He was running.

He couldn't remember where he was going, but recognized his surroundings. Everything was familiar in a way only habit could bring.

He was vaguely aware that there was chaos around him. He could hear someone scream.

He wasn't alone. Someone was running behind him, calling his name. But his single-minded goal lived in all the space beneath his lungs. It didn't leave any room in his head. He couldn't answer, or stop and wait to ask what they wanted. It was becoming hard to breathe.

More screaming. It was a horrifying sound, a deafening, deformed sound of grief and pain. Something that should never come out of anyone's mouth. But he was so focused on running he barely registered it. He needed to go, to be somewhere. He was running so fast it almost felt like flying, but dread was weighing his calves. He could feel every single step he took hit the ground like a hammer on stone. It seemed like the earth beneath his feet was vibrating.

He'd be there soon. It was just around the corner. He ran faster.

The person behind him wouldn't shut up, but he wasn't listening. He was almost there. Faster, faster. He couldn't feel the ground under his feet anymore.

They were still calling his name as he turned the corner.

He reached forward into the void.

Eren woke up to the sound of his phone vibrating. He moaned into his pillow, and covered his head with his blanket.

He hoped to doze off, but the remnants of his dream were surfacing with increasing clarity in his mind. He groaned again. After such a vivid dream, there was no way he could sleep.

The phone was still going.

He pushed the covers away and fumbled for the offending piece of junk. Who the fuck was even calling him at this hour of the night? He looked at the digits on the screen for a moment before realizing that it was an unknown number. A glance to his notification bar informed him that it was a little past two in the morning.

"What the hell?" he said, voice thick with sleep.

He sat up and stared at the screen. Whoever was calling wasn't giving up. Maybe it was important. He answered the call with a brush of his thumb.

"Yes," he said, sounding angrier than he felt.

But only silence was there to greet him.

"Hello?" he repeated.

He could pick up the sound of breathing at the other end of the line, now that he was listening carefully. Breathing that was regular, near silent. He wouldn't even hear it if it wasn't for the quiet of the night. It was creepy.

He was about to speak again, to ask if this was a joke, when he could hear the sound changing. The other person was inhaling deeply, as if preparing to say something, but after keeping their breath for a moment, they only exhaled a slow, shaky sigh. As if they'd changed their mind, or they couldn't find words for what they wanted to say.

"Who's this?" Eren tried. "Is this a joke?"

He had no idea who this could be, but they were doing it again – breathing like they were going to speak, but remaining silent after all.

Eren's perplexity at the caller's behavior was slowly turning into worry.

"Is everything all right? Can you talk?"

He realized right after asking that it was a stupid question. If they couldn't talk, there was no way they could tell him.

After a while sitting there with his phone against his cheek, soft breathing in his ear, Eren decided that it had already lasted too long. He was tired and he'd had enough.

"Look, whoever you are," he said with irritation, "it's the middle of the night. If you have something to tell me, then go ahead, but if you don't speak now, I'm hanging up."

The breathing on the other end of the line hitched, and after that, he couldn't hear anything anymore.

"Hello?"

There was a grating beep in his ear. He leaned back and looked at his screen. The call had ended without the other end saying a word.

Frustration filled Eren. It was only two in the morning. He could sleep and leave it at that. Forget about the stupid phone call. But he suddenly felt very much awake, and did the first thing that came to his mind.

He tapped the call back button.

For a spur of the moment reaction, it wasn't the worst he could do. The unknown caller hadn't had time to block Eren's number, change their voicemail greeting or disable it. If he was lucky and they hadn't left the default message there, he would at least be able to learn their name.

If he was luckier, the asshole would answer and tell Eren himself.

The phone rang for a long time. Just as Eren was sure that he would be sent to voicemail, the person at the end of the line accepted the call.

Once again, Eren was met with silence. But this time, he didn't say anything, waiting instead for the caller to go first. They were taking their sweet time, and he could feel his eyelid shut on their own, his earlier burst of energy already exhausted.

He almost jumped when the elusive caller finally spoke.

"Okay."

A man's voice – whom he didn't recognize. Yet there was something familiar about it.

"Okay?" Eren repeated stupidly.

"Yes," the voice replied, whisper soft in Eren's ear. "Okay."

"Huh." Eren felt utterly lost. "Who is this?"

There was a pause on the other end.

"I'm sorry for bothering you at this hour," the voice said.

Eren was starting to feel concerned again, rather than angry.

"...Okay?"

He had no idea what that guy was on about. But for some reason, he had the feeling that he should tread lightly.

There was another pause, one that seemed to last longer than Eren knew it was.

"Levi," the voice said. "We had dinner together a couple weeks ago. You gave me your number."

It took another moment to Eren to process that Levi was finally answering his question. He remembered, of course. He'd wanted Levi to call, though he hadn't dared hope because Levi had made it clear that he never intended to.

"You said –" Eren started, but stopped, unwilling to point the lack of coherence in Levi's words and actions and risk a change of mind on his part. "Why are you calling at two in the morning? Is everything all right?"

He was definitely worried, now. The reveal of his mysterious caller's identity had quickly replaced any of his remaining anger with more confusion and concern.

"I'm fine," Levi said. "I couldn't sleep, and I thought I'd see if you were awake."

He made it sound like he'd only called because he was bored or something. Eren didn't buy it. Even though he barely knew Levi, he also knew that you didn't have that kind of quiet little freak out when you were just checking whether someone was awake out of boredom.

But Eren didn't say anything. He'd thought he'd never hear from Levi ever again, and he was glad that he'd called. Even if he was being weird as fuck. He didn't want to scare him off.

"Well, here I am," Eren said, stifling a yawn.

A pause.

"I woke you up," Levi said.

It wasn't a question.

"Yeah," Eren said. "It's fine."

Levi was silent for a moment.

"I should probably let you sleep."

He sounded like he regretted calling.

"No, really," Eren said, "it's fine. I don't even have classes in the morning."

Levi didn't answer, making a noncommittal sound instead.

There was another lull in the conversation, and Eren wondered what Levi was thinking. From what he'd seen when they'd last met, it was hard to make him talk, but possible with careful probing.

"Well," he said, "how are you?"

He could hear a soft chuckle on the other end.

"I'm an insomniac. What do you think?"

"Fair enough," Eren said. "I can relate."

Levi seemed to ponder this for a moment that stretched between them.

"You can?" he said.

Eren shrugged by reflex, though Levi couldn't see him.

"I sometimes wake up after sleeping for a few hours, feeling antsy as fuck. As you can guess, it makes it hard to fall asleep again."

Another pause.

"I have trouble falling asleep," Levi said.

Eren hummed softly.

"How do you deal with insomnia? Aside, you know, from robbing people from their well-deserved sleep?"

Levi made an irritated noise, but Eren thought he sounded amused.

"I read. I clean."

"Clean?" Eren asked, a little bemused. "Like what?"

"Like chores," Levi said.

The idea of Levi, spring cleaning in the middle of the night, was so incongruous that Eren couldn't keep from smiling like a goof.

"At two in the morning?" he asked, knowing Levi would hear it in his voice. "Don't your neighbors get pissed off when you vacuum in the middle of the night?"

It was so silly he couldn't contain the snicker making its way to his voice anymore.

"I keep the noisy stuff for daylight."

"I guess that works," Eren said. "Some days, when I feel so restless that I'm going to break something, I go for a run."

"In the middle of the night?"

Levi's voice definitely sounded amused now. He'd never seen Levi smile, and despite the fact they barely knew each other, he couldn't picture him doing it. All he could come up with was a downturned mouth, a frown, and steely eyes. Maybe a slight twitch at the corner of his lips. Nothing more.

Eren lay down and closed his eyes.

"Yeah."

They remained silent for a bit, but it wasn't awkward or uncomfortable. Eren heard some shuffling on Levi's end, and imagined that he was lying down as well.

"You know," Levi said after a while, "you asked me so many questions the other day, but I never got to do the same."

Something about Levi's words made Eren's chest warm up.

"Yeah? Be my guest."

There was more shuffling, then silence.

"Your folks," Levi said. "What are they like?"

Eren snorted.

"It's just my mom and me."

Levi made a noise to show he was listening, so Eren went on.

"I don't really remember my dad. Mom told me they didn't work out because he was married to his job. He didn't exactly keep in touch." He paused to gather his thoughts, unwilling to ramble about his absent progenitor. "She had a hard time raising me on her own. My grandparents helped for a while, but they're gone now."

"I see," Levi said.

There was a pregnant pause between them. Eren didn't mind talking about his father, but it was still a sensitive topic for him. The less he thought about him, the better.

"No siblings?" Levi asked.

Eren hadn't realized he'd tensed up earlier, but he now felt much lighter at the change in topic. Had Levi sensed his reluctance? Either way, he was grateful.

"Nope. What about you?"

Eren expected Levi to say that he'd asked enough questions at the restaurant, but he was surprised when he replied with a straight answer after a short pause.

"My mom died when I was twelve. I spent some time in a children's home, but I've been on my own since I was sixteen."

There was really nothing Eren could answer to that.

"Oh," he simply said.

There was a loose thread at the corner of his blanket, and he twirled it around his little finger. He couldn't even start to imagine what Levi had gone through at such a young age.

Levi didn't seem to mind Eren's answer, or lack thereof.

"Where did you grow up?" he asked.

Eren spent the next half hour answering Levi's questions. It turned out that Levi wanted to know many things. Where Eren and his mom had lived. How life was for him as he grew up. If he had many friends in school. Eren told him about his mild temper issues in elementary school, but he didn't talk about his nightmares or subsequent counseling sessions. They'd only known each other for a short while, and Eren didn't want to scare Levi away yet. It had happened before, and Eren was wary of repeating his past mistakes.

He was answering yet another mundane question – Levi wanted to know what his favorite food was as a kid – when he realized that Levi had fallen silent. His voice died down, and he listened. Levi's breathing was slow and deep.

"Levi?" he said, voice soft.

Levi didn't respond. Eren could hear breathing, slow and regular, in his phone's speaker. Levi had fallen asleep.

Eren listened, smiling. Levi had seemed wary and guarded when they'd met before, but he'd felt different tonight. The only sort of interest he'd displayed towards Eren until now had seemed forced and shown only out of politeness.

I want him to like me, Eren realized. He didn't know how he could have missed it until now. He didn't know why, because Levi wasn't all that pleasant to be around, and Eren barely even knew him. But it didn't matter, and Eren couldn't say he cared to understand. All he knew was that he wanted this man's attention.

Listening to Levi's quiet breathing, he felt an unexpected emotion arise within himself. Déjà-vu, he thought, but it was more than that. The stronger the emotion got, the more complex it grew.

He would think about it later, after he hung up, went back to bed, and awoke to a cloudy morning. He sent Levi a text, explaining how he'd dozed off in the middle of the conversation. That he had thought Levi needed it and had decided to hang up instead of waking him up. That he'd enjoyed the conversation and that Levi could call whenever, day or night.

Levi didn't reply until later that evening. Eren had more time than was necessary to examine what he was feeling, as it persisted past the night, all throughout the day, distracting him during his classes.

I'm already regretting this, was Levi's answer.

Eren couldn't decide if what he was feeling was familiarity, nostalgia or homesickness. He ended up deciding it was a mix of all three, a peculiar kind of yearning.

After that, he started texting Levi regularly, for all kinds of inane excuses.

I saw a cat on my way home, he sent, along with said cat's picture, withholding his opinion – the cat, with his lush black fur and grumpy face, reminded him of Levi. How was your day?

I don't even want to know, was Levi's reply. My day was boring as hell.

What do you even do?

Data entry for an insurance company.

Like, claim statements? No wonder you're bored.

Fuck you. It pays the bills.

Next time you're bored, text me?

Levi didn't reply.

He was often surprised at how easily Levi saw through him.

I hate statistics, he sent while in class. If I'd known I would have to take maths again, I wouldn't have gone for sociology in the first place.

Levi was slow to respond during the day, but this one seemed to get his attention, and Eren got a reply within the next ten minutes.

You wouldn't be majoring in sociology if you didn't like it, Levi wrote.

He was right. Eren never did anything he didn't feel attracted to – though not losing interest was another matter.

It's anthropology I'm really aiming for, you know, Eren texted back.

But Levi didn't respond after that.

The bus was crammed and I couldn't get on the first one I caught, Eren sent while commuting after classes ended. Now I have to wait for the next one and it's raining.

Buses are gross, Levi said.

I think the guy next to me forgot to put on deodorant this morning, he said after getting on the second bus, which was packed as well.

People are gross.

I got wet and the bus was too warm and I smell like wet old dog.

You're gross.

Hey, are you free on Friday night?

Levi ignored the last message.

Levi, Eren learned, had a very peculiar sense of humor. His jokes were crass and terrible, but Eren found himself laughing every time.

I'm bored at the laundromat, Eren sent on a Sunday. Please send help.

I don't have the kind of time that would allow me to wipe your butt for you, Levi's text said.

Eren wondered. If Levi had so little time for him, why was he still there, answering stupid texts and making lame jokes? But he didn't dare ask Levi yet.

Eren suspected Levi was avoiding any kind of invitation to meet.

You know what's gross? Cafeteria food, he texted one day during lunch break, sending along a photo of something that was supposed to be spinaches.

Did you throw up? Looks like a pile of shit, Levi replied, making him laugh once more.

I'm craving ramen, Eren replied. Do you like ramen?

He knew he hadn't been subtle. Either way, that one was ignored as well.

But Eren knew himself to be persistent when he was truly interested in something.

There's a new pho place that opened near my place, he sent on a cold November day. I'm freezing my ass off and I want soup. Wanna come with?

He was surprised to get an almost instant reply.

Okay.

Despite their back and forth question game of sorts, Eren didn't know much about Levi.

"What did you study in school?" he asked.

They were sitting at the counter, which Eren didn't know if he liked better than a table. He wasn't facing Levi, so he could only glance at him from the corner of his eye while also eating from his large bowl. It was hard for Eren to read him when he couldn't properly look at his face. But every once in a while, Levi's knee would bump into his by accident. It brought Eren an entirely different kind of comfort. Worth it, he decided.

Levi wiped his mouth with a napkin before answering.

"The usual," he said. "Maths, geography. Didn't care much for it, to be honest."

"I meant after high school," Eren said, picking up some noodles with his chopsticks.

As expected, pho was warm and comforting, but also frustrating, seeing as the restaurant only provided spoons and chopsticks as a mean of cutlery.

Levi didn't seem to have a problem with them.

"Social sciences, for the most part." Levi paused. "Actually, aren't you an archeology major? What does that entail, exactly?"

Eren went on to explain what subjects he was studying and many more things, spurred on by Levi's occasional questions. He only stopped when the man behind the counter came to remove their empty bowls.

That's when Eren realized that Levi had answered none of his questions. Well, he had, technically, but Eren hadn't learned anything substantial about him. Again.

As Eren was only now starting to realize, Levi was surprisingly adept at subtly changing topics. He managed to give off the confusing impression that he was somewhat talkative – and Eren had believed that until now – but he really wasn't. His conversation was terse and to the point. He'd been deflecting Eren's questions with his own and getting him to tell stories instead of truly answering, and Eren had walked into his trap again and again since the beginning.

"What's wrong?" Levi asked. "You look like some bird shit landed in your plate."

Eren shrugged. "You're not really answering any of my questions," he said, and it was merely a statement. It wasn't like he had any right over Levi's private life, or the way he decided to share it or not.

It frustrated Eren even more that Levi was still a good conversation partner. He knew how to listen, liked to point out small things in Eren's stories, which showed not only that he was listening, but that he was even interested.

Levi held his glass in a mock cheer, stern as ever aside from the slight curve at the corner of his mouth.

"Tough luck," he said, and drank. He put his glass back on the table, and gently trace the rim with his fingertip. His subtle smile was gone. "You're not missing much, anyway," he added in a voice so low Eren had to strain to hear him. "Your life is much more exciting."

Yes, Levi was secretive, cold and distant. He could be rough and even downright rude at times. But sometimes, like now, he would go from this downcast disposition, shoulders and features becoming stiff as if carved in stone, withdrawing from conversations in a subtle way in a matter of seconds.

"Is that why you like to listen to my ramblings? Because you're bored out of your mind?" Eren asked.

Levi's eyes jumped to Eren's, a soft smile gracing his sharp features, making him look younger.

"Maybe," he said.

It was hard to know what Levi thought, but Eren couldn't help but feel comfortable around him.

Afterward, they walked side by side, slowly making their way home. When Eren asked Levi where he lived, the latter was evasive again, but it was fine. Eren knew it couldn't too far from his own place, since they were still walking in the same direction.

They were supposed to part ways soon, but Eren had other ideas.

"Mind going for a walk?" he asked.

Levi shrugged.

"Only for a bit, though," he said.

Eren didn't protest. Levi was going along with Eren's immature whim. He only wanted to extend their time together for as much as he could, and he had trouble imagining Levi being that cooperative on a regular basis.

Eren hadn't really planned on taking him there, but they soon found themselves next to the cemetery wall. Levi had been following, but when the cemetery came into view, he stopped. Even without looking at him, Eren could sense the slight tension in Levi's posture.

"It's so weird to think I've never seen this place in daylight," Eren said.

Silence stretched between them as Eren stole glances in Levi's direction. The latter sniffled in the cold night, eyes on the floor. He seemed to be lost in his thoughts, not paying attention to Eren. But Eren knew Levi was listening. He could see it in the way he was standing, hands in his pockets. He could see it in the barest slope in his shoulders, in the curve of his neck, which his thin scarf did nothing to hide. He could see it in every single puff of air escaping from his mouth.

"You don't like cemeteries," he said.

It was a wild guess, but Levi straightened his back with a stiffness that had been almost invisible before. He was silent for a bit, as if clearing his thoughts.

"I don't care for them," he said.

Nailed it, Eren thought. He stepped a little closer.

"We can go back if you want?"

Levi, who'd been staring at the ground still, briskly raised his head and glared at Eren.

"Because I don't like something doesn't mean I can't deal," he said, his tone sharp.

"Yeah." Eren shrugged. "We can still leave, if you want."

Levi kept his glare on Eren for a few more seconds, then averted his eyes, making a soft, irritated noise with his tongue. Did that mean he was going to keep following Eren? There was only one way to check.

"When I said I'd been here at night," Eren said, "I meant that I've actually been in there at night."

He resumed walking, taking the street that went around the cemetery. Levi watched him for a second, then followed.

"Isn't the cemetery closed at night?" he asked.

"Well, yeah," Eren said.

He didn't even try to suppress the cheeky grin surfacing. His mother said he always took things too seriously, but tonight, he felt strangely playful, almost giddy.

And Levi was staring, silent and unimpressed.

Eren felt his grin widen.

"Wanna peek inside?" he asked.

In the cold light of the nearby streetlamp, it seemed to Eren that something was glimmering in Levi's eyes, but he blinked it away. Shaking his head, Levi made a small noise with his tongue that betrayed annoyance again.

"I don't know what I expected," he said, letting out a breathless chuckle.

It was the first time Eren saw him laugh. Levi's subdued laughter didn't exactly sound amused, but it made something warm squirm within Eren's chest. His own smile couldn't get wider.

"Come on," he said.

He led Levi further along the back street, to where the cemetery wall was crumbling a little. Not waiting to see if Levi was following, he hopped over the wall. Then, he finally turned around.

Levi was standing on the other side, a slight frown on his face.

"Need help?" Eren said, but he already knew the answer.

Levi glared, offended. Without a word, he put a hand on the portion of the wall that seemed to hold best and leaped over it in a fluid motion.

Eren's grin resurfaced, in response to Levi's glare.

"Okay," Levi said. "We're in. Now what?"

"Now," Eren said, his face serious, "we frolic."

Again, that breathless laughter. If he was honest with himself, Eren couldn't get enough of it.

"You're saying that as if two adult men frolicking at night in a cemetery was a thing," Levi said.

"Isn't it?" Eren said feigning concern. "Does it become one if we start doing it? Do we make it a thing?"

Levi looked as unimpressed as ever, but the corners of his mouth were twitching. "You're such an idiot," he muttered, staring at Eren as if he couldn't believe his eyes.

Levi's voice was soft, and Eren could tell he didn't mean it, but there was an edge to his words, something tense in the subtle curve of his mouth.

Levi looked away. The ghost of his smile fading fast on his lips.

Eren felt his own smile recede. If acting like a dumbass was what it took to draw out Levi's smile, he would do it without a second thought. But it wasn't working very well. Obviously, something was happening, sudden and unexpected, which he couldn't understand. And now, he was feeling self-conscious. Was it something that he'd done? He couldn't see what.

The atmosphere between them had been feather-light moments before, and it was now bordering on awkward.

"Let's go," Levi said without preamble, turning around and walking back towards the crumbling wall. "I wanna go home."

They hadn't even been there for a couple minutes, but Eren followed without a word.

What had changed? he wondered as he watched Levi leap over the wall back into the street. Leaning onto the wall with one hand, he made to do the same, but somehow, some jagged stone jutting out of the wall caught into one leg of his pants.

He fell, and would have landed face first if it wasn't for Levi's steadfast, surprisingly strong arms, flying to his rescue and catching him before he could crash down.

Eren didn't waste any time regained proper footing. Levi's hands were grasping at his upper arms, and even though Eren could stand on his own just fine, they lingered. Levi wasn't looking at Eren, his head angled towards the ground instead. He opened his mouth, as if about to say something, but closed it without uttering a sound. He was frowning, features painted with a subtle emotion Eren couldn't decipher. He didn't remember seeing Levi's face so expressive before.

"You're such a dumbass," Levi finally said, voice quivering ever-so-slightly on the last syllable. "You don't –"

He trailed off when he glanced up to look at Eren.

Levi's eyes were dark in the feeble light.

Something passed between them at that moment. It seemed that Levi felt it as well, though Eren couldn't really tell. It made him wonder what Levi wanted to tell him earlier, before changing his mind. But the thought didn't last, distracted as he was by how close Levi's face was to his. He could see each of Levi's eyelashes distinctively.

I could kiss him, he thought suddenly. I could kiss him right now.

He found that he wanted to.

His attraction to Levi hit him like the ground after a freefall. It had already been there, he knew now, in the background, just a small thing that could be ignored because it wasn't relevant until this moment. But now, in the faraway light of the street, gazing into Levi's stormy eyes, he couldn't help but admit that he might have been, since the very beginning, slowly but surely falling in love.

Levi blinked, relaxing his hold on Eren's arm. He averted his eyes and shook his head, a small smile adorning his mouth. For some reason, Eren thought it looked forlorn.

The moment was gone.

They stood there for a moment, Levi looking stiff and awkward and Eren feeling floored.

"Well," Eren said, "I could walk you home."

It seemed like a decent thing to do, given the circumstances. But Levi froze, before slowly turning away.

"It's fine," he said. "I'll be fine."

Curiously, Eren felt relieved. At that moment, Levi seemed even more closed up than when they'd first met. It was probably better to give him space. Eren wasn't sure he could do that when Levi was standing right next to him.

"Talk to you later?" Eren said.

"Yeah."

Without another word, Levi walked away, leaving Eren alone to watch him go.