**Levi**
Things were starting to look up. Eren and I managed to have an actual conversation, Hanji stopped pestering me as much, and it was Friday. As much as I tried to tell myself I was more excited about not having work, the fact that I had a date kept me smiling all day.
Eren was late picking me up. When I opened the door, he was standing there, flushed and breathing heavily, his eyes wide and apologetic. "I'm so sorry, I-"
"Hush." I smiled at him, unable to control myself. "It's your show, you can be as late as you want."
That seemed to comfort him. We made small talk on the way there, listening to music from his phone- I teased him about being too pretentious to listen to the music on the radio, and he teased me back that he had taste.
As we walked to the gallery, Eren seemed to quiet down, a troubled look dominating his pretty features. He cracked his knuckles, a sure sign that he was anxious. "I'm not... I'm not the best in my class or anything. I'm not really a technical artist. I'm pretty good with color though."
Didn't he understand that I would be impressed with anything he created? "Isn't that what makes art interesting? I prefer art that isn't perfect."
It was somewhat true. I prefered anatomy drawings and photographs usually, but from him, it would bother me if it was anything other than stylistically messy.
Eren relaxed at that, giving me a small, appreciative smile. "Yeah. You're right."
It didn't go unnoticed that as we walked in, he moved a little closer to me, wearing that tiny little smile. I understood him completely in that moment. This was his stage.
Three or four kids attacked him the moment he walked in, grinning from ear to ear. A stoic black haired girl wearing a red scarf, a cocky boy with an undercut, a sweet looking freckled boy, and a shorter blonde boy, who was surprisingly pretty.
"You're late," the blonde boy scolded, but he was smiling. His voice was pleasant. Eren grinned at him, not minding at all.
"Oh shut up, like you haven't been late to your own birthday party before." He laughed then, as the blonde shoved him playfully. It was beautiful. A loud, pretty laugh. I found myself smiling along.
He caught my eye then, gesturing for me to move closer. "Hey guys, this is Levi."
The cocky looking boy's smirk grew wider. "Is this your boyfriend?"
The blush that flooded across Eren's cheeks fascinated me more than it should have. Before I could answer for him, the black haired girl cut in, her smooth voice cold with irritation. "Jean, don't make assumptions."
"Sorry." He rolled his eyes at her. She scowled as he offered me his hand. I took it, being sure to shake his hand hard. "I'm Jean. The grumpy one is Mikasa."
"I can introduce myself, you-"
"Mikasa!" The blonde boy widened his eyes at her before offering his hand to me, smiling sweetly. "Hi, I'm Armin."
He certainly seemed like a nice kid. I caught Eren's eye, half smiling. He couldn't take his eyes off of me, anxiously gauging my reaction to his friends.
The kind looking one stepped forward, smiling sweetly. "Hello, Levi. I'm Marco."
We shook hands too. Did I really look that much older than everyone here? "Nice to meet you all," I said.
That seemed to please Eren. Mikasa still looked incredibly wary of me, especially when I moved closer to him. Probably closer than I should have. When our hands brushed, his face burned.
The others scattered off in all directions, shooting Eren meaningful glances. He ran a hand through his hair anxiously. "Sorry about that. They're, uh, pretty loud sometimes."
"I like them. You all seem like family." I glanced around the gallery, looking for an art style that looked like him. He fidgeted even more, and I resisted the urge to take his hand, instead opting for a playful smirk. "Lead the way."
He did. If nothing else, Eren was courageous, even in the smallest ways. I saw the painting immediately. It was the largest on the wall, and it took my breath away.
Eren stopped in front of it, looking back to see my reaction. I couldn't speak. It was beautiful. It was a portrait of a girl, her face tilted slightly to the left, and she was crying. Her hair was fiery red, streaked with orange and yellow. Her eyes were closed, painted the most stunning blues I had ever seen. They looked like the night sky, swirled with turquoise. Her smiling lips were painted a pale gold, her cheeks slightly touched with blue. It looked as though she was blushing. The brush strokes were choppy and square, and applied unevenly, and I loved it. I loved it more than any other art piece I had ever seen.
I stared at it for a long time, memorizing every uneven line, every brush stroke, every color and every imperfection.
"Eren," I breathed, stunned to find that my eyes were glistening with unshed tears. "It's beautiful. It's beautiful."
His worried gaze froze for a moment as he took in what I'd said, and then his whole face brightened. He was not outright smiling, but he was gazing at me as if I had said the most important thing in the world, his eyes burning with passion, cheeks stained with pink. I loved that expression on him. He was so painfully, frustratingly lovely in that moment that I could not help but fall more in love.
**Eren**
"Do you want to get out of here?" Levi asked. I don't know what I want to do. I just met him a few days ago and I feel like I've known him for years. I've never wanted to kiss anyone so badly, but I've never been more scared. I've never been more thrown by someone's compliment, no matter how simple it was.
The way that he looked at me in that moment spoke for itself. Levi was not a crier, I
was sure. And yet his eyes glistened with tears as he looked at my artwork. My artwork. "I- Um. Sure."
Oh great, and now I was stuttering. Those intense gray eyes met mine, and his soft lips curved up ever so slightly. "Do you have anything else in here?"
I shook my head. His smiles made me unable to think straight. "My teacher told me just having one would have more impact."
"He was right." With that, Levi took my hand- took my hand, and pulled me right out
of there. My heart was racing. Where was he taking me? Was he going to kiss me? Was I even ready for this? Did I really care? No, not especially.
I caught Jean's eye as I was dragged out. He winked at me. Levi didn't seem to notice.
The cold winter air hit me the second the door opened, and God it felt wonderful. After a few moments of walking in silence, I said, "I heard that it's going to snow tonight."
Levi made a face that was slightly pouty and incredibly adorable. "I don't like the snow. It gets in my hair and it's messy."
I cocked my head at him. "Are you a neat freak?"
"I guess you could say that. I'm not a freak, I just don't like being dirty." He realized that he was still holding my hand and dropped it quickly. I didn't miss his tiny blush as he looked the other way. "You're an artist. I'm assuming you don't mind?"
I grinned at him teasingly. "I enjoy having paint on my hands."
Levi gave me a half disappointed, half withering gaze. "That can't be healthy. What if it gets on your food by accident? Wash your hands more often."
He was just so strange at times. He was insulting and protective, affectionate and blunt, artistic and closed off... He gave off a warning vibe to anyone that so much as glanced at him, and yet since the moment I'd seen Levi, he had treated me with nothing but kindness.
"I wouldn't get it in my food, only idiots paint when they're eating." I was most definitely an idiot. "Where are we going right now?"
"I just wanted to talk and watch the stars. It feels like a good night for that." We had reached the car. He paused for a moment. "If that's alright with you."
Spending time with him in general was more than alright. "Of course it is. Do you know the constellations?"
He smiled a bit as I handed him the car keys. "I know a few."
A few turned out to be all of them. We laid on top of my car for a while, trying to point them out. He laughed at me when I whined about not being able to find any except the big dipper. "It just takes practice," he insisted. "I've studied this!"
Eventually, after he showed off, we fell silent. It was a comfortable silence, one that felt familiar and acceptable. I wondered why he was already so important to me. He seemed to react to me the same way, staring at me in shock when we met the second time, knowing subtle things about me that no one else did.
I often caught the look of disappointment on his face when I did or said something. That's what killed me. I wondered if I reminded him of someone, maybe a lover in the past, and I was constantly letting him down. I hated seeing those downcast eyes, that soft lip bite, the furrowed eyebrows. Would I ever be enough?
"Did you want to seek me out?" I murmured. "I don't know why I looked for you again. Maybe it was selfish. You don't have to keep hanging out with me, you know."
He glanced over at me, frowning. The look in his eyes was almost hurt. "Where did that come from?"
"You look..." I took a deep breath. "Sometimes you look disappointed when you look at me."
Levi froze for a moment, and then sat up, tugging me with him. He looked me right in the eye. "One day I'll explain this to you, when you know why I feel so familiar. But right now all I can promise is that I'm going to appreciate you, no matter what. You're different this time around, and it scares me. You scare me. But it doesn't change a thing. I'm just learning to find out who you are. It disappoints me that I don't know you. I don't know your expressions, your interests, your flaws." He let out a long sigh. "I'm not making any sense right now."
"No, you're making plenty of sense," I whispered. This was the man that I wanted to fall in love with. This was the man I was already falling in love with, and I hardly knew him at all. "Don't worry. We have plenty of time."
As we lay back down, he took my hand. It felt strangely familiar, and strangely perfect. I had done this before. I knew how delicate and yet calloused his hands were, I knew the fluidity of his arms and the way that he'd squeeze my hand every once in a while or rub his thumb against my knuckles.
We didn't speak very much after that, but it was one of the most memorable, beautiful nights of my life.