Eren couldn't stop thinking about the incident a couple weeks ago. It's not that he was super upset about being punched in the face, framed, or kissed... It's just…as he worked, details would come back to mind. He would immediately pause, drop whatever he was holding, and cover his face in frustration.
Damnit, Eren internally groaned, I had blood running down my face like an idiot. This is the guy who is on a talk show every weekend...and he had to pick me up off the floor. He probably thinks I'm a wimp. Damnit…
"Eren?"
He turned around and looked at Armin, who had his head tilted a bit to the side. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Eren swallowed, "Yeah."
"How's your jaw feel?" Armin asked politely. He reached down and picked up the broom Eren dropped.
Eren took it from him and nodded his thanks. "I'm fine, it doesn't hurt." He sighed, "I bet I looked like a weak asshole. I'm still in shock that he defended me."
Armin shrugged, "I know he's fowl mouthed and rude, but he has good judgment."
"Thank goodness." Eren replied, "I'd be without a job again."
Armin smirked, "Are you really doing this just for the money?"
"Uh…yeah?" Eren blinked. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Hmm…are you sure?"
"What are you implying?"
"Well…it's just that everyone stays here for a certain reason. Sasha and Connie legitimately enjoy cooking, while Jean and Marco have an attachment to the horses." Armin began to sweep with his own broom. "You know I stay out of loyalty, same as Christa." Armin began to laugh, "And we all know Ymir stays because of her."
Eren laughed too; the duo was incredibly cute, no doubt. Armin continued, "We all have our reasons for staying here, so I find it hard to believe that you stay for the pay."
Eren questioned, "I don't understand?"
Armin clarified in a straightforward tone, "If you didn't have some other kind of motivation, you would have taken your second paycheck and left. I know, I've seen it."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Eren looked away.
Armin smirked, "Okay, okay." Sure.
Saturday came around, and Eren's courage to explore the house was increasing. He still never left the house; he had nowhere to go. Armin, of course, invited him places but he didn't want to intrude. So, he found himself in the study browsing through Levi's endless shelves of books. He glanced at the empty desk in the corner and shrugged. Hanji said he would be gone until tomorrow, so, what he doesn't know won't hurt him I guess. I hardly ever see the guy; he's always off doing business during the week.
Eren decided on a book and sat on one of the multiple chairs about the room. It was big and looked expensive but Eren refused to sit at the prince's desk out of respect. He pulled his legs to his chest and read in the relaxing environment. It was quiet; the only noise was Eren's own breathing.
"Put that shit down."
Eren jumped, and his head flew up. Levi stood in the doorway crossing his arms. Eren felt adrenaline as he started to panic, shit.
Suddenly Levi continued;
"That's like, the shittiest book I have in this place." The heir crossed the room to his desk, and began shuffling through papers. "You could have at least chosen something less horrible."
Eren looked down at the book in his hands, Into the Wild. He spoke in a casual voice, "Armin told me it was a good read."
"He's the only reason it's still here." Levi replied without looking up.
Eren sighed, relieved that he wasn't in deep shit. "Well, what do you recommend?"
Levi's lips twitched upwards, but Eren didn't see. The prince just continued to thumb through his paperwork, "I don't fucking know what you like. Maybe Fahrenheit 451, if your dumb brain can handle it."
Eren flushed, "You are really rude."
Levi finally turned around and raised a sharp eyebrow, "Am I?" Levi resisted the urge to chuckle; this kid was pretty amusing.
Eren crossed his arms, "I thought you weren't coming back until tomorrow?"
Levi snorted, "I wasn't, until that piece of shit Erwin called and said he was flying in tonight."
"Erwin?" Eren blinked. "A guest?" Is this the guy who he was talking to on the phone?
"Sort of," Levi replied dryly.
Eren felt another surge of panic, "I'm the only employee here r-right now so, I, uh-"
"It's fine, he doesn't need the fuckin' trumpets and red carpet." Levi finally found everything he was looking for and turned around to leave. "He's been here plenty of times…bastard."
Eren stood up, "But we don't have any cooks- Sasha and Connie left to go to a-"
"We'll order out, its fine." Levi walked out the door, "Stop worrying, idiot."
Eren was left alone in the room, somewhat speechless.
He later sat in his room with the pages of Fahrenheit 451 clutched between his fingers. At one point he had to stop reading because his thoughts wouldn't stop.
Who is Erwin? I wish I could ask Armin, I bet he would know. They must be close. Damnit I'm worrying about stupid things again. I know the guy got here an hour ago because I heard the door open, but otherwise I haven't seen him.
The air in his room felt somewhat stuffy, so he ventured out into the quiet house. He quietly walked down the hallways; he was becoming more and more familiar with them. Eren felt his stomach complain, so he steered his direction towards the kitchen. He heard a conversation echoing somewhere down the house, but ignored it. He walked into the living room (a known shortcut to the kitchen) but he noticed Levi lounged in a chair. A tall, blonde man sat across from him on the couch.
Eren froze, and immediately began to walk backwards out of the room; but Levi turned his head.
"Oh, Eren." The prince's voice was his usual monotone. "We're ordering Mexican, you want something?"
He blinked, completely frozen in place. He guessed the stranger was Erwin-and oh boy he was way too attractive. The blonde was wearing clothes that probably smelled expensive. He suddenly realized that the prince had asked him a question, and he tried to reply calmly,
"I uh, it's okay. I was just going to get something from the kitchen." Eren's tone was nonchalant but he felt uncomfortable with both of their gazes on him. Levi didn't seem in the mood to put up with any shit.
"I'm ordering you something random off the fucking menu, brat." Levi scrolled on his iPhone looking for a number to call.
Eren watched Erwin sigh, "You shouldn't use such language around your employees…especially ones on their day off."
"Don't tell me what to fucking do." Levi said without looking up. Erwin sighed again, and stood up, nearly scaring the shit out of Eren who was still standing awkwardly by the entrance. The tall man strode over to Eren, held out his hand, and smiled warmly,
"My name is Erwin, it is a pleasure to meet you, Eren."
Eren swallowed and stared at the outstretched hand before returning the handshake. "It's nice to meet you too sir."
"Will you sit with us?" Erwin asked in a coy tone. Wow this motherfucker is smooth. Eren didn't notice Levi sending glares Erwin's way.
Eren shook his head, "No, I don't think that would be appropriate. I was just passing through-"
"Nonsense." Erwin rested a hand on his shoulder, pulling him along to the couch. "I'm sure it's perfectly fine with your boss."
Who is this guy?
"I don't give a shit." Levi snapped.
"I uh," Eren suddenly turned on his heel, "I actually forgot I left uh, the, the blow-dryer on, aha, I'll…be back when the food gets here." He booked it out of the room.
Erwin stared after him for a moment before chuckling and taking his seat again. The heir had his phone pressed to his ear, obviously on hold. Erwin raised an eyebrow and smirked, "That's a cute one."
"Don't you fucking dare."
"I'm just saying."
When he heard the doorbell rang he grabbed his food and retreated back into his room before anyone could question him. He sat on the floor with his back against his bed, watching the small television. Armin's bed was empty and would remain so until Sunday afternoon.
I can't just hang out with a prince and his guest. Eren told himself, I can't believe I almost said yes. That guy is royalty and I am homeless. I need to stop talking to him and his friends and just do my job.
He didn't come out of his room until the next morning. The maid managed to make himself pancakes and sat at a table. It was pushed up against a beautiful window that was almost the size of the wall. It was peaceful and quiet, but it took him way too long to realize that he chose the seat because he had a perfect view of Levi riding his horse.
"Interesting guy, isn't he?"
Eren snapped his head to look up at Erwin. I am so done with people sneaking up on me, Eren internally fumed. Erwin was holding a cup of coffee and his hair was neatly combed…even at nine in the morning. "May I sit with you?"
"Sure." Eren blinked. I guess it would be rude for me to say no.
Erwin sat across from him at the table made for two. It was silent, until Erwin tried to strike up a conversation.
"So, how do you enjoy working here?"
Eren shrugged, "It's good. It pays nice and the people are cool."
Erwin hummed, "Even though your boss is a pig head?" Eren laughed out loud, and slapped a hand over his mouth. Erwin had an amused look in his eye as he waited for an answer.
"I aha, I can deal with it."
"I can tell." Erwin nodded. He stared at Eren, almost to the point where the teenager began to feel uncomfortable. The tall man spoke again, slowly, "I think you should be the one on that horse, not him."
Eren tilted his head, "What? I know how to ride a horse."
The blonde chuckled, "No, I mean you should be the prince. I've never seen such amazing eyes as yours."
"Uhh…" Eren flushed and resisted the urge to look away, "Thank you, but, I don't think I could deal with the publicity." He paused for a moment before gaining back the assertiveness in his tone, "Who are you?"
Erwin gave a warm smile and sat back in his chair, "Ah, just a friend is all."
Not even an hour later, Eren ran into Erwin again. This time the man was in living room browsing through his phone. The television was on, but it was just some college football game.
Eren sighed and took the love seat across from the couch. He folded his legs and began to watch the game. Erwin looked up from his phone and smiled,
"Eren, how are you?"
"Fine." Eren shrugged. "Why are you down here? Where is the boss?"
"Mmm, he said he had paperwork to take care of," Erwin tossed his phone onto the cushion next to him, giving Eren his full attention.
Eren tilted his head, "That's pretty lame."
"Ah, I'm used to it," Erwin chuckled, "But now I have you. How lovely," Erwin gave another handsome smile. Eren felt his cheeks turn pink, and he sank back into the chair.
Eren tried to blow off the whole Erwin thing; maybe the guy was just super friendly? But no, once again he was wrong.
That afternoon he decided to go grocery shopping; he figured it would be nice for his friends to come home and not have to do it themselves. He worked up the courage to tell the prince.
"Hey, uh, sir." Eren knocked on the door to his office. "I'm going to go pick up groceries."
"Why? You're off today." Levi typed away at his laptop.
"Might as well put myself to use, I guess." Eren shrugged. Levi rolled his eyes and handed him a card,
"Fine, get whatever you need."
Eren hesitated, "Woah, are you sure-"
"Yeah, now get the hell out." Levi resumed typing.
"Hey, no need to be so snappy, grouchy pants." Eren replied, lightheartedly. Levi's eyebrows rose so high they almost reached his hairline. Eren rolled his eyes, "Well it's true. Is something troubling you?"
"Nothing your pea brain could understand." Levi's tone was dry.
"Try me." Eren sat down in the chair across from his desk. What am I doing?
The heir leaned away his work, paused for a moment, and crossed his arms. He sighed, "Fine. I've got thirty two talk shows, eight radio interviews and sixteen businessmen to meet with in the next three weeks. I've somehow got to book a flight that will allow me to reach all those destinations meanwhile I just bought out this dumb company that was begging for my help so I've got to try and not put them into bankruptcy. There, fix that."
Eren paused for a moment, and tapped his chin. After a second of silence, he looked up at the prince and said, "Aha! That's easy. You just have to hire fifty six look-alikes to go around and do all your appearances. Then you can sit in a hot spring somewhere and manage the business from your solid gold iphone. I hear there's an app for that."
"You're a fucking idiot. Get out."
Eren laughed and stood up from the chair, credit card in hand. "No, but seriously. Get a massage, play a videogame, eat a bowl of ice cream; your friend is downstairs literally twiddling his thumbs and you look so stressed your undercut might fall off."
Levi stared after Eren, who waved and walked out the door. He just shook his head and went back to work, thinking, That kid sure is a strange one. I fired someone once just for talking to me in that tone…I wonder what makes that brat different. Hm.
Eren was somewhat surprised that his boss trusted him with an entire credit card, but shrugged and did his job. It was a little weird having a driver to take him shopping; he thought it was unnecessary.
When he returned he refused the help of the driver (he's an employee not a princess). Being the lazy teenager he is; he managed a way to carry everything in just two trips. Except, as he carried in his second armful, he felt someone grab half of the bags.
"Hey, stop, I got it," Eren snapped automatically.
"Are you sure?" He heard Erwin's voice ask fluidly.
Eren dropped the bags onto the countertop and watched Erwin do the same next to him. He turned and looked up at the tall man, "…Thanks."
He smiled almost flirtatiously, "You're very welcome. Would you like help putting all these away?"
"I can do it." Eren defended.
Erwin held up his hands, and nodded, "Okay, okay."
As Eren put away the groceries, he noticed that the guest didn't leave; he just lingered behind and watched Eren work. This guy must have nothing to do. Prince Levi you are a horrible host. He shrugged and decided to ignore him; the guy could do what he wants.
He got through half of the groceries when he got to a giant can of potatoes. He knew that Connie liked to keep them on the top shelf (away from Sasha) so he leaned on his tiptoes and tried to slide the large can onto the top of the cabinet. After two failed attempts he literally squeaked as he felt arms wrap around his waist and heave him upwards.
"Woah-hey," Eren nearly yelled. He looked down at Erwin who was supporting his weight effortlessly.
"What?" Erwin glanced up innocently. Eren just huffed and heaved the can onto the shelf. Erwin loosened his arms and slid Eren gently to the ground.
"I could have-"
"-done it yourself?" Erwin finished, almost smirking.
"Yeah." Eren huffed, "What is your deal?"
"I don't have a 'deal'," Erwin leaned forwards, and Eren took a step back. "My dear friend left me alone- said he had someone important to meet. I thought why not get to know the gorgeous new employee?" Erwin took another step forwards, and Eren felt his back hit the countertop.
"Look, dude," Eren felt his patience slipping, "Thanks for the help, and the compliments, really, it's appreciated. But we've got a friggin eighty inch T.V. a couple doors down and I think it would be much more interesting than me."
"Do you like the prince?" Erwin's question caught Eren off guard.
Eren looked away, "I mean, he's a jerk sometimes but I guess he's okay-"
"No," Erwin bent down so close Eren could see his own reflection in his eyes. "I mean do you like the prince?"
The maid stood with his mouth hung open, in confusion. "A-absolutely not, what the fuck-"
"Good." Erwin slammed his hands down on either sides of Eren; he gripped the edge of the counter.
"Hey-" Eren flinched, but Erwin cut him off.
"What?" Erwin leaned down towards Eren's neck, but he shoved at Erwin's shoulders. Eren glared at Erwin and his voice turned stern,
"You've got two seconds to step away from me."
"No," The blonde purred.
Feeling annoyed and trapped, Eren lifted a fist and swung towards the guest's nose. To his surprise, the blonde caught his fist quite easily, and pulled Eren's arm back down to his side. "I'm not going to hurt you-"
Eren was about to yell at him, when he realized that there was no longer a person to yell at.
Erwin was now across the kitchen nursing a swollen jaw.
"Levi how could you?" He whined in a playful voice. Erwin was smiling despite his injury. The prince now stood in front of Eren, one leg still bent sideways in the air from kicking Erwin. That was incredibly fast! Eren was frozen against the counter top while Levi set his food down and glared at Erwin.
"You see brother," The prince replied in a similar tone, "I specifically remember telling you just last week that I had an employee assaulted by a guest. And now look what you've done."
"Ah, you know I was just joking."
"Well I'm not laughing."
Eren wasn't so much angry as he was fucking confused. He stared forward, flabbergasted.
"Woah woah, hold the fuck up." Eren waved an arm around. Both princes turned to look at him. "Did you say brother?"
Levi shrugged, "Yeah."
"And neither of you felt the need to tell me?!" Eren nearly shouted.
Erwin put his coy expression back on, "I wanted you to see me as a normal person, not a prince. I couldn't resist…you're beautiful."
"Hey." Levi snapped. "One more and I'll kick your ass for real."
"I'm so pissed," Armin whined into his pillow. Eren sat on his own bed; confused.
"He was kind of a flirtatious ass." Eren sighed. "You didn't miss anything"
"You don't understand," Armin's voice was still muffled. "I literally yearn for every time he visits. He's so gorgeous and ugh." Armin finally sat up, facing Eren. "And you got to flirt with him! It's not fair!"
"He was annoying." Eren snorted, "Even the boss had to kick him off of me."
"Woah woah, wait what." Armin waved his hands around, "The prince defended you? That's so adorable oh my gosh-"
"Hey." Eren threw a pillow, playfully, "Shut the hell up."
Armin laughed, "It's so not fair. You get to have two princes fighting over you while I just went and visited my grandma."
"Hey, I gladly would have switched places with you." Eren held up his hands in defense.
"Why didn't you?" Armin fake- complained.
"I don't have a phone," Eren laughed, shyly.
Armin huffed, "We need to fix that."
"Gladly," Eren chuckled. "If I had known you had the hots for his older brother I would have hunted you down."
Armin fell back onto the bed and shoved his face into his pillow.
Monday morning and everything was back to normal; all the staff was bustling around the house trying to clean up what was abandoned for two days. Armin was fine after his mini tantrum; Eren was still a bit surprised to learn about his crush. Next time he visits I'm totally going to hook those two up.
Eren mused as he dusted the railing of the stairs. He managed to clean and make all the beds of the guest bedrooms in record time. Thankfully, Erwin wasn't a messy person. Eren wasn't happy the guy was gone, but he certainly wasn't sad. Now that he knew he was the boss's brother he had so many questions. Unfortunately, Hanji was gone being an ambassador for Levi in some other country so he couldn't ask her.
Eren got his opportunity when he ran into Levi drinking tea alone on the veranda. He had gone out there to sweep, but paused when he spotted the prince sitting in one of the comfortable chairs. He smiled, a wave of confidence suddenly sparking.
"I'm glad to see you finally relaxing."
Levi turned his head slightly to acknowledge Eren before turning back around. "Hmm."
"Despite the whole incident in the kitchen," Eren swept slowly. "You two seem pretty close."
"I don't hate him." Levi replied.
"Why did you leave Stohess?" Eren blurted. There. I said it. He mentally prepared himself for a shitstorm.
The prince remained calm and sipped his tea. The only sound was Eren's broom scraping the wood, until Levi spoke, "I despised it there."
"Can I ask why?" Eren stared at the ground.
"I have four older brothers." Levi's voice was deep and calm. "All of which Stohess loves. They are practically the crown jewels themselves."
"So you have a brother complex?" Eren pestered.
Levi rolled his eyes, "They were all annoying as shit. Except Erwin. He was the only one I got along with, sorta."
"Sorta." Eren smiled. Levi exhaled and leaned back in his chair before continuing,
"I didn't want to live off of the royal name like my dumb brothers. I wanted to create my own success, so I came here. That's it, really. I hated my brothers and didn't want to be a mooch. The end."
Eren swept all the dust off the stairs, and then paused to look up at the prince. He offered his boss the most heartfelt smile he could muster before replying, "That's really admirable."
Levi didn't have a reply; he just stared at Eren wide eyed. He finally scowled and stood up to leave.
"You missed a spot by the chair."
Eren wrapped his legs around Levi's waist and cried out as the older feverishly attacked Eren's neck. His hands slid on the papers scattered across Levi's desk and his ass dug into the rough edge of the wood. Levi supported all of his weight easily, and bucked his hips forwards. Eren thrust downwards and they both made breathy noises in response. Eren panted against the prince's ear; which caused him to shiver and growl in response. They were sweaty and Eren's back hurt but oh my gosh it felt amazing. Levi leaned up and finally kissed him; it was surreal. He could do this thing with his tongue where he counted every single one of his teeth before sucking on Eren's bottom lip. It was all over way too soon.
Like way, way too soon.
Eren's eyes shot open, and then he groaned before rolling over in bed.
I'm so screwed.
Thank you all so much for the support! I can't believe people are actually reading this ahaha.
I love to hear your opinions so please let me know what you think ^-^
Have a nice day~