CHAPTER 10

"Drama at the Dinnertable"

"F-Fuck, this is really bad," I kept repeating as my breathing became heavy and quick pants. "Honey, what's going on with you?" Carla said with worry in her voice. She stood up, but looked uncertain if she dared to get closer to me. I was turning my upper body in odd ways, walking a little back and forth, not really noticing the people around me anymore.

It was becoming unbearable, and the only thing I could think of, was how the hell could something itch so badly?

And then all of the sudden, something had wrapped itself around my right leg, and the next thing I knew is that I couldn't breathe. In a moment of being utterly disoriented, I turn around only to notice that strong arms are around me, holding me down.

And then I realised that I was under water, and the best of it all was that the itching was gone. My worrying disappeared, but only for a second before a new one appeared

I started hitting the shoulders of the person holding me down in a signal to get up, and my prayers was quickly heard. I was lifted up over the water surface, and I wasted no time sucking all the air in that I could before starting to flip out.

"What the hell?! You tried to drown me!" I screamed at Levi, who was beside me, holding himself up with his arms. They moved in circles around him to hold him above the surface, because while I was able to reach the floor beneath us, he apparently wasn't. That wasn't really something that I was supposed to be thinking about right at that moment though, since my head was still clouded by anger.

"Relax, brat. You needed to get under water, I just helped you get in," He said with a shrug, not affected at all by my obvious rage.

"Honey, calm down," Carla joined in, looking at us both from her chair. "There's no need to get all worked up. He was just trying to help you,"

"Fuck that! He did something to my clothes just so he could have the opportunity to fucking drown me and get away with it!"

Several reactions happened at the same time after that. Carla gasped, Grisha yelled "Language!" and Levi looked taken aback as well.

"What the hell, brat? I try helping you, and you get all paranoid?"

I flipped him off, too annoyed to actually answering him correctly, and turned around to get to the stairs that led up to the ground again.

"Hey, don't walk away from – Oi! Listen to me!"

I climbed up the simple stairs, and as I had gotten up, I wasted no time by pulling the damn shirt over my head and throwing it on the ground beside the pool.

"If you wanted to fuck with my shirt so badly, then you can just have it!" I screamed at Levi who was still in the water, and looking up at me with a baffled expression. He probably didn't expect me to freak out this much, and honestly, I wasn't prepared for it as well. I wasn't even sure as to why I had a rage to this degree, or why it had affected me that much, but right now I just knew that I couldn't cool down.

Finally realising that everyone was staring at me in complete shock, I turned around to avoid further humiliation and hurried inside the house again. Finally alone, I took off my pants as well, and ran up the stairs to get to my bedroom, with a clear objective in mind. Not even bothering to slam the door behind me, I rushed inside and grabbed the bag to empty the remains on the bed. I placed the insides of the bag up against my nose, trying to smell the fabric to see if there was anything particular about it. I didn't actually know what I was looking for in the smell, but it did smell somewhat off if it was just supposed to be a normal bag. Shit. So what was I supposed to do now? I couldn't take any of my clothes on now before they'd been washed, and there was no way that I would should up in front of my family in just a pair of boxers.

"E-Eren," Armin was panting my name as he stood in the doorway, leaning up against the doorframe to hold his balance.

"What?" I snapped at him, too angry to realise that it was just Armin, and that he was just worried about me. He wasn't going to do anything to me like Levi had.

"Eh … " He straightened his back, though his eyes avoided mine. "A-Are you okay?"

"Fuck no, I'm not okay. That fucker put some sort of pepper spray or itching powder onto all my clothes! I have nothing to wear now!"

"Um … Can't we just wash it?"

"Yeah, but that'll take hours to dry! Then I won't be able to go to the beach with you, or get dinner … I can't walk around the house looking like this!" I pointed to my almost naked body, but Armin wasn't even looking in my direction. His rose pink cheeks revealed his embarassment, and that was when I realised as well that he hadn't really seen this much of me before. Well sure, when we had been younger, but that was when we hadn't even looked at each other that way.

Great. Now I had to deal with that as well. I really wasn't in the mood to act like a boyfriend right now.
"Come on Armin, use your brain instead of your dick! I can't deal with anything else than this right now, so please focus!"

His eyes sot up in absolute surprise as I said the word dick, and this gave his cheeks the reversed effects that I wanted. Still, he pulled himself together and walked over to our closet which he had already filled his clothes with. He took out a couple of shorts and a long-sleeved shirt and threw them at me, which I only barely caught.

"Thanks … " I took a deep breath, happy that he had found a solution – this also gave me time to realise that my tone of voice probably had been a little too rough just now.
"Do you think it'll fit?" I asked in a softer tone, tilting my head to look at him with inquiring eyes. He sent me a shy smile and shrugged.

"Why don't you try it on and find out?"

"I feel naked,"

"You feel fine! Don't worry so much about it,"

"You're not the one who has to be like this all evening," I whispered back into my boyfriend's ear, my voice turning sour and negative. He just laughed it off though, sending me his cute, little smile before turning to Mikasa to start up an actual conversation.

We were all sitting at the table, only waiting for my mother to cut up the chicken and put it in the salad so that we could eat. The table was oblong, and since we were a total of 6 people, there was two on both sides, and one at each end. I was sitting at Armin's side, and while Mikasa was facing him, I was left with sitting straight in front of Levi. My mother was the one sitting in front of us, while my dad was in the other end at Armin and Mikasa.

I couldn't resist fiddling with the shorts, as I kept trying to pull the fabric further over my thighs to cover up more skin. It kept rolling back into place though, lying tightly over both my ass and my nether regions, keeping it all in place, though making it rather uncomfortable to wear. It was too revealing as well, but at least I was glad that the table covered that up. I looked up to shoot an angry look in Levi's direction, which he responded to with lazily raising an eyebrow.

"Jerk," I hissed under my breath so that no one else than he could hear it, but he only responded silently, lifting the corner of his mouth up in a smirk.

"I'm sorry, is this amusing to you?" I asked angrily, trying to keep my voice as low as possible, while the others kept their conversations louder and therefore unaware.

"Would it surprise you if I said yes?" He answered back, whispering as well. To this I just snorted in annoyance, but before I was able to answer, my mother came over to sit down with the bowl of salad in her hands.

"Well, dinner is served," She chirped happily as she placed it in the middle of the table, and everyone hummed in unison.

"It looks delicious mom," Mikasa said, sending a little smile to Carla, which seemed to made her overly happy.

"Oh, I'm glad! Now please everyone, go ahead and take as much as you'd like!"

And as ordered, we all grabbed our plates and filled it with the chicken salad, excited to finally get something down our stomachs.

"This tastes really great Carla," Levi said as he put another portion into his mouth, chewing it lightly.

"Oh, that's good to hear, honey." Carla smiled at him, caressing his hand slightly before turning her attention to her own food again.

"Ass kisser," I muttered, rolling my eyes in disgust, and even though this remark was just planned for myself, Levi still managed to hear it.

"What did you just say?" He growled, hammering his fork down on the table. Everyone around the table got silent and watched, since they had learned that it was best that way when we started bickering.

When had it become so normal?

"Nothing," I grunted, shrugging it off, trying to keep my cool. Levi wasn't falling for that though, as his eyes shot daggers at me.

"If you've got something to say, then say it,"

I clenched my jaw as I considered if it was the right move to confront him about it now. My anger, of course, had a different view on things. It just wanted to burst out right here and now, getting everything out on the table.

"Okay, fine! You're jealous of me, and wants my life and everything that I have. It's pathetic," I spat out, staring at him with large eyes full of rage. His was filled with rage as well, and even his hands had turned into fists, resting on the edge of the table.

"Bullshit. You're the pathetic one, if you really think that," He answered, apparently still able to keep his voice calm. Well, calmer than mine at least.

"Are you seriously calling me pathetic? You're the one who can't stop bothering me!"

Levi's eyes squinted, and since he didn't answer that right away, an uncomfortable silence appeared. Then he suddenly turned his head to Carla, looking determined at her.

"Eren said that nobody liked me today. That I wasn't even allowed to hang out with them,"

Carla's mouth dropped, as she turned to me.

"That is not how I raised you, Eren Jaeger!"

Low blow. Was he really going to pull my own mother into this? Then fine, I could play this game as well.

"Well, Levi was the one who put pepper spray on all my clothes!"

Levi stood up by this though he was leaning in over the table to look at me more closely.

"I've overheard Eren having phonesex with Armin!"

What the hell? That wasn't even true! I stood up as well, even more pissed off now. If he wanted to do it that way, then fine. I could lie as well.

"Levi masturbates when he thinks I'm asleep!"

Levi's mouth turned into an o-shape, and almost everyone gasped in a mix of shock and embarassment.

"Eren brought condoms and plans on using them!"

This was almost a screaming match by now, both of our voices raising dangerously high.

"Levi is in love with me!"

" … "

Complete silence.

I wasn't sure if it was because he didn't have any more good remarks or if he was just too surprised, but he didn't say any more. Instead he started at me with wide eyes, pushing the chair back loudly as he took a step backwards. And just like that, it was over. He clenched his jaw and stared at me with eyes that were filled with an intense emotion that I couldn't quite figure out, and then – he was gone. Ran out of the room and out into the hall, leaving us all behind in a tense and awkward atmosphere.

"Eren Jaeger, whatever is going on with you, I want this to stop right now."

My mothers voice was almost shaking with anger, as she stood up as well. But this wasn't anger as in rage – it was the one that was created only to be whispered in a hissing tone, as she looked at me with decisive eyes. This only happened rarely, and that was when you knew that you had crossed that invisible line, that your mother was so angry that she couldn't even yell it – it had to be whispered, and hearing it was almost even more scary.

I knew right then and there that I was in some deep shit.

"I will not tolerate your fighting any more. This is something that needs to be stopped right now, or else you'll ruin the rest of this trip. Go after him and apologise right now, or else."

I tried swallowing the large lump in my throat as I nodded weakly.

" … Y-Yes mom," I mumbled before turning around and running the same way that he had gone, leaving the rest of my family behind.

"Hey, Levi, wait up man!" I yelled, though he was nowhere to be seen. Though the front door was left open, so it wasn't hard to guess where he had gone to. "Levi!"

He was walking down the small road, and as I ran after him I couldn't help but wonder how he could walk so fast when having such short legs.

"Will you just stop already!" I yelled after him as my breath turned into small pants. I finally caught up to him, and the first thing I did was grabbing his shoulder to stop him from going any further.

"Seriously, what is your – "

He interrupted me by taking me by surprise, pushing me away roughly only seconds after I had grabbed him.

"Fuck off, Eren." He hissed, looking at me with squinted eyes.

"I just wanted to apologise, why are you getting so upset with me?"

"Because you fucking … You … " He seemed lost for words, as if he wasn't sure how he was supposed to phrase it.

I was going to come with a sarcastic remark, but stopped myself in time, thinking that it'd probably be better if I kept it neutral. I was the one who was supposed to be mad at him right now, yet I was still standing here, forced to apologise to this jerk.

"Levi," I started out, waiting until he was focusing on me again. "I'm sorry,"

Levi's reaction wasn't really what I had imagined. Though then again, I wasn't really sure what I was supposed to think. He truly just kept surprising me. He had raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms tightly over his chest, and staring at me as if he was waiting for something. I had already apologised, what more did he want from me?

"Brat, don't say something that you don't mean. You clearly hate my guts,"

I scratched the back of my neck awkwardly, trying to avoid eye contact.

"Um … Eh, no … Of course I don't, uh – "

Levi groaned loudly.

"Stop pissing me off! You know, this is exactly the reason why you deserve getting your clothes pepper sprayed,"

"So you did do it! I knew it!"

"I never said that I did it?"

Now it was my turn to prim my lips and raise an eyebrow. Levi sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Fine. I did it,"

"AHA!"

"Oh god, whatever. I was actually going to tell you, but how was I supposed to know that you would change clothes so quickly?"

I took a step closer, placing my hands on my hips and placing my weight on the other foot.

"Why didn't you just tell me when we were talking at the pool?"

"Well … I only realised that I regretted it afterwards. I guess I just figured out that I don't really want to continue these … Pranks. Not anymore,"

I bit my bottom lip, thinking back over those crazy, odd pranks that we had done to each other, forcing the other person into humiliating and horrifying situations. But it had all started out because of hate … I wasn't even completely sure, but in that moment, I realised that I had started to see them as fun. A challenge, something to prove myself and my worth.

"Well … I guess we've both crossed the line a few times … " I mumbled, looking back at Levi. As I said it, he suddenly looked down at his fingers that were fiddling with the end of his shirt. He suddenly seemed nervous … It felt rather odd, seeing the big, bad Levi Ackerman like this.

"About crossing lines … I'm ready sorry about the other night. I shouldn't have done that," He mumbled under his breath, his voice so low that I had almost missed it. But I was glad that I heard it, because it was probably something that he would never say again. "I guess I'm not really the best at making the right decisions, but … I also need you to know that I didn't do it because I'm in love with you. Because I'm not," He had looked up again to stare deeply into my eyes again, holding it locked in place before continuing. "I did it because … Because I guess I like boys. And since I thought that you liked me, I just … Well. As I said, I'm not good at making the right decisions. And it's not really something that I'm proud of,"

I didn't dare to move. I didn't even dare to speak. My jaw had slowly dropped and my eyes had widened in reaction to his speech, but otherwise I was too frozen up to actually do anything else. It was like meeting a deer in the woods and being too afraid to move, because then that might scare it away.

Was Levi seriously opening up to me right now? This boy with such a cold and hard exterior, was showing me his inner self, revealing a weakness of his … Was I really hearing right, or was this just a dream? I didn't know how to feel about this, though he only emotion that I recognised within myself was a rather surprising one …

I felt proud. Important. Significant. As if I was the only one in the world who was allowed to see this side of Levi Ackerman. This boy, that I had once hated, was now treating me with importance. With respect. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all.

"Oi, brat. Stop looking like a damn fool and close that mouth of ours,"

My jaw snapped in place once more, but I still didn't feel like I could come up with an adequate answer to that.

"It's okay. I forgive you," I ended up saying, sending him a smile that started out small but ended up widening from ear to ear. This resulted in a little smile from Levi as well, which I saw as a succes. It might not be much, but it was a genuine one, and that was all that mattered.

"I'm glad,"

So Levi finally revealed that he's gay! HALLELUJAH, NOW WE CAN FINALLY GET CLOSER TO THE GOOD STUFF! Haha. So what are your thoughts on this chapter? There's quite a lot of drama and overreacting (from both Eren and Levi) but I still hope that you liked it!

On another note, I would like to remind all of you lovelies that I created an account on Instagram for you guys, so that I could give you small treats like sneak peeks of the next chapters and cute pics of Ereri while we're all waiting impatiently for another chapter to be updated, heh ~ You should follow me! My name is: Ererilove

Anyways, have a great weekend you guys!