Disclaimer: I own none of the characters!

Dr. Zoe refused to let Eren leave, despite him claiming he was fine. So she kept him in his room and monitored him closely. Mikasa and Armin tried to stay with him throughout the night, but Dr. Zoe insisted that they go home to rest and work.

After only a day, Eren was already feeling antsy about missing work. Again.

He had already been sent to the hospital. And there he was again, under medical supervision and being forced to miss another day of work. He curled up in the bed and winced, feeling his skin pull at the wound on his side. He reached down and pressed his fingers to the bandages.

He looked over at the nightstand and the vase of flowers there. He spotted the note card and quickly reached over. He snatched it from its spot and leaned back against his pillow, unsure of what to expect. With a deep breath, he flipped it over and then opened it up.

There was a line of numbers, followed by "In case of an emergency, don't hesitate to call".

Eren grinned and bit his lip, holding the note to his chest. He sank back into the pillow and continued to sink until his was flat on his back, looking up at the white ceiling. His arm got tangled in the cords again and he hit the tray that was over the bed when his knees rose. He rolled on to his side, curling his toes, and kept the note card pressed tightly to his chest.

He closed his eyes and actually felt happy. He had been stuck in a hospital for two days now. But he actually had Levi's number in his hands. Given willingly.

He gasped and sat up quickly. What if that number was a fake?

Eren grabbed his phone from the side table and leaned back on the pillow, typing the number in. There was no point in getting his hopes up until he knew for sure that the number was real.

Hey whats up?

He looked at the text on his phone, his finger hovering over the send button. He kept typing.

How r u?

"Mmmm…."

He erased what he had to rewrite it.

Hey Levi its Eren. How are you?

"…..no."

Eren sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He had never had any trouble sending a text to anyone before. But knowing that Levi would be reading it made it difficult. Especially after that kiss…

Hey, it's Eren. Just texting to make sure this number works.

He hit send, locked his phone and shoved it under his pillow in one motion. It took a moment for the terror to sink in; he had actually sent a text to Levi. A real text message. He had attempted to contact Levi and hopefully, maybe, make small talk with him. He knew it was unlikely, but he could always hope.

Eren opened his eyes at the sound of a soft knocking at his door. His face was still red, just from sending the text, but he sat up and rubbed his nose as if it would wipe away his flush of color. His eyes widened once the door opened and he saw who stepped in.

He had been expecting Dr. Zoe. She had been taking care of him and keeping his bandages clean. And if not her, then Eren was sure it would be Mikasa and Armin. They had stopped by in the morning to check on him and he was sure they would stop by again by Mikasa's orders.

He did not expect Levi. But he really didn't expect his boss.

"S-Sir! Commissioner Smith," Eren breathed. He grabbed the sheets of his bed and felt his face instantly pale. "Good afternoon."

"Ah, good afternoon, Eren. I'm glad to see you're looking well," Irwin said, pulling up a chair. He sat down, folding his hands over his knee. "I'm sure Mikasa is making you eat?"

"Well…I've actually had enough of an appetite for her not to force me," Eren replied. "And it's only been two days so she hasn't had to get on to me. And sir I know I shouldn't be here past tomorrow. Really. And I'll be well enough to get back to work as soon as possible. I feel better already! If I could, I'd go back to work today."

"Your enthusiasm, as always, is appreciated."

Eren smiled faintly but he felt his stomach turn to knots.

"I'm very glad that you're doing better. But Eren…I'm sure you know why I'm here."

But. He should have known there would be a but thrown in there somewhere.

He nodded. "I can make a few guesses…"

"You directly disobeyed orders. And you endangered the lives of six of your comrades. Several of which ended up injured, bedridden and missing a day of work. Kirschtein and Springer were both fine to work but you and Bodt…Mm…."

Eren avoided his gaze as Irwin's eyes rested on his face. He pulled at the sheets and chewed his bottom lip nervously. He heard his phone's message alert go off and the small chime made his body ache. He wanted to check it and escape his current conversation. He didn't care who it was anymore; he just didn't want to keep hearing about how much he screwed up.

"No one is dead, thankfully. But Eren…you all could have been. Several of you came close," Irwin said sternly. "Just…what the hell were you thinking? Are you incapable of following orders?"

"I'm not, sir…I just…"

"You just what?"

Eren looked up at his boss's unhappy tone. The man's usually calm features were laden with anger.

"I wanted to prove my worth!" Eren shouted. "Sir, I wanted to show you that I am very capable of going out on the field and actually doing shit other than dealing with petty traffic accidents! That's not what I a signed up for when I took this job!"

"You signed up to serve the S.I.D. You signed up to be a part of a police force; a team. You signed up to follow orders and keep people out of danger. And you've failed. You didn't even think this one through. At all. You just ran into a situation without knowing anything about it. And you dragged along your comrades at that."

"I'm sorry," Eren said. "But I just…I wanted you to see that I'm good for something other than making copies of documents."

"I know you're very capable of that, Eren. But you cannot follow commands. And that…that's dangerous. And immature."

Eren hissed and looked away.

"And as much as I admire your love and need to serve the force, you just aren't S.I.D.-material."

The words cut right into Eren. Deeper and harder than the bullet. He looked back at Irwin, fighting to keep all of his emotions under his control. He felt anger swelling up in his stomach but he felt tears pushing at his eyes even harder. He was torn between screaming and crying so he only shook his head in confusion.

"N-No…"

"I apologize, Eren."

"Sir…you can't…"

"Consider it a temporary leave," Irwin said, standing. He adjusted his coat. "You'll always have a place with the S.I.D., but I think you need to grow elsewhere for a while first."

Eren lost whatever words he could use for an argument. He opened and closed his mouth, watching in horror as Irwin turned away. Walking toward the door.

"Sir…"

It was all he could muster.

"Take care, Eren. And rest well. I'll have Mikasa and Armin clean out your desk."

Eren was shaking as the door closed. Everything he had worked for. Everything he had aspired to be. He had focused his hardest on school to get to where he was. He lived and breathed his profession since his mother's death.

And it was taken away from him in a matter of seconds.

He fell back against his pillow and suddenly realized how cold and empty the room was. He pulled the sheets up to his neck as tears rolled off his cheek. Marco was hurt because of him. He had lost his job. Everything just felt…

Hopeless.

He reached under his pillow and pulled his phone out. He sniffled as he read the message.

What the fuck do you want, brat? If you're not dying, don't even bother replying back.

Eren swallowed hard.

Not dying but I lost my job

Minutes passed. Eren stared at his phone, waiting quietly. Dr. Zoe even came in and changed his bandages. She checked him over multiple times and eventually gave him the okay to leave in the morning.

She patted him on the head and left the room. Eren looked back at his phone and still nothing. He curled back up into a ball and listened to the miserable, monotonous beeping of the machine he was hooked up to.

It was awful.

He felt his phone suddenly vibrate and he pulled it close.

Favorite ice cream? Idk isn't an option.

A jolt was sent through Eren's body and he quickly replied with strawberry. He watched his phone again, waiting for another text. For anything.

But nothing ever came.

Eren dozed off with his phone loosely between his fingers. He cried silently, letting the tears roll down his cheeks and onto the bed. He drooled a little on his pillow and had curled up into a ball after some time. It was barely a thirty minute nap when the door to his room opened.

His eyes fluttered open at the sound of the movement. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, yawning big.

"You're drooling all over yourself. You're repulsive."

Eren squeaked at the familiar voice and hard tone. A little smile came across his face as he watched Levi across the room. The man had his back turned as he messed with a bag at the small table.

"You…you came to see me…"

"No shit," Levi said. He walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge. He held out a pint of strawberry ice cream and a spoon. "Here."

Eren stared at the ice cream as if it was foreign. He looked back up to Levi in disbelief and then back at the ice cream.

"You…you brought me ice cream?"

"Did that bullet hole let in more stupid? Of course. Take it, it's fucking cold."

On Levi's word, Eren snatched the ice cream from him. He held it close and felt the coldness in his hands, hitting against his stomach. He smiled again, almost sadly.

"Thank you, Levi."

Levi shrugged, holding the spoon to Eren's face. "Don't worry about it. Just eat and be happy."

"You don't understand," Eren said, taking the spoon. "You just…went out of your way to bring me ice cream. You actually took the time to stop and get ice cream and bring it here and it's just…a really nice feeling. Especially after everything that's happened…"

He dropped his eyes and looked at the lid. He peeled it off and scraped the spoon over the bright pink ice cream.

"Am I really that stupid?"

"No," Levi said. "You're not stupid. Reckless. And you're a little shit. But you're not entirely stupid."

"Heh…thanks…"

Eren licked at the ice cream and couldn't hold back a smile. Mixed emotions ran through him. He was still trying to cope with being fired. And he was still trying to cope with what had happened.

But then there was Levi, sitting with him on the hospital bed. And the small thing of ice cream he had bought and delivered, without so much as a warning or allowing Eren to protest.

"So you're jobless now?"

Eren nodded with the spoon in his mouth.

"All because you were snooping? Did you at least learn from this?"

"Yes, okay!" Eren snapped. He flopped back, shoveling more ice cream into his mouth. "Why were you even there?"

"You shitty brat…," Levi sighed, "you know damned well that I can't tell you that. I have my reasons."

"Are you a hitman? Like a professional one? I heard that the men that attacked us were all killed. And fast."

"So you assume that I did it?"

"Not a lot of people seem capable of just…killing people and carrying on with their life," Eren said with a little shrug. He scraped more ice cream onto the spoon and ate it slowly.

"It's complicated."

"It's always complicated," Eren hissed. He rolled his eyes and ate more ice cream. "But…I want to know…why did you leave your number? And why you're here now?"

Levi glanced over at Eren. "What about it?"

"Why did you do it?!"

"Because you're a helpless brat," Levi replied. He leaned back on his hands.

"So….Am I allowed to be around you now? More often? And for you to not tell me to go away?"

"That's all implied, you shit. Do I really need to spell it out?"

"I'm not stupid. I was just clarifying. It's still dangerous though, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but at this point it doesn't matter. You've meddled enough that I'm sure those bastards have seen your face. I'm still not going to tell you anything so don't get your damn hopes up."

"Yes sir!"

"Don't call me sir. I'm not your sir. I'm not your boss."

"Sorry…"

Eren snuggled back against his pillow. He poked at his ice cream with his spoon for a minute.

"Can I ask you something else?"

"What?"

"Umm…that girl…from the horseraces…is she—?"

"No. We're close friends. And she's with someone. That was a cover up."

Eren's cheeks went red and he felt his chest loosen up a little more. He held the ice cream container close to his body again, pulling his knees up. A little grin spread over his face. He eventually let the pint go to hide his face behind his hands.

"So we're not together. And I'm not currently dating anyone. It's rather difficult to date in my line of work."

Just as that bunch of nerves left Eren, they quickly returned at Levi's words. Eren stopped hiding his face to make a small opening, looking at Levi through his hands. He was hunched over, leaning against his knees. Levi had turned to better look at him and was lazily poking at Eren's foot through the sheets.

"You're sending me mixed signals," Eren muttered. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

Levi shifted and moved closer to him. Eren trembled and pushed away from his pillows. He was tired of waiting and lingering. He was tired of having no answers. He wanted something solid.

He gasped as Levi reached out, slipping his fingers through his hair. He pulled Eren closer and all Eren could do was close his eyes and fall forward.

"I'm almost certain you're not emotionally mature for this," Levi breathed against his lips. "And I doubt you can handle me disappearing for days at a time. Or keeping secrets. You couldn't handle it if I came home with blood on my hands or a fucking bullet wound in my arm. But dammit, I'm tired of you being fucking cute."

Eren smiled and rubbed his nose against Levi's.

"Today's been awful…Can we please makeout?"

"I'm sure you're awful at it. You're terrible at kissing."

"You should teach me."

"That's not my fucking responsibility. And your heart monitor will go up again," Levi hissed, pulling away. "And I don't want that shitty glasses doctor running in here either. Pervert."

"She's doing her job."

"Whatever," Levi said. He looked down at his watch and Eren shifted uncomfortably. He knew Levi's next words so he grabbed Levi by the hand.

"Ah…t-thank you...for everything."

"It was nothing, brat."

"But I mean it. Thank you." Eren swallowed hard, keeping his hands wrapped around Levi's. "It means a lot…to me…and I just—"

"Oi, brat. Shut it already."

Eren looked up at Levi's words. Anything he could have said was silenced as Levi lightly kissed Eren's lips. Eren smiled and Levi stood up, adjusting his shirt.

"Get some fucking rest already."