Love Me Not - {riren au}

Love Me Not ~ 45

Eren pushed the door open to the twenty four hour gas station at the edge of town. The familiar bell rang and it reminded him of the many snack runs that he, Mikasa and Armin would do when they were younger.

Armin followed behind, thinking of the same thing. Going to the gas station for snacks after school is really what made their days. He missed that time. Things were different.

"Are you feeling coffee? Hot chocolate?" Eren asked, looking at the self serve machine.

"Hot chocolate. You know I'm not that sophisticated to drink coffee." Armin grabbed a cup and put it under the spout. He pulled the lever and watched as the hot chocolate poured out. The warmth he felt while holding the cup had already helped with how cold he felt before.

"You know, being here makes me want to buy snacks and not go home." Eren murmured.

"Do you want to?" Armin asked. He didn't mind staying out longer.

Eren heard Armin's words and already started grabbing snacks.

"I assume that's a yes." Armin laughed and put a lid on his cup. He watched as Eren went over to the register with a pile of snacks. He didn't even notice that the other had paid for his drink as well until Eren motioned for them to leave.

"I could've bought half of it." Armin said, huffing jokingly.

"It was my idea." Eren said back, grinning.

As the two stepped out, Eren noticed a familiar car parked at one of the pumps. It didn't take long for the owner to step out.

Eren's grin to Armin faltered, which caused him to look over to see who he was looking at.

Of course, it had to be Levi. They always saw him at the worst times.

He could see what made Eren so tense too. Whoever was in the passenger seat wasn't very visible. All that could be seen was a slim hand hanging over the side of the open car window with a cigarette between two fingers. It was obvious it was a women's hand.

Eren automatically thought everything Levi told him was a lie. He was a liar. His appetite was far gone at that point. He held the bag out to Armin. "I don't think I'm up for this tonight."

Armin was surprised. His mood had changed so quickly.

Levi's back was to them, but as Eren and Armin walked to get back to the sidewalk, he turned and noticed them.

He didn't say anything, but it was obvious his eyes lingered. He looked Eren up and down before he got back into the car and sped off.

Eren completely shut down after that. He didn't say anything else and he didn't want to talk about it.

Armin walked awkwardly with the bag of snacks in one hand and his hot chocolate in the other. He was filled with a lot of disappointment. The blonde was looking forward to staying out later and hanging out. His feelings were also a bit hurt. They were planning this and seeing one person completely threw it off. Was Armin not worth it? Was he that unimportant? He frowned to himself and sipped at his hot chocolate.

Eren felt bad for suddenly bursting out that he didn't want to hang out. Seeing Levi bothered him, especially with whoever that was in the passenger seat.

-

Levi pulled up to the gas station and sighed. "I can't believe you're already wasted." He looked over at Hanji.

"I'm not!" Hanji said back. "Just tipsy!"

"And of course Erwin has to ask me to drive you home." Levi shook his head and got out of the car. He turned his back to the car for a moment to pay and pick up the nozzle.

As Levi did that, Hanji dug in her purse for a cigarette and found a stray one at the bottom of her bag. She didn't really smoke often.

She lit the cigarette, opened the car window, and hung her arm over the side.

Once Levi turned back, he saw Eren and Armin walking past him.

It was obvious Eren noticed him, but kept going. He wasn't good at hiding his expressions, so a look of annoyance was plastered on his face. Armin looked slightly upset.

Levi watched Eren for a moment, wondering what he had been up to, before getting back into the car and leaving.

"Why'd you take so long?" Hanji asked, putting the cigarette to her lips.

"Why are you smoking in my car?" Levi asked.

"Because I want to." Hanji murmured. "Answer my question! Who'd you see?"

"Nobody." Levi rolled his eyes and gripped the steering wheel slightly tighter.

"It was Eren wasn't it?" Hanji laughed. "You can't get away from that kid no matter how hard you try. How sad." Hanji looked out of the window. "I could see two people through the side mirror, but couldn't tell if it was Eren."

"Well it was. I feel like I always see him in passing." Levi sighed. "And he's usually with that kid."

"New boyfriend?" Hanji asked.

"No." Levi answered confidently, but then realized, how would he know? He had no idea if they were actually together or not.

"That was a pretty confident answer, better hope you're correct." Hanji teased.

Levi shrugged. "Even if he is dating, I don't care."

"You never got to talk to him and clear things up. You're okay with letting that weight stay on your shoulders?" Hanji asked seriously.

"I have no other choice. He isn't exactly letting me talk to him." Levi kept his eyes on the road, not wanting to look at Hanji.

"I know I've said this before, but this is so different from how you usually are. You'd make someone listen to you." Hanji thought about it and came up with a reason. "Are you letting him ignore you like this because you think you deserve it? That you did something bad to him?"

"We both did something bad. There's no going back from it." Levi mumbled.

"Oh come on, sleeping together isn't the end of the world." Hanji said back.

Levi glared at Hanji, signaling her to not talk about that subject.

Hanji laughed. Her and Erwin were really the only two that could just laugh off Levi's words and expressions. "Hey, can we go to your place? I want to play with your cat."

"You're kidding right? Why would I want you in my apartment right now?" Levi asked.

"Oh come on, we're best friends." Hanji argued.

Levi shook his head and didn't respond.

Hanji knew Levi gave in when they passed her apartment complex.

-

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