CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

The girl, of course, was the first to run out of the door when their car pulled around the mansion's fountain. Levi watched as she simultaneously yelled at Eren and pulled him into a bear hug, pushing out the last of his breath.

The blonde and the maid kept standing in the door frame, looking worried and two feet behind them, Levi saw Mr. Yeager, his frown deep. He briefly wondered whether Eren's friends had known about his plans for tonight. He doubted it. The girl would've never let him go alone.

Levi made his way to the entrance and walked past all of them without any needless discussion. Well, he tried to. When he reached the staircase, Mr. Yeager called his name, making him turn around.

"I need to know the details about this… coincidence, Mr. Levi. I will see you in your room in about an hour."

Levi ignored the feeling of being talked to like a child for the sake of a shower promised at the end of the upper floor. That alleyway dude's saliva was still sticking to his dick and the thought of it sickened him. So, priorities first. Also, he didn't need to hear the talk to Mr. Yaeger was surely about to give to his runaway of a son.

He would've preferred getting over it the moment he walked up to his dad. He hoped he would've opted for a little more face-saving speech with everyone else being around. But much to his disappointment, Grisha merely had stood tall in front of him, his stern look boring down on him and saying he'd see him in an hour.

After he went upstairs and put Mikasa and Armin off to the next morning, faking exhaustion, he waited in his room for the floor to get quiet again. His body was still on fire, his mind racing. There was no way, he was going to sleep tonight. Not when all he wanted was to be somewhere else. With somebody else. Funny how fast sleepless night became a regular since Levi moved into this house. But there were so many more questions popping up in his head since he and Levi had left the apartment. And Levi being this open and talkative like tonight was such a rare opportunity he just had to use until it'd ebb away again.

Half an hour later he sneaked out on the floor, down to the next room. There was still light coming from under the thin gap between door and rug. He went inside only to find it empty. But the steam coming from the bathroom indicated him where he needed to go.

Just as he was about to pull the handle down, Levi's voice echoed from the other side of the door. "Don't get any ideas, Eren."

He didn't sound the least bit surprised about his intrusion. Fine then…

"I was hoping I could stay the night again."

There was a bit of a pause before Levi finally answered. "Suit yourself."

Eren turned and sat down on the chair by the window. The first beams of sunlight would crawl from over the horizon in about two hours, and with the assembling layers of thick clouds hanging from the sky, the night become darker by the minute.

He still had a hard time processing the events of the last few hours. He kind of expected Levi jumping out of the bath at any moment, telling him everything's been a joke and how stupid he was to believe a single word. On the other hand, he'd come more than once to the conclusion that Levi had no reason for lying to him.

Eren knew he wasn't reacting the way he was supposed to be. Not when he found out about his own sexual preferences, not when his first time crush told him his job was running around, killing people. Not even now. He wondered how much of a mental damage those last months had really caused. Or if its roots went way back before he started marvelling about it.

But the simple truth was… things were as they were. There wasn't much he could do about it. Same went for the way he felt about those things. Levi was who he's been from the very beginning. If anything, all what he'd learned about the man only made him feel closer to him. More for him.

The only thing that really puzzled him was why Levi was so stubborn about using him for a blood donor. He didn't need to kill to satisfy his need, he said so himself. So Eren didn't see the harm. All that talk about him being too innocent and stuff? That was bullshit.

Well, maybe then what it takes is to show Levi how capable of handling this newly found situation he is.

He heard the water stop running.

Now that he thought about it, maybe part of doing so is to respect Levi's wishes and call it a night. He wasn't going to go anywhere else anytime soon, was he?

Before Eren got a chance to show Levi how mature he can be, a knock sounded from the door Eren wasn't paying attention to.

Without waiting for a response, his father entered the room, his eyes growing big at the sight of his son in the obviously wrong four walls.

Just when Levi emerged from the bathroom, Grisha stomped past him and up to Eren, grabbing him at his wrist, making him feel nothing like the adult he just decided to be and all like the child he still was to his father.

"How dare you to leave you room after everything you have done tonight? Like it isn't hard enough to deal with the situation your sister is in while I somehow have to keep my business up running from miles away!" Grisha shouted without any restrain. "Do you know what mess I have to walk through day after day these days!? And right now you pull a stunt like sneaking out at night, exactly that night your only safeguard has to go out? Do you know how lucky you are that he found you!? Do you have any idea in what situation you could be right know!?"

Grisha's fist clenched tighter around Eren's wrist with each word, to a point where Eren flinched from the pain. He tried to get himself free from his father's grip when Grisha started pulling him towards the door, but it only made things worse. "Stop it - ouch! Dad, that hurts!"

What happened next was too fast for him to track.

His father was suddenly just... gone. One minute he was pulling at him and he was fighting against it, and the next Levi had him flattened face first against the wall.

Levi's voice was a nasty drawl. "I don't care if you're his father. You don't handle him like that. Ever." He pushed his forearm into the back of Grisha's neck to emphasize the point.

'Levi, let him—"

"We clear?" Levi growled over his words. When his father gasped and nodded, Levi released him and walked over to the bed, calmly tightening the waistband of this bathrobe. As if he hadn't just manhandled his own client.

Meanwhile, Grisha stumbled and caught himself on the edge of the bed, his eyes crazed as he rearranged his glasses and glared at his son. "I want you to leave this room. Now."

"He stays", Levi said without caring to take another look at Grisha. "It is late, so I will fill you in on the details in the morning. No need to do it now in the middle of the night."

Eren watched his father's gaze ping-ponging between him and the raven. Without another word he regained his composure and headed for the exit. But Eren didn't miss the expression on his face. He just couldn't make out whether it was disappointment or hurt. Probably both.

It made him realize that he really wasn't the adult to wanted to be. At the very least with every single one of his latest actions he proofed that he wasn't acting like one.

After the door closed neither him nor Levi left their spots for some moments. Eren felt bad for putting his dad through this. Sure, it was kind of his fault for locking him up in here but… the reason for Levi's presence did all too easily slip his mind because he didn't take it seriously. Still didn't to be honest. But that didn't change the fact that those threats were very real for his father. Real enough to let a complete stranger into their home. In his mother's room no less.

Levi seemed to wait for Eren's next move, so Eren tried thinking about what grown-up would do in this moment. "I shouldn't have come here. I- I should probably-" he was cut off by a rather weighty sigh from the other man.

"Damage's done, kid. You might as well stay." Eren tried not to be offended by the nickname.

"I continue causing trouble for others. What if he makes you leave after that?"

Levi finally moved and went for one of the drawers, pulling out a set of pyjamas. "First, what I did was my decision, not yours. And second, I don't think he's going to. There aren't many people who can replace me and your father is very aware of that. We shouldn't take advantage of that too much, though."

Eren couldn't help to smile a little at that. We, he said.

Levi mentioned for Eren to get into bed. While he obeyed, getting rid of his shirt and pants, Levi went to the other side and killed the last remaining lights. In the midst of the darkness he watched Levi's silhouette slipping off the bathrobe and putting on his pj's. He slid under the blankets, his back to Eren and went silent.

Lying on his back, Eren was unsure whether he should try to sneak a little closer to him. He knew this was quite a night for Levi as well, but he really needed some comfort right now. Just when he decided to let it go for tonight, Levi turned around, threw an arm around his waist and pulled him close to him, with ease, so Eren's back was pressed against the raven's chest. He could feel the other's heartbeat against his spine and the warmth emitting from his body. The moist breath mingling in the little hairs in the back of his neck. It didn't take long for him to succumb to that much needed sleep.

The next day came earlier than Eren would've wished for. He wasn't looking forward to it, knowing, the conversation with his father had only been postponed.

When he woke up, Levi was already gone. Eren tried to decide what to do next. He didn't know when Levi would be coming back, but in any case a shower seemed to be a good way to start. He stood up and bowed to the ground to gather his things. One sock was missing, so Eren went on all four to look under the bed. He did find his sock, but even more than that. On the opposite side under the mattress he saw what looked like rifle. A Mossberg Blaze-47 22 Rifle if his gaming knowledge was somewhat reliable. That thing was anything but small.

He had become more comfortable around weapons since Levi started teaching him how to handle them. Especially since he seemed to have a bit of a talent for them. But knowing that thing's been around him, probably from the very beginning, and probably not being the only one… he couldn't say he liked that thought.

Nevertheless, he wasn't going to do anything about it without talking to Levi first. He grabbed his sock and pushed everything down the laundry chute. Slipped out of his boxers and stepped under the shower. The hot water was very welcoming. Thinking about what he was going to do today, he started soaping his hair. If he recalled correctly, it must've been friday, so there weren't any classes scheduled. He'd be late for them anyway since he didn't bother to set up an alarm. Maybe he should convince Levi to give him another lesson. There was a high possibility his dad was going to axe them as a punishment, so it might be one of the last for a long time. If not for ever.

At the end of the day, Eren found himself in the exact same position he had started the day. Under Levi's shower, soaping his hair. Time flew by like nothing. After Levi hadn't come back for quite a while, Eren changed into his own room, where Mikasa and Armin have already waited for him. Of course, they wanted to know what happened the night before. He reduced the true story to him following Levi, catching him with some stranger again like the first night, they went out together and walked into him by accident. Everything other than that he kept to himself, as much as it pained him to lie to his friends. He'd still made one hefty mistakes as he did realise then. When Mikasa became furious from out of nowhere, Eren remembered that he hadn't told her this one little detail about their collective sneak-out. It took everything he and Armin had to stop her from running straight to Levi, doing whatever her hellish expression promised for him. Their assembly was about to be broken up anyway, when his father came into his room, asking Mika and Armin to leave.

Eren sent Armin a silent plea to watch his sister in his stead, who just gave him a thumb up.

The next whole hour contained some very serious scolding that made Eren feel really bad about his latest actions. He knew his father had every right to be mad and he just was glad that his father refrained from any physical outburst like he'd witnessed last night.

And just as he predicted, he was prohibited from taking any more of Levi's classes, and on top of it, from using his studio as well. Which sucked. Really sucked. But at least this time he was too smart to argue with him. He was glad his father didn't know this actually hadn't been the first time.

But that did leave him with nothing much to do for the next few days. Eren went looking for Levi after that and found him with his back towards him down in the basement, working out. Mikasa had been there as well. But Eren didn't feel like disturbing the two of them. So instead he headed for the kitchen, determined to try some other recipes from his grandma's book. He spent the day slaving away between pots and pans, failing again and again on one specific spicy sauce for the turkey he was preparing. Maria was out of her mind when he found him with the bird in hand in what was looking like a kitchen war zone, flour dust and stains as far as the eye could see. When she realized that he wasn't backing off, she resigned to at least giving him a hand. She even managed to rescue his fourth attempt on the turkey sauce in the end.

When they were finally done with everything, it was time for dinner. Everyone gathered at Maria's call, even Levi did. Everyone except for his father. Normally it wouldn't have been that out of the ordinary, but Eren knew it was because of him. He decided to prepare a plate for his father and sat it down in front of his study room.

When Eren went back to dine with everybody else he noticed the black eye Levi sported. He was about to get all worked up about it, trying to get some info about where he got it from, but all Levi did was throwing him one look that told him to calm the fuck down. He clearly didn't want to talk about it at the dinner table. And since nobody else was making any kind of deal of it, Eren didn't take long to figure out that his sister might had something to do with it. He didn't appreciate it, but he didn't want the food he prepared the entire day to get cold. So, everybody started eating and after a few more moments Armin broke the silence by starting mild chatter about some news from his grandfather. bit after bit, all of them joined the conversation and it actually became a nice supper. Although Levi was the one who took place in it the least, Eren couldn't help but steal a glance at him from time to time. He seemed… content. As if he actually enjoyed himself being around everybody. Eren would've missed the ever so slightly tug from the man's left corner of his mouth if he'd known him any less.

It was fascinating how fast everything got back to normal again. Levi had sneaked out from Erens firm embrace this morning to talk to Mr. Yeager, clearing up everything from last night. Well, not really since he was going to lie about most of it anyway. But he had to make up some believable story. When he was done he wondered what kind of bond between Mr. Yeager and Erwin there really had to be for the man not to mention their rather unpleasurable encounter from last night. But hey, if he wasn't going to bring it up, he sure wouldn't either. When he returned to his room, Eren had still been fast asleep, so Levi decided to go down in the gym. At some time, the girl joined him, the blond boy hanging from her arm like some rag flipping in the wind, completely unable to stop the bull from hitting its target. Levi didn't move at all although he knew what was coming. He was going to give her that one. And her punch hit him worse than many of some way bigger man had, but that was okay. It didn't break any bones but it still hurt as fuck. He was lucky that her brother cared so much about him, was all she said before joining him, working out at the other side of the gym. The blonde left after asking whether he was okay and if he could bring him anything.

He had to admit, he was getting quite fond of them. They were good kids.

When he was done, he went back upstairs into his room. And since Eren hadn't been there, he took the opportunity to give it a good scrub down. Must've been almost three days since he did so the last time. When Maria finally called and Eren still hadn't shown up, he figured he'd be at the dinner table.

Now that they were back in his room and Eren was standing under his shower, washing off all of the flour that somehow got into his hair, Levi sat on his bed thinking about what movie he could show the brat to get some sense of good cinema into him. Andy Dufresne escaping in one of the most incredible ways the world had ever seen would be a good starting point, for example. In case, he hadn't seen it already. Pretty much anything from good ol' Tarantino would also work. Eren reemerged clothed in the new bathrobe, Levi hung out earlier.

"Hey kid. Ever heard of The Shawshank Redemption?"

"Not really. Should I?"

"You definitely should. Wanna watch it?"

"Okay."

Eren joined him on the bed, wasting no time with snuggling against his side while he pushed a few button to get to the TV's online streaming service.

"So, Mika actually hit you?" he asked with some amusement at the tip of his tongue.

"I figured she'd have a reason, the way she walked right up to me. What did you tell her anyways?"

"I told her I saw you with somebody else."

"That explains it. Anything else?"

"Nope. That's all."

Levi couldn't help the little relief he felt. He wasn't expecting Eren to blurt out what actually came to light that night, but to hear him confirm him, eased his mind.

They watched kept watching the movie up to where Andy asked for a crate of beer for his fellow inmates from the most strict guards Shawshank had ever seen and succeeded.

"Levi?"

"Hn."

"How often do you… what do you call it? Feed? Drink?"

Yeah, there hadn't really been a way around any further questions. He did last longer than he would've given the kid credit for.

"Depends on the circumstances. Normally, about two to three months. Injuries and stuff shorten these periods, but there are also ways to prolong them. Although they just recently started to work."

"What do you mean?" Eren asked, turning his head to him. Shit, that wasn't a subject he wanted to talk about. Not right now, when things went normal for a change of pace.

"There are ways to get your hands on blood without drinking directly from a vein. Unfortunately, as I told you, that's only part of it. To some extent I can take care of the other one myself, but it doesn't satisfy the urge the way the real deal does."

The questioning look didn't leave those damn huge green eyes, so he figured it would be easier to show him. He left Eren's side to pull open the dresser's lowest drawer. He took one of the blood bags and returned to the brunettes side.

He didn't like the idea of Eren actually touching it but he already had put out his arms for him to hand it over. He turned the bag in his palms, eyeing it. Levi tried to find any kind of disgust in the other's expression, but all he saw was curiosity.

"So, you… you drink this while…." Levi wasn't surprised when he didn't finish that thought verbally. It sounded sick as fuck, he knew so himself. Then again, killing your prey while fucking it was hardly any better.

He waited for Eren to say anything, but he just kept eyeing the bag in his hands. Then finally: "I think I have to confess something to you."

Oh, those words never worked as starters for a mild and pleasant little chat.

Eren visibly hesitated, what only sealed the deal on Levi's foreshadowing.

"The first time you went out… around Mika's birthday… well, last night actually wasn't the first time I sneaked out. We did so that night as well, all of us, Mika and Armin as well. And I… I saw you with that woman."

Eren didn't look him in the eye, and Levi wasn't sure why the kid was so anxious about what he was telling him. All he could think of was that he seriously had to upgrade the mansion's security system. And by that he meant giving the staff a serious briefing. If they lack the ability to comprehend the importance of not letting anything from within compromise the security walls, they won't be able to efficiently guard them from anything coming in, either. They had to learn that or Mr. Yeager had to replace them. Simple as that.

It took him another moment to realize something else.

He remembered thinking of the kid that night. Thinking he'd smelled his scent. How it drove him over the edge that time. So his mind wasn't playing tricks on him back then. He started to feel annoyed with himself. He should've known better than to question his senses. Still…

"Why are you telling me this?"

Eren fidgeted with his fingers. "Well…"

And then it hit Levi. That was the night before Eren started acting weird around him.

So, it was watching him in action what started their whole… situation. Levi wasn't sure what to make of it. "I thought it'd be only fair to let you in on this since I... know about you", Eren added.

Levi took the bag from his hand and tucked it back into the dresser. When he turned around, Eren still looked as if he just confessed a great crime. Which was kind of adorable.

"Don't sweat it, Eren. Although I now know why you thought I swing both ways." A hunch, my ass. Levi returned to the bed, sitting down beside him and fixating on the TV again. That went smoother than he'd expected.

"Levi?"

He almost had to laugh at himself.

"You said, you only do this with people who deserve… it. What- what did they do?"

Oh damn, he almost dodged the bullet. Almost.

"You really want to know?" Eren nodded.

"He's been a target from Erwin's list for a long time. Just not a very important one. I however recognized his face when I run into him by accident." Okay, that didn't really answered the kid's question. "He killed the son of one of Erwin's clients after kidnapping him to blackmail extort some money. Probably because of his H addiction. A poor swine, but a swine nonetheless. After he got the money, he got scared and slit the kid's throat."

He smelled disgust coming from the brunette and hoped it wasn't directed at him. "And the woman?"

Levi briefly wondered whether Eren had seen him switching out her lights as well, but then the answer was rather obvious. He would've acted different from how did if that would've been the case. "I watched her selling a girl who was with her to a bunch of guys at the club. She watched them… raping her, cheering them on."

This time, Levi knew Eren's anger was directed at him. "You watched her? Why didn't you stop them?"

The stinging pesticide-like scent hit him hard. "Eren. They were eleven men. There's only so much I can do without causing an uproar in a crowded place like that. Interfering with them would've jeopardise my reason to be there in the first place." But that didn't change the way Eren was looking at him right now. "I know you don't like to hear this, but that's how it works. If I'd throw a fit every time I see somebody do something horrible, I'd be dead by now for a long time. Sometimes you have to let bad things happen to stop even worse things from happening." Which in this case meant sacrificing a young woman to make sure he wasn't turning into a lethal threat for his surroundings himself. He didn't had the time to wait for them to break up their group and kill them one by one either. "I told you, I'm not the superhero you want me to be." He refrained from telling Eren, he made sure the girl was alive and home safe after they were finished with her. It didn't change the weight of his wrongdoing.

He saw that Eren didn't consent with what he was telling him. But he somehow seemed to understand his point.

Levi waited for him to make the next move. He would've understood if Eren didn't want to share a bed with him after that nice little piece of information. But the kid didn't move. Didn't say a word either. His eyes darted to the TV and stayed there. Although Levi doubted his mind was actually focused on the plot.

It took a full thirty minutes for Eren to speak up again. "You know… it kind of is a far too nice way to put such people to an end, don't you think? Getting fucked by you as a parting gift."

Levi could only stare at the boy next to him. For the first time since he could remember he was at an utter loss of words. Like, completely. He watched Eren looking at the TV, this time actually following the story, as far as Levi could tell.

He didn't know if it was an attempt of changing the subject, but Levi welcomed it either way. The tension seemed to fade away after that. Eren lowered back down onto the mattress, lying with his elbow and fist supporting his head. Levi took it for a sign to get comfortable as well, so he leaned against the headboard, swinging his legs on top of the bed.

"If I'd ask you to promise me to kill those bastards the next time a situation like this appears… would you do it?"

Levi gave that some thought. Some serious thought.

"I would", he answered in all honesty.

Eren didn't turn away from looking at the TV.

"Good."