Eren awoke alone in the bed, the morning sun in his eyes, and fumbled his clothes on. He thumped down the stairs sleepily, not used to getting up before mid-morning. The cool air in the apartment was redolent of the smell of pancakes, apparently a Saturday morning treat. Eren inhaled appreciatively.

He was mildly surprised to find Moblit doing the cooking. He manned the skillet with calm aplomb and Levi served. Hange and Mikasa sat at the table eating mounds of pancakes drenched in syrup.

"Eren!" Hange said, "Good morning, sleepy head!"

"Pamcakes, Eren!" Mikasa said, waving her fork.

"PaNcakes, 'Kasa," Levi murmured.

Eren pulled out a chair and was studying the syrup bottle while Levi stacked pancakes on a plate. "Where do you find all of this kosher food?"

"Jewish grocery on Canal," Hange said "It's a tiny hole-in-the-wall but the food is so good. They're right next to a Jewish bakery. God, bagels to die for!"

Levi set Eren's plate down and turned quickly back to the counter.

Eren frowned. Levi was acting weird. He could tell. He was barely talking and wouldn't look at him. What had happened? Was he embarrassed by the position he'd been in in the night, snuggling with him? How did he even know? When Eren woke later in the night, Levi was back on his side of the bed, facing the wall. Was it something else? Had Eren done something?

The snow plows finally came by and Hange and Moblit got ready to leave. They gathered up their stuff and Hange kissed Mikasa, Levi, and a startled Eren.

"How come you don't kiss Unca Moblit?" Mikasa suddenly asked.

"Well, I can!" Hange then kissed Moblit on the cheek with a resounding smack. He went cherry red.

Levi quickly turned Mikasa around and pushed her gently toward the table, "Why don't you go finish your puzzle now?"

He leaned close to Moblit. "Sorry about that."

Moblit waved him off good-naturedly, still blushing.

After Moblit and Hange left Eren had no excuse for staying. Levi was still acting odd and the whole atmosphere was awkward.

"I guess I'll go too," Eren said reluctantly.

Levi, who was washing dishes, nodded.

"Bye, Eren!" Mikasa said. Her innocent failure to read the situation somehow just punctuated the weird vibe and Eren slowly put on his coat and boots.

"Thank you for letting me stay."

Levi spoke from the kitchen without turning around. "Well, I couldn't have sent you out into that storm." He turned and looked at Eren for the first time. "'Kasa would have been very angry with me if something had happened to you."

For one glorious moment Eren remembered Levi kissing him behind the ice cream truck and he wanted so badly to cross the living room and kiss the man again. He loved Levi so much and loved Mikasa too. He wanted to be a part of their lives all the time and his heart ached that he wasn't.

"Well … bye."

Levi had turned away and stood at the sink with his shoulders drawn up.

Eren slipped out the door.

Eren entered his apartment in a deep funk. He shed his coat and boots and walked over to the couch where he slumped. Armin, in the chair, looked up at him.

Jean walked out of the kitchen, afternoon beer in hand. "What's up with you, dude?"

"Nuthin'"

"Seems like something to me," Jean said, flopping down on the couch next to him.

"Yeah," Armin said, "you've been moping around for days."

"Is it Levi?" Jean asked.

Eren scowled. "Why would it be about Levi?"

"You spend a lot of your time over there," Armin said gently.

"Well, we're friends. I don't ignore you guys."

Jean snorted.

"What Jean?" Eren snapped, "Just spit it out."

"Eren you spend all of your free time over there with him. Face it, dude, you're crazy about that guy!"

Eren blushed and played with a loose thread on the arm of the couch.

"I agree. You do care for him," Armin said.

Eren sighed, fighting with himself. Finally "Shit! I do." He carded his fingers through his already wild hair. "Guys, I think I ... I love him."

Neither one of Eren's friends seemed surprised.

"Have you told him?" Armin asked.

Eren remembered saying so when Levi was asleep. "No."

"Then do it dude," Jean said. "Say it. Tell him you adore everything about him and want to bone him for eternity."

"Jesus, Jean …"

"Well it's true isn't it?"

A FedEx package arrived that afternoon with five dozen assorted cookies from Carla and Eren impulsively decided he would take some of them over to Levi and Mikasa.

Levi blinked at him from his doorway. "I just can't seem to get rid of you, can I?"

"I brought cookies!"

Levi perked up a bit. "Yeah?"

"Yeah, since you didn't get any … y'know … before."

Levi sighed. "Come on in."

Eren was giving Mikasa a peanut butter cookie and Levi was putting the rest up (each different flavor in a different container) when Levi's phone rang. He picked it up. "Hey, Mobes, what's—" He went rigid and Eren looked up. "What? What?! Jesus, is she OK?! Oh, fuck, Mobe! Yeah … yeah … I'll be there." Levi hung up and stared into the middle distance.

"Papa? What's wrong?"

"Yeah, what's happened?" Eren asked anxiously.

Levi seemed to be struggling. "'Kasa, go play in your room, honey."

"That was Unca Moblit. Are you mad at Unca Moblit?" Mikasa appeared calm but even Eren could tell that she was getting upset.

Levi crouched down to her level. "I'm not mad. It's just Aunt Hange, sweetheart. She's … sick."

Mikasa twisted the end of her red scarf. "Is it her heart? Did it get tired?"

Levi and Eren exchanged a look. "No, love, nothing like that. She just had a little accident."

"Did she fall down?"

"Kind of. I need to go see her."

"Can I come?"

That seemed to take Levi aback. He glanced at Eren. "We'll see. Go to your room and play now."

Mikasa dutifully grabbed Tilly and went to her room.

"What's going on?" Eren whispered.

"There was an explosion in the lab. Mobes was out of the room. Hange was right in the blast."

"Oh, shit, Levi!"

"I need to go to the hospital. It's across town, though, and I don't want to take 'Kasa out this late and subject her to the hospital again. I don't want to scare her." He ran his fingers through his hair. "I have no idea what to do."

"Let me take care of her!"

Levi actually looked scared. "Wh-what? I can't just leave her with a stranger …"

"Levi," Eren said, "I'm not a stranger."

"Leaving 'Kasa with you would be like leaving two children together,"

"I'll call my mom and have her come down. We can even stay here at your place so 'Kasa isn't uprooted."

"Do you think she'd come down?"

"Absolutely. She'd get on the train right now if I asked her."

Levi looked uncertain, almost frantic. Eren laid a hand on his arm. "Levi, go. Take mom's Caddy. Take care of your … of our friend."

That convinced him. "Call your mom. Right now, while I'm getting my stuff. I want to be sure she's coming."

Eren tried to tamp down his disappointment that Levi didn't trust him. Logically he knew it was fitting. Mikasa was Levi's child, more precious than anything, and Eren hadn't handled the fake class baby very well.

He tapped the number on his phone. "Hello, mom?"

Levi finally left after giving Eren an exhaustive list of things to do, to look out for, and to be careful of. He kissed a phlegmatic Mikasa about six times and finally went out the door only when Eren literally pushed him.

Eren's mother had to wait for the next train and so wouldn't be there for another hour. Eren looked at Mikasa.

"So what do you wanna do?"

"Make pamcakes!"

Eren blinked.

"And watch Frozen!"

Levi hadn't said that he couldn't cook. True it was 7 o'clock at night and Mikasa had already had her dinner. Oh what the hell. "Pancakes and Frozen it is!"

"Yay! Can I help?"

"Of course!"

An hour later Carla Yeager was at the door and Mikasa, stuffed full of pancakes and Disney films, was sound asleep on the couch and Levi's kitchen was a wreck. Carla kissed her son briefly and went into Mommy Mode, picking up the sleeping child and heading upstairs to change her into her jammies and put her to bed.