This chapter's so cheesy we gon' need some tortilla chips. Nachos, anyone?

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"You're telling me...Eren did this?"

"Yup. He volunteered. Said you could re-do it if you wanted, and he'd help. But if you ask me, you should leave it as is," Reiner explained.

Levi could only shake his head slightly. He stared in awe at the back wall of the shop that before had been mostly blank, scattered randomly with other artwork. Now...the only word the raven could think of to describe it was unique. Very unique. Like Eren himself.

It started out dark around the edges. The darkest pieces of Levi's work that he'd left for Reiner to feature on the walls occupied the outer part of the design. Gradually, however, as one looked toward the center, it got lighter and lighter with random splotches of color from each piece scattered throughout. The overall shape was pretty random, but the gradient was actually kind of incredible. In the center stood the brightest piece of all - Levi's phoenix. The one he'd drawn for Eren during his downtime in rehab. Amongst all of the darkness, something he would now consider as bland, it was almost blinding yet it strangely fit almost perfectly.

"It took him forever to figure out what to put in the middle," Reiner went on. He stood next to Levi, hands proudly on his hips. "But then a couple weeks ago he showed up with that and it fit perfectly in the center, almost like it was made to be hung there." The blond shrugged nonchalantly. "But maybe it was just coincidence. I dunno. Pretty cool, though, huh? Kid said he's not at all an artist but I beg to differ." He shrugged again. "Anywho, back to work." He turned and headed back toward his station, leaving the raven to admire the wall on his own.

At the moment, he and Reiner were the only ones in the shop. It was before opening hours, but Reiner had announced he had a customer coming in first thing and got busy setting up his things. Levi, on the other hand, was client-free after not having been in the shop for months. The last time he'd set foot on that black and white tiled floor, Eren had confessed his feelings and asked Levi to allow his help in getting better. It was only back in January, just three months prior, but so much had changed. Suddenly Levi was not only ready to get back to work, but was eager.

With that, he tore his eyes from the wall and got to work dusting off his own supplies. His station hadn't changed since the last time he'd used it, but that had only meant it was beginning to collect dust. He dragged a finger across the wood of his small desk and let out a disgusted 'tch' at the grime that collected on the digit. He got to work, thoroughly dusting his area and everything in it. To most, it really hadn't become that dirty, but to him it was absolutely uncalled for. Having grown up in several houses and apartments where the walls grayed and browned from the endless cigarette smoke from his mother and eventually himself, and dragging dusty smoke-stained furniture around wherever they went, he'd grown remarkably repulsed by dirt and clutter. For a while he hadn't cared as much, being on the verge of death for so long, but the trait had come back in full force since becoming sober.

Over a half hour passed before he was satisfied with the cleanliness of his work area and both Petra and Reiner's first clients had showed up in that time. The redhead greeted him in her general soft, friendly manner. She kept her distance from any physical contact; even she knew he didn't liked to be touched. It didn't take one long to pick up on that with him. She merely cast him a smile and told him she was happy he was back before she, too, got to work, leaving the only sounds in the shop to be the buzzing of tattoo machines. Being surrounded by the scent of green soap and the overall chill aura of the place, Levi begun to remember why he'd taken the job there in the first place, other than needing the money for food and drugs. There'd been two other shops looking to hire him at the time and both had been busier and more well-known than Reiner's rundown little hole in the wall, but that aura (and admittedly, the extra seclusion, being constantly on the lookout for police) and the friendliness of the shop was his ultimate reason for choosing this place instead of the others. Simply being around them was calming.

That in mind, Levi turned the stereo to a random station and got to work taking inventory of the supplies left in his drawers, finally ready to get back into his element.

*~Eren~*

"Hey, Eren!" came a familiar voice from behind the brunet as he sat outside a small café with a cup of coffee in front of him. He turned to find Marco, hand in hand with Jean, Christa and Armin in tow meandering in his direction.

"Hey guys," he greeted back, pulling his headphones from his ears and wrapping them around his phone as his friends gathered around the table.

"Damn, it's such a nice day," Jean said, leaning back and lacing his fingers together behind his head. "I'm glad that winter shit is over."

"Just wait until it gets hotter," said Christa. "You'll be complaining all over again."

"Nah," Jean countered. "I'm loving the sun."

"Hey babe, I'm gonna go get something to drink. Want anything?" offered Marco.

"Sure, surprise me."

"Anyone else want anything?"

The blondes shook their heads and Eren held up his half-full coffee cup. Marco said he'd be right back and disappeared into the café.

"I see you two are to the pet name stage," teased Eren, grinning at Jean.

"Yeah, so what?" mumbled the horse-face, a faint blush coloring his cheeks. "We've been going out for like four months now."

"Just an observation." Eren sipped his coffee nonchalantly to hide his grin. He was admittedly actually very happy for his friends; they'd been in an awkward stage of 'I really like you but I don't know if my life can handle a relationship on top of everything else' for quite a while and he was glad to see they'd worked things out.

"Eren, is that hot coffee?" Christa piped up from across the table.

Eren's eyes dropped to his cup. "Yeah, why?"

"It's like eighty degrees out here!" she said, dramatically fanning herself with her oversized wallet. She herself sported a tank top she'd tied up to reveal her impeccably flat stomach and shorts so short they almost didn't really count as shorts. Her hair was tied up off her shoulders and she wore sunglasses.

"It's only April, Christa. If you think 76° is hot, you've got another thing coming."

"This is Christa's first spring here, remember?" Armin pointed out. "She's used to summers in the near Alaska."

At that point, Marco returned shuffling two drinks and his wallet in his hands. He managed to sit down without spilling anything and wiped the back of his hand across his forehead for dramatic effect, earning an eye roll out of everyone but Jean, who just gave him big puppy eyes.

"So," said freckle-face, "how are things in Erenland?"

"Fine."

"Oh come on," Christa said, leaning toward him. "You've gotta get out of those one word responses."

"Yeah, we hardly see you anymore. Talk," Jean added.

"Talk about what? My job? My family? Nothing's really changed..."

"You know what," retorted the female, lowering her glasses to look at him over them pointedly.

Eren blinked in confusion for a minute before realization settled in.

"You...you want me to talk about Levi?" he squeaked. Just saying the raven's name had his body reacting in funny ways.

"Bingo." Christa replaced her glasses. "We know he's been out of rehab. So...?"

Eren sent a glare in Armin's direction. "You told them?"

The blond shrunk back a little, a guilty grin playing on his lips. "Sorry."

The brunet sighed. "It's whatever."

"So, how have things been since then?" asked Jean.

"Jeez, you guys talk about him like you've met him." Eren leaned back, taking his coffee with and keeping his eyes solely on the little hole in the lid that allowed for ventilation.

"We just wanna know how he's doing," Marco piped up innocently.

"He's a lot better," Eren put simply. "He went back to work today...so there's that."

"And you two?" asked Christa. She was practically squirming for answers.

Eren sighed. "We're..." He struggled for the right way to put it.

"I think she wants to know if you two are official," Armin explained.

"I think so," Eren said quietly.

"What do you mean you think so?" Christa had lowered her shades again.

"It's a lot more complicated than it seems, Christa," he said. "I mean I've been staying with him. And we talk. And we do other...couple-y things. So it feels pretty official..."

"What are you getting at?" Jean asked. He sounded almost bored.

"I'm saying it's pretty official, but I also feel like I want to do something to make it official official?"

"Oh? What did you have in mind?" Christa asked.

It was Eren's turn to squirm, but his was in discomfort. He fidgeted with his coffee cup and tried desperately hard not to chomp down on his lip. His stomach was doing a strange dance and his heart had picked up the pace.

"It probably sounds stupid," he said. "But I kinda thought I should take him out...y'know, like on a d-date."

"Look at the boy blush," Marco stage-whispered to Jean. Eren automatically looked for something to chuck in his direction but having nothing but a half-full cup of warm coffee, he was forced to settle for his best death glare. Both Marco and Jean laughed, his affect surely ruined by the heat in his cheeks.

"That doesn't sound stupid," Armin promised him. Even he had somewhat of a dreamy sparkle in his eyes.

"Of course it doesn't!" Christa chimed in. "It's almost old-fashioned nowadays, what with cell phones and social networks. You should totally do it!"

"I should? Do you think he'd go for it?"

"That's your call, Eren," said Armin. "You're the only one who knows him."

"But if he likes you," added Christa, "there's no way he could say no."

"Yeah, especially to those rosy cheeks," Jean teased, reaching out to pinch said cheeks between his fingers. Eren's reflexes proved faster and he batted his hand away.

"Shut up, horseface," he muttered. "So you guys really don't think it's a ridiculous idea?"

"Absolutely not," Christa said.

"Then I guess I should figure out something we could do..." said Eren thoughtfully. He let his chin rest on the heel of his hand while he drummed the side of his cup with the opposite fingers.

"Well, what's something you both like?" asked Armin.

Eren blinked at him, suddenly dumbfounded. Truthfully, he didn't know what Levi liked to do. He knew more of the deeper stuff; he had yet to learn even the simplest of Levi's attributes.

"I...don't really know," he admitted. "Guess that's part of the reason why I wanna do this...to get to know him better. Like, the little things."

"Well, you could do something typical," Marco said. "There's always the classic dinner and a movie."

Eren rolled his eyes. "Lame. Too cliché."

"Ooh! What about an amusement park?" Christa asked excitedly. "They should be opening up now that the weather is improving. That's where I would wanna go on a first date."

"I dunno...Levi doesn't really seem like the amusement park type."

Eren tried to imagine the raven on a rollercoaster. The image his brain mustered was Levi's ever-stoic face, hair whipping through the wind and totally not amused at all. He snorted at the image.

"This is only assuming he says yes...I don't even know how I would actually bring up the idea."

"Why don't you just straight up ask him?" Jean asked, his tone suggesting he thought that was the obvious choice in the first place.

"Leave it to you to think of the direct approach," said Marco affectionately, nuzzling Jean's cheek. Said horseface smiled and nuzzled back.

"Oh my god, cut the PDA," Eren said, "Before I start gagging."

"Shut it, Jaeger," said Jean, not turning from his boyfriend. "Soon it'll be you and us who'll be gagging."

"Doubt it," he muttered.

"Anyway," Christa cut back in. "Back to Eren's date issue. You could always come up with a creative way to ask him. Like, sidewalk chalk!"

"He lives in an apartment..."

"But you don't."

"I'm not an artist."

Christa huffed. "I'm trying to be helpful."

"I know. I appreciate it."

"What about pick-up lines?" Jean popped in teasingly.

All eyes went to him. "What?"

"C'mon, y'know, like...the one about Tennessee."

"Please, Jean. They're already practically together and you're not supposed to use pick-up lines on someone you're already with."

"Says who?"

"I don't think it's such a bad idea," said Armin. "But I think you'd need a specific pick-up line to ask for a date, y'know? And none of those sexual ones." The kid visibly shivered. "Most of those are so bad."

"Duh. You use a sexual pick-up line unless you're asking for sex."

Armin stuck his tongue out at Jean.

"I just don't see why he can't just straight up ask for a date," continued Jean. "I mean, that's what I did."

"And it worked," Marco pointed out.

"But Eren isn't you," Christa said. "I think he can make it sweeter."

"What? Like bake Levi a cake or something?"

"No, like-"

"Guys, guys!" Eren cut in, holding his hands out to stop their bantering. "I have an idea. I think I know how I'm gonna ask him."

"What is it?"

"Again, it's probably stupid, but just be honest with me. So, listen..."

~*~

The following Sunday, Eren put his plan into action. He'd talked to Reiner several times over the course of the past few days, looking for advice. Of course, Reiner promised to keep it a secret and even helped by consulting Alex in finding ideas on where they could go and what they could do.

Sundays, of course, the shop was closed and Levi had therapy, giving Eren his opportunity to set things up and prepare himself. As he sat in the parking lot waiting for the raven, his fingers drummed nervously on the steering wheel and, typically, he chewed on his lip.

"Hey," Levi huffed as he got into the car, looking mildly exhausted. He ran a hand through his hair and rested his head against the back of the seat.

"Hey. You okay?"

"Fine."

"How was it?"

Levi was silent for a minute as he put his seatbelt on. He didn't look at Eren when he spoke.

"I...told him about Izzy." The words were quiet, sad. Suddenly Eren seemed to forget about being nervous.

"What did he say?" he murmured.

"I didn't tell him everything...only of her existence and that she's been gone a long time. He questioned me about her, of course, but I couldn't talk. I don't know if it was because I didn't want to or if I just...couldn't." He shook his head and shrugged. "Otherwise it wasn't any different than normal."

Eren nodded. "Are you okay, Levi?" he asked solemnly. Finally the raven looked up and met his eyes.

"I'm not sure," he said honestly. "I think I just wanna go home."

"Okay."

As they drove toward the apartment, Levi had pulled one foot up onto the seat and wrapped his arms around his stomach, staring blankly out the window. Eren was internally conflicted about whether or not he wanted to continue with his plan or just call it off and let Levi curl up with the TV on and a cup of tea in his lap to distract him from the memories of his little sister. It seemed ideal, but another part of the brunet told him to set his plan in motion on the hopes of cheering the raven up, of getting his mind off of it that way. He hadn't completely decided by the time they approached the door marked 36.

Levi's key was poised to unlock the door when he noticed the small folded piece of paper taped just beneath the peephole. Frowning, he started to peel it off when Eren piped up, "You can just ignore that..." His hand extended to snatch the paper from Levi's fingers, but the raven held it away.

"What the hell is it?"

Eren sighed, shoulders dropping in the process. "It was supposed to be a surprise...for you...but I don't think now is really a good time if..." He let his sentence trail off, as Levi was unfolding the paper and reading what was on the inside.

You wanna know what the best thing in my life is?

Read the first word again.

Levi read it several times to make sure he was seeing it correctly before he looked up at the other and raised a brow, waiting for an explanation.

"It was just..." Eren scratched the back of his neck, looking everywhere but at Levi. His cheeks began to turn that beautiful pink hue the raven was becoming so fond of as he explained, flustered. "There are more of those inside hidden throughout the apartment for you to find...and then you're supposed to arrange them by the numbers and letters on the back once you find them all for like a secret message...but...I dunno. You don't have to do it. I understand if-"

Levi took his hand to shut him up and unlocked the door. "I want to. Come on." He pulled the younger inside, eyes already searching the place for more similar pieces of paper. In just surveying it with his eyes, he could see at least three more hidden in obvious places.

"Really?" Eren asked, eyes wide and quickly filling with excitement.

"Yes, brat. Really." He kicked his shoes off and neatly hung his keys on the rack.

Excited, Eren fumbled for his phone and opened the camera. He'd promised Christa he'd get video of it to show her later. Levi shuffled into the kitchen and tore another slip off of the dishwasher.

If you were a vegetable, you'd be a cutecumber.

Levi turned, both brows raised this time. "How did you even think of these?" His eyes lifted. "What the- are you seriously taking video of me?!"

"Yes. For memories," Eren clarified.

Gray eyes rolled. "You are lucky you are so damn cute," he muttered before continuing his little scavenger hunt.

I find you appeeling. (He'd poorly drawn a banana.)

You must be a keyboard because you're just my type.

Are you a unicorn? Because you're my fantasy. (A unicorn that looked more like a donkey with a birth defect and a horn.)

If people were boogers, I'd pick you first.

Eren earned a disgusted "tch" and eye roll from that one, causing him to laugh.

Roses are red,

Tomatoes are redder,

I think we both know

I like you way better.

Are you a 90° angle? Because you're looking right. (He'd drawn a right triangle with an arrow pointing at the 90° angle.)

Is there a rainbow today? Because I just found my treasure. {It's you.}

Is that the sun coming up? Or is that just you lighting up my world?

Excuse me, I think you dropped something. My jaw.

The more Levi found, the more signs of mild embarrassment and bashfulness he showed. There was even a slight detection of red in his cheeks, neck, and tips of his ears.

If I was a cat, I'd spend all 9 lives with you. (A very...deranged looking cat.)

Can I borrow a kiss? I promise I'll give it back!

Eren's smile was full on as he followed him around with his phone.

Your hand looks heavy. Let me hold it for you.

After reading most of them, he'd mumble something to himself, the words 'shitty', 'adorable', and 'brat' swimming their way to Eren's ears.

Do you have a map? I just keep getting lost in your eyes...

I'm no organ donor but I'd be happy to give you my heart.

The last one was in Levi's room on his pillow. He shuffled through them, still shaking his head, the slightest of grins playing in his features.

"Did you think of all these yourself?"

"Most of them. My friend Christa and Armin helped a bit. And Jean came up with the idea of pick-up lines..."

"Typical. A nerd hanging around a bunch of other nerds," Levi muttered, heading for the door. As he passed Eren, he stood on his toes and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. "You said I'm supposed to arrange these?"

Eren followed him down the hall. "Yeah...there are numbers on the back that go in order to form a message."

"And you're still following me with that thing," he sighed, taking a seat at the table and making an effort to keep his eyes away from Eren's phone.

The younger sat across from him, chewing absently on his lip and watching him work on arranging the pieces of paper. He made sure to keep the camera focused solely on his hands, as well, while also kept the letters visible. When he finished arranging them, Eren held his breath.

Levi stared down at the paper for a minute and then lifted his gaze to Eren's face. The kid was clearly nervous, chewing his lip and brows pulled together, big green eyes anxious.

The words in on the table in front of him read:

GO ON A DATE WITH ME?

The silence between then and Levi's answer seemed endless to Eren.

Finally, he said, "Only if you promise to never upload that video anywhere." His finger pointed directly at Eren's camera.

The absolute widest of smiles spread across Eren's face, showing off all his teeth and emitting a sparkle in his eyes. It looked absolutely ridiculous.

"I promise," he said.

Levi himself smirked. "Then yes, I'll go on a date with you."

Unable to stop smiling, Eren tapped the little red square to stop the recording as Levi sat back, crossing one leg over the other and lacing his fingers together on his knee.

"When will this be taking place?"

"Tuesday," Eren said. "Reiner said you don't have any appointments so he gave me the day off...for this."

"So I take it you have a plan."

Eren nodded, maybe a little too enthusiastically. "But it's a surprise."

Gray eyes rolled in typical Levi fashion and he stood up. "You're such a brat," he mumbled, going around the table. Before Eren could even think of a response, the raven leaned down and softly pressed his lips to Eren's for a lingering kiss, more intimate than the ones they'd shared before.

"Don't forget to give that back," he murmured before turning on his heel and sauntering down the hall, leaving Eren mildly dizzy and happier than he thought possible.

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Well was that cheesy or what? xD