~Brat~

A small cough emitted from your throat as you slowly opened your eyes. Your body felt numb and you couldn't bring yourself to move. With your mind, still disoriented, you looked around, quietly praising how clean the room you were in was. You coughed again, this time finding it harder to breathe. A wave of panic flowed through you as you tried to catch your breath, resulting in more and more coughing.

You suddenly heard footsteps running closer and closer to where you were. The door slammed open and a boy about your age rushed in and walked over, helping you sit up. He quietly patted and rubbed your back. Eventually, you were able to breathe once more and your coughing subsided. The boy sighed in relief and laid you down again. You were grateful to him. You wondered why he was helping you though.

You had gotten into a huge fight with some boys who had attacked you. You thought you could handle them, but ended up being subdued and almost beaten to death. Before they could throw the final blow, the boy came and fought them, making sure they ran off with their tails between their legs. You ended up blacking out in the end, and woke up to the room you were in now.

The boy had a handsome face with piercing green eyes and chocolate brown hair. His face showed worry as he rested himself on a chair next to your bed. You turned your head, trying to get a good look and smiled at him. A nod and gentle smile was his response to you. You decided to try and speak up.

"Th-thank you…."

Your voice came out as a coarse whisper. The boy looked surprised at the sudden speech, but smiled nonetheless.

"It was no problem. Those guys need to learn to not beat up innocent people."

You nodded in agreement, trying to sit up again. The boy quickly helped you.

"Thanks. Um… I should probably get going. I don't want to trouble you too much."

The boy chuckled and shook his head. "You're good. Wait till you're healed to leave."

"Are you sure?"
"Positive."

You felt guilty for just sitting there, but realized that if you tried to stand up, you'd probably fall. Your legs started getting their feeling back, and pain emitted from them. You knew that it would hurt more to stand up so you decided to stay put.

"So um… what's your name?"
"Eren."
"That's nice, I'm (Y/N)."

He grinned and nodded. "I like that name. It suits you."

You smiled at the small praise and felt a little better about the whole situation. You debated what to say next. You were scared it would become awkward fast and he would start having second thoughts about keeping you there. Before you could say anything else, he beat you to it.

"Why were those guys attacking you?"

You stiffened at the question. Why? That was a complicated answer. Your boyfriend, Levi, was part of one of the gangs that roamed the city and you were pretty sure that the guys who attacked you were rivals of his. Levi had warned you countless times to be careful on the streets because once it got around the two of you were in a relationship, the rival gangs would try and hurt you, or worse, kill you. You quickly looked at Eren and sighed.

"My boyfriend is part of a gang, and those guys were his rivals so they went after me in hopes to get to him."

Eren rubbed an imaginary beard and nodded. "Very interesting. Your boyfriend is in some serious shit then?"

You quietly nodded as you played with your fingers, nervous about having said something about it. You knew you shouldn't have said anything. For all you knew Eren could be from another of the gangs. You doubted it, but you could never be too careful. People had attempted to hurt you before, people that you trusted. It was all because of Levi, but you never blamed him for any of it. You knew that it was a risk if you wanted to be in a relationship with him. It was a risk you were willing to take because, deep down, Levi was a really good person and you didn't want to give him up.

"Could I know the name of your boyfriend and his phone number or sonething? It might be best for me to let him know what happened so he can be on the lookout. Gangs can be pretty dangerous and I'm sure he'd want to know."

You gulped. You couldn't give Eren his name, could you? It was another risk for Levi. On the other hand, Levi would want to know what happened right away. He would be mad if you didn't try to contact him as soon as you could, and you weren't sure you could do that anytime in the near future, due to you being heavily bandaged. You didn't have a cellphone either. Maybe you could ask to call him on your own instead or Eren being the one.

"Eren… I'm sorry, but can I keep that information a secret for now and call him myself?"

"Ah understood. It's fine. You can use my cell if you want to."

"Please. It would be greatly appreciated."

Eren nodded and pulled his cell out, handing it to you. You gratefully took it and dialed in Levi's number. To your surprise, it popped up as a contact choice. Wait, did Eren know Levi? You shakily clicked on the number and held the phone to your ear as it rang. A familiar voice came from the other end.

"Yo what's up?"
"L-Levi? Is that you?"
"(Y/N) is that you?"
"Y-yeah. It's me."

"What's up? Did you borrow this phone from someone?"
"Yeah."

"Why are you calling me? Is there something wrong? Are you ok?"

"Um… Well I kind of got attacked and was almost beaten to death…."

"WHAT?! WHERE ARE YOU?"

You winced at his volume and sighed, knowing how protective he could be. Putting his protectiveness aside, it really surprised you he had rsised his voice. Levi usually never raised his voice, especially with you. The only time he ever did that was if he was barking out orders about cleaning the house properly.

"Well I'm at someone's house right now…"

"Who's? I'm coming to get you. What's the address?"

"I'm with the guy who saved me…. I'm not sure about the address…"

"Pass the phone to him then. I wanna talk to him."

You knew that it would be better to just let them talk. Levi was probably suspicious and wanted to make sure the whole sutuation was good. It seemed like they knew each other anyway, based on Levi already being in his contacts and the way he answered the phone. You looked over at Eren and held the phone out to him.

"Um… he wants to talk to you."

He quietly took the phone and put the receiver to his ear.

"Hello?"
"Oh Levi, it's you."

"Yeah she's good. Don't worry, I got her all bandaged up and had her take some pain killers."

"Yeah, we're at my place."
"Alright. See you in 15 then. Bye."

Eren hung up the phone and looked at you, putting his phone back into his pocket. You eyed him curiously, wondering how they had known each other. Since you had never seen Eren around Levi before, you were guessing he was another member of Levi's gang. Levi never liked you being involved with any of the members. Whenever you asked if you could meet his gang, he would brush it off and tell you a quick no and to leave him alone about it. Levi was like that. He acted cold and irritated most of the time, but, in reality, he was just a big softie.

"He's on his way over."
"Ah… ok. You know Levi?"

"Yup. We're in the Scout gang together. He's the leader."
"O-oh."

Eren grinned. "He told me about you, but I didn't think I'd actually get to meet you."

"Well now you have. Sorry it had to be on such uncivil terms."

"It's good. Don't worry about it. I like it like this anyway. Way more excited than just bumping into you on the street."
"I guess so."

The two of you kept going back and forth with conversation until you both heard hurried footsteps stomp down the hall. A form came into view as it rushed through the bedroom door. A short man with black hair and brown eyes stood there, crossing his arms with a disapproving scowl on his face. Levi had finally arrived.

Eren looked over at him and stood up, bringing his arms up in a stiffened solute. You could tell by his body language that Eren had a slight fear of Levi, but also respected him. You found it funny and a little bit adorable. Levi wasn't that tall, but he could still intimidate people twice as much. It was because of his serious aura and attitude.

"Tch… such trouble, (Y/N)."
"S-sorry Levi. They came out of nowhere…."

You knew that he was just being tough on you because Eren was there. He had to keep up his "scary" image to make up for what he was lacking in height. Eren laughed nervously, coming out of his awkward solute.

"I assume you want me to leave for a bit?"

"What do you think?"

"Well I'm just gonna to make some food. I'll tell you when it's ready."

You and Levi both nodded. As soon as Eren left, Levi walked over and sat on the chair next to the bed. He leaned towards you and kissed your forehead. A small blush formed on your cheeks. The sudden affection he showed you caused you to get slightly embarrassed.

"Tch… brat. You cause so much trouble."
"Sorry Levi."

A small smile formed on his face as he chuckled.

"It's fine (Y/N). It's good you're safe."

He silently looked you up and down, observing the damage that had been done and made sure everything was bandaged up. A small sigh released itself from his mouth. He rested a quick kiss on your lips and let himself lean back.

"At least you weren't killed…"

You smiled widely and reached over, squeezing one of his hands.

"Yeah, I'm still here with you."

A yawn escaped from your lips as soon as you let those words come from your lips. You rubbed your eyes a little, trying to get the sleep out. You wanted to be with Levi right now. If he realized it, he would immediately make you sleep. It was a failed attempt. He noticed your sleepiness and rolled his eyes.

"Go to sleep brat. After what happened, you need all the rest you can get."

"But Levi-"
"Did I stutter? Lay down and rest."

You puffed your cheeks out, reluctantly laying yourself back down. You knew that once he said something, he wouldn't back down. Usually you would be stubborn as well, but right now your eyes were already drooping down.

He sighed and kissed your forehead, mumbling, "G'night brat."

You smiled at his nickname for you as you drifted off to sleep. He was there now, and that comforted you more than anything.

A/N: Woooooo it's done! Anyway, hope you enjoy! I decided to let everyone see my writing first, before requesting. c: