"So what you're telling me," Mikasa said over the phone, "Is that Eren and shorty did the deed, had a BF, and then Eren's sitting in your recliner with a black eye and busted lip?"
"Essentially," Hanji sighed, stirring pasta while Petra chopped the vegetables.
"I swear," The girl huffed over the line, tapping her fingers. "Those two are going to make us all have grey hair before we're even eighteen."
"I say the same!" Hanji exclaimed, waving her spoon. "Now, what are we gonna do? Levi's sitting in his house with his sad music playlist playing, and I doubt he's done much else besides clean and watch movies. Eren's just been on and off sleeping on the recliner, trying to ignore the fact that Levi's windows are open and mine are too, so you can clearly hear the music."
Mikasa eyed at her car keys, then back at Armin who was sprawled on the couch reading Anthem. She figured she could just drive over there and have a talk with the two, but both were so stubborn and probably wouldn't even listen to her. On one hand though, Carla would end up worried if Eren came back with a black eye and busted lip, but they all had school tomorrow and she would end up worried if he wasn't home all week. God, these two are such idiots.
"How sad is the music?"
"Death Cab for Cutie, RHCP, and I think I heard The Killers," Hanji turned the stove off, carrying the pot to the strainer.
"Which song from The Killers?" Mikasa grabbed the keys, sighing.
"Sam's Town, Abbey Road version."
"Fuck, I'll be there in five. Make sure Eren doesn't try to hide before he gets the lecture," Mikasa gave a frustrated sigh, clicking the hang up button on the phone. Armin gave a side glance back to her, raising an eyebrow in question. He was probably asking if he'd have to go along as well.
"You can come, Hanji's serving pasta tonight," The raven haired girl reached for the book, shutting it for him. Armin quickly stood up and followed her out the door, leaving a note explaining they went to go see Hanji.
Hanji finished adding the veggies and cheese, dishing out a bowl. She carried it over to Eren, who sat leaned back on the chair, ice pack next to him and eye more swollen. His lip was done bleeding, but seemed sore and swollen as well. He reached for the bowl, muttering "Thank you," before stirring it around and holding the fork to him mouth to blow on it.
Hanji sat next to him, glancing between the door and Eren, before sighing and walking over to shut a few of the windows. She drew the line when Radiohead could be heard from his room, because that deserved a stern no. She heard Eren set the fork down in the bowl, and turned to him with a questioning look. The food couldn't be that bad, Erwin usually ate it with no problem.
"I'm mad over a hand job."
"I know, you both are ridiculous as hell," She scoffed and rolled her eyes, hearing Mikasa pull up on the street. Hanji unlocked the door, waiting for Mikasa to burst in and drag Eren by the ear to the spare bedroom where most stern talks were given by the theater kids. Armin looked a little to them, following until the pair was out of sight. He looked back at Hanji, and then walked over to the kitchen to make a bowl for himself.
Mikasa slammed the door shut and threw Eren to the bed, glaring. Her lips were pursed in a tight line, and Eren rubbed his ear, wincing a little.
"First of all, how dare you," He began, and she gave an exasperated groan of annoyance.
"Okay, not today. To begin, on the list of 'Things Eren Has Fucked Up,' this may even make the top ten. Number one being the time you actually tried to fight the football team by yourself, resulting in Levi and I having to come save your ass."
"Well excuse me, Mikasa," Eren flopped back on to the bad, sighing. "You don't need to get into my problems."
"I hate when you say that, I'm not getting in your problems," Mikasa walked over to sit next to her brother, bringing his head into her lap and stroking the messy brown hair. Eren sighed at this, shifting his eyes and frowning.
"I'm only looking out for you because you'd do the same for me, don't even deny it," She continued, face softening a bit more.
"I know you are, but…" He couldn't really argue, honestly if it was Mikasa in this situation he'd have gone and punched someone's face in by now. That's what sisters are for, he guessed, because no matter what they're going to protect you as much as you would protect them.
"But what, Eren?"
"It's nothing," He sat up, winching a little. The position on the recliner he'd been in earlier was not very good for his back. Mikasa helped him up a little, both now standing up and leaving the room. Hanji raised an eyebrow, sitting on the couch next to Armin and eating a bowl of pasta with him. Mikasa shrugged, walking over to the kitchen, and Eren grabbed the bowl he'd left earlier when Mikasa dragged him out.
The six teenagers all sat quietly in the living room, not speaking. Tension was a little high, and no one wanted to say something wrong. Hanji eventually stood up, going into the kitchen to fic one more bowl, wrapping it in plastic and stepping out once again.
"I'm going to give him food, because I bet he's yet to make food for himself since I left," She kicked her shoes on, giving a final eye roll before sauntering out the house. The walk next door was quick, and she just decided to take the front door instead of climbing.
Trying to open the door, only to find it locked, Hanji clicked her tongue and felt for the spare key above the door. Feeling the cold piece of metal, she smirked to herself and unlocked the door, promptly being greeted with Chelsea Grin reverberating throughout the house. A light chuckle escaped from her as she jogged upstairs, walking into Levi's bedroom. He was busy replacing the picture from the frame that had been broken earlier, muttering as he did so.
"Here I thought you went moshing because Eren asked."
"I said I genuinely liked the music, didn't I?" He was straightening the picture, and placing the back gently on to the new frame.
"Well yeah, you did. I brought you some pasta, there wasn't much left because Armin goes batshit crazy over my pasta. It's just cheese and veggies, I don't get what the big deal is," She shrugged. Levi set the picture down and took the bowl, unwrapping it and taking the fork that was offered along with it. He quickly dug in, enjoying the taste of the meal Hanji had created.
"You manage to put the right cheese and veggies?" He asks, swallowing the food. "Whatever, thanks. Now why else are you here?"
"You blasted Radiohead earlier, I took it as a call of help," She pulled up a chair, and picked up one of the books Levi had set on his dresser.
"That's just from the iPod. Not everything I do is a plea for help, I'm very capable of taking care of myself," He scoffed, continuing to eat and avoiding making a mess. Soggy food was gross, no way he'd touch it.
Hanji rolled her eyes at her friend's obvious lie, because she could clearly see the picture frame next to him that was being fixed earlier. He wasn't going to show how he actually was hurt a bit, but obviously the black eye he'd received earlier could prove that. Cocking her head to the side a bit while flipping through the pages of the book, she adjusted her glasses and began speaking again.
"So how are you going to handle this?"
"Easy, I wait until Eren's asleep, I sneak into his room, and I blast Rihanna right in his ear until he apologizes," Levi shrugged. Hanji laughed a little, rolling her eyes.
"Whatever you say, Ravioli."
Tuesday proved to be difficult when they all returned to school, especially because a few rumors were already beginning to circulate about the injuries Levi and Eren had received. A few claimed that it was high time they got over that sexual tension, but others claimed they got into a gang fight. Both sides were ridiculous to Levi, because it was obvious the two were avoiding each other at all costs. The theater kids kept quiet though, refusing to disclose any information. That, and anytime someone who didn't need to know decided to ask, Mikasa just shot a look that warned them to not bother. The sports department actually teased them, saying that it was high time the group started to disband a little. Hearing this though, Eren began to yell out curses until Jean and Reiner pulled him away to go calm down.
Needless to say, Tuesday wasn't going well for anyone. Especially after school when they all sat in the theater, not speaking, and not really even doing much. Levi sat in the makeup chair, cleaning off brushes and listening to his headphones, ignoring anyone who tried to speak to him. He'd done a piss poor job of covering up the black eye that morning, being tired and just not giving a shit, but Eren hadn't even bothered. It's like that concealer he bought for Eren was going to waste.
Well, of course it would, because as he had that exact thought his hand reached for an unopened container of concealer that matched Eren's skin perfectly. So he hadn't even brought it home, no wonder he didn't conceal it. Levi reached to take out his headphones and turned to a freshman, who looked up in question.
"Please send the sound master over here," He said calmly, unwrapping the concealer.
"As you wish," She stood up, walking from behind the stage to follow over up to the control booth. She knocked on the door, opening it quietly and was greeted with Eren tuning his viola with an angry face.
"Eren, Levi would like for you to go see him," She stated, smiling.
"Tell him I said I don't want a smoke," He replied, trying to tune the C string.
"I don't think he's looking to smoke, he was opening up some concealer when I came to get you," She didn't want to get in trouble and be banished to screw sorting today, it was evident in her tone.
"Fine, I'm only doing this so he doesn't throw a bitch fit at you," He set the viola down gently, standing up and walking past her. He made his way down the aisle, then back stage where Levi sat, waiting with brushes and concealer.
"Please sit," He motioned at the chair that was in front of him. Eren nodded and sighed, complying with the demand and leaning back in the chair. Levi picked up a makeup brush, dabbing a little bit of foundation on it. Nobody said a word as they passed by and saw Levi close to Eren, covering the black eye he'd caused himself.
"Why are you doing this?" Eren finally decided to ask, wincing a little as Levi lightly brushed over the tender area.
"Because I hate knowing the one I did that," He muttered as he went to put more on to the brush, evening the makeup out. It needed to look natural, not overdone.
Eren went quiet at that statement, looking a little less annoyed now. He could understand where Levi was coming from, he guessed, after all Eren couldn't deny feeling bad for hurting Levi himself. At least his friend had the heart to help cover up the evidence of the fight.
"How come you didn't cover yours then?" Eren asked quietly, tapping his foot to the beat of the music coming from Levi's headphones.
"I don't need to. It wouldn't be the first time people have seen me beaten up," He laughed a little, finishing up smoothing over the concealer. "You're done."
"…Thanks," Eren nodded quietly, glancing down.
Levi used to get into a lot of fights until his leg was broken, then he just completely stopped. There were times when Eren would get word during their eighth grade year of Levi being suspended because of getting into a brawl with a few other students that gave him shit. The worst night for Eren was during September in freshman year when Levi came to his door, a sprained wrist and broken nose. He'd been casual about it too, explaining that since Hanji was staying with Petra that night he didn't want to worry them and instead came over to ask Grisha if he could get patched up.
It was that night where Eren and Levi sat on the couch together, watching Insidious and not speaking much. Eren had woken his father up to ask for help, and Carla worried over Levi saying that his parents would be extremely upset over the injuries. The raven-haired boy calmly explained they wouldn't be back for another month, so it shouldn't be as bad when they get home. Eren kept sending worried glances to his friend, who was slowly beginning to drift asleep and leaning on his shoulder. The brunet boy turned his head a little to give a small kiss on Levi's forehead, a symbol for being there for him. It was completely platonic.
So Eren wasn't very surprised, sitting there in the makeup chair, when Levi stood up and placed a gentle kiss on Eren's forehead, just the way he had back in freshman year. He kept his head down when he heard Levi walk off and out the theater, going to take a smoke break and probably going to grab a few snacks.
Armin saw the whole ordeal, and when he heard Levi shut the door, the blond went over to sit in front of his childhood friend. Eren looked back up to see Armin, holding a few gels in his hands and hunched over a bit.
"I don't know," Eren sighed, knowing what Armin was going to ask.
"Maybe you're just scared," He shrugged, leaning back a little. "Of intimacy? I don't exactly know, but all your other relationships ended after a short amount of time because you rushed in them. Maybe you just don't want to do the same with Levi."
"Quit deducing situations like this," He jokingly said, lightly punching Armin's arm. "You could be right, but I think we've just been stressed and so we both…exploded."
"The show was over, any stresses you two would have had wouldn't make sense," Armin stood up, ready to head back to the catwalk.
"There's school!"
"Or, there's suppressed emotions," Armin called, climbing back upwards.
Levi leaned against the wall, cigarette in mouth, and slowly sliding down the wall. He felt a pang of déjà vu and chuckled at the thought, breathing in to take a drag. Any moment now Eren would probably follow out here, they'd have a heart to heart, and things would be okay. In the moment, though, I Am Not A Robot began playing on Levi's playlist and he rolled his eyes at the timing. It's not unusual for that to happen, though. As he blew out the smoke, Levi heard the back door shutting and footsteps coming towards his area.
"Do you have one to spare?" Eren inquired, sitting next to his friend.
"You know where they are," Levi replied, and Eren reached into Levi's side pocket to fish the lighter and cigarette out. He slipped one out, lit it, and gave the items back to the man next to him.
"So…" Eren began awkwardly, returning to the ways they spoke all last week.
"So? Care to make another bet? Or perhaps figure out ways where we could argue again?" He spoke bitterly, keeping the cancer stick between his teeth.
"Or, maybe I came out here to apologize," Eren shrugged. Levi blew the smoke out in the air, sighing.
"What's there to apologize about? Some things can't be helped," he shrugged. Eren sucked up a breath and sighed.
"When was the last time you used a nickname on me?"
Levi stopped at that thought, glancing to his friend and inching away a little. Honestly, that's something he hasn't bothered with for a while now. He just figured Eren genuinely was annoyed by them, but then thought of the night at the beach where he said it was weird Levi hadn't been using them. He'd yet to even use them since Eren asked.
"Does it matter?" He asked, smothering the cigarette out.
"You're not one hundred percent there anymore. I don't feel like I'm talking to you, you're not a robot. Where did the Levi who would sit there and call me various things with 'Jaeger' in them, sit out in the park for hours with me and play violin, or even just not do anything but lay there? Where's my best friend, Levi?" Eren looked over with a sad look in his eyes, and Levi refused to even make eye contact.
"No, look at me!" He yelled, forcing Levi to look over, trying not to hurt him. The shorter of the two glanced at the ground, frowning.
"Where's the Levi I used to know?"
"Which one, Eren? The Levi that got into constant fights and crawled to your door at three in the morning needing medical help, or the one that—" He cut himself off before he could say anything that would bring a wave of regret with it later. Eren let go, throwing his hands in the air.
"Well, how about the Levi that would sit with hours, and then watch movies with me? You know, the one that would have a potty mouth and tell shit jokes, not one who sits and feels sorry for himself. You're nothing like that Levi, you're strong and can hold your own, and you're willing to defend anyone who gives any of our little family shit," Eren ranted holding on to the cigarette he'd took from his mouth earlier to yell.
"Are you even listening?!" Eren shouted, standing up. He wouldn't get physical this time, but Levi just sat there not looking at him.
"I'm not feeling sorry for myself. I'm just trying to get over the fact I had an actual physical fight with you, and you were the one to start it," Levi scoffed and stood up, crossing his arms.
"Well I'm sorry, Levi. I'm sorry for actually hurting you, because I know it wasn't just physical," Eren stressed those last three words, and it took his friend by shock.
"You're using my name quite a bit today. But you're right, it was not just physical," He kept eye contact with Eren, shifting weight from one foot to the other. "Knowing that you of all people hurt me, someone who was always there and was ready to take care of me if Hanji couldn't, hit a nerve. You managed to strike it, and that's why I'm being so bitter."
"There's more to it," Eren was calming down a little, keeping his hands in his pockets. He'd dropped the cigarette a moment ago, letting it go to waste.
"Maybe there is. I know you know, Eren. I don't know if you knew before the gossip line incident, or whatever. I don't know if you even bought my excuse the first time we did the tango with our tongues, but I'm not going to force you into something you aren't prepared for," Levi took a breath, and continued, "Because that's not how a relationship stays healthy. I'm not even sure if you have those feelings, maybe you do, who knows? Give it time, and things will work out."
The taller of the two stood still for a moment, before leaning down and hugging Levi tightly, trying not to cry. "Does this mean you forgive me?"
"I always will," Levi hugged back, taking in the warmth that seemed to contrast the crisp December air. For what seemed like hours, they stood there, until Eren finally let go and put out his long forgotten cigarette. He motioned that they should head back inside, and probably think about heading home soon so they could all get homework done. When the pair stepped back inside, Levi gave a look at Eren, frowning at the sight of him.
"Oi, Jaegerbomb, let me fix your makeup again," Levi tugged at the sweater's sleeve, and Eren smiled at the use of the nickname. Things would easily turn back to normal, and the evidence of Levi forcing his head to stay still and yelling at him in French to stop squirming supported that statement.
A/N: org. i planned for this to be 5k, but my back started screaming at me, so i decided against that. it's a long chap tho, to make up for last week. i hope you guys enjoy! we've even got brother/sister eren and mikasa bonding time awh. i seriously wanna thank you guys for all the support i've gotten in this fic, but next chapter will bring it to a closing. i'll make a bigger thank you note then, but seriously, you guys have made me cry with the friends i've made through this process and the motivation i've gained. thank you so much.