…Pink Camellia...

/Warning/: This chapter contains, cursing, drama, sadness, times skips, near mental break down (Always), a little bit of fluff? And who knows what! All reviews are appreciated.

"Talking"

"Thinking"

….Dreams or flashbacks….

Chapter 11

She let out a sigh as she walked in the hospital hallways in deep thoughts, she hummed now and then nodding to her collogues every time they greet her when she passed them. She didn't stop and chat with them, for she had a goal in her mind, it had been three weeks since she saw the kid, the boy who turned her life upside down, literally. All she could do is taking a deep breath and continue her way to the labs… 'Kruger'… since when she last heard that name on someone else? Years, and years ago, that's the last time she heard it… the last time she saw 'Her'… just thinking about the boy being hers made Faye shiver, and tears gather in her eyes because it has been twenty-one years since she last saw her, twenty-one years, and a boy who looked like a well-mixed version of her and the one who broke her heart… the boy is twenty, and he told her that his mother died when he was ten… meaning that she died ten years ago… she died ten years ago, and only now Faye was informed… by her son nonetheless… her son that was as stubborn as her, refusing to have the surgery, just like her… but Faye won't allow that stupid boy to do that to himself, she will force him to do the surgery even if she had to drug him herself… she won't allow for 'Her' last legacy to die like this… not like this with the history repeating itself…

Faye took a deep breath and knocked on the lab's door and waited outside, waiting for anyone to come out, heart pounding in her chest as she leaned on the wall behind her looking at her white coat with a frown on her face. "Faye? What are you doing here?" The question made her raise her head to look at the person who spoke to her, a small smile taking over her face when she saw her friend looking at her with confusion.

"Colt…" She nodded her head in greeting, and then straightened herself, looking at the man's eyes. "I want a favor." She went straight to the point; she knew that she has Colt full attention on her because for one, she never asked anything out of anyone, the man paused but he nodded and opened the door, saying something to the people in the lab before he nodded to Faye, making the woman sigh and lead the man toward an abandoned room.

"What's it, Faye, did something happened?" Colt asked as soon as the door closed and Faye leaned on it, he could see it in her eyes, the pain and confusion and sadness, and it made the man's heart give a painful pang because he knows that Faye was nothing if not confident.

"Don't worry everything is alright." Faye said, and she probably thought if she repeated those words enough they will become true. "I just want a small favor from you. Can you do a DNA test?" She asked as she got two small vials out of her pocket, which made Colt frown and he took it from her, he raised his eyebrow when he saw a few strands of hair in every vial and he turns his eyes to the woman.

"You want me to do a parental test?" Colt asked as he took the vials, eyeing the brown strands of hair in each vial, if he didn't know any better he would have assumed that the owner of the hair are the same, at Faye nod he sighs and lowers the vials. "Faye, I need more than that, I need a swap from the inside of the cheek to do the parental testing, not this!" Colt said as he waves the vial which made Faye raise her eyebrow at him.

"We both know that you can do the test with less than one hair strand and that a swap or a hair won't matter to you." She said while looking at the man with a glare which made him looks at her while tilting his head a little, he then sighs and looked at the woman while scratching the back of his head.

"It's important to you isn't it?" Colt asked which made the woman nod her head, making him purse his lips at that and let out a tired sigh. "Give me a day and I will return with the results until then, don't do anything stupid." Colt said as his way of goodbye, while putting the vials in his coat's pockets and walked out of the room, leaving Faye alone.

The woman watched the man leave with a small smile on her face, knowing that she had won this battle if only he knew how hard it was to get the strands of hair from their rightful owners… though it always made Faye wonder if the reason that the young man knew he was related to the Yeager and that's why he always tense and watch Faye like a hawk…

She hoped she was doing the right thing…

Eren glared at Erwin hoping that the man will burn to ashes with the power of his glare alone, so after a month and a half of this farce, Eren was this close to slapping Erwin to his grave. Ever since the cake testing, Eren had kept a close eye on Levi, taking in all of his new mannerisms with a frown on his face, because since when did Levi lower his head when he was talking to someone, since when did he avoid eye connect, and since when did he become this… this docile?!

And to top it all, Eren knew that Levi was being abused by Erwin, but what makes him rage in nights was that he didn't have enough evidence, and Eren knew that even if he had enough evidence, to throw Erwin in jail, he knew that Levi will refuse to see what's taking a place right in front of him, it made Eren wonder since when did Levi turn a blind eye toward what's important in life… it made him blame himself because he knows damn well if he hasn't gone to MIT, this would have never happened.

"Why don't we choose the white dishes, Levi? They are beautiful." Erwin said, but Eren could hear the demand in his voice, and that made him hiss at the man through his teeth, he for once had seen how Levi's eyes had strayed to the royal blue dishes that have embroiders painted alone it's edged with white colors.

"White? What are you, ninety?" Eren asked in a snappish tone, which made Erwin give him a tight smile, which slipped when his eyes fell on Eren's glaring eyes. "If you want your guests to not sleep themselves in boredom than choose this…" Eren said as he put the royal blue dish in front of Erwin and Levi, and Eren could see how Erwin frown in distaste at the color.

"I'm deeply sorry Eren, but this… the color will miss up with the wedding theme we chose." Erwin said which made Eren raise his eyebrow at the blond, sending him a sharp look before turning his eyes to Levi who tensed when he became the center of the attention.

"What do you think Levi, the white shit Erwin chose or this?" Eren said, keeping an eye on Erwin and the younger man frown when he saw Erwin sending Levi a warning look, making the short raven fidget a little before sending an apologetic smile to Eren, but Eren didn't care about that, he only cared about finally having a prove, not a solid one but a prove.

"Sorry Eren, but I prefer the white ones." Levi said, but Eren didn't do anything other than huffing and rolling his eyes, ignoring the ache in his throat and heart, as he starts walking around the china shop, seeing what's going to catch his fancy next. God, how he hates it when Erwin came with them, the stuck up bastard was ruining the best day in Levi's life! Not only did he came to the flower arrangement and made a disaster out of it, by nearly screaming about only wanting white roses and white flowers only, but the fucker also came to the suit's fitting, telling Levi about how he should wear a white suit and that he will wear black, forcing Levi into the bride role, even when Levi laughed it off, Eren saw the sadness in his eyes… the only thing that he didn't understand is why Levi was still with that bastard?

After an hour, and another five times of Eren and Erwin butting heads, the three of them finally decided enough was enough and went home, by a home they meant the Ackermans' mansion as the Zoë and Levi's parents made dinner and invited Erwin's parents, something about the family getting to know one another.

So here Eren was, drinking his water while glaring at Erwin from across the table, God, how much he wanted to have a drink, but the doctor advised him not to, with how many bills Eren was taking to put a stop to the disease's progress, even if it was slow going, the same doctor who was acting like a zombie since three weeks ago, and nearly cry every time she saw him, which didn't raise his spirit about what the Hanahaki was doing with him, maybe he will really die and that's why she nearly sobs every time she saw him.

"… And I just wanted to thank you, Mr. Ackerman, for giving me your blessing to marry Levi." Eren snapped from his daze to look at Erwin who was looking at Kenny with a small bashful smile on his face, and Eren huffed into his glass, grumbling at slimy actors and bushy brows which made Hanji glance at him worriedly.

"The fuck you say brat?" Kenny's snappish voice made Eren turn to the man to see him stabbing his meat with a knife while looking at Erwin, and Eren took a twisted pleasure in the fear that passed through Erwin's eyes. "I wouldn't even entrust my shit to you, least of all my son, I don't understand what you see in that weasel Levi, but mark this, I will not give my blessing to this farce of a wedding!" Kenny hissed as he pushed his dish and stood up, grumbling all the way as he left the table going to his office, leaving everyone in awkward and tense silence.

"I really apologize for him; you know how it's running the company and all." Kuchel said while giving a nervous laugh, touching Levi's hand gently making the boy look at her with face flush with embarrassment, though Eren narrows his eyes when he saw a little fear in there. "I'm happy as long as you are happy, bébé." Kuchel said before standing up with a smile in her eyes. "So, who wants a dessert?" Kuchel asked with a false cheer in her voice making Eren sigh at that and slamming his glass of water before standing up and leaving the room, ignoring everyone's stares.

Fuck this shit, he was out...

"What you said there was harsh, Kenny." Kuchel said as she entered the office only getting a grunt from the owner of the office, as he hunches himself even farther while going through his paperwork.

"I don't care, and I won't give a fuck, the brat deserves it... 'Thank you for your blessing' he says, the fucker knows since the beginning that I will bury him with my own hands than bliss his caterpillar of eyebrows, just like his father… fuckers, all of them…" Kenny grumbled to himself which made Kuchel's lips twitch up into a smile as she shook her head and walked behind her husband to see what he was doing humming now and then as she hugged him from behind, smiling when she saw the framed pictures on her husband's desk, the first was a picture of Kenny and her she remembers that picture of their first anniversary, followed by a picture of Mikasa and Levi, the two of them were pulling each other's ears but were grinning happily at the camera… though it was the last picture that made her jaw fall a little and her eyes widen in realization because the last picture showed Eren and Levi, she didn't know when Kenny took that picture but it was breathtaking.

She can see in the picture that Eren and Levi sitting beside the bonfire, it was sunset behind painting the sky with orange, red, and yellow, but the main focus of the picture was those two because, in the picture, Eren was wearing an old a pair of jeans and blue button-up, while wearing a cowboy hat, she doesn't even know from where he brought it, and he was playing the harmonica, from farther inspection she saw that it was her husband's prized harmonica, but what took her breath away was Levi, her son was wearing the same clothes as Eren but with a green button-up instead, the smile on her son's face made tears gather in her eyes, because when was the last time she saw that smile? Two years? Four? Maybe it was after Eren left for America, her boy acted as life on earth was about to end as soon as Eren boarded the plane that was leaving Eldia.

"They look good together, don't they?" Kuchel asked which got her a grunt from Kenny who didn't raise his eyes to look at her, but she was sure she saw his gaze turn to the picture for a flitting second. "Is that the reason why you refuse for Levi to marry Erwin because you want him and Eren to be together?" Kuchel saw Kenny raise his head looking at her with a scowl, but she didn't pay attention to it she just raised her brow at her.

"No, I refuse his marriage with those bushy brows because I smell something fishy with him." Kenny drawls, which made Kuchel's lips, twitch up against her will. "Besides that caterpillar didn't even do anything to Levi, other than nearly drowning him in the past, give me one thing that he did for Levi to make my son happy?" Kenny said which made Kuchel look at Kenny with soft eyes then return her eyes to the picture on the desk.

"Tell me one thing that Eren did to Levi?" Kuchel asked with a smile on her face as she saw Kenny look at her like she was insane, personally, Kuchel agrees with Kenny wholeheartedly, Erwin had never done anything to make her son smile like how Eren was making him smile in the picture, and she always wonders how Levi and Erwin ended up together when she thought that her son was waiting for Eren to return from America so the two of them can be together.

"… He taught him how to stand for himself, how to fight and overcome his fear, he also gave him the chance to go after his passion and become an artist, exchanging himself for Levi by offering to go to business school instead of Levi, he becomes a brother to Mikasa and always cared about her, but the most important of all he loves Levi, even when he is forced to be his best man in that retched wedding, and even a blind person can see how in love Eren was like he would move the moon or some shit like that, I wonder how blind can Levi be when what he was looking for was in front of him, literally!" Kuchel snapped from her daze in the middle of Kenny's rumbling, and she had to stop himself from laughing when Kenny became overworked as he explained to her how Eren was the best choice for Levi.

"So what are you going to do, then? I know you won't allow Levi to marry Erwin, so what's the plan?" Kuchel asked with an excited smile, she couldn't wait for Levi and Eren to get married, she knows that Eren loves her son more than Erwin will ever do.

Kenny paused a little before a huge smile taking over his face making Kuchel's heart pound a little in her chest, she leaned on his shoulder to get a good look on his face making him turn to gaze straight into her eyes with a smile. "Have you ever thought about stealing a bride?" Kenny asked which made Kuchel's jaw fall a little, and then she starts laughing happily and hugged Kenny tightly.

This was going to be fun…

Eren waited in the doctor Yeager's room with an anxious look on his face, trying to hide his coughing as he took short breaths while trying to calm his racing heart, it all starts getting worst after the dinner with Erwin and their families. When he returned home everything was fine, he was fine, but then he starts feeling the shortage of his breath, how going up the stairs left him drained when before he felt sick he will run up the stairs with glee, then his heart starts hurting and then the panic attack took hold of him, and Eren became a shaky mess as he hides in his closet while closing the door on himself, nearly hacking a lung while trying to get a breath in him and lose the fucking flowers that made their home in his lungs.

So now here he was, in the hospital once again waiting for doctor 'Please call me Faye' Yeager who was always looking a second away from crying her eyes out every time she saw him, which always made Eren sit on the edge, but who was he kidding, life was hard. The door opened and Eren rose his brow at how frantic doctor Yeager looked when she entered the room and he wondered why she looked happy and relieved when she saw him.

"Are you OK? How are you feeling?" Faye asked frantically as she took a seat behind her desk which meant that it was Eren's turn to start talking and he did, he talked to the woman and told her in detail what happened last time, seeing her face pale at every word he said, when he was finished silence blanketed them making Eren fell a little tense. "You need to have the surgery Eren!" Faye's exclaimed made the young man jump and look at the woman nearly snapped at her but the tears in her eyes stopped him. "You… how did you even go from stage three to two in only a month and a half? It takes years for that not months… Eren you need to do the surgery, please." Faye pleas which made Eren open his mouth and close it before his eyes harden.

"You know who I am don't you?" Eren asked which made the woman sniff a little and nodded her head a little which made Eren curse and stand up. "Look, Ma'am, just because you are my biological father's woman, it doesn't mean you have any right to control me, tell that fucker if I ever saw his face again I will kill him!" Eren snapped as he stood up, but dizziness took hold of him and he fell on his chair cursing once more as he starts massaging his forehead.

"I'm not that murderer's woman, I'm his sister." Faye said in a small voice which made Eren take a deep breath and lean on his chair hoping the black spots will vanish from his vision, taking a shuddered breath he opened his eyes to see an inhaler in the doctor's hand. "Stage two patients always use inhalers, considering that the flower's roots will plant themselves deep into the lungs by then, which makes breathing hard especially when there is not enough oxygen in the blood." The Doctor said which made Eren snatch the inhaler out of her hand taking two puffs of air and relaxing a little when he felt his irritate lungs open up a little.

"You are his sister… but that doesn't change anything... you still left my mother for death." Eren said as he sniffed a little looking at the inhaler in his hand then at Faye who looked crushed, the woman came toward him and took the chair beside him, making Eren let out a tired sigh.

"Your mother and I… the two of us were best friends… the troublesome due they always called us." Faye said which made Eren turn his face to gaze at the woman who got out a small oval-shaped locket and opened it, giving it to Eren, the young man didn't know what to do other than taking it from her hand, and he let out a choked gasp when he saw his mother's face and engraved on the other side of the locket was 'BBF! The troublesome due forever!' Eren choked on his tears as he gazed at his mother's young face, he didn't have any pictures of her, they were too poor for luxuries such as that, and it was so long since he saw his mother's face, ten years…

"What… what happened?" Eren let out a hitched breath, looking at Faye who had tears running down her face, and Eren had to wonder, if she was doing that to gain his sympathy or if she was really sorry. Eren let out a shuddering breath as his eyes returned to his mother's picture.

"Grisha happened." Faye spat the words with so much venom that it made Eren shiver. "Everything was fine until that fucker showed himself, it was summer with him returning from college, he was in his third year… me and Carla were fifteen…" It was the first time that Eren heard his mother's name being uttered outside of his head, and he raised his head to look at Faye. "Carla thought he was cool… and who wouldn't, I mean he was charming and he gave her his attention, always there when she needed someone, especially since her father was in the hospital… she said she loved him… so one day I left to find my brother, to give him my blessing, after all, Carla told me he was talking about asking her to marry him… God, she was so happy." Faye sniffed at that looking at her hands that she curled into tight fists

"But he was already engaged to another, wasn't he?" Eren asked causing Faye to nod her head at that and that made Eren's breath rushed out of him. "What did she do?" Eren asked as he leaned on his chair to look at the woman, watching how her face fell as she starts with the next part of her story.

"She was shocked and broken… tried to reason with him, told him that she loved him, that the two of them were going to be parents… Grisha flipped, said that he never loved her, that he was only using her, and that she should get rid of the child…" Faye was cut by a sob as she tried to dry her tears; she sniffed and took a deep breath trying to calm herself down. "Told Carla that everything was going to be alright, that I will stay with her… it all went to hell when Grisha start spreading rumors that Carla was sleeping around with every guy in her school and that she came on to him… it gets so much worse… I and a friend of ours, the three of us decided to leave, our friend told us that she has a family in France that could take us in until we get on our feet… if only your grandpa was there… he would have put an end to this farce a long time ago." Faye said which made Eren lean on his chair and gaze at the ceiling with a distant look on his face.

"But my grandparents throw my mother out; they didn't want her unless she got rid of me." Eren's voice cracked as he said that, and it caused Faye's face to fall but she shook her head chanting the word 'No' as she took a hold of his hand and made him look at her straight in the eye.

"God, no Eren, your grandfather loved you, he searched for you all this time, he still is, trying to find you and Carla." Faye said, making Eren's tears run faster at that. "Your grandfather was in a coma when she met your father… he was in a car accident, a drunk driver hit him… his wife, Carla's stepmother, always hated Carla, and she took this as her chance, kicking Carla out of the house, your grandfather woke up a year after Carla left, he divorces his wife and sued her, spent the next twenty-plus years searching for the two of you… your mother loved him so much, knew that if he knew about what took a place he would have stood up to her… she loved him, because if she didn't, then she wouldn't have named her only child after him… Eren Kruger." That made a sob leave Eren as he clutched the locket in his hand tightly, shaking as the woman's words.

"Then why did my mother left? You said that you and your friend were planning to take my mother to France and live there, then why didn't you do it? why did my mother end up living in the worst part in Shiganshina trying to support me, working herself to death, why?!" Eren's voice cracked as he nearly screamed those words, but Faye's gentle hands bringing him to a hug stilled him.

"Hanahaki…" That made Eren takes a shuddered breath and leans in Faye's embrace. "One day she starts coughing flowers, God, I was so scared, at that time there was no cure and no surgery like today… and Grisha that bastard had to threaten Carla that he will pull the plug and let her father die if she didn't disappear from his life… her father was in here, Saint Sina the family-owned hospital… I screamed at him, threatened to kill him… I screamed at my parents hoping that they will open their eyes and see his lies… one day Carla was still home, the next she was gone." Faye took a deep shuddering breath as she continued the next part of her story. "When Mr. Kruger woke up, I told him everything, and then I moved with him in his house, that caused my parents to snap and scream at me, threatening to disown me, told them to do it, because I will if they didn't, that I want no part in a family that let an innocent girl be punished, that they were monsters because they throw their grandson away… my father came around in the end, tried to help Kruger find his daughter and his grandson hoping to do the right thing… but my mother, she was the dominating one in the relationship, her word was a law, and unfortunately, Grisha was her favorite." Faye finished making Eren let out a sigh as he pulled himself away from her embrace and dried his tears.

"And after that, you entered Medic school and specialize in Hanahaki." Eren finished for her making her nod her head and look at her hands. "You loved my mother… you loved her like she loved your brother, like how I love the person causing me this disease." Eren asked gently which made a sob leave Faye.

"I told her I will be there… that the two can raise you together… that we can live in France and start a new life, told her that it didn't matter if she didn't love me like that… that we just have to stay together!" Faye choked on her sobs, which made Eren let out a shuddered to breathe and put his arm around the woman, letting her cry her heart out…

Letting her grieve her lost love…

So what do you think?

Oh! A lot of secrets are out of the closet!

And Grisha is an asshole like always, not something new.

And we got to know about Carla's hidden life before Eren!

Sorry for the late update.

Read and Review

And tell me what you think…

Nazaki-Sama