Alright, here's chapter 2! uvu

Chapter 2: The Date

A few days had passed since his encounter with Eren in the coffee shop.

He wasn't sure if he should call him, or when would be the best to shoot him a text. Whenever he reached for his phone, he would go to his contacts and scroll to the 'E' section, tapping Eren's name once he saw it and looking at his number, and then back to his name. He never did get to text him, because something always came up. Well, more like, he was putting it off (even though he kept telling himself that he wasn't, in fact, putting it off).

There was, of course, work, which he couldn't exactly put off, and then there was cleaning.

Okay, so maybe he was putting it off.

'What was I supposed to say though?' Levi thought, frowning a little as he, once again, picked up his phone and went to his contact section. He said that they should meet up this weekend, which was already here, and that they should go out for coffee. It was Saturday, and the longer he held it off, then, before he knew it, the weekend would already be over, and he could have missed his chance.

What's the big deal anyway? He shouldn't be fretting over this so much, it's just a phone call, and the person he would be talking to is just some dork he met at the coffee shop. It's not like he's asking him to marry him.

He shook his head, shutting his phone off and throwing it to the other side of the couch.

He leaned back and looked up at the ceiling with a sigh. This wasn't difficult; really, it shouldn't be difficult and yet, here he was, making it difficult. He wasn't some middle schooler who had a crush on someone, but he was acting like it.

"Levii! We're here!"

He was shaken from his thoughts when the door to his apartment was swung open, and Hanji's voice filled the room. Sighing, he looked over to see his two best friends, both with smiles on their faces.

"You could've knocked," he grunted, throwing his head back as they let themselves in.

"Someone's a little grumpy, huh?" Hanji grinned, plopping down beside him. "Besides, you gave us both keys, so where's the use in knocking if we have one?"

"I don't remember giving you a key."

"Well, you did," she remarked, giving a shrug.

"No, I didn't."

"Yes you did! Didn't he, Erwin?"

Hanji turned towards the blond, as did Levi, both waiting for an answer (both wanting – expecting – a different one, as well).

He sighed. "Hanji's right Levi, you did give one to her."

"Oh whatever," Levi grumbled, folding his arms across his chest. "Why are you two even here anyway?"

"Because we wanted to see if you wanted to spend some time with your good ol' friends," Hanji grinned. "And I wanted to make sure that you've called Eren."

Levi shot her a glare, but her smile didn't falter.

"Who's Eren?"

"This cutie Levi met at the coffee shop!" Hanji laughed, even when Levi hit her with the nearest book he could grab. "He has his number, but he hasn't done anything with it yet. I think he should call him. Right now, so that we know he does."

"I'm not calling him with you two around."

"Yes you are."

"Hanji, I swear to fucking—"

She reached out and put her hand over his mouth, effectively shutting him up. "I'll leave you alone for the rest of the day if you just call him. Levi, I know you. You won't call him; you'll keep putting it off. What if he's been waiting for you to call, hm?"

It got silent, and after a few moments, she pulled her hand away, and gave him this look that she always did when they were in situations like this. She was right though, as much as he hated to admit it; he would probably keep putting it off, and in the end, forget about it.

"What if he's busy—"

"Levi." Erwin and Hanji were both looking at him now, just edging him on to pick up his phone and call him. He hated when they cornered him like this, goddammit.

He groaned. "Fine, if it'll get you both off my back."

Hanji grinned, picking up my phone and handing it to me. Honestly, he didn't understand what the big deal about it was. Of course, he wanted to call Eren, to go out and get to know him, maybe kiss him a little, but really. He could call him on his own time, he didn't need them hovering over him as he talked to him on the phone.

Pulling up Eren's contact, he pressed called, and put the phone to his ear.

Ring.

Ring.

"Has he picked up yet—"

"Shut up, Hanji."

Ri—

"Hello?"

He felt his heart stop a little; shit shit shit, he actually picked up, he was actually on the phone with him, and he had no fucking idea what to say.

Hello's a start. "Uh, hey," he started, cursing himself for sounding so nervous. There's nothing to be nervous about, he reminded himself, you barely know this guy, so there's no way you could embarrass yourself (bullshit). "It's Levi, from the coffee shop the other day."

"Oh, Levi!" there was a happy tone to Eren's voice now, and it was like Levi could hear him smiling, despite not being able to see his face. "I was wondering when you were gonna call me! Thought you forgot all about me."

Levi's lips twitched up into the smallest of smiles, forgetting the fact that his friends were watching his every move. "No, I didn't, I was just a little busy with work this week," he said. Well, it wasn't a total lie, he had been busy.

"No problem! I'm just glad you called," he laughed, and there was a clatter in the background.

Levi's smile faltered a little; was he busy? Did he seriously call at the wrong time?

"Are you busy?"

"No, no! Just helping my sister make lunch and dropping shit everywhere in the process."

"Are you sure, I could call you back later—"

"No, seriously, it's fine!"

Levi frowned, glancing at his friends before looking down to his coffee table. "Alright. Well, I did want to ask you something."

"Shoot!"

You've got this far, just go through with it, Levi. "Are you busy tonight, by any chance?"

There was a beat of silence, and Levi thought that, for a second, he might've hung up on him, but there wasn't any time for accusations, because Eren was answering him, "No, I'm not."

"Would you like to go out for coffee, then? Say around 5?"

Once again, he heard the smile in Eren's voice. "I'd love to! Same place that we met?"

"Same place."

Eren chuckled, "It's a date then?"

Levi couldn't help but smile. "It's a date."

Eren hummed in response, and Levi felt a nudge in his side. He glared at Hanji, who was smiling a little too widely, but she couldn't help herself. And if he looked at Erwin, he would see that he too was smiling, maybe not as big as Hanji, but nonetheless.

"Hey, I gotta go, it's lunchtime! I'll see you later?"

He almost nodded, but remembered that Eren couldn't see him, so he said, "Yeah, I'll see you later."

After one last goodbye, Eren hung up, and Levi shut off his phone again, dropping it down into his lap. His friends were staring at him expectantly, waiting for him to say something—anything.

Another few moments of silence passed, until Levi finally said, "I have a date at 5."

Five o' clock came faster than he had anticipated it to. He spent most of the day with Erwin and Hanji, roaming around town as Hanji rambled on about how cute it was when Levi had been talking on the phone with Eren, how he would smile, and in a few moments his face would fall (in order to shut her up, he had to flick her forehead a few good times—he had thought about knocking her ice cream cone out of her hand once or twice, but he really wasn't that mean).

The friends parted ways, well, Erwin parted his friends. Hanji trailed after Levi to his house, and when he whirled around to ask her why he was following him, she only smiled and said, "To make sure you freshen up for your date, of course!"

It irritated him, but silently, he was a little thankful, because honestly, he would have been fretting over what to wear (they were only going to a coffee shop, they weren't going to some fancy restaurant so really, it shouldn't be hard), but with Hanji there, things would probably go a little more smoothly.

And, they sort of did, but didn't.

She wanted to brush his hair, but he wasn't allowing her to go near his head after the incident their junior year, and he reminded her of that. She blinked at him innocently, telling him that she had no idea what he was talking about, but even so, in the end, he won and brushed his own hair (after he got out of the shower of course).

He ended up wearing a nice white, button up shirt, and a pair of black pants (not casual, but not too fancy; just perfect).

"You look great!" Hanji had said, a grin taking over her lips.

And now, here he was, standing outside the coffee shop, pressing his lips together as he took a deep breath in through his nose; either Eren was already in there (it was 5:02), or he had arrived before Eren did.

Either way, here goes nothing.

He pushed open the door, and was greeted with the familiar smell of coffee he grew to enjoy. It reminded him of how exhausted he felt after work, how all he wanted was his coffee and then to get home and sleep.

Petra was working. She was talking to a customer and giving them one of her sweetest smiles, nodding as she listened, occasionally replying. He wasn't sure if he should go up and talk to her once she was done, or—

No, he has to see if Eren's here first. If he's not, then he'll go talk to him.

He scanned the shop, looking for the mop of brown hair that was Eren's hair, and to his surprise, he was here, sitting alone at a table by the window, drumming his fingers against the surface of the table. What surprised him even more was that he was wearing his sunglasses again, but he smiled slightly and began to approach him.

(He found it odd how Eren didn't look up and greet him right away; and he also thought it was odd that Eren didn't see him approaching, but he decided not to say anything.)

"Eren?"

Eren jumped a little, and looked up at him, a grin finding its way on his face. "Levi! You made it."

"Well, I wouldn't miss my date," Levi said as he took the seat across from Eren. "Wouldn't have been much a date if I did."

Eren laughed, and Levi watched as Eren's lips has curled upwards, and that was when he decided that he adored that smile, and wished for nothing but to see Eren smiling all the time.

Once he shook himself out of his thoughts, he asked, "You want anything to eat, drink?"

Eren shook his head. "Well, a hot chocolate would be nice."

Levi nodded and stood up, shrugging off his coat before going up to the front. "I'll be right back."

He walked up to the cashier, and went right up to the front since no one was there. And once he was there, Petra looked up at him and smiled. "Hey buddy, didn't think I'd see you here until Monday."

"Well, I'm on a date," Levi said, and Petra cocked an eyebrow up.

"A date, huh? With who?"

"Eren."

Petra blinked, and looked past Levi, over to where Eren was sitting. She pursed her lips and leaned back on her heels before smiling softly.

"That's sweet; you guys would make a cute couple."

A soft pink crept onto Levi's cheeks, and he huffed. "Just get me a hot chocolate and a decaf, will you?"

She laughed. "Coming right up!"

In took a few minutes before Petra came back with two cups, one for Eren and one for himself. He gave her a twenty, waving it off before she could give him back his change and took the two cups, turning on his heel to go back to Eren.

"Enjoy your date, Levi!"

Levi scowled, but didn't turn around, and kept walking back to his table.

Once he got there, he set Eren's hot chocolate in front of him, and set his own cup of coffee down before slipping back into his seat. "Back already?" Eren asked, and Levi nodded. "Heh, thought that would've taken longer."

Levi shrugged. "Depends, really."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

They both took a sip of their own drink, testing out how hot it was, and Levi kept sneaking glances at Eren, wondering how he should begin a conversation.

He was wearing a light green t-shirt, with a gray, light jacket over top of it. It really complimented him, for some reason, but he found that he liked green on Eren.

He wished that he would take off those sunglasses though.

"So, tell me about yourself."

Yeah, that's a good way to start a conversation; perfect. One for you, Levi.

Eren pulled his cup away and tilted his head a little to the side. "Well, there's not much to tell."

"Sure there is."

"I dunno!" Eren exclaimed, setting his drink down. "I live with my sister, Mikasa, and my best friend, Armin, crashes there a lot even though he has his own apartment. I tell him he should just move in with us because he spends more time there than at his own place, but he refuses, saying he'd be a burden." Eren paused. "Even though he's not."

Levi nodded, and Eren continued. "My father and mother divorced when I was ten, shortly after they had adopted Mikasa. I lived with my mother, and there was the occasional time when I would go over my father's. I was supposed to go over like, every other weekend, but he worked a lot, and it was always fun to be with him. He taught me a lot. My mom did too, but, she was always around, and well, he wasn't." He laughed softly, and reached up to scratch the back of his head. "I'm rambling again."

Levi took another sip. "It's endearing," he assured him. "But, I'm curious, were you adopted too?"

Eren shook his head. "No, I wasn't. My mom knew Mikasa's mom, and once her parents died, she took her in and adopted her. She even took Armin in after his grandfather passed when we were 15."

"I see."

"Enough about me," Eren said, leaning forward. "Tell me about you."

Levi frowned, and sighed a little. "I have two best friends, and their names are Hanji and Erwin. I've known Erwin since I was a ten, and met Hanji freshman year of high school. Another friend of mine, Petra, who works here, I've known since sophomore year. I live alone, in an apartment, though it feels like I live with Hanji since she's there all the time."

Eren grinned. "I didn't know you knew Petra."

"I didn't know you knew her either."

"Well, I come here a lot, with my sister and Armin, and she's almost always here when we are, so we started talking and became friends. We don't like, hang out, but, she's sweet."

"She is."

Levi rested his elbows on the table, lacing his own fingers together and resting his chin on top of them. Eren began talking again. His smile was still there, and he was sure that he was talking about Petra, or something of the like. Right now, he was focused on those sunglasses (again).

He was curious as to why he was wearing them, and really, he wanted him to take them off so he could see what color eyes he had.

He began to wonder what color they could be; were they a light brown with a dark outline, and gold flecks here and there? Or were they a bright, vibrant blue that stood out against his tan skin?

"And then she—"

"Eren?" Levi interrupted him, and Eren's eyebrows shot up.

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure! What is it?"

Levi wasn't sure if he should be asking this, but he was curious, and as the famous saying always said: curiosity killed the cat.

"Why are you wearing sunglasses?"

There was a pause, and he saw Eren tense up a little, a small frown shaping his lips (no, no—don't frown; smile again, just like you had been). He didn't know why he was wearing them, and if it was personal, he didn't want to pry, but he already asked, so it was too late to take the question back.

"Because… I just always do, ya know?"

"But I want to see your eyes."

Eren tilted his head downwards, and he swore he saw him mouth something, or maybe he had said something, but it was so quiet he couldn't hear it. He pulled his hands back, and for a moment, he thought fucked something up, and for all he knows, he probably did.

"No, you don't, really—"

"Eren, please, it's not that big of a deal."

"But it kinda is, well, I dunno, it isn't to me, but it might be to you—"

Levi sighed, and stood up a little, leaning over the table. He reached out and swiftly took Eren's sunglasses off, and he heard the brunet gasp as his eyes widened.

There was a faint outline of what he would say would be aquamarine irises, and it surprised him. He hadn't expected this, hadn't expected that Eren would be—blind, right? Or could he see, just not that well?

As the silence stretched on, Eren panicked. "That's why, okay, I'm blind, and I wasn't sure how you would react to it since you saw me with sunglasses on the first time. I always wear them since Mikasa doesn't want anything sharp to get near my eyes, as crazy as it sounds, and I didn't want you to know, even though it's not that big of a deal. Well, I don't think it is, I just don't want you to think I'm completely helpless and I'm not, I'm perfectly capable of doing things, and I'm rambling again and I'm sorry but—"

"Eren."

Eren paused, pressing his lips firmly together, and Levi sighed. He leaned back, but not before putting Eren's sunglasses back in his hand.

"I'm just surprised," he said, and he was honest. He didn't think at all that Eren would be blind, but, perhaps, he should have at least considered it, since Eren never waved out to him when he first walked in, nor did he move away when he as reaching out for his sunglasses. "And I don't think differently of you because you're blind, that's just idiotic."

Eren's shoulders visibly relaxed. He fidgeted with the sunglasses in his hands, opening and closing them, as if debating on if he should put them back on or not. His voice was small when he spoke, as if was a child that had been reprimanded, "I'm sorry."

"There's no reason to be sorry," Levi shook his head, debating on whether or not he should reach out and grab a hold of one of Eren's hands that he put on the table.

In the end, he does; he reached out and grabbed a hold of one of them, giving it a little squeeze. "There's nothing wrong with being blind, Eren."

"I know that," he murmured, grip tightening on his sunglasses. "I just… I dunno, I guess I was paranoid you'd be weirded out, or something, I dunno."

Levi scanned Eren's face, in search of something, anything, but he wasn't getting much. He sighed, softly, and gave his hand another squeeze.

"How about we just go home? I'll drop you off at your house, if you want."

Eren tilted his head back up at him, and asked softly, "Can we talk the long way? My house isn't that far, and I'd still like to… talk to you, more."

Levi smiled, and patted his hand. "Sure, we can do that."

And seeing Eren smile again made him feel a little better.

I'm hoping this will only be 10-15 chapters long? I don't want it to move too fast, of course, but I also have no idea where this is headed. All I want is cute things.

Cute things.

Also, my best friend from elementary school was blind, and he wore glasses to be safe (and still does), so, yeah.

Alright, well, I'll see you all next time! ouo

~Lovely Kacey Faith