: vampireglub
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Fanfiction: /u/4141389/Dante-Luke-Alexander
