This is my first attempt at a Shingeki no Kyojin fic and I had my doubts about it at first but hopefully it ends up being a good one

Warnings(?)/Notes:

- Guy x guy (eventually)
- Modern day AU
- Age difference
- Mature/sexual content in later chapters

- I actually like the spelling 'Rivaille' but for the ease of typing I'll spell it 'Levi'
- The spelling will be 'Yeager' just to keep it uniform with official English translated spellings

When I was about 6 years old someone new moved into the apartment next door. During the move I got a glance of the new resident, and to be honest, he was a little intimidating to look at. He wasn't very tall but he had this permanent furrow on his brow, he just didn't look very sociable. He probably would've been really handsome if he didn't look so mad. It looked like he was the only person moving in so I wasn't very interested in getting to know him, but mom insisted that we go over and introduce ourselves once the movers were done.

I really didn't want to go; he was kind of scary looking and looked like the kind of guy who wouldn't want to associate with his neighbors. My mother baked my favorite apple pie that morning, but it was for this guy! We didn't even know if he was a nice guy or not, so why make him a pie?

"Eren, please behave yourself, ok? It's only right to be nice to your neighbors. Now, be a big boy and be on your best behavior!" My mom lectured me before we headed over to greet him.

"I got it, mom…" I said with a pout.

She ran her hand through my hair, attempting to make it a bit nicer and knocked on the door. Quiet footsteps were heard at the other end of the door and with a click it opened.

"Hello! My name is Carla Yeager and this is my son, Eren. We live one door down and thought we'd introduce ourselves since we'll be living next to each other from now on," mom gave a kind smile.

"Ah, yes, hello. My name is Levi," the man said in a flat tone. He still looked like he was angry or something.

Levi looked down at me and I hid behind my mother. He was really intimidating for a short adult.

"Eren! Don't be so rude! Sorry, he's a little shy," she explained. "Oh! And I made this pie! Its apple, I hope you'll like it."

"Thank you," he took the pie and gave a slight bow, "Would you two like to come in for tea?"

"Oh, that's very kind of you but I'm sure you're busy unpacking and all," my mom definitely wasn't one to burden others.

"It's fine, I've just brewed some so it's no trouble at all, I insist."

"My, you're such a kind young man. Well, please excuse us then!" My mother grabbed my hand and we walked over the threshold of the apartment.

It smelled like soap and lemon… Cleaning supplies? He's already cleaning the apartment and he just got here?

We sat at his table while he went to get the tea; he dug out a couple more tea cups from his boxes. He brought over the cups, then the tea pot and sugar and joined us at the table, pouring our tea for us. I guess he wasn't such a bad guy after all, but he still looked really intimidating.

"So, Levi, what brings you to this area?" My mother asked as she added some sugar to her tea.

"I'm attending the nearby university, I wanted to live within walking distance," he answered, picking his teacup up by the rim and taking a sip. What a weird way to drink tea.

"You do look about that age, how exciting! I bet you're eager to start," my mother smiled and added some sugar to my tea.

"Yes, I suppose so," Levi glanced over in my direction… No, it was more like a glare… "So, how old are you?"

I grabbed onto my mom's dress and didn't give him an answer.

"Eren, what did I tell you? Answer the young man!"

"…S-Six…" I said quietly.

"Ah, so young," he replied with a smirk.

"I'm not a kid!" I yelled; something about the way he said that made me angry, like he was talking down to me.

"Eren! Don't shout at him!" my mother scolded me, "I'm sorry, Levi, he doesn't do so well with meeting new people."

That's not true! It's just this guy, I don't like him!

I crossed my arms and sulked for the rest of the visit and didn't say a word. Needless to say, because of my behavior, we didn't stay much longer. My mom apologized again to him but he said it was fine and that, 'sometimes kids act like that'. Whatever!

A few days later, I was walking home from elementary school. My mother usually walked me home but she had something important to attend to. My father worked a lot so he was never able to pick me up. Luckily, my school wasn't very far from our apartment so walking home once in a while was ok.

"Oh, you," I heard someone behind me and turned to see who it was. It was our new neighbor, Levi. He seemed to be coming back from school himself.

I didn't really want to have anything to do with him so I turned back around and ignored him.

"HEY!" he shouted, which scared me out of my 6-year old skin. I turned to look at him again, probably with a look of terror on my face.

"S-Sorry…" he said, much quieter, "I just uh, need to give you something. So follow me. Well, I guess you're heading in that direction anyway…"

And he was right; if we didn't live right next to each other I probably wouldn't have followed him anywhere. Once we got to his door he unlocked it and asked me to wait outside for a bit, "please" he said. Although I didn't really want to, I guess I was curious and if it was something weird or scary I would just run into my house.

Only about 20 seconds later he came back out, hiding something behind his back. I was getting ready to make a run for it but he said "this is for you" and pulled out what he was hiding.

"Whaaa! The Lance Corporal Ultimate Titan Hunter action figure!" I couldn't believe my eyes, and what's more, I couldn't believe that this guy had one of these and was giving it to ME! "Really? I can have it!?" I asked excitedly.

"Of course, I said this was for you, right?" He handed it over to me and I took it excitedly, looking over every inch of the packing.

"How did you know I wanted this!?" Was he a mind reader or something? Ultimate Titan Hunter is my favorite show and I've wanted this figure so badly, but my mother always said we didn't have enough money to buy it.

"Well, I noticed your shirt the other day," he answered.

"My shirt?" I asked, confused.

"Yeah… You were wearing an Ultimate Titan Hunter shirt the other day when you came over. So when I went out the other day I saw this and thought you might like it. I guess it's an apology for the other day too."

My jaw dropped, he noticed my shirt? And he wanted to apologize even though I was the one making the unnecessary outburst? He wasn't thinking I was just some little brat after all? This guy was actually a really great guy despite him looking so scary.

"T-Thank you so much, Levi-oniichan!" I shouted, hugging him at the waist.

"O-Oniichan…" he said under his breath but gently patted my head.

"D-Do you want to come over and play with it with me!?" I asked with a huge grin on my face.

"Well, I'm not sure if your mother would allow me too…"

"She won't mind!" I tugged at the hem of his shirt.

"I'm not so sure, though…"

"Oh! Levi, hello!" My mother had just come up the stairs and spotted us both. "Eren, you too. What a surprise to see you two together, what is that you have?"

I ran over excitedly to show my mom my new action figure; she looked a bit surprised when she saw what it was.

"Levi-oniichan got it for me!" I held up for her to see.

"O-Oh, wow! That's such a nice gift for him to give you," she looked over in Levi's direction. "I'm sure he spent a lot of money on this. Levi, are you sure about this?"

"It really wasn't a problem, Mrs. Yeager, I wanted to get it for him," and for the first time, even if it was only slight, I saw a genuine smile on his face.

"Well, if it was no trouble…"

"Mom! Can Levi-oniichan come over and play with me? Pleeease?" I asked, interrupting the conversation.

"Oh, sure, if Levi would like to?"

"I supposed I could for a little while…"

"Yay!"

My whole impression of this man completely changed that day. I got to discover that although he had a rough exterior, he was kind inside, even if he didn't know how to properly express it all the time. After that day, I saw him pretty much every day and I often went over to his apartment to play. He even offered to walk me to and from school if he had the time, which was a relief to my mom. He really became something of a brother figure to me and I grew to love him for that. He did a lot for my family and me.

Little did I know that one day when a major tragedy would strike, it would change our relationship forever.

End of Chapter.

Umm please let me know what you think? ^^ I had this idea in my head and I really wanted to write it down and this is what the result was. I have a basic idea of what I want to happen in maybe the next two chapters but, like I said, it may take a while to get posted.

Thank you for reading! :*