Chapter 13 – In Good Spirits

Love? W-what...? What does he mean? Did he just...? No...I must be mistaken. Levi can't love me, I'm a guy...and he's engaged...and it would just...

The grip on Eren's leg became tighter. He looked up from Levi's chest to stare at his face or, more precisely, his eyes. He couldn't tell what was going through Levi's mind in that moment, but he could see the man was worried. A gloomy haze flooded Eren's thoughts, making him unable to speak. All he could do was sit there, helplessly hoping Levi would take the lead.

"Eren?"

There it was, the lead he'd been anticipating.

"Y-yes?" He managed to say, not minding the lump in his throat.

"Do you...have school tomorrow?"

"...Huh?"

"School. Do you have it tomorrow?" Levi repeated, sighing as he did.

"No...why?"

"Can you stay over tonight?"

Eren faltered for a moment.

"Um...sure...but, I'll be gone this evening."

"Why?"

"My friend wants me to spend the afternoon with him."

Levi looked down and released Eren's leg, placing his hands in his lap.

"Oh, ok..."

"Levi, is something wrong?"

Beep beep.

Eren glanced over at the kitchen. The stove was beeping, signaling that Eren needed to take out the cobbler.

He stood up, "I'll be right back, we don't want the cobbler to burn."

"Mhm..."

Eren's phone sounded out through the house, the ringtone audible from where Eren was at in the kitchen. He stepped away from the stove and walked back into the living room.

"It's probably my friend." Eren guessed as he picked up the device.

"Are they picking you up?"

"Mhm."

"Ok."

Eren answered the call, raising the phone to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Yes, this is Jean's Castle, would you like a bucket of corn with your order?"

A loud chuckle came through the speaker. Eren giggled along with it.

"Hey, Conny. What's up?"

"Eh, ya know, me and Sasha stole Jean's phone."

"I can tell." He paused, focusing on the voices in the background. "Is Mikasa there?"

"Yeah she just go— Ack! Hey! C'mon!"

Another fit of laughter could be heard.

"I swear, I'm gonna kill those two one day."

It was Jean's voice. He sounded out of breath too.

"Sup, Eren. You ready to hang?"

"Yep."

"Alright, we'll be there in about 10 minutes, don't forget to wear a good outfit."

The speaker sounded staticy for a moment, then another voice came through.

"Wear something skimpy! We're goin' to a club!"

"Conny! I swear to absolute God!"

Levi tilted his head, not really knowing what was happening.

"What the heck is happening over there?" Eren asked in a giggly voice.

"We're gonna take your virgin self to a strip club!"

Conny's voice again.

"No, shut the hell up, Conny!"

Jean's.

"Ok then..."

"Don't listen to him."

"I won't."

Static again. Then, a new voice spoke.

"Eren? Is that you?"

"Mikasa? Oh my gosh, I haven't heard from you in months. How are you?"

"I'm good, you?"

"Fine. How was France?"

"Oh, it was beautiful! There were so many sights and people and animals. Oh! And the food was amazing!"

"Sounds awesome."

"It was."

Eren smiled, happy to hear from his sister again.

"Anyway, I've gotta go, see you soon."

"Bye. Love you."

"Love you too."

Eren pressed the red button, ending the call.

"Your friends are energetic." Levi said in a rather bored tone.

"Yeah, they're a handful."

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

Fifteen minutes later, a blue Mercedes pulled into Levi's driveway. Eren was sitting on the porch swing with his phone in hand. He stared ahead as two people made their way out of the car. Recognizing one of them as Jean, he stood up and waved them over.

"Hey guys."

"Yo, Eren, I thought I said to wear a good outfit." Jean eyed Eren's clothes.

"Huh, what do you mean? My clothes are fine."

Eren looked himself over to make sure nothing was out of place. His hands tugged on the white shirt he was wearing, then slid down to his black skinny jeans. There was a layered belt chain dangling to his right and a small rip above his left knee, subtly revealing a portion of his tanned skin.

"Jeez, dude...could you be any gayer?" Jean elbowed him slightly.

"Huh? Do I look gay? Is it the jeans?" Eren quickly questioned.

Jean shook his head, "I was kidding. C'mon man, everyone's waiting."

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

-20 minutes earlier-

Levi lightly tugged on Eren's jeans, feeling the rip on the left leg.

"You seriously wanna go out with a hole in your pants?" He asked, hands still wandering across the rough fabric.

"Y-yeah, is that a problem?" Eren glanced down ever so slightly, trying not to think about their position.

He's so close... Damn...stupid hormones. This isn't the best time to—shit!

Levi's fingers brushed across Eren's inner thigh, enticing a reaction he didn't want.

"L-Levi...?"

"Hm?"

"Can you...back up a little?"

Levi stopped his movements and took his hand away from Eren's leg.

"Sure..."

"Thank you."

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

"Alright! Yeah!"

Conny's voice was loud in Eren's ear, but he didn't mind.

"Woo-hoo! Eren, you ready to get wasted tonight?!" Sasha yelled from her seat in the back of the car.

"Well...I don't plan on drinking..." He quietly admitted.

Conny gasped, "Whatcha mean? You've gotta have at least one drink!"

"Yeah!"

"Um... Well, I..."

Eren was at a loss for words. He'd never drank alcohol before, let alone gotten drunk. His life was one of perfection and precision, he never had time to mess around.

"C'mon guys. Don't pressure the goody-two-shoes. He probably doesn't even know the meaning of the word 'wasted.'"

"Shut up, Jean! I'm not that sheltered!"

"Yeah, and my face looks like a horse."

The car went silent. Conny and Sasha were holding back their laughter, Mikasa was napping, and Eren was staring at Jean in bewilderment.

"What?" Jean's voice broke the pin-drop silence.

"...You do know you have a horseface...right?"

"Says who?"

"Says us!" Sasha motioned to her and Conny. "And Eren too!"

"Oh yeah? Well, you three can screw off."

"Huh?!"

"Conny, calm down. Mikasa's sleeping." Eren tried to calm everyone down, but it wasn't working in his favor.

The rest of the car ride was Conny, Sasha, and Jean bickering with each other. Eren silently sat in the passenger seat, leaning his head against the window, watching the other cars swiftly pass them by.

.

.

.

I'm FINALLY back! After a few months, I actually started writing on this again. Ehhh...