Okay, so because I hardly ever leave the house the ol' days get a but jumbled together and I didn't realise it was Wednesday today. So I rushed the last half of this chapter a little bit, but I think it's still okay.

Anyway so I came to the realisation the other day that this story is actually almost over. I'd say there are probably about two or three ACTUAL story chapters, and then there will be an EPILOGUE and so far I have TWO EXTRA CHAPTERS. One of these will be uploaded the week after next and will outline Levi's past. The second I will be posting after the epilogue is up and it will focus on Jean and Marco. I may write others in the mean time focusing on the other characters, but it all depends on inspiration.

So I hope you enjoy thisweeks chapter. Don't forget to leave a review, or give it a fav/follow.

Everything is appreciated (:

~~.~~

The one where everyone(including Eren) knows Eren fucked up

~~.~~

Before Eren would have thought that Levi's horrific expression was due to the punch he had not expected to receive, he did not expect Levi to cower away from him in fear, his hand still holding his quickly bruising cheek. Eren takes a step forward, his hand outstretched towards Levi, he winces realising it's the same hand that he used to hurt him.

"Levi, I'm so -," His voice shakes with guilt.

Levi takes another step away from him, turning his face away so Eren can no longer see the damage he'd done.

"Don't!" He cries out, causing Eren to stop in his tracks. "Don't come near me."

"Levi, I don't even know why I did that. I'm so sorry, I wasn't even thinking, I just reacted. I am so so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you I swear." He wants to move closer to the man, but he remains rooted to the spot as he knows in this moment Levi would never allow it.

Levi doesn't look at him, which only makes him feel worse. How could be have done this? He hadn't even been thinking. He hadn't meant to hurt him, but that's exactly what he's done. And he'd had to do it in the worse possible way.

He lowers his voice, trying to sound as non-threatening as possible. "Levi, please just look at me."

It's a moment before Levi makes any move to show that he heard him. He lifts his head slowly, letting his hand fall away from his face to hang by his side. He lifts his eyes to meet Eren's, the brunette's breath catches in his throat as he stares into Levi's eyes. He'd expected to find pain, confusion even, and though he'd hate himself for it he knew he'd have to do everything in his power to make things right with Levi. What he doesn't know how to handle is the pure hate that stares back at him; it's as if the grey eyes are seeing through him, as if he may have not been standing in the room at all.

He moves again, taking a slow step towards Levi, making sure to keep both his hands down by his sides. When Levi allows him to take the step a flicker of hope alights inside of him, causing him to boldly take another step. Its then that Levi moves back, causing the space between them to widen. Eren stops abruptly, staring at Levi with pleading eyes. He opens his mouth to speak again, only for Levi to harshly cut him off.

"Get out, Eren Yeager."

The fact that Levi has reverted back to calling him by his full name makes his stomach flip. The reason for Levi calling him by his full name again, a name that he hasn't called him by since Levi first mentioned some of his true feelings, makes Eren realise that he had just made the biggest mistake of his life.

He tries to move again, but Levi puts his hand up and it's then that Eren realises that the man is shaking. Did it really affect him that much? A fresh wave of guilt washes over Eren as he turns around, knowing that for now there is nothing he can do to convince Levi that he's sorry. He opens the door quickly and rushes out of the building, knowing there is only one other place he wants to be.

~~.~~

Armin hadn't expected to see Eren tonight. Not after hearing his plans to sort things out with Levi. Yet here he was standing in the common room doorway with tears streaking down his face. He gives Mikasa a quick glance before getting up quickly and rushing over to his best friend's side.

He pushes the hair off of Eren's face and forces him to look up.

"Eren, what happened?"

Eren meets his eyes, but a loud sob stops him from voicing a response.

Armin leads him over to the couch he was just occupying and forces him to sit down, before kneeling himself in front of him.

"Eren please, tell us what happened."

Eren looks at him through glassy eyes. The obvious sadness in his eyes pulls at Armin's heartstrings and he has to restrain himself from throwing his arms around the man and crushing him to his chest. When Eren remains silent, Armin takes it to mean that Eren has been hurt, that Levi has done something inexcusable, and Armin cannot forgive that.

His expression turns hard as he stares at his crying and broken friend.

"What did he do to you?"

Eren's eyes snap up in horror, fresh tears falling faster down his red, tear stained cheeks.

The look on Armin's face terrifies him, he knows that Armin would do anything for him, but right now there was nothing for him to do. The only person in the wrong here is Eren. He can't allow anyone to think anything else.

"No. It's my fault," He whispers.

"What do you mean your fault? He must have done something big if you're crying your eyes out," Armin responds, his face still set in a hard mask.

"We got into a fight and things got out of hand and I -," He's unable to finish his sentence as he buries his head in his hands, no longer able to look his friend in the eye.

"What did you do, Eren?" Mikasa's stern voices startles him, he'd forgotten she was in the room.

"I didn't mean to, I mean I don't even remember doing it. It all happened so fast, and he was so scared. I've never seen him look like that before. And it's all because of me," He stares right into her eyes, pleading for her to understand.

Her face remains blank as she gets up from her seat and walks slowly over to him. She reaches him, but does not kneel before him like Armin, instead she remains standing, looming over top of him with hard eyes.

"What did you do, Eren?"

He flinches back at her tone, no longer thinking that she will understand. Though why should she? He did it, and there is no going back. He shifts his gaze to Armin who is looking at him with a mix of confusion and worry. He's not able to look at his friend for more than a few seconds, not after what he'd done, and shifts his gaze back to Mikasa.

"I hit him," He lowers his head in shame as the words leave his lips, but not before seeing the blazing anger in her dark eyes.

"You did what?" She doesn't yell, but the hateful tone in her voice makes Eren wish that she had.

He stares back up at her with so much regret, but it does nothing to quench her fury. "I swear to god Mikasa, I didn't mean to. We were fighting, god it seems so stupid now, and he wasn't taking anything seriously, and I just," He stops, running his hands through his hair as he recalls the incident. "I don't even remember doing it; one second we were yelling and the next my fist connected with his cheek. He was terrified. I tried to make things right, I really tried, but he wouldn't even let me near him."

Both his friends stare at him as if he were a stranger. Eren's hand feels cold as he realises Armin has released it, all comforting touches between them have ceased. He feels more tears falling from his eyes, there's so many that they no longer run down his cheeks and instead fall straight onto his arms that lie limp in his lap. His mind is running a mile a minute as he tries to think up the words that will make them understand.

"I don't understand what happened."

"You know exactly what happened, Eren," Mikasa's voice harsh voice reaches him as he stares back up at her. "You got mad and you hit him, so don't you dare sit here and say that you don't understand that."

"Mikasa, I swear to god I didn't mean for this to happen."

"It doesn't matter now what you meant to happen," She pauses, pinching the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger. He had not expected her to look so pained. She looks back down at him, her eyes a mix of anger and pity. "I hope you don't plan on trying to get back together with him, because you have no idea what you've done."

She turns around quickly and walks out of the common room; he watches her go with her final words swirling around in his mind. He turns slowly back to Armin whose gaze as glazed over as he stares at Eren with disappointment.

"Armin, please. You have to believe me," He pleads, reaching out for his friends touch.

Armin flinches back slightly. Eren's lowers his eyes away from him, no longer wanting to see the disappointment stretched clear across Armin's face. Armin registers Eren's mood and works hard to make his face neutral.

"Eren, I'm sorry. I just -," Knowing no words will help to assure Eren, he sits up placing his arms around the brunette and holds him tight against his chest. Eren immediately wraps his own arms around him, snuggling closer to the warmth that his friend is bringing to him.

"Armin, you have to believe me. I didn't mean to, I don't even know what happened. But he looked so scared, I just screwed everything up, and I don't know what to do," He continues mumbling against Armin's chest. The blonde brings him closer to him, not being able to do anything but hold him.

~~.~~

The door slams on its hinges as Eren flees the room. Levi remains standing for a minute staring where he had just exited before he slumps defeated against the wall. He brings his legs up into his chest, circling his arms around them and hides his face in between his knees. Though he doesn't want to, tells himself repeatedly that the things from the past no longer affect him, a sob rips its way out of his throat and into the emptiness of the room. He feels the wetness of his cheeks as tears flow heavily from his eyes that are scrunched tightly shut. The sting in his cheek seems to have spread rapidly, now causing a harsh throbbing to rattle in his skull. He has no energy to wipe his tears away, no energy, no motivation, and no desire to do anything but sit huddled against the wall.

Images begin to flood his mind of a time he would much rather forget. An image of a man so strict, so unloving that Levi shudders at the thought of him even now. How is it that his life is this way? He thought years ago when he ran from his family that this was behind him. The day he met Hange and Erwin was the day he knew everything was going to change. Sure it took him a while to open up to them, to rely on them as one does a friend. He'd never been allowed friends. But things got better.

Of course he can't blame other people for who he is, sure they had a large hand in it, but ultimately in the end it always came down to him. To him not opening up, to not allowing people to see past the indifferent façade he put up. It's a defence mechanism and he knows that, but he could never seem to find a way to put it down. Eren of course was one person he could never understand, he could never determine what the guy was going to do next. And that very thought intrigued him as much as it terrified him. The fact that he couldn't determine what Eren would do or say next means he's not safe, Levi doesn't know him well enough to confide in him, but of course that's as much Levi's fault as it is Eren's.

Though Levi never expected this.

Not from Eren.

Sure he was rash and stubborn and has one the worst anger management problems Levi has ever seen, but he knows that Eren didn't mean to do what he did. And yet the realisation of that fact is not enough to stop his body from shaking as he recalls the moment it happened over and over again.

He's not sure how long he sits there huddled on the floor, his body shaking uncontrollably as he tries desperately to calm himself down. He doesn't need anybody to see him like this. His arm muscles begin to twinge with fatigue causing him to let his legs fall straight in front of him. He remains sitting his legs outstretched in front of him, head hanging low and eyes staring at nothing when he hears voices drifting from the corridor.

"Do you think we should just go in?" Erwin's low voice asks, Levi's not used to hearing the man sound so unsure. He doesn't like it.

"Uh maybe," Another voice responses sounding just as unsure. He hears the rattle of the doorhandle moving as someone begins to turn it.

No please don't come in here.

"Come on, it's open."

He hears the door swing open followed by footsteps making their way towards him. He wishes they'd turn around, just go back out the way they came and leave him alone, he doesn't need them to see how weak he is.

"Levi?" The footsteps draw closer. "Levi? Are you in here?" He doesn't want to talk to them.

He hears the footsteps stop, but makes no move to look up. He knows they're standing there in front of him, knows that they can see how pathetic he is as he sits on the floor, his face red and puffy even after his tears have stopped falling.

"Levi!" Hange's voice is a shriek as she runs over to him, crumping on the floor herself and flails her hands around him with worry. "What are you doing? What happened?" Her questions come out like rapid fire but he has no strength to answer them, he continues staring at the floor attempting to hide what he's sure is a growing bruise over his cheek.

She places her hands on his shoulders gently causing him to flinch away from her. She breaks the contact, bringing her hands back against her body quickly and sighs. "Oh Levi."

He brings his knees back up to his chest, feeling too exposed under their harsh eyes. "Go away."

Hange's eyes open in surprise before she leans in closer to him. "What did you say?"

He breathes in a shaky breath, trying to put his usual hardness into his words. "I said, go away. I don't want you here."

She puts her hands back on his shoulders, not caring when he flinches a second time. "That's too bad. We're going to stay here until you tell us what just happened!" She sits back slightly trying to look at his face, though the long parts of his hair obscure her vision. "We saw Eren run out of here completely distraught, and now we find you here sitting on the floor," She sighs harshly. "You better not have gone off at him again. You better not be sitting here feeling sorry for yourself."

Her words make his teeth grind against each other harshly, causing his jaw to ache from the pressure. She knows nothing. As if he would sit cowering on the floor if Eren just went off at him, words he can handle, he just shouts them right back if need be, but -. But he can't handle this. He lifts his head quickly staring right at Hange with venomous eyes. "Don't come in here acting like you know everything! You know nothing about what just happened! Don't come in here and jump down my fucking throat because you think I did something to Eren!"

They both stare at him as he pants slightly to catch his breath, there's no mistaking that they see what he was so afraid of showing them.

"L-Levi, your face. W-What?" Hange stutters, for once at a loss for words.

"He did this to you?" Erwin asks, causing Levi to turn his gaze on him.

He feels small under his sharp blue gaze so he turns his head away and nods slightly, and that's all the answer Erwin needs.

"I'm going to kill him."

"Don't be stupid!" Hange shouts, turning to look at him.

"Hange look at Levi, are you honestly saying that you don't want to see Eren hurt just as bad?" Erwin's voice rises as he speaks, as if he couldn't believe that Hange would oppose.

"Eren is hurting!" Hange states loudly. "Don't you see that? There's no excuse for what he did, I'm not saying there is. But the guy is hurting."

Erwin rounds on her, his piercing gaze could have cut glass. "I don't care if he's hurting! You know this is something we can't ignore. You know what Levi's been through."

"Erwin," He turns his head to look down at Levi as he begins to get to his feet. "Hange's right. Besides I'm partly to blame for this anyway. He did it because I riled him up, it's my fault."

"Don't," Erwin and Hange say at the same time, their tones making the word final.

Erwin steps forward and wraps Levi up in his arms, for once Levi allows him to do it, only because he has no strength to move.

"Don't you dare blame yourself, you hear me. He may not have come here with the intention to do this and you may have played a part in it. But there is no excuse for this. None."

"That doesn't change anything," Levi mumbles into his shirt, because what's done is done.

~~.~~

Eren had expected Levi's friends to track him down and kill him.

He's not sure what would have happened with Levi after he left the dorm, but he has no doubt that Hange, Erwin and Petra know everything by now. He'd thought about turning back, running back to the dorm he had just fled from and making sure Levi was okay. But the image of Levi's eyes, full of hatred and pain stopped him. As selfish as it may sound he couldn't stand for Levi to look at him like that. So he continued to his dorm.

After he came clean to both Armin and Mikasa he holed himself up in his dorm and stayed there for the inevitable shit storm that would befall him, but that hasn't come yet. He's gone over and over in his head how everything went down, how it ended the way it did.

How could he have been so stupid?

How could he allow himself to get so out of control?

He never meant to hurt Levi, never, no matter how much the guy pissed him off, no matter how much he managed to undermine him, he never wished to see him hurt. And yet now he's the one who hurt him, with his own hands.

He's troubled by Levi's reaction to it though. He knows he was in shock, neither of them expected it to happen, but Levi's reaction seemed beyond the normal amount of shock one would usually experience in that situation. No Levi was terrified. The way his body shook as he cowered away from him told him that Levi had experienced something like that before. And the emotional scars from that are still affecting him today. Of course Eren had no idea about that, had no way of knowing about things in Levi's past because he never shared.

Perhaps he had a good reason. He always said he couldn't trust Eren, and now he understands a little of why. He's no excusing the shitty way in which Levi has treated him since he's known him, but he can understand partly the way Levi acts the way he does. He's scared. Scared to get close to someone. Perhaps it was someone close to him that hurt him so bad in the first place; Eren doesn't know what that's like. But he can understand it to some extent.

Of course this only makes him feel even more like a piece of shit.

~~.~~

"Mikasa. Did something happen to Levi?"

She lifts her head from her laptop and stares at him where he stands by the door. She gives him a blank look before looking back down at the screen.

"Why do you assume that I'm talking to you right now?" Her words are like ice.

"Mikasa, please. You know I would never do something like that of my own will. I didn't mean to hurt him. And his reaction has been eating at me for days. He was terrified, Mikasa. And there has got to be a reason why," His tone is pleading and guilty as he asks of her more than she can give.

She closes her laptop and places it to the side on her bed. "You really fucked up, Eren."

"I know," He says sadly, looking down at his shoes.

"No, I don't think you do," He stares back up at her confused. "You know that you fucked up because you hit him, yes. But you don't understand that that was the worst possible thing you could have done to him."

"I don't -," He stares, before realising he has nothing to say.

She sighs. "It's not my place to say, Eren."

He steps forward, pleading. "Please, just tell me what I need to do. Tell me what happened to him so I can make this right."

Her eyes widen at his choice of words. How can he possibly think that he can do anything to make it right? "It's not my place to say. If you want to know you're going to have to ask him, but I don't think he'll allow you to talk to him."

"I have to try," He states, as if it will be as simple as that.

She opens her laptop back up. "Shut the door on your way out, Eren."

He leaves.

~~.~~

"Come on, Levi. Let's go for some tea," Petra says from his tiny table.

"I have tea here," He states gesturing to his mini kitchen.

She smiles at him like he's missing something. "I know, but you need to get out of this dorm. It's stuffy in here."

She expects him to refuse, he's been couped up in here for two days now, and yet he grabs his jacket off the chair immediately and walks to the door.

"Okay, let's go."

She jumps up quickly, eagerly following him out of the dorms.

They walk to the café across campus in an effort to avoid Eren in case he's working at Sixty Degrees. They take a seat towards the back, but still in view of the doors. Petra orders their drinks before sitting at the table across from him.

"So, this is fine then, being out like this?" She asks, trying to ease into the discussion with him.

"Yes, Petra," He answers blandly, annoyed that she's treating him like a wounded animal.

"Is your cheek okay? It looks sore," She asks, trying for a different approach.

He lifts his hand quickly, his fingers prodding gently at the bruise clearly visible around his left eye and cheek. He winces as he presses too hard. "It's okay."

"Have you seen him since?"

He doesn't get a chance to reply as the waitress comes over with their drinks, he looks up to thank her only to stare right into familiar large teal eyes. His answer to Petra's question flies right out of his head as he stares at Eren, not sure what to do. Petra sits waiting for an answer when she realises Levi is otherwise occupied. She follows his gaze until it lands on Eren and her hands clench into fists on the table.

Neither Levi nor Eren make any move to interact and yet their eyes both hold the same pain, as if they're both longing to speak to the other but can't find it within them to do so. She grabs Levi's arm quickly and pulls him out of his chair.

"Let's go, Levi," She says, as she pulls him toward the door.

He keeps eye contact with Eren for another second, as the brunette watches them go, before Levi drops his eyes and looks at Petra. "Yeah."

Eren stands in line trying to get his thoughts straight, the man at the register asks for his order twice before Eren realises he's talking to him. He looks at him, before he turns for the door exiting the café. He looks frantically around the quad but sees no sign of Petra or Levi; he heaves a sigh and starts to head back towards his dorm, when he hears someone yelling his name. For a second his mood brightens, thinking its Levi, but when he turns and comes face to face with Hange he swallows loudly and prepares himself for the shit storm that's finally come.

She looks him over as he stands tense in front of her, his hands clenched to fists tightly in his pockets. "What are you doing, Eren?"

"W-What?" He asks, honestly surprised by her question. "Aren't you doing to hit me?"

She raises her eyebrow at him. "What would I do that?"

"I wouldn't stop you, I deserve it after all."

She holds her hand up in front of his face to stop him. "There will be no more of that talk. I have a plan that I think might be able to help you."

His face brightens at her words. "You mean to help me get Levi back?"

"No," His face falls. "To get you two to talk. It's up to you to get him back yourself."

As happy as he is that Hange has a plan he can't help but wonder why she's willing to help him.

"Now let's go back to my dorm."

"Wait, Hange. Why are you helping me? Don't you guys all hate me?"

She stops walking for a second, looking at him before picking up her stride once more. "Hate is a strong word, Eren. I might be disappointed in you, but I don't hate you. We all make mistakes, and it's up to each of us to make them right." She winks at him. "With a little outside help of course."

He jogs a few steps to catch up with her. "So what are we doing then?"

"You'll see," She answers vaguely, grabbing his hand and pulling him along with her.

He sits on one of the couches in dorm building K with worry lying in the pit of his stomach. Hange left him here with only one word:

"Stay."

Honestly he's not sure what to do with that, but she said she was going to help him at least a little bit with Levi, so he figures it's best to do as she says for now. He's just shifting himself into a comfier position on the couch when he hears footsteps approaching the doorway. He sits up straighter and watches the door carefully, hoping with every fibre of his being that it's Levi who walks in.

~~.~~

He makes his way down the stairs to the common room through every part of his body is screaming at him to turn around, to not listen to a thing Hange says and get the hell out of here while he can. Even so his curiosity and reluctance to back away from anything drives him forward. He makes it to the doorway and before he turns he already knows who he's going to see, can sense in a way that the person it that room is the one person he has no desire to see.

Not now.

Maybe not ever.

He rounds the doorway, his eyes falling straight onto the man sitting expectantly on the couch. Grey eyes meet teal and every thought but one flies out of Levi's head.

"Eren Yeager," He says, though it comes out more of an accusation. He doesn't want to be here, so he turns around and tries to head back out the door. A hand around his wrist stops him, causing him to flinch and wrench it way from Eren quickly as if he'd burnt him.

"Don't fucking touch me." His voice is magnified in the silence room.

"Please Levi, hear me out," Eren pleads, making sure to keep his distance this time.

He doesn't walk away instantly which gives Eren the hope he's been searching for.

"Levi, please."