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Eren cracks his eyes open and stares up at his ceiling, watching the fan above his bed spin about lazily. He rolls over and buries his head into the pillows, mind groggy. His room is quiet, still feeling, save for the light chatter coming from down stairs. The brunette listens to his mother laugh, light hearted and sweet. He smiles at the sound, tries to hear what his father is going to say.
Except it isn’t his dad whose talking now.
Eren pulls his blanket up and over his head, fumbles for his phone on his bedside table. He pulls it under the blankets and checks the time. It’s just after five PM and he’s only been asleep for about an hour or so. He makes a small displeased noise and closes the screen on his phone, drops it somewhere in his blankets. There’s more chatter downstairs, his father’s voice mixing in this time, followed by the sound of the front door opening and then shutting.
There’s a creaking sound, one that tells Eren that someone is coming up stairs and he makes an irritated noise, assumes it’s his mother, that his father had just gone out. He doesn’t want to have to get up just yet. Today was the last day of school before his winter break, he has two weeks off to do whatever she wants. With a grumble he curls up into a ball on his bed, determined to ignore the intrusion.
There’s a knock on his door as expected, one that he ignores.
A second later it opens and Eren stills, keeps his eyes shut. There isn’t any more movement, not even the sound of his door shutting and he starts to drift off, to fall back asleep. There’s a faint click in the background, and his body relaxes some under the blankets.
The bed dips as someone sits on the edge, the blanket over his head is lifted and tugged down, laid over his shoulders. Eren does his best to not to startle, to remain still and to keep his expression neutral. A finger trails down the side of his face, a gentle press to his cheek, followed by, “I know you’re up.”
That voice…
Green eyes pop open, turn to look at the intruder.
It’s his neighbor, Levi.
He makes a strangled noise, tries to tug his blankets up and over his head. The young man just sits there, eyes impassive and a faint smirk on his lips. He pokes at the teen’s cheek again. “You can sleep some more if you want. Just come get me when you want dinner.”
Eren all but groans at the words, realizing that his mother has yet again asked Levi to watch over him. “I don’t need a baby sitter.” He grumbles, pouts really.
Levi drags his finger around the outside of the others eye. He pulls his hand back and uses his arm to support his weight as he leans over the brunette. “They’ll be back in a few hours, Dr. Grisha is going to a holiday party at his friends office, you know this.”
“I know.” Eren snaps, green eyes glaring up at Levi. He’s too irritated to realize the position he’s in, to realize that his dark haired neighbor is leaning over him in his bed. “All the more reason that I’d be just fine by myself.” He sounds indignant, very much like the bratty little fifteen year old that he is. “Mum never said anything about you watching me either.” He huffs.
Levi tilts his head to the side, leans back. “Then I won’t offer next time.” He stands and leaves the bedroom, pulling the door shut behind himself. Eren is left in the quiet of his room, confused. It takes him a moment before he flushes, realizes what’s just happened.
Carla didn’t ask Levi to watch Eren, Levi had offered to look after him, to spend the evening with him…
The teen makes a frustrated sound and rolls over on his bed. He yanks his blankets back up and over his head, grumbling.
Eren spends the majority of the evening in his room, refuses to go down stairs and face Levi, knows that he should in fact apologize. He goes so far as to ignore his stomach growling at the lack of food, keeps his light off in his room and plants himself in front of his computer.
It’s around 1am when his parents return, when their car pulls up in the driveway. Eren creeps out of his bedroom and sits out of view on the second floor landing, listens to them talk.
“How was he tonight?” It’s his father who’s talking, removing his outer coat and scarf from around his neck.
“Well behaved.” Levi’s reply is low in tone, doesn’t carry up the stairs very well. Eren bites his lip and pulls his legs up to his chest. He feels worse now, knowing that Levi won’t tell his parents how much of brat he was.
“Is he asleep already?” Carla asks, voice sweet and easy to hear. “I didn’t see his bedroom light on when we pulled up.”
“Yeah, he wasn’t feeling well so he didn’t have any dinner.”
Grisha makes a sound and Eren can picture his mother frowning, coat draped over her arms.
“I hope he doesn’t get sick… Christmas is this Wednesday and we have a party for our friends…” Carla says in a light tone, the frown and worry clear in her voice.
“Speaking of which, would you like to attend?” Grisha asks and Eren can feel his face color at the very idea of seeing Levi for Christmas.
“What time? I’m supposed to see my friends for a little bit since it’s my birthday as well.”
“Really?” Carla sounds surprised and Eren has to cover his mouth to keep from making a sound. Levi’s birthday? His birthday?! The brunette holds his breath and pinches his nose shut to still his breathing, to try and calm himself just a bit.
“How old are you turning?” Carla’s tone tells Eren that she’s smiling, wide and bright, is thinking of what to get their neighbor.
“Twenty one…”
“That really is just a fun age.” Grisha gives a small laugh and there’s a light sound that tells Eren he’s given Levi a pat on the back. “If you can manage it we’d love for you to come and stop by, the party isn’t until five pm and will last probably till nine or ten.”
“I’ll try, thank you for the invite.”
Eren crawls back to his room and shuts his door quietly. He turns the screen to his computer off and dives into bed, pulls his pillow over his head and half shouts into it. He feels terrible for being so mean to Levi earlier, but on the other hand he might actually see the other on Christmas, his birthday no less! He rolls around on his bed, limbs tangling in his blankets and jeans sagging down on his hips.
He definitely is going to go shopping with his mother tomorrow, get things for the party and to pick out a gift for Levi.
Eren sits up in his bed, clutches the pillow to his chest, and bites at a corner of it. He hadn’t been excited for Christmas until now, had been rather passive on decorating their house and being festive in general.
…Decorating their house…
He flushes, cheeks turning a deep red. His mother has an impish side, has hung Mistletoe up for their Christmas party the last few years, gets a twisted sense of amusement out of seeing who gets caught under it. Eren presses his face into the pillow, just trying to imagine getting a kiss from Levi. He groans and flops over onto his side, mind short circuiting.
That’s really all he wants for Christmas, a chance to get a kiss from his neighbor.
-
Eren is glaring down at the sidewalk, hands stuffed into the pockets of his jacket. It’s freezing out and his nose is pink, mouth covered by the scarf around his neck. There’s ice patches on the ground, the grass holding a thick layer of frost. The front door behind him opens as his mother steps out, hurries over to the car.
“I’m surprised you wanted to come with today.” Carla says with a smile. Eren just looks away, waits for the car to be unlocked and climbs in. He sinks into the seat, pleased that the air isn’t moving around him anymore. It’s too cold and he wishes it would either snow or heat up just a bit.
“I thought you’d like some help?” He tugs the scarf down enough to give the woman a smile as she starts the vehicle.
Carla just gives him this look, one that says she knows he’s up to something, but doesn’t call him on it. “If you say so.” She says and turns the heater on. She drives them to the edge of the neighborhood and turns onto the main road before anything else is said.
The car is oddly quiet and it unnerves Eren. He knows what his mother is doing, because she always does it, and it always seems to work. He sighs and slouches in the seat, peaks over at his mother out of the corner of his eye. She’s smiling lightly to herself, completely unperturbed at the silence. Eren huffs and looks out the window, glares at his own reflection.
He doesn’t want to say it.
Doesn’t
Want
To
Say it…
“I wanna pick out Levi’s gift…”
“Ah – I thought it was that.” Carla is grinning even more, slows that car as they reach the red light. “Do you have any idea on what he’d like?”
Eren can feel his cheeks heating up, thinking about the other, about what he might like. “Not really…” He squirms in his seat, realizes that they aren’t headed to the store yet. “Where are we going?” He sits up and looks around at the streets they’re passing.
“I figured you’d be able to find something at the mall.” Carla turns and smiles lightly at Eren, eyes sparkling in such a way that has the teen flushing and feeling nervous.
“O-okay…” He mutters and leans against the window, forehead pressed against the cold glass.
-
Eren’s staring impassively at the window of a store, not even looking at the manikin’s posing awkwardly before him. His mother had gone in, insisting on getting something for Miksas from there. He makes a face at himself in the glass and sighs, turns to look at the other shops nearby. The brunette walks over and peers into the shop next door.
The store front is lined in a thick black boarder and inside is small, filled with small stands and a glass countertop that runs the parameter of the shop. There’s small bottles lining the walls and the shop holds a heavy mixed scent of perfume and cologne.
“Hi,” A polite voice calls to him, smiling. Eren turns and gives a weak smile to the woman with strawberry blond hair. “Are you looking for anything specific?” She asks, eyes skirting over the teen.
Eren shakes his head no and looks down at a bottle on a small stand before him. The woman walks over and picks up a small strip of white paper and sprays a little on the end. She waves it in the air a few times before handing it to Eren.
“Scents are always some of the best gifts to give if you ask me.” She smiles brightly watching Eren hold the paper to his nose and sniff at it. He pulls it back and stares down at the bottle, blinking.
“It smells really nice…” It was kind of fruity, with a tad bit of a spicy under note. “Why scents…?” He asks a bit curious.
“Because then whenever they smell it they’ll think of you.” The strawberry blond grins and walks over to the glass counter, behind it, hand trailing along the edge of it. “You want to smell some others?” She plucks one off the edge of takes another strip of paper and sprays it. Eren walks over and takes the paper, smells it as well. He hums a little in response.
“I don’t like this one much…”
The woman nods and looks down at the bottles, thinking. “Well I can help you look for others, are you shopping for a lady?”
“Ah…no… He’s…” Eren can feel the slight heat on his face and frowns. “He’s kind of mean? But not really?” He tries, unsure of how to explain Levi to a stranger.
“I see…” The woman nods.
“He goes to school for accounting so he’s really number crazy.” Eren can’t help but smile thinking about Levi’s personality, his weird sense of details.
“I think…” The strawberry blond takes a few steps farther down the counter and picks up another bottle. She stares at it a second thinking, picks the bottle up and sprays a small bit on a strip, waves it in the air. “If he goes to school for accounting then he’s rather analytical right?” She asks with a smile, takes a sniff of the paper. Her grin broadens as she passes it towards Eren. He doesn’t answer her question, just gives a quick whiff of the paper, blinks.
“Oh…” He says, almost like he’s just realized something.
The woman grins, “Does that smell right?”
“It’s nice but it’s… It’s off a little…” Eren turns and looks at the other bottles on the counter, eyes scanning over their appearance. He notices one, the shape and the look of the bottle seems right and he’s curious how it smells. “What about that one? What does that smell like?”
The shop clerk turns and looks down at the bottle, gives a less confident smile. “That one is…” She picks it up and spritz a bit on a paper strip, hands it to the teen. He smells it, makes a light sound because it’s right and just makes him think of Levi, the scent making his stomach twist nervously. “I want this one…”
“Ah…”
“Eren! There you are!” Carla calls walking into the store, bag in hand. She takes notice of the paper her son is holding, grin stretching across her face. “Did you find a gift for Levi?”
The brunette flushes, pouts a little.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
The strawberry blond behind the counter blinks, mouth open. She snaps it shut and plasters a smile onto her face, one that seems a bit false. “Would you be purchasing the cologne today?” She asks, eyes darting between Eren and his mother.
“Well do you want to get it for him?” Carla stares at her son who just nods, cheeks tinted just a shade redder then normal. She turns back to the shop clerk and digs in her purse, pulls out her wallet. “Yes well be taking it…” She looks at the woman’s name tag. “…Petra, that’s a lovely name!” She says sincerely, pulling her card out to pay for it.
-
Eren is lying on his bed, staring down at his carpeted floor, pouting. His room is clean, the laundry picked up and washed, the carpet vacuumed, the shelves dusted and his various items put away. The dishes have been placed in the sink, washed and dried. He’s exhausted and it’s just about five pm.
It’s Christmas and he feels nervous, butterflies in his stomach. He’s a little depressed that his friends couldn’t come over this year, that their parents has said no. Eren gives a dejected sigh, hates the idea of having to deal with his parents coworkers and friends all by himself.
At least he can look forward to Levi showing up…
Possibly
Hopefully…
He’s wearing a pair of black jeans and a short sleeved shirt, a green that goes well with his eyes, has a faded black cardigan on over it. His hair is slightly mussed, something that his mother tries to fix every second he walks past her. The doorbell rings downstairs and he rolls over on his bed, sits up and slips out into the hall.
Eren peers around the corner as Carla opens the door, a small group of people standing there. They’re familiar and the brunette thinks they work with his father. He sighs and sits down on the second floor landing, just out of sight. He pulls his knees up to his chest and plucks at the hem of his pants, stares down at his black converse.
They’re the all black ones, the nicer pair of shoes that don’t hurt his feet.
The teen listens to the chatter downs stairs, listens to Grisha talk about work with the small group. The door bells rings again and more people file into the house. It doesn’t take long for the party to start, for the house to be filled with chatter, for there to be the faint sound of Christmas music in the background.
He’s called downstairs to socialize after a little bit and he grudgingly leaves his room. Eren plasters a smile onto his face and starts saying hello to the people who his father works with, to the ones from his mother’s job. He moves from small group to small group, talking about school and what he might go to college for, various things that all the adults seem interested in.
After about an hour of this he flops down on the couch in his living room and tilts his head back, stares up at the ceiling. He exhausted and Levi hasn’t shown up yet. There’s still people coming to the party, trickling in slowly, ‘the fashionably late crew’ Carla giggles from the background. The doorbell rings and he tilts his head back, decides not to open it. He watches Carla upside down as she comes from the kitchen and makes her way to the door. She smiles brightly and ushers the guests inside.
Eren can feel his stomach twist nervously as Levi comes into view.
A couple of the women from Carla’s job come over and greet the young man, clustering around him and blocking him from Eren’s view. The brunette huffs and slides down in his seat, out of view. He wants to go say hi, to talk to him…
Except he remembers their last interaction and his stomach twists in a bit of guilt, knows that he is going to have to apologize at some point that night.
There’s a screeching from behind him and he twists in his seat, peers over the edge of the couch. A woman is leaning down, pressing a kiss to Levi’s lips, laughter encircling the small group. Eren stares at the mistletoe that is hanging from the ceiling, glares at it really before he pushes himself up and heads towards the kitchen.
Eren grumbles to himself, irritated and mad and wants to rip each of the small green bunches from the ceiling, wants to pull Levi away from the women in the room who are flocking towards him. He’s jealous beyond belief, is kicking himself for not opening the door like he knew he should have. If he had just opened the door he could have been the one to…
The teen nearly walks into a tall blond man and stumbles back. “Ah! Sorry…” He looks up, sheepish, and scratches the back of his head.
“You look like you’re not having a good time.”
The brunette blinks and gives a nervous laugh. “Not really? It’s my parent’s favorite thing to do… this party, I’m just kind of here…”
“Why didn’t you invite any friends?”
“Ah, I did, but since its Christmas they couldn’t come. They did last year but this year they couldn’t.” Eren looks away, wondering if he could slip back up stairs and just avoid the rest of the party. He knows that his mother would come looking for him after a bit.
“Oh would you look at that!” A woman comes strolling over to them, places her hand on Eren’s shoulder. He remembers her from his father’s office, is one of the nurses that works with him, just as the man before him is another doctor. The woman grins broadly and points up.
Eren can feel his face fall as he stares at the mistletoe.
The woman leans over and presses a kiss to his cheek, giggling. “You’re such a cutie!” She says, patting him on the back and heading back towards her friends. Eren can feel the heat on his face, shoulders slumping.
“You are a cute one,” The blond man says with a smile and the teen looks up, eyes wide.
“Wh-what?!” He squeaks, flushing.
“You walked under the mistletoe too.”
“Dr. Zakarius!” Carla calls from behind Eren. “What have I said about teasing my boy.” She chides playfully.
“Ah of course.” Eren turns to look at his mother, face still flushed, eyes landing on Levi by her side, a small group of women behind him. His attention is stolen by the blond man before him as his head is turned back, a kiss pressed to his lips. The teen jerks back and there’s wooing and giggling from the other guests, light laughter from Carla behind him. He turns and glares at his mother before darting from the room, ears ringing from the laughter.
Eren completely misses Levi calling his name.
“Mike I told you no teasing!” Carla says, a slight giggle still in her voice as she hits the tall man on the back.
Eren hurries up the stairs and into his room, shuts the door behind him. He feels like a fool, having been teased and even kissed in front of all the guests.
In front of Levi…
The brunette flops down on his bed and buries his face in his pillow. He can hear the chatter from down stairs and it does nothing but irritate him further.
-
Eren doesn’t leave his room till he hears the guests starting to leave, till the music down stairs is switched off. He watches the cars leave from his window, watches as Levi heads back towards his place next door. The teen sighs, pouting, wishes he could have at least given the young man his gift.
Carla calls for him from downstairs, loud and demanding.
Eren pulls himself from his window and sulks to the top of the stairs. His mother is standing at the bottom with her hand on her hip and a small box wrapped in light blue in her other hand. She gives him this look that tells him to come downstairs.
“I forgot to give him his gift with all the commotion.” She says handing the box over.
Eren just stares at it, confused.
Carla rolls her eyes.
“It’s Levi’s gift, he left while I was talking to some of Grisha’s nurses.”
“He said goodbye,” Eren turns to his dad as he walks into the foyer. “And Mike says he’s sorry if he embarrassed you.”
The teen glares at his dad, cheeks heating up.
“Look,” Carla pushes the box against Eren’s chest. “Go give Levi his gift and then you can sulk in your room over a stolen kiss.” She doesn’t wait for her son to respond, starts to push him outside and shuts the door behind him.
Eren glares down at his feet wishing that he could redo the whole night. He would have got up and answered the door, been more polite to the guests, would have taken note of where the mistletoe was hanging, would have maybe possibly got to kiss Levi on the cheek – or maybe, just maybe, been kissed on the cheek by him, instead of the woman.
His shoulders slump as he tries to not think about it, walks the short distance to his neighbor’s house. It’s freezing and he shivers in a mixture of nerves and the night air, uncertain of what he should say. Eren knows he still needs to apologize for the other night, but part of him doesn’t want to now, not after what happened earlier.
Not after Levi was kissed by the one of the other guests.
The teen rings the doorbell before he loses his nerve and waits, wonders what his mother would say if he came back with the gift. It wasn’t like Levi wasn’t home, but the man could also very well not answer the door.
He could also leave the box sitting there…
It’s as Eren thinks this that the door opens and Levi stares out at him, mild surprise crossing his features.
“Ah…” The teen starts, watches the other step to the side and let him in.
“It’s 30 degrees out.” Levi says as way of explanation.
Eren flushes and steps in side, embarrassed and nervousness filling him suddenly. He turns around and holds the box up. “Mum said you forgot your gift…”
Levi stares at him, a small smirk touching the corners of his mouth. “Dr. Grisha gave me a gift already, from both your parents.”
Eren looks down, face heating up. “Th-this one is from me…” He says, realizing that his mother had probably done this on purpose… The box is taken from him and he looks up, realizes that Levi is much closer now.
“Ah… L-Levi?” He manages, can feel his stomach twist.
The young man just points up and Eren tilts his head back.
And there it is, a small bundle of mistletoe hanging.
The teen opens his mouth and makes a sound, can feel the heat on his cheeks. “U-Um…” He stutters as Levi moves closer. A kiss is pressed to his cheek, over the spot the woman had kissed earlier.
“You live there, you should have known where they were hanging.” Levi scolds him just a bit, his words light. He pulls Eren down and presses his forehead to his, stares into his eyes.
“You’re getting taller…” He says, frowning.
“S-sorry…” Eren tries to look away, to turn his head but a hand comes up and holds him in place. The heat on his cheeks spreads to his ears and he feels like if he went outside in the cold, he’d steam.
“You are cute, just like they said.” Levi runs his thumb over Eren’s bottom lip, drags it down and watches as it slips back into place. “And you went and got yourself kissed twice too.”
“N-Not my fault.” Eren protests weakly, a pout on his features.
Levi hums at him, “I fixed one kiss already.” He presses his finger to the teen’s cheek. “But I still need to fix the other.”
Eren lets out a throaty sound, embarrassed and giddy beyond belief. He makes another attempt to look away only to have his chin held and turned back into place. Levi leans up just a bit and kisses him, light and on the lips.
“That fixes the other kiss.” Levi pulls back just a little and sets the gift on the small table next to them, pushes his car keys back.
“Y-you kissed someone…” Eren manages to say, bites down on his bottom lip.
The dark haired man looks back at him, gives a small smirk. “I did.” He says.
“I… I want to…”
“Kiss again?”
The teen nods and looks down at his feet. Levi crosses his arms over his chest and stares at him, waiting.
“Eren.” He says after a second, amused at how the brunette twitches at his name. “Just kiss me.”
“R-right…” Eren takes a step closer, reaches up hesitantly and holds onto the black cardigan the other is wearing, tilts his head down. His eyes slip shut and he presses his lips to Levi’s, soft and feather light. Half a second later hands are slipping over his hips, pulling him closer.
Levi licks at the teen’s lips, amused at how they part so easily. He presses up, tongue slipping into the others mouth. He gently prods, licks teasingly into the brunette’s mouth, loves how he responds shyly. “S’good.” Levi mutters between kisses.
Eren smiles into the kiss, leans more heavily against the other. He slips his hands up, over the young man’s shoulders, and wraps them around him. He hums at the sensation, at the tongue pressing against his own. A second later there are fingers in his hair, twisting and pulling at the messy brown locks. Eren’s pulled back and he whines a bit with the loss of contact, breaths coming out ragged and on the verge of panting.
“You did good.” Levi tells him, grey eyes dark.
Eren just nods his head, can’t seem to process anything in his mind. He stares down at Levi, bites at his bottom lip before leaning back down and kissing him again.
“Hey now…”
“Please?” The teen whines, green eyes large and pleading. “A-and I’m sorry… for the other night…” He looks away at this, presses his forehead to Levi’s shoulder. The fingers slip from his hair, hands moving to encircle his waist.
“I know.” Levi presses a kiss to Eren’s cheek. “But if you weren’t such a brat you could have got your gift that night.”
Eren pulls back, arms wrapped around the dark haired man’s shoulders. “G-gift…?”
Cool grey eyes turn up and Eren follows his line of vision, to the small bunch of mistletoe.
“Oh…” He says, slow and yet starting to get it. “Wait – what?”
Levi rolls his eyes and leans in, kisses Eren again. “Merry Christmas.”
“Happy birthday.”