New chapter to celebrate 3K views (holy shit you guys?!?!). And, quick question, does anybody read the little quotes/tweets I put up ^^^ there? Bc they're usually kinda relevant to what happens in the chapter. xP Just wondering~

This is one of my favorite chapters. Enjoy~

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The car ride was virtually silent, and long. Alex knew exactly where she was going. Having anticipated this, she'd done her research and found a rehabilitation center that would fully accept her insurance.

To Levi, the ride wasn't long enough, despite it being a good forty miles from his apartment. He clutched Eren's hand the entire way, staring blankly out the window at the passing night. He wasn't really seeing it, though. His mind was more preoccupied and clouded with haunting thoughts of where they were heading, of what waited for him there. His mind flitted back and forth between made up scenarios of people in white coats coming at him with simply their gloved hands and memories of his aunt...touching him, violating him. He could almost still feel her cold, rough fingers on his skin - his ribs, his hips, his thighs, his mouth, even his throat, and other, more unspeakable places.

He could imagine these strangers shoving strange pills down his throat or sticking needles in various places to inject him with something maybe even worse than his monster. He imagined himself in the same position he was in now - throwing up, shaking, sweating and in pain - in a sterile, white, enclosed room with no way out, and no warm, soft, tan hands to comfort him or chase away the darkness in his mind. He could see himself going absolutely insane, alone and dying, forgotten about even by people who were supposed to be helping him. His brain even toyed with the idea of him in a straightjacket.

He shivered at the thought. Eren rubbed his shoulder.

"Cold?" he whispered.

"Hardly," the raven muttered back, involuntarily moving himself closer to the teen.

Alex's eyes flickered up to see them in the rearview mirror, illuminated only by the neon clock on the dashboard.

"Then what are you thinking?"

Levi only shook his head. There was no way he was going to articulate any of his thoughts while his sister was around to hear it. On top of nerves and withdrawal symptoms, his uneasy feeling about her showed no signs of subsiding or even growing weaker.

Not too much longer later, Alex was pulling up to a brick building, smack dab in the middle of a small town to the north. She cut the engine and swiveled in her seat to look directly at Levi.

"Are you ready?" she asked softly.

Levi didn't meet her gaze. Instead, he peered out the windshield at the sign that marked the rehab center as what it was, gnawing absently on his lip. No, he wasn't ready. He had half the mind to call the whole thing off, to tell her to turn around and take him home where he could pass away in familiar surroundings, in mild comfort.

"Take a deep breath, Levi," Eren was saying. "Everything's gonna be fine."

"Easy for you to say," mumbled the raven, shifting his focus on Eren's bright orbs. That simple gaze gave him a sense of calm, though, as it always did, and he remembered seeing those eyes in pain more times than not and found himself saying, "Let's just go..."

Eren was the first to hop out of the car and leaned down to help Levi from it as Alex slid out. The closing of the doors echoed against the surrounding buildings and had the males flinching. No brainer that a town was mostly asleep at almost 3 AM, and nearly dead silent.

Inside the building they headed for was a dark complected woman. Her smooth skin reminded Eren of dark chocolate and her hair sat upon her head in a messy, curly bun. Typically, she wore a nurse's uniform. The most striking thing about her was her eyes - bright blue against her dark skin. She flashed a pleasant smile at the three of them, her teeth dazzling as well.

"You must be Alex," she said in a calm alto.

"Hello," replied Alex in her equally as calm soprano.

The woman's gaze took in the two males behind her, particularly the smaller of the two, and he immediately stiffened under her gaze as Alex stepped to the side.

"And you must be Levi," she said, flashing him a friendly grin.

He said nothing, tried to focus on keeping his cool and the warmth of Eren's hand in his.

"Sorry to bother you at such an ungodly hour," Alex said, her grin turning a bit regretful and apologetic.

"No worries, darling. These things happen at this hour all the time. It's better this time of night than never."

They learned that the lady's name was Rose, and that she only let anyone call her by that name, no fancy titles or abbreviations. She continually smiled at the three of them, particularly Levi. She wasn't surprised or remotely repulsed or appalled by his appearance; her seemingly unnatural eyes showed nothing but concern for him. She put things together, typing information into a computer and stacking together a packet of papers on a clipboard, already equipped with a pen, which she pushed toward the raven, asking a little too politely for him to fill it out and to see his ID. He fumbled for his wallet in the pocket of Eren's hoodie and located the only valid form of identification he had - his tattoo license. Once she scanned it and handed it back, she told him she understood, that he wasn't alone, and that she was proud of him for making the decision to get better. As soon as she disappeared down a long hallway to the left of the desk, announcing that she had to go make preparations for his check-up, he mumbled something intelligible under his breath. Eren suspected he had an idea of what it was.

The teen also made it a point to keep in physical contact with the raven at all times. He felt it was one of the only things that kept him calm among the endless white and the scent that reminded Eren of a doctor's office - not one he himself particularly cared for. That said, he couldn't possibly imagine how Levi was feeling as they took seats in the small 'waiting' area near the door so he could fill out the paperwork.

"I'm...gonna go find a bathroom," Alex mumbled, pivoting around and wandering down an empty hallway. She was almost desperate to get out of the heavy awkwardness that hung in the air and, more so, her instincts told her that her brother needed time alone with Eren.

Almost as soon as she was out of sight, the pacing began. Levi went back and forth from the wall to the door, scratching at himself, running his fingers repeatedly through his stringy black mohawk, muttering things under his breath, eyes darting around nervously. Eren could only watch with the clipboard in his lap, feeling helpless. He wanted to tell Levi it was okay, he was safe, he would feel better soon, et cetera, but he felt words would be useless. Watching with concerned eyes, he wracked his brain for some way to calm Levi down.

The raven's muttering was unintelligible aside from a few words. He picked up "Eren", "Alex", "hopeless", "mistake", "crazy", "death", "monster", and, strangely, "love". It pained the brunet to see him this way.

"Levi," he murmured, holding his hand out like an offering.

Levi's pacing faltered if only for a second and he glanced at the hand. His eyebrows were pulled tightly together and the internal battle taking place within him showed right in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Eren," he murmured. "I'm...I'm trying..."

Eren waited, thinking he wanted to say more, but he shook his head just slightly and continued his pacing on shaky legs.

"I know you are," the teen said softly.

Levi shook his head again and trapped his thumbnail between his teeth, his other arm wrapped securely around his torso in a protective stance. His eyes went from shifting in every direction to being fixed on the floor. Truthfully, pacing was making him dizzy, but that was nothing compared to the hurricane of emotions raging inside him - fear being the most prominent.

And suddenly Eren couldn't take it anymore. He knew his next actions would be risky - but hadn't the past several weeks been risky in different ways, anyway? He rose to his feet and took a step forward, intercepting Levi's path. In one fluid movement, he removed Levi's hand from his mouth and wrapped his own around it, placing the other to Levi's jaw. Surprise was evident in Levi's features; Eren didn't give himself time to hesitate before he dipped his head and ever so softly pressed his smooth lips to Levi's slightly parted chapped ones. He expected the raven to tense, gasp, and jerk away, but miraculously it had the desired affect - his body seemed to relax and his eyes even slid shut.

Heart fluttering, Eren lifted his head just slightly and opened his mouth to apologize when Levi tilted his chin up just enough for their lips to meet once more. His empty hand came up to grip the front of Eren's shirt. When they came together mutually a third time - both of their nerves alive with electricity, their hearts pounding and stomachs fluttering - a silent tear escaped down Levi's left cheek. Eren drew back just enough to see his face clearly and caught the tear with the pad of his thumb. Levi's long, dark lashes fluttered open and he swallowed hard. Part of him felt he should let go of Eren, step back, apologize...but a stronger part kept him there, clinging to this teenager like a lifeline.

No longer did the brunet feel the need to apologize. Levi's head descended to rest in the crook of Eren's neck, concealing his face. The teen pressed his cheek to the side of his still burning head. He rubbed small circles between Levi's shoulder blades, allowing him to relax further, providing the comfort he so desperately needed.

"Eren?" Levi murmured after a minute of silence.

"Hmm?"

"Th-thank you."

Eren chuckled breathily. "It was the only way I could think to calm you down."

"No...I don't just mean for that. I mean for everything."

Levi resented the way his voice wavered. He wanted his gratitude expressed strongly, even if it was quiet. Being so shaky, it didn't feel nearly sincere enough despite him meaning it from the very depths of his soul. If there was anyone in the world he owed anything to, it was Eren Jaeger. He owed this kid his life...owed him his breath and his heartbeat...owed him absolutely everything he had. Eren was his hope. His faith. His love. His freedom. There wasn't a single thing he had or could obtain that would come close to repaying his debt - not even his very life.

From the moment their lips touched he was absolutely sure he was in love with this stubborn kid. Somehow this emotion, so unknown to him, had pulled its way forward from the hopeless tangle of other dark, tainted things in his soul and took hold, clinging fast to lustrous blue-green orbs, a smooth voice, purity and gentleness.

"There's no need to thank me," Eren murmured. "I just wanna see you get better."

"I know," Levi mumbled in response. "I just...wanted to tell you that...in case I don't make it out of here."

Eren immediately tensed. His hand halted on Levi's back. "Don't say that. You will. You're stronger than this. You will," he repeated.

"I'll try."

The following few minutes were silent. Levi soaked up as much of Eren as he could before who knew how long. In truth he didn't know how well he'd hold up without this calming, reassuring presence despite what advanced medical equipment and methods they had that could supposedly fix him. Eren seemed like the only true antidote to this disease. Mentally, anyway. He didn't know if they would let Eren visit him in this little piece of hell on earth, so he had to immerse himself as much and for as long as possible, had to remember this feeling as best he could, just in case.

That was when Alex reappeared around the corner. She had only a second to take in the scene in the lobby before Levi's legs gave out and he started to crumple toward the floor. A tiny whimper only audible to Eren's ears sounded from his throat as the teen's capable arms seized his waist, holding him up before he collapsed completely. Chest tightening in concern, Eren eased Levi's limp body into the chair he recently inhabited, keeping a steady hand on his shoulder just in case.

"Thanks," he mumbled.

Alex made herself known, gently padding across the floor and taking a seat a chair away from her brother, watching him cautiously. Both of the males' heads turned in her direction. She couldn't help but notice how close Eren remained to Levi, how he kept hold of his shoulder or how easily Levi allowed it. Forever Levi had been weary of physical contact with others, and after what he was put through by their aunt - something she still didn't know many details to - it only served to get worse. If almost anyone at all had tried to reach out to him or even offer him something as simple as a high five, he'd either flinch away or reject the offer; or in extreme cases - on the rare occasion one would offer to embrace him or go for his waist, his back, or any part of his thighs - he might back or run away, perhaps yell for them to get away from him.

But Eren...already she knew he was the exception to a lot of things in her little brother's life. She'd seen Levi willingly cuddled up to this teenager, seen him practically embrace him. And now there he stood, hand easily on Levi's shoulder. Not only did the raven not protest, but with Eren in physical contact, he seemed more at ease than she'd seen him in...dare she say, years?

"What?" Levi practically spat at her, bringing her to the realization that she'd been staring at them for a good half a minute without saying a thing.

"Nothing," she murmured, cracking a light smile. "You've just changed a lot...that's all."

"Tch..."

Eren tossed her a smile before taking the seat between them, picking up the clipboard in the process and holding it toward the raven, who ran his hand through his hair for the umpteenth time that evening. With his trembling fingers, he took the clipboard and fumbled to slide the pen from its slot in the top. As he started to print his name on the first line in a handwriting that was considerably messier than his normal almost elegant script, his fingers were shaky, timid, personifying his demeanor.

"Here," offered Eren softly, holding his hands out for the items, which Levi promptly shoved them into before placing his curling fingers on his stomach.

Rose came back then, and called Alex up to the desk to give her paperwork of her own, something having to do with the insurance. She stayed at the desk to fill it out, giving Levi an opportunity.

"Eren," he whispered.

"Hmm?" Eren mumbled, still busy filling out the address field.

Levi stretched a hand out and placed it over the teen's, stopping the choppy writing movement of his hand. He looked up in puzzlement.

"C-can you do me a favor?" Levi asked, eyes earnest.

"What is it?"

The raven swallowed visibly and forced himself to keep his eyes locked on Eren's.

"When you get a chance...sometime before I get out of here..." He reached onto the pocket and retrieved his keys. "...go back to the apartment..." He singled out the one painted key. "...and get rid of everything under the sink in the bathroom."

A flicker of bewilderment went across the teen's expression before he suddenly understood and the situation at hand hit him.

Levi was serious about this. Serious about getting better. Serious about wanting to live. This wasn't for shits and giggles. He was fighting against everything he knew, body and mind alike, to grow beyond his addiction. This way he would have no kind of substance to turn and escape within once he got back and he had a bad day. He was serious about Eren.

"It's...it's something I can only trust you with," Levi went on, "and if you can't...I'm not sure this can ever work..."

The brunet, at first, wasn't entirely sure what he meant by that. Nonetheless, he took it seriously and wrapped his hand around the swaying set of keys.

"Consider it done," he said.

"Thank you. And I'm sorry..."

Eren's cool hand came up to Levi's cheek. "Would you stop apologizing?"

"I'll work on it." He took Eren's hand from his face and held it in his lap while he finished giving him all the information needed on the paperwork.

They finished about the same time as Alex and handed it back to Rose. She cast them another all-too friendly smile before filing it away somewhere behind the desk. She then informed Levi his things would have to go through a security check.

"You'd be surprised some of the things people smuggle away to harm themselves or others with. I think I've seen about a million different ways to dismantle something to turn it into a harmful object. You'll also need to leave things like keys and your cell phone and wallet behind, darling," she told Levi. "And lovely as those are, you'll need to remove all of your piercings, even the ones in private areas if you have any."

Levi stared at her like she'd asked him to strip naked and stand on a stage in front of fifty thousand people. She nodded regretfully at him and he sighed. Shakily, he began to remove his piercings, starting with his ears. Six different studs came out alongside a long, black bar that had gone through his cartilage. He dropped them into Eren's palm and worked on his eyebrow, twisting the spike of which, as he pulled the bar out, ended up slipping from his fingers. Alex located it and handed it to Eren. Next were the two in the center of his lip. Then he had to reach into his shirt and struggle to remove the ones in his collarbones, which took a good five minutes with the way he shook. Last was his tongue, which he sighed about once the bar had slid out.

"This feels fucking weird," he muttered.

Eren couldn't help but think it was strange how different he looked without the metal in his face. The only word he could come up with to describe it was "naked". He looked naked.

He curled Eren's fingers around the jewelry. "Don't lose these," he practically ordered. "Or I'll shave your head."

Eren's hand flew to his hair and his eyes widened in mock fear.

"Looks like you're good to go," Rose announced. The eye-widening fear of Levi's was totally real. His anxiety level shot through the roof. As he turned to face the woman, he felt almost like a little kid in a doctor's office having to get a shot. Evidently, he wasn't afraid of needles, but the fear felt almost the same.

"I'll give you an extra minute," said Rose with that same smile before disappearing down the hallway again.

"I'm a fucking coward," Levi muttered. His face fell into his hands.

"It's okay," Eren murmured, gently rubbing Levi's back once more. It seemed like such a stupid thing to say and he wished he was better with words, wished he was better at reassurances. Better yet, wished he could somehow suck the fear from Levi altogether.

"Look..." Alex spoke up, coming around Eren with her hands hidden away in the pocket of her hoodie. Levi's own hands dropped and he turned to face his sister, fighting dizziness. "I'll...leave you guys alone for a minute, too...but first, Levi, I want you to know I'm sorry for abandoning you and being so blind to the fact that you needed someone. If I had known..." She shook her head, seemingly at a loss for words, an unusual thing for her. "I don't hate you, baby bro, and I'll understand if you can't forgive me. So...yeah..." With that, she popped her lips in obvious discomfort and turned on her heel to stride out of the building before either of the males in the room could say a word.

Levi stared blankly after her. His mind whirled, trying to comprehend her words. Alex was never one to say mushy, sentimental things, and perhaps this wasn't so sentimental, but it still held more emotion than he was used to.

"I told you she doesn't hate you," Eren murmured.

"She should," said Levi, meeting Eren's gaze. "As should you."

The teen shook his head. "No matter how you try and justify it, that's never going to happen."

Levi rubbed his face, mumbling, "You're such a brat..."

And suddenly the raven found himself enveloped in the brunet's warm, comforting embrace. His gasp was slight, but he couldn't help but press his face into Eren's warmth and stretch his arms out, despite their achy protests, to return the embrace. Compared to his small stature, Eren felt like a mountain. Nonetheless, he'd never felt safer, more secure in his life. Not even the monster assured his mind of safety as much as the castle of Eren's arms.

Levi felt very small and timid to Eren. He shook almost violently and Eren could practically feel the fear radiating off of him. He could think of no words to reassure him, knew that words alone wouldn't be enough to ease his fear enough to get him through this. So he held him, attempting to send reassurances through touch alone.

"Levi, will you do something for me?"

"What?"

"When one of these doctors asks if you're in pain or if you need something...don't lie. Don't tell them you're fine when you're not. Okay?"

Levi hesitated for a minute before nodding once. He wasn't good at the whole promising thing, but if it was for Eren, he'd do his best.

Eren pressed a gentle kiss to Levi's feverish forehead and whispered, "I'll be waiting for you."

The artist drew himself back to reach up and pull Eren down by his chin before stretching up just enough to place his own gentle kiss on Eren's lips, sharing an abundance of different emotions through the simple contact, emotions that Eren felt to his very core.

Rose appeared as if on cue and, as he followed her away, Levi could still feel Eren's lingering warmth, the phantom pressure of his hand wrapped around his own, and the tingle of his lips on both his forehead and mouth like a thousand silent promises.