The mid-day sun beat down on my red face as I lean against the hot brick wall. A rogue cloud passes the sun for a second and I close my eyes when it reappeared with its blinding light. I keep them closed and think of the crazy situation I'm in. About 10 minutes pass and I move to the shade on the front steps of the church. Today was hot for being March so the shade was nice. Sitting under the small archway before the main doors, I bring my knees to my chest again and bury my face in them.
Suddenly I hear a quiet humming of an engine quickly getting louder and louder. I raise my head, look over, and gasp when I recognize the small black motorcycle fly over the hill. I watch as it pulls up to the curb. The rider turns the small key and the slight putter of the engine stops. My breath quickens as I watch the man take off his helmet. I instantly recognize when he flicks his head back and forth and runs his fingers through his black hair. He looks over at me and even from far away I can see his silver eyes. He steps off the bike and makes his way over to me.
I just stare as he slightly jogs up the short set of cement stairs, but when he reached the top I turn my head, attempting to hide the gash on my left cheek.
".... you actually came?" My raspy voice stutters out.
"Tch, I said I was didn't I?" He clicks his tongue. When I didn't answer he folded his arms in annoyance and continues, "So? Are you gonna tell me what happened or are we just gonna sit here and twiddle our fucking thumbs all day?" I sighed and he moved to stand in front of me. Suddenly his eyes widened, he dropped his arms from their knotted position, "Kid...what the hell happened?!" He knelt down and reached his arm out to my face. However, when he did that I flinched and cowered down, scared. He raised his eyebrows and gulped as he retreated his arm.
"U-uh I'm sorry! I-uh... I went back home to get some things, b-but my father came home early and....... he was so mad.... we got in an argument and..." I sniffle, "...and h-he-"
"He hit you..." Levi interrupted quietly and sighed. I nodded looking at the ground and wiped a small tear from my eye with my sleeve.
Levi looked over at my small backpack, his bike, and back to me several times. He then looked off to what seemed like nowhere like he was thinking. He took a deep breath, "Alright" he gets back up and grabs my wrist. "Get up, let's get that cleaned up before it gets infected." He pulled on my wrist and I stumble to my feet. Levi leans down and grabs my bag, hands it to me, and starts heading to his bike. I freeze at the top of the steps. Levi stops and looks back when he notices I wasn't following.
"Oi? Brat! You coming?" I throw the backpack over my shoulders.
"Y-yeah!" I run down the steps and catch up to the shorter man. We get to the bike and I realize he brought another helmet. This one was green and black, he handed it to me and I slid it over my head. He swings his leg over the bike and I do the same behind him. Levi turns the small key, the engine turns over, and roars when he revs it twice.
I lift my face mask to talk, "Can I ask where we are going?"
Levi bluntly answers, "My place, I wanna clean that cut up." He slips his helmet over his head and lifts the kickstand. I wrap my arms around his waist and soon enough we head down the road.
- - - - 15 minutes later - - - -
We approach Rose City and the buildings loom over me once again. This time in the daylight they seemed even taller. We silently ride, twisting through the grid maze of streets until finally stopping in front of a tall brick building. I guess he has an apartment here.
He flips up the mask and turns to me, "We're here" I take off the helmet and climb off. I awkwardly follow him up to the front doors and he pushes one, holding it open for me. I smile saying thanks and walk in. He leads me to a small elevator and clicks the button. With a high-pitched ding the metal doors open and we walk in.
The slight hum of the elevator is the only noise in the short elevator ride to the top floor. I play with the straps of my backpack almost forgetting I had it on. We walk down a short hallway and our footsteps are muffled by the carpeted floor as we make our way down the corridor.
Levi stops at the door at the end of the hallway and takes out his keys. He smoothly slides one key in the lock and turns. He flings open the door and briskly walks in, I hesitantly follow.
"Come." Levi bluntly orders, speaking for the first time since we left the church. I set my bag down and I awkwardly waddle behind him into a small living room. He pointed to the couch for me to sit as he leaves to what I'm guessing a bathroom. As I sit there I take the opportunity to observe the room.
I could tell he really liked his cleanliness because there wasn't a speck of dust to be seen. The room smelt like cleaning supplies and everything was neatly organized. It was cozy and inviting, completely opposite of what I've seen of Levi so far.
Right then Levi comes back into the room holding a small first aid kit, a black bottle, and some rags. He sits down next to me and opens the small plastic container. When he starts fumbling through the Band-Aids and gauze I take my phone out and look in my reflection at the wound. An inch long gash went across my left cheekbone but a dark blue, purple, and black bruise surrounded it, taking up most of my face.
"Ok let me have a look." Levi's deep voice took me out of my trance so I put my phone down and faced him. He moved in to get a closer look and reached his hand up to lightly touch it. Suddenly the pain in my face returned when he brushed over the wound and I flinch at the stinging pain.
Levi however stayed calm and grabbed my chin to a position he can see. His cold fingers were surprisingly soft and gentle. He took a wet cloth and cleaned up the stream of both dry and wet blood going down my cheek. I watch his focused face, he furrowed his eyebrows, clenched his sharp jaw, his eyes glued on his hands narrowing them sometimes. Every once in a while he would blink, making short eye contact with me, but before too long he would refocus his eyes back to his work. Once he finished, he took a piece of gauze and the purply-black bottle and twisted off the cap.
"What's that?" I ask nervously.
"Hydrogen peroxide" as he answers he places the gauze over the top and quickly flips it a few times to saturate it.
"..Is that the stingy stuff?" I ask with a hint of disgust.
Levi turns back to me grabs my face again and presses the cloth onto the wound. My face instantly starts burning as crystals form, disinfecting it.
"...yes." Levi holds it there for a while, pressing and dabbing the wound. I grimace at the sensation and involuntarily jerk my head away slightly but Levi yanks it back every time.
He finally takes off the gauze, now stained a slight pink, takes a small tube of cream, and squeezes out a small amount on his finger. He lightly dabs the clear cream onto the cut. After he wipes his finger off, he grabs a bandage and places it over the laceration.
"Well at least you don't have to worry about infection" Levi stands, cleans up, and walks back into the room he came from. I sit uncomfortably on the soft couch and twiddle my thumbs in silence. Levi returns and purses his lips.
"You hungry?" He asks, thinking about it, I never had anything to eat today. I look at the clock on the wall, it was about 1:00 pm already so I nod my head. "...perfect, let's go."
I stand up quickly and clumsily try to catch up to him. "W-what? Where?"
He chuckles, "Hm you'll see"
At the door I reach down to grab my bag, "Oh leave that here, we'll be back" Levi says.
"U-um okay" we head out the door.
Once outside the noise of the boisterous city rang in my ears. I follow Levi but when he doesn't go directly to his bike I get confused.
"We're walking, there's a small diner a couple blocks away" I jog to meet his fast pace. I think to myself, He's fast for someone so short and no I am never going to say that out loud.
We continue for a while, crossing many streets, I take in all the surroundings and my mouth gaped open the whole time. We walk into a small diner called Colossal, though it was more like a coffee shop with a bigger food selection.
We sit on a bar table near the window and I notice when climbing onto the tall stool that Levi took a little more effort to mount it. It made me chuckle a little inside.
"Order anything you want I'll pay and don't say you don't like when people pay for you 'cause I'm not giving you a choice!" I opened my mouth to protest but I could tell there was no persuading him so I just shut it. "Hmph, that's what I thought," Levi said picking up the small menu.
The waitress came over and took our drinks, I ordered a soda and Levi ordered a plain black tea.
Our drinks return quickly. I sip my drink and notice something. Levi didn't hold the handle, he held his cup from the top rim. How does he not spill it like that?
When I was about to ask him about it the waitress returns, "Are you ready to order?" She cheerfully asks. We both get a sandwich and she leaves, blushing when Levi thanks her.
My attention gets taken outside the window when a screaming ambulance speeds by.
"So, Eren, is this your first time to the city?" Levi asks suddenly, "Ya know, other than last night."
I nod my head, "Yeah I've never been, it's amazing!" I cheerfully say, not looking away from the window. I explain how my dad never really liked the city, he only went when it was absolutely necessary. At the mention of his name, my head dropped, feeling sad and guilty. Levi noticed and sighed.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" I asked. Levi raised an eyebrow, giving me a questioned and confused look. I continued, "I mean you know nothing about me."
Levi interjected, "I know you're 17 almost 18, you don't like people paying for you so you probably don't think you deserve anything, you're gay for one, you're dad is a bigot abusive piece of shit, you get teary-eyed a lot but I haven't seen you break down yet so I'll say you bundle up all your emotions," He watches me uncomfortably readjust in my seat, "shall I go on?"
"Fine! Fine! You can read people well and I'm an open book, but that's not the point! I mean I don't know anything about you! Other than your sarcasm." I added.
"Alright brat, you wanna learn about me? Ask away!" Levi waits for me to start. However I have no idea what to say, I didn't think I'd get this far. "Oh come on, don't you want to know more about your savior?" He announces, lifting his head up in pride.
"Alright, I'll add egotistical to that list." I sass back at him.
"Watch it brat!" Levi hisses. I guess I hit a nerve.
- - - - 1 hour later - - - -
We end up eating and talking forever, learning about each other. I found out he was an author, he wrote and edited for the city's newspaper company. I also learned his last name, Ackerman. I told him about high school, my college plans, and even my mother which he surprisingly understood. However, he wouldn't go into detail about his past, said it was "unimportant" and "not that big of a deal."
When the check arrived, Levi looked at it disgusted.
I apologise, "I'm sorry is it too much? I should have ordered something cheaper-"
"No, it's not that..." He scribbled on the paper and took out a few bills and threw them on the table. He gets up leaving his copy of the check there so I peek a look at it. In small, neat handwriting, a name was written in light purple pen. ~ Petra ~
Underneath it, a phone number was written and even a smiley face was drawn next to the name. I can't help but chuckle as Levi shoots me a glare and walks to the door. As we leave I look back and see our young waitress hang her head as she picks up our table.
"Does that happen a lot?" I ask, walking a pace behind the short man.
Levi huffs and rubs the bridge of his nose, "You have no idea. It's sad honestly."
"Well I mean you don't look....gay...." I hesitantly say.
"The hell is that supposed to mean?" He slowed his pace, looking over his shoulder.
I become frantic, "U-um well..."
"Actually...don't answer that." Levi interrupted. I laugh a bit and we head back to his apartment.
- - - - 2 hours later - - - -
We sit on his couch for a while, I finally bring up the question again he so easily avoided earlier. "So if I can ask again, why are you being so nice to me?"
Levi took a deep breath, "I helped you because... I guess you can say I relate to you. When I was your age I didn't have anyone to help me through the beginning, and if I can help one person from going through that, I would."
Wow that was deep, he hasn't talked like this to me yet. He's very shut in and hasn't told me anything really personal.
"Ahem!" Levi clears his throat purposefully to take me out of my trance. "Happy?" He snaps. "Now, I just realized I don't know your last name, care to tell?" He asks.
"It's Jeager " I inform.
"Hmm, sounds German." Levi ponders. I just shrug my shoulders. "So Eren Jeager, what's your plan?" he asked.
"Don't have one..." I confessed, "as of right now... I'm staying at my friend's house but his grandpa...he's sick, so I don't know what is going to happen. He hasn't texted me back."
"Well I'll bring you back to his place if you're ready-" I gasp loudly, interrupting him.
"I-I'm sorry but, I just remembered something. My dad, he knows I'm staying there... what should I do?" I plead.
At that moment my phone buzzed. A text from Armin lit up on my phone.
Armin: dude your dad showed up pissed! Started screaming trying to find u. Where the fuck did u go?
I text back.
Me: long story, I'm at Levi's place
Armin: ?! You better explain later but seriously don't come here! Your dad is crazy, I don't think it's safe. I'm sorry!
Me: okay thanks Armin
Armin: stay safe!
"Now I really have no plan..." I sigh.
"Well, you're welcome to stay." He said.
Shocked, I refuse. "No no no I can't, you've already done enough I-"
"I already made up my mind kid." Levi interrupted.
I sigh in defeat. I mean where else would I go? I have no choice.
"Thank you" I mumble.
"So! You're a senior in high school right?" Levi asks, "How long have you known you're gay?"
I answer truthfully, "I think I've known for a while but only accepted it 6 months ago." Levi nods.
"Have you done anything with another guy yet?" The sudden personal question causes me to blush slightly.
"U-um...no." I stutter.
Levi chuckles and smirks, "I gotta little virgin on my hands huh?" The heat in my face rises more and I spit an annoyed face at his amused one.
"Well, what about you? What's your deal?" I ask trying to switch the conversation. Levi shows his left hand. A small gold band hugged itself tightly around his thin ring finger.
"...Engaged."