Chapter 25
Levi arrives home from the Café around an hour later, after taking the time to drive aimlessly around until he really had to start thinking about heading back.
"Eren!" Levi calls, "You home?"
"Yeah I'm in here! Just give me a minute!" Eren shouts back, the noise coming from the direction of his bedroom.
As he waits, Levi slips out of his thick, woollen cardigan and scarf, setting them on the coffee table to be put away later. The weather is starting to become a lot cooler now it's hit September and while it's not quite Trost winter levels of cold, Levi would never pass up the opportunity to start adorning his favourite knitwear.
Whilst doing so, Eren (or Rogue in this instance), enters the living room in what can only be described, in Levi's mind, as underwear. She has her blonde wig styled in a low ponytail at the back of her head, a pair of demin shorts, black tights with holes all over and a lacy, red bralette with a floral pattern interwoven through it. The lack of make-up, however, makes it very hard to differentiate between Eren and his alter-ego.
Levi is caught off guard and is stunned silent for a few beats, Eren/Rogue normally take extra care to remain somewhat fully dressed when around Levi, so the sudden display of blemish-free caramel skin and flawlessly toned muscle is a bit of a shock to the system to say the least. Eren/Rogue is no stranger to joining Levi at the gym or for his morning run on occasion, so while they're slim and not quite as sculpted or ripped as Levi himself, their overall body definition is nothing to be scoffed at either.
He's just begun to admire the sleek, attractive curve of their waist line, a perfect hourglass shape achieved from years of training and cinching for shows, when the Eren/Rogue hybrid starts talking to him and he feels the need to pay attention.
"Hey, I think your last box of stuff was delivered today, I put it in your room." They say, blowing a loose strand of blonde hair out of their face and placing it behind their ear.
Fantastic, Levi thinks. He'll just have to pack it all back up and ship it right on back to Trost in no time at all. Maybe it'll be another four months before he has his stuff all in one place again.
"Right, thank you." Levi says, "Is that what you're wearing tonight? Bit on the casual side for you isn't it?"
"Don't you judge me, I look fabulous in anything." Eren/Rogue answer with a smirk, "But if you must know, I left my outfit at Maria's, I'll change when I get there. I just wanted to be comfortable and tuck at home in peace before the club is overrun tonight."
The last thing Levi needs to be thinking about right now is Eren manhandling his junk into place, but the image is now ingrained into his mind before he can stop it. The first time the process of tucking had been explained to him was painful enough, but in hindsight that was also probably due to a drunken Jean and Connie trying to strip down and try it out for themselves.
"Overrun? I know they're a lot, but surely the other queens will give you some space if you asked them to."
"No, not by them. Did you not get my message earlier?"
Levi shakes his head in confusion as Eren/Rogue begin tapping away on their phone before bringing up their own Twitter feed and showing it to him.
"It's been going crazy all day. Since my announcement last week about joining Sina, people have been commenting in their thousands on it and spamming my feed. Marco called earlier to say every table in the club has been booked out for tonight, full capacity expected. I never talk about performing at Maria's specifically in my videos or on public social media, so somehow it's gotten out. Not that I'm complaining, I mean it's great business for Marco and Jean, it's just…. not how I wanted to go, y'know?" Eren/Rogue says sadly, and Levi nods, because he does know.
He knows how much Rogue would have loved performing her last shows at Maria's for her regulars, close friends and family only. But now that the cat is out of the bag, who even knows if the many men, women and everyone in between that's fully supported her career for the last two years will even get to see her again on that stage to take her final bow? It's an unexpected blow.
"Can't be helped I guess, business is business and all. I'll have to get used to it now I imagine." Eren/Rogue shrugs, "But yeah, I wanted to ask, that new box doesn't have a label. I was wondering if you have any old T shirts or anything I could borrow? Just to put on over this." They ask, indicating their red, lace covered chest.
Levi's face turns scarlet as he realises the contents of the final box he'd been waiting for and stutters his way through an answer as Eren/Rogue watch him expectantly.
"N-no, there won't be. W-why don't I get you my black shirt? The one you like to wear when you lounge around the house all day." Levi suggests, hoping his earlier hesitation had gone unnoticed.
"Hey! I don't just lounge around all day, I work hard!" Eren/Rogue exclaims in mock annoyance, "But yeah, if could get me that shirt, that'd be great."
"Fine, you can keep it if you want, I hardly ever wear it anyway." And it'll be something to remember me by, Levi thinks but doesn't say.
"No! The whole reason I like wearing it so much is because it's yours. I'll just borrow it now and then."
Levi chooses to say nothing on that particular issue and instead changes the subject as he heads to his bedroom.
"I'm gonna go get showered and changed for tonight, the shirt has been washed so it should be in the dryer. I won't be long." Levi says hurriedly before he leaves without another word, and Eren/Rogue is left wondering why their friend suddenly looks so sad.
As predicted, the club is absolutely bustling with people by the time they arrive, and it's still hours before the doors even open to the public.
From the comfort of Rogue's dressing room, Levi is greeted with the sight of strange, stressed out queens running up and down the hallway in various states of dress, clearly just as surprised by the crowds of excited fans already lined up outside for the show.
There are shouts and hollers coming from all directions, somebody enquiring about missing shoes or earrings or whatever, old friends re-uniting and catching up together, and more than a couple breakdowns from the younger queens on whether or not they have the right to grace the stage tonight.
A few new faces that Levi doesn't recognise have knocked on the open door today to ask for a little time to speak with Rogue before their set, and Levi's answer has been the same each time as per Rogue's own personal instruction.
"She's still getting ready, she'll come out and see you before you're due to go on. I promise."
His tone isn't exactly comforting or friendly per se, but it seems good enough for the young queens, and they leave looking a little less nervous and just a bit lighter than they had before.
"Levi, sweetie?" Rogue calls from behind her blue silk, privacy curtain, "Could you come and give me a hand with the zip on this thing?"
Levi sets down the little orange bottle of moisturiser he'd been stealing from and lets himself into Rogue's mini dressing area with light-bulb mirror. It's not an understatement to say that Levi almost chokes on his own saliva when he finds Rogue, with a full face of make-up and perfectly styled hair, staring at him while wearing nothing but her red bralette and a pair of little, red, tie side panties. Her face is almost as red as her provocative underwear, he notes. A sheer, red, mesh, bodycon dress pools at her high-heeled feet.
"I managed to attach the zip at the bottom, but I couldn't reach properly and kept dropping it. Could you help me?" Rogue asks innocently, the bright blush of her cheeks giving away that she's in fact feeling far less composed than she's letting on. Whether Levi has noticed or not, she can't tell in the dim light her floor-length mirror gives off.
"Y-Yeah, of course." Levi says, stuttering only slightly as he kneels down to pull the dress off the floor. Rogue takes it from him, their hands touching for only a second as she slips her arms in the sleeves. The bottom of the dress only just reaching below the cheeks of her ass.
With a light tremor in his hands, Levi attempts to pull the zip up and manages to get it to fasten just over the top of her underwear. But with the lack of light and the accidental touches to her soft, plump skin against his fingers, he can't seem to get the zip up any further without catching it on the flimsy fabric of the dress.
"Would it help if I bent over a little? Give you some extra light." Rogue suggests, before taking it upon herself to lean over and place both her palms on her mirror in front of her. Her back bends with a prominent arch, her behind pressed suggestively against the grey fabric of Levi's slacks.
"Better?" She asks breathily, catching his gaze with her reflection, red lips parted and smoky eyes sharp.
"Yeah, much better." He answers, skin hot and internally reminding himself that he has to at least breathe every so often.
While the additional light and accentuated curve of her spine do allow the zip to travel up much easier than before, the feel of his hips against her strong legs and barely covered ass distracts him in a way he's not all that familiar or comfortable with, making his wrists shake and goosebumps cover his exposed forearms.
The only times he can ever recall feeling such an enhanced level of physical excitement in this way is on those lonely nights he'd spend at home, sweating and skin tingling with the feelings of undeniable arousal he could no longer ignore. On those nights, he'd deal with the issue quickly and efficiently, cleaning afterwards taking more time than the act itself. But now, instead of feeling annoyed at his own body for failing him with basic, carnal need, he visualises what it'd be like to take his time, savouring the feeling of skin against skin….
He begins to feel the familiar heat travelling down to his pants, so he takes a tiny step back and angles his hips away as he manages to get the zip all the way up to the top, and Rogue can pull her arms down without the dress slipping off again.
"There, all done, now you won't run the risk of flashing your poor audience." Levi smirks, before attempting to leave before Rogue catches his wrist, pulling him back.
"Hey, wait a second, come here." She instructs, still facing away but twisting herself back towards Levi. She pulls him closer, letting her hand guide his head towards her face. She angles herself so that she's level with his height and kisses him softly on the cheek.
It only lasts a couple of seconds and Levi remains stock still the entire time, but when she does finally pull away, their noses brush a little and she grins widely at him.
"Thank you." She whispers, gently letting her perfectly manicured fingernails scratch at the short strands of his undercut.
"You're welcome." He replies, voice just as quiet, as if not to ruin the moment. Uncharacteristically, and as if independent from the little part of his mind telling him this is a very bad idea, his hand immediately comes up to cover the one Rogue currently has in his hair. He squeezes lightly in encouragement, and just when he thinks Rogue is going to pull him in for another kiss, this time on the lips…. Maria calls out loudly for the both of them.
And just like that, the moment is gone. Levi pulls himself away quickly and perhaps a bit too harshly, leaving Rogue audibly sighing at the action.
"Rogue! Levi! Are you guys in here?!" Maria yells, entering the room, heels clacking on the hardwood of the floor.
They let themselves out from behind the curtain and Maria raises a dark eyebrow at them in surprise.
"Sorry, Levi was just helping me out with a wardrobe malfunction. What did you need?" Rogue asks, smoothing down her dress in an attempt to act natural while her heart continues to beat right out of her chest. She can swear they both hear it.
"Actually, I'm here for Levi." Maria clarifies before addressing the man directly, "I don't know what happened, but the line of people waiting outside is insane right now. Ymir won't be able to handle it herself and Reiner is busy serving drinks to the other queens. We have extra bar staff coming in an about an hour, so he'll be free then. And I know it's not in your job description, but I have to ask, is there any way you could help Ymir out front until they get here? I'll pay you the hourly rate on top of what Eren is giving you."
"Maz, that won't be necessary, you know I'm happy to help. Rogue will just be doing her rounds anyway, so as long as there's not a repeat of last time she should be fine." Levi assures her, resting a hand on Maria's shoulder.
"Thank you." Maria says sincerely before turning to Rogue, "Oh and about that, I've made sure these girls have been properly vetted, so it won't happen again. I promise. Believe me, I'm still just as angry as you both are."
"Don't sweat it, I'm fine." Rogue remarks casually with a flick of her hand. "I'm gonna start chatting with the other queens, maybe give the newer, greener looking ones a little pep talk before they're faced with this mess outside."
"I'm gonna head out now, but if you need anything, just call me. That goes for both of you." Levi insists, before sharing one last look with Rogue as he leaves. The drag queen staring after him longingly as he goes, fingers pressed to her still buzzing lips.
When Levi does manage to make it outside through the throng of excitable queens, Ymir looks more than a little relieved to see him and pats him on the back in greeting. The relief doesn't last very long however, as many of the people waiting in line begin shouting and cheering very loudly.
He looks behind himself to see if someone has magically materialised behind him, until he realises that most of the cheering seems to be directed at himself.
"Oh my god, it's Levi!"
"You're so much hotter in real life!"
"Is Eren coming out too?! I'll die if he does!
"Levi, we love you!"
Levi is left reeling and confused for a moment until it hits him, they recognise him from the Youtube videos. He scratches at his neck self-consciously before giving the crowd an unenthusiastic half-wave. To say 'and the crowd goes wild' would be underselling their reaction, they get even louder and rowdier if that's possible.
Ymir, now feeling much less stressed from the pressure, begins laughing despite herself.
"Well would you look at that, shorty? You got yourself some fanboys and fangirls." She jokes behind a manic grin that could rival Hange's.
Levi glowers at her and she just shakes her head in amusement. Some of the crowd begin beckoning him over, and seeing himself with no other option, he heads over in their direction. Anything to make them a little less over the top, he supposes.
"Hey everyone." He greets them, as he approaches the largest part of the crowd. About 20 men and women aged between 18 and 30, and in very colourful attire start bombarding him with questions all at once. Levi huffs in annoyance and raises his hands until they settle down.
"One at a time or I walk away, and I'm not kidding." Levi threatens, folding his arms until they begin to quiet their attack on him, leaving Ymir with much less hassle up front. They seem to work together as a bit of a hive mind, which is only slightly creepy, and ask him relevant and interesting questions that he takes his time to answer as he waits for Reiner to come out and take his place.
"Is it true you're Eren's bodyguard?"
"Yes, that's true, it's actually how we met. I moved here from Trost and was looking for a place to live, he was the one who suggested we live together."
"Are you seriously 34? You don't look a day over 27, at most!"
"I can show you my birth certificate if that would suffice as proof?"
"Are you and Eren a couple?"
"We're not, we're just good friends." This particular answer is met with a resounding groan of disappointed and one 'I told you so, you owe me $5'.
"Levi! Will you be starting your own Youtube channel too? I would definitely subscribe if you did!" A flurry of 'Me too' follows this statement.
"Not to disappoint, but I'm not all that great on camera, Eren has to all but wrestle me into the chair each time I join him."
"I don't have a question, I just really want to say thank you for all you've done for our country. It's not said enough, and veterans get such a hard time as it is, I think I speak for everyone when I say we appreciate it." A round of booming applause erupts from the crowd and Levi is once again left feeling self-conscious, shrugging and expressing his own thanks in return.
With the crowd now distracted and chatting amongst themselves, he spots a very small, young woman, probably no older than 20, looking incredibly uncomfortable and trying to get his attention. She is terribly short, shorter than himself and clinging tightly onto a little rainbow flag, her eyes wide and a little watery at the edges.
"Hey honey." Levi says softly, switching into what's been described as his fatherly mode, "Is everything alright?"
She grips tighter on to her flag and tilts her head up at him, pointing across the road to a group of people beginning to gather. He doesn't think much of it at first, until he spots the signs proclaiming hate and protest towards the club and it's patrons.
Oh man, he thinks, this is going to be a problem. After assuring the woman and her partner that he would deal with the situation, he makes his way across the road to confront the group.
"Excuse me, may I speak with whoever is in charge here?" Levi asks politely, despite the numerous choice words he could be using for each and every one of them. Although, he has to remind himself that not long ago he would have been front and centre of a group like this. Looking back, it's a hard pill to swallow.
The group either choose to ignore or scoff at him in disgust until and older gentleman with dark eyes and a receding hairline approaches him.
"That would be myself. Tell me what ails you, young man." It's a request made with a stony expression, no room for argument and no doubt at all as to why Levi has asked to speak with him, "I am known simply as Pastor Nick. I do sermons at the local church. Forgive me son, but I regret to say that I do not recall making your acquaintance as of yet."
"Name's Levi, and you won't recall because I haven't attended your church as of yet, nor do I intend to for that matter." Levi states with an impenetrable stare and folded arms.
"I see." Pastor Nick nods in resolve, "I assume you have an opinion which directly conflicts with the message we're spreading today?" He asks, gesturing to the mainly signs, banners and T shirts of 'Pray the Gay away' and other such slogans.
"I don't particularly agree with it, nor is that the reason for my absence." Levi clarifies, and continues when the Pastor gives him a questioning look, "There have been a lot of times when I was told to look to your God for guidance, and when it became clear that guidance wouldn't be coming any time soon, I simply stopped seeking it. No hard feelings though, right Pastor?"
"As a human being, you have the right to choose your own path, whether I believe it is the righteous path or not." Nick chuckles, his hands raised in surrender.
"And what about those human beings over there?" Levi questions, tilting his head towards the number of club-goers watching the scene from their place in line, "Do they not get the right to choose regardless of your feelings?"
"They do." Nick says with a nod, "But these good people standing on this side of the road today also have the right to choose, and they have chosen to spread the word of the Lord today."
Levi sighs audibly, knowing he'll get nowhere arguing with them today, "Look Pastor, I don't want any trouble here. These people have come out tonight to watch a show. I'm sure I don't have to remind you of what's been happening at the other nightclubs around the country."
"I can assure you Levi, that is nothing to do with us. We're here in peace, and we're not on any of your land, so we're not causing any trouble or breaking any laws. As long as your people remain where they are and let us be, there won't be a problem." Pastor Nick assures him.
It takes a hell of a lot of restraint on Levi's part not to argue that these are not "his people" and send Nick and his flock on their way anyway. But against his better judgement and knowing he hasn't got a leg to stand on, he agrees that there will be no problem and heads back to the club, where Reiner is waiting to take over his post.
With an even bigger crowd to entertain, it's no surprise that Rogue positively shines on stage and revels in the presence of so many adoring fans, even if there are far fewer familiar faces than she's used to tonight.
Levi watches the show from the bar area, as he normally does, giving him a few of the whole venue and the stage, allowing him to watch the guests and Rogue at the same time.
So far, apart from the odd rowdy customer that are a little too drunk for Levi's liking, the night is going pretty much like any other, just with a far higher head count. He orders a water with lime from the bar and allows himself to lean back on his stool as Rogue begins her closing speech for the night.
"So before I finish up here, I just want to say that you have been an absolutely amazing crowd tonight and I couldn't have asked for anything better for my last performance with the rest of these amazing queens. For now at least, so I wanna say thank you to each and every one of you!" She says, and the audience begin whooping and cheering once again. The sound is almost deafening until she begins speaking once more.
"What I also must say, is that even though I'm not leaving yet, I'm still going to be here for just under a week, I have to take this time to thank the person who's made all of this possible. Maria, I won't ask you to come up here because you'll cry and your make-up will run, but without you, none of this would ever have been possible and I love you so much, you're like a mother, sister and brother wrapped into one and you gifted me more than a life, you gifted me a family. You guys right here, y'all are my fucking family and I will never forget where I started, or where I came from all because of you and because of her! Everyone, please show your immense appreciation for Maria!" The crowd begin their wild applause and whoops once more, and Levi looks over to where he knows she'll be sitting and as expected, Jean pats her back as she sobs visibly into the personalised handkerchief Levi had given her as a late birthday present. She'd cried then too, he recalls.
"While I'm here, I also have to say thank you to all of my friends and family who have supported my career over the years, helped me find myself and accepted me for who I am. It's been a rough few years, but everything you all do for me everyday makes everything worth it, and I know I'll have to say all this again once my parents come see my last show on Thursday, but just bear with me!" Rogue jokes and the audience laugh good-naturedly.
Rogue goes on to thank Mikasa, Jean and Annie, before coming to the last person on her thank you list, locking eyes with Levi as she speaks.
"Lastly, I also have to thank in particular the man who takes care of me every day, makes sure I get here on time and honestly just gives me a reason to wake up every morning. I know we had a rough start to say the least, but these last four months of my life with you have been some of the happiest I can remember, and it feels like I've known you for years. And no matter what happens in my future, I know I've met somebody special in you. So, thank you, from the bottom of my heart, you know exactly who you are. I love you." Rogue says, winking at him, before taking her final bow of the evening and walking off the stage.
The roar from the crowd is deafening, there's a thunderous clapping from the standing ovations and the music starts to blare from Connie's sound system again. But nothing can be heard over the sound of Levi's breaking heart. The tell-tale wetness on his face also confirming that this particular wound will never heal, it'll stay with him forever, from this moment on until and beyond when he finally has to go.
Erwin finds him near the bar not too long after that, the tears have been furiously wiped away, the evidence of them dried on the heels of his hands. But Erwin knows, Erwin Smith always just has to know.
"You know you can always back out, I haven't filed the paperwork yet." Erwin says gently from the stool he's perched on next to Levi.
"Save it Erwin." Levi says, voice cracking and still filled with sobs he hadn't known he was repressing, "Please, just don't do this right now. You don't have to tell me what I'm giving up because I already fucking know, okay? I know, but it doesn't change anything. So just…. don't." Levi pleads until Erwin can't take it anymore and wraps his arms around his best friend.
And the action is all it takes until Levi breaks down, right in the middle of the club, swallowed by the oblivious crowd around him.
"Rogue! My darling, come here! You did absolutely fantastically my lovely, such a wonderful and poignant speech you made at the end. You were the highlight of the evening." The middle-aged queen insists, ushering Rogue aside after she's finally changed back into her comfy clothes for the rest of the night.
The older, visiting drag queen is one that Rogue is very familiar with. Her name is Ida Hoe and she visits from the US once every few months when she can. One of the very first queens Rogue became acquainted with in her early career, and one of her favourite performers in the world. Rogue beams happily and settles next to Ida on the couch she'd been seated at along with some younger queens.
"Thank you Ida, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'm not quite gone yet, but it will probably be a while before I can perform with everybody again. I go on tour soon." Rogue confirms, sipping on a drink Jean had ordered to be sent to her room.
"I look forward to the day we share a stage once again, truly. But you're young! You shouldn't be restricted to just one place at this age, plenty of time for that later. When you're my age for example." Ida jokes with a nudge to Rogue's shoulder and the younger laughs contentedly.
"It'll be nice to get around a little, I'll admit, like you have, in both senses of the word." Rogue teases, "Outside the stuff I do on the internet, I've only ever really worked here, Wall Rose and The Basement on occasion."
"Oh yes, but with what happened in both those places these last few months, I'd be reluctant to go back there if I were you. I know it can happen anywhere, but it's a cruel, nasty business what with that friend of yours being killed in Wall Rose, God rest his soul. And then that other boy in The Basement not long after that." Ida says solemnly, as Rogue looks on at her confused.
"What other boy at The Basement?" Rogue asks, she certainly hadn't heard anything of the like.
"Oh, he was a young queen, just starting his career, the poor dear. I went along to his funeral, I'm surprised you hadn't heard, it was the talk of the club scene. Nac his name was, such a tragedy."
Rogue's heart plummets to her stomach and suddenly she needs to throw up, "Nac?" she questions, hoping Ida tells her she's heard wrong and it's somebody completely different and she doesn't know who they are.
"Yes, did you know him?" Ida asks innocently, pleasantly unaware of the inner turmoil going on in Rogue's head. Because if Ida knows of Nac being murdered at a nightclub, then Levi undoubtedly knows about it too, and that can only mean that Levi chose to keep it a secret from her. Which begs the question, why?
"I'm sorry Ida, I just need a minute to process this. Would you please excuse me?" Ida nods understandingly and lets Rogue leave her side without incident.
Rogue all but storms off in search of Levi, how could he do this? How could he keep such a massive secret from her? Not only covering up the secret of a young man's death but staying silent on the issue of another Titan attack. A Titan attack that has claimed the life of another person he'd been fond of, in a place where Rogue herself works, although admittedly, she hasn't worked there in a while.
Could that be why Levi nor Annie have booked any work there recently? Does that mean everybody knows apart from her? There are so many questions running around in her head, and she needs answers now. But what can she do if Levi had decided to cover this up and hide it from her? She can't exactly be mad at him; she's not exactly been forthcoming with the details of his sister's demise…. But the anger and hurt she's feeling is too overwhelming to push aside.
Suddenly, she has no more time, as Levi materialises in front of her eyes. His eyes are red rimmed, but she can't focus on that right now, she's far too confused and angry to ask him what's wrong. Instead, he does it for her.
"Rogue, what's the matter? What's happened?" He asks worriedly, the sadness and resolve in his eyes quickly turning into urgent concern.
"How…. How could you not tell me about Nac?" Rogue asks angrily, "He's dead, he was murdered, and nobody told me. Why didn't you tell me? Did you know?"
Levi sighs, eyes downcast, and Rogue doesn't need a verbal answer.
"Rogue…."
"Why?!" She snaps angrily, "Why didn't you tell me, Levi? How could you do that?"
"I couldn't tell you, I wanted to, I promise. I just couldn't do it." Levi answers honestly, red eyes boring into hers.
"You 'couldn't tell me'?" Rogue questions incredulously, "Okay, I'll throw you a bone here. Why couldn't you tell me Levi? Why?"
"Because I told him not to." Comes the answer from Rogue's left-hand side, where Maria is now standing.
"You?" Rogue asks, staring in disbelief at the remorseful queen.
"Yes. Levi wanted to tell you right away, but I convinced him not to. I thought at the time that it would cause you more harm than good to know. I was trying to protect you, but I realise now that maybe I was wrong." Maria replies solemnly, looking intently at the floor instead of at Rogue now.
"You were trying to protect me?! From what? A dead 18-year-old?" Rogue rages on, her yelling still almost drowned out by the loud music playing.
"From yourself, Eren. You know what you're capable of, and if I had told you the Titans killed somebody else, somebody you had known, I couldn't promise I'd be able to stop you this time."
"That was not your choice to make, Marco!" Rogue screeches, "You took my choice away and you have the nerve to say you did it to protect me. Did you go to his funeral?"
"Yes, I did." Maria answers, "I thought I'd pay my respects for the both of us."
"Of course you did…." Rogue says, shaking her head, "Because Maria has to be the caring, motherly, angel at all times. I imagine my absence was noted, what did you tell people?"
"I said that you were on vacation, and that you couldn't get home on time for the funeral." Maria admits sheepishly, looking Rogue in the eyes once more.
"Well isn't that just fucking swell? Rogue can't make the funeral because she's too busy sunning herself on some tropical island, while St Maria, somebody who didn't even know the poor boy, took the time out of her day to pay her respects out of the goodness of her own heart. Because that's just Maria, she's always just so thoughtful."
"Come on Rogue, that's not fair now." Levi interjects suddenly, knowing Maria had her valid reasons, including the photographs Rogue is still unaware of.
"Not fair? Not Fair Levi?! You're really talking to me about fairness right now? No, fairness would have been you telling me this weeks ago, why tonight? Why did I have to hear this tonight of all nights?" Rogue yells at Levi, just as Erwin and Mikasa approach them with some drinks. Erwin's jaw drops and he looks to Levi incredulously.
"Levi, why are you doing this here? You said you were waiting until tonight to tell her you're quitting. You promised you'd be kind, why would you do this?"
Rogue goes completely silent, the colour draining from her face and she feels like she could fall to her knees. Levi isn't fairing much better, staring doe-eyed at his best friend with a look of sheer shock and sickness at the sudden turn of events.
"Levi…. what is he talking about?" Rogue asks, eyes pleading with Levi to tell her it's not true. That this is all just a bad dream and her world is not falling to pieces around her.
"Shit…." Erwin exclaims, and Rogue can vaguely hear Mikasa rapidly firing questions at him.
"Rogue…. I'm sorry…." Levi begins, and before he can say anymore, Rogue is already retreating backwards, away from everyone. Away from him.
"You're leaving me…. You're all lying to me…. You've tricked me, all of you. Who the hell are you?" Rogue asks, anger and betrayal marring her lovely features, as she casts her gaze evenly between Levi and Maria. There are no tears, just hurt, and it makes everything all the worse to Levi. Eren/Rogue is a naturally emotive person, cutting themselves off in this way screams nothing but bad news in Levi's mind.
Rogue is already storming away from everyone by the time Levi's mind finally decides to catch up with him, and he fights his way through the crowd so he can catch up to her.
"Rogue, wait, please!" Levi begs, grabbing Rogue's wrist and spinning her round to meet his eyes.
"Let go of me Levi, I have nothing left to say to you."
"Just stop, stay and talk to me. Say something, I'm begging you." Levi says, desperately trying to reach out to her, hoping she'll stay to listen to his side of the story.
"You know something Levi? I tried, my goddamn hardest not to catch feelings for you. But I've failed. I've fallen hopelessly and deeply in love with you. I have NEVER loved like this before. You have my heart, and right now you're crushing it in front of my eyes. And it hurts to even look at you." Rogue proclaims, eyes wet but no tears actually spilling over.
"I know. And that's why I thought it best that I leave." Levi says sadly, eyes downcast.
"Then leave." Rogue says finally, walking away from him, not once turning to look back.
Levi knows he should let her go, let her get on with her life, and move on. But he can't bring himself to do it, and as always, he follows her without question.
The temperature outside has turned cold and the crowd has almost doubled in size, Levi notes.
Club go-ers are still waiting for entry to party through the night, the smokers are hanging around outside the doors together and to his annoyance, the religious protesters from earlier have decided to come closer to the club, now standing next to a small group and arguing rather loudly with them.
Ymir and Reiner both struggle to keep everybody back as cameras begin to flash at the sight of Rogue, with both fans and religious nuts trying to come closer, and it's causing absolute chaos.
"Nick! I thought I told you to stay away and not cause trouble!" Levi yells at the rather frazzled looking Pastor, trying to hold several of his men back.
"I'm handling it, just back off for a minute!" Nick yells back, turning back around to once again try and reason with the men to stop aggravating the group of young gay men and women screaming abuse at them.
Groups of people are now beginning to swarm Rogue, as she attempts to fight her way through them and run away from the situation she's found herself in. Levi is just beginning to catch up when he hears Maria call out from behind him.
"Eren! Please stay, we can talk about this! I'm sorry!"
Maria has now also exited the club, with Jean, Mikasa and Erwin in tow, each of them shouting after both himself and Rogue, and following close behind. The latter has managed to free herself from the throng of people that have surrounded her without turning around once, and Levi is about to call out to her again, when the shape catches the corner of his eye.
He doesn't even know how he's spotted it, the figure standing completely still with the hood covering the majority of their face. Whether it's through his years of training and conditioning to recognise these small details in heavily crowded places, or if there's some kind of unearthly being somewhere on his side, he doesn't know, nor does he even care to know.
All he does know, is that the figure is holding a handgun and is beginning to raise it up towards their desired target.
It takes no more thinking on Levi's part, instead he just feels as he rams his way through the people separating him and Rogue, taking no care to be gentle and manically throwing them aside in a panic. The thought of losing the only person that's ever made him feel this way, the one that made him lose all his inhibitions and rebuild himself as a better man, the only person he's ever truly been maddeningly in love with, it's too unbearable a thought to entertain. It drives him forward, forward…
"EVERYBODY GET DOWN NOW!" He screams, before launching himself in front of a terror-stricken Rogue, pinning them both down to the ground.
And the shot rings out with a resonating bang.