Metamorphosis

Chapter 16

Anger, so palpable that I could taste it in the back of my mouth, washed through me and clouded my vision. All I could see was the bruise forming on Eren's cheek and the emptiness in his eyes as he glanced between me and Farlan. His expression revealed nothing. It was carefully composed into a mask of indifference that hid his true feelings. There was no way for me to know what he was thinking, and that made me want to scream. I wanted to take his face into my hands, force him to look at me, but I couldn't move. My body was rigid, my arms pinned to my sides as my fingers curled in until my nails bit into my palms. I'd never been so furious in my life, the emotion twisting and knotting my stomach.

Farlan's hand was still wrapped around my forearm. The way he was touching me felt overly possessive and wrong. Everything inside of me screamed to do something, so I tried to shake him off, but his grip tightened until I winced in pain. That little showcase of emotion seemed to pour life back into Eren's features. The mask of nonchalance slipped away in a millisecond, his eyes burning with uncontrolled rage as he stepped up to where we stood. In a flash, he snatched the collar of Farlan's shirt and yanked him away from me like he weighed no more than a small child.

"Get your hands off me!" Farlan spat out.

Eren dragged him off without a care for his protests. Then he slammed him up against the front wall of the club and said, "Touch him one more time and I swear I'll make you regret it."

Farlan went to speak, but the sound of the double doors bursting open caught his attention. Armin, Jean, and Isabel came rushing out. When Izzy saw me standing there, seconds away from breaking down, she came up to me and pulled me into her arms. I found little comfort in her warmth. This all had happened so suddenly that my emotions were scattered. I couldn't get them under control, but I knew I had to, and soon. I owed Eren an explanation. Hell, I owed him an apology. I also had to set Farlan straight, because there was obviously a misunderstanding between us. One I thought I cleared up years ago.

"I'm so sorry," Isabel said in a rush. "I wanted to come visit you and Eren, and Farlan decided to tag along because he was curious about what you did... Aw, shit, I fucked up, Levi. I didn't know he would react this way when he found out what you did. He blames everything on Eren, thinks that he manipulated you into being a cage dancer. I tried explaining things to him, but he just wouldn't listen."

Of course Farlan thought Eren manipulated me. It probably never even occurred to him that this was something I wanted to do, something that made me happy. I shouldn't have been surprised by that. When we were together in high school, he expected me to be nothing less than perfect. At the time, I thought that was what I wanted too, but I soon realized that I was doing it just to please him. The constant effort to try to be what he wanted put a strain on me that I couldn't deal with, so I broke it off, relieved that I no longer had to pretend to be someone that I wasn't. The worst part was he never noticed that I hadn't been happy in the relationship. He continued to believe that I wanted to be the perfect wind up doll that would do and say anything that satisfied him.

"You should be with Eren," I told Izzy, angrier than I had been a minute ago. "Farlan punched him."

Her eyes widened. "What?" She whirled around and went running up to Eren. She lifted her fingers to the bruise on his cheek, and then directed her gaze at Farlan, who had his eyes on me. "You hurt him?"

"It's okay," Eren soothed.

"No, screw that! This is not okay! Don't sit there and say it's okay." She touched the bruise on his face once again, looking distressed. "You've been hurt way too many times. I'm sorry. I should've stayed out here with you. I shouldn't have gone inside to get someone."