Play my Clarity | eren x levi

| ♪̳Bar 25 |

"He said I could be okay for now, but we can't be too sure. My condition might worsen so I'll have to watch out for that," she informed him and swept her fingers through his soft, brown hair. "I heard Mr. Ackerman came along. Where is he?"

At the mention of his name, he peeked through the door with his eyes widening, looking a little confused and dazed all at once.

"Thanks for taking care of Eren for me. You probably know by now that he's pretty stubborn and spoiled," his mom snickered as the boy sent her dirty looks.

"It's no big deal."

She shook her head wistfully. "I've never seen him so distressed before when it came to someone. I remember every time he performed at a concert, he would repeatedly say your name like it was the worst word in the whole universe. Motivation somehow. Mikasa you remember, too, right?"

Mikasa had to hold in a giggle and nodded. "I sure do."

"I'm really thankful because of that. I'm sure he would have quit it if weren't for you, Mr. Ackerman."

Eren was going to open his mouth to say something, but what would he say? That she was wrong? He couldn't lie to himself; she was correct because she knew him way too well. Levi was like a hard level on some video game that was almost impossible to beat, but had to complete no matter what.

"Let's stop talking about me," Eren suggested. "Where has dad been by the way?"

"He's been traveling around trying to find any good doctors who could help me and find a cure. I might need to have surgery," she explained.

"How long have you had it?" Mikasa asked.

"For a while actually, and I never noticed it. My colds would keep coming back and I was always tired. At first I thought I was just having sleeping problems, but that wasn't the case. I'm sure I'll be fine."

Eren didn't believe her. He remember all those times when she fell ill and had to stay in bed all day. She never had insomnia nor sleep paralysis, but she was always struck with fatigue. It's been years that's been like that. What if it was too late for a transplant? What if it was already too bad to be fixed? He always detested how his mother would brush things off so easily for his sake. She didn't like to worry him and there was something in her eyes that seemed to say 'I won't be okay, but that's completely fine'.

"Don't worry about me so much," she said as if reading his mind. "You have another competition up, and I don't want to be the reason why you messed up one note."

Eren smiled at her. How was he supposed to not worry?

He played for almost the whole day while they were there and Levi watched him, feeling mesmerized by how his fingers jumped and crawled along the piano. It made the man a little sad; he wore the same expression when he realized that his mother's life might be on the line. The corners of his lips tugged higher into a small, nonchalant smile and his eyes were kept down and unmoving. He played a bunch of songs that weren't too difficult, but his mom enjoyed it.

When it was time for them to head home, his hands were numb and sore and stiff. It was dark out and it was a little drizzle now. Levi held Eren's hand while the other was on the wheel, squeezing it and rubbing it so that it would feel normal again.

"Competition is in a week," Levi said as an attempt to lighten the mood.

"Yeah."

"Are you ready for it?'

"Uh huh."

"I love you."

"I know," he muttered with a sigh.