A/N: Okay, so this is the final chapter for this story! I truly hope you like it, and enjoyed the journey of these two boys as much as I've enjoyed writing it 3 Your reviews are much appreciated!

Cliché

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Grey eyes stared belligerently back from the mirror as he applied a final swipe of kohl around his eyes. Levi blinked a few times, getting himself used to the layer of make-up before capping the pencil and tossing it to his desk. Grabbing a tub of mousse from his dresser, he smoothed some into his hair and ruffled his hands through it, giving it that sexy bed-head that he knew Eren liked. Getting to his feet, he swiped his wallet, car-keys and phone off his desk before heading out.

The house was empty at this time of the day, Carla and Grisha both working and Mikasa was off interning at some travel magazine up London. Levi usually had morning shifts and was home before 4 o'clock most days. On those days, he had a routine of picking Eren up from college. Grabbing two to-go cups of iced tea, he locked the front door behind him and placed the travel cups on the roof of his car, before opening it and getting settled inside. Slotting the cups into their holders, he put on his shades, gunned the engine and pulled out of the driveway.

Since getting the car, it had gone through a lot of upgrades and changes, the biggest one being the paintjob. It had taken Levi months to save up for it, but it finally gleamed a perfect onyx black that seemed to shimmer ever-so-slightly if you got up close and personal. Mark had been a truly wonderful neighbour and answered any and all questions Levi had when he first started out, and even taught him more about servicing his own car then he thought he'd ever need, but he was grateful all the same.

After his apprenticeship was over, Grisha had kept him on as well as Patricia, as part-time employees. They rotated their shifts, Levi doing the early mornings till mid-afternoon, and Patricia would over-lap slightly from 3pm until 8pm. It worked well, gave him some freedom and some steady income. Sometimes he would have to stay a little longer, or he would take a week of late-shifts if Patricia had something come up. She was a nice girl, they communicated well, and so far, they hadn't had any issues.

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The lights turned green, and Levi turned right and drove up the steep hill that led to the college. Even though he hadn't been through those gates since he'd gone to collect his A-levels, he felt strange driving up to the main gates without any intention of going inside. Parking up across the street, he took his shades off and flipped his visor down, making sure that his eyeliner hadn't smudged. Toying with his tongue piercing, he turned the radio down and rolled the window further down, letting his arm droop out into the sunshine.

Letting his eyes close, he allowed himself to bask in the moment.

There was a steady stream of students milling around the entrance, some talking about his car and wondering why he was there. Others simply didn't give a shit.

Eventually, the 4 o'clock bell rang out dimly across the staff car park.

Levi lazily lifted his head and peered over at the tall iron gates, waiting patiently. His eyes skimmed the crowd and, sure enough, he spotted Armin and Eren straight away. Over the summer Armin had hit a bit of a growth spurt and was now almost on par with Levi, whereas Eren simply towered over everyone. He was only just becoming confident with his height and he had a sort of swagger to his steps nowadays that Levi found amusingly adorable.

Getting out of the car, he hooked his shades onto his collar. Armin somehow spots him before Eren does and raised his hand in greeting. "Levi! Great to see you, mate!" he dragged Eren across the road before he threw his arm around Levi. "Look at you, being a proper adult."

"Yes, nothing says adult more, than picking up your kid from school," he drawled.

Armin laughed as Eren nudged him in the side. He stuck his tongue out at his friend, before taking a step back so that Eren could get to his boyfriend.

"Hey babe," Eren beamed. He never failed to look surprised and adoring whenever Levi came to pick him up, even though it was a regular occurrence. "Couldn't keep away, eh?"

Levi rolled his eyes before smirking up as Eren bent his head to kiss him. He would take it to the grave, but he secretly loved how his boyfriend loomed over him, like the world's soppiest giant. Letting his fingers ghost along Eren's jaw, he broke the kiss, flashing the younger teen a smirk. They'd pick things up again as soon as they were alone. Turning his attention back to the blonde guy beside them, Levi jerked his head towards the car.

"Can I give you a ride home?"

Armin gave a grin and shook his head, "Nah, you're alright. I was going to meet Connie and Michael down the high street to go over the calculus homework we got yesterday. I'll see you around, though."

"You sure, Armin?" Eren frowned.

They both stood in the shade, watching as the dappled sunlight reflected from Armin's bright blonde head until he disappeared around the corner of the road, and broke the spell. Raking a hand through his hair, Eren nudged Levi gently before walking around the front of the car and opening the passenger side door.

"Shall we?"

"Get in, brat."

They buckled in and Eren set about plugging his phone in and scrolling through spotify so that they could listen to some music as they drove. Levi pushed his shades up into his hair and scowled as he wove through traffic to get out of the main hub of South East London and its useless drivers.

"Where are you thinking of going today?" Eren asked, flipping through my songs. He loved the spontaneity of some of their after-school excursions. As long as they were back home for dinner, he was game for anything.

"I was thinking we could just cruise through Kent for a little while and see where we end up."

Eren raised his eyebrows in amusement, a slow smile gracing his lips. "I can't say I have any objections to that."

Levi smirked, reaching over and blindly flicking Eren on the cheek. "Cheeky sod."

"You love me."

"Eh, debatable," he teased.

"Rude!"

Levi let out a chuckle, tipping his head back to lean on the headrest. He cruised along the motorway, eyes focused ahead, although once or twice he did glance sideways at Eren, and felt his insides melt a little when he caught his boyfriend staring at him too. There were still some things he wasn't quite used to yet, but he was enjoying them all the same.

Eren finally settled on a playlist and slotted his cup-holder, opting to hold his to-go cup and sip away at it. He was even kind enough to hold the cup out for Levi to sip through the straw as they drove. Music filled the car, encompassing their comfortable silence and transporting them away from the stifling traffic they wove in between, and into the rolling green hills of Kent. It was relaxing; Eren already felt a million miles away from the five hours of lessons he'd been in that day. He almost forgot the bulging bag of homework currently shoved on the back seat. Whenever he got these stolen moments with Levi, he felt himself relax, free from the stresses of everyday life. He often wondered how driving relaxed Levi, but the goth guy had assured him numerous times that he thoroughly enjoyed their leisurely drives.

The bleak motorway gave away to lush trees, meadows and opened up to the bright green countryside hunkered underneath a brilliant blue sky and the dazzling sun.

A ray of light glinted off the hematite ring on Levi's middle finger on his left hand. Eren had bought it for him -the first piece of jewellery he'd bought for his boyfriend -the week after he'd gotten the letter from his attorney stating that he was officially emancipated. Now that all his funds had been freed up and put into a new bank account under his own name, Eren had wanted to commemorate the moment with something he knew Levi would carry with him always. Eren still wore his own rings, each one a memory, a promise, a step forward. A rush of affection flooded him whenever he rubbed the metal, and he knew Levi felt the same.

Levi hadn't taken the ring off since he'd gotten it.

Since that day, it was as though a heavy shackle had been cut from around his neck; the change was probably imperceptible to anyone but Eren, but he knew -he knew -that Levi finally felt the freedom he'd craved for so long.

"Hey," Levi's voice drew him out of his musings, in between tracks. "What's got you thinking so hard?"

"Oh, just thinking," Eren shrugged. "It's been a bit of a crazy year, that's all."

Levi snickered, "Yes, it has. Check you out, kid, making an honest man out of me."

"Says the man who's still trying to convince me to get my ears pierced."

"I think it'd look hot on you!"

"Sure thing, babe," Eren tutted. "Not gonna happen."

"We'll see."

"So, I was thinking …"

"Always a bad sign," Levi quipped, flashing him a grin. "What's on your mind?"

"It's almost been a year since our first kiss," Eren hedged, shifting awkwardly in his seat. The air suddenly seemed thicker, the sun even hotter through the windscreen. "I … uh … I was thinking that we should do something to celebrate it."

"Why that day?" Levi furrowed his brow. "Why not the day we actually got together as a couple?"

"Because that was Valentine's day," Eren tutted. "It just … it's too commercialised. The first time we kissed, was also the first time we'd properly met and -well, that was special to me."

Levi felt a lopsided grin spread across his lips, that he was unable to control. "You sappy bastard," he reached across the gearshift and laced their fingers together. He squeezed. "I think that's a great idea. Did you have anywhere in mind you wanted to go?"

"I was thinking that maybe we could travel a bit further North? Wales, or Glasgow, or we could even go down to Cornwall?"

Levi hummed thoughtfully. "All good options. We can make use of all those Heritage sites that your parents are always going on about, too."

"Oh yeah, that would be great! I bet there are tons of castles up North!"

"Well, that's settled. We'll go somewhere with a big romantic castle to mark our one year anniversary of our first kiss."

"You know, I don't think castles are that romantic. Lots of death, blood sports, battles and beheadings."

Levi paused. "Well -yeah, I'm into a bit of BDSM too, but gosh Eren! I don't think they'll let us use the dungeons."

Eren burst out laughing. "Oh, you perv! I didn't mean it that way!"

Laughing at how adorable his boyfriends blush was, Levi blinked away the tears of mirth in his eyes. "Oh dear!" he wiped at his eyes just in case and cleared his throat, sobering up a little, his mouth still grinning stupidly. "Well, wherever we end up going, it's going to be great. I love you, so wherever we go, we'll have a great time."

Eren tilted his head sideways to stare across at his boyfriend. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," Levi braked and scowled briefly at the traffic. No matter, they weren't in any rush. Turning to look at Eren, he smiled and affectionately stroked his thumb across Eren's strong jaw. "Course I do."

"Good, because I love you too, which means you're stuck with me!" he stuck his tongue out.

"Oh, is that so?"

"Afraid so."

"For how long?"

"Oh, I don't know," Eren pulled a face, pretending to think. "How does 'forever' sound?"

"Hideously cliché. Then again, how long is forever?"

"Sometimes just a moment," Eren quoted with a soft grin. He took his lip in between his teeth, the sun making his eyes shine bright green.

"Then I will take any and every moment with you," Levi brought up their entwined hands and pressed a firm kiss to Eren's. "So yeah, I think forever might sound good after all."

"Even if it's sickeningly cliché?"

"Especially if it's sickeningly cliché," Levi smirked.

The traffic started to move in front of them. Levi unwound his hand from Eren's and put the car into 'DRIVE', and started to crawl forward, only picking up speed after a couple of minutes as the cars around them finally started to move. As they continued to drive, eventually turning off the motorway at the nearest junction, Levi felt on top of the world. He got Eren to put on one of their favourite playlists, cranked up the volume and they sang loudly with the windows wound all the way down and the warm wind rushing through their hair. To feel so free and enjoying life was something he had put on the back-burner for years. He thought it would happen when it happened, and nothing could speed it up.

Then Eren came in like wrecking ball to his life and thank God he'd fucked shit up as spectacularly as he had. Levi dreaded to think where he'd be if it hadn't been for Eren coming into his life. Even in his rarer dark moments, the weight of the ring on his finger helped to keep his mind anchored on the present, and of the very real man in his life that he cherished. On those hard nights, he would tiptoe across the landing to Eren's room. He didn't even bother to knock. Eren would let him crawl into bed with him, wind his long arms around Levi and suddenly all of his fears would evaporate, as though Eren's arms created a barrier between Levi and his demons.

Eren's phone bleeped, interrupting their song, with a message from his mum asking when they'd be home for dinner.

Levi waited for Eren to reply, but the younger teen seemed hesitant. "We can turn around now if you like? If we do, we'll probably be back home by half six?"

Eren frowned, his lips twisting slightly, his hair whipping around his face as the wind rushed inside the car. Levi slowed the car a little, keeping a watchful eye on his boyfriend as he hunched over in his seat, staring down at his phone.

"Hey brat?" Eren looked up, his face tense. Levi gave him, what he hoped was, a confident smirk, flashing his canines. "Ten more minutes?"

Relief washed over Eren's face and he relaxed back in his seat, dreamy eyes bright as he smiled. "Yeah, sounds good. Ten more minutes."

"Better make it a good song then!"

Levi adjusted the gearshift, pushed his foot down and then sped off down a long, winding country lane. Music spilled out into the calm air and it was accompanied by the laughter of two young men, finally, enjoying their freedom.

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The End.

A/N: Please feel free to leave a review! I hope you enjoy the update! I'm sad that this story is at an end, but I've loved every moment of it! Thank you for being a part of this journey with me.

Belle xox