Chapter 10 – Let's Have a Talk
It was early Friday morning, the first Friday of Eren's first 'week' of classes at Rose University, well at least the first three days of classes. Her classes had begun Wednesday, earlier in the week. At that time, it had been four days since she saw or spoke to Levi.
That Wednesday morning, earlier in the week, she was excited at the thought of seeing him again, so excited, that she'd kept herself up all night trying to decide what to wear and how to do her hair, how much or little makeup she should wear or even if she should wear any at all. Thoughts like 'I wonder what his type is,' or, 'maybe I shouldn't really think to hard about that,' and 'if I don't put enough effort, will he notice… wait what if I'm trying too hard…' filled her mind and kept her from sleeping.
These thoughts occupied her head until she finally settled down into her pajamas and made her way to her bed, 'OH SHIT…it's already 3 AM and I have work at 7 AM tomorrow…today.' With a heavy sigh, she closed her eyes and tried to calm her nerves in hopes to salvage what little remained of the night and any possibility of beauty sleep.
All her panicking and nitpicky behavior was for naught. She'd seen neither hide nor hair of Levi since classes began; she was starting to wonder if he was even teaching anything this semester.
Eren pulled herself out of bed, throwing the sheets off her body and leaving them in a messy heap. She strode towards her bedroom door then into the bathroom to wake herself up and make herself look a bit more human.
After lazily freshening up, she went to her closet and dressed casually, she pulled on a pair of black skinny jeans followed by a light blue, slightly oversized sweater. She slipped on a pair of plain silver ballet flats and loosely wrapped an off-white scarf around her neck. She put on a simple pair of silver studs and returned to her bathroom, yawning widely and scratching her unkempt brown locks.
After a few minutes of brushing the knots out of her coffee colored tresses, she pulled back the front part into a low bun, leaving her fringe and length loose. She decided on a thin line of eyeliner and brushed on a few coats of mascara before giving herself a once over. She grabbed her wallet, making sure her ID and a few bills were in it, then slid her messenger bag over her shoulders and headed out of her apartment and towards the bus.
After a relatively short bus ride and quiet trip on the train, Eren found herself on campus, at 6:50AM, just a short distance from the bookstore and with enough time to grab a small coffee before her 7 AM shift began.
"Hey Eren," Mylius spoke while he logged into the computer in the break room, "do you mind finishing up that order list I was working on earlier? I have to leave now because I have a meeting with my professor before class." He double clicked the program that all the employees used to clock in and clock out and waited for it to load while he directed his attention to Eren, who was pulling down a stack of notebooks to restock the supplies section.
"Huh?" she breathed out as her feet finally touched the ground, 'geez I hate this stupid ladder, it makes me nervous,' she thought as she came around the corner with a stack of notebooks, "Oh, yea sure no problem. Just leave the lists at my register before you leave." She walked past him and out towards the supplies section without another word.
"Alright, thanks." He said as she past him. He typed in his employee ID and clicked the 'clock out' block before shutting down the program and logging out for the next person to use the computer. He picked up the thin stack of paper and grabbed his jacket and bag. Before leaving the store, walked behind the cashier station and looked for the monitor that showed Eren's login ID and left the papers on the keyboard. He left the store and got lost in the crowd of students that filled the building.
Eren finished organizing the notebooks and headed up to her station, smiling when she saw the neat stack of order lists placed just where she'd asked. She gingerly thumbed through the pages as she headed back toward the books section and started getting to work on the order.
Nearly an hour had past, and Eren had just finished packing and sorting the last of the orders. She walked back to her station and stood behind the monitor, blankly staring into space while she tried not to think about how much she wanted to see Levi.
'I still have an hour before I'm off' she thought when she looked at the time on the monitor. She briefly contemplated going into the office where her bosses worked to grab her phone, but then she decided against it. 'It's only an hour…I can wait.'
She stood with a bored expression on her face as she stared into space for several more long minutes.
Eren's senses returned to her when she heard the cliché 'ding' that alerted all occupants in the store of someone's entering or exiting the area. She turned and her jaw nearly hit the floor when she saw him, 'finally!' she thought happily as he strode through the sensors and towards the school spirit wear and paraphernalia.
Her eyes followed him, wide with excitement, as he deftly moved through the rows of sweatshirts, t-shirts, and jackets, straight towards the ceramic ware and customized pen section.
Eren stayed behind the counter and lightly bounced in place for a few moments, debating whether or not to and ask him if he needed any help. Before she could calm her nerves enough to walk away from the counter, he'd already started towards her.
He had two cups with the universities' insignia on the sides of them and a thermos with the school's colors. He set the items on the counter, and then quickly walked away before Eren had a chance to voice her greeting. He grabbed a small stuffed teddy bear from a display bin in the front of the store, then paused and grabbed one more, larger one, before returning to the counter and adding those items to his purchase. He had yet to acknowledge or even address Eren, choosing instead to keep his eyes averted and search through his bag for his wallet.
Eren noticed his odd and distant behavior, she wanted to question him about it, but her boss, Mrs. Shadis had walked up to the counter.
"Professor Ackerman!" she greeted him while Eren kept her head down and started to ring up the items.
Levi turned to his side and returned the greeting, "Mrs. Shadis," he extended his unoccupied hand, "always a pleasure." He stated with, what Eren saw as a fake and forced smile, 'wow he even showed some teeth in that one' she thought as she finished ringing up his items.
"How is everything with you? Still the same old things? Still single?" she asked a stream of inquiries that quickly became 'yes or no' questions, taking away the possibility for Levi to give any creative answers.
"I'm well thank you, and no they aren't the same," he quickly glanced at Eren then back to Mrs. Shadis, "a few things have changed." He purposefully ignored the last question, since he himself wasn't even sure of the answer.
When he'd come into the bookstore, he wasn't expecting to see Mrs. Shadis out of her office, he never enjoyed her prying and overly familiar way of speaking, he also was not expecting to run into Eren. He knew she worked there, but he figured she would value sleep more than a few extra dollars in the bank like any other college student. He'd mentally slapped himself when he walked up the counter and realized that she was the only cashier, he hadn't really thought about what to say to her since their date Saturday night and really, really hadn't thought about how to tell her he was going to have to cancel for the coming Saturday since his parents decided to stop by and stay with him for the weekend along with his niece while her mother was away for business.
Eren watched the display and noticed Levi's pause, and the quick glance he sent her way before he continued talking. She felt her cheeks heat slightly and tried not to over process his words while she wrapped up the cups and bagged the rest of the items. She set the bag on the counter and typed in the 'faculty' discount code which was used for anyone employed by the school. After a few seconds of processing, the '10%' discount came off of each item and she pressed the total button.
She smirked inwardly and decided to save Levi from the invasive question session, "your total is $53.70 Professor Ackerman." She put a subtle yet dramatic emphasis on his name and put on her best 'fake smile in order to look good in front of the boss' face. She saw the corner of Levi's mouth twitch up at her little show and he handed her his bank card and ID.
She diligently checked to make sure the information on his ID and card matched up, and then handed him his ID back. She had to be perfect in front of the boss, even if they both knew who the man between them was. She swiped his card and waited for him to enter in his pin before she finished the transaction and returned the card to him.
"Thank you, have a nice day sir," she said, fake and cheesy smile still plastered on her face as she handed him his bag.
He nodded his head and let the hand holding the bag fall to his side. He said his goodbyes to Mrs. Shadis and fast walked out of the store and into a new crowd of students.
Eren watched him until he'd left the entrance and was out of her line of sight. She reprinted the receipt and finished filling out the discount form while Mrs. Shadis spoke to her.
"Is he one of your professors this semester?" Eren finished her signature and then stuck the clipboard reserved for special discounts back into its slot.
"Ah, no ma'am." She looked up and met Mrs. Shadis' curious eyes, "I actually met him at Dr. Pixis' holiday party last year," she noticed some of the curiosity fading, only to be replaced by a questioning look, "he gave me his card… for consultation purposes…" Eren felt herself getting a bit nervous and hoped that her little explanation would explain her 'familiarity' with the professor.
"I see," she said with a little glint in her eyes, but let the topic drop.
Eren breathed out and asked, "Did you need something ma'am?"
"Ah yes, I came up here to let you know that you could leave if you wanted, it's been a bit slow this morning and I know you're bored dear."
Eren smiled at her words and looked at the time, she'd be getting over a little over a half hour early, "Alright, then I guess I will." She logged off her station and walked around the counter, "I'll see you Saturday then?"
"Yes, at 8 AM" she responded back with a curt nod and a smile.
Eren returned the gestures and then made her way to the break room to log into the station and begin clocking out. While she waited for the settings to load, she grabbed her bag from her bosses' office and then searched for her phone. Once the program had loaded, she entered her information and clocked out; she said one final goodbye to her boss and then wandered into the crowd and towards the lecture hall where her first class was held.
She walked into the building and sat down on a bench to wait for the current class to end and hers to start while she browsed her phone.
'Three messages huh?' she thought as she opened tapped on the smiling icon. 'From Mikasa, Armin and…Levi?!' she tapped on the message from Levi and smiled as she read it.
[Received 9:55 AM] Levi: Sorry about earlier, I wasn't expecting to see you… and I was trying to avoid Mrs. Shadis. I'm sure you could figure out why. When are you done with classes?
Eren laughed to herself and thought back to the event, 'Yes, I'm sure I know why.' She quickly typed back that her last class ended at 5 but she had free time from 2 until 4.
Eren began to reply to her other messages, Mikasa and Armin both asked what she wanted to do for lunch, either eating in the cafeteria, in the lounge or out. She thought about it for a few seconds and then sent 'the lounge' to both of them, like she usually did.
She checked her email and then decided to put her phone away and look over her notes from the previous class, just in case the professor decided to have a pop quiz. After about fifteen minutes passed, Eren heard the shuffling of feet and the opening of doors as the first few students slipped out of the lecture hall and to their next destinations. She started to put her notes away and waited for her room to clear out before walking in and finding herself a good seat. Not too close, but not far either.
After settling in her seat, she heard the vibration of her phone and pulled it out to view the message.
[Received 10:50 AM] Levi: Do you want to meet for some coffee? I know a great little café nearby that serves the best.
Eren grinned as she typed back.
[Sent 10:50 AM] I'm sure it's just great. Coffee sounds good, I'll need a pick me up to get through my last class anyway. ^o^
After about a minute, she got the final response.
[Received 10:51 AM] Levi: Alright, meet me in the lounge at 2:15.
She smiled and tucked her phone away in her bag as the class began to fill with people. 'Alright, just three hours, I can do this!'
At 2 PM Levi sat in a plain wooden chair near the rear entrance of the universities lounge. It was popular among both faculty and students because it offered a different and better tasting menu than what was served in the cafeteria. He pulled out his phone and thumbed through a few emails, starring a few for later and deleting the redundant ones.
He periodically looked up to check if Eren had entered the area. After a few minutes passed, he heard a familiar laugh and perked up in his seat. He looked towards the entrance and saw her walking with a tall, burly, blonde guy. The two walked over to a cushioned booth, Eren laughed and smiled the whole way.
The blonde offered to let her sit down first but she just smiled and shook her head, mouthing something Levi couldn't make out. The two continued their conversation and Eren pulled out her phone, glanced at it and slipped it back into her bag. After a few more minutes, which seemed to drag on for Levi, two other guys joined them and greeted the blonde, and then Eren. She waved at them and checked her phone, this time looking around and finally towards Levi.
He saw her smile and lift a hand up in a short, somewhat shy greeting before she turned back and mouthed a few things to the guys and waved goodbye to them. She weaved through the semi-full space and towards Levi, who was already up and heading towards to the door.
Eren caught up to him as he walked outside into the cold air. "Hey!" she said excitedly, following behind him, towards what she assumed was the faculty parking lot.
"Hey," he looked over his shoulder to greet her, offering a small and gentle smile.
After walking for a few more silent minutes in the cold, the two made it to the parking lot in the front of the campus and Levi unlocked and opened the door for Eren. He closed it and hurried over to his side, then started the car and turned on the seat warmers.
He turned to look at Eren, who met his eyes with an amused look, he quirked a brow and she started to tremble as she tried to hold in her laughter. "And what exactly is so funny?"
"Y-you" she forced out, "I-I can't tell if you're nervous or embarrassed being around me a-and" she paused to let another laugh escape, "I can't help but think, 'how cute'" she turned and offered him the cheesiest grin she could muster.
Levi felt his eye twitch and took a deep breath, "Did you really just call a grown man cute?" he asked, turning his face and pulling out the parking space. She laughed more in response so he continued, "I'm not embarrassed, I can tell you that much." He left the lot and headed towards the street, smiling when he heard her giggles stop.
Before turning out on the street, he turned and looked at her, smirking at the pink blush that dusted her cheeks as the information processed. 'I'm not embarrassed, but you sure as hell do make me nervous,' he thought, then sped out on the street, relishing in the whimper that escaped her lips.
Eren gripped the seat for dear life as Levi sped towards her other part-time job. 'Damn it Eren, why did you tease him, you know he drives like a maniac when he-AHHHHHH' her thoughts were interrupted by the mental scream that left her mouth agape and eyes wide as Levi zipped into a parking space, nearly hitting the car in front and behind him.
She felt her body tense up and shake.
Then she heard the raucous laughter from the driver's side. "You really should see your face right now. Actually…" Levi trailed off and Eren heard him shuffling through something. She turned her face to look and was surprised when she was met with the back of his phone. It took her a few moments to process that he was taking pictures of her shocked, confused, then offended face, but it was too late by the time she realized.
"H-hey!" she shouted, reaching for his phone, which he retracted and held behind his back. "Let me see those!" she said, she took off her seat belt, allowing her a wider range of movement, and tried to reach behind him.
"Are you going to delete them if you don't like them?" he questioned, smirking as he leaned closer to the window and further from Eren.
"Of course I am, why would I let you keep a dumb looking picture of me?" She was stretched across the space in the coupe, leaning most of her weight on the cup holder in between the seats.
"Then I guess you won't be seeing them." He stated, easily holding back a laugh.
She pouted and began to pull back, but she lost her precariously placed balance and tumbled forward into Levi's lap.
Everything froze for a moment as the two took in their new position. Levi was leaning back towards the driver window looking down with a wide eyed expression as Eren lay face down in his lap. He quickly regained the ability to think and set his phone on the side, then helped her lift herself up. Their eyes met for a moment and Levi felt his heart beating harder in his chest.
Her eyes were wide and her cheeks were bright red. Her lips were parted in a surprised expression and to Levi they looked very, very inviting. He raised a hand to her face, cradling her chin and cheek while his thumb slowly slid over her bottom lip. He saw her lips move, and he heard her voice, but he didn't understand what it was she was saying. He licked his lips and then stared into her confused and questioning eyes. It was then that he realized what it was those tantalizing lips of her had been mouthing.
"-vi…Levi are you okay?"
He released her and she pushed herself up and out of his lap, and back towards her seat. They sat, processing what happened before they both turned to speak.
"Le-"
"Eren-"
"You go ahead," Eren said, throwing up her hands defensively.
"No, it's alright, you speak first Eren."
She looked down and to the side before lowering her hands, "Alright…what I was going to say was…are you feeling okay?" She looked into his eyes as she addressed him.
"I" he paused, "I'm alright, I think…Eren…we need to talk about a few things." He met her eyes with a heated stare of his own.
She nodded and added quietly, "Yea… it looks like we do."
After their awkward incident in the car, the two made their way into the café Eren worked at on the weekends and during the week. Levi ordered a black coffee and Eren got a vanilla latte with extra whip cream. They sat in a private corner table and waited for their orders to be ready. When the buzzer went off, Levi returned it and brought both his and Eren's drink orders.
He sat down and took a deep breath.
"Eren," he started, looking directly into her brilliant green eyes, "How do feel about me?" He purposely left the question open ended, hoping that she answered as honestly as possible.
Eren took an experimental sip of her latte and sputtered at the heat of the coffee and the intensity of Levi's question. "How I feel …about you?" she questioned aloud, she looked down and played with her fingers while she tried to think of a response. "Well, I feel a lot of things when I'm around you," she started, then back up to meet his steady, calming gaze, "sometimes I feel nervous or uncomfortable, other times I feel really giddy and excited…," she looked down and smiled at her fingers, "but most of the time I just feel really calm…like… I don't know how to put this? Um, kind of like…we just fit...?" she started to trail off and mumble nervously.
Levi sighed and took a sip of his coffee, 'She still makes it better' he thought as the flavor and her words processed. "So, you mostly feel comfortable around me? Would you say I put you at ease… or on edge?"
Eren thought for a moment before she nodded, "Yes, something like that, comfortable is a good way to describe it. But, I'm not sure about the last two… I mean, you don't put me at ease per say, I do feel safe around you, but I sometimes I get a weird, fluttery feeling in my stomach that makes me really nervous and aware… yes, that's the word, I'm really aware of you."
"Aware? Elaborate on that."
"Well, it's like I care more about how I interact with you… I notice things more when I'm with you compared to when I'm with other people…um…sorry, is this making any sense?"
"Perfect sense." He let out a small sigh of relief. 'At least I know she isn't repulsed by me.'
She started sipping her latte again. "How do you feel about us then?"
Eren looked up from her drink and met Levi's serious steel colored eyes. "Us…? As in, our relationship?"
"Yes. What do you think about our current relationship, as in, what do you like, dislike, or wish to change about it?"
Eren nodded that she understood and thought about it for a few moments.
"I…I think that I like whatever it is we have," she scrunched her brows a bit in thought, "because it feels natural. And I really like that, but I also feel like we're lacking something…important. I don't really care for labels, but I really don't know what it is we have…so I can't honestly tell you what it is I like and dislike or even what I want to change."
"Fair enough." He said, smiling and taking a drink of his coffee. "Then may I suggest something?" Eren nodded and he continued, "Would you like to try and 'label' whatever it is that we have?" he used air quotes on the word 'label' for added emphasis.
"Okay. And how would you 'label' us?" Eren asked, repeating the air quoting gesture.
"Well, for starters, I just want to make one more thing clear." He set his cup down, looking Eren directly in the eyes, "Eren, do you like me?"
"I-" she looked down and to the side, trying her best to avoid his heated stare. He lightly tapped the back of her hand, brushing his fingers over it and resting his hand on top of hers.
"It's okay, you don't have to be nervous."
She swallowed and turned to face him, "I-I think I do…but I-I'm not sure."
He smiled and gently squeezed her hand before pulling it back to his side of the table, "I can work with that."
"Eren." He waited for her to look back up at him before continuing, "I like you. I'm honestly not sure if it's a little or a lot, but I want to try and find out if you are willing to do the same."
She stared at him as the words processed, she nodded, but an air of confusion remained in her eyes as she searched his for further clarification.
"Eren, will you go out with me?" Levi clarified, hoping that bluntly asking would rid the cloud of confusion that fell over her.
"Okay." She stated, smiling and then turning red as she shrunk back into her seat, hiding behind her half-gone latte.
Levi felt a small weight lifted off of his chest and took in a deep breath. He sat and enjoyed the quiet that settled between them as he finished off his drink, and thought of all the ramifications of this decision, all of which he felt would be worth the trouble of getting to know the young woman sitting across from him. There was still so much he wanted to know, her childhood, where she came from, what brought her here, and why he was lucky enough to have crossed paths with her. He pulled out his phone to check the time and narrowed his eyes at how quickly the time had gone by, they'd have to leave soon if he wanted to make sure Eren got to class on time.
"Alright," he broke the silence, "since we're going to do this, there are a few official things we're going to have to go over." Eren perked up and nodded. "Let's give this a week to settle in, if after a week from today, you're certain you want to continue to be in a relationship with me, then we need to go together and sit down with the dean of students and president of the university to let them know. Student and faculty relationships aren't illegal, but the school has to be aware of them. Understand?"
"Yes, that makes sense…but shouldn't we tell them as soon as possible? I don't want you to get in trouble." She gave him a concerned look.
"If you're going to worry, then worry about your grades, not me." He stood up from his seat and picked up Eren's empty coffee cup. "We better get going if you want to make it to class on time." Eren nodded and started towards the door while Levi returned his empty cup to the counter and threw Eren's in the trash.
When they got in the car, Eren turned to Levi and said, "I'll have you know, my grades are just fine."
He rolled his eyes and started the engine, "It's only been three days, so everyone's grades are just fine."
Eren scrunched her nose and then turned to look out of the window and pout. After a minute passed, she began to wonder why her stomach still felt intact and the car wasn't moving.
"Eren." She turned and was faced with Levi's phone again; he snapped a few quick pictures and then laughed before showing them to her. He kept a firm grip on his phone as he flicked through the images, all of which Eren hated and told him to delete. He refused and settled on one of the one's he'd just taken as her new icon image.
"Can I at least take of picture of you for my phone too?" Eren whined.
"Nope."
"That's not fair! You have all those unattractive candid's and I get nothing."
"Yep." He smiled as he ripped out of the parallel parking space. At a red light, he glanced over to a pouting Eren and laughed, "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll have plenty of chances to get a good one, I am your boyfriend now."
Eren's face turned pink as her annoyed expression faded and was replaced with a bubbly one, it made her already youthful look even more enticing. Levi had a quick debate with himself over whether or not to take advantage of the moment, and decided not to take full advantage. He checked to make sure the light was still red and then leaned over towards Eren, placing a light and quick peck on her already reddened cheeks.
A/N
Cheesy I know but I like cheese so lay it on me.