On the day of Christmas, I participated happily in setting up the tree in our living room. Mikasa was smiling and laughing next to me, copying my decoration patterns. Mom and Dad sat out, I think because they wanted to let Mikasa and I bond. But truthfully, I was just eager to show Levi.

We dined on turkey and opened presents that came from only our parents because Mikasa and I didn't have the money for buying gifts. I got a pair of fur slippers from my mom. "So your feet don't freeze off," she said when I pulled them out of the wrapping. I thanked her.

Dad gifted Mikasa a purple pendant of some sort. "Is this real amethyst?" she asked while trying it on.

Apparently, it was real.

My mom pulled me to the side after Mikasa went back in her room. I faced her, already sensing the topic at hand.

"Eren, you don't have to go to college, you know?" my mom started off. I fought the urge to purse my lips. She knew I hated talk about the future. "It's completely fine if you just go to work, as long as you can sustain."

"I want to go to college, mom," I assured her sternly.

She nodded agreeably. "Okay. okay."

I smiled neutrally and headed to my room. "Have you applied?" her voice chased me up the stairs. "Yes," I call down, walking faster.

My door closes as I lean on it. I breathe out, looking down at the slippers I put on for her. Two grey bunnies stared back.

They were an alright gift.

My window was shut at all times. The outside had become too cold. I didn't like the jackets I had to wear. They hindered movement a little bit and I preferred to move freely with one shirt on. That, I was able to do in Levi's world, where it was always warm dusk.

From the floor, Levi picked up the jacket I forgot I wore across the bridge. He rubbed the fabric between his fingers. "It's quite worn," he chirped.

"I've been wearing it," I jabbed, unable to hold back the giggle that came after.

His lips slowly stretch into a grin, but he didn't want them to. "Right," he said. He checks out the fake layer of fur on the inside before trying on my favorite jacket. It was my favorite because when Levi put it on, he appeared somewhat ordinary; like someone who was eventually going to die, like me.

Like he promised, Levi followed me to my window. I pitter-pattered across the polished wooden tiles that loosely formed the bridge and he trailed behind me, slow as a calm bull.

"It's like a squirrel's nest in here," he thought out loud, putting a hand on the desk that I put right behind the window.

"I wanted to show you the living room," I said, opening my door and slipping through.

I already asked Levi to make it night this time. He stood idly by the Christmas tree while I plugged in the lights. When they blazed awake against the darkness, I stepped back and swore that they weren't as beautiful in real life.

There we stood, neither of us remembering for how long, both marveled at the sight. Man's creations, I heard him whisper. I nodded, but he was looking away so he didn't see. "Happy birthday," I said, noticing a sliver of his smile in my peripheral.

I turned to look at him beside me. His eyes fixated on the tree and the tip of his nose was smeared in light. If I looked hard enough, I was able to see a hint of brown in the tips of his hair. His lips slowly parted, and whispered softly, "Thank you."

The next morning, I was shoveling snow out of the driveway with my dad. The sun, as shy as it was in the winter, still visited some days. The faceless snowman I built was one step closer to being a pile of slush.

Snow was heavier than I expected. Learning how to shovel well was going to be as hard as learning to swim. It required a specific set of movements I wasn't used to. Dad, of course, beat me in the race that totally didn't happen. Hooting in accomplishment, the asshole put up his shovel and went back into the house without me.

Time and again, I tried to sketch Levi on paper. The drawings never came out right even though I clearly pictured him. It pissed me off.

I entered dream god into google. The Greek god, Morpheus, came up. No mention of a Levi. Did Levi not have a last name?

What if Levi was just a figment of my imagination?

I shut my laptop in horror, almost angry at myself for thinking that.

"What if I am just a part of your head?" Levi paced calmly across the platform. "What would you do then?"

Rocking in my hammock, I shook my head. "I would be…kind of sad."

"Eren," he searches his mind for something. "That's a little unfair to me. If I asked you to prove to me that you're conscious, you'd be a stuttering fool."

I sighed because he was right. What was I doing, denying the existence of a god? Actually, that was something I've always done. But Levi was my friend. I didn't need to worship him to believe that he was real.

He stood right there when I opened my eyes. He leaned down towards me. "I exist on my own, Eren," he singsongs. "Don't you remember?"

When you wake up, time still passes here.

"Ah," I slapped my forehead. "Of course. How could I forget?"

"You do it so easily, I'm envious" Levi sat with me, swinging the both of us back and forth. I shut my eyes and imagined us on a boat, climbing feisty waves.

"Envious of forgetting?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"There are things I wish to forget."

"But they made you who you are."

"Perhaps I don't like who I am."

I opened my eyes. He faced away from me, bangs glimmering in amber. "Don't be stupid," I couldn't help but say to him.

The hammock didn't swing anymore. There was a tense moment before he shot a look at me over his shoulder.

"You're undermining me."

"It was a compliment."

"I know, but it was invalidating."

"Okay," I put my hands up. "Sorry. I didn't mean to offend."

He forgave me in two seconds. "My main point is, I dislike certain memories. I don't care how interesting they make me, I would rather forget. Don't you have some of those?"

I thought about it. Was there a memory that I wanted to erase? There's plenty of times where I embarrass myself. If I were to forget them, I probably wouldn't know what mistakes to avoid today. "I don't, but I see where you're coming from."

Levi hummed, looking off into the distance.

But then I thought deeper and recalled my childhood, where my spirit broke early on. "Actually," I said, "I wanted a better life as a kid."

He didn't interrupt.

I continued, "I've never had a long term home because my family moved a lot. My dad serves in the military, by the way. He gets relocated. And my mom loves him, so what do we do? Follow him everywhere. That life doesn't sound so bad, but it is. Imagine not having a safe, familiar place to come back to everyday. Even today."

I stopped. The image of a black-haired man in a winter jacket flashed through my mind. His eyes drinking up the tiny bulbs of electric light; Him clapping after I hastily sung to him happy birthday.

"I believe you," Levi agreed. "This spot has been my home for thousands of years. I may never want to trade it."