"No, Eren." Levi says sternly.
"Why can't we shower together?" Eren whines.
"Because if we do that, you're going to want to have sex again, and I can't keep up with your stamina."
Eren doesn't reply, just puts on a pouty face like the spoiled brat he is. Levi rolls his eyes and stands up, stretching slowly. Eren's disappointment fades away as he takes one last chance to see Levi's gorgeous body.
"You're so beautiful, Levi heichou…"
Levi scowls at the comment, and Eren just laughs.
"Don't call me beautiful. And you don't call me heichou. That's a thing of the past."
"It's a reminder of the love we had then."
"It's a reminder of the love we had, but couldn't show. In this life, we are free to love each other and no one can judge us."
Eren is quiet for a moment.
"But you're the heichou of my heart…" He whispers.
Levi's heart beats faster, moved by Eren's words. He ruffles Eren's hair, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.
"I love you, Eren. I'm going to go get in the shower now. I'll make breakfast when I get out, okay?"
Eren nods, and as Levi walks out of the room, Eren snuggles up under the covers, trying to relish the remaining warmth while he still can.
Levi turns on the water for the shower, and while it warms up, he takes a moment to look at himself in the mirror. He quickly counts all the marks that Eren gave him, on his neck, chest and arms.
What will my friends say about this? I'm supposed to meet Hanji for coffee tomorrow, and there is no way to cover up all of these without drawing attention to them.
Levi puts his head in his hands.
She'll find away to meddle in my affairs and then tell all my other friends about it even if I tell her not to… But I can't worry about this right now; I have to hurry up and make breakfast.
Levi steps into the shower, savoring the feeling of the rivulets of water running down his body. He slowly lathers and rinses his body, washing away the actions of yesterday for a fresh start. As Levi turns off the water and steps out of the shower, he can't help but sing the song that pops into his mind from his teenage years, soothing him and clearing his mind.
When Eren hears Levi's sultry voice, he slips on his boxers and puts his ear to the door of the bathroom, listening to Levi sing.
Lesson learned, I don't need to turn the page of
My life goes on, so I'll rot away here
A time machine turning back to the day would be nice
Years fly by but I'm living, 'fraid of dying
And drawing out hopes of "maybe someday"
Though I know that I am never to see you again
Eren recognizes the song as one of his favorites, and he sings along from his spot outside the door.
Don't wonder why, wanna die, wanna die
Grabbing my own hand, cursing it to hell as I sat there
Not a thing I can do might as well
Live it up while I'm still alive and I'm breathing
In this midsummer dream maybe see
The younger me that I was playing before you flew free
Levi hears a voice joining in harmony with his own, growing louder and more confident as the song draws closer to the chorus.
Back in the days where I had hid in the haze
But slowly running ablaze and burning red in my brain!
Levi opens the door, and Eren immediately cuts off, looking sheepishly up at Levi.
"The bathroom is all yours, Eren." Levi says to fill the awkward silence, and they skirt around each other to trade places.
Eren quickly gets the water running again and steps into the water, allowing the next part of the song to slip off his tongue and into the steamy air.
18 years, a boy no longer
To wait for her to fall from somewhere
Remembering the figures blurring in the
Summer in a heart beat
Fight the sun in desert school grounds
A smile from ear to ear, it resounds
"Why don't we play a game?"
Another round as you go 'round
Levi listens carefully to Eren's beautiful voice as he puts on fresh clothes and heads to the kitchen. He works efficiently, pulling out a coffee machine and toaster out from the cabinets beneath the counter. He adds the coffee beans and water to the coffee machine to brew, and drops two pieces of bread into the slots of the toaster for when the eggs are ready. He pulls on a simple apron before quickly cracking three eggs into a bowl and whisking them, putting them aside as he pulls out a pan and heats it on the stove. He continues to prep breakfast as Eren gets out of the shower and gets dressed. He wanders into the kitchen as Levi is pouring the eggs into the pan, and he comes around behind Levi, putting his arms around the waist of his partner as he cooks.
"Smells good…" Eren says, breathing deeply.
"Breakfast should be ready in about three minutes, Eren."
"Good, because I'm hungry."
Eren smiles, nibbling Levi's earlobe as he works. A small moan escapes Levi before he manages to brush Eren off.
"Go sit down; I'll bring breakfast to you." Levi says, pushing down the lever on the toaster.
The coffee maker beeps at the same time that the toast and eggs finish, and Levi works quickly, serving up two plates of eggs and toast along with two mugs of coffee, setting out butter, cream and sugar to go with them.
Eren and Levi eat in a comfortable silence, eating quickly due to hunger.
"By the way, I texted my mom last night that I was staying the night at a friend's house, and not to worry if I don't come home until late this afternoon. I figured after the whole incident before that she would panic if I didn't come home when I was supposed to."
Levi nods, appreciating Eren's thoughtfulness.
I'm glad that he did that… If he got grounded, then I wouldn't be able to see him for a long time aside from at the therapy sessions. Is it selfish of me to be more concerned about seeing him more than the fact that his parents might get worried about him? Nope, definitely selfish of me. So much for being a responsible adult.
"I don't want my mom to worry. Besides, if I made her worry like that, I would get grounded, then we wouldn't be able to go on dates for a while. Wouldn't that suck?"
Eren smiles at Levi happily at the prospect of more dates, and Levi smiles back.
He's an angel…
"Yep, that would suck." Levi replies, trying not to let the full extent of his feelings show by acting nonchalant.
"Eren, after breakfast are you still up for going shopping?"
Eren nods slowly.
"I know I'll be fine if Levi is with me."
How does this kid not know how incredibly cute he is?
Levi forces himself to look away before any urges overcome his common sense. Soon, the pair has finished their meal, and Levi quickly cleans up the dishes and sticks them in the dishwasher. He goes back to his room to get his shoes and finds Eren bent over the bed, stripping the dirty sheets so they can be washed later, just as Levi would have done.
"Thank you, Eren."
Eren flashes Levi a smile.
"It's what you would have done right?"
Marry me, Eren!
Levi once again forces himself to avert his eyes from Eren, quickly pulling on his shoes and going to the door.
"Are you ready to go, Eren?" Levi asks, swiping his keys off the kitchen table.
"I'm ready." Eren says, appearing beside Levi.
Levi nods, and leads Eren out of the apartment, locking the door behind him. He opts for the stairs rather than the elevator, and moves surprisingly fast, making it hard for Eren to keep up. Levi waits patiently for Eren at the bottom of the stairs before finding his car. Eren oohs and aahs over Levi's car, a sleek, black BMW. Levi slides on a pair of black shades, and takes the wheel. As they drive downtown, Eren can't take his eyes off Levi.
He's so cool! He looks like a member of the yakuza. I mean, he's so incredibly bad-ass! My bad-ass…
Levi pretends not to notice Eren staring at him the entire time, but eventually he can't help but let a tiny smile slip through his facade. When they arrive at the shopping center, Levi turns to Eren.
"Are you ready to go?"
Eren's limbs are frozen, and he is staring at something, but Levi can't tell what it is. Eren's only movement is the strong shaking in his unsteady hands.
"Eren? You okay?"
Eren continues to stare. He begins to hyperventilate, and Levi puts his hand on Eren's shoulder.
"Get out of the car, Levi. Get away as fast as you can. Save yourself."
"What is it? What's wrong, Eren?" Levi asks, panic creeping into his voice.
"Go. Save yourself."
"Eren, I'm not leaving you behind."
"You have to."
"Eren, just tell me. What is it?"
Eren opens his mouth, but he is unable to form words. Levi silently freaks out, unsure of what to expect.
"Eren, you need to tell me right now so I can try to get us out of this situation."
"S-s-s-sp-sp…"
"Sp- What?"
"Spider…" Eren whispers.
Levi looks at Eren long and hard. He takes in the fear contorting Eren's face, and the fact that Eren looks like he is on the verge of crying. He takes a closer look at the dashboard where Eren is staring and spots the spider, crawling across the dash. Levi's hand flies down and smashes the spider, smearing it across the dash before wiping the remains up with a tissue. Levi smacks Eren upside the head, and Eren lets out a noise of protest.
"First things first: DON'T SCARE ME LIKE THAT! I thought there was a bomb or something, and that we were going to die, and you scared me so bad. If it's just a spider, then kill it, or ask me to kill it."
Eren whimpers in fear.
"Second, it is not okay to tell me to save myself. I'm going to stick with you no matter the situation to help you through. I'm with you to the end of the line, and that's my decision to make, not yours. Do you understand?"
Eren nods, averting his eyes, feeling properly shamed. Levi feels bad for yelling at Eren, so he undoes Eren's seatbelt and pulls him into his lap, gently rocking him back and forth to calm him down. After several minutes of this, Levi and Eren get out of the car and walk into the mall, hand in hand.
Once inside the mall, Eren handles himself well, not having any flashbacks of the incident. He even manages to find Mikasa a birthday present. He discovers a shop that specializes in Titan Era themed goods, and knowing that Mikasa remembers her past life, Eren picks out a 3D MG Sword necklace for her. As he walks out of the shop with Levi, he smiles, pleased that he found Mikasa a new gift.
"Hey Levi, I bet that if I ask Mikasa nicely, she'll let you come to her birthday party on February 10th. Would you be interested in going?"
Levi thinks for a moment before replying.
"Normally, I would say no to that kind of thing, but I guess it would be an extra opportunity to see you, and Mikasa's alright… I would be happy to come along."
Eren flashes a smile at Levi before facing forward to make his way through the crowd of busy shoppers.
"Though if I come along, I'll need to get Mikasa a present…" Levi trails off, thinking back to something he saw in the shop where Eren found the necklace for Mikasa.
"I'll be right back; stay here." Levi says, but Eren doesn't hear him over the din of the crowd, and very soon he is separated from Levi, but he doesn't notice.
"That's right! What are you going to get her? Do you want to get her something from that same shop or something else? I think back in that shop there were also shirts that were meant to look like the Survey Corps uniform; maybe she would like one of those? Heck, I would want one of those for you; Levi heichou always looks great in uniform. Maybe we should go back and buy one? What do you think, Levi?"
Eren turns around and doesn't see Levi, just a sea of bodies swirling around him like a storm.
"Levi?"
Eren frantically begins to search, looking left and right, up and down, for the mop of raven hair that belongs to Levi. He is buffeted by the crowd moving around him, and one person slams into Eren particularly hard, knocking him to the ground. Eren is smacked in the side of the head by some lady's purse, making him rub his head.
"Sorry, please excuse me." A familiar voice says, making Eren's heart beat faster.
A hand is offered to him, to help him stand, and Eren looks up into the face of the man that knocked him to the floor. He recognizes the face instantly, a face that had plagued his nightmares all week. Eren finds himself frozen, stuck to the spot where he fell as he looks up into the face of one of his assaulters from the incident a week ago.
"Impossible…"
"Hey! You're that kid!" The man replies, rage sharpening his voice.
He reaches for Eren, who finds himself feeling trapped in the sea of people.
"Where's your savior now?"
