Same, but Different

•Chapter IX•

Chelsea blinked. "Oh. You just looked so o-old and mature. Not like a one year-old at all!"

"I was a one year-old two years ago..."

"Aki is three!" Tobias chipped in, extending a hand to Chelsea. "Hi, Miss, my name's Tobias. Aki calls me Titan, and so does Daddy, but you have to call me Tobias because you're not my friend yet."

Chelsea looked at the two children's hands and didn't move. Aki shrunk down a little bit and brought her hand down and moved closer to Tobias.

The boy continued to extend his hand, glaring when Chelsea once again didn't move. "You're nasty, I don't like you."

"Titan!" Eren scolded as he came in, "You can't say that."

"But she's mean and horrible and won't shake our hands!"

"Titan!"

I just watched my daughter's dejected face, as if she had done something wrong and I felt my heart break a little.

"Titan, you have to maintain good manners..." Aki whispered, her eyes becoming glassy.

Chelsea waved her hands awkwardly. "Sorry! I'm just sick! Levi, can we talk alone?"

Tobias partially ignored Aki's words, going over to grip her hand and squeeze it supportively. "Now your daddy has dated two bitches." He said spitefully.

Eren's jaw dropped. "Titan!" He bowed apologetically, "I am so sorry."

Matthew, who was standing by quietly, finally spoke up, trying to usher away Tobias. "H-How about Eren, me, and the kids go and drink our tea?"

"That sounds like a great idea," Aki agreed, stalking off into the kitchen, leaving me alone with Chelsea.

"What the fuck was that?" I whisper-shouted.

"I'm sorry! I don't like children!" She copied my dynamic.

"I'm a father. If you don't like children, why are you dating me?" I asked.

"You're a lawyer, hot, single, and seemed interested."

I felt my world stop. "And Aki?"

"I don't want anything to do with her."

My universe crumbled. "Get out."

"Excuse me?"

"Get. Out." I balled my fists up. "Aki is and always will be my number one girl and if you don't give her the respect and love she deserves, if you aren't here for the long run, then leave. Don't waste my time."

"Long run?" She furrowed her eyebrows. "Did you think I was supposed to be your wife, her mother? Newsflash, I'm only twenty-one. I'm not ready for that type of commitment and I don't want kids, especially such a weird one. Like what three year-old even speaks like that?"

"Leave—" My voice cracked. "Just fucking leave! I don't want to see your face!"

She scoffed. "Whatever. I have other guys lined up."

The door slammed.

I ran to my bedroom.

There was shuffling outside until a hesitant knock placed itself on the wooden frame. "Levi...?"

I gripped my chest. "Who is it?"

"Well, not many people call you Levi who are present right now, but it's Eren. I, uh, I have some tea for you. And I'm here to talk..."

"N-No. You have a boyfriend. You should be with him. I'll... I'll be okay."

"Matthew wanted to get to know the kids so I'm giving the three space." Eren paused, each of his words carefully spoken. "Will you let me in?"

"Come in..."

The door creaked open, Eren shutting it behind him and moving to sit next to me. He handed me the tea, just in case I wanted it. "So... you and Chelsea?"

"Over..." I began pulling my hair. "I fucked up."

"I really hate to say I told you so, but I really did." Eren said, trying to lighten the mood a little. "Forget I said that, it's too early for those kind of jokes. I'm sorry."

My eyes focused on Eren's hand and I gingerly took it, running my fingers along it. "Does this correlate with the lack of mirror in the guest room?"

He blushed faintly. "I, uh, I'll pay you back for that. I sorta... punched it."

"What did it do to you?" I asked, instinctively bringing his hand up to my face, but stopping short. "Sorry, you know how it is. Fatherly instinct."

Eren smiled softly, gently untangling our hands and bringing his back to his side. "Yeah, I know." He said quietly, "I think the mirror just... showed me the person I hated the most. So I tried to destroy them." He laughed, "I sound like a psycho."

"You shouldn't hate yourself, Eren. You aren't a monster."

"You seemed to think I was," he whispered, his head falling to my shoulder. "And it was true. I turned into something I never thought I would. I went against everything I knew over... well, you know."

"I'm sorry." I threaded my fingers through his hair. "I just wanted you to be safe and take care of yourself. I didn't want you to lose yourself."

"I feel the same," Eren replied. "Don't lose yourself over Chelsea. Take care, be safe, stay strong. I- That confession, it was true, and what I said when you were preparing for that first date. You're so incredible, Levi. I think that itself fuelled my emotions, when I saw the hickeys and stuff. I guess I thought you'd, I don't know, value something like that more? Then again I'm a pretty bad hypocrite now, since I did worse." Eren's eyes closed, "But I mean it, you're kickass and anyone else would be lucky to have you."

I leaned against him as well. "To be honest, I felt kind of pressured into it with her. It probably sounds stupid, but I was afraid of letting her down, not that she was worth it anyway..." I took a shaky breath. "I fucked up and it's too late to fix. I get that. I'm used to being alone, so I won't lose myself. Promise."

He smiled. "I'm glad. And you didn't fuck up, Levi, she did. She literally screwed over the best fucking husband material in the world, it's her loss and not yours. Plus, everything can be fixed. Maybe you use superglue, or duct tape, or whatever the heck you can find, and maybe they'll be scars, but it'll fix."

"Maybe," I lied, clenching my fist in a way that he wouldn't notice and biting my tongue. "Thank you. Now, go see Matthew. I have work to do."

Eren opened his eyes, taking his head off my shoulder. He leaned in before backing away and laughing lightly. "Sorry, fatherly instinct. Titan always demands a kiss, so... yeah. I hope you find your perfect ending, Levi."

"It's okay if it's fatherly instinct. Aki is the same way sometimes," I lied, leaning in and kissing his forehead. "Thank you. Go cease your happy ending."

Eren nodded, quickly leaving. As he passed I noticed the bright red color of his cheeks as he walked away flustered.

I buried myself in my pillow, cursing everything.

"I chose wrong."

Author's Note:
Hey guys, Mei here! I was checking through comments and noticed something; we f*cked up.
The posting of chapters was wrong, which both Ari and I sincerely apologise for. THIS IS THE REAL CHAPTER 9!
You guys must've been confused, because we talked about a Chelsea situation which was never actually explained - here it is!
If something ever feels off in the future, please mention it! The chapters should follow a Levi-Eren structure for POV's.
Lol, Chelsea's a bitch tho!
Thoughts?
- Mei, ya gal who's really sorry.