The next morning Levi awoke at five as usual and Hange wasn't there. They hadn't called or texted. Levi decided to go on to work. Fuck it. He wasn't going to wait around the motel room for them. They'd contact him when they were ready.

He called an Uber and got pissed off when he found out that they wouldn't take him out to the state park. He reluctantly texted Mike.

When Levi climbed into Mike's truck he had a peace offering of McDonald's breakfast (since Hange wasn't there) and offered Mike some cash. Mike laughed and refused it.

"Levi. We're friends. That's what friends do."

Levi had stewed on that. It was really nice. Like really nice to have a circle of friends. He'd never had that. All he'd had was Hange and his childhood friends Farlan and Isobel who had passed away in a car crash a few years ago. He sadly reflected on what would happen once the movie wrapped. He was pensive and silent the rest of the drive.

At lunch, they went to the diner and Erwin wasn't there. No surprise. He was probably hung over as hell. Hange still hadn't called or texted. Nanaba confirmed that Moblit was at home also, throwing up and with a killer headache.

Work was really hard that day and Mike and Levi were both exhausted at the end of it. They didn't finish until the light began to fade and Levi got to experience that at the lake. The only experience with lakes that Levi had was the small one in central park. Nothing could have prepared him for sunset on the Stillwell Reservoir.

The day had been hot, as hot as usual, in the high nineties and Levi had marvelled at the construction crew's ability to function in the blazing heat. But they'd labored on, seemingly unaffected. Sunset was glorious. The temperature barely dropped but Levi noticed that the insistent buzzing in the distance fell off as darkness fell.

"What is that noise, anyway? It's weird."

"What noise?" Mike cocked his head.

"The buzzing, droning sound. It kinda comes and goes." Levi gestured at the thick trees. "That."

"Oh, you mean the cicadas?"

"What the fuck is a cicada?"

Mike spread his fingers about two inches apart. "They're big bugs. I don't even hear them anymore. They come out in the summer."

Levi shivered at the thought of two-inch bugs. "Jesus. Do they bite?"

Mike laughed. "No! They just cling to the trees. When they molt you can find their shells. I used to collect them as a child. Really cool. I'll try to find you one."

"Oh fuck, please don't!"

Mike laughed again. "Now I definitely am. I'll collect a dozen and leave them on your bed."

"You are a sick, sick man, Mike."

Mike went to load up the truck and Levi enjoyed the sunset. Stillwell lake ran almost north south so the sun set almost right on the west bank of the lake, spreading various oranges and golds across the water until it dipped below the trees.

They rode home in comfortable silence with the radio on but really low. Mike stopped by the convenience store again so that Levi could get beer and some of those enchiladas that were so good for some odd reason.

When they arrived at the motel, the rental car was there. They both just sat in the truck, staring.

"So they're back," Mike said finally.

"Looks like it."

"You want me to come in with you?"

"Tch. I'll be OK."

"OK, well, I'll leave you to it. Please text us if you need us."

Levi was touched. "Thanks. I'll definitely text when I find anything out."

"Please do."

Levi got out of the truck with his twelve pack and his bag of enchiladas and girded his loins. He went in, making a lot of noise with the lock to give Hange a heads up.

Hange was sat on their bed, the TV was on, and they had, of all things, a wine cooler in their hand. Levi didn't even know they still made that shit. Beside them sat the person from Hange's phone.

"Hans."

"Hey, Levi!"

The person on the bed beside Hage leapt up, hurrying toward him, arms out. "Leviiiiiii!"

"Don't fucking touch me," Levi said darkly.

"Levi, be nice," Hange warned.

"Fuck that and fuck you, Hange," Levi said, crossing to his bed.

"Well, somebody's grumpy!" laughed Chloe.

Levi bent to put his beer in the fridge, snagging two and taking them to the table where his dinner was. Chloe climbed onto the bed with Hange.

Levi began to eat, ignoring the both of him, fully aware that they were watching him.

"Levi," Hange said after a while, "Chloe's clean now."

"Fuck Chloe, too," Levi grunted. "How many times have we heard that?"

Chloe pouted and Hange frowned. "They really are, Levi. Plus they're mourning." Chloe put on an appropriately sad face.

Levi continued to ignore them, eating tidily.

"Chloe has—"

"I said fuck Chloe!" Levi burst out. "What about Moblit, Hans? He is seriously hurting right now! How can you be so fucking fickle?!"

Chloe stared at Hange. "Moblit? Who's Moblit?"

Levi stared hard at Hange. "So you didn't tell them about Moblit? What the actual fuck, Hans?"

"Who the fuck is Moblit, Hange?!"

Hange got up off the bed, clearly angry. "Let's go out, babe. There's a great bar right across the road."

Chloe glared.

"I'll tell you all about it when we get there. They have great Gimlet pitchers ... and poppers!"

Chloe reluctantly got up from the bed. They were always on board when people were buying stuff for them.

Levi concentrated on his food as they went out and as soon as they left he texted Mike, Erwin, and Nanaba with the whole conversation, cursing extensively and fluently.

Levi was asleep when Hange and Chloe returned at 2 am. He was a very light sleeper though and woke up the instant the key turned in the lock. Levi lay there, still, while they stumbled and giggled and finally fell into the bed. Thank the powers that be that they didn't have sex.

In the morning, Levi got ready for work and Hange did too. When Levi realized that Hange intended to leave Chloe in the motel room alone all day, he packed his stuff and called Mike.

He was outside, smoking. "Mike, is there anywhere I can stay? Hange is letting that fuckhead, Chloe, stay in our room and I don't trust them to not go through my stuff. I can get my own motel room if—"

"Don't be stupid Levi. You can stay with one of us. Moblit, Erwin, even Nanaba will take you in. I'm so fucking sorry this is happening. I'm coming to get you, let me text everybody." The call disconnected.

When Mike arrived Levi threw his duffle into the back of the truck and got in. "Fuck, Mike, thank you so much …"

"Shut up, dude. Friends. Remember?"

Levi came as close to tears as he had in years.

Erwin had insisted that Levi stay with him but Moblit, surprisingly, was even more insistent. Erwin only had a couch, plus Eren was home, and Moblit actually had a guest bedroom.

Work went well and Mike was somewhat startled that Levi didn't seem more upset. He'd basically been forced out of his motel room, after all. They were busy as they had been all week and the work was very physically demanding. They ordered sandwiches from a local shop and ate on the set at lunchtime.

"Hey, you OK about all this?" Mike asked Levi as they ate. They were sitting on the tailgate of Mike's truck and Mike was trying not to be amused at how far off the ground Levi's legs dangled.

"I'm cool," Levi said, "I'm kind of used to it."

"Is Hange that bad?"

"Well, no, it's not Hange. I mean, we went through this shit before with Chloe so yeah there's that but they're normally pretty level-headed. I just mean life in general. My life has kinda been a shitshow."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Levi hesitated, not sure how much he should tell Mike or if Mike even particularly wanted to know. He kept it brief. "My mom died when I was five and I got shuttled off to my uncle who was a piece of shit. Into petty crime. He was a sorry-ass provider so I had to kind of fend for myself a lot and try to stay under his radar."

"That sucks."

"Yeah, it did. I finally got out when I was seventeen."

"Well, you've got a good support network now."

Levi stopped chewing and looked gravely down at his sandwich and for a second Mike was afraid he'd just put his foot in his mouth.

"Yeah. Yeah, I do. Thank you."

Mike, relieved, clapped him on the back. "No problem, Buddy."

"Oh, jeez, don't call me 'Buddy'," Levi groused, "Call me 'shithead' or 'fuckface' or something. Anything but 'Buddy'"

Mike laughed and resumed eating.