Chasing Summer

Love Enters My Blood like an IV

Although time was passing, inevitable rivulets of unseen minutes and hours merging together to form an endless stream that was just beyond our reach, I was no longer focusing on it. Whenever I looked at a clock and saw numbers glowing back at me, they were completely meaningless, a forgotten language. Instead, I chose to live in moments: waking up to Eren curled up against me at three in the morning, the smell of his shampoo soothing me back to sleep, Jean making an effort to make us all dinner, Petra announcing that she got a job at Grisha's clinic, Eren kissing me to the sound of raindrops drumming on the rooftop...

It was always Eren and I, tied together by an invisible string, soaking up every minute like it was our last. We were living and breathing in one another. Just getting so completely lost in each other that I had to wonder how I'd ever find my way out. But that didn't matter now, because we were becoming timeless, eternal, just like I'd promised him.

In this town, we'd always be remembered this way: young, reckless, happy, and most of all, completely in love.

I was all right with that. That's how I wanted to be remembered: with him.

So today, on this cloudy Tuesday afternoon, I sat in Erwin's auto repair shop thinking about something I could do with Eren for our one-month anniversary (he wanted to celebrate anniversaries in months, not years). After a long while of just sitting there on the hard concrete floor, I lay back, tucking my hands beneath my head. There weren't a lot of places to shop in this miserable town. There also weren't a lot of places to go.

I groaned, pressing my right foot against Jean's shoulder to get his attention.

"What?" he asked, head popping out from beneath the car he had been working on for the last hour. His hair was matted, chunks of it stuck to his forehead, which had a streak of oil on it. "Are you still thinking about what to do with Eren for that one-month anniversary crap? You do realize that that's today, right?"

"It's not crap, and yes, I know that it's today. There's just nothing to do in this town."

He slid out from beneath the car, pulling out a dark-blue rag from his back pocket to wipe at his oil stained hands. "You're over thinking it. Listen, Eren is a simple romantic. Let him draw you naked. He'd probably enjoy that, 'cause he's all artistic and shit. Or"-he tossed the rag over his shoulder-"you could take him to that abandoned dance studio out on Red Lake Road. Just set up a table, light some candles, and voilà, you have a romantic dinner for two."

"That's actually not a bad idea," I said. "I just have to think of something to cook up."

"Shrimp risotto is always good," Coach Smith chimed in, walking out of his office with a white folder in his hand. He was wearing a red tracksuit like he was getting ready to go out for a jog. "Pair that with a bottle of Chardonnay, and you're set for the evening."

I stared at him. "Coach, I'm seventeen. I can't just go and buy a bottle of wine."

"No, you can't." He set the folder down on his red tool cabinet. "Now, I can't supply you with alcohol, seeing as you're still underage, but I could drop off a bottle at Petra's house. For her parents, of course." He winked at me.

I continued to stare at him. "Are you being serious with me right now?"

"I am," he said. "I think you and Eren deserve a candlelit dinner with wine, don't you?"

Before I could catch myself, I responded with, "Eren deserves the world."

Erwin smiled. "You deserve just as much, Levi. I'll drop the wine off after we close up. You know what, let's just close now. Hanji doesn't need her car back today, and I doubt she'd want to be the reason behind you not being able to set everything up for your date tonight."