Hey! Here comes another update! I had a little bit of a writer's block writing this chapter, but from here on out I think I'll be okay. I hope. XD

Thank you so much for the reviews, faves, and alerts! They helped me pull through the mini writer's block.

Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 5 Beyond the Horizon part 2

Levi sat in darkness, his eyes vacant. The blackness was unsettling, but it was calm.

"Levi." a deep voice suddenly said.

Levi's eyes widened at the voice. It sounded so familiar to him. "Who are you?"

"You must remember your past. You must remember me. That's the only way we both can find peace."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Levi shouted. "Who are you?!"

"Remember..."

A bright light emerged from the void and engulfed Levi.

Levi jolted out of his bed, sweating profusely. He could hear laughing coming from the kitchen.

That's right, I'm in the brat's house. Levi groaned to himself.

He put a hand to his forehead, but pulled away, disgusted at the sweat coating his palm.

What was that damn dream? Who was that speaking to me? And why is this happening now of all times? Damn it all...

Levi got out of bed and checked the time on his cell phone. 12 pm.

I feel like shit, but that doesn't mean I have to look like it. A shower should clear my mind. Levi decided.

After neatly making his temporary bed, Levi grabbed his towel and washcloth and hurried inside the bathroom before anyone saw him. There was no way he was going to face the Jaeger family looking like a slob.

Why does that voice want me to remember the past? Levi wondered. There's a reason why I suppressed it so hard. I can't even remember why I did. The only things I remember are certain people. Petra, Hanji, Oluo, Eld, Gunther. No one else. So why...?

Before Levi's skin got pruney, he quickly bathed himself and got out. He got dressed and walked out, following the cheerful voices of the Jaeger to the kitchen. When he crossed the threshold, he was irritated at what he saw. Carla, Mikasa, and Eren were all in their pajamas, finishing up their Thanksgiving cooking. Mikasa was pouring batter for cake, Carla was seasoning the vegetables, and Eren was just goofing off. Everyone's hair was a mess. Levi's left eye twitched at the sight.

"Ah, ah! Eren, get your finger out of the cake batter!" Carla ordered, slapping Eren's hand away from Mikasa's bowl.

Eren grinned, sticking his cake battered index finger into his mouth. "But it tastes good raw!"

"You said the same thing about the steak you ate last year, and do you remember what happened? You were sick with food poisoning." Carla reminded her son.

"This is cake mix, Mom, not meat." Eren replied cheekily.

Levi just stood there, trying to repress the urge to slap Eren across the face. The hell is he doing, sticking his fingers into the food they were going to eat? Disgusting.

"Whew, it's getting hot in here." Eren sighed. He removed his pajama shirt, tossing it at the kitchen table. It missed and it landed on the floor. Levi couldn't help but look at Eren's chest before looking at Eren's fallen shirt, repulsed.

Eren finally noticed Levi standing outside the kitchen with a dumbfounded expression on his face.

"Hey, Levi! It's about time you woke up, sleepy head." Eren told him.

Levi crossed his arms. "Well, it was hard to sleep with your loud ass echoing around the house."

"Sorry, I'll try to keep my farts down from now on." Eren retorted sassily.

Carla had to cover her mouth to keep from busting into giggles.

The twitch in Levi's eye increased in force. "That's not what I meant, brat."

"Levi, do you mind helping me out?" Carla asked, sensing an argument. "Can you butter the turkey? It's sitting on the counter."

Levi walked slowly over to the cooked turkey, making sure to forcefully bump into Eren on his way. He stared at the turkey and the tub of butter sitting next to it. He suddenly felt stupid. He's never done anything like this before.

What the hell am I supposed to do? Just slather this bird in that butter? Gross.

"Need help?" Eren came up behind Levi.

Levi decided not to respond, so Eren took that as a yes.

"It's simple." Eren said, opening the tub of butter. "Here, give me your hands."

Levi hesitantly let Eren take his wrists. To Levi's horror, Eren stuck his hands into the butter, coating them in the spread.

"Gross! What the fuck?" Levi glared at Eren.

Eren laughed at Levi's shocked expression. "Now just lightly rub the butter all around the turkey. Not too much."

"This is fucking revolting." Levi spat, gingerly touching the turkey with his buttered hands.

"You won't be saying that when you eat it." Eren replied. "Now man up and touch the turkey."

"That sounds like a bad euphemism." Levi muttered, still reluctant.

"Levi, like this." Eren grabbed Levi's wrists and guided his smearing across the turkey. Levi felt Eren's warm naked chest on his back, distracting him. He almost didn't care that the butter was getting into his fingernails. Almost.

"Tch, this shit is disgusting."

Eren released Levi's wrists. "Well, get used to it. This turkey won't butter itself."

Levi continued to glare at Eren as he rinsed his hands off in the sink. Eren met Levi's gaze, his head tilted slightly.

"Wow, you must really hate this. Your face is red, Levi."

"What?" Levi wanted to touch his face to make sure, but the thought of smearing butter on his face was not very appealing.

Mikasa smiled slightly at the distressed Levi. "If buttering the turkey is too big of a job for you, I can take over."

Levi started to twitch again. He did not like it when the tables were turned against him. Levi focused on the turkey.

Damn... why do I feel so powerless here?

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Disgusting." Levi muttered, turning on the bathroom sink.

After buttering the turkey, Levi's hands looked like cottage cheese. He showered his hands under the warm running water, dousing them in soap.

"You do know why my mother wanted you to butter the turkey, right?"

Levi groaned at the sound of Levi's voice. "Why? Because you're too incompetent? Or is it because she wanted my hands to smell like cow dick for the rest of my life?"

"The fact that you know what cow dick smells like is a bit alarming." Eren teased.

"Fuck you."

"Well, you didn't fully answer my question. Do you know why, Levi?"

Levi turned off the water and dried his hands, giving Eren a dirty look. "Humor me."

Eren leaned against the doorway. "So you can loosen up a little bit. She knows you're a germaphobe and a clean freak. She, uh... wasn't exaggerating when she told you that I talk about you a lot."

"Hn..." Levi looked at Eren thoughtfully. He caught himself and looked away. "Go put on a shirt, brat. Nobody's impressed by your wimpy physique."

"I'm not wimpy!" Eren poked at his toned stomach.

Levi brushed past Eren. "Whatever."

"Hey, Levi." Eren followed him back to the spare room. "Wanna watch TV with me and Mikasa? Staying in one room isn't so fun."

Levi rolled his eyes. "Fine."

Eren's eyes lit up. "Cool!"

Eren dragged Levi to the lounge where Mikasa was already waiting.

"I think the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is on." Eren said excitedly, plopping down next to Mikasa.

"Oh boy, don't wet yourself." Levi sneered.

Eren scowled at Levi. "Must you always be a sourpuss? You need a burr up your butt. Maybe then you'll smile for a change."

"Oh, please. Your virgin ass wouldn't know what to do with one of those." Levi scoffed.

"Do you?" Eren retorted.

"Okay, I'm leaving." Mikasa stood up and left the lounge.

"Mikasa!" Eren called after his sister.

Levi snickered. "I'm surprised you mentioned burrs, Eren. I never took you as the kinky type."

Eren glared at Levi. "I'm not!"

"Sure."

Eren was about to retort, but he had a better idea. The brunette stood up and walked into the kitchen. Levi paid no attention to the scheming boy. He would soon regret that.

Eren emerged from the kitchen a few minutes later with one hand behind his back. He stood in front of the shorter man.

"Eren, what the fuck are you-"

Before Levi could finish, Eren revealed his hidden object; a bottle of whipped cream. He pressed down on the nozzle, spraying Levi. The cream spurted all over his face.

"You motherfucker!" Levi shouted.

Eren raced to his room, Levi hot on his heels. Before Levi could grab him, Eren slammed his bedroom door shut and locked it. Levi pounded on the door, the force shaking the entire house.

"You open this door right now before I kick it down!"

"But if you do that, you'll get arrested for destruction of private property." Eren said in a sing song voice.

"Fuck the law! You come out now!" Levi growled.

Eren just laughed. Scowling, Levi stormed to the bathroom and washed his face off in the sink.

"That fucking brat... he'll pay for that."

After Levi successfully washed the cream away, he looked up in the mirror. To his surprise, he saw a small smile on his face.

Heh... guess I don't need a burr after all.

By the time evening rolled around, Levi was still livid about the two messes he had to endure that day. He shot Eren a death glare when he went to welcome Armin into the house. Eren simply smiled cheekily at the man.

As Carla set the table for dinner, she kept checking her phone and sighing in exasperation.

"Mom, what's wrong?" Eren asked.

"I'm worried about your father. He should have been back from Trost by now." Carla replied sadly.

"I wouldn't lose sleep over it." Eren rolled his eyes. "I'm used to him not coming home on time."

"I'm not..." Carla murmured. Luckily, Eren didn't hear her.

"So Eren, what have you, Mikasa, and Levi been doing all day?" Armin asked.

"Discussing gay culture." Mikasa immediately said, walking by Eren.

"No we weren't, Mikasa! For the last time, it was a joke!" Eren shouted.

Armin raised an eyebrow. "Oh...kay? Well, what else?"

"We helped Mom cook. And Levi actually got messy for once. All in all, it was a good day." Eren replied happily.

"Dinner is ready!" Carla called from the kitchen.

"Ooh, I can't wait to eat!" Armin laughed. "I'm starving."

The two friends entered the kitchen. Mikasa and Levi were already seated. Eren sat across from Levi, smirking at him. Levi's twitching from earlier in the day came back. Carla made quick work of placing the food on the table. Before she sat down, she looked at the empty seat meant for Grisha. Carla quickly looked up, not wanting anyone to see her sadness.

"Well, dig in!" Carla said cheerfully.

Levi felt a headache come on as the happy family began eating.

"Urgh... why now?" Levi put a hand on his forehead. Suddenly, the voice from his dream reentered his mind. Then, the face of a blond man appeared in his vision.

Who is that? What is going on?

Levi did his best to repress the voice and face. Meanwhile, Carla was striking up conversation. Levi didn't pay much attention, choosing to pick at his food.

"So Eren, has anyone caught your eye at all?" Carla asked slyly.

That caught Levi's attention.

"Mom!" Eren's face turned red. "Why do you wanna know?"

Carla laughed. "This is college we're talking about. In high school you never dated anyone. I'm sure there's a lucky lady on campus."

Eren glanced at Levi. A light bulb went off in Eren's head.

"You know..." Eren said with a sudden boost of confidence. "There is this one girl in my chemistry class named Mina Carolina."

Levi raised an eyebrow. Eren smirked to himself. Now maybe he won't see me as a brat...

"Ooh!" Carla cooed. "Is she pretty?"

"Very! She has cute grey eyes and black hair. It's ironic. Levi has the same features, but it's just not the same."

And here comes the twitching.

Armin looked at Eren then at Levi. Armin knew Eren was bluffing, but the subtle expression on Levi's face said otherwise. The question is, why is Eren doing this?

"She sounds adorable." Carla said happily. "What about you, Mikasa?"

Mikasa closed her eyes. "No one. Armin's roommate keeps stalking me, though."

Carla looked at Armin questionably.

"His name is Jean Kirstein. It's extremely obvious that he likes Mikasa." Armin explained. "He's even gone to the point of serenading her as she walks to class."

"It's actually really annoying." Mikasa sighed.

As Mikasa, Armin, and Carla talked about Jean, Eren looked at Levi, wondering if his bluff worked. To his disappointment, Levi wasn't looking at him. He was calmly eating his dinner. Eren crossed his arms and sulked for the rest of the meal.

Afterwords, Levi quietly stood up from his seat and walked back to the spare room, not giving anyone a second glance.

"Hey Levi, wake up."

Levi's eyes fluttered open. Who the hell is waking me up? Wait... when did I even go to bed?

It was still dark outside, and he couldn't see who was lightly shaking him awake.

"Levi, it's Eren."

"The hell do you want this early in the morning?" Levi turned over in the bed.

"Get dressed and meet me at the door by 6 am. It's 5 am now. I have something to show you. Whatever you do though, make sure you don't wear jeans. " Eren whispered. With that, Eren left the room.

Levi groaned as he slowly got out of bed. He dug in his duffel bag and pulled out a sweater and running pants. After combing his hair, Levi walked tot he front door. Eren smiled at the sleepy Levi. He had on similar attire, and had a backpack.

"Why are we leaving at six o'clock in the morning?" Levi asked irritably. "You're more of a delinquent than I thought."

"You're one to talk." Eren laughed softly. "Now follow me."

Eren opened the door, and Levi shivered at the cold breeze blowing in. Pulling his sweater closer to his face, Levi followed Eren out the door. "Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise." Eren replied mysteriously.

Eren started walking towards the forest behind the Jaeger residence. Curious, Levi followed him. Since it was still dark out, Levi had to resort back to his former army training to navigate the area and keep up with Eren, who had no problem walking in the dark.

At one point, Levi felt like he lost Eren. He couldn't hear his footsteps at all. The short man stood still. He felt a hand grab his wrist. His first thought was to throw whoever grabbed his over his shoulder.

"Levi, it's me." Eren said, sensing Levi was about to resort to violence.

Levi relaxed slightly as he allowed Eren to lead him in the right direction. A few minutes later, they arrived at a frozen lake.

"This is where I first found my passion for water." Eren said softly.

Levi looked up at him. "Oh?"

"During the summer as a child, I swam here. Then, during the winter, I ice skate here with Mikasa and Armin. We usually do it before dawn, because when the sun rose, its reflection on the ice is absolutely breathtaking. "

Eren unzipped his backpack and took out two pairs of ice skates. "Wanna ice skate with me?"

Levi looked away. "Why?"

"Because this lake is something special to me... and I wanted to share it with you before we go back to Mitras today."

Levi exhaled through his nose. "You're a hard one to figure out, Eren."

"What do you mean?" Eren asked, sitting on the ground. He quickly laced up his skates. "Are you joining me?"

"Fine." Levi sat down next to Eren and fumbled with the skates. "I've never ice skated before."

The sun started to peek through the darkness. Eren noticed Levi having trouble standing up in the skates. Eren stood up and took Levi's hand.

"Balancing is the hardest part, but once you do that, everything else is easier." Eren told him.

Levi wanted to pull his hand away from Eren's, but he couldn't bring himself to. Eren guided the shorter man to the ice. Levi almost fell as soon as his skates hit the lake.

"Bend your knees a little." Eren advised Levi.

Levi did as he was told, and he found it easier to stay upright.

"Okay, good. Now, try to walk." Eren said.

Levi stepped forward. He unconsciously gripped Eren's hand tighter.

Why am I doing this? I know I look ridiculous. Levi thought.

"Wow, you're doing well for a first timer." Eren smiled. "Okay, keep your knees bent. I'll skate, and you'll see how it feels to glide across the eyes. And do not let go of my hand."

Eren skated forward at a slow speed. Levi's skates slid across the ice. Levi gazed at the sunrise. The light shone directly on Eren. At that moment, Levi heard the voice in his head again.

"Tch...!" Levi panicked, and he lost his balance. He fell forward. Eren, not expecting the sudden weight, fell forward as well. He two landed rather hard on the ice.

"Owww!" Eren whined.

Levi had landed on top of Eren, breathing heavily.

'What's wrong, Levi?" Eren asked, concerned.

"Eren... you're not really interested in that girl, are you?" He asked.

Eren flushed. Where did that come from?

"Heh heh... you caught me." Eren chuckled, embarrassed. "I only said that I did because that would have made me seem more mature. Now that I think about it, Mina Carolina was the wrong girl to use. I don't think we've spoken once."

"Good." Levi sighed, resting his head on Eren's shoulder.

Eren pouted. "Hey, just because I haven't fallen in love with anyone, doesn't mean that I'm incapable."

"That's not what I meant." Levi told him.

Eren's eyes widened at Levi's response. "Levi...?"

Levi realized what he said and got off of Eren. "Whatever, let's just get back to this ice skating thing."

"Um... okay." Eren replied, letting what Levi said go for now.

I'm so confused. Levi thought to himself. Whenever Eren comes to mind, that voice talks to me in my head. Why is all of this happening? I was perfectly fine until Eren showed up. I'm confused. Frustrated, actually. All of this is digging up my past. I can't let that happen. I was finally able to forget it. I don't want to remember anything anymore...

And the plot thickens!

You: What plot?

If you're wondering what the heck is going on in Levi's tangled web of thoughts, then that's good! That means I'm doing my job correctly. :P

Again, I had a mini writer's block when I was writing this chapter, so sorry if anything seemed dull. If stuff was confusing, then that's great. It was intentional.

If you've liked the story so far, add this to your favorites and alerts. And remember...

REVIEWS ARE LIKE PORN TO WRITERS, SO SATISFY OUR URGES!

I really appreciate feedback. See you in the next one!

PRK