Welcome to the Little Titan Caf '!

Today's special: a brand new shiner

It was turning into one of those days where all Eren wanted to do was slam his fist down someone 's throat, or pick up the cash register and beat a person with it. Both prospects sounded more and more appealing the longer his night dragged on. It wasn 't as if this was an uncommon feeling in the day of the life of Eren Jaeger ' anger, that was ' but today, the anger was exceptionally strong. Although, anger was putting it lightly. Irritated. Pissed. Positively murderous. Not that he would actually murder anyone ' he hoped ' he didn 't want to go to jail, thank you very much. It was one thing after another that pushed him further over the edge, and as Eren mulled over the day, he realized he should have spent it curled up in bed and called in sick to work (unfortunately that wasn 't an option for him when his mother was also his boss).

But either way, Eren

knew

he shouldn 't have gotten up. How? Well, let 's backtrack to earlier in the morning when loud construction going on outside woke him up at the ass-crack of dawn. He tried to go back to sleep, he really did, but there was no going back after he was awake. After an hour of tossing and turning and burying his head beneath layers of pillows and blankets, Eren got out of bed. That was the first indication his day was going to hell. The second indication ' which should have been his queue to dive back into bed and hide from the world ' was when he stumbled out of bed and in his groggy state stubbed his big toe against the corner of his desk (the construction outside grew loud at this point, drowning out his spew of choice words to express the pain he was in).

For breakfast he had burnt toast. He would have had cereal but after pouring some Captain Crunch, he went to get the milk, only to realize the carton was

empty

. The rest of his morning went without a hitch, thankfully ' he indulged in some morning cartoons before showering and heading to school ' until he left the house and got stuck in traffic no thanks to the construction outside. On top of having a shitty morning, Eren was late to his first class, received his grade back from his math exam from over a week ago ' an F, no flipping way! 'realized he left his backpack at home and spent the whole day at school hating his life.

And then '

and then!

' when he went to leave campus, Eren saw that some douchebag had smashed in the left taillight of his car! How the hell did someone manage to do that? You 'd have to be an A-grade asshole to take off without letting the owner know and if he ever found out who hurt his baby he was going to rip them a new one (and as Eren raged out loud, several students wandering by looked on sympathetically because here was a fellow student who had completely

snapped

. Not that anyone could blame him. It was nearing the end of the semester. Everyone lost it by then).

Eren was in a foul mood by the time he went into work. It didn 't help that every customer he seemed to have ' he was exaggerating here because really it was only

two

customers ' thought he was short-changing them. His shift couldn 't go by any slower. Whenever he wasn 't looking at the door, he was looking at the clock, and by the time it was ten minutes to closing, Eren concluded Levi wasn 't coming. Eren didn 't care. He didn 't care that the last time he saw the man was four nights ago on his day off. He absolutely did not care. It didn 't bother him whatsoever. Absolutely. Not.

At 23:56, the bell chimed and Eren opened his mouth to greet Levi ' who else would come in so last minute? ' only to frown suspiciously. A shady character walked in, hands stuffed in his sweater pocket, hood pulled over his head, eyes fidgeting nervously.

Hence, Eren 's current predicament and the reason why he hated his life.

He really,

really

should have spent the day in bed. He wouldn 't be standing behind the register at that moment as the so-called shady character held what seemed to be a gun. Or at least, that 's what he made it seem like through his sweater as he demanded Eren give him all of the money in the register.

'Give me all of the money in the register. '

Eren stared at him, at the bump in his sweater and for a moment thought he should listen to the guy. He was always told to be cautious when closing the shop at night, but in all the years he worked at the caf ', he never had anything bad happen. The neighborhood was pretty safe and a police station was a block or two down the road, so the area wasn 't known for crime. This guy had to be one straight up fool to think of robbing there.

'Hey, did you hear me? ' the man interrupted his thoughts, jerking the 'gun ' in his sweater. 'Unless you wanna get shot then hurry it up. '

Eren had one of two options: he could open the register and give the guy what he wanted, or he could say fuck him and fuck the world. Option two sounded the most appealing. Had it been any other day

maybe

the robber would 've gotten away unscathed, but Eren dealt with too much shit today and he finally lost it. 'Are you fucking serious right now? '

That threw the man off. 'Well ' yes? '

'If you were, you would have brought a real gun, you moron. '

'How the hell would you know that this isn 't real? '

'Then show it to me, ' Eren urged. When three seconds ticked by, Eren nodded. 'Just as I thought. '

'Listen, fucker, even if I don 't have a gun I 'll beat the shit out of you. Now ' ' he reached across the counter and grabbed the scruff of Eren 's shirt, 'open the damn register and give me the money. '

'God. You really are an idiot. '

'Will you just cooperate already?! '

Eren grit his teeth when the man shook him. 'Why would I cooperate with you? I 'm not gonna give you anything. So you can either leave or wait for the cops to get here. ' The man froze at that. Eren smirked.

'You 're lying. '

'There 's a button beneath the register that alerts the cops. ' A jest, but the man was stupid enough to believe it. Eren could see the horror in his eyes.

'Fucking punk. ' He held Eren in place with one hand and raised his other, punching the barista in the left eye. Eren swore as he was released, a searing pain and a flash jolting his eye.

Okay, that was officially it. Eren jumped over the register and chased after the man.

'Get back here, bastard! '

'You 're not very good at that. '

The familiar voice nearly had Eren jumping out of his skin. He 'd been so distracted pretending to sweep and spacing out that he hadn 't heard the door open. Eren turned around, hands tightening around the broom handle and tried not to smile ' he didn 't want Levi to think he missed him or anything. Seeing him dressed as impeccably as always was like being smacked with a breath of fresh air. 'Hey to you, too. '

A deeper-than-usual frown marred Levi 's face as his gaze fell on the shiner Eren was currently sporting. 'You look like shit. '

'Well, thanks. '

'Do I even want to know? '

Eren shrugged, setting the broom against the counter. 'It 's a harrowing tale. '

Levi snorted. He sat down at the bar. 'I 'm sure it is. '

'What 'll it be tonight? '

'Surprise me. '

Eren raised an eyebrow. 'You sure about that? '

'Hn. '

'Alright then. ' There was something new he 'd been dying to try, anyway. Eren hummed along to the shop 's music ' Phillip Phillips '

Gone, Gone, Gone

' as he washed his hands and went about making Levi 's drink: pouring cold milk into a pitcher, grinding the beans, tamping them down, latching the group handle to the machine with a cup beneath. While it filtered he steamed the milk. He tapped and shook the jug once the milk turned to a smooth froth, making sure there were no bubbles on the surface. He could feel Levi 's gaze on him as he poured the froth into the cup, keeping the jug close and centered.

'Enlighten me on that lovely bruise of yours. '

Eren spooned creamer on to the surface of the drink, pausing for a moment. 'Well ' I didn 't get it in a fight if that was what you were thinking. Kinda. ' He dragged a small, wooden skewer through the foam. 'Some guy tried to rob the shop last night and I told him I called the cops so he punched me and ran. ' When he was done, he set the drink in front of Levi, nearly laughing at the skeptical look on his face. 'Don 't worry. I chased after him and gave him a good beating. '

A twitch formed in Levi 's temple ' he

really

needed to get that checked.

This kid

' '

Did

you call the cops? '

'Yeah. Filed a report and everything. '

What was done was done. That didn 't mean Levi thought him any less stupid for chasing after a robber. He dropped it though when seeing the design on the latte. It was a pair of wings that overlapped; not the most conventional pair of wings, different in a way, but still obviously wings. 'Not bad. '

Eren grinned. Yeah, Levi was terrible at giving compliments, but it didn 't change the fact that it made him any less happy.

Levi took a couple of sips, ignoring the way Eren stared at him, chin in hands. The cup clinked on to the plate. 'Are you just going to stand there and stare all night? '

'Oh, I was just wondering where you 've been ' ' Eren trailed off. He caught himself and fumbled over his words, cheeks red with embarrassment, voice cracking with uncertainty, 'I mean, not that I

cared

it 's just that I was starting to consider you a regular and you just ' suddenly stopped coming. '

Eren only felt worse about himself as time went by in silence, Levi simply regarding him without a hint of emotion. A smirk tugged at his lips and Eren wasn 't sure if he should be relieved or worried. 'I was away on a business trip. Thank you for worrying about me. '

'You still haven 't told me what you do for a living, ' Eren pointed out.

'Nosy little brat, aren 't you? '

'Hey, hey, you 're nosy, too. '

Eren noticed he didn 't deny the statement. Levi leaned back in his seat, eyes glazed over in contemplation as he swirled his drink with the spoon. 'The last time I was here ' another friend of yours? '

He scrunched his brows together in confusion; unsure of whom Levi was referring to until it clicked, 'Armin? Yeah. We 've known each other since we were little kids. He 's like a brother, you know? ' Eren 's lip twitched in irritation. 'Hey, stop dodging my question. '

'I 'll tell you, ' Levi tipped his drink into his mouth. Eren perked up one moment, only to deflate the next, 'someday. Maybe. '

'What if I guessed and you tell me if I 'm correct? '

'No. '

'Journalist? '

'No. '

'Writer? '

'No. '

'Teacher? '

'No. '

'Accountant? '

'No. '

'Secret spy agent? '

' ' '

'What? It could happen. '

Levi was saved from further interrogation when another customer entered.

'Um, ' Eren frowned at Levi, who hadn 't budged from his seat even after Eren took his cup, washed it, counted down the register and closed it, 'Shouldn 't you be heading out? I 'm kind of closing the store down. '

Levi flipped to another page of his book.

'No taking anything, ' Eren said, disappearing in the back to lock up the money and get his things. He returned with his hoodie on, surprised and wary to find Levi standing patiently, leather gloves on hands and clasping his messenger bag. Eren decided it was better to not ask questions and made his way outside, holding the door open as Levi trailed after him. He expected the man to walk off then, but he continued to linger as Eren locked up the store. Completely freaked out now, Eren whipped around and pointed the key at him. 'Okay, what are you doing? '

'I 'm freezing my ass off while you take your sweet time closing shop, ' Levi deadpanned.

'Why don 't you just head off then? '

'I can 't do that. '

'Why not? '

'Because, ' his expression was unaltered ' neutral, apathetic, unfazed. There was something simplistic about the way he spoke; about the way he looked at Eren like him being there should be the most obvious thing in the world, 'I 'm walking you to your car. '

Eren was at a loss for words, only capable of gaping like a fish floundering out of water. His heart skipped a beat. 'But ' why? '

'You were nearly mugged. As an adult, I feel responsible for your safety. '

'You realize I 'm an adult, too, right? And that I am capable of fending for myself. If you could have seen the guy, I beat his ass so ' '

'Eren, shut up and let 's go. It 's cold. '

Really? Because Eren hardly noticed with how fast his heart was beating and how warm his body suddenly felt. He did as he was told and made his way to the parking lot. There were only two cars in the lot, one of which was Eren 's, located in the employee-only section. 'I 'm guessing that 's your car over there? '

'Hn. '

'See you around, then, ' Eren said, Levi 's name stuck in his throat. For whatever reason, he couldn 't bring himself to say it, probably because whenever he was about to his hands became hot and clammy. And yet Levi could say his name so easily and send Eren 's poor heart aflutter.

Levi nodded and peeled off to his vehicle. There was no reason to walk Eren all the way to his car when he could see him just fine. Eren climbed into the driver 's seat and shut the door, inserting the key into the ignition to get the heater going. He couldn 't think of anything other than the way his name sounded coming from Levi; couldn 't think of anything other than the fact that Levi waited for Eren to get off of work and escort him to his car; the fact that Levi didn 't

have

to, but he did so anyway; the fact that he could have made up any number of excuses '

I 'm parked in the same area, might as well walk together

' that sounded less like bullshit than

I 'm an adult

.

Eren pressed his forehead against the steering wheel, touching his fingers to his cheeks. They hurt from smiling, though not as much as the throbbing bruise. He felt like he was fourteen all over again and in love for the first time. Only then did it occur to Eren how utterly screwed he was, and that yeah, his life was going to be a little more fucked up now.

But he didn 't care because of the way his name sounded on Levi 's lips.