When Eren woke up, it was noon and the lounge was bright. Natalie was sitting on another chair doing some work and Eren blinked sleep from his eyes, peering round his pile of blankets. Natalie looked up when the sound of Eren stirring broke the silence. "Morning Eren, how are you feeling?" She got up and went to Eren's side, kneeling down beside him. Eren looked up into her kind and pretty face, with brown eyes and curly brown hair framing her rosy cheekbones, reaching her chest. She had a few freckles dusting her nose. She wasn't wearing her nurses uniform anymore, she was wearing her own casual clothes. A pair of jeans and a warm navy coloured jumper.

"A bit better..." He whispered hoarsely. He was warmer and less thirsty and hungry but he still wanted food and felt a bit ill. He was a long way off being fine though... He wouldn't be fine until Levi was beside him, safe and alive.

"Good, hopefully we managed to control the hypothermia before it fully set in..." She let out a sigh of relief.

"Can we go and find Levi today?" Eren asked her with wide and worried eyes.

"No Eren, you need to stay here and stay warm. I will look for him a bit later but you need to stay here. I have cancelled my work for the next few days, called in sick so that I can help you." She said softly, stroking Eren's hair back from his face. His eyes welled with tears and he sniffed.

"But I have to find him! H-he could be hurt!"

"Shh, Eren I'll try and find him later, ok?" She cupped his face in her warm hands and looked at him meaningfully. "Look Eren, I promise you, we WILL find him. We will, whether it's today or not, I won't stop helping you until we find him, alright?" Her eyes flashed with determination and Eren swallowed, nodding in silence. He believed her. "So you need to stay here and rest... You need to eat. Sit up and I'll bring you another hot drink." She rubbed his cheek gently and then got to her feet, heading to go into the small kitchen. Eren sighed and brushed tears from his eyes before slightly shakily pushing himself up into a sitting position. His legs still ached from walking so far and he had a small headache like a weight resting on his eyes. He gathered the blankets around himself more as he let out a small shiver. He looked around the room through his messy hair and looked out of the large, glass French doors that led out onto a small railed balcony. It had stopped snowing and the sky was clear and bright. He sighed as he looked out over the snow covered rooftops and watched the cars zooming about like tiny bugs rushing along the roads. Levi was somewhere out there. Cold, probably alone, possibly scared... No, Levi was never scared – but he was no doubt very upset... Was he even alive? Eren screwed his eyes up at the thought and tried to concentrate on something else. He looked round the room at the small house plants around the edges of the room and read the titles of the books on the bookcase in an attempt to distract his mind.

After about 5 minutes, Natalie returned with a hot mug of tea and she handed it carefully to a thankful Eren before heading back into the kitchen. Eren sipped it slowly, his mind still buzzing with thoughts. How could he sit here, warm and safe while Levi was out there, cold and in danger? Not only from others but from himself, Levi was his own worst enemy it seemed... Eren sniffed again, a salty tear dripping into his mug, creating ripples on the surface of the tea. He let out a shaking a breath, blowing the warm steam into his face. He had to find Levi. He HAD to. Natalie returned shortly with a bowl of hot soup and she relieved Eren of his cup so that he could eat it. She put his mug onto the table, sat on the sofa beside him and watched as he slowly ate the hot tomato soup. He tried to keep his thoughts away from Levi because he trusted Natalie, and she tried to do the same by asking him questions about his likes and dislikes and his hobbies. She told him about herself too until he'd scraped the last of the creamy soup from his bowl. "Thank you..." He said quietly as Natalie took the bowl and gave him back his still warm tea.

"It's no problem..." She took the bowl back to the kitchen and set it on the counter beside the sink to be washed later. She felt so sorry for Eren, it must be so difficult for him at the moment... Sighing, she went back into the living room. "Right Eren, I don't have work today like I said and even if they hadn't let me off, I wouldn't go because I swore to help you." She said as she pulled on a warm black coat. "I'm going to have a look around for you friend, even if I don't find him today, that doesn't mean we won't find him tomorrow, ok? I'm taking my phone, if you need me I put my phone number by the land line on a sticky note. I'll find you if I hear news of your friend or find him so that you can talk to him or something... Help yourself to anything in the kitchen and use the TV all you want." Eren nodded as he watched her pull her boots on.

"Thank you Natalie... For everything."

"It's fine Eren, don't thank me – Just concentrate on getting better Sweetie." She gave him a soft smile before taking her car keys and heading out of the flat. "I won't lock the door, I'll give you a call later to tell you where I am, bye!" She called before shutting the door, and Eren was left alone. He pulled the blanket up under his chin and his eyes travelled to the phone. He stared at it. Now all he could do was hope that Natalie would be successful... and find Levi alive.

(A/N:) Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but here you guy, a new chapter... In reply to a review I got from a guest, (I can't reply by pm obviously), I do know that in the anime Mikasa is adopted by Eren's parents, but this is an AU fic which means I can change any rules I want and I decided for Eren's character I wanted him to be adopted by Mikasa's parents :). Thank you for reading! Thank you for all your reviews! See you next chapter, byee! :D