Disclaimer: I own none of the characters!

Notes: Awkward longish chapter? The story is not over yet but it's nearing its last hill! D: On another note, break time is over! Getting back to regular updates! :3

When Eren finally looked at his phone, he saw more missed calls and missed texts from Mikasa than he had ever seen before. After reading the fifteenth text, he gave up and tossed his phone onto the sofa. Levi laughed, rummaging through the refrigerator.

Eren watched him over the counter, admiring the man's back. Fresh red marks were all over his shoulders, caused by their morning playtime. And Eren was damn proud of the marks he left too. Of course those were nothing compared to bites and hickeys on his own neck; which he knew he would have to explain to Mikasa once he got home.

"Are you almost done staring, brat?" Levi asked, holding the carton of eggs and a bell pepper. He didn't have to even glance at Eren to know he boy was staring.

"No," Eren teased. "You should cook naked."

Levi looked over his shoulder as he turned the stove on. "That's a fucking hazard. And we just had sex, aren't you tired of seeing me naked?"

"We have a lot of time to make up for," Eren whined. "And you should always be naked."

"Give my dick a rest for an hour," Levi said. "And I'll fuck you before I take you home. How's Mikasa?"

Eren winced at her name, walking over to lean by the stove.

"I don't want to talk about her. She's going to be pissed."

"Call her and tell her that you're alive at least. Or Armin. At least tell Armin, he won't be mad at you."

"Leviiiii…"

"Get," Levi said, tapping him on the rear. "Do it."

The little tap hurt more than Eren expected. He was sure he had a bruise or two on his hip from earlier. But he sighed and shuffled back to the sofa to search for his phone. He scooped it up and his eyes widened. Not because Mikasa sent him a text or because of Armin.

It was from Annie.

Hey, want to go out for drinks later?

Eren swallowed. "Levi."

"What now, brat?"

Eren turned, his hands shaking around his phone. Levi looked around at him, ready to criticize, but his sarcasm quickly faded.

"What's wrong?"

"Annie wants to go out for drinks later."

Levi moved the skillet off the stove to prevent his eggs from burning. He leaned against the counter.

"And you said yes, I assume?"

"Well…not yet…Levi, if I met her out…would you…?"

"Would I what?" Levi asked. Eren hurried into the kitchen, clutching his phone to his chest.

"Would you come with me? But not with me. Just…stand by? In case I need you?"

Levi reached out, wrapping his fingers around Eren's waist and tugging him close. Eren rested his arms on Levi's shoulders, moving closer to him.

"Of course, brat," Levi said, rubbing circles on Eren's side. "Why do you need me to be around all of sudden? You've been hanging around her on your own just fine."

"Yeah, but if I'm drinking I may need help," Eren sighed. "What if I end up drunk?"

"You won't. You may be a dumbass, but you have your smart moments."

Eren rolled his eyes and leaned forward, resting his chin on Levi's shoulder. He held up his phone, quickly texting Annie back.

Sure thing. Sounds great!

And send.

Levi was pleased to drive Eren home. And Eren was all rosy cheeks and arm clings for the entire ride. He felt a little more at ease, being at Levi's side again. Feeling the man's warmth and inhaling his scent. Listening to him hum and curse the other drivers.

He smiled thoughtfully, leaving a featherlight trail over Levi's hand with his fingers. His own heart fluttered happily. He wasn't worried about Mikasa yelling at him or Armin scolding him or even meeting with Annie. Everything was currently Levi.

His lover. His partner. His boyfriend.

They came to a stop light at an intersection. Levi took the brief pause to kiss Eren on the head, squeezing his hand. Eren smiled and leaned into Levi's touches, relishing in the affection.

Eren got stiff however when his eyes fell on the white chapel on the other side of the street. He swallowed hard, gripping Levi's hand tighter with wide eyes.

The thought was silly. Fleeting. It was stupid to even think something like that. They had just gotten back together, for starters. And the reason they broke was all Eren's doing. And now the thought of marriage was suddenly flooding his mind, like a dam had broken somewhere.

"Are you alright?" Levi asked. "You got really tense."

Eren nodded, closing his eyes and trying to get rid of the thought.

"I…I'm fine," Eren replied. "Just…thinking…"

The light turned green and Levi drove, kissing Eren on the head again.

"You sound fucking serious, Eren. Are you alright?"

Eren shrugged. "Would you…ever…you know…not be single?"

Levi raised an eyebrow. "What sort of question is that?"

Eren pulled away, sitting up. "Let's get married."

A grim silence fell over the car and Eren knew he screwed up. Levi's lips thinned and he looked straight on, driving right into the first parking lot he could get in to. Eren slid down in his seat, ready to get out of the car when Levi put the car in park.

"Sorry…"

"Eren," Levi firmly started, his hands still on the steering wheel, "you don't know what you're saying. People just…don't get married."

"I said I'm sorry."

"It's something calculated. Well thought-out. Unless you're a drunken mess."

"Levi…"

Eren's heart sank. He knew better. He knew it was stupid to bring up. So why did he even bother?

"And since when have I ever done something without thinking it through?" Levi asked. Eren shrugged, leaning against the door to get as far away from him as he could. "Exactly. So when I do ask you to marry me, I'm not going to half-ass it."

"I said I'm—What…?"

Tears were already building up around Eren's eyes. He was ready to cry but as Levi's words echoed through his head, he was unsure if he should.

"What? Levi!"

"Mn?"

"You…I'm confused…"

Eren sniffled and wiped his nose on the sleeve of his shirt. Levi sneered, leaning over Eren to reach into the glove box. He pulled out a packet of tissues and tugged one out. He dabbed Eren's nose with the tissue.

"For fuck's sake, brat, don't use your fucking sleeve," Levi scorned. "That's gross."

"But you just said…you said…"

"I know what I said," Levi snapped. "And before you shit yourself, this isn't a proposal. And you won't get one for a while. Not until I'm done with this hotel shit. Blow your nose, Eren."

Eren closed his eyes and blew his nose into the tissue Levi held in his hand. Levi grimaced again, cleaning Eren up.

"You really mean it?" Eren finally managed. A small smile cracked across Levi's lips. He gave Eren a chaste, little kiss and turned back to the steering wheel.

"One day," he said. "Give it another year or two, though. It's too early for that shit. But I want you to know…it's something I've thought about too."

Emotions were going haywire for Eren. His mind was spinning. His nose was running. He was thrilled but the tears kept coming and he had no way of stopping them either.

"Clean up. The last thing I need is to drop you off crying and after you've been missing all night. Mikasa would fucking kill me," Levi said, taking Eren's hand again.

Eren nodded, wiping his eyes and nose again, the sniffles still coming. He got an honest answer. And a full answer. And he was truly happy with it.

Mikasa was on a new level of unhappy. Levi knew it was coming, especially since Eren never texted her. So after a few quick kisses in the car, he left Eren to face her alone. With a sigh, Eren walked up to the house and opened the door.

Immediately he was greeted with commotion.

"EREN!"

"Where were you all night?"

"I thought you were dead!"

"Did your phone die? Did you have your phone?"

"Were you kidnapped?"

"Did you get into a fight?"

"Are you alright?"

"Why didn't you call me back?"

"Why didn't you text?"

"Why—"

Mikasa was cut off by Armin who entered the room soon after.

"Why are there hickeys on your neck?" Armin asked calmly.

Eren's face lit up. He wanted to smack the question off Armin's tongue but it was too late. Mikasa had heard it and her eyes were locked on to his neck.

"Eren. Where were you last night?" Mikasa growled, grabbing him by the arms. "Eren, where were you? Do you know how worried I was?"

"I know, Mikasa, and I'm sorry," Eren finally managed once she paused. "I really am. But…I was really distracted last night and things happened so fast…"

"Eren, were you safe? Were you drunk? Who was it?"

Armin gasped. "Levi!"

"No!"

"Well…it may or may not have been Levi," Eren said, rubbing the back of his neck. "And we may or may not be back together…"

"Is that why you didn't pick up?" Mikasa snapped."Because you were busy getting back together—oh…"

Her eyes widened and she stared at the hickeys along his neck. She found her own answer.

"That's exactly why I didn't pick up," Eren said, biting his lip. Armin clasped his hands together.

"Well. I'm very glad you two are a thing again," he said, patting a rather distraught Mikasa on the back. "And you forgave him for…whatever?"

Eren nodded. "Yeah. More like he forgave me. But we're going to try and work things out."

"I'm glad," Armin said with a smile. "And I'm sure Mikasa will be happy too. After the shock wears off."

The shock never wore off. Not even a little. Mikasa questioned him over and over again the entire day. So telling her he was going out, again, was nearly impossible. However, he managed and Mikasa had to settle; after threatening him to keep his phone on and set to its highest notification alert volumes.

Eren decided the best choice of clothes for the evening was definitely a hoodie with a scarf. It was bad enough explaining to Mikasa why he had marks on his neck. Explaining that to Annie would be even worse, he was sure.

They decided that meeting at Maria was out of the question. Too many incidents seemed to happen at the popular bar so they opted for another place on the strip. They sat outside on the patio so they could people watch and admire the hotel lights along the strip.

It was a new sight and Eren's eyes lit up bright at his surroundings. He made a mental note of wanting to bring Levi to that very spot once things calmed down a little.

They ordered hot wings and over-cheesed potato skins to share, accompanied by a few beers. And to Eren's surprise, he heard Annie laugh—actually laugh—and even smile. She was calm, that was sure. Her guard was down.

And he wondered if trying to prove her guilty would end their friendship. He had started this to get close to her; to get to know her and to prove she was spying on the S.I.D. But she still had feelings, and her carefree laughter was proof of it.

They were actually friends. Real friends. And he didn't want to ruin that. But he also had a job to do.

"Reiner and Bert didn't want to come?" Eren teased, taking a sip of his beer. He left buffalo sauce fingerprints all over the glass bottle. Annie shook her head.

"The same can be said for Armin and Mikasa," she replied. "But really, whenever they get the apartment to themselves, they stay in."

"Really?" Eren asked. He laughed. "Reiner is so social, that almost seems unlike him. Then again, Bert is really quiet…"

"Staying home and watching stupid movies is basically Bert's favorite thing," Annie said. "I don't mind it."

"That's how Armin is," Eren said. "But with books. He doesn't care about going out as much as staying in to reread Harry Potter."

"I'm guilty of that."

Eren laughed into his drink. "Are you serious? How are you two not friends?"

Annie shrugged a little, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Next time invite him out then?"

"Definitely," Eren said. "But you two can't have your faces in books the entire time."

"I won't make any promises," Annie said. "I'll try."

After they finished their food and received their checks, Eren ran to the bathroom, to wash his hands of all the sauce he failed to wipe off with a napkin. Once his fingers were clean enough, he checked his phone. No messages or missed calls from Levi (or Mikasa), so he assumed he was doing things sort of right.

With a sigh he walked back into the bar. He approached Annie as she was finishing paying, his own ticket in hand. As she moved, she knocked her purse right off the counter, half of its contents spilling onto the floor.

"Shit," she muttered, reaching down to grab everything.

Eren had kneeled down to help her, mindlessly grabbing whatever he could. Lipsticks, receipts, I.D's, keys, a flashdrive, more receipts and hell even tampons (he was a big boy now, he could handle tampons; he couldn't count the times he had to make late-night runs for Mikasa).

"Thanks," Annie sighed, trying to shove everything into her bag. The woman at the counter waved her receipt and Annie rose to sign it and grab her card.

In that brief moment, Eren looked at her I.D. badge. It wasn't from the S.I.D; it was from Hotel Titan. With a heavy breath, he kept it in his hand, along with the flashdrive. He shoved everything into her bag and held it out to her with a nervous smile.

"Here," he said. "I just threw it all in there. Sorry if it's all wrong."

"It's a purse," Annie said, taking it from him and moving aside so he could pay. "Even when I organize it, it's bound to get messy again."

Eren laughed, grabbing his wallet from his back pocket. He carefully slipped the flashdrive and card into his pocket, replacing the wallet and hoping it was out of Annie's view. When he did look at her, she was busy moving stuff around in her purse. Relieved, he paid and put his wallet away.

They left, both full and rather pleased. As always, Eren insisted on walking her home. He kept his eyes open, however, wondering if Levi was even following them at this point.

"Thanks again, Eren," Annie said as they walked down the sidewalk. "You're really not half bad."

"Same for you."

She clutched her purse tighter, her fingers strumming along the straps.

"Eren."

"Hm?"

"Why did you take my flashdrive? And my work ID for the hotel?"

Eren stopped walking. He tangled his fingers into his scarf, swallowing hard.

"I…what?"

"Eren," she sighed, turning to face him, "I'm not stupid. And you're really not as sneaky as you think."

He took a cautious step back as she reached into her coat, pulling out a shiny gun. She raised it and pointed it at him with a steady hand.

"You should have left when I told you…"

"Annie…," Eren muttered, "you…you wouldn't…"

"I don't want to," Annie said. "So…please…just give them back, Eren? Please? I don't want to hurt you or anyone. I never wanted anyone to get hurt."

Her voice cracked as she spoke and for a split second, her hand shook. Tears on her face caught the lights from overhead and Eren knew she was being genuine. He bit his lip, looking down at his feet and grabbing his scarf even tighter.

"Annie…I have a job to do too…," he confessed. "And I'm sorry I sort of…lied to get to know you. But you really are pretty cool…"

He was panicking. He couldn't let her see it so he tried to hide his face. He had left his gun at Levi's place. And he knew he couldn't out-fight her.

"I think you're decent too, Eren," Annie said with a sad smile, her hand still shaking but still raised. "And…I'm glad I got a chance to know you…"

Eren heard her cock the gun and he winced.

"Bert was hurt because of me. And now…I don't want to hurt you. So Eren, don't be stubborn, give me back my things."

"I can't Annie. And I know that…you have a gun pointed at me but I can't. I can't give up!"

Annie gasped and a small smile crept onto her face.

"Your integrity is really impressive," she whispered, gripping her gun tighter. "I wish that…we could still be friends—"

Bang.

The gunshot echoed on the empty street. Eren flinched, looking away and grinding his teeth. He heard a little yelp of shock and metal hitting the concrete. It took him only a matter of seconds to realize he hadn't been shot. He was alright, uninjured. But Annie…

She was gripping her hand. It wasn't bleeding but she was definitely startled and breathing hard. She was looking across the street, and Eren quickly turned to see what she was looking at.

Irwin was practically running across the street, his gun in hand and handcuffs clinking against his side. Annie held out her hands in defeat; but there was a look of relief on her face. Eren gripped his chest, wheezing from the sudden stress.

"Annie," Irwin said firmly, approaching her.

She didn't reply to him. She simply waited for the handcuffs.

"I'm impressed, Eren," she said, her voice calm.

"Thanks," Eren replied, taking her stuff out of his pocket. Irwin handcuffed her and Eren handed over the ID and the flashdrive.

"Good work, Eren," Irwin said. "And Annie…"

"I know," she muttered. "I'm sorry."

"We'll work things out," Irwin said.

"Sir, please don't throw her in jail," Eren said. "Just…get information or whatever from her. Let her go."

Irwin raised his eyebrows at the plea.

"Hell, she didn't kill anyone," Eren said. "Unlike some. So I think she deserves a second chance."

"Eren…," Annie whispered, "you don't…"

"I know," Eren said. "But you're still my friend. And I still care about you. Even though you had me at gunpoint. I can forgive you."

Hell, Levi had raised a gun to him twice (and once right at his head) and Eren managed to forgive him of that. So this was nothing.

Annie smiled big and sniffled a little, nodding her head. "Thank you, Eren."

Going to work the next day kept Eren's nerves on edge. He hadn't told Mikasa or Armin anything about the previous evening. Only that they went out to eat and he walked her home. Trying to explain what happened was out of the question for him. He'd rather keep that as quiet as he could.

He went straight to his desk, saying his usual good mornings to everyone in the office. He sank down in his chair, getting his usual amount of paperwork to do. Using his usual pens. He kept his head down, working hard. As usual.

Until he noticed Jean was staring at him.

"What?"

"You're acting weird," Jean said.

"Fuck you."

"What did you do?"

"Nothing, so shut up and leave me alone, Seabiscuit."

"Did you finally snap and kill someone?"

"Jean. You fucking horse. Shut the fuck up. No one is dead," Eren shouted, punctuating each word with a hiss.

Everyone looked around at him, their eyebrows raised and their breakfast chewing quiet. Eren slumped in his chair.

"Fuck…"

"Eren, calm down," Mikasa said sternly. "And stop making a scene."

"I'm not doing it on purpose," Eren said. "Secretariat is making me mad!"

"Jean," Marco said, turning in his own chair to pet Jean's hair. "Stop irritating people."

"I'm not!" Jean cried, leaning into Marco's touch. "Dammit, that's not fair Marco. You can't just pet me in public."

Marco didn't stop until he had pulled Jean's full attention away from Eren. Laughing, Eren looked to Mikasa, who still wore a scorn on her face. Rolling his eyes, he looked away from her. Reiner and Bertholdt were both sitting quietly at their desks, looks of worry and contempt on their faces. Eren swallowed hard, wondering if they knew what had happened.

Surely not…?

Eren glanced around at Armin, to see how he was. He seemed fine, but it was still Armin. He was perceptive and he could keep a straight face at work when it came to his emotions. Eren was sure Armin knew something was wrong too.

"Eren. I need to see you in my office."

Eren looked up at the voice and saw Irwin standing in the doorway to his office. He quickly scrambled for the papers he was supposed to copy and fax an hour ago and got to his feet. He dashed off between the desks, holding the papers tight as Irwin closed the door behind him.

"I'm sorry, sir, I was going to fax these I swear but I got distra—"

"Eren, I think you're in some danger," Irwin said. "And not just because of your connection to Levi."

"W-what?"

Irwin rubbed the bridge of his nose, apparently worried. Really worried. Eren sat down in the empty chair, resting the stack of papers on his lap. His heart sped up as he waited for Irwin to explain.

"I went through Annie's flashdrive. And as expected there was information she had been stealing," Irwin said. "But out of all the files—out of every file of every person here—yours was saved. All of your information. From the academy to everything recent, Eren."

Eren tensed, his throat drying and his hands clenching against the papers.

"My…files?"

Irwin nodded.

"I don't know what you've done, but you need to be cautious. More so than usual."

"Fuck…"

"That's putting it lightly. I have Annie in holding right now. I'm going to have to question her about this."

"Is she alright?"

"She's fine," Irwin said. "Don't worry about her. You need to take care of yourself. I don't want you spending any extended period of time alone. You need to either be with Mikasa, Armin, or Levi. People you can trust. Really trust. At least until this mess is figured out. Understood?"

Eren nodded. "Y-Yes sir…"

"Good. Now back to work," Irwin said, waving Eren away. "And get those papers faxed."

"Yes sir!"

Eren had to explain everything to Levi. He did it over dinner, wanting to get the conversation of him possibly being targeted over with. The sooner it was out of his hair, the better; he could enjoy his evening with Levi without being bothered.

However, that only upset Levi. He ended up on the phone with Irwin for hours, yelling and storming back and forth into his office. Eren left him to take care of the kitchen, cleaning everything and putting away food. He had to make sure the dishes were spotless; he had learned early on that Levi would check the dishes after they dried.

And since Levi was still arguing on the phone, Eren took his absence as an excuse to take a bubblebath. He went into Levi's bathroom and filled up the tub. He even used Levi's wash (Eren started keeping his own soap and his own clothes at Levi's apartment again) instead of his own.

He sank into the water once the tub was filled. He ran his hands through his hair, pushing his fringe from his face. He didn't bother to actually wash his hair; it wasn't that dirty, by his standards. He scrubbed everywhere else though, enjoying the way the body wash lathered. But more because it actually smelled like Levi.

Corporal jumped up onto the tub edge, to paw at the bubbles. Eren laughed, blowing a sharp breath into the bubbles to make them fly. The cat's eyes widened and he pawed at them in the air before hopping down and trotting away.

Eren decided to get out then, not wanting his skin to get too waterlogged. He dressed and slipped into Levi's office. The man had his head in his hand, staring at his computer. He held his phone to his ear and Eren could hear the faint sound of Irwin's voice on the other end. With a sigh, Eren walked into the room and right up to the desk. He rubbed Levi's back to get his attention and leaned down to kiss the back of his neck, where his shaved hair ended.

Levi shuddered and sat back, tugging Eren into his lap with a gentle pull. He wrapped his arm affectionately around Eren's waist and held him against his chest. Eren smiled, listening to Irwin's muffled voice.

Eren looked at the computer screen. It was all a bunch of jumble that looked like information from the S.I.D.

"Is that the information Annie was stealing?" Eren whispered. Levi nodded quietly as Irwin kept talking.

Eren rested his arms on the desk, reading what was on the screen. Most of it looked like security information. He wrinkled his nose and pulled out of Levi's grip with a yawn. He kissed Levi on the cheek and shuffled away, back into their bedroom.

Moments later, as he was crawling into bed, he heard a long sigh and more movement. Levi walked into the bedroom, looking miserable. He flopped on the edge of the bed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Tired?"

"Yeah…"

"What did he say?" Eren asked and quickly added, "The short version, that is."

"We both came to the conclusion that you're in possible danger. And that Annie wasn't working alone. Irwin is going to question her tomorrow and I'm not allowed to go. Only Petra is because she has better people-skills."

Eren nodded. "Oh…great…"

Levi groaned, getting to his feet. "I'm going to take a shower. Go on and get some sleep."

He walked away, closing the bathroom door behind him. Eren curled into a ball, resting his head on Levi's pillow. He listened to the shower turn on, trying to stay awake. But the monotonous drumming of water against tile slowly lured him into a light sleep. He didn't hear the water turn off or Levi get out.

"Oi, get on your side of the bed," Levi muttered, pulling up the blankets.

Eren wrinkled his nose and slid over, long enough for Levi to get in bed, just to roll back onto Levi's pillow. He wrapped his arms around Levi's waist and pressed his face into the crook of Levi's neck. Levi kissed his head, ruffling his hair. Corporal woke up at all the moving, raising his head to look around. With a yawn and a little stretch, the cat laid its head back onto the pillow.

"Sorry I was snappy earlier."

Eren yawned and shrugged. "It's okay. You were frustrated."

"At him. Not with you. I shouldn't take out my frustrations on you," Levi said, turning his face into Eren's hair.

"Only the sexual ones," Eren said. Levi laughed, holding Eren close.

"Only the sexual ones," Levi repeated. "Love you."

The words were spectacular to hear. Eren's heart sped up and fluttered for a brief moment when Levi said them. And he said them first, at that. He smiled big, sleepily nuzzling deeper into Levi's neck.

"Mmm…love you too. Go to sleep."