Closing the door behind me, I take off my sneakers and leave them against the wall to the right of my front door. I lug my back pack with me up the stairs and to my second floor bedroom. I let it drop off my shoulders and fall to my tan carpeted floor with an audible thud. I leave it there and make my way over to my bed where my black laptop sits. I left it charging since I left my house at six thirty a.m. to get to school; knowing that it is going to be at full charge now I unplug it from the charging cord and sit down at the head of my twin sized bed and pull the laptop into my lap as I open and power it on. Despite still having some homework I decide to go right to the source that eats up most of my time that the education system doesn't, that source being the internet of course. Middle school is definitely harder than elementary school. My best friend Armin and I were zoned for different schools, and since Mikasa attends private school I ended up starting seventh grade all on my own. My mom just keeps telling me that it's a part of growing up and that I'm bound to make new friends, but I don't know. I may be more on the outgoing side of the spectrum but I find it hard to actually make new legit friends. Acquaintances and pals sure that's easy, but friends are another matter entirely. If someone asked me to describe exactly what true friendship was, I wouldn't know how to answer besides that it's what I have with Armin and Mikasa and yet to ever have experience with anybody else. I consider myself fortunate that I have two good, real friends. That's two more than some people have so I know not to be ungrateful or anything. On top of that I've already made a little group of pals at school so again could always be worse. The year hadn't been too eventful yet, then again it was only barely the end of the first quarter so it's anybody's guess how my first year of middle school will turn out.

After logging onto my account, I opened up Google Chrome and typed out the web address for a website named Omegle. I don't even remember how I found this website to be honest, and as dumb as it sounds I come on this site to casually over text with random strangers. People usually disconnect fairly quickly, or I'll disconnect with them for being a bunch of nasties, but it's something to fill the void of time. As usual none of my conversations seem to be lasting very long. Just as I'm contemplating getting off I connect with someone new.

You're now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!

You both like classic rock, not the American education system, and killing free time.

Stranger: Have to say, I'm extremely surprised someone else actually put in those last two.

I had started chuckling the second I saw the common interests. I had put down a lot of things, all true, more for my own satisfaction rather than finding anyone under them. So the fact that whoever this was had two of those random things in common (I connect to people with classic rock a lot) was kind of making my day.

Me: Not gonna lie either, I put those down expecting to never ever connect with anybody under them.

Me: doesn't make um any less true. But y'know.

Stranger: so are you really just trying to kill free time or do you like to use this stupid site to distract yourself from stuff?

Me: mmm both I guess? I mean if I really truly had something better to do I'm sure I wouldn't be on here so much lol.

Me: also thank you for not being one of those people who ask ASL right away. Or at all.

Stranger: yeah not exactly keen on learning personal shit about random people online. Also not too keen on giving out my details to possible molesters or serial killers.

Stranger: anyways, name your favorite three rock artists. Go.

Me: The Beatles, Joan Jett, and Aerosmith

Stranger: ….

Stranger: okay no

Stranger: The Beatles don't count.

Me: what do you mean they don't count? .-.

Stranger: did Paul and John write great songs together? Yes. But a large majority of their stuff was most certainly not rock. Heck more of it is pop rather than rock.

Stranger: but my main point is The Beatle's music was all so different that you can't just classify them in one genre box.

Me: mmmmm yeah I definitely see what you mean. Okay how about you then?

Stranger: definitely agree on Joan Jet, Rolling Stones, and Aerosmith is good but I'm going to have to go with AC/DC

Me: so basically, if you had to choose between Steven Tyler and Mick Jagger, you'd go with Mick?

Stranger: well I guess that's a way of putting it, but not specifically that no. Just over all as a group I prefer the Rolling Stones over Aerosmith

Me: Well agree to disagree.

I continue to talk with the person, eventually going over to my back pack and pulling out the math homework I have yet to start. I manage to get through most of it, but eventually I get stuck on a problem that is really making me want to pull my hair out.

Stranger: could always be worse. The work load in schools in England is WAY heavier than what students here in the U.S. are assigned.

Stranger: still there?

Me: yea sorry sorry

Me: I just started working on my math homework, heh

Me: and let's just say I hate Pythagoras Theorem.

Stranger: ah dang yeah I get you. I mean I can do those kind of problems fine but they do take a little bit of brain power.

Stranger: guess that means you're a high school freshman huh?

Me: pfft nah I'm only a first year middle schooler man.

Stranger: holy shit you're in sixth grade?!

Me: what no I'm in 7th grade.

Stranger: okay schools across the U.S. do things WAY too differently

Me: apparently. So you're older than 9th grade than?

Stranger: no I'm in ninth grade. Makes me feel a little dumb that in other parts of the country middle school brats are doing the same level math as where I am.

Me: Hey now you're only two years older than me :I no need to act like you're far above me or anything.

Stranger: sorry. I guess around my age two years really makes a difference. It kinda seems to until you're like seventeen or eighteen than you stop caring. That's at least what I've observed. But hey everyone's different.

Just as I'm about to type out my response I hear my mother yell from downstairs,

"Eren dinner's ready!" I let out a small sigh and quickly type out,

Me: Hey I have to leave to go eat dinner but I had fun talking with you. Not trying to be creepy or anything but want to exchange Facebooks or something?

Stranger: Sure but just to warn you I don't use Facebook a whole lot.

We sent each other the links to our profiles and added each other. Once that was taken care of I ended the chat and shut my laptop before making my way downstairs and to the dining room. Walking in I see that my dad is actually home and the food has already been served. He is sitting in his usual seat (usual when he's actually here, anyways) and my mom is in the seat to his right. I go ahead and make myself comfortable in the seat to his left. Dinner is filled with lots of small talk, mostly between my parents, and the occasional addition to the conversation by myself. My dad is an ER surgeon so he works a lot of long hours that usually keep him out of the house between shifts. It doesn't surprise me when he tells us that he's being flown out to Germany to perform a special operation that they needed a more experienced and specialized surgeon for. He may work in the ER but my dad is a well-known surgeon and this isn't the first time he's been flown somewhere to perform an operation. The only difference is this time he tells us the patient will require multiple operations over an extended period of time and that he'll be gone for an entire year. He tells my mom that we can go with him, at which point I get up and excuse myself from the table.

"What did your mom say?" Armin asks before taking a bite of his sandwich. It's the Monday after my dad dropped that bombshell on me and my mother and I just got done explaining what happened to Mikasa and Armin.

"I don't know, I left pretty much right away. And the fact that she hasn't talked to me about it yet means she's still on the fence about it herself." I let out a sigh as I push one of the ravioli in my bowl around in its meaty sauce. "don't get me wrong I think it'd be cool to visit Germany, but moving there is another matter entirely." Finally eating the morsel that I had been keeping my full attention on, I look up at my blond friend and decide to change the topic of conversation. "So how's that advanced study program going?" Armin got accepted into an academic program that allowed him to take half his courses at a high school not too far from his school.

"I'm really liking it." He says, a smile finding its way onto his face instantly. "I think I made a friend in my honors biology class. Their name is Hange, they're kind of eccentric but they're really smart and friendly."

"They?" Mikasa asks the same question that had sprung into my mind.

"Oh, Hange is non-binary, so they don't use male or female pronouns." He explains. Nodding my head in understanding I look at the digital clock that is hanging in the corner of Armin's kitchen to check the time.

"I should be heading out." I say as I bring my plate to his kitchen sink and wash it off. "If I don't leave I'll miss the last bus home." Both my friends offer to walk with me to the stop but I assure them I'm alright. It doesn't take me long to get to the stop and the bus arrives almost right after I do. Getting on I'm relieved to see it isn't full at all; there are maybe five other people on besides myself. However, one of the passengers catches my eye. Walking to the back of the bus to see if it is who I think it is, I let a small smile tug at the corners of my lips and say, "Hello, Levi?" The raven haired teen turns his head and looks at me. I notice his eyes slightly widen and I take that as my signal to take a seat beside him.

"Well shit, you're Eren right?" He asks, only turning his head to keep eye contact with me.

"Yeah; I noticed you from your profile picture." I said, chuckling lightly. "So you live in the area than?"

"Well not this area specifically no. I was just visiting a friend." He explains.

"That's funny, so was I." I muse with a hum. We sit in a comfortable silence, neither of us having anything in particular to say. Ten minutes later I'm the first of us to get off. Standing and holding onto a pole as the bus slows to a halt, I look at Levi and say, " It was nice to meet you in person and see you aren't in fact a creepy forty-year-old man." He nods at me and says,

"Yeah back at you kid." I pout at him calling me a kid, and just before getting off I look back at the silver eyed boy and say,

"We should hang out for real some time!" I didn't have time to catch a verbal or physical response from him as I stepped off the bus that took off down the road as soon as the doors closed behind me. I walk home at my normal pace, not caring to hurry back but at the same time having no reason to take my sweet time. As soon as I get home I go immediately upstairs to my room and get on my computer. Even if I'm not scrolling or avidly paying attention to it I always keep my Facebook tab open when on my laptop. I decide to open up the most infuriating online game known to man, the McDonalds game, and attempt to at least make it far enough into the game. I've probably wasted a good amount of my life trying to beat that game, and even though at this point I am almost totally certain there is no way to beat it, I still try. Once I go bankrupt after an hour and a half of game play I decide to do myself a favor and close out the game tab. I then decide to scroll through Facebook. I know a much more productive way to spend my time, right? As I look through my newsfeed I notice that Levi is online. So I click on his name in my messaging window and type out,

Well hello over there owo

Sent at 7:46 pm

Before I have time to get bored with Facebook and waste my time with something else, a little dinging sound goes off to let me know I got a message back.

Gotta say I'm surprised you didn't message me sooner

Sent at 7:55 pm

I probably would have, but I was killing brain cells and trying to rule the world with fast food.

Sent as 7:56 pm

What?

Sent at 7:56 pm

click it. Just do it.

Sent at 7:57 pm

I feel absolutely no guilt as I send Levi the link to one of the most addicting games to ever have been created. I open up YouTube in a new tab and start binge watching all the FineBrothers react videos that I'm behind on. Just as my fourth one is starting up I hear my Facebook message alert go off. I pause the video and switch tabs.

What have you done to me.

This is awful.

I hate life

Why the fuck is this stupid game so addicting?!

WHY DO I KEEP GOING BANKRUPT?

Sent at 8:33 pm

I start laughing as I read all of his messages. Still laughing I type out my reply.

You get better the more you play it I promise.

But yes this game is hell.

Welcome we've been expecting you

Sent at 8: 35 pm

God damn it Eren. I swear if I end up wasting my life away on this game I will rise up from the grave and drag you down with me.

Sent at 8:36 pm

Too late. This game already took me to the grave :p XD

Set at 8:36 pm

Levi and I actually ended up talking for a decent amount of time. Just before ten o'clock he said he needed to finish getting ready for bed so he could at least start the school day with a decent amount of sleep. After saying goodnight, I closed my laptop and set it down on my desk, figuring I should probably do the same. I take a quick shower and brush my teeth. I go to sleep not worrying about my father or Germany. Instead I drift off blissfully into unconsciousness, honestly a bit glad I have been able to stay in touch with Levi.

"So it really doesn't bother you that he's going to be gone that long?" Levi asks me as he walks back into his living room with a bowl of popcorn. He sets the bowl on his glass coffee table as he takes a seat beside me on his dark brown leather couch. We start up a game of Tetris on his Play Station Two; we do two player mode so our boards show up side by side. As we both start playing the game I respond with,

"Yeah to be honest it really doesn't. I mean he's been gone for almost a month already and honestly I can say I don't miss him. I don't know, maybe I'm heartless or something, but I've never been close with him, at all. I don't know why, but I don't think it's just because his job keeps him away from home all the time."

"No I understand what you mean." Levi says as we both continue to focus on the game before us, "Before the divorce and before my mom got full custody of me I never had the greatest relationship with my father. It wasn't toxic, but I feel like it wouldn't have taken much to get it to that point. You know that famous saying 'blood is thicker than water'?" Nodding my head and humming in response, he continues, "That's not what the actual saying is. The actual saying is 'the blood of the convent is thicker than the water of the womb' so the meaning of the real saying is the total opposite of the version everyone seems to know."

"Well in a weird way I think that makes me feel a bit better." I say, turning the saying over in my head.

"I mean it makes sense. Relationships and bonds we form willingly and on our own become strong because we want them to. But those forced upon us by birth or circumstance are ones we're conditioned to take meaning and care to." Just as I'm about to say something back, my pieces reach the top and I loose. Throwing the remote up in the air and letting it fall back on the couch I get out a frustrated groan and lean back into the cushions of the couch. I let my head lull back and dry wash my face. I hear Levi chuckle beside me as he says, "You really suck at this game."

"You just have some crazy gaming psychic powers or something." I grumble, turning my head to the side so I can look at the older boy out of the corner of my eyes. Spotting the time on a clock behind and slightly to the right of Levi I let out a sigh. Setting down my controller and standing up I say, "Sorry I need to start heading home." He turns to look at the clock as well than looks back to me and nods.

"Want me to walk you back home?" He asks. I shrug my shoulders and say,

"It's up to you." He leaves for a moment and before long comes back with his house keys. As we head out into the dusk he, for once, starts up conversation.

"I can't wait until I get my driver's license." He says. "My mom said she'd pay for my car if I cover my monthly insurance."

"Do you have a job?" I ask, honestly curious.

"Not yet. But as soon as I turn sixteen I'm going to apply to literally every place I can." I nod my head in response. The rest of the walk is fairly silent. Once we get to my house I turn around and wave him off, thanking Levi for coming with me back to my place. Walking in and taking my jacket and shoes off I immediately notice the whole house seems oddly quiet. Walking into the kitchen I see a note on the fridge. Taking it off and reading it over I crunch it slowly and throw it angrily into the trash can behind me. My mom decided to visit my dad in Germany. Without me. For a month. I storm up to my room and slam my door. I guess it's a good thing I snacked over at Levi's today, because I couldn't have less of an appetite right now.

Levi

"What are you laughing at, four eyes?" I ask the crazy women beside me that I call my friend for whatever reason. She's currently scrolling through something on her phone, and whatever it is it's amusing the shit out of her. Looking at me, face almost split in half from her huge grin, she simply hands her phone to me. I instantly notice that she had Instagram open, and it doesn't take me long to see a trend in posts from the people she follows who go to our school. It's countless posts of kids at some party. And it takes no time for me to recognize the house in every shot. "Is Eren holding a fucking house party?" I question as she takes the phone back.

"Apparently so." She replies, turning slightly to face me. "He must feel really confident about passing his finals tomorrow." Scowling I shake my head.

"Just the other day I was helping him study and he fucking freaked out because he wasn't getting the material. If he doesn't pass his finals, he's going to fail his classes." I say, now fuming myself at the brunet boy's stupidity. I don't notice Hanji's change in expression, but feeling a hand on my shoulder I look back up at her.

"Try not to get mad at him." She says softly. "I think he's just dealing with stress." I don't say anything as I turn on my phone and look through my own Instagram account. I know she's right, and I know he has a bad way of dealing with his anger and stress. After starting high school at the beginning of the current school year his dad had been offered a job as the general surgeon at a hospital in Maine. It was nearly half way across the county but the pay was good enough to make it worth his while. His mom fully intended to move with her husband, naturally, but Eren refused to go. After lots of fights they finally agreed to let Eren stay in the house. It was payed off so it wasn't lie that cost them anything. They sent Eren a budget for food and utilities and he was expected to pay it all back once he got a job. Eren knew this was putting him in debt to them for a while but he didn't care. So long as he didn't do anything stupid to get himself arrested the system would work out fine. And that made Levi more worried than angry. If he got the cops called on him for a noise complaint than things would go sour real fast. Standing up and getting my car keys I call back to Hanji,

"Stay here I'll be right back." I hop in my car and drive to Eren's, thanking that by car the trip only takes about fifteen minutes. Every walk we had taken between each other's houses in the past took nearly forty-five minutes, so since getting a car it had made things a lot easier. The fact that we're zoned for the same high school is still a mystery to me. Parking on the street in front of his lawn, I get out of the car only to immediately take notice of the loud music. I walk through the front door and make my way through the swarms of sober and drunk alike teenagers, until I find the sound system. Unplugging it all and bringing the loud music to an abrupt stop, I glare at everyone I can and as coldly, "Where is Eren?" A majority of teenagers filter out of the room, a lot of them probably assuming the party is over and leaving. Good riddance. I shoo and kick the rest of them out until I'm just left in an utterly trashed house that reeks of alcohol. I look through every room for the brunet, finally finding him in his bedroom's bathroom, hunched over the toilet and nearly passed out. I kneel beside him and rub his back. "Eren?" I say softly, "Can you hear me." He lazily nods his head. Letting out a sigh I carefully pick him up princess style and carry him downstairs, setting him in the passenger seat of my car and strapping him in. I quickly run back in and up to his room, grabbing his backpack and a change of clothes along with his toothbrush and hair brush. I double check everything and make sure I have everything he'll need for the night and for school tomorrow. Once I'm sure I run back down the stairs and throw the bags in the back and get in the driver's seat. Quickly glancing at the brunet before driving off I can tell he's barely awake. I get back to my house in the same amount of time it took me to drive to Eren's house and end up having to carry him in. Stumbling in once I manage to get the door open without setting the teen down I call out to Hanji, "Get his two bags out of the front seat than lock my car!" Without looking back at her I continue down the hall and once there put Eren down on my bed. As soon as I sat him down I thank my lucky stars that I live in a one story house. Moments later Hanji slowly creeks the door open and walks in. Setting the bags on the floor at the foot of my bed she says softly,

"Is he alright." Nodding I answer,

"Yeah I'm fairly certain he's just completely drunk." Sighing and running a hand through my hair I add, "He's going to hate life tomorrow morning." The brown haired woman pats my shoulder than says,

"Speaking of tomorrow I should head back home." She waves goodbye than heads out. I turn the ceiling fan on than get a pair of boxers and sweats and leave to take a shower. Once I do that and brush my teeth I head into the guest room to sleep for the night. Why I put Eren in my room instead of here I'm not certain. Setting the alarm and turning off the lights I mentally remind myself to get the golden eyed brat some aspirin when I wake up.

Eren

The second my consciousness wakes and my mind is no longer trapped in sleep I feel nothing but gross; and also a massive headache. I roll over and bury my face in the pillow my head was just resting on. I know if I open my eyes the hell I feel would just grow. The sound of a door opening felt like someone was screeching in my ear. I bring my hands up to cover my ears, trying to bury my face deeper in the softness underneath me.

"Eren," I hear Levi's voice booming off all the walls, "I have some aspirin. Take it it'll help." I get out a groan in protest, not wanting to have to deal with how loud my own voice would be if I were to talk. Suddenly I'm rolled over and I bring my hands up to cover my eyes. "Eren" He says again, forcing me to sit up. Giving in, I hold out my hand and let him drop the pills into my hand. As soon as I pop them into my mouth he hands me the glass and makes me drink all of the water in the glass. I feel the bed dip, and assume that he just took a seat beside me. A hand starts rubbing my bac soothingly and he asks me, "Why didn't you just call or message me?"

"I didn't want to bother you." I croak out in response, feeling sicker than I've felt in a long time.

"You never bother me you know that." He murmurs back to me, obviously trying to keep his volume down. "Did you just want to get drunk?"

"It…helped at the time." I answer hesitantly. I hear the raven haired teen sigh, before finally saying,

"Eren… you know you can't let that be the answer to all your problems. I told you what that did to my dad." Those words bring a huge wave of guilt that crashes down over me.

"Shit, I'm sorry Levi." I say, dry washing my face.

"Live and learn." He says, then moves my hands away from my face so I'm forced to open my eyes and look at him. "I made breakfast. Take a shower and get dressed. We have an hour and a half until school starts." As he gets up and exits the room I notice my backpack and another bad sitting beside the bed on the floor. Opening up the second bag I see Levi got me a change of clothes and a toothbrush. I take the whole bag with me into his bathroom. I turn the shower on, then use Levi's toothpaste and take the toothbrush into the shower and brush my teeth as the warm water washes sweat and alcohol off my skin and hair. I only stay in for about ten minutes or so before getting out and quickly drying myself off and getting changed into the clothing Levi took the time to bring for me. I'm thankful that he brought me to his house, and quite honestly not looking forward to the mess waiting for me back my mine. Heading towards his kitchen I curse whoever's great idea it was to invent sunlight. Walking to the small dining area between the living room and kitchen I see that Levi already has all the food ready and on the table. As I take a seat across from him he just hands me a pair of sunglasses before starting to eat the stuff off of his own plate. I mumble a small 'thanks' as I put the shades on. Breakfast is spent silently, which I am more than thankful for. Although something tells me that on the way to school I'm in for the lecture of a lifetime.

"Like I said junior year is the hardest academically. Senior year is just the worse because when senior sickness hits it hits hard." Levi says with a light chuckle. Groaning, I rub my face then slump back far in my chair.

"I just want the year to be over already." I whine. "Finals prep is killing me. I just want them to hand us our tests so we can be done!" I hear a scoff before the raven haired man retorts with,

"Just wait until you get to college. Than complain to me about finals." Letting out a huff I sit back upright in my desk chair. Looking at him through the small screen on my MacBook I ask,

"Are you coming back for summer break?" Watching him shake his head, I feel the corner of my lips tug downward.

"Cant." He says, "I'm going with my mom to visit our family in France."

"For the entire summer?"

"Yeah..." He says as he rests his chin in the palm of his hand, "When they host the family reunion over there they kinda go all out." Giving me a small, and dare I say sad, smile he says

"I am sorry; I know we won't be seeing much of each other once you start college." The reminder just bums me out more. Levi went up to Rhode Island for college, whereas I'm going to Arizona for my studies.

"Well," I say, thinking for a moment, "I could always make myself visit my parents than drive up to see you." Shaking his head, smiling lightly, silver eyes look up and in mine through the screen he says,

"Wow you'd put up with Grisha just to visit me? I feel special." Smirking back at him slightly I retort,

"Yeah, you better. I'm going to have to listen to him and all his talks of disappointment in me not going into the medical field."

"Hey don't listen to him. You're going to be a great author." Letting out a huff I say

"I sure hope so." Leaning back in his chair Levi asked,

"So why are you going to Arizona for college?"

"It's a six-hour drive to L.A. and less than half the price of living there. I want to be by good publishers." Nodding his head, Levi opens to mouth to speak when his roommate yells at him to stop talking.

"I better get off." He mutters, looking back at me (he had turned around when his roommate yelled at him).

"Yeah go get some sleep. I'll text you tomorrow."

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight." I watch the skype call close, then sight through my nose and close my laptop. Walking to my bed and flopping down on it I think about the future, and how I'm not sure if I'm excited about it or not.

"But I have to know now!" Hanji exclaims, flailing her arms up over her head dramatically. I let out a small laugh at her exasperation.

"You can't rush creativity." I retort. "But I promise as soon as I finish the next chapter you'll be the first one to read it." That brings the grin right back to her face. Before I can say anything else I feel something cold and wet shoved under both my jacket and shirt. Jumping and grabbing the material on my back to try and shake what I'm guessing is snow out of my clothing I turn around to see a snickering Levi. Glaring at the shorter man I say, "Oh it's on!" As I bend down to compact a handful of snow into a ball he runs off to take shelter. I fell snow smashed down on my head and turn around to see Hanji running away in the opposite direction. And when I open my mouth to her I get hit with a snowball from Levi's direction. Running towards my raven haired companion with my sloppily made snowball I yell "Double teaming me? This is mutiny!" As I throw the snow and he dodges, I actually see his face split with a smile, and he's actually smiling! Seeing him be so over-joyed makes me feel happier than I thought was possible. I remember back when I was still in middle school and we first started hanging out; I asked him why he always looks so indifferent to everything.

"So you don't have to answer this if it's too personal or something, but why do you always look so- I don't know, indifferent? To everything?" I ask as we wait through the cut scene. It's become a habit as of late to hang out at Levi's after I get home from school and work on homework with him them play some kind of videogame together once we both finish our work. It's definitely made me more a more productive student I can say that. He shrugs his shoulders and says,

"Well to be honest it is a little personal I guess. But it's also not a big deal to me. To put it simply, I just don't react to anything unless given a good enough reason to. I've dealt with my fair of shit but my life hasn't been horrid or anything. I guess you could say I'm just not the kind of person to wear their heart on their sleeve." Nodding my head, I say

"That makes sense. But you know what?" He hums in response, and I say, "Someday I'm going to make you genuinely laugh and smile. I've decided it and so shall it be." Shaking his head, Levi says,

"Good luck with that, kid."

"I know it won't be soon." I admit, turning my head to the T.V. as the cut scene comes to an end. "But one thing you should learn about me is that I'm very stubborn. So when I set my mind on something I don't quit or give up until it happens." Seeing him smirk out of the corner of my eye I hear him mutter under his breath,

"I'll hold you to that, then."

Once the three of us decide we're done being cold we go up into Levi's apartment to warm up with space heaters and hot chocolate. Hanji and I each grab a blanket for ourselves, putting a space heater right in front of us and sit on the soft carpet and turn the television on. Since it is the season most of the stations are playing some sort of Christmas special. I grab the remote from Hanji's hand once she lands on one of my favorite movies ever.

"We're watching this one." I declare. The beginning of the movie A Miser Brothers' Christmas is playing on the screen and I smile, shifting just slightly to get more comfortable. Hanji claps her hands and says excitedly,

"Oh good choice Eren! I love this movie." At this point Levi walks in, handing Hanji and I our cups of cocoa than coming back moments later holding his own. Taking a seat next to me he asks,

"What movie is this?" I gasp, and put a hand over my chest.

"You're telling me you've never seen A Miser Brothers' Christmas?" When he nods my head I pick up the remote and turn the volume up. "Then sit back and enjoy the show."

"Alright I will admit that is one of the better old stop motion Christmas movies." Levi finally gives in as he washes out our old hot cocoa mugs.

"Yeah you bet it is." I say smugly. Levi almost got up and walked out on the movies a couple of times. After his second attempt I lied across his lap just to keep him from getting up. Leaning off of the counter I leave the room and join Hanji in the guest room where she's setting up the bed. When I walk through the door she motions for me to come in quickly. Once I make sure the door is shut behind me she sits on the bed and pats a stop next to her. As I sit she wiggles her eyebrows. "What?" I question.

"You were getting a little bold today, don't you think?" She asks, a grin cracking its way between her cheeks. I feel my face heat up and I motion for her to quiet down.

"I don't know- was I?" When she nods her head I let out a groan and cover my face with my hands. "I'm so pathetic."

"Hey now don't be like that." She says softly, moving a hand up to rub my back. "You shouldn't beat yourself up over this Eren. You've liked him since high school, right?" When I nod my head she says, "I think that's really cute. But if you ask me, I think you need to tell him." She turns to face me, and pulls my hands away from my face, waiting until I'm not only looking at her, but until I also turn to face her. "It's okay to be scared. You two have been friends almost as long as I've been friends with him. But if you don't try you'll never know. And if you're worried about running your friendship than don't. Even if he turns you down you and I both know Levi's not the kind of person to cut ties with and push someone away just because they have feeling for him he doesn't return." I nod my head. I know she's right, but I still can't help but worry. Levi has been there for me for so long. Heck he's even been there for me in times Mikasa and Armin either couldn't be or wouldn't support me for whatever reason. His happiness means the world to me and as much as it hurts if me being out of his life is what would make him happy than that's what I would do. I mean that, but at the same time I crave nothing more than to be a part of his life in some way, and I know if I couldn't be it would be devastating. Wouldn't it be selfish if I confessed to him? If I put him in such a tight and awkward position like that? My train of though is interrupted when the door to the room swings open.

"Well shit," I hear Levi say. Turning around to look at him I see that he's taken to leaning against the frame of the door way. "Are you guys having gossip hour without me?" Hanji lets out a laugh and says
"Of course not Napoleon, you're just in time!" Levi squints at the brunette woman and slowly walks across the room; grabbing a pillow and smothering her with it as soon as he gets to the head of the bed. Of course he lets up after a few minutes than takes to sitting slightly in front of and between us. We all reposition ourselves to face one another in our little triangle-like formation. As weird as it may seem Hanji, Levi and I actually love to gossip and talk shit about people together. It probably makes us seem like petty teenage girls, but the three of us have never particularly cared what other people think of us. "So!" Hanji exclaims, starting us off, "I heard from Petra that Auruo sprung his ankle from running away from a cockroach that scurried across their living room floor when they were eating dinner last week." I can't help but snicker at the information and Levi just rolls his eyes.

"It's a good thing he has Petra," Levi comments, "otherwise he would have no backbone. Literally and metaphorically."

"It's so true though." I add, a smile on my face as I shake my head. "At least he's not like he was in high school."

"Remember that time he pierced his cartilage because you did Levi?" Hanji pipes in. Rolling his eyes Levi retorts,

"Gosh I'm so glad his little 'let's be Levi' phase only lasted that one year." The three of us continue to just chat about anything and anything for an hour or so, but as Hanji starts to visibly nod off Levi and I leave her be to get some sleep. Levi and I go back out into the living room and sit on the sofa we all refused to take a seat on earlier. Despite being nearly one in the morning, both of us feel wide awake and thus decide to watch something else. We turn on the second season of American Horror story and just relax and watch it. Every now and then one of us comments on something. Eventually I notice that Levi has not only stopped commenting, but has fallen asleep. I take a blanket that's on the floor by my feet and lay it across the both of us. He ends up moving in his sleep and ends up leaning against me. It makes me a bit flustered at first, but I decide to let it slide and thank the universe for this early Christmas present. Smiling, I turn off the television with the remote and let my eyes slip closed, finally deciding to get a bit of sleep myself.

Elbow propped up on the table and the side of my face resting in the palm on my hand, I keep my gaze on my food, and lazily bring bite after bite up to my mouth as I pay little to no attention to my parent's conversation. I left Levi's house and came over to their place since tomorrow's Christmas and everything. But seeing as the first thing I got walking through the door were back handed comments from my dad about my choice in careers I've already deemed this trip wasted.

"Eren," I hear my mother's kind voice call for me. Looking up at her she smiles at me and asks, "What do you think?"

"What?" I ask, honestly not sure what they just asked if anything.

"Are you in capable of listening?" My father says, shaking his head. "Your mother was asking what you thought about meeting the daughter of a surgeon I work with tomorrow." Sighing through my nose I rub my temples.

"No thank you." I decline politely, really hoping I can keep from letting a certain cat out of its bag.

"Son, you're in your second year of college already. You haven't ever even had a real relationship. We're just trying to help." My father says. "Tomorrow evening we'll be going out with her family and you two can-…"

"I'm gay." I announce, abruptly standing up. "Okay? That's why I haven't had any girlfriends because I'm not exactly in to girls." As I finish my short rant I look down at my mom who's grinning widely at me. Turning to look at my father she says,

"Give me my two hundred dollars."

"What?" I question, still standing. My mom gets up as well and motions for me to follow her. She leads me into the living room where she has me sit beside her on their tan suede couch.

"I'm sorry about that." She says softly to me. "I know that was ridiculous what we did in there. But I couldn't talk your father out of his. I mean for peat sakes it's the twenty-first century people can decide who and how they want to date on their own." Watching as she throws her arms up in the air I can't help but smile, remembering who it is I got my dramatic flair from. Grabbing my hands, she continues, "I know your father and I haven't really been there for you like we probably should have. All we've done was what we felt was best for you. We let you live on your own in high school because we knew moving would make you miserable and we knew you could make it. You're such a strong, independent spirit and we couldn't be more proud of you. I know your father is hard on you but it's just his way of showing he cares. I'm not saying we're not in the wrong, I know we've slipped up and made mistakes on the way." Moving one of her hands up to thread it though my hair she concluded with, "But seeing the wonderful young man you've turned out to be I can take peace in knowing we must not have done too bad." As shocked as I am, I can't help but smile at my mother's words. It makes me feel like an ass for being so resentful to them for so long, and for being so quick to ride them off as bad parents. Hugging my mother, I mutter softly,

"I'm sorry for being such an ass to you and dad." Laughing lightly, she says, pulling away to look me in the eyes,

"Oh honey, that's the definition of being a teenager." A playful gleam lights up her golden eyes. I shove her shoulder lightly as I roll my eyes and chuckle. I follow my mom back to the kitchen, where as I take my seat my dad and I apologize to one another. We don't have the same kind of heart to heart like I did with my mom, but I can tell everything is at least calm and civil between us. I still don't think I'll ever be close to my dad but at least I know we can keep things from getting toxic when we both put the effort forward. After dinner finishes I go ahead and wash all the dishes since my mom cooked and my dad had to work a full shift earlier. Once I get everything cleaned and put on the rack to dry I go up to the guest room and flop down on the bed. Grinning to myself, I think about how Levi will react when I tell him how tonight ended up going. I know he's always been worried about my relationship with them getting past the breaking point, and knowing the relief and happiness I'm sure he'll feel for me at the news makes my chest explode in a weird sense of warmth. Smothering myself with one of the three pillows on the bed I inwardly groan. Hanji's right, I really need to grow a pair and make a move. I want to do it before break ends and I have to go back to the west coast. Face splitting apart in a grin, I come up with the perfect idea. Or at the very least, a pretty damn good one.

As Levi keeps his eyes glued to his feet while he slowly and shakily works on shifting his weight from foot to foot I hold his hands, helping to guide and keep him steady as I effortlessly skate backwards as a slow pace.

"Believe it or not you are getting the hang of it." I say with a grin, not trying to sarcastic in the slightest.

"I swear to god you must have made a fucking deal with Satan or some shit like that. I mean really how did you ever learn to skate so well nonetheless backwards." He grumbles angrily, only looking up at me occasionally. Chuckling I respond with,

"When I was little I took skating lessons at this indoor rink not too far from where I lived. I only too them for a couple years but it stood with me and every now and then I went there for fun. So long story short I guess you can say it's a mix of practice and natural talent."

"If I wasn't so focused on not falling down right now I would slap that snarky grin off your face." He challenges me, not keeping his gaze on mine.

"C'mon Levi I bet if I were to let go of you right now you'd be fine."

"Don't you dare-…" he starts, but as he does I get go of his hands and stark skating backwards at a slightly faster pace. He looks angry with me, but not a true full hearted anger. We skate like that for a while, bantering back and forth with one another. Eventually he feels like he has the hang of it and starts speeding up and coming straight for me. As I turn a corner I swiftly turn and start skating facing forward. As he chases after me, and surprisingly keeps up rather well, I let out a laugh for no other reason than that I'm just really enjoying myself. Here he was thinking ice skating was the hardest thing there was and now he's going fast enough to chase after me. It's not until I circle back around and see a worker helping Levi and a small girl off the ground that I realize he hasn't had time to properly develop the art of dodging small children. I speed up my pace a bit and take care of Levi myself so the worker can focus on the little girl.

"You okay?" I ask as I help him skate over to the edge so he can grab onto the wall.

"Yeah I think I just bruised my tail bone." He replies, then lightly slaps me on the cheek and adds "That's for earlier." Rolling my eyes, I ask

"Want to go ahead and grab dinner now?" With a nod of his head, we exit the rink and return our skates. Since Hanji wanted to see has many of her friends as she could over the break she flew back to the mid-US to see Erwin and Mike for New Years and New Year's Eve. So Levi and I are spending the day together. The plan is for us to go back to his place to watch the ball drop in Times Square, or at least, that's what he thinks the plan is. What he doesn't know is that I have a secret agenda of my own for the evening. I've been taking in every detail my brain will possibly let me about every little aspect of the day. I got up early at seven this morning. I took a thirty-minute shower in which I washed and conditioned my hair, I shaved my face clean, brushed my teeth, had an apple and three buttermilk pancakes with a glass of orange juice, brushed my teeth again and flossed. After all that, it took me forty-five minutes to finally settle on what I'm currently wearing; my outfit of choice consisting of a gray long sleeved V-neck shirt, jeans in a darker gray color, a plain black belt, dark red high-top Comverse that my jeans fall slightly over, an off white sheep's wool scarf and matching gloves, a beanie in the same color as my shoes, and a black leather pea coat. I tried really hard to put together a nice outfit, and if I do say so myself it looks pretty nice on me. Although I will admit I think Levi looks much better in what he's wearing. He has on a dark blue V-neck shirt, black skinny jeans, black knee-high militaristic boots, and a black trench coat. It's a good think I've not only liked him but been fully aware of my affections for this man for some time now; because let me tell you I am having a hard enough time not ogling him as is.

Getting in his car, we decide to get dinner at Olive Garden. Since we both have the money we figure why not? He refuses to eat any of the breadsticks; claiming one time he found a barcode on one. I personally like how they taste so I eat them all myself and maybe chew a bit over dramatically just to annoy him. We take our time eating, and through a series of events I somehow end up on the same side of the booth as him towards the end. Once we pay the check we hop back in his car. As the black haired man flips through the radio he asks me,

"Anywhere else you wanted to go to before we head back?"

"Yeah, wanna hit up the park next to your complex for a little bit before we watch the ball drop?" Settling on a station that's playing some Katy Perry song he nods his head in agreement and starts driving us there. I suddenly feel myself growing anxious. I'm excited, because wow I've put a lot of time into this, but somehow that also drives my nerves up the wall. It only takes around ten or so minutes before we're pulling into the parking garage of his apartment complex. Since the park is so close we decide to just walk there. One of the pathways is surrounded by big trees that are bare of their leafs this time of year. As we make our way down the path at a casual pace I glace at the raven haired man beside me out of the corner of my eye. His eyes are slightly wide and his mouth is agape just a bit. I turn my gaze back forward and let a smile tug the corners of my lips upward as I admire my handiwork. All of the trees are covered in white and lights, including the lifeless looking branches. The lights reflect off the wood and snow and make everything look sparkling. The pathway than opens up to the expanse of the majority of the park. There is an off white concrete fountain in the center that despite the blanket of snow and freezing temperatures is consistently pumping out a steady flow of water. There are white roses lying all around the edge of the fountain and there's a ring of red roses with their stems tied together surrounding the fountain in the snow. I take out a small remote I had hiding in my jacket pocket and use it to turn on a small boom box sitting in the edge of the fountain along with the roses. The gentle sounds of the song Penguin by Christina Perri start drifting through the cold December air. As he turns to me with a look of surprise and slight confusion I take a deep breath and grab his hand, leading him closer to the fountain. I'm sure a lot of people would say I went way over board with all this and that this sort of thing would be far more fitting to a proposal rather than asking someone to be your significant other. I lead him to stand right in front of the boom box and prompt him to look into the fountain with a nod of my head. I walk over to the other side so I want watch his reaction. I watch as his silver eyes drift down into the water and as he brings his hands up to cover his face at what he sees. On the bottom of the fountain below the shallow depth of water I have spelled out in smooth blue crystal stones,

Will you be my boyfriend?

His head snaps up and he looks into my eyes. I have a small, nervous smile taking over my lips. He quickly walks around the edge of the fountain and pulls me into a hug. It only takes me a moment of getting over my shock before I'm returning the high just as tightly. He lets out a soft chuckle, and says in a voice that makes it clear to me he's having a harder time than normal keeping his emotions in check,

"You big dork. I never thought you'd ask." Any worries or anxieties I have completely dissipate and the smile on my faces stretches into a grin. After at least ten minutes of us standing there together, holding one another, I let out a small laugh and comment,

"We're going to miss the ball drop at this rate."

"Fuck the ball drop." He retorted, but released the hug in favor of taking my hand. As we start the walk back to his apartment he asks, "Don't you need to clean all that stuff up?"

"Oh of course." I confirm, "But that can wait for later." I turn my head to send my grin his way. Levi just rolls his eyes and nudges my upper arm with his shoulder. Most of the walk is spent in silence, with the occasional comment and remark here and there, but I can say without a doubt that it is the most comfortable silence we have ever shared together. When we get back into his apartment we sit on the couch together, him in my lap, and watch the madness and excitement that is the Times Square New Year's celebration. Arms loosely draped around his waist, I comment, "We should go ourselves one of these years."

"I don't know." He murmurs, "It's insanely crowded. We wouldn't even be able to see anything unless we got right up close to the front."

"Still might be a fun trip to take." I say with a hum, nuzzling the side of my head against his. Eyes fixed to the television screen in front of us, I say after a minute or so, "You know, you haven't technically answered my question yet." Levi puts a hand on the side of my face and forces me to turn my head and look at him.

"Are you really going to make me say it?" He questions. Smiling, I reply with a nod of his head. He rolls his eyes and exhaling, he leans in and softly, dare I say timidly, places his lips on mine. He pulls away not even five second later, face definitely turned a sure shade of pink. His hand is off my face now and he has his face turned away from me. I cut my hand under his chin and now am the one making him look at me. Once his nervous gaze is on my own sure one I frame his face with my hands and rub my thumbs across his cheek bones. I bring our lips back together in a gentle kiss. I don't push it any further because I simply don't want to. As we sit on the couch together and watch the rest of the broadcast we enjoy each other's company. Nothing is different between us, not really. The only difference is now we are being openly romantic with one another. When the turns and the new year starts I share my first new year's kiss with my first boyfriend. I've never had a real relationship and I know I have a lot to learn, but I'm looking forward to getting closer to and learning even more about my best friend.