The next day, the Jaeger family held a birthday party for Armin, seeing as how his grandfather was in the hospital and couldn't be there. They ate, they talked, and when they opened presents, Eren was happy to note that Armin loved his present. Though, he later found out that Armin had about twenty different books that were just like that, but the blonde reassured him that it was the thought that counted.

About an hour into the party, Armin told Eren that it was okay for him to invite Levi, and much to the blonde male's surprise, Eren was actually hesitant to invite his beloved boyfriend over. "Eren… What's going on?"

Eren gave a nervous laugh, and said, "Wha-what do you mean, you blonde coconut you… Heh heh…"

Armin gave Eren a 'don't-give-me-that-crap' look, and Eren sighed. "It's just that I saw his mom yesterday at the store, and I kinda didn't tell him…"

"What? Why?"

"Because, Armin, she had a guy with her and I think he's the reason she let again. I didn't want to make Levi feel bad, but now I can't face him…"

"Well, you're gonna have to, because while we were talking, your mom called him."

Eren swiftly turned to his mother and shouted, "Mom!" Carla simply smiled, and replied, "What, I thought you'd want to see your sweet honey?" Eren gave a defeated sigh, and flopped down on the couch.

Grisha called to him from his place on the chair that sat to the right of the couch. "As long as you two don't go and have sex in the bedrooms, then I'm okay with it."

Mikasa gave a sigh of disgust from her place at the kitchen table, but otherwise remained silent. Eren looked to his adopted sister for support, but all he got was a thumbs up. He sighed once more. "You're right Mom, I do want to see him; I was just being silly."

As soon as he said this, there was a knock on the door, and the brunette panicked. "Okay, that was a lie! Barricade the doors!" Armin rolled his eyes, and opened the door for the small raven.

"Hey Armin. Happy birthday." Levi said with a small smile. Armin gave a cocky smirk to Eren, and said, "Why thank you, Levi. Here, why don't you come in and see Eren."

Said boy gave the blonde a death glare, but as Levi approached, he gave his most convincing smile.

"H-Hey Lee." Levi cocked an eyebrow, but didn't voice his concern to Eren's stuttering. "Hey Eren. Did Armin like his gift?" Eren struggled to keep his forced smile as he replied. "W-Why don't you just go ask him? I mean he i-is right there! Ha ha…"

Carla took this moment to come over. "Eren! Don't be rude to my sweet baby! Levi, would you like some cake, dear?" Levi smiled awkwardly and said, "Uh, no, I'm fine…"

Armin plopped down next to Levi on the couch and said, "You two can leave if you want. I'm sure Eren has something important to tell you. Right Eren?"

Eren glared at Armin once more, but nonetheless agreed to the offer. "Okay, Armin. Come on Levi, we can take a walk to the park or something…"

"Uh, o-okay…"

-Line Break-

As the two teenager waked down the street to the local park, Levi finally caved in and asked what was on his mind. "Eren… Are you okay? You seem… tense…"

The brunette stopped waking, causing the raven to mimic him. Eren stared at Levi for a good minute until he sighed and gave in.

"Levi, I have something important to tell you…"

Levi gasped as his mind went to worst-case-scenario. "A-are you breaking up with me!?" Eren stared at him wide-eyed. "Wha-what!? No! I just wanted to tell you that I saw your mom yesterday at the store!"

The shorter male gave sigh of relief. "Oh, that's good. For a second I thought- Wait, what!? Why didn't you tell me yesterday!?"

Eren scratched the back of his neck nervously as he answered. "I didn't tell you 'cause when I saw her… she had a guy… And I think he's the reason why she left."

He couldn't bring himself to look at his boyfriend as silence took over both of them. "O-Oh…" This was all he got as he felt Levi tug on his arm to get him moving again. The raven had begun waking to the park again as if nothing had ever happened.

"Uh, Levi, are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"

"What's there to talk about? I mean I got over it when I was little. I'm sure I'll be fine now."

Eren was shocked into silence as he let himself continue to be dragged along. Eventually he gave a small, "Hm…", and let the rest of the trip be filled with silence.

-Line Break-

The time at the park was a somber one. Levi was unusually quiet, and it worried Eren to the core. If he tried to ask about his mother, Levi would either ignore it or move on to a different subject. After a while, the brunette offered to take Levi home, which the raven greatly appreciated.

Once there, the two were greeted by an exhausted looking Kenny at the front door. "O-Oh, Levi! Y-you weren't supposed to be back until later! I-"

Someone gasping from inside the house cut Kenny off. "Levi! Kenny, move out of the way! Oh, my Levi, I've missed you!"

None other than Kuchel wrapped the small raven male in a tight embrace and led the two teenagers inside. Before he went in, Eren noticed the way Kuchel stepped on Kenny's foot on her way in that was too forceful to be an accident.

"M-Mom? What are you doing here?"

"Y-Yeah Kuchel, what are you doing here with… him…"

Eren's voice faded out as they walked inside and he noticed Cornelius sitting on the couch looking at one of Levi's baby pictures.

Levi stopped in his tracks once he saw the man and turned to his mother. "Who's this?" Kuchel gave an awkward laugh and gave her son's shoulder a pat. "Levi, honey, this is Cornelius. Cornelius, this is my son, Levi. Remember, I told you about him?"

The auburn haired male took this opportunity to look up from the picture he was looking at to finally see Levi in person.

Levi looked to Eren before turning to his mother. "Is he the reason why you left?"

Kuchel's smile dropped, but it returned as soon as it let. "Let's not dwell on the past sweetie! Come on, don't you want to say hi to him?"

Eren watched as Levi's eyebrows knitted together in frustration. Before anyone knew what was going on, the short male had turned and silently made his way to his room. Everyone heard a loud slam, and Kenny took this opportunity to speak up. "See Kuchel, this is what happens when you mess with his emotions like that! You can't just keep leaving and coming back! And what's worse is that you brought this clown!"

Kuchel marched over to Kenny and grabbed him by his collar. "Don't you dare sit there and judge me, you sorry excuse for an ex-drunk! My son and I are none of your business!"

Kenny grew furious. "You are my business when I'm the one that has to see him break down because he thinks you don't love him! He's not your son! If anything, he's my son because I'm the one that raised him!"

Eren didn't stay to hear the rest of the argument. He had already made his way down to Levi's room and was knocking on the door when he began to hear cursing from both Kenny and Kuchel. If Eren was honest, he could care less as to what was going on in the living room.

At the moment, he didn't care about Kenny; he didn't care about Kuchel, and he especially didn't care about Cornelius. The only parson he cared about now was Levi.

"Levi? It's Eren. Can I come in?"

When he got no reply, he took the opportunity to just continue into the room. Once in, his heart sank. There lay Levi one the bed, his covers pulled over his head, the only sound being the deafening silence.

The brunette silently walked over and sat on the bed.

"Levi?"

After a minute or two, Levi pulled his head from under the covers and before Eren could get a good look at his face, the raven had wrapped his arms around Eren's waist and pushed his head into the younger teen's abdomen.

Eren heard a muffled sound come from his boyfriend, and gave a curious, "What?" This caused Levi to lift his head, look Eren in the eye, and reply with, "I want you to sneak me out."

The brunette found no reason to object.

-End of Chapter 25-

A/N: WOOOOOWWWWWW! I am SOOOOOOOOO sorry that this chapter took so long to come out! I have no excuse T_T… I promise, the next chapter will be out by next week! And I know all of you are ready for some smut, I know I am, but that will be coming soon. Mwahahaha! Anyway, see you next time!

Preview for next chappie: Levi and Eren sneak out, Levi spends the night at Eren's, Kenny is worried, and Cornelius is a jerk… probably… Uh, and smoochies between our ereri babies!