Erwin walked in the small room just as Levi was washing his hands. "Levi …"

"Jesus, Erwin! Fucking what? Are you fucking stalking me?" he dried his hands with a lot more violence than was necessary.

"I want to talk to you. Apologize."

"For being yourself?"

OK, that hurt. Erwin's impressive brows drew down into a frown and his eyes glittered. He was actually getting angry

Levi watched with fascination as the man's face changed. His bright blue eyes got hard, his jaw clenched. It was a good look. A hot look. Erwin seemed to have some fire in him after all, just banked and waiting to flare up.

"I told you I was sorry!" Erwin said "I told you I didn't mean it!" His voice was rising. "I panicked, OK? I screwed up!"

Levi's own temper ignited. "So did you tell those women you said that to the truth? Have you told anyone the truth except Mike? You didn't even tell fucking Moblit. Hange had to!"

"This is a small town Levi! I have to live here!"

"Live a lie? You fucking coward!"

"Goddamnit, Levi!"

Whoa. Levi had never heard Erwin utter a single curse word other than hell and damn. Both their fists were clenched, both their faces red.

Suddenly and without any warning Levi hit Erwin like a freight train, grabbing his shirt in both hands and shoving the bigger man bodily into the wall. Erwin's back collided with the wallpaper, hard enough to hurt.

Then Levi went up on his tiptoes, dragging downward on Erwin's shirt, his mouth was on Erwin's, hot and wet. Erwin had opened his mouth slightly in surprise and Levi took that opportunity to slide his tongue past Erwin's lips

Erwin responded instinctively. He'd imagined this many times in his shower and in his bed at night, alone. They kissed fiercely, hard, almost desperately like it was their last kiss in this life, their tongues moving together, exploring. Erwin's arms went around Levi and Levi's fingers threaded into Erwin's hair, grasping tightly, pulling hard, making his scalp sting.

Finally, finally they separated, standing forehead to forehead, gasping. After a few moments Levi loosed his fingers and stepped back, flicking the wrinkles out of his trousers.

"God … Levi …" Erwin began.

"What?"

Erwin gaped at him.

Levi's grey gaze flickered over him, all of him. Erwin felt as if he was looking right into his insides like an x-ray, right into his soul.

Levi stepped up to him. So close that he had to cant his dark head back to see into his face and Erwin had to tuck his chin down. He punched a forefinger into Erwin's sternum, "That, that right there is what you missed, what you almost had. That." and he walked out of the bathroom.

Levi rejoined his date and ordered three more shots. Fuck it. He was getting drunk. He'd learned when he was young that he never had any problem performing when inebriated (or hadn't so far. He was getting older,) so just fuck it. Yelena seemed delighted and showed him the twenty that Erwin had left for them. Levi didn't hesitate to use it for their next drink order.

"Do you know Erwin well?" Yelena asked.

Levi didn't want to talk about fucking Erwin Smith. "Not well, I just met him recently."

"He's really a nice guy." Yelena fiddled with her hair and kind of zoned out, a trait Levi found annoying. "There've always been rumors that he's gay, you know."

"Yeah?" Levi said drily. He couldn't resist. "But he doesn't look gay."

"Yeah, I know!"

Oh, this definitely was just going to be a one-time hook-up.

Levi drank one of his shots, then the second one, then leaned intimately into Yelena's space. "Let's not talk about him," he murmured.

Yelena giggled.

Erwin stood before the bathroom mirror and stared at his reflection. He'd splashed cold water on his face and dried it off. He'd straightened his wrinkled shirt, tucked it in firmly, carefully finger-combed his hair and patted it into place.

Now he just stared.

Erwin Smith. Business owner, member of the school board, father, pillar of the community.

Coward.

He liked a man. He really liked him. And he had fucked that up.

Crap.

He needed a drink.

Erwin emerged from the bathrooms, put together, and walked determinedly for the door. He glanced at Levi, as he passed. He was leaned in close to Yelena, saying something quiet. He ignored Erwin.

Erwin walked past him.

Just as he did the door to the bar opened and Hange and Moblit and Nanaba and Mike walked in. They took a second to look around in the dim room—presumably for him—and Moblit spotted Erwin. Right at that second Erwin heard Hange say "Oh, shit. Oh, fuck."

They had spotted Levi. Everyone looked where they were looking and Erwin walked right up to them. He gripped Mike by the arm. "Please take me home. Right now. Please."

"What happened?" Nanaba asked anxiously.

Erwin's gaze never left Mike's face. "Please."

Mike looked sober. "Will you tell me what's going on?"

Erwin shook his head. "No. Ask me another day."

"Erwin …"

"Forget it. I'll call an Uber."

Mike gripped his arm back. "No. I'll take you. Guys, I'll be right back."

Mike took Erwin home in a strained silence and returned to the bar. Mike joined everyone in a booth. Moblit and Hange were in an intense argument.

"I'm gonna go up there and fucking ask him, Moblit. I just know Levi did something."

"Other than show up with a date?" Mike asked, flagging down Jean and ordering a beer.

"Don't interrupt his date," Nanaba begged. "Yelena hasn't done anything wrong."

"Yeah, don't make a scene Hans. We don't know what happened."

"Maybe Erwin just saw them together. Maybe it upset him." Mike said.

"Probably it upset him. Poor Erwin," Nanaba said.

"Why is he so stubborn?" Hange said, "Why are they both so fucking stubborn?"

"What's Levi's problem, exactly?" Mike asked.

Hange sighed. "Levi has a serious self-esteem issue. He thinks he's not good enough for Erwin. Ever since whatever happened that day at the set, he's felt like Erwin is embarrassed by him."

"That's bullshit. The man is bat-shit crazy about Levi. He's fucking miserable."

"So what's holding Erwin back?" Nanaba asked, "Why doesn't he just tell him?"

Mike ran his fingers through his hair, briefly lifting his bangs up and exposing his bright blue eyes. "Erwin's … what do they call it? In the closet? Closeted? He's afraid. Plain and simple."

"You can't live your life in hiding!" Hange said. "And Erwin shouldn't, he's still the same good person."

"Erwin has to live here, with these people, for the rest of his life." Moblit said reasonably, "Levi will leave at some point. Go back to New York, where it's easier."

"You don't know that!" Hange snapped. "Do you think that if we work out I'll leave? Are you ashamed of me, Moblit?"

Moblit turned in the booth and took both of Hange's hands in his. He spoke soothingly in his kind voice. "Hange I will not fight with you. I like you and I don't care who knows it."

"Oh, Moblit …" She kissed him, softly and chastely, and by the look on his face, they hadn't kissed much, maybe not ever. Mike and Nanaba sought out each other's hands under the table.

"So what do we do?" Nanaba said.

"You can't change this whole town," Moblit said, "We're just going to have to change Erwin's mind."

"And Levi's!" Hange said. She raised her glass. "To changing minds!"