A/N

Alright, so after a lot of debating and things being thrown at me (_ don't ask) I decided to go ahead and try to re-write all the lost content. After mulling over it I thought that doing an explanation chapter would be rather redundant, but considering it's been over a year since the last update…it's more or less a requirement at this point, anyway, I tried to add some new perspectives so you all aren't bored to death.

I've edited the entire story a bit to make it more cohesive and easier to follow, you don't need to re-read anything to have this chapter make sense. Thank you so much for all the support and the patience, you are all so incredibly kind.

Anyway, it's good to be back, thanks for waiting, and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story!

Warning: Attempted suicide. If you find any trigger that I haven't put in the tags that I need to add then please let me know.

Guest Reviewer 1: You're right, I wasn't editing the story anymore because I had to re-write it all. :/

Ama Zon: While I appreciate the enthusiasm, feel free to stop reading my stories because I don't cater to rude people like you. Writers have lives and just incase you weren't aware, we write fics out of passion and interest and love for the subject, it's not a job, and you are not a boss that can just swoop in and demand an update. Read or don't read I don't really care, but if you leave another rude comment like that you will be reported.

Guest Reviewer 2: The long awaited update has arrived! Hopefully you're still interested and you enjoy the lastest installment.

Guest Reviewer 3: It's here it's here!

Sw: Thank you, thank you, thank you so very much. Please enjoy!

Chapter Twelve – I Know I'm a Wolf – Part 2

"Before I begin, I just want you to know that everything I've done…that I do…has been for you. Just keep that in mind."

Eren nodded and relaxed against the sofa, waiting for Levi to explain…everything.

"I'm going to start with how I ended up in that alleyway, the night you found me…"

Levi sighed and took a deep breath before looking towards the rest of his house, blinking slowly before starting, "I'd been part of the legion for around ten years at that point, I ended up in a bad situation as a child… and just had to get out, and with nowhere else to go, I…" he paused once again, sighing, "I ended up on the streets for a while. One night I wandered into their hideout, and it's history from there."

He took a short breath before continuing on, "Now don't get me wrong, I knew what I was doing wasn't good by any stretch of the word, but that's what kept me alive, and believe it or not, saved my sanity. A couple years in, someone new took over and from there the bad things got worse, and by the time I got to my twenties I just couldn't handle it anymore," he paused again, looking down at his fisted hands, "so I decided to leave and never look back. I had a couple friends, well, they were more than that, probably the closest I had to a real family at the time, who tried leaving before I did…I should have gone with them at the time, maybe things would have worked out…" he closed his eyes, as if he'd seen something he wished he hadn't and sighed again as he slowly opened them.

"Somehow, someone got wind of what they'd planned on doing and they were gone in the blink of an eye. A short while after that I turned in my resignation. Needless to say they weren't happy about that…then flash-forward to your alleyway and that's how I ended up so trashed."

He looked up and caught Eren's eyes for a brief moment, watching the confusion swirling in her expression. He hoped she didn't ask for a more in-depth explanation…he'd glazed over several of the horrible things he'd done, some more willingly than others, that led to his decision, and what exactly his resignation had been. She made no indication of wanting to speak, so he took that as his sign to go on.

With a relieved sigh he continued, "After you rescued me, I ended up at a shelter for a short while, worked some odd jobs and I just happened to get recommended for a scholarship to the Police Academy. They paid for pretty much everything, and as per our agreement, after a few months at the academy I started working for the Shiganshina police department…" he paused again and looked to the side, avoiding Eren's steady gaze, "and after a year I was partnered with Erwin…now we're here."

She let the information process, 'well at least he's actually a cop and that's not lie too,' she sighed and stared straight at him, "So why and when exactly did you decide to start stalking me?"

A little shaken by her question he made a noise of protest, the word itself, stalking, left such a foul taste on his tongue, but with the firm look Eren fixed him with, an eyebrow raised and arms crossed in disbelief, he answered, "That's not what I intended to do…"

"So you mean to tell me that all those times you just happened to be there, albeit, some more convenient than others, were just coincidences? Levi, I may be slow to recognize some things, but I am no idiot. There is no way you always just happen to be there when I needed you…" she bit her lip and added in, "…don't get me wrong, I am grateful, you've saved my life and my friends and for that I…I don't think I could ever repay you for, but please, don't lie to me…tell me, honestly, were you stalking me?"

Levi couldn't look her in the eyes, feeling too ashamed of himself to even think of meeting her questioning gaze. After a momentary stretch of silence, he lowly answered, "I did watch you sometimes, and occasionally I followed you and your friends on your outings…" he risked looking up only to see her eyes widen then narrow in anger, "…but I only did it to make sure you were okay, and that you didn't need anything. Eren I swear it was just to keep you safe, I've never tried to…take advantage of situation."

Eren felt the previous alarm and annoyance she'd tried to bury surge forward, "What do you mean never tried to take advantage? How can you say that after I've been warming your bed for months now!?" her voice cracked as a few hot, angry tears fell from her eyes, "How the hell is following someone around and trying to stay hidden not stalking?" she stopped and wrapped her arms around her now shivering form, whispering just loud enough for him to hear, "All those days and nights…I felt like I was being watched and people would just laugh at me…and dismiss me…all this time…it's been you?"

After her outburst, he lowered his head again to hide the color flooding his cheeks from how ashamed he felt, "I just thought, that maybe if I kept a close eye on you, that maybe someday I might be useful to you…I thought that maybe I would get the chance to repay you for saving my life…"

His voice got so low it became almost inaudible, "Eren, you saved my life…a complete stranger…I was…I am just street trash but you still went out of your way, risked your own safety to help me…"

Eren shook her head in disbelief and stood from the sofa, her voice heavy with emotion, but weak as she spoke, "So I saved your life…and lost mine?" she closed her eyes, as a steady stream tears cascaded down her cheeks, "Is that what you're telling me?" she began to walk towards Levi, standing directly in front of him, she leaned down slightly to life his head up between her hands and looked directly in his eyes as she spoke her next words, "I couldn't finish high school, my friends were hurt, and left alone, my home taken from me, and my mother is dead… all because…because of you? Because I helped you…?" She watched him nod, very slowly and dropped her hands to her sides as a few more tears fell from her reddened eyes. She shook her head and began to walk away from living space, arms firmly wrapped around her body.

"E-Eren…" he called weakly. He stood and followed after her, reaching out to turn her around so he could at least see her expression, see if there was anything he could possibly to do help alleviate the ache he was sure she was feeling, because he felt it deep in the pit of his stomach too.

"No, don't touch me, I just… I need to be alone right now." She gently pushed him away and turned to face away from him, lingering in the space between the living room and the hallway.

"Eren please…" his voice was so pained, and desperate, "I never meant to hurt you, please you have to understand that…I just wanted to be useful to you…"

She turned on her heels and in a raised voice, shouted, "Well you've done a fine job at that huh? I'm being hunted by a group of psychotic murderers, my mother is dead, and I'll probably never see my friends again-" her voice cracked as a sob broke through. Levi surged forward to try and comfort her but she pushed him away again and ran towards the guest bedroom. She rushed in and slammed the door loudly behind her before falling to the foot of the bed, her tears soaking into the sheets.

Levi stood, stone cold in the living room, his hand still extended after her retreating form, he didn't move until he heard the loud slam of the door followed by muffled noise of sobs filling the otherwise quiet house. He saw nothing but red, and let out a frustrated groan before running his hands roughly through his hair. Arms thrashing wildly, he pushed off what little decorations he had in his quaint living space and began making his way to his bedroom, throwing and thrashing whatever lay in wait, all the while letting his frustrated wails echo alongside Eren's broken cries.

'What have I done? Damnit!' he punched the wall, 'what if I've lost her…' he kicked the desk chair and punched the wall again, this time it gave a little under his fist, his skin was burning but he continued, 'She would have been better off if Felix had killed me, I'm so useless,' he finally broke skin, having made a fist sized hole in the wall of his bedroom as he kicked the chair once more, sending it rolling across the floor and crashing into his nightstand. He fell against the wall, sliding down to his knees as a frustrated wail escaped his lips.

From the guest bedroom, Eren could hear the loud crashes and incoherent screams coming from down the hallway, she was surprised and scared to say the least, so much so that soon her own crying quieted to a few choked sniffles and eventually to hiccups.

She slowly rose from kneeling on the cold wood flooring for what felt like hours, and crept towards the door, placing her ear near the crack to better hear the source of the noise. When an almost inhuman wail echoed down the hall, followed by what sounded like a two pieces of furniture colliding, Eren backed away from the door and nearly tripped and fell backwards.

She steadied herself on the bed as the thoughts rushed in, 'H-he's crazy, I…oh my God I need to get away from him...' she shut her eyes and tried to will the voice inside her head away and silence the others that she knew would soon follow.

You're right. He is crazy. He's locked you away, I bet he's even willing to kill someone else you love if you don't play your cards right.

'No, you're wrong he wouldn't do that…he's too obsessed with me. He only wanted to help me…that's what he said anyway.'

He's already taken your mother.

'N-No, that was someone else…h-he was there to comfort me, he couldn't have…wouldn't have planned that. Right?'

Who's next…Mikasa…Armin? Are you really going to wait and find out?

Eren clutched her head and clamped her mouth shut to keep from screaming. 'G-GET OUT OF MY HEAD.' The voices had been quiet for a while; she thought they were finally gone, that she was finally getting better. Sure, she still had nightmares, but that was to be expected, things were finally looking up, she and Levi were finally… 'what…what were we finally…becoming…?' She shook her head and abruptly stood, feeling dizziness take over for a moment before she oriented herself again.

She exited the space that was making her head throb and made it down the hall to the bathroom to rinse her face and try to calm down. After cleaning off a bit, she padded quietly to Levi's bedroom, waiting outside the door to listen for any signs that his fit was still occurring, hearing nothing, she lightly rapped on the door. No response.

She knocked a bit harder this time and still nothing. Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself and slowly opened the door; she felt a sharp pain as her eyes hurried to focus in the dimly lit room. After hearing no protests, she quietly crept in and stopped before she'd even gotten past the threshold.

The curtains had been pulled down and thrown to the ground. The sheets were strewn about the room, pillows thrown half-hazardly on the floor while another was shredded and its feathers covered the messy bedding in a layer like fluffy snow, peppered with brown and gray specks from the various feathers used. Levi's desk chair was toppled over next to the night stand where the face of the alarm clock was shattered on the floor along with the few other trinkets he'd had lying on top of the dresser.

As she hesitantly made her way further into the chaos that littered the once pristine bedroom, she softly called out, "L-Levi?" she turned, now that her eyes had adjusted to better survey the area, there was a small hole punched into the wall with dark stains around and dripping down it, she walked towards the wall and touched the stains, 'sticky…is this blood?' she quickly backed away and made her way around to the other side of the room. Having checked around the room, and even under the bed she worried her brows in confusion, 'where the hell is he…?'

She walked over to the opened door and gulped, closing her eyes for a moment before quickly swinging the door shut. She opened her eyes and in the corner, directly behind the door was a dark figure, slumped forward in defeat.

"L-Levi?!" Eren rushed towards him and pulled the man forward with such force that she lost her footing and tumbled backwards with him. His unconscious form landed against hers, face pressed against her abdomen as she panicked and began checking his vitals. She lifted his face and felt the slickness of sweat, his skin was cold and clammy, and his pulse was so weak. "Levi!" she cried and tried to pull him away from the corner.

She turned and kneeled, and tried to get his limp form to fall against her own so she could drag him to the bed. After several failed attempts, she managed to rather sloppily drag him to the bed and all but threw his comatose body atop the messy furniture. Eren took a deep breath to stop her racing thoughts and tried to think of what to do, there was clearly something wrong but she couldn't figure out what. She did a quick search of his body to find any wounds but found only his badly bashed knuckle, likely the one used to put the hole in the wall. The only other thing she could think of that would so this was drugging or poisoning, her panicked wide eyes grew even wider as realized what happened.

She leaned down and pressed her ear against his chest, and listened to the awkward palpitations of his heart, 'damnit you stupid…stupid asshole, what the hell were you thinking?' she turned him on his side and took a deep breath before plunging her fingers down his throat, in hopes to induce vomiting, at first nothing happened, and she hesitated to push any deeper lest she injure him further, but seconds after the initial thrust she felt his throat convulsing around her fingers and soon his body lurched. As soon as she felt the initial lurch she removed her hand and backed away as his eyes shot open and he began emptying the contents of his stomach on his bedroom floor.

The acrid stench burned her nose and eyes, but a strange sense of anger coupled with relief overtook her feeling of disgust at the situation.

After coughing and spurting a few more times, Levi lowered his head, then turned to lean back against his bed, the movement causing the down feathers to float up and around him, falling into the mess beside him and floating atop his sweat drenched form. His breathing was labored, skin still slick with sweat, but he was conscious and breathing somewhat normally again. He looked over at the girl with a mix of anger and relief contorting her features and let his eyes slip close.

Eren took that as her cue to leave the room; she made it to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water, then swung by the bathroom for a damp towel. She walked around to the other side of the room to access Levi from the side of the bed that wasn't blocked off by vomit and handed him the bottle and all but threw the cool towel at his face. Fat, angry tears feel from her eyes as she watched the man struggle to sit up against the headboard. He drank the water and wiped his face down, some color having returned to his previously grey toned skin. He looked over to Eren, still too weak to speak to her, though the sadness in his eyes seemed to spout an untold number of apologies. 'I'm so sorry…please forgive me.' He silently watched as she left the room, dull eyes hoping to see her once more before he lost consciousness again.

Eren quickly made her way to the bathroom and began to draw a bath. They both needed one, but only one of them was actually in the proper state for taking one. She sighed and sat on the toilet while she let the water fill the basin, adding a little soap every so often so it was well mixed in the warm water. Once it was to an acceptable level, she made her way back to where Levi was supposed to be and was surprised to find that he'd actually made it out of bed and towards the bedroom door.

"What the hell are you doing?" she asked in an exasperated tone, but still pulled his arm around her shoulder to help balance the rest of his journey down the hall. Her only response was a low grunt and a few mumbled, incoherent words. She helped him rest on the toilet seat and in the flattering florescent bathroom lighting she could see just how bad he really looked. His eyes were swollen and red, likely from crying, and the subtle dark circles he usually has were much larger and purple in color, his skin looked so pale and thin that the veins could be seen and his hair was disheveled and matted against his scalp.

With a low sigh, she slowly began to undress him; first pulling his shirt off, then letting him lean against her while he made slow work of his pants, then underwear. Trying her best to avoid looking at his naked figure, she helped him to the warm, welcoming waters and this time, handed him a wash cloth. All that escaped him was a contented sigh, as he leaned back to relax in the water. Eren wanted to leave the room to give him some privacy, but he still seemed to be somewhat impaired by whatever drug managed to seep into his system, so she settled for sitting on the toilet and twiddling her thumbs, trying to focus on anything but his naked body, while he bathed.

After a few minutes, she heard some faint splashing and looked over to see that Levi was resting against the side of the tub, looking directly at her with a doped expression on his face. Eyes slightly glazed, and drooping, skin tinged pink with his lips drawn in a content line. He reached out towards Eren, who almost immediately took the offered hand, after a short struggle, he intertwined their fingers and shifted again in the water, "-rry," Eren leaned forward and tilted her head to the side, "huh?"

"M' Sorry," he tried again, his voice sounded hoarse, low and raspy, like he hadn't spoken in weeks. Eren's lower lip trembled as she tried to hold back her tears, a few escaped, cascading down her cheek before she spoke, "You better be, asshole." She sniffled and wiped away the last of her tears before leaning forward and grabbing the shampoo with her unoccupied hand. "Alright, lean back," Levi fixed her with a confused look for a moment before slowly connecting the dots and complying with her command. She kneeled by the tub and wet her hands, then began to lather to shampoo, she slowly combed through his strands with her soapy fingers, watching the way his body relaxed with her touch, after a nice rinse, she massaged the conditioner a bit longer than necessary and finished off with another liberal rinse.

Satisfied with her job, she rose and grabbed a towel, waiting for Levi to decide he was finished so she could help him up and out. He seemed a bit steadier now that he he'd flushed his system with some water, but the dull look in his eyes was still alarming. Fortunately, or not, for Eren, he was able to lift himself from the tub and dry without much assistance, she supported him down the hall to the guest bedroom and left him to finish drying on the bed whilst she gathered something clean and comfortable for him to wear. She grimaced at the mess in the bedroom and had to search quickly to avoid gagging.

When she returned to the room, Levi was sitting hunched over with his elbows resting against his knees and legs spread wide, the towel having been carelessly tossed to the side. Eren nearly squeaked at the sight and all but threw the clean clothes at his face. "A-at least try to act ashamed!" she exclaimed and darted out of the room and back to bathroom to take her own bath and try to cool down.

She rinsed the tub with the shower head and let it drain while she stripped, then hopped into the basin to shower. She tried to focus on scrubbing down her own body instead of thinking back to the impossibly toned body of the naked man down the hall. Once she was satisfied with her own hygiene, dressed in fresh clothes and had downed plenty of water, she finally made her way back to the guestroom, hoping that by now he'd have been able to dress himself. Just in case, she knocked lightly on the door and entered when she heard a muffled, "Come in."

Eren entered with a slight hesitation, but that faded as soon as she saw a clothed, and much healthier looking Levi in place of the comatose pallid man she'd seen nearly three hours prior. She paused at the door, letting the relief wash over her briefly before feeling her legs give out and falling to the floor.

"Eren?" Levi moved a bit too quickly and had to stop himself, feeling the nausea and fatigue coming back full force.

"I'm fine, sorry, I just…I'm so glad, and so…" she yawned widely, and a few tears fell from the corners of her eyes as she stood, turned off the light, and made her way to the bed, "…so tired," she said with a small smile.

"Mm," was her only response when she leaned forward and ran her hands through his freshly cleaned hair. Leaving the conditioner in too long made it a bit fluffy, but even softer than usual. Levi settled back under the covers, facing Eren as she stroked the stray hairs away, whispering softly, "You should see yourself, acting like a dog when I stroke your hair," she let a short chuckle escape when he leaned further into the touch.

"M' not a dog," he whispered, eye's closing as he moved closer to her heat.

"Oh?" Eren asked playfully, maneuvering so he could make himself comfortable, "What are you then?" He lazily draped one arm over her waist and moved to lie against her chest.

Having settled comfortably under the covers, enveloped in each other's heat, they both began to drift in and out of consciousness when he answered, "a wolf." Whether or not Eren heard the reply he was unsure, but he gripped her tighter before falling into a deep, much needed sleep.

"Gugh," a quiet groan escaped Eren's lips as she stretched her heavy limbs, trying to chase away the last holds that sleep had on her. She moved slowly at first, so as not to disturb Levi, but when she realized she was alone in the bed, she sped up her pace and made her way to the bathroom to get her day started. After finishing up in the bathroom, she wandered down the hall towards Levi's bedroom and paused at the doorway, trying not to smile at the sight and sounds of the scene before her.

Levi wore a white cloth covering his nose and mouth, a pair of blue cleaning gloves, and had on a pair of black boots as he scrounged around the mess in his room. He crouched down and fumbled with the corner of the rug before carefully rolling it up to contain the majority of the foul-smelling mess.

She watched with a hint of mirth in her eyes as the scene played out.

"Fucking…."a few mumbled words followed that she couldn't pick up, "…what asshole thought it was a good idea to stuff a bird in a pillow, this shit is lethal," the angry grunts continued as she watched Levi make his way around the room sweeping up what remained of the down feathers scattered across his once pristine bedroom.

Leaning with her arms crossed against the threshold, she spoke with a hint of a chuckle in her voice, "You really should be resting you know." She couldn't help but smile when Levi fixed her with a sharp glare. 'Well he seems normal…I think…at least the scowl is back.'

He crouched down to put another pan full of feathers into the trash bag, "How do you expect me to rest when this filth is just rotting here?" he questioned rather sharply.

'Or maybe he's just in a bad mood…' Eren shook her head and smiled, thinking how cute he was even cross, 'wait…cute, he's a grown man, he can't be cute…right?'

"You should rest and let me clean it up, that was my plan to begin with, I just had a late start." She replied in a matter of fact tone, still standing in the doorway while Levi continued to sweep at the mess on the floor.

Without looking up he snapped back, "And what makes you think I'd be okay with you cleaning up after me? I'm a grown man Eren, while I appreciate the thought, I'd rather not sit around while the woman I love is cleaning up after my tantrum." He continued his cleaning as though he hadn't just, not so subtly confessed...

Eren stared at him wide eyed and fully awake now, "W-what…?" she felt her cheeks warming and would have lost her footing if she hadn't already been leaning against the wall for support. 'Well it's not like I didn't know but…wow.'

Silenced filled the room, save for the sound of plastic moving against itself as Levi filled the bag with more feathers. He ran over the words he'd just said and then paused, realizing that some of what he thought he'd thought, was actually said.

"I-yea, well if you hadn't figured it out by now…" What could be seen of his cheeks turned a light pink and he turned away from her, adding, "Surprise…I guess," while awkwardly scratching the back of his neck.

"U-um wow, I wasn't expecting my first confession to be quite like this…"

Levi paused his furious cleaning to stare at her, "And what does 'quite like this mean'" he raised his brow, 'from an ex-thug, or a psychotic stalker who drugged and kidnapped you, or better yet, how about an officer who overdosed on pain medication…' his self-loathing thoughts continued to spiral into deeper and darker pits the longer the silence went on.

"Well..." she said walking over to the pile of feathers gathered in a corner, "For one, I didn't expect it to be so fluffy." She punctuated her words by gathering a few feathers and letting them float back down to the pile.

He looked up and stared at her, mouth slightly agape below the mask and eyes a fraction wider, "Did you really just…say that…" he gave her a blank stare, smiling when he saw how embarrassed she'd become. He stopped her before she could open her mouth to retort, "No, nope," he stopped his work and stood to walk towards her, removing his gloves and setting them on his dresser, then loosening the mask on his face to let it rest around his neck, "now I really need to ask you to leave," he started again, slowly lessening the distance between himself and the girl leaning against near the door for support, "because once I'm done cleaning up this mess," he smirked and whispered, "I'm going to kiss you so hard you'll forget how to stand."

Eren barely heard the last few words as she stumbled backwards, "W-what? Wait, what did I do?" she questioned as he started to push her out of the room, "L-Levi, wait, explain, tell me wh-" he paused once she'd been moved outside the threshold, and cut off her sentence with a chaste peck on the lips, and not a second later the door was shut, keeping her out of his hair while he tried to salvage what he could of his bedroom. The sound of scraping could be heard moments later, presumably Levi moving something in front of the door to keep her out.

Eren stood, staring confusedly at the door. 'What was that…just…what.' After a few more seconds of processing she felt her cheeks heat again, this time with a mix of embarrassment and some annoyance, "L-Levi! Open this door right now, you need to be resting!" she knocked a few more times and was met with the muffled rustling of plastic and a few more colorful curses, "Levi!" Gritting her teeth in annoyance she huffed and kicked the door before walking away to see if there was anything else she could do besides sit around and wait for him to settle down.

Several hours and two showers later, Levi was seated at the dining room table finishing up the last of the meal Eren had prepared for lunch; though it had turned into somewhat more of an early dinner for him. Eren sat in the living room, reading and trying her best to ignore him, though she was happy he was alright, she was furious about what he tried and almost succeeded in doing. Though the morning air seemed playful and clear, the tension now was stifling, so much that it made Levi nervous to even go near the young woman.

He'd been part of one of the most infamous and brutal gangs in the history of this side of the state, he'd killed more people than he cared to even recall, he'd been starved, beaten, and close to death so many times yet the thought of the fragile, and comparably weak young soul occupying his sofa being angry made him terrified. He felt as though his whole world could shatter with one flick of her finger. Was this attraction healthy? No, of course not, and he'd be the first to admit it, but he could no longer see a future without her in it. And even the thought of leaving her to wander into the arms of another had his blood boiling.

After finishing up in the kitchen, he hesitantly made his way to the living area, weary of how much effort Eren put in to not acknowledge his presence. After staring blankly for a few minutes and getting no response, he sighed and decided to try and take his mind off of…well itself. That's what got him in this situation to begin with, and with the direction that things were taking, it was unlikely it'd be able to get him out of it. He shuffled through a few books before pulling out one he'd started a few months ago but never got around to finishing.

'I really need to figure out where to go. We can't stay here, they know we're here, but what can I do to convince Eren to go with me. If I force her, I know she'll hate me…but she'll be safe that's what most important…right?' He stared blankly at the page; not noticing that the one who currently plagued his thoughts was watching him with interest alight in her eyes.

'No, you're mad at him, so stop getting ideas Eren.' She berated herself, 'but he looks so sad…and he's already apologized so many times…but still…after that…he actually tried to kill himself. I-I just don't know if I can look at him the same way…he's always been so strong so why…Levi why would do something like that?' her eyes softened and her vision blurred as a few salty drops slid down her cheek. She shook her head and went back to reading, trying to ignore the thoughts festering in her mind.

Another hour and half passed before she paused once more to study Levi's furrowed features; she took a deep breath and set down her book. Without much thought, she walked over and stood in front of him, looking down at his, now sleeping face, and studying his face more closely. His breathing seemed even, though the worry lines caused by his grimace were alarming, compared to how relaxed he usually looked when sleeping. 'He must be more worried than I thought…' she sighed and slowly moved the book from his lap, and draped a throw cover over him to keep the chill off. When she reached down to gently brush some stray hairs out of his face, his eyes shot open and he roughly gripped her wrist. Eren yelped at the sudden, jerky movements and nearly fell forward, but caught herself on the arm of the chair he sat in.

"Levi?" she whispered, testing out the waters; her only response was the tightening of his hand around her wrist as she was forcefully pulled into his lap. "W-Wait a second what are you doing? Stop it!" she shouted, trying to push away from his vice-like grip. She'd shut her eyes tightly during the initial act, and kept them closed throughout her struggle, but when she opened them she stopped trying to fight back.

All that came out was a soft whisper, "L-Levi?"

His eyes were open in tiny slits, but they could barely be seen through the blur of tears flowing down his face. His mouth was closed, but she didn't need to hear his voice to know how broken it was, how broken he was. Seconds after she ceased her struggle, his grip weakened and his arms fell to the side, the cover she'd draped over him was pooled at their hips.

Though the voices in her head were satisfied to see his tear stained face, Eren ignored their warning and wrapped her arms strongly around him, holding his head close to her heart and catching his chocked sob in her warm embrace. His arms slowly rose to wrap around her, tightening when she began to softly stroke the back of his head and whispered soothing words to help calm him down.

"It's alright…you're okay. Everything's fine now, it was just a dream…okay?" As his hicks died down to soft snivels, he nodded his head and pressed himself closer to her. Eren had been so caught up with comforting him that she had yet realize just how intimate their position had become. Her legs straddled his hips, while she sat on his lower thighs, his face was buried in her chest, and his arms were wrapped possessively around her waist and back while hers kept his head in place. Feeling a light blush creep up, she instinctively began to pull back, but was only pulled more closely to him; she was practically sitting in his lap now. She stopped struggling momentarily before she tried once more to put a little more space between them.

"Please don't go…" Eren paused when she heard the muffled words, and shivered at the feeling of Levi's lips moving against her neck.

"Hmm?" she said softly, "I don't plan on going anywhere…" she stopped, biting back the rest of the words lest she feel as though she were lying to him. As if sensing it, his hold tightened, not painfully so, but enough to be a little uncomfortable.

"Can we stay like this?" he started again, turning his head and pressing it closely to her chest, listening to her heartbeat had a much more calming affect than he'd ever care to admit aloud, "Please, just a little longer…"

She felt at a loss, and though the new position was starting to hurt her lower back, she agreed with a simple, "okay," and resumed her soothing strokes along his scalp and down his back. "Okay." She whispered once more, resting her head on top of his and allowing her body to relax into his embrace.

A/N:

So… I might enjoy writing Crying!Eren more than anyone should…fight me.

While I don't think this installment was necessarily worth the wait (it was certainly long though), I sure hope you think the rest of the story is. Not really my favorite chapter, and I think that's why it took so long for me to finish it.

Fun Fact: I finally… FINALLY made a twitter ( HarukaHourou) and Instagram ( haruka_hourou). My friends have been on my ass for years about them…I still have no idea how to use either, but if any of you gals and guys use either and would like to join me on my derp adventures of how technology works, then feel free to add me on one or both! (I do follow back~!)

I'll also try to keep those updated (mainly my twitter) with how far along I am in a chapter or if there will be any delays in releases as well as updates on the personal stories series I'm starting up in a few weeks. I'll release more details on that soon. But long story short, that series is essentially my way of thanking you all for your support and patience, and will be a series of request based one-shots.