I flipped us so I was on top, then let my hands wander down his sides, over his waist to his thighs. Levi laid there watching me, small hands fisting the sheets. I pressed a soft kiss to his hip bone and he spread his legs for me before he crossed them at the small of my back and pulled me into him. Our erections didn't line up perfectly, but the friction was still too good not to send a sizzle of electricity through both of us.

"Now we're talking." Levi smirked, looking awfully pleased. I grabbed the lube from the nightstand and handed it to him.

"Would you do the honors?" I winked at him and then tipped my head to my cock, which was in the process of dressing Levi in nice, white specks of precome.

"Always."

He squirted a liberal amount of the clear gel in his palms and rubbed them together to warm it up. Then he moved his hands down and cupped my cock not in one, but both of them, squeezing and jerking me until I was about a second away from coming all over him.

"Levi—" I was cut off by a clipped moan when he slipped his fingernail into my slit and started to massage it from the inside. I thought I'd been leaking precome all over the place earlier, but now I found that earlier had been nothing in comparison to now. "Levi, please, Ineed—"

"Mh yes, you do, don't you? You need me. You're desperate for me." There was a playful glint in his eye, and I could tell it took him enormous effort to keep the joke up and running. God, what a tease.

I grinned up at him, mentally going over my options. If he knew what was coming for him, he made no indication. He lifted an eyebrow, mouthing 'so needy' at me and only then did I make my move. I got up to one elbow and bit his nipple, not so much that it would hurt, but definitely hard enough to leave a sting and a soft, pink bite mark. Levi gasped, but before he could scold me, I cupped the back of his neck and pulled him into me, sealing his lips with mine. He resisted playfully at first, his mouth a hard line, giving my tongue no chance to sneak inside. Well, at first, because after I continued licking the seam of his lips, they softened under mine. I took my chance the moment it offered itself and then I was kissing him again, messy and wild and so goddamn good that we were both hopelessly breathless by the time we pulled apart. Levi bent down and touched his forehead to mine, and for the moment, we were breathing each other's air.

"You want me to tell you how much I need you? You want me to say how desperate I am for you? Because god, Levi, yes. I do. I am. All those things," I panted softly. "I told you there's nothing I won't do for you. I meant that." I smiled down at him. He smiled right back.

"And that's just one of the million little things I love about you," he said.

He made sure we held eye contact as he released my cock and brought his hands down to his entrance. Slowly, he began to circle the rim, spreading lube all over it, before he pushed two fingers inside himself and scissored them enough for me to see the delicious stretch around them. I closed my eyes briefly, biting my lip as I denied myself again. What was he thinking, fingering himself in front of me, making me watch?

"Mh, Eren … you've opened me up so good …"

Now he was throwing some dirty talk into the mix? I had no intention to make this short, but wow, it seemed like we were headed that way nonetheless.

I grabbed his hand and carefully pulled it away from playing around, giving his fingers a short lick for good measure before I lined myself up.

"You ready?" I rasped. A drop of sweat fell from the tip of my nose and landed on Levi's cheek. He smiled adoringly up at me.

"Yes," he breathed. "I'm dying to feel you, Eren."

He pressed his soft opening down against the head of my cock, and that was what did me in. Before I knew it, I was pushing into him, past that tight ring of muscle, gritting my teeth as I slid right on home. God, he was so warm and slick and familiar. He was mine; all mine. I watched—utterly enraptured—how he took my cock, how the length of it disappeared inch by inch inside his gorgeous body, until I bottomed out with a low moan as soon as my hips were flush against the supple curve of his ass.

"You feel unbelievable," I said on a broken whisper. "I've never felt anything so perfect."

Levi's eyes had been closed, but they blinked open now, beautiful silver searching and finding me. "You feel amazing too, Eren, so hard for me, so—ah, fuck—nice and thick. So good."

I leaned down to take his lips, kissing him deep enough to forget all about moving. Levi kissed me back with something I could only describe as reverence, licking into my mouth while he ran his fingers through my hair. My heart was so full that I felt as if it was on the brink of exploding, so I focused on establishing a slow rhythm, a tender rocking into Levi's body from above, and immediately, I was lost to how flawless it felt. Levi must have been thinking along the same lines, because he made the most arousing little sounds with every roll of my hips—breathy moans and throaty cries, mixed with quiet whispers of "Eren" in between.

I was so far gone on Levi, on this , on how it felt to have him again, to be with him like this. I felt complete. I'd always known he was the missing puzzle piece I needed, and having it return to me was like every happy memory all wrapped in one.

I watched Levi's cock bounce when I sped up, moving from a slow, sensuous roll of my hips to deep thrusts that had Levi's moans turn to full-on whimpers. His fingers switched from feeling the way my back muscles moved beneath my skin to leaving long scratches between my shoulder blades and across my sides. I loved it, relished it, drowned in it. I'd never felt as alive as I did when I was with Levi. The wet sound of skin slapping on skin only egged me on, every thrust a little more intense, bringing me closer to the edge. I alternated between locking eyes with Levi and letting my head fall back, eyes closing, as I savored the way Levi took me in again and again. I caressed his thighs, his nipples, his lips, holding him and then holding onto dear life as wave after wave of pure bliss crashed through me. Levi sucked me inside and held me like the softest vice in existence, his body clenching around me, increasing the pleasure I felt tenfold.

"Levi," I said, a hint of warning to my voice.

"Touch me," he breathed in response.

I hurried to comply, wrapped his gorgeously flushed cock in my hand to stroke him in time with my thrusts. Levi called out and began to take turns fucking into my fist and slamming down on my cock with reckless abandon. I let my hand ride up to his crown, massaging the sensitive skin on top between my fingertips, thumbing at his slit.

"Yes, just like this—oh fuck, that feels so good. I'm gonna—Eren, I'm gonna—"

One look at him and I knew he was teetering on the edge, so I gave it to him harder, deeper, more . Focusing on him and getting him there, I slid my hand from his cock down to cup his balls in my palm, rubbing and holding them before I went back up and worked his cock with quick strokes and deliberate flicks of my wrist. Levi's body arched up from the bed, voice beautifully wrecked as he called out my name when he let go, painting our skin white with his release. Seeing Levi's blissed out expression, along with feeling him pulsing around me, pushed me neatly over the brink I'd been clinging to. I came, so intense it was almost painful, with Levi's name on my lips and then I collapsed on top of him, sighing in utter bliss when Levi caught me and held me tight. Our bodies were slick with sweat and come, the intoxicating scent of sex heavy in the air. I listened to Levi's accelerated heartbeat, smiling along as it gradually slowed down to normal. We stayed like this for so long that I lost all sense of time. After a while, I realized I must be crushing Levi with my weight and gingerly slipped off to lie next to him.

I wrapped him up in my arms, pressing soft kisses to his cheeks, his forehead, his hair. "Are you okay?"

Levi tilted his face up to look at me, and my breath hitched in my throat when I laid eyes on him positively beaming with sweet afterglow from top to bottom. "I'm perfect," he said, smiling. "Just perfect."

"Me, too." I kissed him again before I let him turn around, so that his back was tucked against my chest. After I'd kissed a half dozen more marks into his skin, I tangled my legs with his and listened to his breathing gradually even out. My nose was still buried in his hair when I fell asleep only a few minutes after him.

When I woke again, it was barely dawn. Since both of us had been way too lazy to get out of bed after that one-of-a-kind round of love making, the blinds were still open. The sky was just beginning to show hints of red and orange, the late summer sun peeking out from behind the rooftops, burning bright and warm despite the early hour.

There was no way I'd had enough sleep already. My body felt sore and well-used, and I could barely keep my eyes open. Apparently though, there was one part of me that hadn't gotten the memo. My cock was hard and ready to go where it was wedged comfortably in between Levi's thighs. I ought to move back before this turned into some awkward case of somnophilia and Levi started to question my sanity, but the thing was, it felt so … good. Why the hell did this feel so good?

I pulled back a bit, only to bite back a moan when this tiny little inch of friction sent an unexpected shockwave of arousal down my spine and straight to my cock. My brain was still hazy from Levi and sex and sleep, and I just … I just wanted to … before I knew what was happening, I'd rolled my hips against Levi's ass, driving my cock right back in between those sinfully gorgeous thighs of his and keening at the delicious sensation as quietly as I could muster.

"Do you want to keep this intercrural or can I talk you into the real deal?" Levi asked out of nowhere, making me jolt.

Oh god, of course he'd been awake. What was I thinking?

"I'm sorry," I said sincerely. "Clearly, I'm not in my right mind." On second thought, I leaned in and pressed an apology kiss to the back of his neck.

Levi tilted his head, exposing more of his neck to me. "Why are you apologizing—mmh yes, kiss me again, right there—for something we obviously both like?"

Surprise had me biting down on Levi's shoulder a little harder than I intended, but he only undulated his hips in response, pushing his ass back against me as he moaned a drawn out yes.

"Wait, you … you liked that?" I still felt like the worst sort of creep.

"Yep. I like seeing how much you're into this," he said, a tad shy.

I kissed him again, my cock throbbing with renewed vengeance while I absorbed his words. "You mean how much I'm into you?"

"Maybe. Okay, yes."

Levi reached between his legs and closed his hand around my erection, giving it a few deliberate strokes that had me thrusting mindlessly into his fist. Several long, enticing seconds later, he changed the angle and lifted his leg, guiding me to his opening.

I groaned despite myself when my crown nudged his rim. "Wait, Levi, I—"

"I'm still loose from earlier," he said. "Shocker, I know." He threw me a wink and a knowing smile over his shoulder that made me weak in the knees. It was a good thing I was lying down.

I slid inside him slowly, leisurely, until my pelvis met his cheeks.

"God, what a perfect way to wake up," Levi moaned quietly while he rocked his hips back on my cock. It was lazy, unhurried. Appreciative. I could stay like this forever.

"You know, I …" I buried my face in his undercut and kissed the soft hair tickling my nose, "really …" I pressed my tongue against the skin on the back of his neck and licked him, all the way down to his shoulder, "really love you."

On purpose or not, Levi squeezed around my length, forcing a low curse out of me. I held him tighter, my lips at his ear. "And I still love you even when you spare no effort to make me come within ten seconds flat."

My boyfriend, cheeky as always, giggled. He giggled at me. Guess that answered whether he was doing this exquisitely torturous clenching around me intentionally or not.

"I have yet to fail," he quipped lightly. We both knew I could last longer than ten seconds. Way longer.

"You're not playing fair," I let my hand trail from his hip to his thigh, lifting it higher, which—in turn—changed my angle. Just this made Levi feel so much tighter around me, so much more intense. I was toeing the line, but that didn't stop me. I sped up, just a little. This soft, slow, wonderful morning intimacy was just what I needed, and for now, I didn't plan on turning this into the hungry kind of sex we usually couldn't keep ourselves from. There was still time for that later.

"Eren, I'm close," Levi whispered. Fingers whispering over his jaw, I nudged his face in my direction, until my lips were pressed to the corner of his mouth.

"Come for me, baby," I whispered into his skin, teeth ghosting over his lips, "I'm right there with you."

His breath hitched in his throat. I thrust deeper and just a little harder, and felt his entire body trembling against mine when he let go. The face he made when he came, eyes heavy-lidded and wet, lips open and soft, made me fall with him. My climax came at me in drugging waves of sweet recognition, Levi's name on my lips on a desperate loop.

He held me tight, so tight that it was hard to breathe, and I loved every second of it. I never wanted him to let go.

"Eren?"

I'd already dozed off again, ready for a second round of well-deserved sleep, when Levi's voice pulled me back through the surface. I mumbled something that was unintelligible even to myself, so I cleared my throat and tried again. "Hm?"

There you go. Now that was eloquent.

"Are you sleeping?"

I suppressed a yawn. "No?"

Levi chuckled quietly and turned around so that we were face to face.

Mmh, what a beautiful face he had. I wanted to kiss it, every inch of it.

I leaned in to do just that, but as it turned out, my aim was miserably off. I ended up kissing his eye, making him squeal in the process.

"'m sorry," I half-mumbled, half-laughed.

"Geez, you." He chuckled and began to run the pads of his fingers down my arm. "If you weren't so damn adorable."

"Heh, it's one of my better qualities I'm told."

"I wonder who told you that," Levi replied, kissing the corner of my mouth.

I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him into me, lips nuzzling the side of his neck. "Someone who likes me despite my many flaws, obviously."

Levi tilted his head to give me more access. I licked a wet stripe up to his ear and relished the full-body shiver he gave me in return. "Correction: someone who loves you despite your many flaws."

I let my hand wander down along the bare curve of his hip to his thigh, stroking the soft skin on the inside of his knee. I wished I was awake enough to get down there under the covers and press a kiss to exactly that spot. I made a mental note to do it later. For now, I grabbed the back of his thigh and brought it up to wrap it around my waist. Levi moaned quietly, pulled me closer and let his fingers slip into my hair.

"Love," I echoed. My thumb was drawing soft patterns into his thigh. "I still can't believe my luck. Like, how are you in love with me?"

I caught a peek of Levi's adoring smile before my eyes fluttered closed once more.

"That's funny," he said while he wrapped a strand of my hair around his fingers and gave it a gentle tug that had utterly delicious goosebumps rise on my neck. "And here I thought I was the lucky one."

I pulled him a little closer, held him a little tighter. "Nope. It's definitely me."

It was hard to believe there was someone out there who was good enough for Levi. It was even harder to believe that someone could be me. What I knew for sure though, was that I wouldn't stop trying to be that someone.

"I love you, Levi. I love you so much," I whispered into his skin.

He snuggled up to my chest, his fingers twining with mine. "I love you too, Eren."

I woke again around lunchtime. The sun outside my window was already high in the sky and my stomach was rumbling loud enough to wake the dead. Which—apparently—included my very adorable, very much asleep boyfriend, who was curled up in my arms and not moving an inch.

"Levi?" I whispered, kissing the top of his head. His hair was all over the place. I snuck a glance at my phone and debated taking his picture. He'd probably kill me—or worse, give me the silent treatment—if he found out, but the chance was just too good to pass up. With the last two percent of battery I had left, I took the cutest picture to ever grace a phone. Levi's hair was spread out on my arm and the white pillow beneath it, his long lashes fanned on top of his cheeks. His lips were slightly parted (and slightly swollen), his arm thrown around my waist and his legs hopelessly tangled with mine. If there was a better way to wake up, I sure as hell couldn't imagine it.

"Levi, baby," I tried again, but nada. He was out like a light, and honestly, after he'd spent most of the night satisfying my virtually unquenchable thirst for him, the least I could do was let him sleep in.

Untangling myself from him was one thing, but leaving him there in my bed, watching as he was feeling around for me in his sleep and mumbling my name, was another entirely. It gets tricky when your center of attraction is right there in front of you, and you're supposed to head in the opposite direction.

I spent the better part of ten minutes kneeling next to the bed, just watching him and brushing the strands of his hair out of his face that refused to stay back. I didn't know what it said about me that I could stay for at least another hour doing nothing else, but eventually, I managed to get up on my feet and head downstairs. The only reason I got up was because I expected Levi to be hungry once he woke up, and it was my job to take care of that.

It was a little after 1.30 in the afternoon, which left me with a choice: I could either make breakfast since we'd skipped that, or whip up something for lunch. After some thinking, I decided on grilled cheese sandwiches. It wasn't fancy, but I was already itching to get back under the covers with my gorgeous boyfriend, so a quick meal it was. About halfway into grilling our sandwiches, I got my first spritz of hot butter on my stomach. The second came about a minute later. That was when I realized that I should've probably put on a shirt to cook.

Or … maybe not. Definitely not, not now that Levi had apparently decided to get up and come downstairs. I closed my eyes and listened to his steps—one, two, three—and then I felt his arms wrap around my middle from behind and his cheek touch my back.

I covered his hands around me with mine and leaned back into him. None of us spoke for what felt like two, three long minutes. It was quiet, only the sound of the butter sizzling in the pan making for a soft background noise. It was so wonderfully domestic.

"Good morning," Levi whispered, his breath warm against my back, lips ghosting over my shoulder blade. I shivered in his arms.

"Morning, babe. Somebody slept well, huh? There was literally no reasonable way to wake you."

"You should've gone for unreasonable then," he said. His lips were a warm weight against my skin. He was moving them, too, from the curve of my shoulder to the base of my neck. I tried not to think about how he must've been standing on his tiptoes to do that, and ended up doing just that. What could I say, it was what happened when your boyfriend was the epitome of adorable. "I like being unreasonable with you."

I chuckled. "Mh, careful there. You're giving me ideas."

One moment, I felt his fingers dig into my waist, and in the other, he spun me around until I was facing him and then pushed me up against the kitchen counter, his arms wrapping around my neck. Chest to chest, eye to eye.

And there went my heart again.

He looked into my eyes and said, "Good."

All the breath left me on a soft whoosh.

"Wow, that was—that was freaking hot, and I'm not even gonna pretend that I'm not this turned on." I indicated the space between my thumb and index finger, which was as wide as my fingers would go.

I wiggled my eyebrows for emphasis and felt happiness bloom in my chest when Levi smiled in response—this small smile that was a little shy and all gorgeous.

"Dork," he said, looping his arms around my neck and pulling me down to his height to press a soft kiss on my lips.

My hands came up to his waist, thumbs sweeping over the jut of his hips. I leaned in to kiss him again, and then again.

"Your dork now," I said against his lips. He held me tighter in response.

"Mh yes," he said quietly, eyes fluttering closed as he gave in to me kissing him all over—his cheekbones, the arch of his eyebrow, the tip of his nose. "All mine."

My lips brushed his and he deepened the kiss, his tongue licking the seam of my lip until all I could do was open up. I breathed a quiet moan into his mouth and debated whether it would be a good idea to cup his bottom in my palms. God, I really, really wanted to, but considering I was only wearing boxers and didn't want to grind my boner on Levi, I probably shouldn't.

Probably. Maybe.

Dammit.

Thank god Levi was so busy with kissing me breathless, because that meant I could grab his ass and flip us around to sit him up on the kitchen counter in one fell swoop. He gasped when my hands came down on his thighs to spread them open for me.

"Ugh, I love when you're manhandling me," he whispered into the corner of my mouth, teeth against my skin.

"And I love when you let me," I replied before I lightly nipped his bottom lip.

Levi wrapped his legs around my waist and locked his ankles at the small of my back, pulling me as close as possible.

His lips left a trail of feathery kisses from my shoulder over my neck to my earlobe, which he tugged between his teeth. My hands slipped under his shirt, finding his warm, bare skin and running my nails over it.

"How about—" Levi whispered before he kissed the soft spot behind my ear, "—you take me back to bed?"

And just like that, I was a goner. Turned on beyond belief? Check. Rock-hard boner? Check. Irrevocably gone on this guy? Double check.

I groaned, long and low. My hips were moving on their own, a slow, lazy grind against Levi's thigh, the cotton of my boxers rubbing me in a way that was part unbearable, part absolutely delicious. I wrapped my arms around Levi and pulled him into me at the same time as I opened his lips with my tongue, first soft and slow and appreciative, then fierce. His legs felt beautiful around me—tight, so tight—his skin smooth and soft, his hair even softer once I made the way up his back to tangle it in my fingers. There was his breath in my mouth, warm and addictive, his lips on mine applying just the perfect amount of pressure, and then there was the sexy inconsistency of him still wearing a shirt that rubbed against my nipples when I pressed into him just so.

Just when I was getting ready to whisk him away, because honestly, who needed food anyway, his stomach gave an unhappy rumble. He giggled and brushed a few strands of my hair behind my ear, his fingers tilting my chin up to make me look at him.

"Aww, don't give me that look." He chuckled and leaned in to kiss my cheek. "As far as my plans for today are concerned, there's absolutely nothing besides rolling through the sheets with you, which means—" he cupped my cheeks and laid the best sort of kiss on me, the slow, sweet sort, "we have enough time to … catch up. I'm all yours."

I sighed at how perfect that sounded and returned his kiss in kind, before I sat him down on—utterly adorable—wobbly feet and served him lunch.

After eating and some more cuddling and kissing, we ended up in the bathtub, surrounded by the soft pink bubbles of Levi's favorite bath bomb and Levi between my legs with my arms wrapped around him.

"Are you nervous about going back to school?" he asked, his hands cupping and releasing the scented water. "I mean, you know … considering what happened at Jean's party?"

I held him tighter and nuzzled the back of his neck, nose burying in his wet undercut. I may have held him a little too tight, but if I did, he didn't say anything. He never did, as if he knew I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that he was here in my arms and not planning on going anywhere. As if he knew how much I needed this, how much I needed him.

"I was," I said, chin resting on his shoulder, "but not anymore. People know now, and I'm glad they do. Because that means I don't have to hide the way I feel anymore. We can be together for real, if you want that, too. Do you … want to?"

My heartbeat kicked up to nervous territory. I'd never asked him, had I?

"Eren," he tilted his head back to look at me, "of course. God, of course I do. It's all I want."

I hadn't realized I'd been holding my breath, and when it came out on a long sigh, it left goose bumps on Levi's skin.

"Official, right?" I smiled into his skin, lips fluttering over the pulse point on the side of his neck.

Levi leaned back against my chest, his fingers lacing with mine. "Official."

"So, what about you? Are you nervous?" I asked quietly.

The pads of my fingers drew soft patterns on his skin, his chest, his stomach, the jut of his hips. Occasionally his thighs, if he let me.

"I'm just nervous about who all is going to try to steal you away from me now," he grumbled.

"Oh?" Since my fingers were just in the process of circling his pecs, I moved in and let them brush his nipples, as if by chance. Lips at his ears, I whispered, "Is someone jealous?"

He snorted, which quickly morphed into a low moan when I rubbed my palm across his chest, heel catching on his nipple. "I'm not jealous. Just realistic, because it is going to happen, and I believe you know that, too."

I hugged him against my chest, peppering the side of his face with light kisses. "I don't know about that. What I do know though, is that you're the only one. You're it for me, Levi. Always have been."

"Sap," he whispered, but I could hear the tremble in his voice. I licked my way from his shoulder up to his ear and back down again.

"Just admit that you like it."

"Pfft." He snorted. And gave in. "Guilty as charged."

I chuckled and closed my eyes, listening to Levi's breathing and the sounds the water made whenever we moved. It was quiet, peaceful. Perfect.

It was a bit of a tight fit for the both of us; my legs were squished between Levi and the bathtub, my knees sticking out of the water and cooling off way too fast for comfort. And despite all that, I drifted off with Levi in my arms, and it was all I could ever wish for.

We stayed in the tub until the water grew tepid and there were goosebumps on our skin. I helped Levi out and ignored his protests when I grabbed a towel to dry him off from top to bottom. I dressed him in my fluffy bathrobe and sat him down on the toilet lid to blow dry his hair. By then, he'd realized resistance was futile and let me have my way. His hair was soft between my fingers, and beautifully smooth and shiny by the time I was done. He sighed languidly and stretched on his way to the bathroom mirror.

"Oof," he said, running his hand through the piece of art I'd made of his hair. "You know what's funny? You hopelessly messed up my hair, like wow, Eren, and I'm still crazy about you. Guess that's what love must be like?"

I laughed out loud as I came up behind him. Our eyes met in the reflection. I leaned down, hooked my chin over his shoulder and gazed at him. Okay, maybe he did have a point about my hair styling skills.

"And I think you're as beautiful as ever, messed up hair and all. So yeah, I guess this is love."

Levi leaned back against me and smiled when I bundled him up in my arms. He tilted his head up and before he could say anything else, I kissed him again, because I just really couldn't help myself.

The way to my bedroom was hurried and messy. Levi ended up being pinned against the wall more than once, right up until he refused to unlock his legs from around my waist and I simply ran the rest of the way while he was clinging onto me. I was in the vee of his legs as he slowly undid the robe, his eyes burning into mine.

"God, I love you," he whispered.

"I love you, " I whispered against his lips.

Deep down, I knew I should make this soft, sweet. Slow. Reverent. But I didn't want soft and sweet and slow. I wanted to take Levi hard, wild, make him mine for all the moments I'd missed. I wanted to feel him to know this wasn't just another beautiful daydream of mine. To know this was real and Levi was right here with me, where I could touch him, kiss him, breathe him in. Here, where he was under me—feeling so perfect, so right—and looked up at me with forever in his eyes, only to find me looking right back at him with forever on my lips.

We spent the hours after that in bed, cuddling and talking and just being with each other. Around six, we got up—with much reluctance and whining on my part—and ready to look presentable. I guessed we did have to put on clothes at some point, which didn't mean I had to be okay with it. No matter how many times Levi accused me of being spoiled.

"Hey, come on," Levi said, nudging my side while we stood side by side in the bathroom after brushing our teeth. "We're together now, which means spending the weekend in bed won't be a one time thing."

When the certainty of that statement sunk in, I gave him my brightest smile. That was utterly true, and god, did knowing it feel amazing.

I placed a kiss on the top of his head and said, "You're right."

"You'll soon learn that I'm right about most things," he said with a wink.

I nudged him back. "We'll see about that, won't we? Now that we have all the time in the world."

A moment later, he was on me, pushing me back against the tile wall and kissing me until my head was spinning and all I could see was him.

We were curled up in bed watching a movie when I heard the front door downstairs open. Then Zeke's wild barking. And then, "Eren, honey! We're home!"

Levi jolted upright, his eyes darting from me to the door in quick succession. It wasn't full-on panic yet, but he was getting there.

"Eren, are those—"

"My parents?" I said for him. "Well, it sure does sound like them."

He raised an eyebrow at me. He thought I was going crazy; his expression of thinly-veiled disbelief said it all. "Then I wonder how the hell you're so calm. I mean, no offense, but shouldn't you be freaking out right about now?"

I took his hand and pulled him to his feet, draping my arm across his shoulders and pulling him to my side. "You want to know how I stay calm? That's easy. It's because everything's going exactly as planned."

He looked up at me. I could make out the exact moment realization dawned in his eyes, and along with it, pure, radiant happiness.

"I can go. Do you want me to—?"

"Do this with me? Stay by my side when I'm coming out to my family? Meet my parents as my boyfriend? Yes," I said. "Yes to all of the above."

The smile he gave me was blinding and rare and drop-dead beautiful, his hand in mine all the encouragement I needed.

"Then let's go."