Levi

"Don't go outside the lines," I said while I watched Eren as he did just that.

"Sorry," he mumbled and kept within the design I'd drawn on my own hipbone, on the same spot he wore his.

Getting the same tattoo as Eren wasn't something I'd planned, but when I'd seen it on his beautiful tan skin, things kind of clicked into place and I knew. It didn't matter how this would end, Eren would always be a very special memory to me. I'd never regret wearing something on my skin that reminded me of this summer, even if it was for eternity. I wanted it all the same, just as much as he did.

It was almost comical how concentrated he worked, worrying his lip between his teeth and burrowing his hand into the skin on my opposite hip almost painfully. But it was also sweet and endearing, and had me helplessly drawn to every movement he made, however small. He was good at this, that much I had to admit, especially considering his trait of being easily excitable. I had yet to figure out what had possessed me to let him do my tattoo, but as it turned out, my worries were unfounded. He was trying his best, and the effort turned to account. When he finally pulled back after wiping the sweat from his brow a while later, a considerable amount of time had passed. But that was fine. It was his first time tattooing someone, and taking longer than I had was normal. From when I watched him working, I knew the tattoo would turn out nicely, yet seeing it in all its glory, the black lines being a compelling contrast to my pale skin, had my lips part on a surprised noise.

"Wow, Eren..." I began, momentarily at a loss for words. "It looks really good. You're a natural."

I watched him in the mirror as his face was taken over by a huge, genuine grin that made looking away impossible. His arms squeezed around me from behind, his face nuzzling my cheek as he spoke softly into my skin.

"Thank you for trusting me."

I couldn't suppress the smirk that broke out over my lips at his sincere words, and pressed my back even closer to his front, giving myself to the sensual little touches and breathless whispers he administered on my most sensitive spots.

Being with Eren was... Heaven. I'd never been one for prose or poetry, yet I couldn't think of any other way to describe what being with him felt like. I didn't have much experience to compare this to, but the way he looked at me, the way he touched me, the way he cared for me, was so otherworldly that I thought I must have stumbled head-first into a perfect dream. Who would have guessed our first official meeting at my work would lead to something like this? When I'd seen Eren at school, surrounded by his swarm of friends and being everyone's center of attention, I'd have never imagined there would be a day I'd get to be this close to him. I hadn't even known I needed him until I had him. The worlds we were from couldn't have been any more different, and yet we'd found together. It was almost like fate, if one thought about it.

Which was ridiculous, of course.

I gave my head a good shake and got to help Eren on cleaning up all of our tattoo supplies. Still, those thoughts were raging inside my head, like they'd taken to do since a few days. Questions I shouldn't make the mistake of contemplating, not even in the privacy of my mind. Scenarios that were pointless to imagine. Hope I couldn't afford to nurse. Yes, I'd thought about taking this further with Eren. I'd thought about being with him, not the way we were now, but officially. A sincere relationship that everyone knew about. Something real. It was beautiful to indulge those sweet possibilities in my mind, at least until I was sober enough to come back to reality and realize that none of this would ever happen.

Eren might feel something for me. Something more. Even if he had never said anything in so many words, the way he treated me—as if I was something precious he wanted to worship—suggested that assumption. But even if that was the case, and I still had my serious doubts about that, who said his feelings weren't only based on this summer fling we had? You could like someone, even enough to have sex with them, but love? Real, honest-to-goodness love? That was a different thing entirely. Whatever feelings Eren might have for me, I knew for a fact they'd fade with every day summer drew closer towards its end. Those two hot, sunny months were nothing more than a sweet, fluffy bubble we were currently drifting around in, one that would burst when fall came around and we had to let it go and return to our normal lives. All of this was only temporary, a short excursion into a world without worries or painful realities. A world in which someone like Eren and someone like me could be together without second thoughts. Whatever rules applied here didn't work for the real world. I knew Eren was never meant to be mine, and I was trying to come to terms with that everyday. I was trying to brace myself for the inescapable changes between us, which would start out subtle, and then grow more noticeable. His parents would eventually come back, as would his friends. Eren wouldn't ask me to come over anymore, or call me, or even text. Maybe there would be a talk, one last time we met to end things and say thank you. We'd go back to being acquaintances who'd only share a fleeting smile or quick wave at school. It was okay, though, because I knew. I knew this was the way things were supposed to be between us, how it was meant to go. I'd known it from the start, despite my occasional daydreams about Eren being my boyfriend and me being his.

That was exactly why I couldn't understand why this hurt so fucking much.

Why?

My mind had caught onto the inevitability of things long ago, yet here I was, feeling as if my heart was torn from my chest by a relentless hand I could do nothing to fight off. I didn't want to be the one who'd stare after Eren in the hallways, remembering everything about him—his adoring touches, his perfect kisses, the scent of his skin on mine—and hurt over the fact that this had meant nothing to him, but everything to me. What I wanted to do was accept what I knew was unavoidable, and make my peace with it. However long I had left with Eren, I wanted to cherish every second and then be ready to let go when the time came. To wish him luck for everything he wanted to do in the future and maybe kiss him one last time as goodbye before we'd part ways for good. What we had was a time out from reality and I was sure we both knew a time out was never meant to last forever. It was finite. And that meant roughly fifty-six days in our case. It was a logical line of thinking, wasn't it?

But then why? Why was I unable to maintain a steady breathing rhythm whenever I thought about letting him go? Things weren't meant to be this painful, this excruciating, but my feelings didn't even think about following my mind's rationale. Instead they were screaming at me to not give him up, to fight for him and make him stay.

My heart and brain had engaged in a ferocious battle, and the result was an extent of confusion I had no idea how to deal with. I was all over the place, and I knew it. The only thing I didn't know was how to make it stop.

"Levi? Hey, what's wrong?"

Eren's alarmed voice pulled me from my thoughts, and I jolted to a state of alert when I felt his arms tugging me into a warm, tight hug. His palms caressed my back, his fingers trailing soft paths along my spine.

"It's okay... Everything is fine," Eren whispered into my hair, his breath warming the black strands. "Did I hurt you after all?"

He was worried and sounded stricken, holding me tight as if he was trying to comfort me for something I didn't understand.

"W-What?" I mumbled, my voice coming out strangely scratchy.

"Well, uhm..." he whispered. "You're crying."

My eyes dropped open in disbelief, which quickly morphed to shock when I felt wet warmth on my cheeks that was seeping into his shirt. From my eyes.

What the fuck was happening?

Realizing I was truly crying, something I hadn't done in ages, made me snap. I began to shake, first gently and then harder as multiple violent shudders racked my body from top to bottom. I needed to get myself back under control, but the helplessness and lack of understanding as to why I was fucking bawling into Eren's chest right now only intensified the tears spilling from my eyes.

"I-I can't... I... I don't understand w-what's happening," I sobbed pathetically.

"Hey, it's fine... Don't worry. I'm here," Eren whispered in this sweet, understanding voice of his, and I wanted to scream. I wanted to act out, to shove him away and yell at him to quit being so damn perfect. To stop making this so fucking hard for me. I needed to get away from him in order to come to my senses and comprehend what the fuck was going on with me right now, but found myself incapable of putting any distance between us. Instead I clung to him as if even an inch of distance meant torture, and wrapped my arms around his waist to feel him as close as physics allowed.

Eren's palms traveled to my behind and he lifted me up on his body, my legs wrapping around him of their own volition. I hid my face in the crook of his neck, soaking his warm skin with tears and snot. He held me tight as he walked towards the staircase and carried me up into his bedroom. All the while, I was desperately trying to catch any thread of control between my palms, but there was none I could reach. Eren laid me down on his bed, the familiar floral scent of his sheets whispering through my nose, and then covered my body with his. My fingers grabbed blindly for him in the dim light the room was enshrouded in, my voice begging for him without meaning to. He held me close to his chest, and I tangled every part of my body with his, everything that was possible, my legs lacing with his, my arms creeping beneath his shirt to feel up every inch of familiar, balmy skin.

"Levi, hey... What's wrong? Are you in pain? Do you need me to get you anything? Shit, I-I... Don't know what to do," he said, his voice loaded with sorrow and fear.

He made a move to untangle himself from me and get up, which almost had me in a hysterical panic fit. God, how I hated myself right now. Who was this person, losing it in front of Eren? No matter how hard I tried to twist and turn things in search of an explanation, I couldn't recognize him as myself.

"N-No, please... Stay with me. D-Don't leave me," I whispered into his chest, more tears pouring from my eyes to land on his shirt. It was all wet by now, but Eren didn't seem to care. All he did was hold me closer.

"Shh, Levi, I'm here. I'm not going anywhere, okay? I promise you. I'll stay with you. Always."

Hearing those words fall from his lips made me almost break down into another sobbing bout, but calmed me beyond all bounds at the same time.

He was here. He'd stay with me.

I wanted to replay those words over and over in my head, as long as it took for me to believe them, but I didn't have to. Eren was doing that for me, repeating his promise to stay by my side, to never leave me, until I was calm enough to focus on his steady heartbeat against my cheek. I counted the beats in my head, reminded myself that this was Eren and that he was the one who held me as tight as he did, that this wasn't over, not yet. Finally, the tears seemed to subside. The sobs turned to quiet sniffles, the flood of tears to fragile rivulets, the oppressive pain in my chest to a dull ache. Even as my body began its way back to normalcy, I kept quiet. I knew better than to trust my voice after a breakdown of this magnitude. Thankfully, Eren didn't push me to. All he did was thread his fingers through my hair, brushing and petting it while whispering the sweetest things into my skin to soothe me. I'd never been more grateful for a person's presence, for someone holding me together when everything in me wanted to break apart.

"Are you feeling better?" Eren asked quietly, his voice still strained with audible worry.

Snap out of it, Levi. You're fine. This is nothing. Everything's fine.

"Mhm. Thanks," I mumbled into his chest, not daring to look up to meet his gaze in fear seeing the devotion there would make me lose it all over again.

"Thank god. I almost cried too," Eren admitted shyly. "I can't take seeing you cry. It's... I don't know. It's breaking me."

I held him tighter to me, arms squeezing his waist a little too hard. I inhaled the traces of salt and something uniquely Eren on his shirt, and exhaled on a long sigh.

"I'm sorry... I don't know... I don't understand why this happened," I answered truthfully.

"Hey, don't worry about that, okay? There's no need to apologize, or to feel embarrassed. Maybe you just—God, I'm so sorry for being this insensitive right now, but can I kiss you? Please?"

His rushed question, which had a beautiful lilt of desperation to it, made me chuckle the tiniest bit against him. He was just Eren, always, and that was enough to return the smile to my lips and the warmth to my heart.

It took me another minute to gather my courage enough to look up at him. I hid the bottom half of my face in his shirt and blinked up at him with moist eyes, feeling endlessly shy and small.

"Hello there." Eren smiled at me as if he couldn't believe his luck. He took my face in his palms with a solemn tenderness that had my eyes sting once again, although for entirely different reasons. I tried to squirm free of his grip and hide again, but he didn't let me go that easily.

"No no, hey. Stay here. You owe me a kiss," he whispered, and I could hear the smile in his tone, feel it.

I bit my lip and tried to push down my embarrassment to look up at him. His hands were warm and inviting on my face, and I allowed myself to forget my undoubtedly messed-up appearance for a moment in favor of giving in to his fond caresses. When my swollen eyes finally met his bright green ones, I felt like I belonged. It felt like coming home.

"You're so beautiful," Eren breathed against my lips and I was already on the verge of asking him if he'd truly lost his mind now, when he closed the last bit of distance between us and took the kiss I'd promised him—so reverent and lovingly that I knew there was no chance I'd ever be kissed like this again, not by anyone who wasn't Eren.

Time stood still and for the duration I felt his lips on mine, all my worries broke away. It was just him and me, only our lips searching each other's with a hunger almost feral, our bodies interweaving like puzzle pieces made to fit together.

Eren's tongue pushed inside my mouth with impatient desire that matched my own, and I took it with mine, licking and sucking until I drew soft mewls from his throat that vibrated temptingly across my insides. My fingers tangled in his soft chestnut hair, holding it tight to guide his lips to mine with more fervor than before. I moaned when his hands pushed beneath my tank top to feel up every inch of my skin he could reach. His palms felt like wildfire wherever they went, scorching my skin and leaving me oversensitive to his touch. I arched my back off the bed, pressing our bodies flush and giving him access to my needy backside at the same time. Eren took the invitation without hesitating, slipping his hands beneath me to knead my behind in a way that had me trembling with anticipation. His nails burrowed into my clothed ass, and I whined when I felt his fingertips pushing beneath the tight denim of my jeans, pulling and tugging to get it off. I hurried to undo the button and zipper, and he immediately dove in and all but ripped my pants off my legs. My erection was hot and heavy, and had been ever since he'd kissed me like he did. Both of Eren's hands dipped beneath my boxers in the back, and I cried out when I finally felt his brusque grip on my ass cheeks, splaying them open.

"God, Levi... I'm so sorry. I can't stop," Eren rasped throatily, the usual light timbre of his voice colored compellingly dark with arousal.

"Don't," I replied on a heart-felt moan. "Don't hold back, Eren. I want you, so bad. Just... Take me. Give me everything you have, and I promise I'll keep it forever."

My thoughts were spinning out of control, rationality separating from instinct and leaving only a searing hot desire for Eren in its wake. He was all I wanted, all I longed for. I needed him to show me that in this moment, he was mine, to prove that he'd stay with me just like he'd told me.

"Levi, you're so... Fuck, I... I can't lose you. I just can't," he whispered gravely into my skin as he tugged my shirt down to shower my collarbones with love bites.

I arched into his touch, breathless moans of 'yes' and 'more' bubbling incessantly from between my lips as I pulled forcefully on his clothes to get them off. I needed more of him, needed him entirely bare beneath my hands, across my skin, all over my body.

"You won't, Eren. You won't lose me," I murmured back while I stripped him off his boxers and dropped my hand in fervent search of the hard, ardent flesh between his legs.

"Levi..." Eren groaned desperately, "I need you. I need you so much."

My heart thundered inside my chest at his words; words I never knew I needed to hear this badly until this moment. Until he was the one who spoke them.

"You have me, Eren. All of me," I replied on a warm whisper, and right then, I meant it. All of me, it was his.

He growled low in his chest and finally yanked my boxers off my body, leaving me utterly naked. Being with him without a single piece of clothing on either of us made excitement and hunger soar once again. I ran my gaze over his toned body, over all the small dips and curves I knew so well, eating him up with my eyes. I was panting heavily by now, my arousal so hard that it was almost painful. When Eren let his gaze wander over the length of my body without touching me, I caved in with a quiet groan and reached down to cup my erection, giving myself a few shallow strokes to take the edge off my arousal. Eren's glowing green eyes widened at the sight, and he put his hands to my legs to spread them wide.

"Yes Levi, touch yourself. Touch yourself for me," he said while he licked his lip, his nails curling against my sweat-slick thighs. Feeling bold, I spread my thighs even wider to give him a shameless view of myself as I began to tease my foreskin.

"Ahhh, Eren... Fuck, fuck, fuck."

I massaged my wet slit and smeared the rapidly gathering precome over the head with my thumb, making it glisten with moisture. I smiled cheekily when I caught Eren's expression, his eyes wide and greedy, his lips tucked beneath his teeth. He looked ready to blow up, and I reveled in the certainty that I was responsible for getting him there. His cock was big and fully hard, bobbing with enough arousal to stand on its own. I bit my lip as I let my hand drop to my base, intensifying the grip and rhythm of my strokes until I mewled an incoherent combination of gibberish and Eren's name.

"Yes Levi, like that... Mmmh, fuck... You have no idea what you're doing to me... I can't wait to be inside you."

His words urged me on, goaded me into speeding up my movements. Warm precome was coating my hand and length, my orgasm being so close that I could almost taste it on my tongue. I reached up with my free hand and pinched my nipple hard enough to turn it a hot pink, before I tugged the sensitive tip between my fingers and rolled it around until it grew impossibly hard. I was so caught up in my own pleasure that I hadn't even noticed Eren retrieving the bottle of lube from the nightstand. My eyes were glazed over with a thin layer of tears, but I wiped across my face to get a better view of what Eren was planning to do with that lube.

"Keep going. You're doing so good, don't stop," Eren said.

Usually, I wasn't someone who'd react to any type of command, but with Eren, it was almost easy. I picked up my pace again while I watched Eren uncapping the bottle and drizzling a liberal amount of lube on his long fingers. I bit my lip, a harsh cry tearing from my throat as I felt my balls tighten with my impending orgasm.

My eyes never left Eren's as he warmed the lube between his palms and slipped his body between my legs to bow over me. I breathed his name on a loop of needy moans and unreserved cries when I felt his slick fingers prodding at my hole. Within the next moment, Eren pushed two fingers knuckle-deep into my ass, making my orgasm rip through me with an intensity that had stars dancing across my vision. My hips bucked off the bed, my breathing coming on erratic gulps as Eren's fingers curled to brush along that sweet spot inside me, stroking me straight through my climax.

While I was still wrapped in a fog of bliss, Eren bent down and licked a few drops of come from my stomach, slipping his fingers out of me with a wet pop. I could only lie there, panting, my mind blown and my heart racing. It would take me another few minutes to gather all my wits, or maybe days, I couldn't be sure. As it was, I felt strangely detached from my body.

Eren watched me as I languished in my dazed afterglow with this stupidly beautiful secret smile on his lips while he caressed my thighs. I felt my come drying on my stomach, and immediately, a pressing feeling of disgust breezed over me. I couldn't stand being dirty.

I watched silently as Eren dove beneath my leg to place it on his shoulder and tease up a crimson kiss mark on my calf.

"Eren... What are you doing to me?" I whispered without realizing that I'd actually moved my lips, much less produced words.

His green eyes looked up at me while his lips were still sucking on my skin, his mouth curving in a smile against my calf.

"I don't know," he whispered into my skin as he lifted my leg and continued to place a trail of open-mouthed kisses down to my thigh. "What I do know is that it can't be anything like what you're doing to me."

I smiled up at him, my heart fluttering as if there were actual birds trapped beneath my ribcage. My eyes dropped to his lips, then to his chest, down the hard ridge of muscle of his abdomen, along his tawny happy trail to his—

"Uhm Eren, you're still... I mean, I could—"

"Shh," he whispered against my knee before kissing just below the cap, "It's fine. Don't worry about me."

I eyed him skeptically, and then bit my lip. It felt wrong to just leave him... well, like this, especially since I was happily hovering in post-orgasm euphoria. But when he kissed and caressed me like he did, it was hard to think in any way that was even rudimentarily coherent. So I settled for sighing languidly and let me legs fall open to give Eren easier access to continue kissing me wherever he wanted to. Already half-asleep, I awoke with a slight jolt when Eren spoke again.

"Come on," he murmured, "Let's get you cleaned up."

"Ugh, yeah... In a second," I muttered, not knowing how I'd ever be able to get up on legs I didn't even feel anymore at this point.

Eren chuckled and licked across the sole of my foot, making me whine. God, why did that feel so good?

"I bought new bath bombs, you know. Cherry blossom being only one among many others..." he mused with a sly grin.

Okay, that got my attention.

"Alright, let's go," I said and stretched. Then I reached out my arms at him and wiggled my fingers. "Carry me?"

Eren's eyebrows rose in surprise, his lips opening just an inch. Asking him to carry me made me look vulnerable and defenseless, an image I'd never want to conjure on purpose, but right now, I didn't care. I was utterly spent and my body ached in the best ways. All I wanted was to be bundled up in Eren's arms.

His eyes lit up beautifully and then he smiled as he gathered me in his arms. I snuggled up to his warm skin and closed my eyes as he got up from the bed and carried me to the bathroom.

"I'd carry you anywhere you want," he whispered into my hair before placing a sweet, heart-felt kiss to the top of my head.

I brushed my lips against his chest, right over his heart. "I just want to be where you are."