Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/ works/7198106. Rating: Explicit Archive Warning: Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage Category: M/M, Multi Fandom: Shingeki_no_Kyojin_|_Attack_on_Titan Relationship: Levi/Eren_Yeager Character: Levi_ackerman, Eren_Yeager, Carla_Yeager, Grisha_Yeager, Mikasa_Ackerman, Jean_Kirstein, Armin_Arlert, Erwin_Smith, Hanji_Zoe, Mike_Zacharias Additional Tags: Levi_&_Eren_-_Freeform, Eventual_relationship, Friends_to_Lovers, Enemies to_Lovers, Omegaverse, alpha!_Levi, omega!_Eren, alpha!_Erwin, alpha! mikasa, Alpha!_Jean, Omega!_Armin, brief_Armin/Eren, established relationship_Eren/Jean, Breakup, Finding_each_other_again, Smut, Slow Build, BDSM, Dominance, Submissive, Praise_Kink, Abuse, abuse_from parent, Anxiety, Depression, Self_Harm, Blushing_Eren, Middle_School, High_School, Adult_Life, Brief_Jean/Eren_-_Freeform, brief_Erwin/Levi, Jean/Marco_-_Freeform, Erwin/Armin_-_Freeform, Mikasa/Annie_-_Freeform, Beta!_Annie, Eren_and_Levi_are_such_fucking_dorks, I_don't_update_often but_please_bare_with_me, I'm_sorry_if_this_sucks, And_my_tags_are_trash lol, There_are_no_extreme_age_differences Stats: Published: 2016-06-14 Updated: 2016-09-27 Chapters: 6/? Words: 9210 ****** You Will Always Be My Thunder ****** by KylaSheaHarkins Summary OmegaVerse: Eren/Levi. Omegas don't get their heats until 22. Male Omega, Eren finds the love of his life at 14. Heartbroken, growing, healing, letting go, and then meeting his love again. How will Eren react to seeing Levi after all this time? The last time they spoke, Levi said he hated him. Alpha! Levi. Omega! Eren. Notes This story is very personal to me. Everything that happens in this story, has happened to me. No exaggerating. (Except the OmegaVerse thing) I fell in love at 14, and he and I went through a lot. He was my first love. This is our story from my point of view. Myself, being Eren. If the characters seem a little OOC, it's because they are. I'm sorry. This is just a healing thing for me. It's been seven years since my first love and I broke up. I'm still not over it. But rest assured! Even if I haven't gotten my happy ending, this story will have one. Please enjoy. And please let me know if you want more of this story. This story is Un-Beta'd. So please excuse any mistakes. Names have been changed to fit the story I want to tell. All characters mentioned belong to Isayama-Sensei. Please support his work, Attack on Titan/Shingeki no Kyojin. ***** Chapter 1 ***** Eren Jaeger looked at the large, brick building in front of him. He turned to the woman standing beside him, swallowing hard, “Mom, I feel sick. Do we really have to do this? I could just continue homeschooling.” Carla Jaeger, Eren’s mom, turned to him. “Eren. Do not start your shit again. I don’t want to hear it.” Eren looked at his adopted sister, who had her favorite red scarf wrapped around her neck, even though it was late August. Mikasa’s eyes slid to meet Eren’s, and he saw the tell-tale look of nervousness. Mikasa could be a hard person to read, but growing up together, they had learned a lot about each other. Eren could tell what emotion Mikasa was feeling just by meeting her eyes. Eren was the opposite of Mikasa. Where she was into sports like gymnastics and soccer, he preferred to have his nose stuck in a book, hanging out around the house or taking walks in the woods behind their new house alone, only allowing their dogs to accompany him. Mikasa was popular among the students, no matter what school they went to. Eren was considered the weird one, all because he was into anime and Japanese culture, and he played video games like it was a religion. He loved reading the most though, his favorite series were the Harry Potter books, and anything by Stephen King. If it was fantasy, Eren would read it. Mikasa didn’t mind being in the spotlight, often participating in chorus competitions, or trying out for school plays. Eren was likely to trip and stutter if he got a hint of someone staring at him. The biggest difference was that he was a rare, male Omega. And Mikasa was a rare, female Alpha. Eren was diagnosed with ADHD and anxiety when he was ten. It was one of the many reasons he had switched between five different elementary schools from grades 1-5. His teachers had a hard time getting him to focus on his schoolwork, where he instead would stare out of the window, or would doodle instead of doing classwork. He was diagnosed with anxiety because he couldn’t get through a class presentation without nearly fainting. He hated it. He wished he could be open and carefree like the other children his age. He had always been a painfully shy child. When his family adopted Mikasa, he hadn’t talked to her for almost three weeks, before he muttered a small ‘good’ when she had asked how one of his tests went. Back to the present, Eren and Mikasa were following their mother into an office. A small woman with blond hair greeted them, “Good morning! Jaeger, right?” Their mom nodded and smiled, putting her hands on each of their backs and pushing them forward. “This is Eren, and this is Mikasa.” The woman smiled warmly at them, “Please follow me!”. She led them to a hall lined with doors, one of the doors read ‘Nurse’s Office’, another said ‘Principal Zacharias’ The woman, who’s name was Mrs. Rico, led them to a small room and asked Eren to sit down, telling him, “Mr. Zacharias will be with you in a moment.” She led Carla and Mikasa away, shutting the door behind her. He and Mikasa had to take an oral test to see if they could go into their respective grades, even though they had only been home-schooled for the second semester of sixth grade. Eren was to be put into the seventh grade, and Mikasa would be in the eighth grade. They were starting school a few weeks late, but Mr. Zacharias informed them that they wouldn’t be too far behind. They were to start the next day. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Eren and Mikasa had woken early the next day, and put on the outfits they had helped each other pick out the night before. Eren was a nervous wreck, and Mikasa did her best to calm him while they waited outside for the bus. The bus came, and they sat down together, trying to ignore the strange looks they were getting from the other middle and high school kids (they found out later, that the elementary kids rode a different bus). They arrived at the middle school and went to the front office, there they were greeted again by Mrs. Rico, and she asked them to wait. They sat down, holding their backpacks to their chest, Eren tapped his foot. They watched as the halls thinned, and eventually emptied. Soon, two students arrived in the office, and they were to show Eren and Mikasa where their classes were. They parted ways, Eren almost tearing up at having to separate from Mikasa, but he held the tears in, following the student and trying his best to remember where everything was. They started with Eren’s ‘connection’ classes, which were Home Economics and Art, he would switch between the two, going to Home Economics on his ‘A day’ and Art on his ‘B day’. His lunch period would depend on the day, whether he went before his connection class or after. The student was explaining the BAR system -a system that deduces points depending on the offense, like not doing homework, chewing gum in class, etc. Every student started with 100 points, and if you went below 70, you had to do detention, and if it got really low, you could be in In-School Suspension, or Out-of-School Suspension- and they were making their way upstairs to the academic classes. They walked to what would be his last class of the day, Language Arts, and then went backwards, seeing his Science Class, and then his Math, and finally arriving to his History/Homeroom class. The student simply pointed them out, not bothering to allow Eren to see inside the rooms. The student opened the door, Eren followed him inside. “Mrs. Ord, this is the new student.” The woman was tall, blonde, and very skinny. She had stopped drawing an example on the board, marker still in hand. Eren tried very hard not to look at every eye in class staring at him, though he knew his face and ears were very, very red. He felt like he might pass out. “Hi! Your name is Eren Jaeger, right?” He nodded mutely, and swallowed hard, staring past her at the board. ‘Please don’t tell me to introduce myself’, he mentally prayed. She grabbed some papers, an agenda, and a textbook from her desk, handing the items to him and pointed to the only empty desk, thankfully the closest one to him, “That’ll be your spot, then.” She thanked the student and he left, Eren sat down and began to put the folder of papers and the agenda in his backpack. “We’re on page 145 Eren”, Mrs. Ord told him. He nodded, still not meeting her eyes, and turned to the page. She resumed her lesson. Eren chanced a quick peak around the classroom, and his eyes locked onto a boy two rows over, staring at him with hard grey eyes. He had black hair, styled with an undercut, and he wore a grey t-shirt, and black skinny jeans with converse. The boy was staring at him, and he couldn’t tell if it was a look of disgust or curiosity. He watched as the grey eyes slid down, looking at his feet and then slowly crawled back up to his face, and all the while Eren could feel his face growing redder and redder. When the boy had looked up into Eren’s eyes again, there was a smirk on his face and just a hint of pink to his pale cheeks. Eren thought that the boy was very, very cute. The rest of the morning went without incident. At lunch, he was sitting alone, and reading a book he had brought from home under the table, barely touching his lunch. “Hey.” Eren continued reading. “Hey, new kid.” Eren looked up reluctantly, he could feel the blush staining his cheeks. He met the brown eyes of a boy with shaved hair. “Hi,” Eren said quietly. The kid was sitting at the table he was currently occupying, and was surrounded by a few people, who were looking at them. “Want to sit with us?”, baldy asked. Eren grabbed his tray and his book and switched seats, sitting beside a short blond boy with blue eyes. “I’m Connie,” baldy said, pointing to himself, and then continued. “This is Sasha, Reiner, Bertolt, Annie, Jean, Marco, and beside you is Armin.” Eren gave a small smile and a wave to the table, and received mostly smiles back. The Annie girl simply nodded her head at him, looking back to Reiner to continue their conversation. Armin spoke to him next, “That’s one of my favorite books, I have the whole series”. Eren perked up at this, and for the first time that day, had an full conversation with someone. As lunch ended, he was walking to the trash cans to throw his tray away, which was still mostly full. He had eaten half the sandwich, taken a bite from his apple, and drank the milk. Just as he dumped the tray, he heard a quiet voice beside him, “You shouldn’t waste food.” He jumped, and looked beside him, meeting the same grey eyes that he had seen this morning in his first period class. As fast as he came, the boy was gone again, walking towards a girl with glasses and a messy pony-tail. “Levi! Come one! We have Art next! I love Art so much!”, she was practically yelling. Levi. That was his name. Eren thought it suited him very well. Eren went back to his math class, grabbing his bag and heading to Home Economics. When he arrived, he sat down as the teacher began roll-call. When she skipped his name, she asked for his name and he told her. “Oh, sweetie, you’re in my B-Day class. You’re supposed to be in your A-Day class right now. Go on now, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Eren could feel the heat of embarrassment radiating off of his body. He grabbed his bag and exited the room, walking down the hall to, where was his A-Day class? Oh, art, right. He walked up to the door and peered in, seeing different groups of students standing around doing different projects. He tried to open the door and sneak in, quietly, but he was caught by the teacher. “Well hello Eren, nice of you to finally join us.” He was met by a young woman with strawberry blond hair. He stammered, seeing a hint of amusement in her eye, “I-I’m sorry. I accidentally went to by B-Day class instead. I’m really sorry, ma’am.” He looked at his shoes, waiting to be reprimanded. He heard her laugh, and looked up. “It’s alright Eren, I know what being the new kid at school feels like. Well, I don’t really have a curriculum for this class, so just do whatever you want. You can use some clay and sculpt something, or there’s paint supplies in that closet, some yarn over there, whatever you like. If you need anything, I’ll be glad to help. You can just call me Miss Petra.” And with her little speech done, she walked back to her desk and sat down, writing on some paper. Eren finally looked around the room, seeing that he was being stared at by almost everyone in class. Looking back down at his shoes, he quickly made his way to an empty table. He took out his sketch pad (he carried it everywhere), and set about to sketching. He liked to draw characters from anime the most, sometimes he would draw landscapes, sometimes animals. He was in the zone when he felt the table jostle at the other end, he automatically turned his head slightly, to see what had caused the movement. He saw Levi, sitting back in the chair with his feet propped up on the table, headphones plugged into his ears and an mp3 player. He felt heat in his cheeks as those grey eyes slid over, meeting his own and he looked away quickly. He tried to begin sketching again, but the table was jostled again. “Levi. LEVI!” Eren looked up seeing the same girl he saw with Levi earlier. She was hugging him from behind, and Eren saw Levi trying to pry her fingers apart from around his neck. “What Hanji?”, he asked in an annoyed tone, after taking one headphone out. Eren thought it was an odd name. Hanji held up a piece of construction paper. “Do you like my drawing? Isn’t it the best thing you’ve ever seen?”, she pressed the paper closer to his face. He heard Levi mutter, “What is it?”. Hanji answered proudly, hands on her hips, “It’s a titan!”. Levi handed the paper back to her, “It looks disgusting.” Eren tried to hide his laughter behind his hand, but his shaking had caught the others attention. “Something funny to you, new kid?” Eren immediately stopped laughing. “I’m sorry. Nothing is funny. Sorry”, he stuttered through his apology, all the while looking at anything but Levi. Eren wasn’t granted an answer, and Hanji had wondered off to another student to show off her drawing. He didn’t look at Levi again. Eren was grateful when Art ended. And then went right back to feeling miserable when he realized that he shared his last two classes with Levi, and he sat in the desk right next to the raven-haired boy in both classes. But he was also glad at the same time, learning that he shared Science and Math with Jean, and Science and Literature with Armin. He was tired when he finally boarded the bus. He was staring out of the window of the bus, waiting on Mikasa, when he spotted Levi where the car-riders waited to be picked up. He was looking down at his mp3 player. Mikasa finally slumped down in the seat beside him, “How was your day?”, she asked. He told her about his classes, and the few people he had met during lunch. He left out everything about Levi though, he wasn’t sure why he didn’t tell Mikasa. They arrived home, and Eren began to open and close his fists as they neared the front door. His mom wasn’t the easiest to get along with. They opened the door, and stepped inside, seeing his mom sitting on the couch watching some trash television show. They stated that they were home, and went to their rooms. After dinner, Carla asked how their days went, and Eren told her the same thing he had told Mikasa. “And this boy, Armin, I think that’s his name. He likes most of the same books I do!”, Eren was telling Mikasa about his lunch period in more detail. He was washing his plate when he heard his mom from her spot on the couch. “You sound a little excited. This Armin person is a boy, right? You know you were raised better. I won’t have a fag in my house.” Eren visibly paled. “I’m not gay, mom.” “Are you getting smart with me, boy?”, was her retort. “No-no.” “No, what?” “No, ma’am.” “That’s what I thought. Now get the fuck to bed. I don’t want to see your face for the rest of the night.” Eren showered and laid down in his bed. He hugged the pillow to his face, and cried. ***** Chapter 2 ***** Chapter Notes See the end of the chapter for notes Eren had been born when his mother was seventeen. He was a planned pregnancy, because his mother wanted to show her parents that she could be responsible. His mother was always a rebellious child, and often got into trouble with the law. She often broke curfew, and refused to settle down with a man. His mother and biological father had only been married for three years before they divorced. He could remember from a young age, his mother telling him that he was a mistake. When she had given birth to him, her uterus had messed up, making her unable to have anymore children. Her parents, his grandparents, were ecstatic that she had given birth to a boy, and they didn’t care that he was an Omega. His mother on the other hand, was anything but happy. She often told him that she wishes that he had never been born, that if she’d have known she would have given birth to an Omega, she would have aborted him. This went on for years, and she eventually began to beat him. Anytime he did something she deemed ‘bad’ she would beat him with her fists, a belt, she would shove him into walls, or throw things like candles or her hairdryer at him. She always managed to hit him where his clothes would cover, so his teachers at school didn’t ask questions. Not that the teachers cared, they saw him as less than they, since he was a walking contradiction. Males were supposed to be dominant, strong, and outgoing. He was the complete opposite. His abuse caused him to develop mild PTSD. When he was seven, his life got a little better. His mother was named the godparent of one of her friends’ kids. When they died, Carla got custody of Mikasa, and filed the paperwork to officially adopt her. His mother was then distracted from abusing him. She adored Mikasa. They often went out together, shopping, getting their nails done, etc. Leaving Eren at home alone, which he often didn’t mind. He just wished that his mom wanted to spend time with him, like she did with Mikasa. He was switched between so many elementary schools because his mother kept getting into fights with his teachers. They would sneer at her, which caused her temper to flare. That hot-headed temper of hers was the only thing Eren inherited from her. He was very quiet and shy, usually. But if someone picked on him for too long, he would blow up. He was once suspended because a boy kept hitting him in the head, and he broke the boy’s nose. The other boy didn’t get into trouble. His mother met a new man, when Eren and Mikasa were eight and nine. He was nice to them, and made a lot of money. He stuck around for a long time, and eventually married their mother. Which is what made them move to a new city, to be closer to Grisha’s job. Carla had previously decided that she was done with their city’s school system, so took Eren and Mikasa out of school to ‘home-school’ them. The homeschooling consisted of Mikasa and Eren playing outside everyday, exploring the woods, and playing children’s games. Their mother never bought one text book. And now they were in their new house, which was a lot nicer than the two bedroom trailer and where Mikasa and Eren shared a bedroom. The new city was a lot bigger, which meant a lot more students than they were used to attending school with. Eren saw this as a good opportunity. No one knew he was a male Omega. It wasn’t a requirement to tell the faculty. He felt that he could start fresh here. He could survive this new middle school, and eventually high school, and he could move far away and attend a college that allowed Omegas. He had been worried about heats when he hit puberty at eleven, almost a year before starting at his new school. His doctor told him that normal Omegas and Alphas didn’t have their first heat until they were twenty-two, so he would be okay until then. But when his heats started to come in, he would need to take suppressants like all the other Omegas until he found a mate. Eren found that since marrying Grisha, his mother’s abuse had curbed slightly too. If only he had known the wild life this move had started for him. Chapter End Notes Remember that what happens in this fic is based on my life. I know Carla was a wonderful mother in the anime/manga. But I'm replacing her with my actual mother. And in reference to the title, my first love's and mine's 'song' was "Thunder" by Boys Like Girls. I know, but it was 2009. And I still tear up when I hear it. Please leave comments and let me know if I should continue this? Please and thank you! ***** Chapter 3 ***** Chapter Summary Time jump to about 5 months later. Chapter Notes I'm sorry it's been so long since I've posted! I won't abandon this story I promise! Because it is MY story (with you know, in character characters and such blah). But the abuse and relationships are all mine. Please bear with me this story means a lot to me and I feel it would be therapeutic to finally tell someone the truth of what happened. Even if I have to use fictional characters as a means. Thank you for all the hits and kudos. I never thought I would have that much! See the end of the chapter for more notes Eren found that this school was the best one he had ever been to. The teachers were like all teachers, of course, but he just felt all around more comfortable being himself. He and Armin were practically attached at the hip, and he and Jean always helped each other with homework and class projects. Jean was even teaching him how to skateboard. Both Armin and Jean had been over to stay the night at Eren’s house more than a few times, and Carla adored them. She acted like the perfect mom around them, and they had even taken up to calling her ‘mom’ like Eren and Mikasa do. Mikasa had friends of her own that she had invited over for sleepovers a few times as well, two girls named Ymir and Historia (the short blond had strictly told him with a smile to call her ‘Krista’). They were pretty cool, and he got along really well with Krista, but Ymir would always tuck the small blond under her arm with a glare at Eren. He didn’t know what that look was for.   It was nearing Christmas now.   Eren had only spoken to Levi less than the amount of fingers he had, and it all had to do with classwork. A small ‘do you have a pencil I can borrow’, or ‘what page are we on’ was all that passed between them. Eren still had the biggest crush on Levi, and whenever Levi so much as looked his direction he could feel the heat rising to his face. The raven-haired boy never failed to catch Eren at the most embarrassing moments, always smirking at him. It irritated Eren to no end, not at Levi, but at himself for getting so flustered over simply getting looked at. He didn’t feel that way when anyone else looked at him, he couldn’t figure out what made Levi so easily cause his heart to nearly leap out of his rib-cage.   The student body was buzzing with excitement. Today they had a pep-rally for the basketball team, and anything that got them out of class was a welcome distraction. Eren had his nose in a book when the teacher announced that the class was dismissed to head to the gym. He got up and packed his bags, still reading the book, not even glancing around him as he swung the bag on his shoulder and was the last to walk out. The sound of all of the seventh graders talking around him quieted down to a hum as Eren immersed himself into the world of Harry Potter and Hogwarts.   He yelped when he bumped into something hard and fell back on his ass, book sliding across from him and hitting the shoe of the person he had run into. He looked up ready to apologize, blush already painting his face, when he was caught in the stare of familiar grey eyes. He didn’t think his face could get any hotter, but it did.   Eren looked around quickly, seeing that he and Levi were the only ones in the hallway.   “I-I’m sorry Levi. I was reading and not watching where I was going, I’m an idiot. Sorry.” He said all of this while scrambling to get up, and he saw a hand come into his field of vision. He looked back up to Levi and saw his hand extended to him, he still hadn’t said anything. Eren reached up nervously, hand shaking slightly as he lightly grasped the other boy’s hand. He nearly jumped at the shock he felt when his fingers brushed Levi’s, and he almost pulled his hand back, but Levi grasped his hand firmly (‘Holy hell he feels strong for a thirteen-year-old, what the hell?’) and pulled him up. In the swift motion, Eren nearly tripped over his feet, falling towards his front now, when strong arms were wrapped around him. An arm around his waist, and another across his chest, grabbing his shoulder.   He turned his head and the two boys almost bumped noses. Eren jumped out of Levi’s hold, stammering out another apology and bending to pick his book up. When he straightened himself out, Levi was still staring at him, with his now trademark smirk stretched across his face.   “It’s alright Eren, you can stop apologizing.” Eren quickly fell silent as he and Levi fell into step together. “Do you want to sit with me?”, he heard Levi ask. He was nodding before thinking of answering yes or no.   They walked together, close enough that their arms and hands kept brushing against each other every few steps. Eren knew that his blush hadn’t gone away, and he was positive that Levi could see that it hadn’t either. They arrived at the gym, and slipped in unnoticed by the teachers. Levi led them to a corner of the bleachers, and Eren saw that Hanji was standing over there as well, speaking to Armin. Eren grinned as their friends spotted them and Armin came over and hugged Eren. He was laughing as Armin tickled him and turned, seeing Levi watching with an expressionless face while Hanji had her arms around his neck and was talking his ear off.   They locked eyes, and Eren stepped away from Armin, walking over to Levi and Hanji.   “Hey! Eren! Levi didn’t tell me you guys were friends now! Oh! You should meet Erwin sometime!” Hanji was talking a mile, a minute and still he and Levi only stared at each other as he walked closer. Levi shoved Hanji off and grabbed Eren’s sleeve, pulling him under the bleachers. Armin and Hanji looked on curiously, but then got into a discussion about science classes.   “I want to be friends.”, was what Eren heard Levi mumble. “I know you’ve been avoiding me because of how mean I sounded to you on your first day here. Sorry about that. But I think your cool and, I wouldn’t mind hanging out with you.” Levi trailed off, looking at a piece of trash on the floor. Eren felt his traitorous blush come back, and he stepped up to Levi, and grinned at the black-haired boy. “Sure, Levi. I’ll be your friend. As long as you don’t beat me up or something.” Eren laughed, hearing a chuckle and Levi saying ‘I could totally kick your ass’.   They walked out as the pep-rally was ending.   School was let out as the pep-rally ended, and Eren and Levi went their separate ways. Before parting, Levi told Eren that he’d like to hang out over Christmas break, and Eren said he would have to ask permission from his mom but he would love to. With a promise of seeing each other tomorrow, Levi walked one way, and Eren walked another.   Neither of them missed the tug in their chest, pulling them back to where they were walking from, but they chose to ignore it. Chapter End Notes Please don't kill me for this short chapter. I am so sorry. My papa is having open heart surgery and I literally just wrote this chapter while I'm in the waiting room. ***** Chapter 4 ***** Chapter Notes See the end of the chapter for notes Carla had been in an extremely foul mood for the entire week. Eren had waited for her mood to lighten, so he could ask permission for Levi to come over and hang out, but she never relented. He could just walk through the house and she would scream at him, “Do you have a fucking attitude problem? Why are you stomping? Don’t make me beat the fuck out of you Eren.” He shuffled through the house from then on, barely lifting his legs so as to make as little noise as possible. Every time his mother yelled at him, he could feel the tears threatening to spill from his eyes. He just couldn’t understand why she hated him so much. It was the Friday before break began, and he finally worked up the nerve to ask. “Hey Mom, is it okay if a friend of mine comes to hang out over the break?” “Which friend?”, she asked. “His name is Levi, he’s in almost all of my classes. I thought maybe we could work on the essay we’ve been assigned together.” He tried to keep his voice deadpan, thinking if he showed too much excitement, his mom would see right through him. She had the gift of being able to read him like an open book. “As long as he’s not a little bastard, I don’t care.” “Alright, I’ll let him know when I get to school. We can set up a day sometime later.” All he got in return was a wave of her hand as he and Mikasa walked out of the door. When he wasn’t in sight of the house, he let out a sigh, and grinned. “Why do you have that stupid look on your face?”, Mikasa asked him. “What look? I’m just happy mom didn’t yell at me this morning.”, he may have replied a little too quickly, but Mikasa didn’t say anything if she noticed. The ride to school was long and cold, considering the bus driver refused to turn on the heater and drove with her window down. He cupped his hands and blew on them, trying to keep his fingers from freezing off. They finally got to school and Eren spotted Levi, standing outside in the courtyard looking towards the buses. When he stepped off, the raven-haired boy began to walk towards him. “Hey Eren.” “Oh, hey Levi. Why are you standing out here in the cold?”, Eren replied, blowing on his hands again. Levi watched him and reached into his coat pocket, pulling out a pair of gloves. “You can borrow these if you want. I don’t wear them, and I haven’t seen you with a pair so I don’t know if you have any.” He held out the grey gloves, waiting for Eren to grab them. Teal eyes met grey and stared. Eren felt the blush creeping into his cheeks as he reached out and took the gloves, sliding them onto his hands. “Thank you Levi. You were right, I don’t have any gloves.” Eren didn’t mention that his mother refused to buy anything that she didn’t deem necessary. Eren saw a slight shade of pink on Levi’s cheeks, and he wasn’t sure if it was due to the cold or not. “Yeah no problem brat. Let’s go, we don’t need to be late and it’s cold as balls.” As they walked together, Eren told Levi that he had gotten permission to hang out over break. “Cool. Here’s my number, just call me when you want me to come, and I’ll get a ride over.” Eren watched as Levi wrote his number on a small piece of paper he had ripped out of his notebook. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The rest of the school dragged on, even though it was a half day. They were released at twelve-thirty, and Levi walked Eren out to his bus. “Don’t forget to call, alright?”, Levi asked when they reached the curb. “I wouldn’t forget, Levi”, Eren said, and felt his face heat up as he realized what he said. Levi chuckled beside him, “Okay, Eren. I’ll be waiting then.” Eren watched Levi turn to walk towards the car-pickup. Then his brain was no longer controlling his body. “Wait, Levi?” He heard himself ask. Watched Levi turn with a questioning look. Saw his arms reach out, watched them wrap themselves around Levi’s neck. Felt Levi stiffen at the contact. Felt Levi’s arms wrap around his waist. And then he was in control again, pulling back and laughing. “I’m sorry. I hug Armin and Jean like that, I assumed I could with you too. I should have asked. I’m sorry, Levi.” Levi was definitely blushing. “Yeah, sure. It’s fine if it’s you. Or Hanji, but I don’t hug her back.” “So just me, then?”, Eren couldn’t help but tease. “Don’t push it, you brat.”, was all he got in return. They waved goodbye to each other, with another promise that Eren wouldn’t forget to call. He made his way to his seat on the bus, and Mikasa was already there, listening to her ipod. When he got home, his mother wasn’t there, so he decided to take a nap. He dreamed of storms and grey eyes watching him from the shadows. Chapter End Notes I'm sorry it's been so long since I've updated. This story is hard for me because I have to re-live painful memories. And my depression and anxiety have been constantly attacking me. But the amount of hits and kudos this has is amazing! And people are bookmarking! Which means they are actually interested in my story. Thank you all so very very much. Please enjoy this update, and I'll try and update as soon as I can! ***** Chapter 5 ***** Chapter Notes EXTRA LONG 3200 WORD CHAPTER TO MAKE UP FOR MY TRASH UPDATING. NSFW warning for the very end of the chapter. See the end of the chapter for more notes Eren called Levi three days later.   Ring, ring, ring, ring   “Hello?” Eren recognized that it wasn’t Levi, but an older man. “Hi, is Levi there?” “Who’s asking?”, the voice asked roughly. “M-mine name’s Eren, sir. I’m one of Levi’s classmates.” Eren heard a muffled voice, ‘Who’s that?’, and then the man answered, “Someone named Eren, asking for you.” Some scuffling and Eren heard Levi’s voice on the other end. “Hey Eren, sorry about my uncle. I’m usually home by myself and I didn’t hear the phone ring. I was in the shower. What’s up?” Eren definitely was not blushing thinking about Levi in the shower. “Hey, Levi. I was wondering if you wanted to hang out sometime this week? My mom’s going to be gone visiting a friend tomorrow night, so it’ll just be me and Mikasa. But she might go to her friend’s house down the road.” Eren caught himself rambling. “I-I mean if you want to.”   Silence greeted him for a minute, and then Levi finally answered, “Yeah, should I get a ride over or could you pick me up?” Eren asked him if he could get a ride, and Levi told him he could. “I’ll be over there tomorrow evening Eren.” Eren grinned as he felt his face heat up. Levi’s voice sounded so warm, and he wondered how it never cracked like his voice did. After Eren gave directions to his house, they said goodbye and hung up.   ===============================================================================     “What time is that boy supposed to be here?”, Carla asked. She was standing at the front door, tugging on her coat. “He said afternoon, so it should be sometime soon.”, Eren answered. His eyes flicked to the clock over the mantle, seeing that it was now 4:36 P.M., and he fought the urge to stand by the door and watch for Levi. “Alright, don’t make a mess of my house Eren. Mikasa is in charge, so do as she says. If I come back tomorrow and my house is a mess, you’ll scrub the house from top to bottom after you get the belt.” Eren flinched at the mention of the belt. “Yes ma’am. We’ll just be working on our essays for English, and maybe the packet for science.”, he told her. “Is Grisha going to be here tonight? What do we do for dinner?”   “He might come home, then again you know how the ER is, so he might get stuck there all night. I’ve ordered pizza, so it should get here around six, I gave Mikasa the money to pay. Eren, whatever you dirty, clean up. I fucking mean it.” “Yes, ma’am.” “Alright, I’m leaving now. I’ll be back tomorrow.”   Eren closed the door after she walked out, locking it. He didn’t expect Grisha back tonight, especially if he was working in the ER. He walked into his room and plopped down on the bed, laying on his stomach and turning on the T.V. He closed his eyes, and drifted off to sleep.   He was woken by Mikasa poking him in the shoulder.   “Eren.”   “Mikasa? Leave me alone, I’m tired.”, Eren mumbled to his sister.   “Adorable.”   Eren jumped up at the sound of the second voice. He spotted Levi standing in front of his bed, book-bag slung over his shoulder, Mikasa standing to the side of the bed. “Pizza’s here.” She turned to Levi, “Pepperoni okay with you?” Eren watched Levi nod his head, dropping his bag by Eren’s desk. Eren watched Mikasa walk down the hallway while he rolled off his bed, and he pressed the remote to turn off the T.V. while grey eyes watched him. He was trying to keep his blush to a minimum as he walked over to Levi and threw his arm over the boy’s shoulder.   “Hi, Levi.”   “Hey Eren. Come on, I’m starving.”   They walked down the hall and entered the kitchen, where Mikasa had set the pizza box in the middle of the table and was already eating a slice of pizza.   “You don’t pray before you eat do you?”, she asked with her mouth full.   “Not religious. But thanks for asking.”, was the reply she got from Levi.   Eren asked Levi what he wanted to drink, and got them each a soda. They sat down and tore into the pizza. Eren tried being subtle, watching Levi, but he soon felt a foot on his leg and looked over at Mikasa. She was giving him a questioning look and he shook his head slightly. When they were all done, Eren put the pizza box in the trash and led Levi back to his room.   “So since we’re on break and my mom’s gone, we can stay up as late as we want. You can have my bed and I’ll take the floor, if you don’t want to share the bed. I also picked out a bunch of scary movies. You like scary movies right? They’re my favorite. Or we could actually work on homework if that’s what you want to do.” Eren was talking animatedly, occasionally using his hands when he was particularly excited. Levi just sat on the edge of the bed, watching Eren walk back and forth.   “I think I’ll settle for a shower first, Eren.”   This one sentence made Eren stop mid-step.   Trying, and failing, to control his blush, Eren looked away from Levi’s gaze. “Yeah, sure. Come on, you can use my shower stuff.” Levi followed Eren down the hallway, and turned right, and into the large bathroom. Eren pointed to the left side of the bathtub, “That’s my stuff. Over there is Mikasa’s. I don’t know if you want to smell like strawberries or not.” Eren laughed and showed Levi which knobs were hot and cold. “Go ahead and get in, I’ll bring your bag in here for you. Towels are in the cabinet right there.” Eren pointed, and then walked out and shut the door.   He waited until he heard the shower turn on, and the clinking of the shower curtain closing, before grabbing Levi’s bag. When he picked it up, a folded piece of paper fell out, with two different handwriting styles on it. Curiosity urged him to pick up the paper, and unfolded it. It looked like notes that were passed back and forth between two people, and Eren recognized Levi’s handwriting. He could only guess the slanted, messy letters and cute little doodles belonged to Hanji.   Ravioli!   Eren chuckled.   What? If the teacher catches us passing notes again, I’ll hang you from the flagpole. His breath smells like shit, and I do NOT want him in my face like last time.   Erwin’s noticed...   Noticed what?   Your little crush of course! You know nothing escapes the all-knowing EYEBROWS OF DOOM.   Eren saw a face with abnormally large eyebrows and a mushroom cloud beside it. He hadn’t met Erwin, but knew he was on the football team. He was one of the popular kids, and a grade above Levi, Hanji, and himself.   Shut the fuck up you four-eyed freak. I don’t have a ‘crush’ on anyone. What the fuck am I? 8?   I think a certain brunet has caught my little ravioli’s eye.   I will stab you.   Then who would help you with your math homework? :’(   Erwin’s smart, he’d help me.   THAT’S WHY HIS EYEBROWS ARE SO BIG. THEY’RE FULL OF SECRETS! XD   DO NOT QUOTE MEAN GIRLS TO ME YOU SHIT.   Shit, I think the teacher saw.   Then stop writing me you idi   The note stopped and Eren couldn’t help but laugh. He loved Hanji’s and Levi’s friendship, because they were polar opposites but still continued to remain really good friends.   He heard the water turn off and looked at the clock, seeing Levi had only spent about eight minutes in the shower. He quickly tucked the note back into the side pocket and walked to the bathroom door, knocking and hearing a soft ‘come in’ before cracking it open and putting the bag on the counter by the door.   When Levi stepped into his room, dressed in a shirt way to big for him and pajama pants that were at least half a foot longer than his legs, Eren quickly gathered up a pair of basketball shorts and boxers, heading for the bathroom.   “I’ll take a quick shower and then we can watch a movie. Pick out the scariest one.”   He took one of the quickest showers of his existence.   Eren walked into his room, and didn’t miss the way Levi’s eyes lingered on his shirtless torso. He felt like teasing, so he posed with his arms raised, bent at the elbow like he was showing off his muscles.   “Like what you see?”   He wiggled his eyebrows for emphasis. He watched Levi’s cheeks heat up to a light pink, and a smirk appeared.   “You wish.”   Levi was situated on Eren’s bed, with a throw blanket wrapped around his shoulders. Eren sat next to him and pulled another blanket over his legs.   “Which movie did you pick out?”   Turned out Levi picked out one of the few horror movies in his DVD collection that he hadn’t watched yet. It was Dead Silence, a creepy movie about a ventriloquist, her dolls, and a family curse. It did an excellent job of freaking Eren out, and he even hid his face behind Levi’s shoulders a few times. When that movie was over, Eren picked another movie out. This time, they watched The Mist. Eren had read the book, and was excited when Grisha bought the movie for him.   Eren asked Levi is he had ever read the book, and he said he didn’t read much.   Turns out, the movie actually scared Levi a little. When one of the giant bugs hit the window, Eren felt the boy beside him jump and mutter ‘goddamnit’ under his breath. The jump scares in the movie were pretty good, but to Eren, no movie could ever compare to the book. Towards the end of the movie, they had slumped down on the bed, and right as the group left the store, he heard Levi’s breathing even out. Eren leaned forward and peered over Levi’s shoulder, seeing his eyes closed and mouth parted slightly, letting small puffs of air escape.   Eren watched the ending, and turned off his TV and DVD player. He was too tired to get into the floor, so he just laid beside Levi, drifting off to sleep.   He awoke a couple of hours later, attempting to shift to a different position but something was holding him in place. He squinted his eyes open, and looked down, seeing Levi’s arm thrown over his chest and his other arm under his head, fingers running through Eren’s hair. Levi was definitely asleep, and Eren smiled to himself. He couldn’t help but laugh at the fact that as much of a hard ass as Levi acted, he would cuddle the hell out of anyone within distance while asleep.   Eren shifted a little, careful not to wake Levi, and fell back asleep.   ===============================================================================     When Eren awoke, Levi was already gone. He dressed for the day and walked into the kitchen, seeing Levi already there eating a bowl of cereal and Mikasa eating some waffles. He yawned as he told them good morning, and grabbed a bowl and also ate some cereal. Levi asked him what he wanted to do today, and Eren told him he was going to show him his secret place.   Of course, Mikasa and Armin had been there too, so it wasn’t so secret.   The boys put on their shoes and out the door they went. They made sure to wear long-sleeves and jackets, gloves, and hats. Eren wouldn’t deny that Levi looked adorable as hell in his grey beanie. Levi followed Eren through the woods, the dogs following behind and wagging their tails. After walking for half an hour, they finally reached it. Eren turned and faced Levi, grinning with red cheeks and a red nose. His friend looked the same, the red making an adorable contrast to Levi’s pale skin.   “This is where I come when the world gets to be too much for me.”   Levi looked at the abandoned house. It was an old cabin, with a screened porch, and a fire place made with mud as cement. The roof was sagging, and it even had a well off to the side. Eren led Levi inside, where it was still completely furnished. A calendar hung on the wall, the year dating 1967. Dishes were in the sink, beds with sheets were still made, a couch and two lounge chairs surrounded the old fireplace.   Levi ignored the urge to scrub everything clean.   Eren took an old blanket out of a closet and laid it over the couch, patting the seat next to him. He watched as Levi looked around and took everything in, walking over to him and sitting down. “I like to come out here and draw, or work on homework. The dogs stay outside, and they let me know if anything is out there.” Eren said this as he grabbed his backpack and pulled out his science packet. “It’s quiet here, and I can concentrate. It’s not too cold either because, by some miracle, the windows are still intact and sealed, so no cold air comes in. Plus they had a ton of blankets, so I’ve just taken to borrowing one when I get cold.”   He watched as Levi’s gaze settled on him, and a small smile appeared.   “This place is actually really cool. I wish I had a place like this near my home. Some place I could escape to.” Eren didn’t push Levi to elaborate further, if Levi wanted to tell him, then he could in his own time.   They sat together for the next three hours, working on their science packet together, and writing rough drafts of their essays for English. They made their way back to Eren’s house around four, with Levi saying his Uncle would be picking him up soon. They arrived just before said uncle pulled into the drive, honking the horn. Eren’s mom still wasn’t back yet. Eren walked Levi to the door, and thanked him for coming to stay the night. Levi told him he wouldn’t mind doing it again. Eren was looking at his shoes when he felt arms slide around him.   Levi was hugging him.   Eren blushed and put his arms around Levi’s shoulders,   “Bye, Levi. You can call anytime, just not like, super late at night.” Eren laughed.   Levi pulled back, “Some of us sleep at night, so you don’t have to worry about that Eren.” A small smile on Levi’s lips. A loud honk made them pull apart, and Levi looked irritably out of the window beside the door.   “Well, I’ll see you later. Bye Eren.” Eren watched out of the window as Levi hopped into his Uncle’s car, and didn’t move until they were out of sight.   He went to his room, and threw himself on the bed. His mom and Grisha weren’t back yet, and Mikasa had walked up the road to Ymir’s house. He was hardly ever home alone, so he didn’t take the opportunity for granted.   He quickly got up and locked his bedroom door.   He stripped himself until he was naked, and laid back down on his bed. He looked over to the pillow that Levi’s head had occupied the night before, and saw Levi’s pajama shirt laying there.   He couldn’t believe his luck.   He grabbed the shirt, and brought it to his nose, taking in Levi’s scent. It smelled of strawberries (he grinned, knowing that Levi had in fact, used Mikasa’s soap), and something else he couldn’t place. It was only very faint, but it was strong. As he continued to picture Levi, sleeping, smiling, laughing, he grew hard.   He took himself in his hand, and began to tug lightly on his member. He brought Levi’s shirt back up to his nose, and inhaled deeply. He moaned quietly, speeding his hand up and clutching himself more firmly. He began to whisper Levi’s name, over and over, like a mantra. He could feel the heat of release coil in his lower abdomen, and knew he was close. He clenched his eyes shut, but still saw Levi. His grey eyes, staring back at Eren, he imagined that voice telling him to come.   Come for me, Eren.   He cried out, a garbled version of Levi’s name, as he came into his hand and onto his stomach. He lay there, panting, still clutching Levi’s shirt with his clean hand.   As he came down from the high of his orgasm, he reached for his box of tissues and cleaned himself up. He got re-dressed, and folded Levi’s shirt, tucking it under his pillow. It was the first time he had ever jacked off thinking about anyone else. He felt a weird tugging in his chest, and he realized it was because he missed Levi.   He didn’t feel like laying around, so he made his way down the hall. He decided he could clean before his mom came home, and maybe when she saw the house clean, she wouldn’t be in such a bad mood. But one thing clung to Eren’s mind.   He knew he wouldn’t get much sleep tonight, sleeping alone in his bed. Chapter End Notes If you haven't seen Dead Silence or The Mist, I highly recommend them. They're pretty rad movies. ***** Chapter 6 ***** Chapter Notes See the end of the chapter for notes “I like you a lot. Will you go out with me?”   Eren stared.   Jean stared back.   “Um.”   They continued to stare at each other, both faces red with embarrassment.   “I don’t, um, I...don’t know what to say,” Eren said, stuttering.   “You could say yes?”, Jean gave him that adorable lopsided grin.    It was now April, and Eren had just turned thirteen the previous month. They were on spring break, and Jean was staying the night at Eren’s place. Armin was on vacation at a family home on the lake with his parents and grandfather, Levi, Erwin, and Hanji were at the beach with her parents, and Krista and Ymir had invited Mikasa to stay with them for a few days at Ymir’s place.    “Jean, I don’t know. My mom is really against me dating anyone, let alone boys. She says it’s wrong,” Eren wasn’t sure what he wanted. Sure, he liked Levi a lot, and they had spent more and more time together in the past few months. But Levi didn’t even act slightly interested in him as more than a friend, which was fine with Eren. He’d rather have Levi in his life as a friend than not at all.    Jean had been flirting with him more and more as of late. It took Connie, Sasha, and Armin to point it out to him. And now he caught himself looking at Jean and blushing when he’d get caught staring. Jean wasn’t a bad guy, and he was popular among the boys and girls of all grades.   “My parent’s don’t like it either, but they know that as an alpha, I won’t be able to choose who my mate is, boy or girl. Your mom should realize the same. When we turn twenty- two, and we experience our first heat, our mates are the only person who can truly sate us. That’s what Armin told me anyway, because he researches that shit you know. I mean, yeah, I might not be with my true mate when I go through my first heat, and if I’m with a beta or omega, they can still help, it’ll just take longer to make the heat go away.”   Eren was getting more alpha and omega education from a boy his age than from his own parents. Grisha had wanted to explain it from a doctor’s point of view, to both him and Mikasa, but their mother said they were too young.    Eren thought in silence, looking at the floor, face flushed.   Dating Jean wouldn’t be so bad would it?    “Alright, fine. I’ll be your boyfriend.”   Jean’s smile lit up the room, Eren returned the smile.   “Can I hold your hand at school?”   Eren nodded.   “Can I kiss you?”   “Uh, I think so? I’ve never....kissed anyone...before...”, Eren muttered.   Jean’s laugh made Eren look up, “Neither have I”, and they laughed together.   They went outside, skateboards in hand, and spent the rest of the day enjoying each others’ company.    ===============================================================================     It was the day before school started back, Jean was leaving Eren’s house, his mother waiting outside to pick him up. Eren’s mother was upstairs in her room, Mikasa in the kitchen out of sight.   “I’ll see you tomorrow Eren, goodnight.”   “Yeah, goodnight Jean.”   Then Eren felt lips on his. It was quick, but sweet. Eren tasted Jean’s mint gum on his lips.   He felt arms around him, and he returned the hug.   “Later, Eren.”    “Bye, Jean.”    ===============================================================================     Eren had expected to get a few weird looks, but he didn’t expect the glares and threatening notes in his locker.    All of his friends were shocked, which was to be expected, but said they were happy for the two, and they made a cute couple.   Levi didn’t say much, just that he was happy for Eren.   Eren felt something was bothering him, but thought that since Levi was a blunt person to begin with, he would tell Eren if there was a problem.    Now, May, the school year was ending, and everyone was buzzing with excitement. Exams were over, and each grade got an entire day out in the field and courtyard to just hang out with friends. The next two days were for people to make up tests, so they were optional.    Their group was outside, sitting in the grass, just talking or gossiping.    At one point, Jean pulled Eren over to the side, quietly.    He wouldn’t meet Eren’s eyes.   “Jean what’s wrong?”   “I want to break up, Eren. I won’t get to see you or talk to you as much during the summer, so.”   Eren was shocked, he thought him and Jean had been doing fine, considering neither of their parents knew of their relationship.   “That’s....fine Jean. You know you can tell me anything, right? I still want to be friends if that’s okay.”   Jean nodded, and his grin was back. They joined their group, and Eren saw that Hanji and Levi had joined them while he and Jean were talking.   Armin asked him if everything was alright, and he told him about the breakup. Armin hugged him and said he was so sorry, in a way, more upset than Eren was.   Armin was too sweet and pure for this world.   Word got around fast, of course, and then the whole group knew.    It was a lot of work reassuring everyone that ‘no, he didn’t cheat on me’, or ‘oh my god, we just kissed like twice’.    The school year ended, and Eren got hugs from everyone, willing himself not to cry.    He sat in his usual seat on the bus, staring out the window. He spotted Levi, and then Erwin, who threw his arm around Levi and pulled him close.   Erwin kissed Levi on the cheek.   They got in the same car together.   Eren didn’t cry.   He did not cry.   Not until he was home in his room. Chapter End Notes This chapter is trash and I'm so sorry. I'll probably revise later. Please drop_by_the_archive_and_comment to let the author know if you enjoyed their work!