"You'll have to pay me to help..." Klein said, his brown eyes flashing.

"Yes, fine, just help me you fucker! Carry him, I'll stop people getting to him." Klein nodded and lifted Eren up, slinging him over his shoulder. "Don't you dare hurt him or I'll kill you Klein!"

"Sheesh, so little trust as always Levi! It's fine, I won't hurt him."

"Just come on..." Levi led Klein and Eren through the crowd after Klein tossed him a knife and he held it up threateningly at anyone who so much as looked at Eren funnily.

"Wait that's Levi?"

"The Levi?"

"I thought he left this shithole!"

"He did, what's he doing back?"

"You abandoned us Ackerman to go and play with your friends at the college!" Voices in the crowd called but Levi ignored them. With Klein's help, he managed to get Eren past everyone and into a deserted alley way just off of the main street. Klein put him down gently and Levi huffed, tossing him back his knife. Klein pocketed it and held out a grubby hand, his messy brown hair drooping greasily into his expectant eyes. Levi cursed under his breath and fished into his pocket, unplugging his earphones from his phone. He tossed them at Klein.

"I don't have any oney with me so have them... Sell those..."

"How about the phone?"

"No chance..." Levi grumbled and knelt down beside his unconscious room-mate who was starting to stir. Klein smirked.

"Thanks Levi."

"Get lost." Levi replied. Klein laughed at that.

"You haven't changed, have you? How are Is and Farlan?" He asked and Levi said nothing.

"Well, I'll see you another time with the money then Levi..." Klein said when he realised he wasn't going to get an answer out of him. "I'll leave you and your bum-chum alone." He turned to go, waving behind him.

"He is not my bu- ugh..." Levi couldn't be bothered to respond to that. After a couple of minutes, Eren started to open his eyes, a grimace on his face.

"What happened...?" He asked drowsily, squinting, trying to make out his surroundings. The scent of piss and smoke wafted up his nostrils and he gasped as it all came back to him. His eyes opened wide and he looked up at Levi beside him. He scrambled backwards and Levi held his hands up in surrender to show he wasn't holding anything or going to hurt him.

"S-stay back!" Eren stammered, his eyes wide as he backed into the wall.

"Eren, it's me. I'm not going to bloody hurt you..."
"H-how do I know that? Y-you took me to this horrible p-place and... a-and... why was I asleep?! Did y-you do something to m-me?" His chest still felt tight and his breathing was still uneven.

"No I didn't, you fainted because you were scared! You're out of there now, don't worry. Besides, it was your bloody fault for falling on that guy's balcony! If you hadn't had done that, we wouldn't have had to go through there!" Levi snapped, glaring at Eren. Eren hugged his knees and hid his face in them, his shoulders shaking. He cried into his knees and Levi sighed. Eren was shivering violently from his panic attack and his chest ached. He was freezing cold and still felt a bit sick. Levi sighed and rolled his grey-blue eyes, pulling off his hoodie. He hesitated when remembering his wrists were exposed, but after all of that, he didn't think that was the top priority right there and then. He pulled off his hoodie and put it around Eren's shoulders. He shivered slightly but he wasn't as cold as Eren was. Eren flinched at his touch but didn't look up. "Eren, I promise you! I'm not going to hurt you!"

"H-how did those p-people know y-you?" Eren's crying voice whined into his knees. Levi let out a sigh and scratched his head.

"I used to live down here with them..." He felt that he owed Eren an explanation. After all that, he couldn't really not tell him.

"Y-you lived h-here?" Eren's muffled voice whispered and he glanced over his knees in shock at the smaller male, his green eyes shining with tears.

"Yeah... I was orphaned when I was a kid and lived down here with my uncle who took me in. My mother had died and my useless father left...We lived in the slums and my uncle taught me how to fight, how to be strong... Then he left because he couldn't be bothered with me anymore and I was left alone here at the age of 10. I met Klein who is that man you saw and he was 13 at the time. We stayed together for a while but then I met another person called Farlan. I stuck with him and we grew up together and at 14 we were running all over the rooftops and stealing things to try and earn money to actually live like humans. We met a girl called Isabel and we all worked together. We were the main 'thugs' down here... I hate saying that now. We managed to get enough money to get a job but we damaged the place where we worked and we had to pay them for the damage. We couldn't afford it so Klein lent us money... That all happened when we were 16. We paid it back but we were found by social services and put into care. They paid our college fees and everything and we lived there. When we were 17 I was adopted and we went to the college you and I are at now and... and one day they were involved in a car crash... It was my fault..." Levi whispered, absent-mindedly rubbing his old scars on his left arm. Eren watched him in shock and glanced down at his right wrist which had several more fresh cuts on it, some of them were a bit open and looked very sore. There was dark, dried blood in a stream down his arm. That must have happened when the man haf grabbed him on the balcony... Levi felt something wet on his cheek and reached up in shock. He could feel a tear on it and he brushed it away hurriedly. He hadn't cried since the day they had died... Eren watched him in silence, he didn't know what to say. "I hate this place..." Levi continued in a whisper. "It's the same as I remember, I hate it... I still need to pay Klein back but I had hoped I never needed to come back down here to do things like this again, acting like a 'thug' again..." Eren felt hot dears dribble down his cheeks as Levi hid behind his ebony hair. He always acted so tough... He'd taught himself not to care anymore, that crying was for the weak, that he shouldn't show emotion to anyone. Eren had had no idea about any of the things Levi had said... that picture he'd looked at must have been of Isabel and Farlan. How was Levi so clever when he'd only been having an education since he was 16? He must be an even MORE of a hard worker than Eren had originally thought. He obviously wanted a normal life, he wanted to forget his past and we like everyone else, able to get a job. That must be why he spent about 90% of his time working.

"I-Is that why you don't like having friends...?" Eren asked quietly. "Because you're scared that something will happen to them...?"

"I have seen so many people die down here Eren, so many. I watched friends die, I fucked up and Isabel and Farlan died, my mother the was a bloody prostitute down here and died of a fucking illness and my father left because he knew I wasn't worth the effort. My uncle left too, I'm not worth anything Eren. I don't deserve friends... and I can't bear to lose anyone else." Levi muttered, getting to his feet. "Come on Eren, we need to get back... I don't want to stay here any longer..." The way Levi was talking was breaking Eren's heart, he sounded so defeated, like he didn't belong anywhere. He had no self esteem at all, did he? Levi stood with his head hung until he felt something warm being placed on his shoulders. Eren pulled Levi's hoodie back around him and Levi looked up at him. "I gave this to you, you idiot..."
"And I gave it to you."

"But you need it you brat, you fainted!"

"I'll be fine... Come on, let's get you out of here." Eren said gently, wiping the last of his tears from his shining green eyes. Levi sighed and pulled his hoodie back on, carefully pulling the sleeve down over his cuts. "Levi, what if those get infected?" Eren asked worriedly. Levi simply shrugged.

"It doesn't really matter, does it... I'll wash them when I get back anyway, I don't want one speck of dirt from this place anywhere. I hate it." Ah. So that's why everything had to be so neat and tidy... Everything was clicking into place now. "And that includes you, you need to wash too." Levi growled and Eren nodded.

"Yes Levi, I know..." Eren said quietly and followed Levi down the alley in silence, doing his hoodie back up. Both males smelt off cigarettes and piss and were covered in grime. After a a few moments, they were out onto the main street where the Autumn rain was pouring down. Levi sighed in relief as he took in the scent of petrol and the rain. He was out of that place...

The pair were drenched as they reached their college again. Levi had been very glad of the rain since it hid the tears that streamed from his eyes. He had never EVER spoken about those things to anyone, not even the care home or his adopted parents. Everything was coming back to him and being back... there... and talking about Isabel and Farlan just set him off. He hadn't spoken a word about them since they died. Not one word. He had run out of tears by the time they got back to the college and both boys were soaked through. They trudged through the entrance, getting some very strange looks. They dripped their way up to their room and Levi pulled his hood of, his hair soaked through as well. Eren unlocked the door numbly and they went inside. Levi pulled his soaked phone from his pocket and tossed it on his bed. It was probably not working now.

"I-Is your phone damaged? How about your earphones?" Eren asked worriedly, pulling off his heavy, soaked hoodie. He opened the stiff window and rung it out, the window sheltering it from getting and more wet.

"The phone is probably broken but I don't really care, and I gave Klein my earphones in exchange for him helping me to get you out while you were unconscious." Eren swallowed a lump that suddenly formed in his throat.

"Y...You did that for me?"

"Well obviously." Levi grumbled and rung his own hoodie out, squeezing as much of the water in it as he could out. Eren kept looking at the cuts on his wrist, wondering what had made him so upset to begin with today.

"Levi... Why were you so upset earlier...?" Eren asked quietly, watching Levi as he took Eren's hoodie out of his hands and hung it on the small radiator for him.

"These need to be washed but they need to dry a bit first..." The ravenette muttered to Eren and Eren sighed as he avoided the question. He obviously didn't want to talk about it. It was fine, he'd already shared his life story that he hadn't wanted to share today, he obviously didn't feel comfortable talking about what had happened earlier. Levi gathered up his clothes to go and wash.

"Come on Eren, you need to go for a shower too..." Eren nodded in response and got out his clothes and Levi opened the door to leave. Eren glanced at the screwed up hoodie he was holding, obviously unsure of where to put it to dry as he didn't want to make a mess.

"Levi, hang on." Eren pulled his hoodie off the radiator and took Levi's out of his hand.

"Eren, what are y-"

"I can borrow Armin's radiator, I'm sure he won't mind." Eren explained as he put Levi's sodden hoodie, heavy with rain water, on the hot radiator.

"Are you sure?" Levi mumbled, looking at Eren uncertainly.

"Yep. I'm sure. Oh... and Levi?" He glanced over at the male from behind his dripping brown locks. "I'm sorry for dragging you back there... and thank you..."

"For what?"

"For saving me from that guy, going back to that horrible place because of me, protecting me, keeping your cool in there, giving Klein you earphones, lending me your hoodie, trusting me enough to tell me-"

"Ok Eren, I get it brat..." Levi grumbled, stepping out of the door. "And thank you."

"For what...?"

"For listening."

(A/N:) Hey! So that was a long chapter and now you know Levi's life story! Looooads more to come, you'll have to wait till tomorrow for more unless I decide I want to upload another tonight... ;) Thanks for reading! Glad you seem to be enjoying it! :D