"You ready?" stage-whispered the brunet to the raven. The two stood at the end of the sidewalk to the house of Eren's legal address, hand in hand. It had been nearly two months since Levi's overdose and since Eren made his proposal, though unofficially. Inside the house, they knew Carla awaited, oblivious as to what was about to happen.

Levi simply dipped his head in response. As they sauntered toward the front door, he couldn't help but think, ready or not, here it goes. There was really no backing out at that point...not that he would.

Carla opened the door just as Eren raised his hand to knock, greeting them with her motherly smile and warm honey eyes.

"You don't have to knock at your own house, silly," she chastised jokingly, reaching up to ruffle her son's already tousled hair. "Come on in."

The two took the invitation graciously, making sure to remove their shoes and shut the door in their wake before moving too far into the home. Despite having grown up in that house, Eren couldn't help but feel a bit nostalgic being inside of it. He spent little time there anymore, and after today, things would change on an even more drastic level.

"I've prepared lunch," Carla said, "so I hope you're hungry."

"Thanks," Eren said, already making the decision to eat before Levi could protest. They sat down to home cooked garlic and butter pasta, one of Eren's favorites, and settled in to normal, idle chatter as they ate. Despite Eren's ever growing nervousness, Carla remained oblivious to anything out of the ordinary...

...until she was invited into the living room by Levi himself, stating they had a few important things concerning her.

"You first," he murmured to Eren. They'd taken their places on the couch while Carla resided in the recliner, gazing expectantly at them.

Feeling both giddy and as if he were about to vomit, Eren lowered himself to the floor and moved over in front of his mom. She raised her eyebrows at him, smiling lightly.

"I hope you don't kill me for this," he joked halfheartedly before scooting around on his butt and reaching back to pull his shirt over his head. The woman watched in curiosity until she saw it - the colorful, evidently new tattoo between her son's shoulder blades.

The design was a complete circle. On the left, the sun, its rays dancing away from it toward his left shoulder. On the right, a crescent moon, gently caressing the right half of the sun. Their colors, vibrant and almost life like - oranges, yellows, and subtle reds for the sun; various shades of blue for the moon - merged together almost right down the center with the tips of the moon sharing the hues of the sun and the part of the sun cradled by the moon sharing the colors of the celestial body. It was fairly simple yet very unique, and very striking.

Carla's amber eyes closely studied the exquisite artwork forever embedded on Eren's skin. It was a long while before she said anything.

"Why on earth would I want to kill you for adding something so beautiful to your body?" she inquired, reaching out to squeeze the man's shoulders lovingly.

"You like it?" Eren asked hopefully, peeking over his shoulder at her.

"Of course I do. Besides, even if I didn't, you're a man who can make his own choices. You don't need approval from anyone, even your old mom."

"Hmph, you're far from old, Mom." The brunet stood and squeezed his mother around the shoulders. Smiling proudly, she squeezed back before he crossed the room, simultaneously pulling his shirt back over his head, and took his place next to his shorter companion once more, hand automatically sliding into Levi's to squeeze.

"Your turn," he whispered, grinning a bit despite his nervousness seemingly for the raven.

Levi visibly drew in a deep breath in preparation as he met Carla's eyes. The woman waited patiently, her hands folded neatly in her lap as she sensed the mild uneasiness radiating from the man, though she was still unaware of what he was about to ask her.

Surprising himself a bit, his voice rang steadily as he began speaking.

"There's something important I have to ask you," he said, addressing the woman, "if you'll allow me."

"Of course. Go right ahead."

With one last deep breath, he began.

"I'm not normally a person of tradition, but when your life is cut considerably short by bad decisions and foolish mistakes, it can snap things into perspective." He allowed a short pause to swallow. "Eren...he's saved me in more ways than I can keep track of anymore and I love him dearly. Though I know I don't deserve him, somehow he loves me too, and he's decided to put up with whatever crap will inevitably come our way in the future. There's absolutely no way I can repay the enormous debt I owe him, but that doesn't mean I won't try." Another pause. "I've...never been good at this whole formality thing, so apologies in advance for this piss-poor attempt." Levi willfully kept his eyes on Carla's and, focusing on the warmth of Eren's hand in his and how much he loved the bright eyed one at his side, let the words roll right off of his tongue.

"Carla, if you will, grant me the incredible blessing of marrying your son."

The woman's eyes were glossy with moisture before he'd even finished the question; despite this, she smiled, looking back and forth between her son and the one he loved with a great kind of bittersweet happiness in her heart. While she had expected this sometime in the future, she didn't foresee it coming so soon, nor did she anticipate being asked.

"Mom, are you okay?" Eren asked, leaning forward a bit.

"Yes," she breathed, leaning forward to snatch a tissue from the coffee table to catch her tears with. "I'm fine. I'm happy."

Eren managed to relax a bit, his own smile starting to reflect hers minus the tears. They waited a few moments for her to recollect herself; once she was finished, she met the raven's eyes again, a bit more seriously this time.

"Levi, I know you love my son. That much you don't have to tell me...nor do you have to tell me you've both been through so much in your lives. And I know he loves you, too. The last thing I want to do is sit here and give you a lecture about the commitment of marriage, especially because I'm sure you already understand that. There's nothing I can say to you, though as much as I'd like to be able to, that will prepare you for this journey. You'll have to learn by experience. I just want you to remember to love and trust each other, because again, as I'm sure you know, it isn't always going to be sunshine and rainbows." This cracked smiles from both the men on the couch. "That said, I'm going to trust your judgement that you're ready for this commitment." This was directed more toward Eren. He gave her a small nod; she could see the stubborn set of his jaw and the solid determination in his eyes, so much like his father's. With that, she relaxed again, turning her attention back toward Levi. "You have my blessing."

Confetti didn't fly and cheers didn't erupt, but many hugs were shared, accompanied by more tears, mostly from Carla. Eren hugged her tightly for a long while, knowing he'd feel his own kind of bittersweet happiness once he let go. She, too, still held it inside of her - so immensely happy her son had found someone to love, who loved him, to make him happy; yet sad in ways because he clearly wasn't her little boy anymore...wasn't the same person she'd watched grow up and raised. At the same time, he wasn't the same person she'd watched fall into depression for so long. He was a man, and he'd found happiness.

They departed not long after 'thank you's and 'I love you's and Carla promising to help with anything they needed.

As they strolled down the front sidewalk toward Eren's car, Levi couldn't help think about how much had changed in less than a year. Not ten months ago, he'd been alone and struggling, unspokenly waiting for the day of his demise but convincing himself he was too weak to bring it upon himself. And then this stubborn, adorable, bright-eyed brat walked in and totally and completely changed everything, from the condition of his life to his very perception on the world.

It was still a daily struggle. Very rarely did a day go by where he didn't think of shooting up, or have some kind of reminder of his hellish past - be it his aunt, his little sister, any of the people he lost, or the shitty things in between. Pain was inevitable. Truth was inevitable, and with the truth would come pain more times than desired. Still, it was bearable. Levi had fought so hard and won the better, bigger parts of his battle. Of course, he was still fighting, but there was almost no doubt in his mind that he would survive, that he would win against his demons nine times out of ten.

And it was because of Eren. When everything came right down to it in the end, Levi had to make a decision - between the monster that had infected his life for a hellish, long eight years or this lovable, beautiful, dorky nerd he adored so much. The demons might've been strong and nearly overpowering at times, but Levi had already made his decision.

It was Eren.

It would always be Eren.

---

Oh god, was that a cliche anime-like ending or what? But if I didn't like it, I wouldn't have kept it that way.

Yes, this is the end of the story. That probably makes me sadder than it does you; I've had so much fun with this fic and interacting with you guys and all that jazz. But bonus chapters are still a thing, most definitely, although they likely won't be posted as consistently as this was. Basically, I'll post them when they're finished, and I'll probably be posting them in a completely different work/book than this, probably with the title of 'Crack of Sunlight Bonus Chapters' or something along those lines, unless anyone can think of a better, more clever title xD

I'm always open to requests and whatnot, and I'll still be working on my other fics c:

Lastly, thank you guys for all the love on this - I've received so many wonderful comments and even some messages about this fic and ugh, I've said this before but I never imagined it'd get as popular as it is now. 💜

Thanks so much, lovelies~💘