Carla's words were still echoing in Levi's mind as Eren maneuvered the vehicle into the parking lot of his apartment complex. The ride had been virtually silent, though for the first time it lacked the awkward. It wasn't to say they were comfortable, but more so that they were starting to get used to each other. Eren took this as a positive step.

"Shit," Levi hissed, breaking the teen from his thoughts.

"What is it?" asked the brunet, sparing the other a sideways glance.

"My sister's here," he muttered, peering out of the windshield.

"How do you know?"

Wordlessly, Levi pointed to a dark red Corvette parked next to the seemingly only open parking space in the entire lot, which Eren took. It exhibited a sleek ambiance, shiny even under the weak light at the end of the row of other, more tattered looking cars. The color indeed reminded him of the raven's sister.

"Is that a bad thing?" Eren couldn't help but ask as he cut the engine and slid his keys from the ignition.

"Hell yes it's a bad thing! What am I supposed to tell her?"

"The truth might suffice," suggested Eren.

Levi turned his steely gaze on the teenager. "Seriously, brat? Do you want her to hate me?"

Eren's brows knitted together. "I don't think she'll hate you. She cares about you. She might want to help."

Grumbling incoherently, the raven pinched the bridge of his nose with his eyes squeezed shut. He was beginning to shake; the monster was on its way out and his body was starting to feel very heavy, the way it did once the high subsided.

"Come on," Eren coaxed softly. "You'll have to face her eventually. Why not sooner than later?"

"She's the only family I have left. I don't want to lose her, too. That's why I've kept this from her for so long." Levi's voice was so low Eren had to strain to make out the words.

"What's the worst that could happen?" he murmured.

"The worst?" Levi glanced back up, appearing immeasurably exhausted and substantially older than he actually was. "The worst is that she'll disown me, tell me she hates me and remind me how fucking stupid I am. Kick me out of the apartment, make Reiner fire me..." Trailing off, his eyes unfocused.

"She's not going to do any of that stuff," said Eren certainly. "Do you wanna know what she said to me when I asked her to give you my letter?"

"What."

"Well...it wasn't so much what she said as it was the look in her eyes. She told me you lightened up a little and she hopes it continues because she wants to see you happy." Eren was twisting Alex's words and he knew it, but he had to say something to get Levi to come clean to his sister. An internal force said having Alex in on the 'secret' would serve to be helpful.

"If she cares so much then why the hell hasn't she been around, huh? You're lying."

Eren flinched. "I'm serious, Levi. She didn't say that, but her eyes did."

Levi sighed. "Whatever. Let's just get this over with so I can go the hell to bed."

With that, he slinked his way out of the car. Eren hurriedly snagged his things and followed the short man up the stairs to the door marked 36. The artist fumbled with his keys for a second before managing to get one in the lock and twist. The door swung open with ease. The interior of the apartment was virtually dark aside from the glow of a small lamp in one of the bedrooms down the hallway.

Eren stepped into the apartment and slipped his shoes off after soundlessly shutting and locking the door behind him. He peered around, taking in his surroundings as Levi hung his keys.

Alex appeared, almost ghostlike (due to her ridiculously pale complexion), from the small room – the source of the light. She padded to the end of the hall where she promptly flipped a switch and a much brighter light from the ceiling halfway down the hallway flicked to life.

"You're in huge tro-" she began in a menacing tone, but stopped short upon catching sight of Eren.

"Tch," muttered Levi, kicking his shoes off carelessly and shuffling to the couch where he sat heavily, pulling his knees to his chest, angling his face away from the others in the room.

Alex glanced back and forth between the two of them for a minute, her face a mask of confusion.

"Hi Alex," said Eren with a forced a smile to break the ice.

"Hey, Eren..." she mumbled, her tone as skeptical as her expression. "Mind flipping that switch for me?" She gestured to the wall on his left, where he flicked the light switch into the on position. A soft light in the far corner lit up the room, causing the man on the couch to flinch and shield his face from it in his knees.

"You can come in," Alex invited, padding further into the room, switching the hall light off as she went. She sunk gingerly on the smaller sofa across the room, peering almost suspiciously at her brother. Eren, feeling awkward, moved the rest of the way into the apartment and set his things on one of the kitchen chairs.

"So um, no offense Eren, but why are you here?" asked Alex, peering at him from the corners of her eyes.

"That's um...kinda something we have to talk to you about," he articulated softly, selecting a random spot on the floor next to Levi to sit cross-legged. His hands remained fidgeting in the pocket of his hoodie.

"Talk to me about what?" Now her whole head swiveled to observe him suspiciously. Instead of answering her, he turned his gaze on Levi.

"Levi?"

The raven looked up just enough to reveal his dark eyes. Eren closely watched Alex, expecting somewhere along the lines of a shocked reaction at his deteriorated condition. Instead of widening, however, her eyes narrowed after transferring back to her brother.

"You're killing me, brat," he mumbled in his gravelly baritone.

"Levi," murmured the girl before Eren had a chance to respond. "What happened to you?" She was leaning far forward, carefully studying the tattoo artist.

"Withdrawals happened, that's what." His tone was flat, just as his eyes seemed to be impassive, almost bored.

That was the moment Alex's eyes widened. With the initial confusion accompanied by worry and some other emotion Eren had no name for (though he felt it as well), she searched what little of her brother's face was visible.

"What do you mean...?" she half whispered.

"What do you think I mean, Alex?" muttered Levi in response.

"Addiction," was the first blunt word out of her mouth. "But..." It was clear she was having trouble wrapping her head around what he was trying to tell her. Eren could blatantly see he was struggling, as well, by the excess shakiness of his entire frame, his slender fingers gripping his knees tightly, and the wary, almost melancholy expression suddenly taking over in his stormy eyes.

"I don't understand, Levi," Alex said finally.

"I can't do this, Eren," the raven mumbled, pressing his face back into the protection of his legs. His trembling kicked up, almost like he was vibrating, and Alex quickly crossed the room. She sat next to him and started gently rubbing his back. He flinched at her touch, though not away from it.

Eren couldn't help but feel overly worried for the man sitting a mere few feet from him - more so than normal. Other than just a couple of hours ago or so, he'd never shown this much weakness. He really was truly afraid of losing his sister. Eren knew it was for the best, however, and he refused to let him back down from his confession.

"Eren?" asked Alex, voice reaching an even higher soprano than normal. "You know what this is about. Explain."

The teen sucked in a deep breath. He wanted this to come from Levi himself, but at that point he couldn't help but pity the man. Not only that, but with the rate things were going, it would take all night for him to say it himself, and what he needed more than anything was rest, not to be awake stressing about this all night.

Alex waited as Eren worked to pull the right words together. Under her gaze, he felt pressured and hesitant. What if he totally screwed this up for Levi? He wanted to help him, for crying out loud, not hurt him.

"Yes, it's addiction," Levi blurted just as Eren was getting ready to articulate virtually the same thing. He surprised both of them more by completely lifting his head and looking directly at his sister. "It's heroin, Alex. I'm addicted to heroin, alright? I know. I'm fucked up. You don't have to tell me. And you have every right to hate me for...whatever reason."

Both males waited. For an explosion. For an implosion. For screaming or something. Eren found himself holding his breath. Alex's face was unreadable (and unblinking) as she stared at her brother, analyzing his confession.

An eternity passed.

"I don't hate you," she said finally, reaching out toward him. It looked like she wanted to caress the side of his face, but he flinched away before she could touch him again.

"Why? You should."

"I don't," she said firmly. "But I am disappointed in you."

He rolled his eyes and snorted, mildly amused. "Disappointed. That's cute." He'd scooted as far away from her as he could get, pressing himself against the arm of the couch. He was no longer looking at her directly, but peering at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Why, Levi?" Her voice was no more than a whisper now.

"Why do you dye your hair? Or read so much, or play the bass? It's just something I do to get by, alright? Everyone has their method of escape."

"But...drugs? Really?"

"You try going through what I did," he spat defensively. "You try having the memories of trauma that I do, and then tell me you don't want to shoot up just as much!" Levi's voice raised with each word. He ignored the scratchiness and burning as he pushed himself to speak louder.

Alex was shaking her head back and forth ever so slightly, a deep frown settling into her features. "I don't understand..."

"You wouldn't. Don't worry," he muttered.

"You were fine a month ago, though. I-"

"I haven't been fine in years," he cut in. "I'm just a good liar, and you've been too wrapped up in Reiner to notice shit about me. And hell, stop looking at me like you pity me."

"Is it because of what happened when you were fourteen?" she asked quietly. The pity in her eyes was deep and unwavering despite his demand for her to stop looking at him that way. Eren felt it too, but refused to let it show.

"It's because of a number of things. Not just that."

By then, Eren was totally confused. From the start, he knew there'd been something more going on with Levi and he was determined to find out what. Whatever happened when he was fourteen must've had a huge impact on his life, or he wouldn't have cringed in pain the moment Alex brought it up. Eren was dying to ask, but right then, that conversation had nothing to do with him, so he kept his mouth shut.

"Talk to me then, Levi, so we can fix this."

The man snorted. "You say that like fixing it is a walk in a fucking park." Under his breath he muttered, "You have no idea the shit I've been through the past month..."

Alex seemed almost desperate at that point. Her hands were fluttering towards Levi like she wanted to touch him, but just before her fingers made contact, she withdrew them.

"Then enlighten me," she plead. "I wanna help you."

"Tch. Now you wanna help? Eight years later? Nice."

"Levi-"

"No, Alex. I don't want your damn help. You can just fuck off."

With that, the artist shoved himself to his feet. He wobbled a bit before shuffling toward the hallway.

"In case you forgot, I live here too," Alex shot back. She didn't sound exactly angry, but by the look in her chocolate eyes, she was on her way there.

"Hardly," Levi muttered back. "Whatever. Do whatever the fuck you want. Just leave me alone." His words were punctuated with the slamming of a door.

Alex stared blankly down the hall after him. Neither she nor Eren knew how to react to what just happened.

The girl stood and started toward the hallway, but the teen jumped up and stopped her. She blinked in surprise as if she'd forgotten he was there.

"Leave him, Alex," he said softly. "I know you wanna help. I do, too. But he's already weak enough...arguing or whatever you plan to do is only gonna make it worse. Let me talk to him, alright?"

"Is that why you're here?" she asked.

Eren nodded. "Yeah. It's...a long, complicated story. But I'm gonna help him get through this. Or try, at least. By some miracle he's letting me. I just don't wanna smother him."

Alex ran her hand through her hair. "I just...I never imagined..."

"Yeah, neither did I, really."

Alex gazed at him sincerely. "I feel like an idiot...but you're right. Take care of him, okay?"

"I plan to. I'm sorry for this."

Alex's eyes were bloodshot past her fake lashes. She was clearly on the verge of tears and was struggling to hold them back. Eren had the urge to hug her, but refrained. Her head shook back and forth in the slightest movement as she stared blankly past Eren, who could just see the gears turning in her head as she tried to make sense of the whole thing in her mind. He didn't blame her for having trouble; even he was still attempting to fully wrap his head around the situation.

"You should go home," he continued. "Get some rest. I'll make sure he's okay."

"Alright. I'm counting on you, Eren."

She moved to retrieve her things and, without so much as calling a goodbye to her brother, slipped out the door with nothing more reaching her ears than a soft "be safe" from the teen. As soon as the door clicked shut, Eren couldn't help but think about what a long night it had been, and he knew it wasn't nearly over.