Somehow, Eren managed to force himself through another day at his college, and tried to distract himself from everything by being consumed by the work he had to do, but it was to no avail. Every time he picked up his pencil and tried to draw in Art, the graphite left behind reminded him of Levi. Something about Levi irked him. He felt like there was something he had known, or should know about Levi. Levi was a stranger and yet, somehow, Eren felt like he knew Levi, or was supposed to. Eren had found himself drawing angular grey eyes, and thin fingers, and it didn't surprise him. So, he drew more. He filled pages of his sketchbook with Levi's face, hands, and body. Page after page was decorated by grey lines, ghostly glances, and unreadable expression after expression. It was therapeutic in a way, to draw Levi, but it didn't quite settle Eren in the way he thought it might. He had believed that maybe if he got it out of his system by drawing it out repeatedly, he could focus on something other than the man who'd been in his dreams. However, that was not how it was, for Eren's thoughts of Levi got worse, if that were possible. Instead of Levi popping into his head on occasion, Levi was constantly there. He was curious to try to understand Levi better, but he wasn't sure if it would make things better… or worse.

Eren sat on the floor of his small living room, and leaned his back against the settee. He looked down at his hands. They were covered in something red. Eren's heart thumped faster and he stared at his hands in disbelief. He scrambled to his feet and ran to the sink. He grabbed a scrubbing brush and raked the brush against his skin, as he tried to get the copper-smelling liquid from his hands. Eren struggled to swallow, as his throat felt tight, and it refused to cooperate. His breathing had quickened, and his hands started to get sore from his ferocious scrubbing. He thrusted his hands under the hot water and screwed his eyes shut as he winced. When he opened his eyes, his hands were red, but not from being covered in something. His hands were bright red and aching from the cruel bristles on the scrubbing brush, and the scolding hot water. He yanked his hands from underneath the hot stream, and stared at them with wide eyes. He opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, like a fish out of water, and kept turning his hands over, as if he expected for them to be covered in filth again.

"What the… ah." Eren hissed through his teeth as he curled and uncurled his fingers. "What was that?"

Suddenly, a loud screech echoed in Eren's ears and he clapped his hands over his ears. He shouted and crouched down and gritted his teeth, as his eyebrows pulled together and his eyes closed. He felt tears come to his eyes and his lips fumbled around a name. Eren sat on his kitchen floor and slowly pulled his hands from his ears, to place over his face. His apartment was silent, except for his harsh breathing, and the splashing of the water from the tap. Eren opened his eyes and wiped the tears from his cheeks. He sniffed and wiped his nose on the back of his hand. He took a deep breath and clenched his fists, as he counted down from ten to calm down. Eren vaguely noted that his phone went off in the other room, and he licked his lips. He stood up and held onto the counter as he tried to stop his legs from shaking. He turned off the tap, and made his way into the living room to grab his phone. He unlocked his phone and saw his wallpaper of himself, Mikasa and Armin together, smiling. They'd been at the beach, then, and they'd spent the day running around in the sea, and splashing each other until they were worn out. They'd laid down on the golden sand and watched the horizon, as the sun set, and casted an orange glow over the smooth waves of the ocean. Eren remembered that day with a warm fondness. He shook his head and saw the small message icon in the top of the screen. He went to his messages, and saw it was from Mikasa.

"'Eren, I'm outside your apartment.' Huh?" Eren frowned. He had a lightbulb moment. "Opticians."

With his keys and wallet in his pockets, Eren headed out of his apartment to meet Mikasa. He looked around as he left the simple metal door of his apartment building, and noticed Mikasa stood by a lamppost, with a red scarf wrapped around her neck, and up to her nose. She adjusted her scarf and fastened the final button on her long black coat. Her dark eyes glanced up, and spotted Eren. She strode towards him and nodded.

"Ready?" She asked.

"Yeah." Eren nodded.

Mikasa lead the way into town, and glanced out of the corner of her eyes at Eren. She looked him up and down, and her eyebrow twitched into a brief frown. She put her hands in her pockets, and glanced down to Eren's hands. She shook her head gently and faced forward.

"What happened to your hands?" She asked monotonously.

"Oh," Eren lifted his hands and gave them a quick once over, "nothing, I just spilled tea, and it was a bit hot."

"Mm, because hot water scrubs off your skin." Mikasa glanced to Eren. "Armin also mentioned that you were acting weird yesterday."

"I wasn't acting weird." Eren shook his head. "I just didn't sleep well."

"Don't lie to me."

"It's not a lie!"

"I know sleep had something to do with it, and you barely sleep anyway, but it wasn't just sleep. There was something else." Mikasa frowned. "I worry about you, and Armin."

"Yeah, I know you do, but I'm fine." Eren smiled weakly. "Honestly."

"You said that before, too." She muttered to herself.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Mikasa sighed and waved her hand. When they walked up to the Optician's, she led Eren inside and got them signed in. As they sat on the worn seating in the narrow corridor of the shop, she patted Eren's knee and smiled at him. From what Armin had told her, she guessed that there was something that was obviously bothering Eren, but she didn't want to have to force it out of him. She picked at her nails and thought about Eren's reaction when she'd asked about his hands. They were starting to blister in places, and she didn't like the foreboding idea that it left. It unsettled her to think that Eren may be thinking about something like the past, or that he may even be hurting himself over something, and it concerned her that Eren wasn't talking to her or Armin about it. Normally, if Eren had a problem, he'd come straight to them, and they'd help him to get through it, or forget about it if it was irrational. She didn't like the implications.

"Eren Jaeger?" A short woman with brown hair tied into a messy bun, called sweetly. She smiled around at the people sat in the seats. "Mr Jaeger?"

"That's you." Mikasa nudged Eren.

"Oh, right, yeah." He gave a small smile. "Sorry." He followed the woman.

It took half an hour for Eren to come back from having his eyes tested. As Mikasa stood, Eren was followed by the woman from before, and she chatted animatedly about the cost of the frames and if he was allowed money off due to being in full-time education. Mikasa raised an eyebrow, and Eren shrugged and motioned for her to come with him. They were led to a section at the back of the shop, where the walls had racks of glasses, and different frames and companies' names were labelled above some of them. Eren was given a quick tour of the different ones, and then left to his devices to choose a pair.

"Your eyesight's that bad?" Mikasa looked around at all the different frames.

"It's not terrible, but it's not great either. They said I needed them, but I bet glasses won't even work that well for me." Eren shrugged and picked up a random pair and tried them on.

"No." Mikasa grimaced. "They're covered in tacky designs."

"Oh," Eren took the glasses off and brought them to his face to get a clear look at them, "Oh, yeah, you're right. Whoops." He bit his lip. "Maybe you can pick out some for me?"

"Sure." Mikasa nodded.

Mikasa got to work. She quickly glanced around and picked off four different pairs of glasses and got Eren to try them on. She managed to narrow the choices down to two, for Eren, and put back the ones they didn't need. One pair was black and had two simple bands of blue on the sides, and the other was a light emerald colour. Eren tried both pairs again, and he walked up to a mirror and tried them on for himself. He leaned his face towards the mirror to get a clear picture, and inspected the black glasses. He didn't mind them. He took the glasses off carefully, and tried the green pair. His eyebrows immediately rose up and he shrugged. The green of his eyes were more obvious now, and it really accentuated his eyes nicely. He turned around to Mikasa.

"What do you think about these?" He pushed the nose of the glasses up his nose more.

"Yeah." Mikasa smiled. "I really like them."

"These ones then." Eren smiled and nodded.

He took off the glasses and he walked back towards the front of the shop where there was a desk, with several smiling women behind it, all of them in black dresses, or trousers. As Eren handed over the glasses, the woman smiled and they went through the process of checking that they fitted Eren properly. They put through the order, and Eren paid for his glasses, which had been knocked down in price due to being at college, and he nodded in thanks. They booked a date for Eren to collect his glasses, and then he and Mikasa left the shop. Mikasa smiled at Eren and talked him into getting something to eat.

They walked to a nearby favourite chip shop. Mikasa got a portion of chips, and they ate them as they had a slow walk back towards Eren's apartment. Mikasa kept stealing Eren's chips, and that made Eren try to get his revenge by holding them out of her reach. She pinched his side, and stole the chips from Eren before he almost dropped them. She stuck her tongue out at Eren and he replied in kind.

To any outsider, they probably looked like a couple. They probably looked like they recently got into a relationship, and were being playful and openly affectionate, but they were like siblings. They loved each other dearly, and they would protect each other to the ends of the earth and back, but they just didn't feel romantic feelings to each other. Their trio was built on love and understanding, and that meant that they knew when something was up with one of the others. Their bond couldn't be broken by steel, or wood, or lies or deceit, because they trusted each other, and that was what was important. They spent less time together, due to school and other duties, but that made the time they spent together even more special, because they treasured every second. Every smile, every laugh, every joke was etched into their memories and stacked away for when any of them felt alone or left out. They tried to not leave each other out of things, but it was getting harder and harder to.

"We're here." Mikasa grabbed the rubbish from Eren's hands, and threw it in the bin.

"Yep." Eren brought Mikasa inside his apartment building, and unlocked his front door.

"Film?" Mikasa offered.

"Yep." Eren nodded and shed his coat and shoes.

As Mikasa wandered off deeper into his apartment, Eren leaned his forehead on his front door. He sighed and closed his eyes. He felt a weight on his shoulders. He shook his head, he couldn't let himself be pulled down. He had Mikasa around to focus on right now, and he couldn't just spend his time moping in his hallway.

"What film do you want?" Mikasa called.

"Whatever is fine."

Eren went into his living room and found Mikasa sat on the floor in front of the films that were on display under his TV. She looked up and raised up two films and told him to choose one. Eren grunted and shrugged as he sat on the settee. Mikasa rolled her eyes and stuck some slash horror on. She fell onto the settee and brought her feet up onto it, and waited as the cliché title flashed on the screen, accompanied by overly anxious violins screaming. Eren raised his eyebrow at Mikasa's choice of film; Nightmare of the Crawling Phantom. He wasn't impressed. Mikasa just raised her eyebrow in return and covered her smile with her cream knitted jumper. Eren rolled his eyes and rested his cheek in his hand. He tried to pay attention to the film, but the smooth voiced supposed-to-be-sixteen-but-was-thirty-six male lead kept reminding him of Levi's voice murmuring to him about Titan, and dogs. He shifted in his seat. He looked back up to the screen just in time to see a close-up of a woman's face as she breathed really heavily. Eren rolled his eyes. Horror films were so stupid and overrated.

His mind drifted to thinking about Levi, again. He conjured up scenarios where he asked him various questions about his life, and tried to get to know him better. He thought about sitting on the bed with Levi and just talking for a while about some of the times he'd spent with Armin and Mikasa, and how he loved seeing them smile. He thought about Levi putting Titan down, and shuffling closer next to Eren, so that their thighs touched, as Eren talked about his friends. He thought about feeling the warmth of Levi's fingers as he laced them with Eren's fingers, and the hint of a smile that would play at Levi's lips, as Eren talked about something stupid he did. He dreamed of Levi tilting Eren's chin up, as he looked away shyly. Levi would tut at him, and Eren would smile. When Levi started asking about Eren's favourite things, and as he asked about his favourite colour, Eren would say 'grey'. If Levi asked why, Eren would brush his fingers over Levi's cheek and lean in. Levi would lean in with a smile.

Eren blushed and shook his head. He couldn't seriously be thinking about some made up scenario where he kissed some guy from his dreams, could he? He'd have to be insane or stupid to do so, right? He glanced to Mikasa and saw that she wasn't paying any attention to him at all. She was engrossed in the film, and Eren thought he was safe. He shifted in his seat and rested his head on his arm, which lay across the arm of the settee. He slowly closed his eyes, and believed he'd be able to stay awake.

Tall, Victorian style houses lined the foggy street. Rubble lay around on the ground everywhere, and there was not an inch of uncovered pavement to be seen. He heard the voices of a group of people, and he turned around to see three faces that he didn't recognise. Two women were talking with a tall male, and Eren frowned. He looked around and slowly walked up to the group. They noticed him and motioned for him to come closer.

"Come on, we have to find somewhere to stay." The girl with curly black hair murmured.

"Yeah, but where? We know most of these places are probably booby-trapped, especially after the incident last week." The other girl, who was obviously more confident, shrugged and looked at the curly haired girl snobbishly.

"There's one place I know of." The male spoke up.

"Where?"

"Follow me." The guy showed them down a back alley.

Big, American style dumpsters littered the back of the houses, and each of them had a short set of stairs that led to a large wooden door. The guy opened the door, which led to a cluttered black kitchen, where pots and plates seemed to have been thrown around and left in tall piles everywhere. They were shown up a grand wooden staircase, and onto a narrow landing. The corridor led in two directions; north and south. The guy headed north and guided them into a large room. The walls were black, and made a gloomy air hang around in the room, and several long portraits of children and adults lined the walls. The floor was in disrepair, and parts of it was missing. A clock was hung on the wall, and a writing desk was in the far corner, beneath a large bay window. The ceiling was abnormally high, probably seven or eight meters high, and it made Eren feel miniscule. Books and bits of wood also littered the floor, and the group that Eren was with brushed most of it aside, or down through the holes in the floor.

One of the portraits left an unsettled feeling in his stomach. It was a small boy sat in a chair. He had a grim expression on his face, and his eyes were lifeless. Everything about his posture suggested something sinister, and it set Eren on edge. He glanced back to the group that brought him there, and they were setting out sleeping bags and laying down. Eren followed their example and got into a sleeping bag, which they provided. He remembered getting up a while later to the sound of something gasping for air. He looked around and noticed the portrait, which had been lit by a pale white glow. The light from the sun had gone, and the stars were out in the sky, and a soft moonlight glow flooded the floor from the bay window. Eren shivered and froze. The portrait had begun to move. The small boy climbed out from the portrait and stood in front of Eren with dull, grey eyes. The boy pointed behind Eren, without a word. As Eren turned, the ghostly gasping got louder, and he saw a figure stood over the group of people. They all stared at him with a grin, and bared their teeth. Eren gulped and looked at the figure. It was a slim woman with gouged out eyes that dripped blood. She opened her mouth impossibly wide, and a shrill scream shook Eren to his very core. Something touched him, and he took off running. His heart jumped into his throat and he felt sick.

Eren thundered down the stairs and slammed open the door he'd come through before, and ran out into the pouring rain. Thunder clapped, and made him jump, causing him to trip. He fell onto his front and looked behind him to see nothing, but the screaming was still loud in his ears. He scrambled to his feet and got dirt in his hands. He sprinted for somewhere to go. He could feel something chasing him, so he ran faster. He got onto a wide street filled with rubble similar to the one he'd seen originally. He stopped and tried to catch his breath. He looked behind him and then looked around him. He put his hands on his knees and took deep breaths to calm down. When he finally lifted his head, he saw something dark approaching him at a high speed. Then it went black.

When he finally saw colour again, he was sat on top of someone with a nasty grin on his face, and his hands wrapped around the handle of a knife. He shook his head and looked at the person beneath him.

"Eren." Levi wheezed.

Eren immediately dropped the knife and stared at Levi. He looked at his hands and saw blood. He screamed and scrabbled to get off of Levi. He shuffled backwards and shook his head rapidly in disbelief, denying what he had been about to do. Levi struggled to sit up, and he looked at Eren with sad eyes. He lifted his hand to Eren.

"Eren, stop. It's… stop." Levi winced and crawled towards Eren.

"No, no, no, I-I almost. I just." Eren shook his head and felt tears spring to his eyes. "I'm confused."

"Hey, hey." Levi took a deep breath and made his way over to Eren. "It's okay, I'm here."

Eren shook his head again and curled up into a ball. He sobbed into his knees. He felt something wrap around him, and he lifted tear-stricken face. At the sight of Levi's face, Eren felt a sob rise in his throat again. Levi shook his head and used his jacket, with a grimace, to wipe away Eren's tears. Eren laughed a little at that, and he saw Levi's face lift a little when he did.

"I'm scared." Eren muttered. He regretted saying it until he heard Levi's reply.

"Nothing's going to get you with me here, kid, I promise." Levi cupped Eren's cheek.

"But I almost…"

"No. Forget it." Levi shook his head. "I don't exactly appreciate what you almost did, but you didn't actually do it."

"I still don't. This is a dream, right? But if it is, you're still real, right?"

"This is a dream." Levi looked away and didn't want to answer the other half of Eren's question.

"Levi." Eren grabbed Levi's arms. "You're real, right?"

"Well, I don't see anything wrong with you physically, so let's go somewhere to get dry."

"Levi." Eren shook his head and pulled away from Levi. "Answer me. Please."

"This isn't a good place to stay dry." Levi looked around.

"Levi!" Eren grabbed Levi's face and held eye contact with him.

"Eren." Levi's voice cracked. "Don't."

"I need to know. Because if you are real, I want to meet you, someway, somehow. Please. I want to know if I'm going crazy over someone I made up!"

Levi licked his lips and looked at his feet. He coughed and took a deep breath. He grabbed Eren's hand and took him to sit under some shelter on one of the front steps of the houses. He squeezed Eren's hand and took a deep breath. He cleared his throat.

"I won't bullshit you, not you." Levi began. "I would answer you if it were that easy, and I'd meet you in a heartbeat, but this is the only way that is safe."

"What do you mean 'the only way that's safe'?" Eren frowned. "I want to be able to spend more time with you than the few hours I spend asleep. If I have to," Eren shook his head, "I don't know, walk a long distance to do that, then that's okay."

"It's not a matter of distance, or something like that. It's just that, this is the only safe way to see you, and that's all I want to say about it." Levi held Eren's hand in his lap.

"I still don't understand."

"It's better if you don't. I don't want you to do something stupid because you found out and remembered."

"If I remembered what?" Eren frowned and leaned towards Levi.

"Nothing." Levi cursed at himself and shook his head. "It's better left in the past, Eren. It would actually be better if you forgot me entirely."

"Forgot you? How?" Eren exclaimed incredulously.

"I don't know! It would just be better if you did!" Levi frowned and let go of Eren's hand.

"Why? Levi! I don't understand why you're being like this. Did I do something wrong?" Eren grabbed for Levi, who was rising to a stand.

"You haven't. Well, it wasn't on purpose, you didn't see it coming but- shit. I need to stop. I can't, Eren. I have to- I should…"

"Levi, please…" Eren stood up and hugged Levi tightly to him. "Don't leave me, please."

"Eren." Levi held onto Eren's arm.

"I want to see you again, please. " Eren begged.

"You shouldn't." Levi managed to get the words out of his mouth. He tried to keep his calm façade, but he was really struggling. "It'd be easier."

"But I don't want to stop seeing you."

"Eren." Levi smoothed his face into a stern mask. "I don't want to see you."

Eren's breath hitched and he stared at Levi with wide eyes. He released Levi, but kept his hand in Levi's shirt. He shook his head and felt a new wave of tears fall down his cheeks. He felt cold, and he was desperate to have Levi turn around and refuse that he had said that. He wanted Levi to smile at him and tell him that he was hearing things and being silly. He wanted Levi to tell him they could meet soon, and then Eren could actually hold him and feel the warmth radiate off of Levi. Eren was hoping that Levi would cup his cheeks and say he was joking, and then he'd kiss Eren's cheek and apologise for teasing Eren.

It wasn't what happened. Levi watched Eren fall to his knees and put his face in his hands as he sobbed. Eren's shoulders shook as he cried, and Levi wanted to reach out and console him, but he knew that this was for the best. If Eren could just let go, and forget, it would mean that Eren could move on with his life and stop focusing on something that's not even real. He felt intangible for Eren. He hated to see Eren crying like this, but it wasn't the first time. He didn't know what to do to make it easier for Eren, so he quietly left without another word. He disappeared down the street, and vanished into thin air. Eren looked up and tried to stop crying, but the empty stair made it worse.

Eren woke up with tears running down the sides of his face, and his sheets were kicked off of the bed. He shivered and looked around. He glanced at his clock. It was five am. He wasn't going to go back to sleep now, there was no point. He wiped his eyes and got up. He felt hollow, and he only had one thing on his mind; Levi didn't want anything to do with him.