Hey. It's me. Just a quick warning. There's a lot of homophobic crap in this one. I certainly don't hold with Jake's opinions or actions. Anyways, Eren goes through quite the ordeal in this one. If you are triggered by abuse, please skip to about the middle of the chapter. I'll let you read now, and please don't forget to favorite, follow, and review! Loves ~HeartQueenVivaldi

Choices and Decisions

Chapter 3

Two more weeks passed with Eren following through on his plan, going to the gym and avoiding Jake as much as possible. In that short amount of time he was already noticing some major changes in his body. His six pack was coming back and he felt stronger. His stamina was greatly improving, and he didn't crave sweets as much as he did before.

He also didn't dwell as much on his terrible roommate, instead focusing on his schoolwork. His grades were higher than they had ever been in his life. It made him start to feel proud of himself. Going to they gym made him feel less like he was avoiding Jake and more like he had a purpose outside of the dorm. By the time he returned every night he could retreat to his bedroom, take a shower, and go to bed without Jake suspecting a thing.

Some things never changed, however. Jake's friends still came around, stayed all night long, made messes, and left them for Eren to clean up before class while Jake slept in. If he didn't clean up, he feared that the apartment would never be clean. He was starting to feel like a slave in this respect. But he also refused to live in a dirty dorm room.

There was only a week left before Thanksgiving break, and Eren couldn't wait. He would have a whole five days with Levi, who was hosting the holiday this year. Levi's big house had become the holiday house, it seemed, since he had a big enough one to accommodate everyone.

This year was going to be good, too. The people in attendance were Levi, Eren, Carla, Grisha, Mikasa, Eric, Cory, and Grandma Ella. All people that Eren enjoyed being around. He didn't even have to deal with the Jaeger crazy-pants. The thought that it was almost there was enough to keep Eren going. Only three more days of classes, then he was free to go home and enjoy the holiday.

Eren gathered his things for class from his room and went back out to get his keys and phone from the counter. His heart sank when he saw Jake staring down at the screen of his phone, and he knew what the other was seeing: the screensaver that Levi was worried about. He had meant to change it, but it had slipped his mind.

Eren decided to play it cool. "You know it's rude to go through other people's phones."

Jake whipped around and gave Eren a murderous look. "What's this?" Sure enough, Jake turned the phone around so that Eren was looking at the picture of him and Levi. He was smiling, and Levi was kissing him on the cheek. They both looked genuinely happy in that picture.

Coming up with a quick lie, Eren explained. "Levi's my best friend, you know. He has been for a really long time and we are really comfortable around each other. He was teasing me, and we were just messing around, but I ended up liking the picture anyways. You can see how much we like being around each other."

"I have a hard time believing you're not gay after seeing this." Jake practically growled.

"Well, I'm not. Nor is Levi. It's just a picture. Now, can I have my phone so that I can get to my first class? I'm going to be late." Eren asked with an exaggerated roll of his eyes.

Jake threw the phone at Eren and walked up to him, looking big and menacing to the lying Eren. "If I find out you're lying and I've been staying in the same room as a fag, I promise, you'll be the next one I beat up. And I'll add the last part."

"Not a problem, since I'm straight." Eren said, not even flinching. He was glad at this moment that he had taken acting classes in high school.

Jake grunted and walked away. When he had closed the door to his bedroom, Eren grabbed his keys and left the apartment, shaking as he went. That had been too close. One more slip-up and Jake would know everything. He couldn't let that happen. He would have to be less careless in the future. No more leaving his phone or laptop laying around. There were too many pictures of him and Levi to be considered safe. He was just lucky it was a picture he could pass off as silly friendship. At least it wasn't the one of the two of them looking longingly into each other's eyes, shirtless by the pool, that Mikasa took over the summer.

Wondering what else Jake could have stumbled across in his phone, Eren unlocked it and started to scroll through pictures. There were some incredibly inappropriate ones that he had taken of Levi before they had sex a few weeks ago. There were also some really obvious couple-y selfies. Not to mention the texts he and Levi frequently exchanged that included declarations of "I love you" and "I want you".

Eren put his phone away and nodded decisively. His phone was dangerous territory and he would have to keep it on his person at all times from now on. No exceptions.

Eren stayed on campus that weekend, since he had promised Kim that he would go shopping with her, and since her roommates were out of town, he stayed with her. The information seemed to ease Jake, too, thinking that maybe Kim was something more to Eren than just a friend. Eren was only too grateful for that.

Then he spent as much time away from the dorm as possible through the last two days remaining of classes. When he went to bed on Tuesday night, he was glad he would be leaving early the next day to get to Levi. He couldn't wait to get away from his asshole roommate that was a ticking time bomb.

He plugged his phone in, put earplugs in to block out the sound of Jake and his friends, and snuggled down in his sheets to get some sleep. He stirred a while later to what he thought was a crash of some kind from inside his room.

Eren rolled over and rubbed his face, sitting up and pulling his earplugs from his ears. When he put his hands down to his side, he immediately received a punch in the face on his right cheek. He felt his lip split. Before he could recover from the hit, he felt another blow to the back of his head and heard glass crack. His phone, he assumed.

Eren felt warm blood run down his scalp, then he was pulled violently from his bed. It was about now that Eren regained some of his senses and started to fight back, fight or flight finally kicking in. Jake was a lot bigger and stronger than he was, but Eren was smaller and faster. He was able to slip from Jake's grip and run from the room. He was just glad Jake was the only one there, and his friends weren't there to help.

Outside of his bedroom, Eren hyper-focused on a way to get back into it and lock Jake out long enough to get the few things he needed to get away. Eren backed into the couches on the one side of the room, and when Jake charged at him, he ducked and pushed himself back toward the bedroom.

He slammed the door behind him and locked it. He took the chair from his desk to prop behind the handle. Once he was alone, he grabbed his cracked phone that was missing a few pieces from the screen now, but it still seemed to work. Not caring about much in the room, he pulled on his jeans and a t-shirt with his coat, slid his phone and wallet into his pockets, grabbed his keys from the desk, his backpack from the floor, then prepared to leave the room.

Jake was slamming himself into it on the other side, screaming for Eren to come out and face the music. He had caught Eren's lie, and he was going to get him for it. Or so he said. Eren didn't think so. He felt the back of his head. There was no glass stuck in his scalp, but his fingers came back a little bloody. He could also taste the metallic blood on his tongue from his split lip. He was sure his cheek had split open, too. He could deal with that later. At least he wasn't in shock, for now.

Knowing the damage to himself was actually rather minimal, Eren made sure he had anything valuable with him or in his backpack, then removed the chair and prepared to open the door. He waited until he heard Jake charging for the door, then opened right on time for him to stumble through it. When Jake ended up in a heap on Eren's bedroom floor, Eren took off through the open door.

Before he got too far, Jake caught his ankle, causing him to fall. The fall knocked the wind out of him, and he wheezed as he turned onto his side. Jake was crawling toward him, so Eren kicked with all his might. He caught him square in the nose once, though not hard enough to do any damage, but it was enough for Eren to scramble up from the floor and make a break for the front door as Jake screamed.

He threw the door open and didn't bother closing it as he ran down the hallway toward the stairwell. He could hear Jake gaining on him from behind. He used the fob on his keychain to start his car while he ran. When he hit pavement outside, he took off at full speed, running completely on adrenaline. When he got to his car he climbed in as quickly as he could and slammed the door and locked it just as Jake reached it and pounded on the driver's side window with two closed fists.

Eren hoped the glass was strong enough to hold another blow as it came. He threw the car into drive and didn't care if he happened to hit Jake on his way out of his spot. Jake ran along-side the car through the parking lot and out into the street.

Eren had never been so happy to see flashing red and blue lights in his rear view mirror. Eren pulled over just outside of the parking lot and watched from inside the car as Jake tried to punch his window again. At this point Eren was wondering if the glass was bullet-proof. He wouldn't be surprised, since Levi was the one to buy the car.

The cop in the car behind Eren came toward Jake with his gun pulled and ordered Jake onto the ground. Jake did as he was told and Eren finally dared to open the door, but he wouldn't step out. He didn't want to make the cop nervous any more than he probably was.

Now that Eren knew he was safe, he burst into tears. He tried to think rationally as fat tears rolled down his cheeks and his chest heaved with sobs. He pulled napkins from the glove compartment and held them to the back of his head, and he looked in the mirror at his split lip. Sure enough, there was also a cut on his cheek, though it wasn't too bad. It was already starting to bruise, though.

The cop returned from his car, where he had put Jake in the back, and crouched down by Eren's open door. He asked if Eren was alright. The question made Eren cry harder, sobs wracking his body. The cop waited patiently for Eren to calm down, then asked what happened.

Eren told him what happened, and the cop called for an ambulance to look over Eren. He was likely starting to go into shock, and his head was still bleeding. The ambulance arrived a few minutes later. They confirmed from the back of the ambulance that Eren was indeed in a minor state of shock, but they treated him immediately. They also determined that his head wasn't injured badly enough to warrant stitches and there was no reason to take him to the hospital. He didn't have a concussion or anything. Mainly scrapes and bruises that would heal on their own.

Eren was grateful they weren't going to take him to the hospital. He would have let them if they thought he needed to but didn't want to in the slightest. He didn't want to worry Levi with such things, and he would be seeing his dad that afternoon. If something serious started to happen, at least his dad would be around, and would treat him for free. He couldn't really afford an emergency room visit right then. So, they just patched up his minor wounds and left it at that.

The cop took his statement once the medics were done with him, then asked if he would be pressing charges. Eren nodded a yes. The cop nodded, made a note, then walked away to take Jake away and lock him up.

The medics cleared Eren to drive in an hour, so he left the car where it was and returned to his dorm to pack the rest of his things. He didn't want to have to come back to that dorm ever again. He would stay with Kim or drive four hours a day if he had to. No matter what, he wouldn't come back here.

Eren spent the rest of that very early morning packing and walking things to his car across the street. Once it was loaded it had been nearly two hours and was nearing 2:30 in the morning. Eren knew he wouldn't be able to sleep, and all of his things were packed away in the trunk anyways, so he climbed into the driver's seat and drove away from campus toward Karanes and Levi.

…

Levi stayed up until about 1 am reading a book he had hardly been able to put down since starting it the day before, but eventually had to. He was starting to fall asleep. He was woken up around 6:15, 45 minutes before his alarm was set to go off, by the sound of the garage door opening downstairs.

Levi wasn't expecting anyone until noon when Eren was supposed to get there, and he was usually late. With that information in mind, Levi reached into the cabinet in his nightstand, opened the safe, and pulled out Isabel's gun.

Levi silently stalked downstairs with his gun out in front of him and ready to shoot if necessary. He rounded the corner to the kitchen and was more than a little surprised to see Eren looking at him like a deer in the headlights. Eren's eyes flickered between Levi and the gun pointed at his chest.

Levi pointed the gun down, put the safety on, and put the weapon on the counter. Then he got a better look at his boyfriend. Eren had a split lip, a bandage on his cheek, and it looked like he had been crying. "Eren?"

Eren's lip quivered and he launched himself into Levi's arms. Levi put one hand on the back of Eren's head and felt another bandage there at the same time Eren whimpered. Suddenly, Levi didn't know what to do with his hands. He eventually settled for the back of Eren's neck and the small of his back. They didn't seem to bother him, so that's where he kept his hands.

Eventually, Eren calmed down and backed away. Levi led him to the couch and made him sit down while he made them both some coffee. He returned a few minutes later with the two beverages and asked Eren what happened.

Eren recounted the entirety of events, starting with what happened on Friday morning until that morning when he woke up to Jake beating him senseless, then the good timing of the cop, the medics and his injuries. He told Levi everything. When he finished, Levi looked very upset, a mix of anger and sadness morphing his features.

Eventually, Levi settled on anger and stood up suddenly. "I'll kill that bastard if I ever see him again."

"Don't worry, I'll be pressing charges. We'll see him in court. He can spend the next 10 years making it up to me by getting locked up for it." Eren said, sipping on his now lukewarm coffee.

Levi sighed and sat back down by Eren. "Well, at least I don't have to worry about you living with him in the dorms anymore."

"I'm not going back to the dorm. I want nothing to do with that room. I'll never be comfortable in there again. I was scared just to be in there to pack my things this morning."

"You packed?" Levi asked in surprise.

Eren nodded. "I brought it all back with me. I'll stay with Kim if I have to for the rest of the semester. I'm sure she would let me. Then will you find an apartment with me for next semester? If you really can afford it, I want to do that."

Levi looked at Eren in concern, but he nodded. "Absolutely. We can start looking today. I'll call the complex we looked at in August and see if they have one. If they do, we can do that. If not, I'll find something within 30 minutes of campus. Sound good?"

Eren smiled and nodded then yawned. "Tired?" Levi asked.

"Yeah. Mind if I go up to bed for a bit?"

"Please do. I would rather you be rested today. Don't worry about helping me get ready for tomorrow. I've almost got everything ready anyways. I just need to change sheets on a couple of beds. Kay?" Levi kissed Eren's good cheek then sent him up to the bedroom.

Before Eren left the room, Levi asked, "Where's your keys? I'll go unload the car, too."

Eren left the keys on the counter next to Isabel's gun without a word, then went upstairs. Levi didn't see him awake again until after noon.

When Eren did return downstairs, he looked much better. The bruise on his cheek had developed some, but the bags under his eyes had lightened and his split lip appeared to already be starting to heal. Levi always thought Eren healed quicker than most. Even his hickeys disappeared faster than Levi's.

Levi passed a grilled cheese sandwich toward Eren that he had made for lunch, adding a quick kiss on the cheek, then turned to make a second one. They sat quietly while they ate, Levi letting Eren wake up some before saying anything.

When they were both finished and Levi was watching Eren spin his broken phone in his hands, he said, "Is it a bad time to say I told you so?"

Eren scoffed at that. "Probably."

"Well then I won't say it." Levi looked at Eren from the corner of his eye.

Eren rolled his eyes but smiled and laughed anyways. "Weirdo."

Levi shrugged. "Come on. Your parents will be here soon enough. We should get you cleaned up a bit." Levi said, leading Eren up the stairs and into their bedroom. "Now, let me take a look under those bandages."

Eren sat on the toilet in the bathroom while Levi removed the bandage on his cheek, washed the cut there, and inspected it. He moved on to the cut on the back of his head and grimaced. "You need to wash your hair. There's blood matted into it. It's gross."

"Help me with that?" Eren asked. Levi only nodded in agreement.

The pair of them stripped down and Levi started the water for the shower. They stepped under the spray and Eren winced as the water hit his wounds. He knelt down in front of Levi so that he could easily clean Eren's hair for him, being careful around the cut on his head.

When they were finished showering and cleaning Eren up from his adventures that morning, they re-dressed and Eren was back to sitting on the toilet in front of Levi. Levi determined that Eren's head had stopped bleeding, and as long as they were careful, he shouldn't need a bandage there. He carefully styled Eren's hair in that spot and helped Eren bandage his cheek again.

Unfortunately, the bruise on Eren's cheek was just high enough to turn into a black eye as well, and the bruises were quickly darkening by the minute. Feeling sorry for the younger man, Levi furrowed his brow and leaned in to give Eren a soft kiss on his closed eyelid.

Within minutes of finishing the re-bandaging, the doorbell rang. Levi went to go get it and was happy to see Carla and Grisha at his door with Grandma Ella close behind. He sighed in relief and let them in, quickly explaining to Grisha what had happened, Ella and Carla listening from close by.

Grisha nodded once Levi had finished and went to find Eren in the living room. Of course, the two women followed close behind, worried about their boy. Grisha examined the back of Eren's head first, but he quickly determined there was nothing too serious and it would heal easily on its own.

Of course, when Mikasa arrived she also fawned over Eren and hardly left him alone the entire afternoon and evening. Eren repeatedly had to tell her that he was alright, and that he wasn't going to die from a few cuts and scrapes. She kept a close eye on him regardless.

Eric would have gone to kill Jake if he could have. Eren didn't know Levi's brother cared so much, but he obviously did. He was pissed when he saw the bandage on Eren's face. Originally, he rounded on Levi, as if Levi had been the one to hit him.

Cory and Eren had to hold him back and Eren quickly explained what happened before Eric could beat up or kill his only brother. Levi rolled his eyes at his older brother. "I would never hurt Eren and you know it. Don't be stupid, Eric."

"Well, you never know." Eric huffed and went to put his and Cory's bags in their bedroom upstairs.

Thankfully, the rest of the weekend was rather uneventful. They had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal with everything they could have ever wanted. They held pleasant conversation around the table with delicious food. The turkey was perfect, of course, since Levi was an unexpectedly incredible cook. Everyone hung around the house until Friday afternoon or Saturday morning.

Then on Sunday, Levi reluctantly let Eren go back to campus. Eren had called Kim over the weekend and asked if he could stay with her. She was only too happy to have him, along with her two roommates. They only had the couch, but Eren decided he could deal with it for two weeks until finals were over. At least he wouldn't have to go back to his own dorm. And Kim even gave up some closet space for Eren to use.

The two weeks leading up to Finals were uneventful as they could possibly be. Only the typical pre-finals madness of cramming and studying all hours of the night. Eren thoroughly enjoyed living with Kim and her roommates. They were respectful, fun, and all-around pleasurable to be around. And they loved Eren. They loved his attitude, his sense of humor, and how open he always was with them.

When finals week came around and Eren finished his last exam, he packed and prepared to leave the small apartment for good. Hopefully, he wouldn't need that couch ever again, and he and Levi would have an apartment close by.

The girls were sad to see him go and told him he was welcome back any time, which he was grateful for. He felt as if he had three, new, best friends. It actually made him sad to have to go.

When he arrived at the house in Karanes, Eren went directly into the kitchen from the garage to find Levi stirring something on the stove that smelled absolutely divine. The raven had his cell pressed between his shoulder and his ear and was talking to someone in a business-like voice. He heard the door open and turned to flash Eren a quick, small smile.

Eren pointed to his bags then towards the stairs. Levi nodded and Eren went to take his bags up to the bedroom. It was nice knowing he would be there for a month and not have to leave. Once he had deposited his bags, Eren returned downstairs and sat at the bar, waiting for Levi to finish he phone call and picking at the bunch of grapes in a colander.

Levi hung up a few minutes later and turned to greet Eren. "Hi. Welcome Home." He said and rounded the island to give Eren a kiss on the lips, then returned to the chicken cooking on the stove.

Eren connected the dots when he saw the white sauce simmering on the back burner. "Chicken Alfredo. You do love me."

Levi scoffed. "I even made home made noodles. So, I must." Levi pointed to the noodles hanging on a rack off to the side. "Good news, by the way. I just got off the phone with the apartment complex we talked with back in August. The one we liked that was by campus. They have a pre-furnished unit opening up in two weeks. We can move in any time after that. The lady is going to send me the papers we need and as long as I get them back to her by Monday, it'll be settled."

Eren visibly relaxed at that. For a while there he was worried that he would have to go back to the dorms, which was the last thing he wanted. "Good. That makes me happy."

"Good. You know I'll do anything to make you happy. Including make home made alfredo." Levi emphasized as he pushed the noodles off the rack and into the boiling water. "Get some plates, this will be ready quickly."

Eren decided in that moment, he really couldn't ask for better than Levi. He wondered when he might be seeing a ring on his left hand. Hopefully soon. Eren grinned at the thought as he dished himself a big plate of noodles.