Sex didn't take his edge off, and Levi wasn't even in the mood for surfing. At this hour swell period was pretty long and the waves not high; he just seated out there on his board, swaying with the gentle movement of the water. Silver moonlight reflected in the dark surface of the ocean. He took a long deep breath, salty scent of the air entered his lungs and he released some of the pent-up tension with a deep sigh. It had been a rough couple of weeks.

There were not enough opportunities to give surf classes and take on other part-time jobs due to low season, and their savings were running out now earlier than usual with the investment in Armin's entry in the Rip Curl Grom Search contest. How they were going to make it all work? Giving only one of the kids his best chance of getting out of this place and not neglecting the others? Making the ends meet had gotten harder than ever. And then there was Kenny, who wanted to talk to him about a job. Not the option that thrilled him, either, but it could be the only way out. Anger closed his throat, and his knuckles got white as his fingers tensed on the rails.

His eyelids became heavy, and he leaned back to lie on his board. The soft sound of water lapping at the epoxy bottom surrounded him. He tried to shut down his thoughts, at least as long as his wetsuit would hold his body warm.

"Armin?"

Eren finished his last chores for the evening, and tired entered the boys' shared bedroom. Armin was not there. One glance at their bunk bed and he knew everything. Armin's blankets and pillow were gone. Eren sighed and grabbed his own.

He climbed a gentle uphill of the dune, neighboring their impoverished condominium. On the top of the sandy ridge, among the high beach grass, in their secret place, he spotted a tiny figure hunched under the blanket. Armin's blanket.

"Armin... I knew I would find you here," Eren said, spreading out his own blankets on the ground, with a loud sigh plopping down next to his friend, "everything's all right?"

Armin didn't pay any attention to him, curled up under his cover, his gaze fixed at the ocean in front of him. Eren followed his look, and squinting his eyes, he noticed a blurry, lonely silhouette at the board out in the middle of the ocean.

"Levi?"

"Levi," Armin broke the silence.

"What is he doing out there?"

"He hasn't moved for a very long time," Armin said, his words still muffled and shy, "I guess… I guess the same what I am doing here, I couldn't sleep inside."

"We could stay up here for the night," Eren said and chuckled, "like we were kids, during summer months. It should be warm enough tonight."

"Yeah…" Armin wrapped his arms around himself, pulling the edges of his blanket even tighter.

"Armin! What's going on with you?!" Eren lashed out, but backed up immediately, "I am sorry… I am worried about you."

"Oh, don't worry," Armin sobbed, and Eren heard him swallowing back the tears, "I just, I… what if I can't make it out there, what if it's all for nothing."

He paused and sniffled.

"What if I fail, and everybody's sacrifice is for nothing? It costs so much, and I know how much Levi and Historia cut things out from you guys. And I am not that strong, what if I can't win a good place, what if I can't do it, Eren? I don't want to be a burden and take things from you if it won't work. And… I am too weak, it was all a mistake…"

Armin paused again and snorted. Eren let out a small laugh.

"You will get your snot all over your precious blanket."

He punched Armin lightly in the arm, and their eyes met for a second when his friend cast him a startled look. The deep blue of Armin's eyes, hiding behind blond strands, now flooded with tears caused Eren's chest to swell somehow.

"But seriously, now you are just being stupid. You are not a burden to anyone. You will never be. We all root for you. And you are not weak, you made it through the selection already. None of us got this far, not Jean, not Conny. Definitely not me. You are a damn good surfer, Armin. You deserve all of this, it's not your fault things are tight."

"But, you have seen me today…" Armin whimpered under his nose.

"You know it's a risk, it's always a risk out there."

Eren leaned back on his blanket. Above them, the night sky lightened with the moon and a faint glimmer of the spring starlight. He reached out towards Armin's arm to pull him down too. Armin followed him. His head rested on Eren's outstretched arm, and Eren shivered.

"Look at it like this Armin, this is a golden opportunity for us all to get out of here. It's about what's out there. It always has been. Think of all the things you will get to see, all the waves you will get to surf, and the traveling and the adventures you will have… and when it works for you, it will also work for us all. Armi, listen, we are going to this big, outside world together as we wanted. All the things you once told me about, we have to see them. Live them, together."

"What if… what if it won't work."

"Then we will try another way. But even if it won't, we will travel, and see things by trying it. Things we have never seen, Armin, come on! You need to enjoy this," Eren's eyes fixed intently on Armin, whose gaze focused on the sky. His face was glowing in the dark.

"Quite a speech you gave me." All of the sudden, Armin chuckled and warmth spread into Eren's heart.

"Most of these words were yours, anyway. All that stuff you used to say when we were kids."

"You weasel," said Armin, before both of their careless laughs resounded in the night.

A cold gust of wind got through the neoprene of his wetsuit, and Levi shuddered. He leaned his board over the picketed wooden beach fence and reached for his dark hooded towel. The cozy, velvet fabric warmed him up, and he got rid of the soaked wetsuit with one smooth movement.

He was about to grab his board and head back to their house when a faint contour of a person in light clothing appeared in the dim of the night several steps away from him. Levi's muscles tensed and his bicep quivered preparing for the potential fight. He squinted his eyes, assessing the situation in a blink of a second.

The stranger was very tall, above 6 feet for sure, and that made him a foot higher than Levi. It was the difference he wouldn't underestimate. Stranger's body was muscular, maybe a bit plump; he could benefit from more physical exercise. He was wearing a white shirt, and light gray chinos, walking barefoot with a pair of expensive leather shoes in his palm. His step was somehow wobbly, a bit more in Levi's assessment than normal walking on the sand. Nothing Levi couldn't take by himself in case of the fight. Not that fighting naked under the beach cover-up was his favorite pastime. His knees bent, his feet assumed a fighting stance, and his palms balled to fists.

The stranger got closer, and now Levi noticed neatly combed shiny blond hair, bushy eyebrows, and a strong alcohol scent. The wobbly step had its obvious reason. Stranger's body language was also not hinting at fighting intentions. Fancy ass out of season tourist who wandered to the other side of the tracks. Nothing he couldn't handle. Tight muscles of his back relaxed. This was a rich man, who didn't belong here, and Levi wondered for a moment what was he seeking at that hour in that part of the beach.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, lowering his voice to a threatening grunt.

The tall stranger lifted his hands in a placating gesture.

"I don't mean any harm, I went for a night walk at the beach," stranger's voice was deep and calm, a little tinted with alcohol, but pleasant to hear. The blue of his eyes glittered in the dark.

"You shouldn't be here."

"I live up there," he pointed out to the houses over the cliff.

On the rich scum side of the town.

"My name is Erwin Smith, and yours?"

"Even better reason why you shouldn't be here," Levi hissed, ignoring the question about his name, "that's the poor side of this beach town."

He glowered at the stranger, squinting his eyes.

"Dangerous side. Unless you enjoy getting your ass kicked and your legs broken. If you are lucky enough."

"Oh, I see…" Erwin paused, his palms still protectively lifted in front of him, but he didn't seem too intimidated. He had to be more drunk than it seemed. "Thank you for the warning. Do you surf at that hour?… I haven't heard your name?"

"What do you care?" Levi asked, still intending to sound hostile, but the stranger intrigued him. He was attractive, too.

"Just curious," Erwin said, taking a step back, "Look, I get you don't want me here. I will go now. I might have seen you surfing earlier, and I thought…"

He paused for a moment, casting a long gaze in Levi's direction.

"About surfing lessons. But that's obviously a bad idea," he said, let out a hoarse laugh, and turned, walking away.

That was a pretty weird time to ask about surfing lessons. Levi shook his head in disbelief. This man, Erwin, had to be bat shit crazy to ask a stranger in the middle of the night for surf lessons. Or maybe just drunk. But he could rip him off… a little. They really needed money.

Erwin was already several steps away, so Levi needed to raise his voice when he barked after him.

"Levi. And 200 bucks an hour. Be here tomorrow at noon, we will talk about the rest," he made a suggestive pause and added after consideration, "sober."

"Nice meeting you, Levi!" Erwin shouted joyfully back at him.

Levi shrugged, but he couldn't deny mysterious stranger intrigued him.