A/N: Can you believe it's already November? The year had flown by incredibly quickly!

Levi (22:46): Why aren't you answering your phone?

Eren stared at his phone as he took a breather in the kitchen. This was his first idle moment in the past four hours, and he was quite taken aback to have found five missed calls and a text message from Levi when he unlocked his phone. Levi had been trying to call him for two hours, and had sent the text an hour after the last attempt, which was nearly an hour ago.

Eren (23:39): I'm at work.

With a sigh, Eren slipped his phone back into the pocket of his neatly pressed trousers. Wearing the smart tuxedo in the blazing summer heat was bad enough, but wearing it on a summer's night serving a function of nearly seventy heads was just plain torture. While they were not nearly understaffed for the event – on the contrary, Mr Smith was kind enough to have brought in extra help for the event, which was why Eren was working tonight – the clients were demanding. Fortunately, they were not rude, which was their only saving grace, and despite the copious amounts of liquor that they continuously demanded, expecting lightning-fast service, they were polite and very generous tippers.

Levi (23:41): Come over?

Eren blinked rapidly for a moment before rereading those two words a dozen times over again. Why, for the love of all things holy, would Levi ask him to come over? Ever since the morning after their brief, heated encounter, the morning that saw Levi spew a confession Eren would never have thought would come from the man, they had barely spoken. Their interactions had been formal at best, but mostly detached – their afternoons were nothing more than a simple greeting, an exchange of pleasantries, and training sessions that were mostly Eren trying to hold in his complaints and Levi whipping out every sadistic trick in the book to try and make Eren break.

Why then, after a week like that, would Levi want Eren to "come over"?

"Someone send nudes?" Armin asked as he joined Eren. He brushed his hair out of his face, letting out a long breath and shaking his head from side to side, completely missing Eren's dumbfounded expression.

Sometimes Eren forgot that Armin, despite being an intelligent and quiet young man, was also but a boy at heart.

"The crowd's thinning out," Armin said when Eren did not reply. "Only about a dozen left, and we just did last call."

Eren wasn't paying attention to Armin at all. He was somewhere between trying to figure out why Levi would want him to visit, and what to say to the man in reply. This left him staring at his phone as if there really were something of nude interest that had him dumbfounded.

"Earth to Eren," Armin said, waving his hand between Eren's face and his phone.

This snapped the brunette out of it. With a rapid couple of blinks of his eyelids, he turned his head to find his amused best friend staring at him with an eyebrow cocked. Eren had to admit, Armin had matured quite gracefully. In his teens, Armin was short and slim, but as a young adult, Armin had added a few inches to his height and a few pounds to his frame, still boasting a lithe figure but one that was more athletic than one would have imagined for the sedentary blonde.

"What?" Eren asked.

"What's gotten you so focused on your phone?" Armin asked. He leaned in closer as if he were trying to look at Eren's screen. "Must be one hell of a dick-pic."

"Armin!" Eren snapped, jerking his phone away.

While the blonde did not know enough about Levi Ackerman to care much for the scandal that would come from the star's sexual orientation, everyone who so much as knew Eren's last name knew that the brunette was obsessed with Levi. Armin would easily deduce who the contact "Levi" on Eren's phone was, given that neither of them knew or had ever met any other Levis before.

Eren could not afford to let Armin see what was on his phone.

"What are you hiding?" Armin asked with a knowing smirk. This cockiness was unlike Armin.

Just then, another waitress marched into the kitchen and grabbed Armin, demanding that he help her carry whiskey glasses for the bottle a group of men had just bought. While Eren was relieved to be free of the interrogation, the fact that another bottle had just been bought meant that he may be in for a long night.

Eren (23:55): Still at work.

Eren locked his phone and was about to slip it into his pocket so that he could help the other waiters, but before he could, his phone buzzed in his hand.

That was fast, he thought, as he unlocked his phone again.

Levi (23:56): Till?

Eren (23:56): Depends when the last people leave.

This time, Eren put his phone away and hurried to the bar to help his colleagues. He felt his phone vibrating in his pocket as a message came through from Levi barely a minute after he'd sent his last text, but he ignored it. Levi could wait, and in making the man wait, he could figure out what was going on.

Maybe there was nothing more to it. Maybe Levi just wanted to see Eren. After all, the man hadn't replied when Eren said he wouldn't be coming to training due to work. Then again, why would Levi only call after seven, call persistently, and then eventually text…not to mention inviting him over at this ungodly hour? Usually when a man did that, it meant only one thing, but Eren knew that Levi did not want that one thing. Or at least, he did not want just that one thing.

Unless Levi had reconsidered…

Eren ignored the cheers of the group of men who were behaving like a bunch of teenage boys rather than grown men in their fifties, possibly sixties, and after delivering two bottles of Glen Fiddich 18 year old whiskey to the group, he bolted back to the kitchen. Once there, he yanked his phone from his pocket and was completely unsurprised to find a text from Levi.

Levi (23:57): Come afterwards.

Eren (00:07): It'll be too late. I doubt I'll knock off before 2.

Armin's voice broke into Eren's bubble then. "Is that who I think it is?"

Eren jolted at the sudden sound, quickly locking his phone to hide the text. He could only hope that Armin was bluffing and that he hadn't seen the name on the screen, but given the curious glint in the blonde's eyes, Eren knew that Armin had seen more than he was supposed to. It made Eren wonder just how long Armin had been standing beside him, and how much his friend had seen.

"Nothing," Eren said. He felt his phone vibrate in his hand and he fought the urge to check the message.

"Is that the MMA Levi?" Armin asked casually. The sudden change in tone made Eren suspicious.

"Maybe."

Grinning, Armin said, "So you got his number?"

There truly was no use in lying to Armin. Although Eren had no intention of telling his friend the entire story – and had no right to, in fact, it could potentially put Levi in a situation that could prematurely end his career – he figured that telling Armin about the training was harmless. As a matter of fact, Eren should tell Armin about it! It was a major feat, and quite the progressive step towards him becoming better at something he liked. As his best friend, Armin should be happy for him.

After telling Armin a truncated version of how he had procured Levi as a personal trainer – obviously skimming over the parts where Levi had caught him in compromising positions and definitely the part where he and Levi had been in a compromising position themselves – Eren told the lie, "So I'm telling him I can't train tomorrow morning because I'll be stuck here till late."

Armin bought it easily enough. Eren had never been good at lying. Whether it was because he had an overactive conscience or because he was incapable of tracking the details in a falsified story, he would never know, but from childhood, lying did not come naturally to him. In his adult years, however, he learnt that "lying", "manipulating the truth" and "omitting" where completely different. By "omitting", Eren was able to hide more without outright lying. It clearly worked.

"I hope you hand Jean his ass when you fight him," Armin said.

"He asked for a second chance," Eren said without thinking. Had it been anyone else, he would have regretted the confession, but it being Armin, he only smiled apologetically.

Armin's eyes widened. "What?" Eren nodded. "When?"

"A couple of weeks back," the brunette said nonchalantly.

A subtle warning flashed in Armin's eyes as he glared at Eren with a ferocity he usually never possessed. It was strange to see those gentle blue eyes so threatening, but as Armin got bigger – and more attractive – his confidence rose. Slightly, but it rose some.

"You better not have said yes," Armin threatened.

"Of course not." Eren scowled as he realized that Armin did not know about the uncountable times Jean had mistreated him after the breakup. He relaxed his features before offering up a little smile. "I'm not going to make that mistake again."

Or would he? Or rather, why would he not? Was he unwilling to give Jean a second chance because he was curious about what Levi had to offer? Or was he unwilling to give Jean that chance because what Jean had done was brutal, uncalled for and plain fucked up? Was he…in fact, Eren would be lying if he said he was completely unwilling to give Jean that chance. He did, after all, say that he would think about it. Was that just lip service?

"We can start clearing up," one of the other waitresses said as she popped her head in through the kitchen doors, "it looks like the old boys club is taking the whiskey home."

"Thank goodness!" Armin said, darting out of the kitchen.

Before following, Eren reached for his phone to see what Levi had said last. Twenty five minutes ago, Levi sent one word.

Please.

Dumbfounded, Eren stared at the inoffensive word as if it suddenly possessed the greatest meaning in linguistics. While he did not think Levi was particularly rude – brash and tactless, but not a morally-devoid dimwit – he never imagined the man would so solemnly use the word "please". Was it even solemnly used, or did Eren imagine that?

Just then, his phone rang. It was Levi.

"Hello?" Eren answered almost immediately.

"Eren," Levi said. He sounded raspy. "Where are you?"

"Still at work," Eren answered.

"Come over."

"Levi, I'm tired. I want to go…"

"Eren, please."

Eren balked. It was not solemnity he had seen in that single word, it was pure desperation. That desperation bled out of Levi's tone, that single word almost begged. Something was not right. Levi was not okay, but why would he call Eren? The two hardly knew each other…did Levi not have friends? Was the famed fighter lonely?

"Sure," Eren eventually said. It was probably not as dire as he imagined it to be, but if his idol was lonely, the least he could do, as a fan, was to fill the void.

"Come to the dojo," Levi said.

"At this time?" Eren said, his thoughts verbalized.

"Yes."

Without giving Eren time to respond, Levi hung up. The brunette stared at his phone for a second, wondering just what the hell was going on. Not only was Levi inviting him to visit at an ungodly hour, but the man was obviously desperate for said visit, and quite insistent on the location being the dojo. Yes, he owned it, but wasn't going to the dojo at this time of the night a little…weird?

Something was definitely wrong. For that reason only, Eren decided he would go to the dojo as soon as he knocked off.

What am I doing?

Those words ran through Eren's mind over and over again as he ascended the stairs to the dojo at 02:30 in the morning. After a grueling shift at Smith's – the tips were more than worth it, though – he bid farewell to his childhood friend with the guise that he would be heading home. On the contrary, Eren thought as he got into his car and made his way straight to the dojo, he was chasing after a man with questionable desires and intentions.

Relieved of the tuxedo jacket, and bowtie, Eren was left wearing a smart white shirt, now untucked and creased, and his trousers that were, surprisingly, still crease and grease free. He wondered what he looked like to the sleeping world, walking down the ill-lit, desolate passageway at this time of the night dressed as he was. Did he look like a runaway groom? He smiled to himself as he thought that that would be the first thing he would think if he saw himself right now.

The dojo was unlocked.

To a normal person, this would have been a red flag. Even Eren had to admit it was incredibly strange to have received such demanding texts that quickly became desperate, to meet him at the dojo at this time of the night. For a moment, he wondered if someone had forced Levi's into luring Eren here to be the victim of a gang heist – although no gang would target him, being a mere student. Perhaps…Eren's blood ran cold as he pondered the possibility of being lured here by homophobes wanting to purge the world of gay. With fists at the ready, heart rate slowly rising as he expected the worst, Eren pushed the dojo door open and cautiously ventured inside, locking the door behind him.

If he were to get in a fight, he would at least like to trap his assailants in an area he knew, an area filled with implements that could deal some damage.

Most of the lights were off; only a few burned dimly at the very back. It gave the dojo an eerie feeling – lines of punching bags looked like lifeless bodies dangling from the ceiling, the open ring looked a black pit in the corner, the cage, shrouded in shadow looked like a beast was contained within it. But what made the dojo even eerier was the rhythmic beating coming from the back. It was a sound Eren instantly recognized as the sound of bare skin pounding against a weighty bag, and as he drew nearer to the sound, he could hear the tell-tale sounds of exertion as sharp breaths accompanied the dull thuds.

This couldn't be a trap. This was too elaborate. No one would spend this much energy trying to catch his undivided attention. This didn't mean he could lower his guard. Eren treaded forward quietly, until the person beating the bag came into view.

Eren stopped. His heart nearly stopped as well.

Levi Ackerman was beating the bag as if it had wronged those nearest and dearest to him. Wearing only a short pair of shorts with no wraps on his hands or feet, Levi threw well-coordinated punches and kicks at the bag with a velocity and ferocity that was both impressive and frightening. Given his state – heaving, huffing, panting and sweating torrentially – he had been at it for a while, which only made the strength and speed in each blow all the more impressive.

Why was he here, though? Why was he attacking the bag as if he had a vendetta against it?

Looking closely at the raven-haired man, Eren then noticed the blood. A lot of blood. It was smeared on the bag, pooled and smudged on the floor and splattered around the walls surrounding the bag. Most of the blood, however, was on Levi's body. His hands, especially his knuckles, were raw. There barely seemed to be any skin left on them at all. His elbows, feet and shins also lacked skin, although not nearly as much as his hands.

For a moment, Eren panicked, wondering if there had been a fight. But as he drew closer to Levi, he noted that while there was a lot of blood on and around the man, there was not enough to be lethal. There was nowhere near enough blood to have been from an attack, let alone another person. The blood he was seeing…it was from Levi.

The man stopped mid-jab. Fierce eyes darted to Eren, rooting the brunette in place with a gasp – that glare was one Eren had seen before, but never on a man. That was the look an animal gave another when its territory was being encroached upon, when it was being challenged for a mate, or when its spawn was threatened. The look in Levi's eyes was downright inhuman, and for a moment, Eren genuinely feared for his life.

Was this it? Was this the point Levi would snap? Eren had made a very bold advance on him, and since then, they had barely spoken. Granted, Levi made a confession that very clearly implied he wanted something with Eren, but had that been lip service? Had that been a ruse to get the boy out of his home? Had Levi been contemplating Eren's advance all week, and tonight decided that he would obliterate the little faggot once and for all?

Eren began trembling. He shook like a pup before a beast, an unarmed man pitted against a dragon. If he had less control of himself in that moment, he would have likely pissed in his pants. The way Levi was looking at him was not the way a person looked at another human being. It was the way a beast looked at something that needed to be destroyed, vermin that needed to be erased.

Having been at the receiving end of fists as the torments of "faggot" and "queer" were spat in his face, Eren knew the look of a man who was escalating into a violent state. If there was one thing, even if only for self-preservation, that Eren could immediately and unmistakably place, was a man losing his control on rationality and succumbing to the instinctive need to purge something considered a threat.

And then Levi began walking towards him.

Those greys were focused sharply on him like the eyes of a predator that had cornered its prey. No, not even. They were trained on Eren like the eyes of a predator that had already secured the kill and now only needed to deal the final blow. Those eyes, those sharp, grey hues that Eren loved, worshiped, fantasized about and even came to, were now the chains that would hold him down as he met his untimely end.

Yet despite knowing what was coming, he could not move. The door was only ten meters from where he was, but he could not make that move. It was locked, but if he got there before Levi, he could open it and run.

Run where? Levi was stronger, faster and a better fighter than him. No matter what he did, he would get caught.

And killed.

"L-Levi…" Eren whimpered as Levi came to stand but a breath in front of him.

His heart was threatening to break out of his chest. He wanted to throw up. He wanted to tear his skin off his body. Anything! He just did not want to be here, watching Levi's arm raise slowly, painfully slowly as if the man was tormenting him.

Closing his eyes, Eren waited for the blow. He waited for the first in a chain that would undoubtedly be the last beating of his life.

Happy Halloween yesterday, for everyone. ^.^

OS