Chapter 28

"I look like a fucking stripper."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"Well, considering I used to actually be one, I can confidently say that it's certainly not a good thing."

"Strippers are hot anyways, I don't know why you're compla—wait, what?"

Levi snorted and turned back towards the full-length mirror (the one situated just beside his dresser), adjusting the hat atop his head for the umpteenth time that evening.

He debated whether or not to just leave Eren to stew in his own thoughts, but eventually decided against it after considering just how ridiculous his boyfriend's thoughts presumably were.

There's no telling what kind of crazy shit goes through that little shit's brain.

The raven-haired teen levelled Eren with a withering look as he spoke, "You seriously bought that?"

"Well yeah, it's not like it's completely impossible, you're totally hot enough to pull off being a stripper! Besides, from what I've heard, your early teen years were pretty wild," Eren defended, blushing in mortification upon realizing that Levi had only been messing with him.

"My fucking dork of a boyfriend thinks that I'm hot enough to be a stripper, I'm going to take that as a compliment. Although, the whole slutty image that comes with that title is a tad off character for me."

"I mean, if you had been a stripper, I'd be like...chill with it, you know? It's not like you said you were a prostitute. Stripping for money and fucking for money are very different," Eren shrugged.

The brunette shifted a little where he stood in an attempt to dislodge yet another uncomfortable wedgie. He still wasn't entirely sure if he was wearing his costume correctly, despite Levi reassuring him twice already that he was.

Ever since Levi had conceded to his couple's outfit choice, the younger male had been debating whether or not to go for that cartoonish black and white stripy combo or the more traditional orange jumpsuit look.

He had ultimately settled on the latter a few days prior, thinking that although orange wasn't the most flattering colour, the style would be more comfortable to wear.

The fact that it was the cheaper option was also a bonus. He was a broke high school student, for fuck's sake.

Fortunately, he'd managed to procure one where the colour didn't violently assault your eyes whenever you looked at it, which Eren had silently congratulated himself for.

It was more of a burnt orange that could almost be mistaken for a shade of brown. Due to his skin tone, and hair colour, the costume suited him far better than he could have hoped.

Eren had somehow come to the conclusion that a jumpsuit would be much easier to wear, with there only technically being one article of clothing.

He had been very much mistaken.

He hadn't quite realized just how difficult it was to wear a jumpsuit. The fact that it was a little bit too small also didn't really help the situation any.

Most of his shirts were in a medium, so when he'd ordered the outfit online, that was the size he'd chosen.

Unfortunately, he'd forgotten that he had to consider not only his upper body into the equation, but the length of his legs also. While that should have been obvious, it had somehow slipped past Eren's attention.

The bottom half of his outfit was just that little bit too tight around his thighs and hips, although he wasn't exactly complaining. It did look rather flattering, even if it wasn't exactly the most comfortable.

Not having worn a jumpsuit since he was a young child and his parents still dictated what he wore, Eren was starting to doubt his choice of attire.

Eren wasn't entirely sure if he was comfortable having to strip down to his boxers every time he needed to use the bathroom.

Eren kinda liked how the bottom half of the jumpsuit made his ass look fucking wonderful.

Eren had no fucking clue how you were supposed to wear these types of fucking clothes without forever ending up with a perpetual fucking wedgie every time you lift your fucking arms higher than your fucking chest.

Eren had very conflicted feelings about his clothing choice.

Eren was sure that he used the word fuck almost as much as Levi, at this point.

Levi sighed despairingly at his lover's comment.

"Eren...I wasn't a fucking stripper, or a prostitute for that matter. Plus, I'm only a year older than you, and my so called wild early teen years, started when I was thirteen, and ended when I was fifteen. You're saying you honestly believed that a fifteen year old or younger could get employed as a stripper?" He asked, his voice laced with teasing sarcasm.

The ravenette paused when Eren shook his head mutely, before a sly smirk slowly tugged at his lips, "I can, however, perform a rather satisfactory lap dance that has never once received a single complaint."

"You can lap dance?" Eren asked dumbfoundedly, his expression a mixture of blatant awe and barely concealed curiosity.

"Maybe," Levi replied impassively, not even his usually emotive eyes alluding to whether he was telling the truth or not.

"Is there any way for me to buy tickets for the show?" Eren grinned flirtatiously as he approached Levi from behind, wrapping his arms around his waist and resting his chin on the smaller male's shoulder.

"You're my boyfriend, brat, you don't need tickets. For you, it's free," Levi rolled his eyes, but leaned back into Eren's chest nonetheless, "Or well, it's not necessarily free as such. It tends to come with a rather...costly price."

Their eyes met in the mirror and a tense, heavy silence fell between them. Dark, stormy grey filled with lust inquisitively searched bright, intrigued teal, that was blown wide with shameless arousal.

"W-What kind of price...?" Eren questioned, his evident desire causing his voice to lower to nothing more than a breathless whisper.

Levi's eyes heated up ever so slightly upon hearing Eren's inquiry, "Ah well, you'll just have to wait and see, won't you?" He baited, pressing his back a little more firmly against his lover's chest.

Eren was almost content with that response, too absorbed in the way that Levi's lithe body fit so perfectly against his own, however it didn't take long for him to realize that Levi hadn't actually given him a proper answer.

"You know, getting me worked up right now will just defeat the purpose of us getting ready, because I'm half tempted to just undress you right here, right now, party be damned," Eren warned, although he knew it was futile.

Levi had made it perfectly clear that he didn't want to attend the party, his grumbling and complaining for the past three hours were proof of that, but Eren wasn't about to back down.

This would be the one and only Halloween party that they would be able to attend together as high schoolers. Levi would be graduating next year, meaning that this was their final chance, and Eren was determined to have this experience.

He was nothing if not sentimental.

"That actually sounds fucking perfect. You pick the movie, I'll get the popcorn in the microwave," Levi agreed, his voice and facial expression one hundred percent serious, just as Eren had expected it to be, "Maybe I'll even give you that lap dance you wanted, hm?"

Eren ignored the (rather tempting) attempt at bribery, "No, come on, this is going to be fun."

"There are many adjectives that I could use to describe the fucking shitfest that we are about to embark upon, and fun is not one of them."

"Levi, if you stop complaining and actually try to enjoy yourself tonight, I promise to do whatever you want for our next date, no questions asked," Eren suggested, squeezing his arms around Levi until they were gripping him more securely.

"Whatever I want, huh? You sure about that?" Levi smirked, a thoughtful look crossing his features as he considered his options.

Eren nuzzled his nose into the side of Levi's neck and brushed his fingertips distractedly over the black leather belt around Levi's hips as he thought over his response, "I trust you not to make me do anything I wouldn't want to." He smiled at his boyfriend adoringly when their eyes met in the mirror once again.

"Your trust is sorely misplaced," Levi chuckled darkly, a devious shine to his charcoal coloured eyes.

"You can pretend to be as naughty as you want, but everyone knows that you're really just a big softie." Eren grinned when Levi placed a small kiss onto his forehead, the gesture just verifying his statement.

"Hn. It's all your fault, brat. You're the one who makes me do all of these chick flick clichés." Levi rested his hand over the one of Eren's that was fiddling with his belt, effectively stilling it, before intertwining their fingers.

Eren rolled his eyes and altered the angle of his hand until he could comfortably hold Levi's in his own, "I'm not making you do anything, you must just be a secret romantic at heart."

"If you say so," Levi muttered, his gaze dropping to the hardwood floor beneath them to break the unwavering eye contact that they had been maintaining.

"I do say so, and it's one of my favourite things about you. You're such a gentleman—when you're not making poop jokes—and you always do and say such cheesy things that make my tummy do somersaults." The brown-haired male pressed a soft kiss onto the hollow curve between Levi's shoulder and collar bone with a content smile.

"Now who's the one saying mushy shit?"

"Me!" Eren replied instantly without hesitation, a toothy grin stretching his lips, "I never denied being a romantic, I take it as a compliment, actually."

"You're not romantic, you're just a fucking dork." Levi knew that he could've thought of a more original insult, but he was partly distracted by Eren's beautiful smile.

"A cute dork though."

"I suppose."

"Fuck you."

"Maybe later."

Eren giggled at the innuendo, shaking his head and sighing exasperatedly, "I can't believe that I just called you a gentleman."

"I can be gentle if that's what you're into," Levi murmured seductively, giving Eren a sultry look that sent the blood rushing to both his cheeks and his nether regions.

"Oh my god, Levi, shut up." Eren buried his face into Levi's shoulder in an attempt to disguise his snickering, but the older teen could feel his lover's chest heaving and shoulders shaking against his back.

"I prefer it loud, though," Levi responded nonchalantly, as if he was discussing the weather.

In a desperate attempt to divert the topic of conversation, Eren peeked out from behind Levi's shoulder and raked his gaze over the shorter male's body, "I like your hair like that," he commented.

After careful consideration, Levi had decided to slick his hair back instead of styling it into his face as he usually did. A few of the shorter, more stubborn strands had refused to co-operate, so he eventually just gave up and left them as is.

This way, it not only meant that he wouldn't have to deal with hat-hair, but when he undoubtedly got sweaty from how hot it was going to be in the hall, his hair wouldn't start sticking to his forehead.

"Thanks. I used to style it like this all of the time because I hated having my hair in my eyes," Levi explained, glancing towards the clock on his bedside cabinet and mentally noting that they had about fifteen minutes before they had to leave.

"It's kind of hot. Makes you look all sophisticated and stuff." Eren reached up with his free hand and (using the mirror as his guide) lightly brushed one of the stray locks from Levi's forehead.

"You have sex hair going on right now," Levi observed with a sly smile.

Eren huffed and ran his fingers through his hair self-consciously, "I was kind of going for the 'I'm in prison and don't have access to a hairbrush' look, actually."

"You look like that everyday though," Levi commented.

"Hey! I always brush my hair!" the brunette defended heatedly, his lips pursing into a pout and his cheeks puffing out.

Levi gave Eren a dull, emotionless glance to irritate the younger teen before he spoke, "Really? It never looks like it."

"Watch it, you grumpy old man, before I give you sex hair," Eren warned him with a supposedly frightening growl, his hands slowly inching up towards the shorter male's hair, his only intention to innocently ruffle Levi's hair.

In true Eren style, the inappropriate meaning behind his own words were lost to him.

"Is that meant to be a threat?" Levi's eyes were dancing with glee when Eren had fallen right into his 'trap', although he hadn't exactly expected him to say something quite so suggestive.

"Y-Yes...?" Eren stuttered inarticulately, his brows furrowing in confusion.

Levi's own eyebrows raised disbelievingly at Eren's obliviousness. He simply stared into Eren's eyes as he waited for his boyfriend to realise why Levi was so amused.

When he continued to stare back blankly however, Levi decided to give him a push in the right direction, hardly able to conceal his ever-present smirk.

"You can give me sex hair anytime you like," Levi teased, before adding, "Provided that actual sex is also involved."

As the implications behind his words eventually dawned on him, Eren's cheeks slowly started to heat up and redden in embarrassment.

"W-We'll see," was the only response that Eren's mortified brain could come up with.

Levi allowed his smug grin to materialize again in full force, "Oh, will we now?"

Eren decided another conversation change was in order, "Do you think Mikasa's going to be okay with this?" he asked, gesturing between their outfits.

"I thought that you already told her that we were going to be coming together?" Levi answered Eren's question with one of his own, "No pun intended."

"I did, and she was fine with it, but like...I don't know, I guess I'm just stressing over nothing," Eren nodded, trying to convince himself of exactly that.

To make a point, he ignored Levi's comment about his own unintentional innuendo.

"Well, if it all goes to shit, at least you're spending tonight at mine, so we have that to look forward to." Levi wasn't much of an optimist, so a consolation would have to do.

"Whoo, sleepover!" Eren cheered, laughing when Levi just rolled his eyes at his childishness.

"Are you really seventeen?" Levi eyed his boyfriend fondly, before another thought struck him, "You sure you okayed it with your parents, right? I don't want them to hate me before I've even met them. Or at least, I don't want them to hate me any more than they already do."

"Of course I did! Mom was totally up for it, Dad however...well, he wasn't against it, but he wasn't exactly thrilled either. He gave me three different safe sex talks before I managed to escape this morning." Eren let out an awkward groan at the memory.

"You made sure to tell him that I'm not pressuring you and shit, right? And that we've decided to wait?" Levi inquired, just to confirm.

Despite how he often came across, the dark-haired teen really did fret over what others (mainly those of importance to him) thought of him.

"Like, twenty times, but he refused to listen."

"Your father sounds fucking terrifying. I only saw a glimpse of him that one time and I had the compelling urge to shit myself out of fear for my life." The analogy made Eren smile, as it was a very Levi thing to say.

"Oh trust me, you're scared of the wrong parent. Dad is totally chill about everything other than things that affect my health, he's more worried about me getting an STD than me actually having a boyfriend. Mom's the one you're gonna wanna watch out for," Eren informed him with a teasing grin.

"Well, fuck."

Eren laughed and nodded, leaning his weight onto Levi's back more heavily, "Couldn't have said it better myself."

"Although, she already seems to like you, so you have that going for you. I think she called you a bad boy, and that you remind her of my father in his younger days, at some point."

"How comforting," he grumbled sarcastically, "You'd better not start calling me Daddy or I swear to god..."

Eren's cheeks flushed a bright red and he playfully slapped Levi's shoulder, an accusatory pout on his lips.

"I cannot believe you just said that," he mumbled, once again hiding his warm face into Levi's neck.

Levi shrugged nonchalantly, "Believe it."

"Jerk."

"Brat."

A comfortable silence settled over them as they simply enjoyed the other's company and body warmth.

Eren would have been content to stay that way forever; unfortunately, after a quick glimpse to the clock on Levi's bedside table, he had no choice but to break the calm atmosphere.

"Hey, Levi?" Eren murmured against Levi's neck, waiting patiently until Levi let out a monotone "Hn?" before he continued.

"According to your alarm clock, we have just over ten minutes left before we have to get going...what d'ya say we make the most of it?"

Levi's eyes lit up at the suggestive tone to his lover's voice and turned around in Eren's arms eagerly, "I'm listening."


The first thing that hit Levi as Eren and himself walked tentatively through the double doors of the school's sports hall was the heat.

The combined body heat, of the mass of sweaty students inside the confined space of the hall, was nearly enough to knock him onto his ass.

Then there was the music.

The loud, obnoxious remix of a supposedly popular pop song blaring out of the various speakers situated throughout the room.

What is it about these kind of events that require them to amp up their shitty music so loud that it's fucking deafening?

Levi was already beginning to regret his decision to listen to his persistent (and way too fucking persuasive) boyfriend. Levi hated it. Levi really wanted to go home.

While he still looked a little hesitant, Eren's excitement was written clearly all over his face as his eyes darted around the room. The massive grin he was supporting almost made Levi forgive him for dragging him here, and almost even prompted him to smile also.

Almost.

Something which Levi had purposely kept from Eren was the fact that the party was a black light party.

This meant that there were no normal lights on inside the hall itself, and instead the room's light supply was a large amount of strategically placed black lights, giving the room an ultra-violet, purple hue.

Keeping this information from the juniors was a tradition that Levi had decided to follow, and he was glad he had. The ecstatic expression that Eren was wearing made it well worth it.

There were two seniors stood either side of the door holding containers filled with fluorescent paint, them flicking and splashing it precariously at the students who entered through the door with paintbrushes.

There were also four tables, two each side of the doors, behind the people standing, that held buckets of the different coloured paints, as well as a couple of paintbrushes.

Levi led Eren over to one of the empty tables and picked up the paintbrush in the orange paint, bring it up and painting the word 'Levi' along his neck. Hit by a sudden stroke of inspiration, he quickly dunked it back into the paint and picked up the green, painting 'Brat' across his adorable brat's forehead.

He made sure to keep an impassive face as he did so, as to not let on to Eren what he was doing, but his ever persistent smirk gave him away.

"What the hell did you just draw on my forehead? It better not have been a fucking dick," Eren warned, his eyes narrowing when Levi's smirk grew, "I swear to god, Levi, if you just drew a dick on my forehead..."

"I didn't, I promise. I just wrote my name on your neck so that everyone knows you're mine," Levi reassured, handing Eren the paintbrush and tilting his head back and chin up so that he could get to his neck.

"You can do the same if you'd like. Draw a dick and I will leave you here without looking back."

Eren nodded and took the brush from Levi's hand, bringing it up to his boyfriend's pale neck and writing his name onto it.

It didn't exactly scream "we're dating" (more like they had just signed their names on one another out of lack of imagination or teenage idiocy), but it still made Eren blush at the sentiment.

"What did you paint on my forehead?"

"My pet name for you," Levi answered smoothly with a deceptively innocent smile, but offered no further explanation.

Levi then let Eren draw what he claimed to be a heart onto his cheek using the pink paint (Levi planned to check at some point, he didn't trust Eren not to draw a dick after his accusation earlier), and, in turn, Levi drew a yellow flower onto Eren's.

They continued drawing random things over the free skin, and occasionally the clothing as well, until a line started to form.

Once they had finished, Eren immediately began searching the room for his friends, mainly Mikasa and Armin. He assumed that if he found one of his friends, the rest wouldn't be too far away.

Levi, on the other hand, was trying to be as invisible as possible, even using the extended visor at the front of his hat to conceal his face from view.

It was all for naught though, as Levi was a particularly difficult person to miss. With both of his arms decorated with easily recognisable—and nearly impossible to cover—tattoos, it was no wonder that he was spotted almost instantly by a slightly tipsy Hanji.

He'd always been content with how he tended to stand out, it never having been a problem before. Today, though, he mentally cursed it.

The dark-haired teen was only alerted to having been spotted by her when the bespectacled brunette let out a grating screech, accompanied by his name, that managed to somehow reach his ears over the pounding music.

This was his only warning before she pushed her way through the crowd and launched herself at him full-force, knocking the breath out of him.

The faint smell of alcohol reached his nose (causing it to crinkle in disgust), which aided him in reaching the conclusion that Hanji was most likely already half-drunk from the spiked drinks that would undoubtedly be circling the room.

"Get the fuck off of me you pissed, shitty, glasses wearing fuck." Levi grimaced and roughly shoved her off of his person, crossing his arms defensively over his chest to prevent another attack.

When she took a step back and held up her hands in a placating manner, he relaxed marginally, although the ridged set to his shoulders didn't budge.

Now that he didn't have her hair shoved in his face and could see her properly, he took in her outfit with a raised eyebrow and an amused quirk to his lips.

Hanji's outfit was pretty much exactly what he'd expected.

The hints that she had dropped over the past week had been pretty obvious, but he hadn't been certain whether she had just been trying to throw them off of the right track or was being genuine.

She was wearing a pair of white trousers, and a matching white doctors coat, the hem of which reached all of the way down to the middle of her thighs.

The whole ensemble had been splattered with fake blood, some of which had splashed onto her face and arms where the sleeves had been rolled up. There were also two handprints—also in fake blood—placed strategically over her chest.

Of course Hanji had to add some kind of sexual element to her clothing.

Her normally silky brown hair had been back-combed beyond recognition, and her makeup made it look as though she had been crying, with her eye makeup smudged messily beneath her eyes and her dark red lipstick smeared over her chin and cheeks, it merging with some of the fake blood.

The white and red of her outfit shone brightly in the UV lights, making her look like a deranged beacon.

Levi had to admit that she did look pretty impressive, she'd even worn her old pair of glasses that had a large crack in one of the lenses.

He himself had been the one to deliver the punch that had resulted in that crack, and to this day, it still made him feel smug.

She deserved it. Fucking bitch used my last chamomile tea bag and then had the nerve to say she didn't like it. She was lucky I didn't shove the boiling hot liquid up her ass.

"We've been waiting for you! Farlan said that you'd probably just decided to ditch, but Erwin said that you were definitely coming and even said that you were bringing a friend!" Hanji paused and turned to look at Eren with wide, frenzied eyes, "Hello, Levi's friend."

"Um...hey?" Eren laughed awkwardly, his greeting coming out as a question due to his uncertainty regarding the situation.

"Eren, this is Hanji. Hanji, Eren," Levi introduced curtly, before his lips pressed into a thin, irritated line.

Hanji turned her body fully to scrutinize Eren, her wandering gaze beginning at his feet and ending at the top of his head, before lowering again to meet his eyes, "Oh wow, isn't he just a total babe?"

"Uh, thank you, I guess..." Eren blushed at the compliment and embarrassedly rubbed at the back of his neck.

He had to quell the urge to press against Levi's side to shrink away from her intense stare. Levi's arm wrapped around him, steady and reassuring, and Eren felt grateful for the extra bit of support.

Hanji took note of that, snickering to herself.

"Mmhmm, yup, very cute. Polite too," She nodded to herself, practically ignoring everything else in favour of studying the tanned male before her, "He looks mighty familiar, Levi, have I met him before?"

"No." Was all Levi said, his voice sharp and his raised eyebrows daring her to challenge him.

Usually, she would have, never once deterred by Levi's threats, but this time, she simply hummed in disagreement before dropping it.

She understood that the whole party scene was not something he was comfortable with anymore, and he was bound to be more irritable than usual.

That was how he had been last year, anyways.

Plus, Erwin had explicitly warned her not to press the subject with anything regarding Levi's new friend, which basically insinuated that it was a touchy topic, meaning that they were probably involved with one another.

They didn't call Hanji the smart one for nothing. Or, well, that's technically the meaning of mad scientist, right? Smart, but just a tiny bit insane.

She grinned widely and instead focused on Eren again, although she was far from done with him. She was never really done when it came to teasing Levi.

"You really are so cute, kiddo. What I wouldn't do to get into those pants and do some in depth experiments." She winked, settling on the flirtatious approach instead, although she knew that it would rile Levi up just as much, if not more.

"Oi, shitty glasses, stop sexually harassing my—" Levi cut himself off before he could say "boyfriend", and instead continued on as if he hadn't paused at all, "...friend. I'm sure he doesn't appreciate an ugly shit like you hitting on him," he finished lamely.

Levi just noticed that he had unconsciously wrapped his arm around Eren, but with the way his boyfriend was slightly leaning into his touch, he didn't really want to let go.

Ever.

Shitty glasses be damned.

"Oho, mighty possessive, aren't you, Levi?" Hanji smirked, her eyes—which glinted mischievously—flicking from Levi's smoldering eyes, to Eren's waist, and then back again to gauge their reactions.

Eren's whole face flushed to the shade of a ripe tomato, telling Hanji all she needed to know, whereas Levi's twisted into a unrelenting death stare.

"How about you go fuck yourself, you bitch, God knows no one else wants to," he growled menacingly, his hand rubbing soothing circles into Eren's hip.

"Oh, ouch, you wound me so deeply with your cruel words!" Hanji cried dramatically, her hand flying up and the back of it pressing against her forehead as she over exaggerated her actions.

"As if I give a shit," Levi retorted, but his words were softened when the telltale signs of a smile began to show at the corners of his lips.

Eren was almost about to apologise in Levi's place, however his attempt was quashed when he heard the female in front of them giggle and begin jumping up and down ecstatically on the spot, as if the whole thing had never happened.

"So? How do I look? Do you like my outfit? I think it's awesome. It was Petra's idea. Beauty with brains to match, am I right? It's a shame she goes to the other school, although I guess it makes sense, she's super smart and that school is for smart kids. I wonder what sports match we're gonna have against them next? I only care because the parties are awesome and it means I can meet the hotties from St. Maria and probably get one of them to fuck m—"

"Shut the fuck up, no one cares," Levi interrupted, knowing that if he didn't, she would never stop.

He waited for her to start pouting before he started speaking again, "You look fine. No different from normal. Your insanity is just finally starting to affect your appearance. "

"At least I don't look like a stripper," she countered.

"I fucking told you," Levi grumbled under his breath, just loud enough for Eren to hear but too quiet for Hanji to do so over the music.

Eren just grinned silently, keeping his amused thoughts to himself.

"If anyone got you as their doctor, I'm pretty sure they'd shit themselves and wish for death." Levi studied her outfit with a derisive look on his face, his nose scrunched up in that adorable way of his that made Eren want to kiss it.

"Well then, it's a good thing that I'm a crazy scientist, not a crazy doctor, hmm?" Hanji snapped, crossing her arms and huffing like a spoilt child who had just been told she couldn't have any more sweets.

"Oh really?" Levi replied emotionlessly, making sure he had a particularly unimpressed look in his expressionless eyes, "A doctor uses their knowledge of human biology to operate, and biology is a science, so same thing."

She gasped as if he had just insulted one of her precious cats.

Anyone who knows Hanji, knows that one does not simply speak badly of her cats without serious repercussions.

RePURRcussions, Levi thought to himself amusedly.

Sawney and Bean (fucking weird ass names for cats) were the brunette's prized possessions, and she tended to go berserk at anyone who dared to slander them.

"Don't you get me started on how that is so not the case," Hanji shrieked, her shrill voice making Levi wince. "First of all, I don't even have a stethoscope, which is a staple for a doctor. Secondly, I'll have you know that the different sciences ar—"

"Alright, nice seeing you," Levi interrupted her with a dismissive wave of his hand, taking hold of Eren's forearm and tugging him past Hanji towards Erwin, who had waved at him over the crowd when their gazes had met.

Eren momentarily forgot about searching for his own friends, his curiosity at meeting Levi's becoming his priority.

Erwin was standing next to Farlan, Petra and Mike in one of the far corners of the room, directly below the air conditioning.

He guessed that Petra was probably the one who had persuaded the others to arrive early so that they could find somewhere to sit. She was as much of a fan of these events as he was. So, basically, she hated them.

As Hanji mentioned, after middle school, Petra had been the only one in their group to transfer to St. Maria instead of going to Sina High.

Whereas Sina High was a dump, where the rules were lax and the students were rough around the edges, St. Maria was the more...higher class school, where most of the children of the rich families in Shinganshina went.

Petra's family wasn't that rich, however, the girl herself was incredibly bright, and had managed to bag herself a scholarship. Her intelligence was something that also helped her when it came to managing the band.

While she technically wasn't supposed to attend the parties (since she wasn't a student at the school), the teachers rarely checked to make sure that everyone who came was who they said there were, which was how she'd managed to get in today.

Erwin's height had finally come in handy, as his blonde head was easily noticeable over the mass of sweaty teens, and even as Levi weaved in and out of the disgustingly close people, he could still clearly see his destination thanks to the giant.

"Oi, shitty eyebrows, man slut, know-it-all, Pinocchio, introduce yourselves," Levi barked, his grip on Eren's arm loosening a little as they freed themselves from the crowd.

They had approached the table where his friends sat and had come to a stand-still in front of it before Levi had spoken.

"Levi," Eren whispered chastisingly and stared at him with wide eyes at the list of derogatory nicknames. His fears were quickly extinguished when everyone at the table smiled up at them without a hint of anger, the tall blonde and the short, red-headed female both even let out fond sighs.

If the group noticed the correlation between the painted drawings over their respective bodies, they didn't comment on it.

"Hello, it is a pleasure to meet you, I'm Erwin. Or, Eyebrows, apparently. I've heard only wonderful things about you from Levi, however, he neglected to tell me your name," Erwin politely introduced himself and extended his hand towards Eren.

"Oh, I'm Eren, it's nice to meet you too! Levi's told me...um...quite a lot about you too." Eren smiled awkwardly, taking the outstretched hand in his own and shaking it slightly.

Holy crap, he has some seriously big hands. I bet they could do some major damage...

"Oh, has he now?" Erwin's words were practically sung, the taunting lilt to his words irked Levi, making his eyebrow twitch involuntarily.

Eren paused to consider his response before he answered, "Yeah, but he mainly just spoke about how much he cared for you as his friend." His voice held a slight tinge of irritation, although no one but Levi seemed to pick up on it.

Is he still jealous of Erwin because of the conversation in the Library? Fuck, he's so fucking cute.

"Oho! Levi cares for Erwin, Levi cares for Erwin~" Hanji sang as she skipped past them and flopped down into one of the few extra empty chairs that their table had stolen from around the room.

Levi groaned and reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose, letting out a gruff "can you just shut up or fuck off you pest" before pressing his hand to his forehead and shutting his eyes disdainfully.

"Oh, it's alright, I know exactly how much Levi...cares for me. Although, to be on the safe side, I should probably keep my distance. Wouldn't want you accidentally making out with me, eh Levi?" Erwin waggled his absurd eyebrows a little, and Levi felt Eren's body stiffen a little at the comment.

Levi's brows furrowed as he noticed that something was off about Erwin. The reserved teen would never make such a stupid comment usually, and he certainly wouldn't be taunting anyone.

The ravenette also hadn't missed the passive-aggressive edge to Erwin's voice when he had indirectly addressed Levi during his introduction to Eren, and he'd been willing to let it slide just this once, but to purposely rile him a second time?

This motherfucking asshole is seriously testing my goddamn patience right now.

He began to feel the familiar, intense urge to retaliate burning within his gut at just the thought of how smug the bastard would be if he let him get away with it.

And who was he to deny himself such pleasures?

"You still can't fucking swear, huh? Mummy going to tell you off?" Levi teased snidely, his lips curling up into a smirk and his arm unconsciously moving to wrap around Eren's waist again.

He managed to stop himself, letting his arm fall heavily back to his side. His actions didn't go unnoticed by Erwin, those perceptive blue eyes catching every movement that the two before him made.

However the others at the table were oblivious (due to the tall blonde standing in their line of sight) and Erwin already knew about his feelings for Eren, so Levi didn't let it bother him.

Erwin sighed a little and moved to one of the empty chairs beside Hanji, crossing his legs and leaning back in his seat, "It's called being polite, Levi, maybe you should try it some time."

Something Levi had always despised about Erwin was the regal air that seemed to constantly surround him, and his current outfit definitely didn't help any.

Erwin's entire outfit was a rather off-putting shade of dark, olive green.

It consisted of a button up tucked into a very plain pair of trousers, a pair of shiny, well-polished boots, a slightly askew tie, and an unbuttoned blazer which had various fake medals pinned onto it.

An army general, really? Who's bright idea was that? Shitty eyebrows wouldn't be able to raise his voice to a fucking mouse, let alone a whole goddamn squadron.

Unless he was off his tits on booze, that is.

The usually shy blonde was rarely so bold in his reprimanding words as he had just been, especially not when there were others present, but the realisation only hit Levi when his gaze fell to the discarded cups strewn across their table.

After having smelt the alcohol on Hanji's breath earlier, it only made sense that the pushy brunette would have coaxed Erwin to indulge also, despite his usual aversion to alcohol.

It was the only thing that ever made the usually collected teen relax, his composure slipping and revealing his more confident (and rather immature) side.

Which generally meant Levi got away with a lot less shit than usual, as Erwin would stand up for himself and argue his corner.

That rarely ever stopped Levi though.

"It's called an eyebrow wax, you should try it sometime. There is no maybe in your case, get one ASAP, or you'll be boyfriend-less for life," Levi quipped easily, making sure to keep a stern expression on his face.

Erwin's aforementioned eyebrows raised as he regarded Levi for a few moments, as if deciding if it was worth replying, but he eventually relented to his own drunken whims, "So what if I'm still single? That's a little hypocritical of you, is it not?"

He didn't elaborate, but he didn't really have to.

Levi's eyes narrowed dangerously into slits, silently seething as he tried to contain the anger that sparked through him.

Eren had unconsciously moved closer to Levi during their heated exchange, his whole body rigid with discomfort.

The rest of the table—who had been oblivious up until Levi's sharp intake of breath after Erwin's comment—picked up upon the tense silence between the two, as well as Levi's deadly expression, and contemplated whether to step in or not.

Everyone knew that look, it was the: "I'm going to give you five seconds to take back what you just fucking said before I hit you so hard you'll be reminiscing over what it was like having a full set of teeth" look.

After a few more seconds of Levi glaring at Erwin, and Erwin blinking back at him with feigned innocence, Petra decided to intervene before things escalated further.

"Hi Eren, my name's Petra! I'm Levi's friend from middle school, it's great to meet you." The red-head, who wore a pink nurses costume, smiled up at him sweetly from her seat, before she began introducing the rest of the table's inhabitants.

"This is Mike, Levi's other friend from middle school, and this is Farlan, Levi's childhood friend."

"U-Um, it's nice to meet you all, thank you for letting me steal Levi from you for the evening." He grinned at them toothily, the situation between Levi and Erwin quickly forgotten in favour of greeting Levi's other friends.

Upon hearing Eren's adorable words, Levi's anger immediately quelled. He turned away from a slightly disorientated Erwin to focus his attention back on to the teal-eyed teen beside him.

Farlan snorted in amusement, "As if! If it weren't for you, I doubt he even would have come in the first place. We should be thanking you for dragging him here." He smiled before taking a mouthful of unidentifiable liquid from his cup.

Levi rolled his eyes and pressed his shoulder against Eren's in a comforting gesture to let the brunette know that he had noticed how he had reacted to Erwin's words, and that he was there for him.

When Eren pressed back against him, he exhaled heavily through his nose, letting out a breath that he hadn't even realised he had been holding.

"Come and sit with us!" Petra invited them over with a soft tone, having picked up on the way both Eren and Levi's shoulders had finally relaxed, "It's been a while since Levi...no, this is actually the first time ever that Levi has made a friend that we didn't introduce to him! I'd love to get to know you," she encouraged.

Eren decided straight away that he liked Petra.

She was sweet, calm, and was easily able to read a situation and then adapt to it. He also appreciated her kindness towards him, despite not really knowing him.

He glanced at Levi, waiting for him to make the first move as they were his friends and he didn't want to overstep boundaries.

When Levi shrugged and moved to sit in one of the remaining empty chairs, Eren followed closely behind and sat down next to him.

Under the table, Levi reached over to rest a reassuring hand onto the brunette's knee, an action which Eren appreciated greatly. He placed one of his own hands on top of Levi's and interlinked the ends of their fingers together.

Out of the corner of his eye, Levi caught Petra whispering to Mike, who then excused himself from the table, explaining that he was going to get Farlan and Erwin some water.

Farlan had complained, saying that he was perfectly fine, but his mildly slurred words had Petra scolding him with a motherly tone to her voice, to which he responded with an expression akin to a chastised toddler.

Erwin hadn't said a word since earlier, and he was currently staring at the table top despairingly, refusing to meet anyone's gazes.

The shame that he was feeling was clearly evident, in both his posture (hunched shoulders) and his large eyebrows (deeply furrowed).

It took a consoling pat to the shoulder from Petra to draw out a remorseful smile from the repentant blonde.

Once Mike returned with the hopefully unspiked drinks, the red-head went about getting them down the two tipsy male's throats.

After persisting until they relented, she turned to Eren with an endearing smile and leant forward so that he'd be able to hear her over the music, "So, Eren, how did you and Levi me—"

"Yo, dick face, there you are!" Jean interrupted Petra before she could finish her sentence, that stupid grin of his in place as he sauntered up to the table as if he had been invited.

When Eren made no move to answer, Jean huffed and draped himself over the brunette's shoulders with little to no grace.

"Dude, I've been looking everywhere for you! The fuck you doing with the seniors? Look, Mikasa sent me to come and find you cause she was worried that you couldn't find us. Let's get going before she actually, genuinely kills me."

"What are you, her little lap pony?" Eren rolled his eyes and after realising that he had no choice but to leave with him, discreetly removed Levi's hand from his knee, sending him an apologetic side-long glance.

"Shut the fuck up Yeager, you have no room to talk. You're your own sister's little bitch." Jean smirked and impatiently tugged at Eren's sleeve when the teal eyed male made no move to stand.

"I am not."

"Oh, please, you so are," the two-toned-haired teen snorted.

He actually sounds like a fucking horse when he does that...wait...is he...?

A quick glance down at Jean's attire confirmed Eren's suspicions, and he was almost ashamed at the spark of genuine joy that shot through him.

"Holy shit, Jean...are you actually dressed as a fucking horse?! Is that a motherfucking horse onesie?!" Eren's eyes sparkled with mirth upon realising Jean's costume choice and he jumped up from his seat.

Wrapping his arms around his own waist, a bellowing laugh erupted from his throat, the force of it causing him to double over.

"I can't...believe...you actually...oh god..." Eren gasped out between his shallow breaths, wiping haphazardly at the tears forming in the corners of his eyes.

"For fucks sake, it was Marco's idea alright? The rest of those losers then agreed with him and I didn't have a choice. Bastards, the lot of 'em. Now hurry up, Armin was being a little bitch about the fact that you didn't get ready together, so go make it up to him."

Jean never could say no to Marco.

Jean shoved Eren towards the main bulk of the crowd with his knee and then grabbed the collar of his jumpsuit, dragging him towards the other side of the dance floor where the other sets of tables were without allowing him so much as a chaste goodbye to Levi or his friends.

"Jean, you ass, you didn't let me say goodbye." Eren's laughing had gradually settled down into small chuckles when he finally gained enough composure to speak again.

"Why the fuck would I? They're seniors, they probably let you sit with them out of pity or something. What even is your outfit? A prisoner? How stupid," Jean insulted as he lead him over to the table that their friends had surrounded.

"Oh yeah? Well, your outfit is awful too. You don't even look any different than normal, did you even try? I mean, shit, you could've at least put in a little effort!" Eren retorted sarcastically, a smug, shit-eating grin plastered across his face as he did so.

"For god's sake, Yeager, I will fuckin—" Jean began.

"Eren!" Armin exclaimed, effectively cutting off whatever threat that Jean was about to throw at him.

Accepting the enthusiastic hug from his blonde best friend, Eren took a step back to admire his outfit.

From what Eren could tell in the dimly lit room, Armin had gone with a Hogwarts uniform complete with robe and wand, specifically Ravenclaw colours.

"You are such a massive nerd," Eren commented offhandedly with a fond tone to his voice.

"Yes, and you still watch the children's channels on the weekends. We both have our embarrassing traits, Eren, no need to point them out," Armin countered, his eyes shimmering playfully when the light hit them.

While continuing the gentle, harmless banter that always occurred when Armin had been convinced to have a drink, Eren took the time to examine their group's chosen attires for the evening.

His eyes, as always, first settled on Mikasa.

She was standing by their table, engaged in a seemingly deep conversation with Annie about something or other.

Mikasa had always been one of those people who just drew the eyes of everyone in the room. People just couldn't help but gape at her despite themselves, because she really was just that beautiful.

Eren didn't recognise her costume, but he assumed that it was probably from one of the Japanese cartoons that her and Armin often rave on about.

She was wearing a white button up shirt, a pair of white jeans, brown leather over-the-knee boots and a light brown, leather jacket with some strange emblem on the back, left breast and both shoulders.

As his eyes roamed over the odd outfit, he noticed that her whole body was covered in criss-crossing leather belts, which managed to accentuate just how slim she was.

Eren couldn't help but feel ashamed when his first thoughts after seeing the leather belts weren't exactly PG. They started out genuinely innocent but eventually...

How is that not giving her chafing?

They look a little like that kinky bondage I saw in that porn that one time.

I wonder if Levi would let me tie him up with those?

They would look so fucking good against his pale skin, leaving slight indentations, and Eren could latch his fingers around them and—

He hid his embarrassment at his own thoughts behind an awkward laugh at whatever shit joke Jean had just tried to make.

Next to her, Annie had on the outfit of a boxer. Red shorts, black vest top, black Vans, and her knuckles were wrapped in white tape.

Eren had to admit that she looked pretty badass.

"Oh hey, I can't believe you missed it, Reiner and Berthold got kicked out earlier for fucking in the bathroom," Jean smirked, his eyes alight with that mischievous look he gets when he has the opportunity to gossip.

Eren gaped at him while he let that titbit of information sink in, "No way, those two are...? But I thought that Annie and Reiner...?" he trailed off, not sure how else to finish it.

I guess that explains why Annie is hanging with us? Or, well, Mikasa, to be exact.

"Apparently Reiner prefers his partners tall and sweaty as fuck, who knew?" Jean shrugged, earning him an elbow in the gut from Armin.

"You know he can't help how much he sweats, Jean," The blonde chastised.

"Yeah, but..." Jean began to defend himself, but Eren knew it was futile to argue with Armin (who always had an answer for everything), so he zoned out in favour of seeking out their other friends to say hello.

Excusing himself from the conversation, he caught a glimpse of Ymir and Krista walking hand-in-hand over to the drinks table.

Ymir was dressed as Flynn Rider and Krista was dressed as Rapunzel, which made Eren have the inexplicable urge to go "awwh", because they really were that fucking adorable.

Seeing them, with hands interlocked, reminded him of Levi. Levi and his perfect slicked back hair, and gunmetal gray eyes, and perfect, thin lips that were usually quirked up into a sinful smirk. The way he could engulf Levi's entire hand in his own, and the way he could bury his nose into his soft, black hair that smelled like strawberries...

God, he had it bad. It sounded like he was reading lines from one of those romance novels his mom liked to read. Levi would probably kick him in the shin if he could read his thoughts right now.

He walked over to the table that they had secured and flopped down into the chair next to Connie with a sigh.

"That was a big sigh! What's got ya down, Yeager-bomb?" Connie asked cheerily, throwing his arm over the brunette's shoulder and leaning heavily onto his side.

Eren was pretty sure if he was also drunk right now then they both would have fallen off of their chairs.

"Um...nothing really...it was just...a bit mad trying to get here, yeah. Traffic's always nuts whenever there's an event on," he explained with a noncommittal shrug.

"Ah, fair enough!" Connie nodded as if he knew exactly what Eren was talking about, but he was pretty sure that the kid was so far gone he wouldn't have been able to remember his own name.

After a few moments of companionable silence between them, Eren decided to start a new conversation, "So uh...what're you supposed to be?"

Connie was wearing a jumpsuit in the most garish shade of yellow that Eren had ever seen, accompanied with a pair of matching bright red boots and washing-up gloves.

"I am the strongest man of them all! I could kill you with one punch, ya know," Connie winked sloppily, jokingly tapping his fist against Eren's bicep.

"That doesn't answer my question, dude," Eren laughed, pushing Connie up off of him and accepting the drink that Armin handed to him over his shoulder with a quick "thanks!"

"Well, it's this character from one of Mikasa's manga things. She lent it to me and I'm totally obsessed! I am the one. The only. ONE. PUNCH. MAN."

"Oh...cool?" he hadn't meant for it to come out as a question, but it did nonetheless.

Luckily, it didn't seem that Connie had noticed, as he was immediately distracted by Sasha—she was dressed as Katniss from the Hunger Games series, a bow and quiver full of arrows slung over her shoulder—who had just come back to the table with a gigantic plate piled high with various snacks.

"Ooo, Doritos!" He plucked a few off of her plate and shuffled out of his girlfriend's reach when she tried to slap away his hands.

Eren chose that moment to take a mouthful of his drink, but ended up choking on what tasted like twenty different spirits mixed into one disgusting cocktail.

After his hacking coughs subsided, Eren addressed his best friend with an accusatory pout, "Armin, what the fuck did you just try to poison me with?!"

"Uh...well, I think it was lemonade at one point in time," Armin shrugged, glancing down at his own cup dubiously, "Honestly, it's probably safer if you just don't think about it too much."

"Oh, wow, isn't that comforting?" Eren muttered sarcastically, crinkling his nose revoltedly as he stared at the suspect, cloudy brown liquid.

It tastes like a sewer, a rotting corpse and some old lady's perfume blended into a 'drink'.

"Once you get the first one down, the rest go down much easier, trust me," Jean wiggled his eyebrows, before he started to sway and had to lean on Armin for support.

"Why would I want to drink this?" Eren asked incredulously and gestured to the cup on his hand.

"Because I dare you to, so you have to," Jean shrugged as if it was the most obvious thing in the universe.

Eren rolled his eyes, "As if I care about some crappy dare."

"Okay then, how about. . . if you don't drink it, I'll not only tell Mr. Sand what website you copied his last essay from, but I'll also tell those seniors you were hanging out with that you used to wet the bed until you were eleven years old."

"You wouldn't dare." Eren stood and approached Jean with a dangerous glare, standing so close that he could feel Jean's breath on his nose.

"Wouldn't I?" Jean's confident, self-assured grin was proof enough that he wasn't lying just to get Eren to do what he wanted, and that fact alone was enough to get Eren to throw back the drink and swallow it in one gulp.

"Woohoo! On to the next!" Jean yelled and went to and grab them more.

"No, wait, more? I don't want to get drunk, Jean!" Eren called but his complaints drowned in the music, "Fuck..."

"No need to look so scared, bro! Just relax and stop stressing over it. Let's have fun and party all night long!" Connie consoled from his seat at the table, his words slightly muffled behind a mouthful of crisps.

"But my...friend is dropping me home at one and you know how my Mum and Dad will freak if I'm drunk," Eren whined, trying to play on Armin's sympathies.

Unfortunately, Armin's normally logical thought process had been numbed by the alcohol, and so the blonde simply shrugged, throwing his hands up and accidentally hit Marco in the cheek.

"Whoops..." he whispered before bursting out laughing and patting Marco's cheek apologetically, "Sorry, Polo."

No help from him then.

Marco was dressed in all white. A white pair of jeans, a white button up, and some white doc martens with black soles.

The only indication of what he was actually supposed to be was the feathery white wings strapped onto his back by elastics and the fluffy halo attached to a headband by some pipe-cleaners atop his head.

An angel. Oh. My. Fucking. God.

Is that because we always call him pure? He has the best sense of humour.

Jean huffed as he returned and noticed that Marco had joined them. He handed Armin a cup filled to the brim with that vile looking mixture, before he then handed a matching one to Eren.

"Jean, I really can't..."

"Sure ya can, here, lemme help." Jean took his cup from him, coaxed Eren's mouth open with his thumb and then tipped a small mouthful past his lips, which he reluctantly swallowed.

By the fourth cup, Eren didn't even have to think about it.

Jean was right, it really did get better, and not only that, he was genuinely starting to enjoy himself.

Dancing freely with Armin, laughing at Jean's stupid jokes, making bets with Connie about who was going to hook up with who.

Before the alcohol completely consumed his rational thought, one single worry fluttered through the back of his mind.

Levi is gonna kill me.


"Hey...Levi...I'm sorry about earlier, I didn't mean...I'm so fucking smashed right now," Erwin groaned apologetically.

The drunk blonde gingerly rested his forehead against the table top and his hands cupped around the now half empty water bottle Mike had brought him previously.

"Forget about it. It happened. Now, move on, and don't you dare start sulking or wallowing in self-pity because I'm not going to comfort you." Levi pursed his lips impassively before meeting Petra's chiding gaze over the table.

He leant back in his chair and let out a long, exasperated sigh, "But. . . if I have to give you some peace of mind to make you stop acting like a baby, then I forgive you, I guess."

Erwin raised his head, his eyes wide as he stared at Levi in mild shock.

Due to Levi's naturally unfriendly disposition, his friends had always figured that kind words were a foreign concept to Levi, so anything that resembled something even remotely close to comforting was both surprising and slightly unsettling.

"Th-Thankyou..." He mumbled, blushing and diverting his eyes back down to the bottle in his hands.

There was a few moments of silence at the table (well, as silent as it could get with music blasting) before he turned back to Levi, those light blue eyes fixing him with a questioning look.

"What?" He barked out gruffly, never one to enjoy being stared at without context.

"Did...Did the kid with the long face just mention Mikasa? Isn't that the name of your cousin?" Erwin asked curiously, his brows furrowing as he tried to get his intoxicated mind to focus on remembering whether or not that was true.

"Yeah, he's Mikasa's friend," Levi confirmed with a slight grimace.

"Oh...that's...wow..."

"Well, I did tell you that it was complicated."

Erwin paused to check and make sure that the rest of their group was busy talking before he spoke with a low voice, "I can't imagine that it's going to go down well with her...no wonder you don't want to tell anyone tonight. It'd be bad enough without all of the alcohol thrown into the mix."

"Don't I fucking know it," Levi sighed when Farlan slid into the chair that Eren had previously vacated, effectively ending his and Erwin's conversation.

He slid a glass filled with a mysterious brown liquid towards him, his only explanation being a secretive wink and an eyebrow wiggle that sent an uncomfortable shiver down Levi's spine.

Levi internally chastised himself for his reaction to Farlan's proximity.

With Farlan now in a different home room class, they only really spoke at lunch or at band practice. It had only been natural that Levi's feelings eventually faded hand in hand with their friendship.

His reaction definitely wasn't because he still had feelings for Farlan—although he'd be lying if he said he didn't still find him attractive—it was simply a habit from his younger days, one that he was usually able to suppress.

It didn't help that Farlan was one of those people with absolutely no regard for people's personal space whatsoever.

I hate that just because I once had a crush on this shitty asshole, my body is still conditioned to react as though I still do.

Fuck my fucking demi-god sexuality or whatever the fuck it was, it sucks sometimes.

Who the hell decided that I could only have sexual feelings for those I'm close to? If there is a god, he's fucking twisted, that's for sure. I'd rather have feelings for fucking Hanji.

The thought of the excitable brunette interrupted his inner rant, and had Levi glancing over towards the dance floor in the general direction that she had wandered off into.

After a few mere seconds of searching, his eyes fell on said brunette grinding up against an eager junior that was dressed as a devil.

Okay, maybe not.

After following Levi's gaze, Farlan smirked and pointed at her, "Looks like someone's getting laid tonight. That poor kid has no idea what he's getting himself into," he snickered wickedly.

"She really needs to stop trying to get into the JV players' pants, some of them are barely even legal," Erwin muttered, sounding far more sober than he had prior, but when Levi saw him sway a little, he concluded that he was still a tad tipsy.

"I don't think she's going to be satisfied until she can officially say that she's slept with the whole football team..." Mike commented quietly, before continuing, a hint of a smirk tugging at his lips, "...and the basketball team, the volleyball team, the swim team, the baseball team, the hockey team..."

Petra giggled and shook her head in a way that was reminiscent of a disappointed parent, "Does she ever actually just sleep?"

"Of course not, this is Hanji we're talking about. In the middle of the night, she's always either doing some kind of wacky experiment in her makeshift lab, or she's fucking somebody, which is an experiment in itself for the poor shit she's riding," Farlan snickered childishly at his own joke.

"Why am I friends with that shitty four-eyes?" Levi grumbled, more to himself than anyone else, but Erwin responded regardless.

"Because despite her crazy schemes and her promiscuous nature, she's actually a really nice person. Even if she is a little weird at times."

"A little weird," Levi scoffed, his eyes rolling in time with his sarcastic remark.

"So anyways, my wonderful little bestie, whatcha say?" Farlan nudged the glass towards him again with a hint of mischief in his eyes.

Levi had hoped that Farlan would've just dropped the subject after he plainly ignored his first attempt, but it didn't look as though he was going to be so lucky.

"No." He refused bluntly.

"Leviii," Farlan whined, pouting at him in as cute of a manner that he could muster.

Unfortunately for him, ever since Levi had met Eren, anyone else's puppy dog eyes had next to no effect; he'd effectively built up a resistance to everyone but Eren.

That little shit could give Levi one measly little pout, and send him reeling onto his hands and knees.

Although, I couldn't say I'd mind being on all fours for Eren.

"Farlan, we took my bike here, which means I'm driving," Levi playfully slapped the back of Farlan's head—far harder than necessary—and pushed him out of his personal space.

"One drink won't hurt," the sandy blonde grinned and nudged him with his elbow, gesturing repeatedly towards the glass and making a little 'eh?' sound every time he did.

Levi grit his teeth and glared at Farlan full force to get him to shut up, "For the last time, no. I'm not putting whatever concoction you've created into my body, it'll probably kill me."

When he saw the other teen open his mouth to argue again, Levi decided that he'd had enough and that if he wanted to get him to stop, he'd have to deal a low blow.

"Besides, have you already forgotten what happened the last time I drank and drove? Do you actually want me to die this time? And what, take Eren with me?"

Farlan flinched, recoiling as if he'd been physically slapped, all sign of amusement gone from his face. The rest of their friends, who had stayed silent throughout their conversation, all turned to look at Levi with matching solemn expressions.

"Oh uh...right...yeah, no alcohol, cool, got it. Sorry," Farlan nodded and picked up the glass himself, sipping at it to show that he had actually listened.

When everyone went quiet again, Farlan decided to lighten the mood the only way he knew how: with banter.

"Sooo...Levi, what did you come as? A stripper?"


By the time the two of them had eventually managed to find one another again, Levi was extremely on-edge and Eren was the most relaxed he had been all night.

Levi had managed to escape his friends by claiming that he needed to "take a colossal shit" and would "probably be gone for a while".

To be fair, it's the most believable thing I could come up with.

Neither Hanji or Erwin were fooled by his excuse, but let him go nonetheless.

Every time Levi inhaled, he was assaulted by the vile smell of sweaty teens, stale food and alcohol.

In all honestly, all Levi wanted to do was go home, but when he caught sight of Eren rocking it out with the "Jean" kid from earlier to whatever pop song was playing, he couldn't help but feel his resolve crumble.

As Levi began to stealthily approach his boyfriend through the crowd, he waited for Eren to notice him and gesture him over before he actually went up to him.

"Hey!" Eren shouted breathlessly over the music, resting his weight onto Levi's chest and causing the shorter teen to stumble a little.

Levi frowned when he noticed Eren's flushed cheeks and glazed eyes, reaching up to feel Eren's forehead, "Hey...are you okay?" he questioned with concern.

"One hundred percent, Leevee," Eren giggled and nuzzled Levi's neck, sighing happily when he felt Levi's hands rest on his hips to steady him.

"You're drunk." It wasn't said as a question, but Eren still answered him anyways.

"Maaaybe..." He replied, dragging the word out and grinning up at him slyly, "But I feel really good so it's okay!"

"As long as you haven't had too much...how many glasses, Eren?"

The brunette pretended to think about it for a few moments, "Not many...like...five?"

"Eren, with how many different spirits and liquors are in those glasses of poisoned shit, 'like five' cups is probably the same as fifteen." Levi sighed and glanced at the door, "I should take you back to mine and sober you up."

"Nooo, Levi, let's dance! Pleeease, babe?" he begged shamelessly, taking hold of Levi's forearm and hauling him roughly through the horde of people into the middle of the dance floor.

"Eren, I don't—"

"Come on! Shake that beautiful ass of yours!" Eren pressed up against him and reached around to grab at Levi's rear, squeezing it harshly.

"You are such a fucking brat," Levi grumbled under his breath, but as Eren slowly swayed his hips and pushed his own in time with the beat, the older teen could feel himself giving in.

"One dance, okay?" he conceded, sighing when Eren's eyes lit up at his words.

"Fuck yeah!" Eren crowed and wrapped his arms around Levi's shoulders, giggling when Levi's circled his waist and held him close.

"Also, I don't care if you're drunk, never call me babe, what the fuck is wrong with you?"

Eren just chortled, kneading Levi's wonderful ass again.

While at first he was skeptical, Levi couldn't help but get dragged into enjoying himself by Eren's enthusiasm.

Granted, he wasn't much of a 'dancer' per se, but when all it consisted of was jumping and the occasional gyrating, Levi found himself starting to get lost in the music and the feel of just...Eren.

The unusual shine in his eyes, the smell of Old Spice, and the way his hips moved all captivated Levi.

It was when they were awkwardly swaying from side to side to some slow song that Levi had never heard in his life when, suddenly, everything went pitch black and the music shut off.

The silence that came with everyone's shock was quickly filled with excited screeches, drunk laughter and loud chatting.

Levi tightened his grip around Eren's waist, leaning up to whisper into his ear, "You okay?"

He felt Eren start in his arms and inhale sharply, before he whispered back, "Levi, is that you?" in what could only be described as a stage whisper.

"Who else would it be, you fucking idiot?" The raven-haired male had to chuckle at his lover's drunken antics.

While Levi despised everything about their current situation; the ear-shattering yells, the various bodies knocking against his own as they attempt to navigate their way in the lightless hall, the stifling heat making sweat stick to his skin, there was one saving grace.

Eren.

It's always fucking Eren.

The cramped space meant that they were rather gracelessly smushed together, and Levi couldn't have felt more content.

Well, unless they were literally anywhere else. Doing literally anything else. Preferably naked.

Fuck. Levi Ackerman don't you dare start thinking of Eren naked right when you clearly have no easy way of concealing your boner.

However, that was a fight that Levi had absolutely no way of winning.

Now that he'd told himself not to think of him, he was the only thing that his obsessive compulsive brain could focus on.

And, because said brain decided to say 'fuck your self-control', he began noticing things he hadn't a few seconds before.

Like the nearly scorching puffs of breath fanning across his cheek and tickling his ear (the smell of which was probably burning off his nose hairs), to the erratic thumping of Eren's heartbeat, which he could detect through the fabric of their shirts where their chests were aligned.

Although it was pretty much pitch black, Eren's eyes—as per usual—still shone radiantly like a beacon, to which Levi's own were naturally drawn.

When that luminous teal met stormy grey through the darkness, Levi's thoughts were immediately catapulted back to that night at Trost (the one that he still happened to dream about regularly), when he'd caught his first glance of the unique beauty that was Eren.

"Eren..." Levi breathed out distractedly, reaching up to cup what he hoped was Eren's cheek.

"Mmm?" the brunette hummed.

Brought back to the present by Eren's unanticipated response, Levi blurted out the first thing that came to mind, "You stink."

"Oh, Levi, I just love it when you talk dirty to me," Eren teased in an over-exaggerated tone, laughing loudly when Levi jabbed his knee up into the side of Eren's thigh.

"Hey, Levi?"

Raising an eyebrow, he replied, "Yes, Eren?"

"You realise that no one can see us, right...?" the younger began, with that signature sparkle in his eyes that alerted Levi to his less than innocent intentions.

"No shit," Levi rolled his eyes, "What's your point?"

"So why the fuck aren't we fucking making the most of it and fucking making out like our lives fucking depend on it?" Eren demanded crudely, apparently missing the way Levi's nose crinkled at the poorly worded sentence.

Levi may have a foul mouth at the best of times, but it just felt wrong to him when Eren over-did it on the cussing.

"Well—for one—if your mouth tastes likes it smells, then I'd rather not experience that," he schooled his expression into one of a serious nature when delivering his next reason, "Secondly, you're drunk, which means you can't give proper consent."

"Seriously, Levi? Just because I'm tipsy, doesn't mean that I suddenly don't want you. Hell, you could fuck me against that wall right now and I wouldn't even complain!" Eren glanced over towards said wall as if he was genuinely considering it.

Levi let out a heavy breath and reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose, "That's my fucking point, you little shit. If you were sober, you wouldn't be able to say shit like that without turning into a damn tomato."

"Ugh, Leviii..." Eren whined, draping himself over Levi's shoulders with little to no grace, "I just want one kiss, pleeease?"

"No, Eren, for once can you just listen to what I'm sa—"

"Sorry for this, everyone! It seems that there was some faulty wiring! Coach Shadis has gone to activate the backup generator, so we should have power again soon!" The upbeat voice of Headmaster Pixis interrupted him, the poor man having to raise his voice to be heard over the ruckus.

To be fair, Levi probably should have seen it coming.

And yet, when he turned back to scold Eren for starting to headbutt his shoulder, his lips were met by Eren's own over-eager, predictably sloppy ones, and there was nothing he could do about it.

To be fair, Levi probably should have put up more of a fight.

But, as always, Eren was very convincing. Where he lacked precision and skill, he made up for it with enthusiasm, and Levi was rendered speechless by not only Eren's lips, but also by his persistence.

Levi hadn't been wrong, Eren's mouth tasted like shit. It was by far one of the most unpleasant kisses he'd ever had the privilege to experience. Yet his boner still deduced that there was definitely more fun to be had.

To be fair, Levi probably deserved to be punished for giving in so easily.

And punished, he was.

You know how when you're kissed, your first instinct is to close your eyes? Yeah, Levi was well aware that as soon as his eyes slipped shut, he was done for.

The ravenette lasted through roughly twenty seconds of Eren's harsh pecks and impatient nips at his lips before his resolve left him. He reluctantly closed his eyes and parted them, granting Eren access to his mouth.

A drunken snicker was shared between them when Eren headbutted into the rim of Levi's hat for the fourth time.

Swiping his tongue across Levi's upper lip, Eren felt his hip bump up against the edge of a table, and to his inebriated brain, this made sense.

We must've drifted over to the edge of the dance floor or something.

Eren hoisted himself up onto it and, using Levi's shoulders as a support, perched on the edge. With the sturdy table beneath him now keeping him steady, he was able to hook his leg around the ravenette's hip with ease and resume his onslaught of wet, uncoordinated smooches.

"This is such a bad idea. . . " Levi muttered breathlessly.

Eren hummed into the current kiss as he thought over his reply, "Well, I'm just a bad, bad boy filled with bad, bad ideas, aren't I? Why don't you show me my place, Officer?"

The growl that managed to rip its way out of Levi's throat resonated between the two of them, an unspoken sign of both the older male's arousal and his frustrated surrender.

Eren once again smashed his lips unceremoniously against his partner's, reclaiming them with slippery, open-mouthed kisses accentuated by short puffs of hot air in between.

The slick slide of Eren's soft lips against his own were leaving Levi a little light-headed, his thoughts a fuzzy, conflicted mess of 'You need to fucking stop' and 'Don't you dare fucking stop.'

He started to wonder if he was getting drunk off of second hand alcohol consumption, but that train of thought was derailed by Eren's hand wandering up past the hem of his shirt.

Then, just as he raked his blunt, chewed fingernails down Levi's abs in one of the most sensual ways that he had ever felt, the lights flickered on, effectively blinding the whole room.

Eren didn't even so much as blink, simply continuing his mouth-to-mouth assault as though he was trying to bring Levi's now frozen lips back to life through sheer force.

"Ugh...can you guys like...do that literally anywhere else but here?" Someone sat at the table behind them complained, to which Eren obnoxiously flipped them the bird.

"You wanna go, little punk?" they threatened, voice rising to be heard over the rest of the noise in the room.

Eren sighed dramatically, swiveled around to face them, "Look, I really don't c—" and froze in place.

Teal met golden brown.

As realisation dawned, the fight was instantly drained from the both of them, it replaced by fear and curiosity respectively.

Ymir.

"Ymir?"

"Eren? And...uh..." her eyes slid over from Eren to Levi, and then back again, with blatant interest.

"Wait...Eren?"

No...

Please. God. No.

He swallowed against the sudden dryness in his mouth and turned around towards the voice until he was fully facing the table, because what else could he do?

They say that fate has a funny way about things, but in reality, fate's just a bitch who wants to see the world burn.

Of course, out of all the possibilities and variables, this was how things had to go.

Of course, out of all the tables Eren could have chosen, he chose the table that his friends happened to be sitting at.

Of course, out of all the people they could have gotten caught making out in front of, Mikasa had to be fucking one of them.

In fact, every single one of Eren's friends were currently eyeballing the two of them as if they had just admitted to shitting themselves.

Although, Eren didn't think it had fully sunk in for Mikasa until he heard a sharp inhale of breath, followed by an incredulous, "Hold on a second...Levi?"

Levi grunted his affirmation as he tried to discreetly disentangle himself from Eren's lanky limbs that were still all over him.

Eren's first idea was to lie, to say that he thought Levi had been someone else, or that he was so drunk, he would have kissed anybody. But, in all honesty? He didn't want to lie.

He was fed up of the lies, the sneaking around, the having to pretend like he wasn't inexplicably head over heels for the short, grumpy, fucking ripped, stupidly cute man that was Levi Ackerman.

And so, that's what he did.

Or well, what he was going to do.

The very moment he steeled his nerves and began to form the first word with his mouth, he was interrupted by none other than Levi himself.

After clearing his throat at least six times, the silver-eyed teen met Mikasa's gaze head on without a hint of remorse or regret before he spoke.

"Eren Yeager, I'm arresting you on the account of theft. The item in question was my heart, and you're guilty as charged."

Without any warning, Levi brought up the fake handcuffs, cuffed his own left wrist to Eren's right wrist and intertwined their fingers.

Before anyone could so much as take a breath, Levi was gone, dragging a still in-shock Eren through the crowd still milling about on the dance floor and out of the hall, over to his bike in the car park.

"Levi, you just—"

"I told them what they needed to know, now come on, we have about two minutes before all hell breaks loose," he urged, thrusting the spare helmet into Eren's waiting hands.

Well, that's one way to do it, I guess.

Back inside the gym, the entire table was silent with shock.

After a solid minute, Jean finally spoke up.

"You owe me five bucks."


Notes:

Happy Halloween guys!

Guess who finally got a chapter done? This loser right here! Just in time for the Halloween party in the chapter as well, can't say that I'm not a little proud of that.

As you can imagine, my beta and I had our reasons for not being able to post sooner (aka, I was lazy and then I was ill and then everything just went to shit) but yes, it eventually somehow got written.

I just want to thank you guys for your continued support regardless of our lack of posting, it really means a lot to the both of us! Every Favourite, Follow and Review makes it a whole lot easier to continue writing, so with all of my heart, thankyou so much!

I hope you liked this chapter, it's a hell of a lot longer than any of the previous ones that's for sure! Anyways, I hope to get another chapter out as soon as possible so stay tuned ^_^

Until Next Time!