A/N: I hope you enjoy the update! x

Unravelling

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Sneaking over to Eren's house after his parents had gone to bed was becoming habitual for Levi. It had been going on for about just over a week before Eren's parents insisted on Levi coming over for dinner and sitting both boys down and talking about it. They suggested, that if Levi's home-life was becoming too unbearable for him, that he could temporarily move into the spare bedroom across the hall. Both boys had sat there at the dining room table, their heads bowed, and hands clasped in their laps as Grisha reprimanded them for having broken his trust in them, his disappointment in them, and the fact that Levi hadn't thought that either Grisha or Carla could be trusted enough to discuss his problems with.

Levi had felt suitably chastened for his actions, genuinely feeling guilt and remorse for sneaking around. Especially as both of Eren's parents had been so kind to him.

Eren wasn't off the hook either; Carla said, in her soft, sad way, that Eren should have known better than to keep secrets from his parents and that if he felt as though Levi was in trouble, he should have spoken to them straight away.

In the end it hadn't been getting caught sleeping in the same bed that had gotten them caught. It was the smell of cigarette smoke on Eren's bed clothes.

As Levi had exams coming up in the next two weeks, Grisha didn't want to cause more strife or any further arguments, so it was agreed that Levi could set up camp in the spare room for the time being, so he could study and have a sense of calm after college. Although he did put his foot down firmly on one rule.

No smoking in the house.

That rule had niggled at Levi, but within the first week, he was finding that he wasn't as irritable about it as he had once believed. It was incredibly strange going back to Eren's place after school. There had been a moment where Levi wondered if he should wait for Eren if he was staying behind later at college, and vice versa, but Eren had insisted that he didn't need to. It still didn't sit right with Levi, so whenever Eren didn't leave until 4pm, Levi would go to the music rooms and practice a little more. Hange was happy to play with him whenever she got away from her lessons.

For the most part, living with the Jaeger's was going well and Levi was amazed to realise how many meals he had skipped out on, simply because he didn't want to be near his parents. There was no running away from meals while living under Grisha's roof.

It wasn't until that Thursday afternoon that the novelty started to wane.

Levi had been at the kitchen table with Mikasa, both of them studying for their exams in the next two weeks. They had a good routine going overt he last few days, taking a snack break every hour until about 5pm, then they would relax until dinner was ready. Sometimes Eren would join them in studying, or he would drag Levi away for a quick snogging session before either of Eren's parents came home. Whenever he returned, his lips kiss-swollen and red, Mikasa pointedly informed him that counted as a break.

On this Thursday, Eren was still at college, which meant that when Levi's phone pinged several times with new text alerts, he assumed it was from his boyfriend.

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Womb: Levi, you haven't been home all week and there are things we need to discuss. Call me when you get this.

Sperm Donor: Levi, answer your mother.

Womb: Levi, ignoring my messages is childish. If you don't come home soon, your dad and I are going to start putting your stuff on the curb.

Sperm Donor: Levi, if you keep ignoring us, we're going to throw your crap on the street.

Sperm Donor: Since you haven't answered either one of us for three days, consider this your last warning.

Sperm Donor: You've left us no choice. We are clearing out your room right now. We're putting it all out on the curb. If you want to see any of it, you might want to come and get it before our neighbours take your guitar or your laptop.

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"That son of a bitch!" Levi slammed his fist on the table.

Mikasa jumped, frowning over at him. "What is it?"

"My fucking parents are throwing my shit out on the street! All my stuff is there! All my clothes, books, laptop, and my goddamn guitar!"

"Shit!" she hissed. "We need to get you over there."

"How? Your dad won't exactly let me use his car!"

"We can get a cab?"

"And ask him to wait while I pile my LIFE into his back seat?!"

Mikasa glared, trying to think of who else she knew who had a car. There was only Reiner, but he was still at college until the end of the day. "Let me call my dad," she eventually said, digging out her phone. "I'll see what time his shift finishes. Then we can camp out with your stuff and make sure no one takes anything."

"Fine," he snapped, panic setting in. What if he lost his guitar? He had paid for that with his own money. He had worn his boots down to nothing to make sure he could save every spare penny for that guitar. He was proud of the repairs he'd done and how beautiful it looked. No one else was allowed to touch it and now his 'parents' were going to just chuck it outside in the dirt?

"Hey dad, are you busy right now? Okay it's just that Levi's parents just text him and –"

Levi started to pace as Mikasa spoke on the phone with Grisha. He was hot and sickly all over and was trying to catalogue all of his worldly possessions in his head so he would know on sight if anything was missing. What if they'd gone through all his belongings before tossing them out? What if they found the cash from birthdays and Christmas's that he'd not gotten around to putting in his bank account yet?

Eventually Mikasa uttered a 'thank you' into the received before hanging up. She turned to Levi. "Dad says he doesn't finish until 7 o'clock, but Mum finishes in about an hour or so. I'm to text her your address and she'll come and collect us."

"Will all my stuff fit in the car, though?"

Mikasa shrugged. "We may have to make two trips but … it's better than nothing. Or an Uber XL."

Levi clawed at his hair. "F-u-u-u-ck! I cannot believe they would stoop to this level!"

"Well, you are going to divorce them as your parents," Mikasa said. "Maybe this is payback?"

"If that is the case, then they have no reason being grown ups let alone be allowed to procreate!" he snapped.

"But then I wouldn't have this little ray of sunshine right here," Mikasa deadpanned. At Levi's glare, she sighed and started to head to the front door. "Come on, we can't waste any time. Grab your jacket and let's go."

Levi had no choice but do as she said.

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The Uber barely took them ten minutes, door-to-door. Before the car had even pulled up onto the pavement Levi could see the growing mound on his parent's driveway made up entirely of his own belongings. There were a few nosey neighbours peering out of their front doors, watching as the free drama unfolded before their eyes. Levi sneered at his neighbour two doors over, flipped them the finger, before being ushered along to his drive. His stomach dropped at the sight; it honestly looked as though everything had been tossed outside, bar the furniture.

Mikasa pursed her lips. "Is this everything or do you think there's more to come?"

Levi shrugged haplessly. "I'm more concerned about whether they've snatched any of my money." He stepped in among his possessions, scanning for the black sealed box he kept his money in. "Can you look for a black box? Almost like a book but black all over."

"Sure thing." Mikasa waded in, lifting boxes here and there, shuffling through books and DVD's. Finally, she tugged something out from under a bag of clothes. "Is this it?" she held it up.

"Thank fuck!" Levi waddled over and snatched the box. He ran his fingertips along the grooves and, upon finding the small indent, pressed on it to release the drawer. Inside, his money sat perfectly happy and untouched. "Oh, there is a God!"

Mikasa eyed the money, her eyes wide. "How much have you got saved up there?"

"Around four hundred quid." He snapped the drawer back into place and secured it under his arm. The last thing he needed was for it to kept conveniently lost among his possessions.

"So, what do we do now? Just wait for my mum to get off work?"

"Yeah, I guess."

Mikasa frowned, looking at the doors and windows that were ajar, faces poking out into the sunlight. "Savages," she sneered. Levi followed her gaze, before nodding mutely. Turning her full attention to the goth, Mikasa gestured to the house behind them. "Do you want to go in and talk to them? I can keep an eye on your stuff if you want to yell at them for a while?"

Levi shrugged. "I already yelled at them a lot at the hospital before I was discharged. Anything else is sort of … proving them right about me being 'spoiled' or whatever."

"Spoiled?" Mikasa snorted. "Please! This house isn't even bigger than ours. You don't even have your own car despite having a license and you're not insured on your dad's own car. How is that being spoiled?"

Pointing at the house Levi said, "Ask those tossers."

"Well, after today you don't have to talk to them at all until the court hearing."

Levi's shoulders sagged. "For what it's worth … I'm sorry if I was ever a dick to you."

Mikasa tensed. "I can handle myself."

"I just meant, in terms of shitty behaviour in general. I apologise. I shouldn't have done it. Although, you're right. You can totally handle yourself."

Mikasa tried not to preen as she waved his apology away. "I was probably a bit of a bitch to you anyway. Lord knows, I tried to keep Eren away from you."

"Yeah, how'd that work for you?" he smirked.

"What can I say? My brother literally goes looking for danger. He's your problem now, not mine!"

Levi rolled his eyes with a chuckle. "Since we have some time to kill, should we maybe start sorting through all this shit? Might as well downsize and get rid of any of the shit I don't need."

"You don't have to chuck anything," Mikasa frowned. "The spare room is plenty big enough for all of your stuff."

"Couldn't hurt either way," he shrugged.

So, for the next hour, that's how they kept themselves busy. They went through three bags of clothes and ended up setting aside a small pile of shirts and jeans that had seen better days of Levi had simply outgrown them. He tossed out any ratty socks and underwear in the wheelie bin, and then started going through his DVD collection. He set aside about five DVD's that he hadn't watched in a long time, and never planned to watch again. One of his neighbours passed by while walking their dog and asked if they could take the DVD's, so Levi said 'yes'.

By the time Carla pulled up to the pavement, the neighbours had slunk back indoors, since nothing more dramatic was happening. Mikasa and Levi had managed to organise everything into much easier to manage piles. That being said, his TV and XBOX took up most of the backseat, so Mikasa offered to go back with her mum, unload his belongings, and then come back.

As Levi watched the car pull away, he sat down on the garden wall with his back to the road. He hated this house. Everything about this house reminded him of how miserable he had been for years. It was all so prim and proper; it didn't reflect Levi at all. He would miss some things about it, but mainly the fact that his parents weren't around that much so he was able to have Eren over whenever he wanted or invited his friends and bandmates over so the weekend. The only plus side, was that now he would be living with Eren.

No doubt living at his family home was going to have some drawbacks, though. Like their private-time would probably get cut short all the time. At least Levi's house had offered them fairly limitless hours to fill with kissing and touching.

Not that he felt like kissing or touching right now. He didn't feel much of anything right now.

Within the hour, Carla and Mikasa came back. They loaded the last of Levi's belongings into the boot and backseat. Once everyone was crammed back in, Levi steadying his guitar between his legs, they set off back to the Jaeger residence. Levi's house grew smaller and smaller in the rearview mirror. His heart gave a hollow thud in his chest, but he couldn't even find it in himself to be sad about it.

Maybe that would come later.

~0~

It was weird sleeping in the spare room in his boyfriend's house.

It felt even weirder because Eren's parents knew they were a couple, so it almost felt as though they were making them sleep separately purely out of spite. Not that Levi thought of Carla and Grisha as spiteful people. If anything, they had been incredibly welcoming of Levi into their everyday lives. Levi could see just how grateful Eren was of this fairly seamless transition. It wasn't as though they kissed and writhed together every spare moment they got, but it was an entirely new experience for Levi to be able to curl up in the large armchair whilst cuddled against his boyfriend as the whole family watched a movie on Friday night.

It was also weird when Levi finished his studying before either Eren or Mikasa and Carla said he could help her make dessert for that evening.

Even Eren had been distracted by the sight of his boyfriend, all black-buzzcut and navy t-shirt clinging to his muscles, standing in his bright family kitchen next to his Mum was a pleasant jarring sensation. He was so dazed that this was his current reality, that Mikasa had to smack him over the head with her ruler to make him get back to work.

The weirdest, and most unsettling thing, about the whole ordeal was how little it seemed to be effect Levi.

For Levi himself, other than moments of irrefutable awkwardness, he wasn't feeling much of anything as the first week of exams came down upon him and Mikasa. They went to school, took their exams, debated on whether to go to the group study sessions for their respective classes, and then the day went on from there. Then it was back home -another strange thing that he now had to take the 208 bus to Eren's house, rather than the 178 to his -where he would help prep for dinner and then relax in his room. Which, these days, was just him lying on his new bed, in a new space, staring listlessly as the bags and boxes he still had yet to unpack. Other than fishing out his schoolbooks and underwear, he'd barely touched them.

Eren, though, was noticing things.

He had wanted to put Levi's lacklustre attitude for stress over exams couples with the fact that he'd been ejected from his family home and his parents didn't want anything to do with him. He tried not to take any of it personally. Although, he couldn't deny that it would sting whenever they would walk upstairs hand in hand and then part ways at the hallway. On the one hand, he wanted to put it down to Levi dealing with all of his emotions and his life being upheaved. He wasn't going to force the older boy to intimate purely because he got hard whenever Levi pressed close to him. However, since Levi had moved into the spare room across the landing, they hadn't been … intimate.

Even though it was a bit more restrictive in his own house, they had had a couple of opportunities to take advantage of an empty house. When Eren had wandered across to Levi's room, he'd knocked and asked if Levi needed any help 'studying'. Levi had looked up at him from his desk, before giving a tight-lipped smile and saying, 'I'm all good, thanks.'

It stung. It shouldn't, but it did, and Eren felt like such an arse for putting his own emotions before his boyfriends. So, what if he was a little horny? Levi was going through some heavy crap at the moment. His libido could take a hike. Besides, he did have to study for his own exams. Maybe this was a blessing in disguise?

He also noticed that Levi hadn't unpacked any of his belongings. Maybe he was waiting for after the exams?

'Or maybe he's waiting for your parents to get fed-up of him and kick him out, too.'

Eren shook the thought from his head. Levi was grateful for Eren and his family in taking him in. Nevertheless, Eren resolved that, as soon as Levi's exams were over, they were going to unpack all those bags and boxes and make that place feel more like a home, rather than a stopping-point.

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~0~

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Finally, the last week of May had arrived.

After today, Friday, there would be no more exams for Levi or Mikasa to take.

It sucked for Eren because his exams didn't start for another two weeks, but until then, he was breathing a sigh of relief as he watched the two heads of black hair filed down towards the assembly hall where the exams were being held. Clutching his bag tighter, he made his way up the slope towards his Chemistry classroom. He sincerely hoped that over the weekend, things would slowly start to shift between himself and Levi. The older boy had been living with his family for the better part of a month now and, even though he was always polite around Eren's parents, he had started to notice how withdrawn Levi was becoming.

He didn't really engage much in conversations and certainly didn't start any of them. As soon as he was back from college, he went straight to his room and studied. Eren tried not to let it bother him, but on the evenings where he would be lounging on his bed and reading, he felt his heart lurch and then drop in quick succession when he heard the tell-tale tread of Levi's boots on the stairs. They barely stopped at the landing, before they turned left, and his bedroom door would close.

Eren tried not to let his mind go there.

The thought of Levi succumbing to his depression again made him sick to his stomach.

Eren had tried to make sure that Levi was never home alone, without it being too obvious. Whenever it was the weekend and Levi hadn't come down to make himself some lunch, Eren would make him a couple of sandwiches and take it to his room. Levi was always grateful, and he always ate the food, citing that he'd just lost track of the time, but still Eren's fears grew.

It got so bad that one day when he knew Levi would be at college most of the day, he went through Levi's room to see if he'd been stashing his food somewhere. Thankfully, there was no such evidence.

Grisha was keeping a more casual eye on Levi, looking for any warning signs. If he'd found any, he never raised them with Eren.

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That evening they were going to have a take-away to celebrate the end of Levi and Mikasa's exams. At Eren's protest, he was assured they would get a take-away after he finished all of his exams as well. Once the food had arrived and was dished out, everyone in comfortable clothes, they all settled around the coffee table in the living room, with a TV movie on in the background. Now that the exams were over, Levi seemed to liven up that little bit more at dinner. There were bags under his eyes, but he managed to smile and tease Mikasa and Eren across the table, and even leaned closer to Eren, their sides practically pressed together.

It made eating a little more awkward, but Eren wasn't about to shrug his boyfriend aside.

If they even were boyfriends anymore.

It seemed like a grey area, and one of the reasons he hadn't broached the subject was because he was afraid of the answer. What if he went to Levi when the older teen was in a bad mood and ended things out of spite?

Eren pushed these ridiculous thoughts aside, as he got the tail-end of a joke and laughed along with everyone else. His eyes kept straying to Levi and he couldn't deny just how full his life had gotten with the older boy in it, and the dread in his stomach intensified at the thought of losing that.

As the night wore on, Grisha and Mikasa cleared up all the take-away containers and started brewing the kettle for tea's and decaf coffees. Settling down in the armchair, Levi beckoned for Eren to join him. The younger teen practically stumbled into the armchair, shifting into a familiar position with his legs hooked over the arm of the chair and Levi curled into his side.

Once everyone was handed their mugs, Mikasa browsed NETFLIX until they found a movie that everyone agreed on.

By the time everyone was heading up to bed it was just gone midnight. Grisha was yawning and Carla had gone up to bed already, waving goodnight to everyone as she'd climbed the stairs. Mikasa went up after kissing her dad 'goodnight'. Eren and Levi were the last to head up. If Eren had been more alert, he might have tried to take advantage of their alone time and tried to ask Levi what was going on? However, he was eager to go up to bed and sleep and it wasn't as though Levi was going to even accept a kiss or a hug anyway.

'Don't be bitter'.

He rolled his eyes at himself as he trailed up the stairs ahead of Levi, their fingers so loosely entwined it almost felt pointless. At the landing, they stood facing one another. They were both tired, that much was clear. Levi swayed a little on his feet, but not once did he unhook his fingers from Eren's.

"I guess … um … I'll see you in the morning?" Eren mumbled.

Levi's eyes flitted over his face. "I hope you sleep well, Eren."

He turned and was slipping out of Eren's grasp, when the teen grabbed his hand. "Wait!" Levi turned with a frown. Eren stepped up into his space, his green eyes boring down into Levi's. He smoothed a hand over the shorter guys jaw and bent his head down to brush a kiss against his lips. "Goodnight, Levi."

Levi barely moved his lips in response before Eren backed away to his own door and disappeared inside.

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On the other side of his door, Eren's heart was pounding. One simple kiss had given him that rush? He hurried away from the door as if Levi might walk through at any moment, knowing full well that he wouldn't. He swallowed, straining his ears until he heard the sound of Levi's door closing.

He let out a sigh.

He was both disappointed and accepting.

Climbing into bed, he did his best to clear his mind and drift off to sleep. It had been a long week and all he wanted to do was rest. So, why couldn't his brain shut off for once? He didn't feel restless, he hadn't left anything half-finished and he definitely didn't have anything urgent that required his attention.

He didn't know how long he tossed and turned for. Enough times, that going to get another glass of water resulted in the drinking of said water and then going to the bathroom three times. Finally, having reclined back on his pillows, he stared up at the ceiling remembered all the times Levi had snuck in through his bedroom window and laid with him on this bed. It was enough to make his heart skip a beat.

He wanted to be there for Levi, take risks for him and be able to support him whenever times got difficult. Was that so wrong of him? He honestly didn't know anymore.

'You won't know, unless you go and talk to him.'

"Fine," Eren hissed to himself. "I guess I'll go and put this shit to rest."

Tossing his covers aside, Eren eased himself out of bed, tiptoeing across his room and cracking his door open. The landing outside was dark, only the glow from the streetlamp outside illuminated the walls and stairs enough so that he didn't walk into them. The silence of the house felt oppressive. Placing a palm on the wall, Eren used it to guide himself along towards the staircase. He crossed over to the door to Levi's bedroom. Now that he was here, his heart was jumping rapidly in his chest. Maybe this was a bad idea? Did he really wanted to risk waking Levi up so early?

Finally, he swallowed the nausea he felt inside him and tapped lightly on the door. Without waiting for an answer, he pressed on the handle and went inside.

From the looks of it, Levi wasn't awake. He probably hadn't tapped loud enough to rouse him. Straining his eyes against the dark, Eren tried to carefully pick his way across the bedroom until his shin nudged against the edge of Levi's bed. Gingerly, he leaned over and prodded at Levi's shoulder.

"Levi?" he whispered, nudging his shoulder again. "Levi, are you awake?"

Levi groaned. "-time is it?"

"I don't know," Eren whispered. "Levi, I need to talk to you?"

Rolling over onto his back, Levi groaned. "It can't wait till morning?"

Eren felt awful. Fuck, he couldn't even do this right. "Do you want me to go?"

"Tell me why you woke me up, brat, or I'll drop-kick you in the throat," Levi grunted, without any malice behind his words.

Eren awkwardly settled on the edge of the bed, the warm weight of Levi's legs almost pressing against him was calming. Eren looked down at where he assumed his hands would be and started fiddling with his cuffs. "It's just … since you've started living here it's like you've been avoiding me," he licked his lips, feeling jittery. "I know we spend time together, but it's always with my family, never just the two of us. I … it might sound dumb, but I miss you. Fuck! I know I sound selfish, giving all you've been going through but I just -I'm trying to be supportive and -and I don't know what to think!"

He let out a shuddering breath. Levi remained silent, for which Eren was thankful.

"I'm not trying to say you should be smothered or have to always talk about your feelings. I know that's not your strong suit but I just -I guess I thought I might be different since we're boyfriends and all. Then I started to think … maybe you didn't want to be together anymore. What you're going through his insane and maybe having a boyfriend is just like an extra burden or something? I don't know," he sighed, his entire body sagging with the melancholic weight of his own words. "I guess I just wanted to know, one way or the other. Or something."

The room was silent. He sat there for a few moments until his feet grew cold. Just as he was getting up to head back to his own room, he heard a sob. He stopped in a squatting position and turned to look through the gloom at Levi. The older teen had an arm slung over his face and -yes! -those were definitely muffled sobs he was hearing.

"Oh, Levi!" he tugged the covers back and crawled up onto the bed, enveloping the shorter guy against his chest. He was stunned at how Levi curled into his embrace, tucking himself under Eren's chin and winding their legs together. Eren pressed his cheek against Levi's hair, kissing his forehead and cuddled him close. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to dumb all of my whiny bullshit onto you!"

"It's not dumb!" Levi snapped heatedly, his voice thick and choked. Fisting Eren's shirt, he pressed his face against the teen's neck. "You're right, I've been an absolutely shitty boyfriend to you! Jesus, I don't know how I would have coped at all if it wasn't for you and your family!"

"I haven't done anything, I-"

"I know you've been keeping an eye on me, Eren," Levi stated thickly. "I suppose I can see why. I -I appreciate it."

"Um … you're welcome."

Levi sighed, pressing himself closer to Eren. "I don't want to break-up with you. I'm sorry that I made you feel like that. I just -it's been a lot to deal with. All of this shit with my parents as well as exams. I haven't felt … anything. I've felt so empty and I figured it was the best time to try and study. I didn't mean to push you away."

Eren sighed. It was nice to know that he'd been wrong, but at the same time, he had felt stranded for a few weeks now. "I wish you could just be open with me. I'm open with you."

"I know," Levi sighed. He sniffed and cuffed at his eyes. "It's just been so … hard. Trying to come to terms with all of this. On the one hand, it's great! I'm totally independent. On the other hand, I'm totally independent. No bank-of-mum-and-dad to fall back on if my plans go to shit."

"You're welcome here whenever you need," Eren squeezed.

"I can't mooch off your family forever."

"Levi, you're eighteen. No one expects you to have life figured out yet."

The older teen was quiet for a moment before some of the tension ebbed from his body. "I guess you're right."

"I've been so worried for weeks, thinking I'd done something wrong, or you were having doubts."

"I was doubting myself more than anything. Whether this whole court nonsense was really worth it? All for what, not having to scream at them every few months? I guess I've just been debating if I should go crawling back and beg them to forgive me. It won't happen though, even if I really was sincere."

Eren pursed his lips at the thought. Was that why Levi hadn't unpacked any of his boxes? He had actually been debating about going back to live with his parents, even after they'd shown just how much they didn't care for their son or his well-being. It was a bitter pill to swallow. No wonder Levi had kept to himself and seemed lost in thought a lot of the time.

"Maybe over the weekend we could … unpack?" Eren hedged.

Levi was quiet for a moment. "That sounds like a good idea."

"Hey Levi?"

"Yeah?"

"Is it selfish of me … to want you to stay?"

"Yes," Levi nodded against his chest. "Totally and unbelievably selfish of you."

Even through the dark, Eren could detect the smile in his boyfriend's voice. It made his heart swell in his chest. He blinked away the unshed tears and tried to take deep calming breaths.

"If it makes you feel any better, I really don't want to leave," Levi murmured softly, giving Eren's middle a firm squeeze. "I'd rather have you than my parents anyway."

This time Eren was unable to stop a stray tear from racing down the side of his face. Curling onto his side, he cuddled Levi close against him, his nose buried in a mop of silky black hair. Levi mumbled drowsily as he shifted over onto his other side before snuggling back into Eren. For the first time since Levi had moved-in, they fell asleep together in the same bed, in the same room, with their fingers entwined.

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~0~

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The following Monday dawned bright and sunny. The house was quiet; Eren's parents were both at work and Mikasa had gone out to meet up with some friends. Since Eren's exams were starting soon, he had taken to studying in the brightly lit kitchen, claiming that he needed to be as close as possible to his snacks. Mikasa had offered to shove him into the fridge itself, but Carla had forbidden it.

Padding into the kitchen, Levi ran a hand through his black bed-hair, messing it up even more, as he yawned and stretched. Crossing the kitchen to the fridge, he grabbed a few things from inside to make them both something to eat. Judging from the Haribo bag next to Eren's textbook, the kid hadn't eaten more than gummy sweets and maybe a banana since waking up that morning.

Shaking his head with a smirk, Levi filled the kettle and flipped the switch.

"Oh, could you make me one please?" Eren asked.

Levi turned to him with an eyebrow cocked, a retort on his tongue -that died the moment their eyes locked. Here he was, sleep-rumpled and scruffy -the likes of which Eren had rarely seen until now -with no make-up on and nothing much to his name. Yet, here was Eren -bright, funny and optimistic -sitting at the small kitchen table, his hair neatly combed, in a comfy shirt and lounge pants, staring up at Levi as though he were buried treasure. Everything about him, even down to that little mole under his right eye, was just so open and loving that it made Levi want to crumple to his knees at how unworthy he was.

Yet this man thought the world of Levi.

He was somewhat unsettling, no one had ever thought such a thing of him before. It made his insides swell and burn and jitter in the most pleasant ways that it was hard to keep track of all the emotions.

The kettle whistled.

Levi shook himself out of his reverie and busied himself pouring two mugs of tea. Eren beamed at him from over his laptop screen, before bowing his head once again, his fingertips racing over the keys. Levi carried the mugs over to the table and set them both down, out of the danger-zone of Eren's laptop, before coming to stand by Eren's chair. When he doesn't say or do anything, the younger teen stopped writing and looked up with a frown.

"Levi are you -?"

"I love you."

Whatever Eren had been about to say vanished. He stared up at Levi with those beautiful green eyes before his mouth split into a smile. Levi felt his heart explode when Eren surged to his feet and captured Levi's mouth in a desperate, yearning kiss. He kissed back, smoothing his fingers through Eren's hair and down his neck, over his arms before snaking around his waist. Eren pulled back, peppering Levi's cheeks, forehead and lips with small, butterfly kisses.

"I love you too, Levi! God, I've wanted to say it for ages!" he gushed, kissing along Levi's jaw.

Clutching tighter to the taller teen, Levi pressed in close. "I'm sorry it took so long for me to realise, or for my emotions to catch-up with reality but … I love you, Eren. I really fucking love you."

Eren chuckled, straightening up so that he could stroke a hand through Levi's messy hair. "Well, good, because I really fucking love you too."

A/N: Please feel free to leave a review!