Eren had made up his mind. He was sure. He decided as he was driving home from Levi's, before he even got to his apartment.

Either he made his move and got with Levi or he got rejected and they remained friends. He would accept nothing less. He knew that Levi was upset with him and distrusted him after the eavesdropping incident, but he was determined to make it right.

Not being in Levi's and Mikasa's life was not an option.

Levi had been cleaning since Eren left.

The house was already clean. Levi cleaned every day. That was just him.

But he was cleaning again.

Mikasa and Hange were in Mikasa's room, quietly coloring dinosaurs. They both knew better than to disturb him.

Levi was on his knees scrubbing the door jambs. He turned his brush to the sill of the doorway of the bathroom. As he worked he became aware that the paint was coming off the sill. True, foot traffic was responsible for some of it, but Levi knew that this obsession of his was mostly to blame.

He kept at it, nonetheless.

Levi was hoping that his cleaning spree would help him not think about Eren but it wasn't working. The only thing on his mind was the brown-haired brat. What was he doing now? Was he sad that Levi had sent him away? Why had he sent Eren away? Levi paused. Why had he done that?

Levi was forced to acknowledge that he had feelings for the young man. It had hurt when Eren had distanced himself. He had to make a decision. Ask Eren out or tell Eren definitively that they could only be friends. He couldn't just send him packing. Being without Eren would slowly kill him.

"Imma head out,' Hange said. They had gathered their bag and their grocery tote (they'd stopped off after the zoo and bought more broccoli much to Mikasa's consternation) and now stood awkwardly at the door. Levi was not in a good place, Hange knew that, but they couldn't stay forever.

"You need to talk to him."

"We just talked. He just left a few hours ago, Hans, for fuck's sake"

"You know what I mean."

Levi shoved both hands into the pockets of his threadbare corduroy 'cleaning' trousers and studied the floor. "Whatever."

The next day was Saturday and it was clear and pretty, though cold. Levi's mail generally arrived about mid-morning and he was in the habit of checking it at 10 o'clock or so on days he was home. He instinctively checked on Mikasa's whereabouts before opening the door. (Mikasa had a new thing where she insisted that she was old enough to get the mail out of the box and, despite the box only being twelve feet from the door, it was still too close to the road for Levi's paranoid brain.) Right then, she was in the living room quietly cutting pictures of dogs out of a magazine.

Levi opened the door and froze. There was a flower arrangement on the porch looking crisp and fresh in the frigid air. Deep orange tulips, yellow roses, white and gold daffodils and delicate white roses. Levi looked around. There was no one to be seen and the street was empty. Perhaps it was for his neighbor? He wasn't sure. The porch, a rectangular slab of concrete, was roughly eight feet wide and the vase of flowers stood way over on his side, directly in front of the door. Where had those come from? He hadn't made that arrangement. And they were in a vase that his store didn't use. They must have been from a shop in another city.

Finally, Levi stooped and read the card. It consisted of a single line in an unfamiliar hand.

"Please forgive me."

Levi straightened suddenly.

Eren.

Levi didn't know what to do. Leave them? Take them in and throw them away? Take them in and display them proudly?

"Papa?"

Levi stiffened. Of course his standing in the doorway had alerted Mikasa that something was wrong.

"Pretty flowers," she murmured.

Levi just stood, at a loss.

"Can I get the mail?"

Levi looked down at her; she was snugging her scarf up against the chill. He held out his hand. "Let's get it together."

The post boxes for their duplex were side by side on a post by the road. Between the house and the box was the tiny sparse patch of grass that constituted the minuscule front yard, and the sidewalk. The mailbox hung over the street itself so Levi stood on the pavement protectively behind Mikasa as she reached blindly into the box and felt around for the mail.

The post retrieved—Mikasa was looking through the envelopes, all bills, and trying to read the words of their address—they stepped back up onto the porch.

"Flowers,' Mikasa reminded gently.

The flowers. He was going to have to make a decision. The arrangement was expensive, probably 40 or 50 dollars. Levi took them inside.

Eren's phone buzzed and he grabbed it from between the couch cushions.

[Old Man] "We need to talk."

Eren was happy, relieved, and not a little trepidacious. He fell back on humor.

"Oh, shit. Are you pregnant?"

[Old Man] "Ha ha, asshole."

[Old Man] "You know I'm on birth control called 'don't fuck brats'"

"Ouch!"

"So when can we talk? Now?"

[Old Man] Can't. I'm cooking dinner. Tomorrow?"

"Why can't we just do it ovr txt?"

[Old Man] You're not taking this very seriously are you?"

"I am!"

"Just say what you need 2 say."

[Old Man] "OK. Flowers? Seriously?"

"I wanted to apologize. Did you hate them?"

There was a long silence and Eren began to worry that Levi's phone had died.

[Old Man] "They were fucking gorgeous."

[Old Man] "Fuck."

[Old Man] "Thank you."

Eren swelled with pride and pleasure. He'd done something right!

"Do you forgive me?"

[Old Man] "I was never angry with you to begin with. Irritated, yes, angry, no."

There was another long silence and Levi went about cooking dinner, putting the chicken in the oven to bake.

[The Brat] "So what now?"

"I still don't want to date."

[The Brat] "Can I at least come over? I miss you and 'Kasa."

Levi's heart melted that Eren had mentioned Mikasa. He rinsed off the broccoli then dried his hands. "Of course."

There was a comfortable silence while Levi puttered around the kitchen. He assumed the conversation was over. His phone dinged.

[The Brat] "So what are you wearing?"

"I swear, brat!" Levi said, but he typed: "Really?!"

[The Brat] "What?! I can't help I'm a healthy 21 year old guy!"

"You're a healthy pervert is what you are."

[The Brat] "Nuh uh! Just because I have a fantasy of you cooking in JUST an apron …"

[The Brat] "With your perfect ass peeking out the back."

He thought Levi's ass was perfect? Levi blushed at that.

"Fucking pervert."

[The brat] "Hahaha … I'll bet you're blushing!"

Levi went completely red.

"Dickhead."

[The Brat] "It's a nice ass, tho."

"Quit thinking about my ass, fuckwad. I'm a top."

[The brat] "NO WAY!"

"Yes, way. Is that so hard to imagine? Is it my height?"

[The Brat] "NO! Not at all! I'm happy! I'm a bottom."

Levi paused. Eren was a bottom? Levi had assumed he was a top. Well that changed things a bit. Levi's traitorous mind turned to Eren's ass and his dick stirred. Jesus that wouldn't do. Mikasa was right there in the living room.

"Are we seriously having a sex conversation? I'm trying to cook!"

[The Brat] "Well, I've got a stiffy."

"Ew. TMI."

[The Brat] "You wouldn't say that if you could see it. ;p"

"Cheeky bastard. I said it before and I'll say it again: you'd better not be texting me with your dick in your hand."

[The Brat] "I'd better sign off then."

"OMG! Goodbye!"

[The Brat] "Byeeee! Think of me! Or parts of me …"

Levi disconnected and shoved his phone into his pocket. He realized that he was sweating despite how cool the room was. He wiped his damp forehead with the back of one hand and went back to cooking dinner.

Levi, after dinner, when Mikasa had gone to bed, went downstairs, locked himself in the bathroom, and leaned back against the door. He forced himself to breathe deeply. All he had been able to think about throughout the meal and during Mikasa's going to bed routine was Eren.

What the fuck was he doing? He was losing his mind.

He grabbed his towel from that morning's shower and sank down onto the floor, back against the door. Once down there he unzipped his jeans and fished his already half-hard cock out. He ran his hand over the head and shuddered at the sensation.

Really? Twice in as many days? What was he? 15 again?

He gave a few pulls, his left hand weak from having been out of commission.

It still felt good. What would Eren look like jerking himself off, thinking of Levi, a thin sheen of sweat over that tan skin? What did his dick look like? Was it big? Small? Average? Levi didn't give a fuck. He was obsessed with the man it was attached to.

He ran, like a film in his head, all of their recent interactions. He didn't just focus on the sexual things, the flex of Eren's muscles in his forearms, his plump round ass in his jeans, but just thought of all of the things; his laugh, his blinding smile, his fascinating turquoise eyes, his weird, naive questions.

It was strange, he just really liked being around Eren.

And he also wanted to fuck him.

He groaned quietly at that thought and let his hand move faster.