Lovers (Killers) Ereri/Riren AU

Chapter Three

A/N: Eh. You'll get two updates today because I forgot to post yesterday...oops...also, I just really love the idea of artist!Eren and writer!Levi so you will be seeing that throughout the rest of the story. Aww, and this chapter is really cute...except for the cliffhanger at the end, but whatever ;)

Disclaimer: Still don't own Eren or Levi or any of the other characters... *sighs sadly*

When Eren woke up, his chest felt like someone had driven nails through it. It hurt to breathe, and the air rasped in his throat painfully. He was back in his bed in the room he and Levi shared, hooked up to a heart monitor and IV. He carefully kept the IV in and turned off the heart monitor, then looked over to his roommate's bed. It must have been late, because Levi was asleep, his front facing Eren. He studied the older boy's normally stoic features relaxed in sleep, unlike last night when his face had been twisted in fear. Eren definitely liked this version of Levi better, and he carefully got out his sketchbook and pencil and started with the outline of Levi's sleeping body. Pleased with the way it came out, he continued to add detail to the drawing until light started to shine through the window and Eren was staring down at a nearly-completed drawing of Levi sleeping. God, he thought, mortified. This is so stalkerish. He's not even my friend.

Eren flipped back through the sketchbook to the drawing he'd been making of Levi earlier, head bent down over his computer and face scrunched up in concentration. The two drawings were both two of his better pieces, and he liked the way the light shone on Levi's face to cast half in shadow, the other in light.

He wished they could be friends—or maybe a little more then friends, said a small voice in his head—but the other boy had made it clear that wasn't going to happen. Eren let out a small sigh of resignation, then leaned over to the nightstand to take some of his medication. He stared at the small pill bottle in frustration.

Yesterday had been his first attack in ages. Earlier he'd been talking to Mikasa about possibly going home and seeing how that might work out, but now that was off the table because the attack would ensure that the doctors wouldn't let him out of their sight for a while.

A small, secret part of him was slightly glad that he wouldn't have to leave Levi just yet. The other boy was rude, and he had been mean to Eren, but he couldn't help but continue to like it. Now he finally realized how those people in cheesy romantic chick flicks felt about their crushes.

No. Levi wasn't a crush. He was a broken boy, like Eren, and a possible friend.

Eren definitely needed more of those. He had Mikasa, Armin, Sasha, Connie, Christa, and he was kind of friends with Jean, because Marco insisted that Jean be nice to him. He guessed that didn't really count as "friends". But still, he didn't have as many friends as he would like.

Just then, Levi stirred in his sleep and started to wake up. Eren immediately picked up a book and pretended to be reading, sneaking glances at the older boy every few seconds.

Levi woke up slowly, and one of his first actions was to glance over at Eren's side of the room, then look away quickly. Only today he quickly looked back and gaped at Eren.

"You're back," he said in a surprised tone. He moved over to sit next to the younger boy. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Eren said, surprised and touched by his concern. "Those don't happen very often. You were just unfortunate enough to witness one." He tried to joke to lighten the mood, but Levi was still looking at him oddly, like he knew something that he wished he didn't. Eren tried to ignore the burning gaze on him and instead studied the book in his hands like he was extremely interesting.

"Hey, can I see what you were drawing yesterday?" Levi asked suddenly. "Your art is amazing."

"Only if I get to see what you were writing," Eren retorted quickly. Levi looked shocked at the boy's quick response, then blushed. He didn't want Eren to see what he'd spent hours writing yesterday, adding in new characters and taking out old ones, crying a little, and pining after the green-eyed teenager.

Besides, what he'd been writing…no. It was totally embarrassing.

"But that's different," Levi protested.

"No writing, no art," Eren smiled victoriously, knowing he'd won.

"Fine," Levi grumbled, going back to his perfectly made bed and picking the laptop up from the bedside table. He walked back to Eren, opened the computer, then messed around a little bit before finding the right document and handing the laptop to the younger boy, who blushed a little because now Levi was going to see those painstakingly detailed drawings of himself and their relationship would be ruined and…Eren forced himself to stop thinking about that and instead focused on the computer in front of him. The format of the pages was organized neatly and it was easy to read, and Eren dove in immediately. He was captivated by the interesting backstory Levi came up with, and then Levi's story about living as a thug in the Underground with his friends Farlan and Isabel until they were captured by the Survey Corps, and then characters entered that Eren knew. Erwin was there, and Hanji, and a few other nurses and doctors that Eren recognized. And then he saw his own name, and his eyes widened in surprise before he blushed as he read about his character—the strong, determined Titan Shifter. The story was long, and he only got part way through before Levi cleared his throat. Then Eren remembered what Levi was looking at and turned firetruck red.

"Umm…sorry if it's stalkerish or anything, but I woke up earlier and there wasn't anything to do and you just looked so peaceful…" he started to rant worriedly, but Levi held up a hand to silence him. He was studying the drawing of himself sleeping, and his awestruck look was enough to keep Eren quiet while he stared at the other boy anxiously, waiting for his reaction.

"This is so beautiful," Levi whispered. "Can I keep it?"

"What?" Eren asked, dumbstruck. Levi…liked it?

"Can I keep it?" Levi repeated, raising an eyebrow in irritation at Eren, who blushed again and nodded vigorously. "Sure, sure."

The older boy painstakingly ripped the drawing out of Eren's sketchbook, making sure not to tear or smudge it in any way. Eren smiled happily, and Levi looked back at him, a small smile gracing his lips as well. Eren almost gasped in surprise; it was the first time he had seen Levi smile since he got to the hospital, and the expression on the boy's face was amazing. Eren blushed again as he realized he was staring. He was doing a lot of that lately; it would be a miracle if his face wasn't permanently stained pink.

"I love your story," he said, trying to find a way to fill the silence. "It's amazing. You should write more." He handed Levi's computer back in exchange for his sketchbook, and this time it was Levi's turn to blush.

"Eh…it's stupid. It was just something random I came up with yesterday, and it's not my best…"

"Your best must really be something, then," Eren complimented, feeling a little pink as the smile returned to Levi's face.

"Thank you," the older boy said. They sat there together for a moment, a comfortable silence between them, before Eren suddenly said, "Hey, have you seen the Avengers?"

"What?" Levi asked.

"The Avengers," Eren said, and at Levi's confused look, he rolled his eyes. "You have to see this one. It's probably the best superhero film in—"

He was suddenly interrupted by a commotion in the hallway as it filled with frantic shouts, and a stampede of doctors and nurses ran past, down towards one of the other rooms. Erwin ran past their room, then backtracked quickly and came inside.

"Levi," he said, "It's Isabel. Her heart stopped."