Eren didn't realize how tired he was until he slipped into the passenger seat of Alex's car and breathed a brief apology.

"Don't worry about it," she said coolly, shifting it into reverse and sliding smoothly out of the parking lot. "So...how much does my little brother resent me?"

Eren frowned. "What? He doesn't."

"Hmm..."

"Really, Alex."

"Maybe so. But I bet he still thinks I hate him. Or should, anyway. No?"

"Well..." Eren mumbled. He didn't want to say yes, but he didn't want to lie to her either. It didn't matter, though. She knew, and she sighed heavily as she sped up once they got to the highway.

"Well thank you, Eren. If it weren't for you, I don't think he'd be around anymore. I mean, whether it's mentally or physically."

"You really don't have to thank me."

"Yes. I do."

The teen looked at her straight despite her inability to look back as she watched the nearly deserted highway go by.

"What if it was Reiner?" he asked quietly.

"Um...care to elaborate?"

"What if Reiner was the one who's been addicted to drugs for eight years, and you were the one to help him recover? Would you want all these people thanking you?"

That seemed to baffle the woman for a minute. "Well...I'm not really sure. I just know that I'd be more concerned about him getting better so he could come home and start living his life again...so I could be close and help him stay clean. That is...if he wanted me around."

"Exactly," Eren murmured, looking once more out the window.

Alex's voice was just as soft. "You feel that strongly for Levi, do you?"

Immediately Eren felt mildly embarrassed, even shy. He hadn't really thought of how strongly he felt for Levi. All he knew was that he cared for him, loved him, and wanted to see the life return to his eyes more than anything. He'd been too wrapped up in trying to make that happen that he never considered how strong his feelings really were. But now that Levi was in better care, professional care, he realized he had a lot more time to sort things like that out.

"Well...yeah, I do," he mumbled, angling his face so Alex would be unable to see it, even out of the corner of her eye. He felt the truth in his words despite the embarrassment.

"I'm glad," Alex articulated smoothly. "He needs someone like you. But I guess I shouldn't be pretending to know what he needs. You've been more present in his life in the past several months than I have in probably five years..."

Eren could feel the guilt radiating off of her. If there was anything the Ackermans seemed to be good at, it was feeling guilty and practically drowning themselves in it, thinking of more and more ways to blame themselves.

"You're making up for it," Eren assured her.

"Hmm..."

He could tell she didn't believe him. "Really, Alex. Even if it's little by little...and let me tell you, it's no small thing to be the one with the insurance so he can get this treatment."

"I suppose..."

"Better late than never," the teen murmured, resting his head back and fighting to keep his eyes open.

To that, Alex didn't reply, leaving a good ten miles of silence. Inevitably, Eren started dozing off with the smooth movement of the car easily lulling him toward a state of slumber. When he was pulled back to consciousness, it was by Alex's voice.

"What do you plan to do now?" she asked.

"Uhm," he mumbled, running a hand through his hair while the question processed in his sleepy brain. "I guess I'll call Reiner...make sure he still wants me to work for him..."

"You don't have to worry about that, Eren," she said. "There's a reason he didn't fire you when you talked to him a few weeks ago."

"Because of something you said, I take it."

"I might've...vouched for you two a bit. Mostly my brother, I'll admit. But I don't think he would've fired you, anyway. He likes you too much."

Eren's brows shot up. "Really?"

She merely turned slightly to wink at him. "Plus, if he fired you after doing everything you have for his soon-to-be brother in law, I'd kick his ass."

Eren's eyes widened and he tried to imagine tiny little Alex (though still not quite tiny as Levi) trying to kick Reiner's ass. Reiner, who was a good 6'4" at least, making him near a foot taller than her, with all his brawn. He snorted at the image.

"Well, um, thank you," he said with a lighthearted smile.

"Don't mention it."

"So...I guess I'll call him tomorrow, then..." His sentence petered out into a wide yawn. Alex clicked her tongue.

"Take a few days and relax, Eren. You don't need to go back to work right away."

"But I've already slacked off so much...and my mom needs the money..."

"Call it paid vacation," she said. "You haven't been doing any damn slacking. Levi is getting the treatment he needs because of you."

"Yeah, but-"

"I don't know if you've noticed, Eren, but you yourself have lost some weight, and you're not such a big person to begin with. And look-" she gestured to him as he yawned again "-you're exhausted. Call Reiner, but then take a few days for yourself to recoup. You need it. Catch up with your family...your friends...your sleep. The shop is fine."

Eren blinked, dumbfounded. "A-are you sure he'll be okay with that? I mean..."

"Eren, seriously," she half muttered, and in those two words she sounded eerily like her younger brother. "It's fine. Trust me."

"O-okay..." Eren felt he couldn't really argue. Admittedly, a few days of recuperation sounded pretty damn good. He missed his mother and sister, too.

"Where do you live?" she asked when they got back into town.

"Uh...you can just take me back to the apartment. I can grab my car..."

Alex rolled her eyes. "Fat fucking chance," she muttered. "If you think I'm gonna let you drive home as tired as you are, you better think again. We'll get your car another day. Where do you live?" she repeated.

Again she sounded so much like Levi that he found himself blurting directions to his house. Once there, she eased the car to a smooth stop - honestly, everything about that car was smooth - and cast him a smile as he reached back and grabbed his bag.

"Get some rest, Eren. And thank you. Really."

The teen was too tired to do more than nod as he pushed his fatigued body out of the car and fished for his keys - among Levi's keys, wallet, phone, and jewelry - in his pocket.

"Thanks for the ride," he mumbled tiredly before bumping the door shut and shuffling his way up the walk. It was illuminated only by the street light in the corner of his yard, but that was enough for him to single his house key out, shove it in the lock, and twist the knob. As soon as he had the door open, he heard the gravelly sound of Alex's tires roll away.

Unsurprisingly, the interior of the house was silent and pitch dark. Solely from memory, he kicked his shoes off and stumbled his way to the couch under the window, hoping his mother and Mikasa hadn't decided to rearrange while he'd been gone. Fortunately, the couch was still in the same spot and he let his overtired body collapse into the cushions, falling asleep almost immediately, fully dressed with his pockets still full of Levi's belongings.

*~Levi~*

His nerves stood on end, alert and alive with anxiety as he followed Rose back into the facility. He expected the environment of a hospital - sterile white and the beeping of machinery. His mind whirred with different scenarios, but he forced himself to remain calm as possible. His legs shook incessantly beneath him as he was led into a much warmer, homier part of the building. The environment wasn't white, nor did it carry the smell of antiseptic. Rather, the walls were painted a soft, light, earthy green and the carpet was an even earthier beige. It smelled more of sweet pea and violet with the subtle hint of fresh printer ink. The lights, instead of long fluorescents were easy yellowish bulbs shielded by decorative shades.

These things did well to calm Levi's nerves a bit, but he still knew where he was and who surrounded him. His mind screamed it at him, still conjuring up even the unlikeliest of scenarios. He found himself holding his breath as Rose stopped in front of an unmarked door and pushed it open. She cast him that same smile - he was beginning to think she was a freaking robot or something - and gestured inside the small room.

"Go ahead and take a seat in here, darlin'. The doctor will be here shortly for your check up."

Levi made his way into the small room. There were only two chairs - none of the paper-covered beds he remembered from the doctor's office from his childhood - a scale, and a counter with an abundance of medical supplies he didn't recognize. He perched himself gingerly in one of the chairs, secretly grateful to be able to take the strain off of his weak legs.

He was alone maybe half a minute before a man entered the room. He looked like a normal doctor, wearing glasses and a tie complete with the stethoscope around his neck. He smiled warmly at Levi and offered his hand to shake, introducing himself with a name Levi didn't bother to remember. He flinched away from the hand and stared at it, saying nothing.

"I apologize for not having a chance to look at your paperwork, Mr. Ackerman, but-"

"Levi," interrupted the raven.

The doctor nodded. "Levi. My apologies. As I was saying, Rose informed me that your case is looking a little urgent so I got here as quickly as I could, so I hadn't the time to look over your paperwork. Before we begin, do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"

Levi gulped and nodded wearily. The doctor adjusted his glasses and poised his pen over his clipboard. His questions were simple and easy to answer - nothing like Levi expected, though he was already starting to get used to his mind blowing this entire situation out of proportion.

Once the questions were over, the check up began. The doctor explained everything he was going to do before he did it; he noticed the weary, timid manner of Levi's actions, giving him the sense that this kid had been through more trauma than someone ever needed to go through. It took Levi everything he had to sit there and let the doctor do his thing - listening to his breathing and heartbeat, checking his pulse, his temperature (which was a good 102°, something that had the doctor's unkempt brows furrowing in concern), and lastly his blood pressure. The feeling of foreign hands on him, although male, had his fight or flight reflex trying to trigger. He forced himself to remember why he was there, to remember the soothing, melodic sound of Eren's voice as he sang...

"Can I ask you to pull your left sleeve up to your shoulder?" asked the doctor, readying the blood pressure cuff as he spoke.

Chomping down on his cheek, he shakily pushed his sleeve up as far as it would go. He suddenly realized he still wore Eren's hoodie, and although he'd meant to give it back before the teenager left, he was silently grateful he'd forgotten.

"What's this?" asked the doctor, gesturing at the bandage wrapped around Levi's forearm.

The raven could feel perspiration collecting on his forehead and the palms of his hands. He swallowed again, trying to rid his throat of the growing lump.

"I...uh..."

The doctor nodded in understanding. "Yes, my apologies for asking. I understand."

It was clear to Levi that this wasn't the first time this guy had seen something like that. In fact, he was sure he had likely seen worse. Nonetheless, he was grateful he didn't have to explain himself.

"I can see your withdrawals have taken quite a toll on your body," he commented, jotting one last thing on his clipboard before removing the cuff from Levi's upper arm, careful not to make contact with his skin. "But I'm glad you're here now and we're going to do everything we can for you." Levi said nothing, so the doctor continued, "As for right now, I...think your case is too extreme for us to assign you a room in the residential section of our facility. Your blood pressure is worryingly low, you have abnormal heartbeat and breathing, your fever is a definite concern, and your weight...for a man of your age and height, you're at least 30 pounds underweight. It would be in your best interest to stay in the hospital section of the building where we can keep a closer eye on these things...particularly your vitals."

Levi's eyes widened just slightly at the mention of the word 'hospital'. This wasn't something the doctor missed.

"I understand your uneasiness," he went on in a soft tone as if he was trying to comfort the raven, but Levi was the opposite of comforted - part of him wanted to sock this guy in the face. "I can assure you there isn't anything to be worried about. We're truly only concerned about having your best interests at hand. I'm afraid your body is already struggling to survive on its own. I don't mean to scare you...but if you want to survive..."

Levi wiped his hand across his face. Behind his lids, he had the fleeting memory of Eren's face. "Yeah, okay," he mumbled.

The doctor smiled once more. He then spoke into a small black circle clipped to his collar and almost immediately, Rose appeared in the doorway. She was pushing a wheelchair which he eyed with even more uneasiness. Still, he found himself cooperating and let himself be pushed, not even trusting his legs himself.

It was a ways to the hospital end of the building. Again he expected sterile white, but the environment didn't really change as they started passing rooms that instead had larger windows in the doors and more hospital appearing equipment within. There seemed to be only a few occupied rooms with people he couldn't get a look at. They were asleep, too. He didn't blame them. He'd give anything to be able to sleep himself, though he preferred Eren's warm arms than the bed he was introduced to.

"This alright for you, darlin'?" asked Rose.

"Sure..." Could he really say no?

He did refuse her offer to help him into the bed. He had enough touching of strange hands for one day. Once he managed to settle himself in well enough while she told him where she put his things, et cetera. She then hooked him up to an IV.

"This should help you regain some of your energy," she explained, "And ease some of your pain."

He stared and stared at the little needle, dripping foreign liquid into his bloodstream. Part of him half expected to start feeling that rush, invading his mind and jumbling his thoughts, temporarily messing up his perception and numbing him from reality for a while. But nothing changed.

"I can only imagine how scared you must be," she was saying, making her seem like less of a robot. He averted his eyes from the needle to her face. Her smile was more genuine now. "You're gonna be fine, hon. I know because you have that green-eyed boy waiting for you back home."

"H-how did you...?"

"I know these things," she said with a wink. "Nah, most of our patients have the same motivation - loved ones waiting for them to get better, to see them healthy again. It was plain as day to me that he's your reason for being here. And that's completely okay. As long as you're loved. That's what matters."

Levi was speechless - partially from her words and partially from exhaustion. He could do no more than blink stupidly at her. She chuckled and told him to get some rest before shutting off the main light on the way out, leaving nothing more than a soft glow from a bulb in the corner and the sun's first rays filtering in through the curtains. Levi turned on his side and curled up, pressing his nose into Eren's hoodie and allowing himself that scent. His fatigued mind swam with thoughts, mostly consisting of that 'green-eyed boy', and finally, finally he fell into a much-needed slumber.

*~Eren~*

When Eren awoke, he found himself more comfortable than he'd slept in weeks. His lashes fluttered as he took in his surroundings, and it only took his mildly disoriented mind to snap back to reality from such a long slumber.

He was home.

He was in his room.

Levi was in rehab. He was going to get better.

Finally.

He sat up and stretched, realizing his room was virtually the same as it had been when he'd left to stay with Levi weeks ago. The only difference was his bag hanging from his desk chair and the jeans he'd been wearing the previous day strewn across the floor. He looked down to find he'd changed into a pair of pajama pants and the vague memory of his mother waking him up from the couch and coaxing him up the stairs resurfaced. Apparently he'd had half the mind to change into more suitable sleepwear...

In turning to his night table in search of his phone (which, of course, wasn't there) he found Carla had left him a glass of water as well. He took a couple swigs to relieve his mouth of the flavor of morning breath.

That was when his eyes caught sight of the time on his digital clock.

3:23.

PM.

As in the afternoon PM.

He nearly spit out his water.

"How long did I sleep?" he mumbled to himself in disbelief.

He wasn't exactly a morning person, but he never slept past noon. He'd always hated sleeping too long, feeling it ate up too much of his daylight.

Sighing and deciding there was nothing he could do about it, he replaced the glass of water and moved to his feet, where he stretched once more, and ventured across the hallway for a much needed bathroom break. While washing his hands, he caught sight of himself in the mirror and studied his own face. He hadn't really changed much, of course. His hair still stuck out in every possible direction as it always did when he got a good night's rest. The dark circles that had been making themselves known beneath his eyes in Levi's mirror had faded considerably...

And that was when it dawned on him. He'd only slept nine hours or so, not fifteen or more as he originally thought. It was the first actual good night's sleep he'd had in weeks. He knew he hadn't been sleeping sufficiently while at Levi's, but he didn't think it was that bad...

Of course, every missed hour of sleep was more than worth it. Soon Levi would be healthy again. He could live. And that was all Eren ever wanted.

With a light smile playing in his features, he left the bathroom with the intention of grabbing some clothes from his room to take a shower, but the smell of his mom's cooking and the sound of extra voices - lots of extra voices - compelled him to wander down the stairs. Once down, he found the living room to be full of his friends.

"What the...?" he mumbled.

"He's awake!" exclaimed Sasha, jumping from her place to run over to him and throw her arms around his neck. Six other heads turned in his direction.

"Um, hey..." he mumbled, awkwardly patting her back.

"Afternoon, sleepyhead," Marco piped up as Eren followed Sasha the rest of the way into the room as the rest of them greeted him.

"'Bout time you showed that babyface of yours around here," teased Ymir. She and Christa were cuddled up in the recliner.

"But...this is my house?"

She cocked a brow. "Your point?"

Eren merely blinked at her, slightly dumbfounded.

"So um, no offense guys, but what are you all doing here?"

"Oh, y'know, we could smell your mom's cooking from miles away and all decided to crash at once," joked Connie, earning a roll of sky blue eyes from Armin.

"He means we're your welcome home party," said the blond with a smile at his best friend.

"But how did you guys know...?"

"Your mom called me this morning and we decided to surprise you," Armin explained. "With her permission, of course."

"But why-"

"Would you stop asking questions and be grateful?" Sasha huffed, crossing her arms.

Eren couldn't help but smile. He hadn't realized how much he missed his friends until then, or how much he missed the smell of his own mother's cooking, the very thing that drew him toward the kitchen door. Past it, of course, was Carla leaning over a large pot of her signature chili. She seemed oblivious to his entry, so he soundlessly entered and started pulling out dishes and silverware. Carla didn't glance behind her as she was busy adding seasoning to the pot and having only heard the sound.

"Thank you, Armin," she said. "It's almost ready. I guess Eren will just have to heat some up once he wakes - Eren!!" She turned around mid sentence to see her son standing behind her with an amused grin plastered to his features.

"Some intuition you have," he joked, smile widening.

Two steps it took her to cross over to him and smack him on the shoulder. "Why didn't you tell me it was you?!" she half laughed before enveloping him in a hug. He chuckled and hugged her back tightly, soaking up her presence and the sweet smell of her lavender shampoo like he was trying to make up for her absence in the past few weeks.

"Welcome home," she said with a wide smile, pulling back and placing her hands on his shoulders.

"Thanks," he said.

She looked him over. "You've lost weight," she commented, smile faltering. "And you're pale..."

"I'm okay, Mom. Promise," he assured her, squeezing her hand for good measure.

She nodded but continued to look him over closely. Eventually her smile faded completely and she looked into his eyes. "How's Levi?" she half whispered.

"He's gonna be okay. He decided last night to go to rehab. He's gonna be fine."

Carla's smile returned, though only slightly. "How long will he be there?" she asked, turning back to the bubbling chili.

Eren blinked, feeling pretty stupid. He hadn't even thought of how long Levi would be there.

"Um, well, truthfully I don't know..." he mumbled.

"How was he when you dropped him off?"

"He was...bad." Eren swallowed hard. "I think he made the decision just in time. He'll probably have to be there for a couple of months...but I'm gonna visit him as often as I can."

Carla nodded. "I'm proud of you, son. I hope you know that. It was dangerous, what you did...but I'm proud of you for not giving up on something you believe in."

Eren scratched the back of his neck. "Well, thanks..."

Carla chuckled as a shrill voice sounded from the living room. "Eren! Get your big butt in here!" It was Sasha. The brunet rolled his eyes.

"Go ahead," Carla said. "Catch up with them. They've all been worried about you."

"Sure you don't need any help?"

It was Carla's turn to roll her eyes. "Just go."

"Okay..." As he was exiting the kitchen he turned, asking, "Where's Mikasa?"

"She and her friend Annie joined an after school club. She should be home in an hour or so."

Raising his brows, Eren ventured back into the living room as Sasha shouted his name again.

"Okay, okay, I'm here," he said, moving to take a seat between Armin and Connie. "And for the record, my butt isn't that big."

"I dunno, Eren," said Marco thoughtfully, rubbing his chin for good measure. "It's a pretty nice size..."

Eren stared at him. "Aren't you supposed to be checking out Jean's butt?" He nodded in the direction of the silver-haired horse-face not a hair's distance from the freckle-face. Immediately, Marco's cheeks flamed and he scooted away from Jean the slightest bit while said horse-face winked at him.

"Marco's right," Ymir piped up. "You got a nice pair of bongos back there."

"Ymir!" Christa half-shrieked.

"Ah, don't worry, baby, your ass is the only one for me."

"Okay!" Eren held up his hands. "Did you guys come here to talk about asses or what?"

"Not that butts aren't a good topic of conversation, but we wanna know where the hell you've been for the past several weeks, Jaeger," Jean articulated.

Eren blew out a long breath and pulled his legs up on the couch to cross them. "It's...complicated," he began, changing the mood in the room by those two simple words. "But uh, someone I really care about needed my help. Desperately. There was no way I could abandon him...even if it meant sacrificing some big things."

"What...kind of help?" asked Connie, a bit cautiously.

Eren chose his words carefully. "Help getting past addiction. Can we just leave it at that?" Eren's mind was flitting with images of Levi's pallid features in pain as he deteriorated toward oblivion. He swallowed hard.

"Is he okay?" asked Sasha, voice thick with concern.

"He will be," replied Eren with a semi-forced smile. He suddenly remembered the sensation of Levi's hot skin and shivered a bit, wondering if his fever had broken yet. He glanced at the clock over the fireplace. It'd been over twelve hours. He was surely being treated for it. Still, he worried. Wondered if his bandages had been changed and the doctors' reactions to what was underneath it...

"Eren?" It was Armin, gently nudging his thigh.

"What? Oh, sorry."

From the right, Christa innocently raised her hand. When eyes pointed to her, she said, "Can I ask a question?" Her eyes were solely for Eren. He nodded. "Is it that Levi person you told us about before?" Her voice was small and gentle, as she could sense Eren's distress.

"Yeah," he said and smiled a bit. The simple sound of the raven's name had his stomach fluttering.

"Do you still have feelings for him?" Marco was the one to ask.

"Heh, well, yeah. I do, actually." Eren was back to scratching his neck and avoiding gazes. He wasn't embarrassed, but a little sheepish.

"And?" Sasha pressed.

"And what?"

"Is it mutual?" she asked, rolling her eyes as if it were obvious what she was getting at.

"I mean, I think so..."

"You think?"

"Sasha, girl, calm down," said Ymir.

"The main thing on my mind hasn't been if he loves me back," Eren explained. "I've just been trying to help him get better. That was my priority."

He knew he was bending the truth a bit. He was 99% sure Levi felt about him the way he felt about Levi. However, he wanted to know for sure, wanted to figure things out with the raven himself before he went spewing things to his friends. He'd have to satisfy Sasha's gushing mind and the rest of their curiosity as best he could before he figured that out, something that wouldn't happen for a while yet. The priority was still Levi's health.

"You must love him a lot if you sacrificed so much for him," said Christa, a sparkle of wonder in her eyes.

"Well, I mean, I guess..."

"Damn, Jaeger. Didn't know you had it in you," said Jean.

"Thanks?"

Marco elbowed him. "What?! That was a compliment!" Freckles just shook his head.

Eren remembered when he first told his friends about Levi - how they teased him about blushing, how Connie made comments that made it seem like they were high schoolers rather than college students, how he was flustered and unable to hide his embarrassment. He remembered telling them when he couldn't see Levi anymore, when he thought the separation would be best for them. Strangely, that all felt like eons ago despite it only having been a few months. He'd been through so much lately that those days seemed like years ago. They were easier days, but much more bland as well. Then, their teasing was lighthearted and more on the joking end. This was much heavier. His feelings for Levi had grown so much that he would no longer be so embarrassed to be teased like that. In fact, he wouldn't feel shameful in any way, shape, or form to admit that he was in love. Sure, they might judge him for loving a junkie, but he didn't much mind it. He loved Levi, and if they couldn't accept that, they weren't his true friends.

They, too, could feel the seriousness of the situation simply from talking about it. They knew almost nothing, but they weren't so oblivious to Eren's changed demeanor that they would continue with their childish teasing. Not in a situation like this. Not until things lightened up.

"So," said Eren. "What about you guys? What have you been doing?"

"School," said Armin.

"Work," sighed Jean.

"Work and school," shrugged Marco.

Eren blinked at them. "That's all I get?"

The next couple of hours were spent catching up. The lives of his friends hadn't changed too drastically in Eren's absence, and he wasn't surprised to find out that Jean and Marco were finally in the early stages of dating. Christa and Ymir were clearly stronger than ever, but of course it was left to Jean to blurt that Christa was still a virgin, causing a wild bush to break out over her delicate features and to explain, flustered, that she wasn't ready and that Ymir respected it. Sasha and Connie had gotten into a huge fight a few nights ago, which explained to Eren why they were on polar opposite sides of the living room from the other. He knew they'd make up sooner or later. They all did. They cared too much for each other to stay mad for too long. Armin and Eren made a bet in the kitchen while they helped Carla serve the chili on who would apologize first. Eren bet on Connie while Armin bet on Sasha.

"Loser pays winner twenty bucks," Eren said with a confident grin.

"You're on," challenged Armin. They shook on it, earning a snicker from Carla.

Aside from their love lives, Marco gushed about how proud he was of his little brother for graduating elementary school with his class. His brother had pretty severe dyslexia, but he managed to make it, though of course not without tons of help and support from his siblings. Jean had gotten a new job as a mechanic assistant that he was apparently loving every second of. Sasha gushed over her new baby cousin while Christa and Ymir reported they'd volunteered at a local animal shelter part time.

"She volunteered," said Ymir. "I was dragged against my will." This earned her a half-hearted smack to the arm from her girlfriend. She only laughed and kissed Christa's rosy cheek.

Connie had finally found his major after aimlessly attending college for a semester. Turned out he was super into astronomy and aspired to work for NASA.

Armin remained the same - straight As as always and even deeper into philosophy than he was before, if that was even possible.

Mikasa showed up somewhere in the middle of the conversation while Eren and Armin were in the kitchen helping Carla clean up. The second she laid eyes on him, her eyes widened the tiniest bit and she all but rushed over to him to throw her arms around his torso. She'd quickly peeled herself off of him, though, with a sheepish blush coloring her face as she mumbled a small 'I missed you' without meeting his - or anyone's - eyes. Despite her quickly built façade, it admittedly made Eren smile to know she missed him.

~*~

"Heyy, Eren! Haven't heard from you in a while!"

Even over the phone, Reiner was too loud for Eren's poor sensitive ears. He had to hold the phone away from his ear when the man picked up.

"Hey, Reiner. Yeah, sorry about that."

"Don't sweat it. Anyway, Alex told me you'd be calling."

Eren forced a chuckle. "She probably told you everything, huh?"

"Yep."

"Well, that saves me the explanation. I just wanted to call and make sure you still wanted me to come back..."

"I don't go back on my word, Eren. Of course I do. Levi, too, when he's ready. Shop's not the same without you two."

The tiniest blush pricked at Eren's cheeks. "I see. Well, thank you. I can be there tomorrow if-"

"Nope. You take a few days off and rest up a bit. You can start back up on Monday."

Eren snorted. "Alex got to you about that too, huh?"

Reiner laughed, too. "Yeah. And it'd be better for both of us just to listen to her."

"I'll take your word for it," Eren replied.

"Good. So, Monday, then?"

"Monday," he agreed.

"Cool. See you then, Eren. Have a good one."

"You, too."

---

This fic is 99.9% Ereri and .1% make-Jean-not-an-asshole xD But ah, thank you all for reading, & let me know what you think! ;*