A/N) chapters have literally been sitting here, waiting to be published. I am scummy and I'm so sorry. I'm trying to get into writing again so please be patient as I know my writing style has also changed a bit. I'm going to TRY to get back into the swing of things. Enjoy this chapter.
Eren continued going to school, and talking to Levi every day. He was having a great time in college, but as the break, and his birthday drew closer, he spent a lot of time trying not to cry.
Connie, being the nice guy he was, noticed how sad Eren seemed to be, and began staying the night with him more and more. Eren liked having Connie around. Not because he was attracted to him, but because it was just nice to not be left alone with his thoughts and his art.
Levi, instead of being sad, was just grumpy. Clients kept rolling in and it was life as normal, but it's when he went home that made him angry. He began to work out every hour he wasn't talking to Eren, working, or hanging with their group. He didn't go out much because he was slightly jealous of the happy couples. One day, Erwin decided he was going to stay the night with Levi.
The dark haired man sighed "Aren't we too old for sleepovers?"
Erwin laughed "You need the company, Levi. If you don't stop your workout regimen, you're going to get bigger than me!"
Levi sighed again. He knew it was pointless to argue. Plus, he had developed extra muscle mass from kickboxing class. It was great being able to kick the shit out of someone for fun. He enjoyed it. He was also packing for his trip. It was sneaking up on him, and he was grateful. He couldn't wait to surprise Eren. To hold him, to kiss him, and to fuck him good. The thought almost brought a smile to his face. But the real smile would come when he was with Eren again.
It was Friday when Erwin chose to stay the night. He knew Armin would be grateful for the quiet and to pull an all nighter without a big blonde trying to lure him to bed.
"We haven't done this since your divorce from Petra finalized." Erwin said while walking in to the pristine house.
"Yeah, because we became men, and stopped doing childish shit." Levi said.
Erwin gave a light hearted chuckle "We are best friends Levi, and you've been getting more and more bitchy everyday Eren is gone."
Levi began following him to the guest bedroom" You got me there. I miss the brat. I knew this would suck, but I didn't realize it would be this shitty. I never expected him to bury so deep in my heart."
"Maybe you two were lovers in a past life?" Erwin said, putting his bag on the bed.
Levi rolled his eyes "Right, and maybe we fought giant monsters together as well. Don't be an idiot. "
"I'm serious. Fate has a set plan. Life isn't a series of coincidences. It's fate that has been set in motion. Why would you drift to a restaurant out of your way, and invite some kid to have drinks, and then go to a bar close to his school in hopes of seeing him?"
"Because I was lonely."
"You would have taken him home for a fuck that night. You knew he was special." Erwin grinned and began to pull his pajamas out of his bag "We are going to order out, and talk tonight!" He said excitedly.
"Are we going to paint each others toenails too?"
"Oh man, I forgot my nail polish!"
Levi chuckled softly, and turned away so he could go get changed as well "I'm glad you're here" he said softly before walking away quickly.
Erwin smiled, Levi really was a softy deep down inside.
Eren was eating at his kitchen table. He whipped up some of his moms stew to bring him a little happiness. His phone went off and he looked at the screen, it was his mom. He quickly answered it
"Hey mom. How are you?"
"Doing well, Eren. How are you sweetie?"
"I'm alright. Passing all of my classes, and working hard."
"That's so good to hear. I had a question for you sweety."
"Alright."
"How would you feel if I got remarried?"
Eren was glad his mouth was empty, or he might have spit it all out. His mouth gaped open, flopping around uselessly
"Eren? Eren honey?"
"I'm here...uhm are you and Hannes considering marriage?" He could hear the blush on his moms face
"It's been discussed. We won't do it without you here, but we could start planning. I wanted to ask you first."
"Does he make you happy? Are you in love?"
Carla chuckled "Of course."
"Then marry him. You have my blessing."
"Aww...I raised such a sweet little boy. Armin and Mikasa agreed as well. I guess we will start planning a summer wedding,"
"I'm happy for you mom. Oh, it must be getting late there so I'll let you go."
"Alright. I'll call you next week to check in. Your break is coming soon isn't it?"
"Yeah. I wish I could come home, but I don't want to mess up my rhythm for just a few days."
"I understand. I love you sweety."
"Love you too mom." Eren set his phone down. Wow, his mom was getting married. It almost seemed absurd seeing as her and Hannes hadn't been together long, but her happiness was all that mattered. He suddenly began contemplating what he would say if Levi asked to marry him. He blushed at the thought. It seemed a bit too soon for that. He would agree because he wanted a lifetime with Levi, but he would have a long engagement. No need to rush things.
He was eating idly when drawn out of his thoughts by a knock on the door. "Come in." He called out.
"You are way too trustworthy man. You got a death wish or something?" Connie asked, walking in.
"Most robbers depend on a house being empty. If they knock and no one answers then they break in. They case places out, and I'm always home." Eren answered simply.
"Can't argue that logic. But you still seem suicidal. I was going to ask if you wanted to catch something to eat, but I see your already eating."
"Go get some if you'd like it's beef stew."
"That actually sounds really nice. Home cooked meals are the best. Sasha is a great cook." Connie grabbed a bowl and took a bite "Woah! Why aren't you in culinary? This is great! I'm a starving artist!"
Eren laughed "My mom taught me to cook. A way to a man's heart is through his stomach and what not. But it's not my passion, art is."
"Well if I wasn't straight you'd definitely have me interested. This is great." Connie took a seat across from Eren, and he started shoving his mouth with food.
"Don't eat so fast. You'll get the hiccups. I made too much so there's more than enough."
"Does Levi know how well you cook?"
Eren nodded "He's better than me, even though he always compliments me. But he makes more high end cuisine, and I'm more down home."
"That's a good combination. Did he grow up in money or something?" Connie asked while getting up to grab a drink
"No he grew up poor. His mom worked hard to care for him. But when she was murdered, and the people who did it got away, he vowed to put bad people in jail. So he worked hard, got into a great college, met Erwin, and built an empire."
"Wow." Connie breathed out "that's cool. My story isn't even close to that. Sasha is just my high school sweetheart."
"That's no small feat. That's really sweet. I'd rather not think about my high school years. College is a much better experience."
"Oh I get that. Sasha was the best part about high school. If you noticed I'm a bit scrawny, and bullies noticed that too."
Eren chuckled "I remember helping you out of a locker or four. I got picked on a lot for being gay. I mean, it's not like i wanted to put a target on my back. Girls just aren't my thing. Sure drawing them is great cuz they flow and have shape and curves, but kissing them? No thanks."
"Its good when attractive guys are gay. Helps us less attractive boys stand a better chance." Connie said with a laugh and making Eren laugh as well.
Connie stood up to grab another bowl "Easter break is coming soon. You going home?"
Eren shook his head "I wish I could see everyone, but I have some big projects to work on that would be too bulky to bring home. I'll just be spending a lonely birthday in Italy. Its ok though. I'll be home soon."
"You are too responsible. I'm going home and I'm not letting Sasha go until I absolutely have to get on my plane."
"That's another problem. I miss Levi so much," his eyes filled up with tears "I probably wouldn't come back. And it's not just him, but Mikasa, Armin, Erwin, and Hange, the six of us are like a team. Best friends, lovers, it's awesome. Being apart from them all makes me feel almost empty. Hell, if you weren't here i don't think I would have made it this long. I'm gonna miss you while you are gone."
"Aww stop you'll make me blush. Let's go out and get some fancy gelato, my treat."
"That sounds really good! Lets go!"
"Levi you've been staring at the menu for five minutes. It's just Chinese food." Erwin said, obviously annoyed
"But it's all really unhealthy. And loaded with carbs."
"Don't worry your girlish figure will be fine. You can work it off. Now, pick something I'm starving!"
"Who needs a whiny brat? You whine more than he does."
Erwin rolled his eyes with a light hearted smile on his face. It took a lot to make Erwin not smile. The only time he was really serious was in court. He was a Damn good lawyer, but out of court he was like a very tall, very broad, teddy bear.
Levi finally chose a few things and Erwin excitedly called the delivery in.
Levi sat back on his plush couches, pinching the bridge of his nose. He really appreciated Erwin coming over, he was becoming reclusive and almost hated himself for it. Why was he becoming like this? There was no way the little brat made him change that much...right? Maybe, it was all the experiences they had already been through in such a short amount of time. It was quite the up and down. Love, divorce, death, and even now Eren was excelling at life and in Italy. And Levi was proud, so fucking proud of his brat, but he couldn't help but wish his bed wasn't empty at night.
"Food will be on its way soon!" Erwin said excitedly, breaking Levi out of his thoughts.
"Good. I should probably talk to Eren really quick before I get fat on chinese food." He stood up, and stretched before grabbing his phone and headed to his room.
"Good idea. I'll check on Armin. Hope he hears his phone, knowing him he's studying hard for finals"
"We will meet back when the food gets here." Levi texted Eren to make sure he was free to talk before calling and got the ok. He put his phone to his ear waiting to hear his favorite sound.
"Hey Levi. How are you today?"
Levi sighed in relief "Hey brat. I'm ok. Today is my sleepover with Erwin."
"I don't want to keep you then."
"Its fine. He needed to check on Armin."
"Oh, ok. My mom called me today asking for my blessing to marry Hannes."
"Wonder why she waited. Looks to me like feelings were there for awhile."
"Yeah I guess. I'm happy for her. I'm so bummed. Connie told me all the fun stuff he's going to do when he gets home for break and I'm changing my mind"
Levi inwardly panicked. He had already made arrangements, and wanted to surprise Eren but he remained cool and calm "I know you want to Eren but you have stuff to do. You can't afford to not finish your art just for a few days of fun. We all miss you, but we want you to do well."
"I know...I just, I miss everybody, my birthday will be so boring."
"We can throw you a big welcome back and happy birthday party when you get back"
You could practically hear Eren's smile "Sounds good. Not better than birthday sex."
"I'll see what I can do. Maybe make a dildo of my cock and send it to you."
"Oh god you are awful! I love you."
"Love you too." Levi still turned pink whenever he said that to Eren, but he meant every word. He heard the doorbell ring and signed "Fuck, food is here so I better go. I'll text you ok?"
"Ok, I'll be here. Try to have fun."
"Yeah yeah, i'll try. Bye Eren."
"Bye Levi."
Levi hit end and took a deep sigh. He hated not talking to Eren, but when his phone pinged as he went down the stairs he felt a sense of comfort. It was like when they were dating.
When he reached the end of the stairs Erwin was paying the delivery guy and came into the living room with his arms full of greasy Chinese food that smelled actually really good. Levi heard his stomach give a rumble and realized he hasn't really eaten all day. It was a bad habit. When Eren was around he noticed Levi always seemed too busy to eat. He would pack lunch and snacks for Levi and would, like clockwork, grab him to go make dinner together.
Erwin laid the food on the coffee table and smiled at Levi who came to sit down "How's Eren doing?"
"Had to talk him out of coming home for his break. This has been hard on him too and I feel like an asshole when all I think about is how lonely I am."
"Its normal. You guys miss each other. Being older you know the experience and stuff is good for him but that doesn't mean you want him to go. I feel that way. I know Armin needs to study and pass his classes. It's important to him and I want nothing but for him to succeed, but when he has to study I miss him. But the distance between us is much shorter. I can't understand to the full extent how you feel but I do understand at least a little. It's hard dating college boys." Erwin gave a small laugh while dividing out the food between them.
Levi grabbed some chopsticks to eat with "I'm sorry for being such an ass. I need to stop being so damn self absorbed. I just...I've never felt this way and it pisses me off!"
"It's called being in love. You're an ass, now your super grumpy." Erwin said with a laugh.
Eren took a bite of his gelato and moaned "Oh my God it's so good. Molto bene!"
Connie laughed "I found some of the best food and deserts come right from the streets. Sometimes the fancy places try too hard. But on the streets it's all hardwork and a 100 year old recipe passed down the generations."
"No wonder Sasha loves you. You sure know how to pick a place"
They had found a little pavilion to sit and eat their gelato.
"So Eren, I wondered if after break your offer still stood to move in?" Connie asked.
"Yeah, of course." Eren said, with a spoon in his mouth "what changed your mind?'
"Well my roommate got a girlfriend, and a terrible sense of tact, and a noisy girlfriend."
Eren made a face. It was one thing to be away from your girlfriend and another to hear your roommate getting "some"
"And the other, well is kind of embarrassing, but you might understand." Connie was blushing "to be honest it be nice to have the privacy to close my door when I'm feeling..ya know, hot"
Eren snickered "You mean you want to jerk off without fear your roommate will walk in."
"Yeah."
"That's cool. I get it. It's part of the reason Levi bought the place. I'll give you space. And I know you'll give me space too."
"Thank you so much Eren! You're a lifesaver. I'm leaving in a few days so I'll start moving stuff over."
"Cool. I'll give you a spare key to the place too."
