Love Me Not - {riren au}

Love Me Not ~ 68

I literally have the flu, so I actually have time to write !! (I'm student teaching m-f, and have two part time jobs on top of it, so I'm usually very very busy) I'm so happy to finally get a little break!

-

It seemed like hours had passed.

The two were left with an empty box and exhaustion.

Eren couldn't get up from Levi's bed. His hips and lower back were sore.

Levi had his arms hooked around Eren's waist. Eren rested his head on Levi's chest.

Eren looked up at Levi and kissed him softly.

Levi returned the kiss and pulled away a moment later. "Hope you don't have plans for tomorrow morning."

Eren laughed. "Shut up."

The two sat in silence for a bit. Before Eren finally blurted, "I have a brother."

"...what?" Levi looked at Eren, brow raised. "Did you just say you have a brother?"

"That's what happened before I came back. When I went home, my brother was sitting at the kitchen table. I have a brother. I don't know what to even think." Eren sighed. "His mom is alive in another country and apparently she's toxic, but am I the asshole for still feeling jealous? His mom is alive."

"That was a lot." Levi didn't know what to say off the bat. "Well, I'm sure since you lost your mother at a young age, it isn't shocking for you to not understand why someone would leave their live mother behind. You do need to understand though, while your mother may have been a great mother, not everyone is in that position. Not everyone is fortunate and has a loving mother."

Eren wanted to question the other. What did he mean? Was his mother not good to him? "Wait, are you in this position too? I feel like an asshole."

Levi shook his head. "My mom is long gone. She's been dead since I was a kid too, but she was an amazing mother. That I remember. I didn't mean myself in this situation."

"You made me panic. I don't want to sound insensitive." Eren frowned. "My dad was also with someone before my mom. He didn't tell us. My mom didn't even know about his ex wife and son. Isn't that sketchy?" Eren asked.

"It is a little sketchy. I'm sure he had an explanation. You should've stayed and gotten to the bottom of it." Levi shrugged. "Now you're going to go home and open a can of worms trying to get more answers."

"Oh, so, then this never would have happened." Eren added with a soft grin.

"Never mind then." Levi murmured. "Are you staying the night?" He asked.

"Yeah, I think that's for the best. I don't want to deal with my brother right now. That isn't an invitation to pounce on me though." Eren joked, sitting up.

"Don't worry, I'll give you a break for now." Levi got out of bed and walked over to the bathroom. "I'm gonna shower."

"Wait, let's take a bath." Eren stood up and stumbled a bit from his legs giving out. He caught himself.

"Baths are gross." Levi argued. "Sitting in your own warm dirty water."

"But it's so relaxing. Especially with the two of us." Eren walked into the bathroom, taking Levi's hand and guiding him into the room with him.

"Fine." Levi walked in with Eren and started the water for the bath.

"You're the best." Eren embraced the other and kissed his cheek.

"Yeah, yeah." Levi sat at the edge of the tub and waited for the water to fill. He pulled Eren to sit on his lap.

"I can't believe you found out you had a brother and used me as your distraction." Levi chuckled softly."That's so messed up."

"Nooo." Eren argued.

"Lies, you wouldn't have come back if it weren't for that." Levi shook his head.

"Well, I was mad at you." Eren huffed.

"There was no reason to be mad at me. We're together now. All of that was from before." Levi rolled his eyes.

"So..you don't feel threatened from the incident I had with Armin? We literally change in front of each other and sleep in the same bed sometimes." Eren murmured. Would it make the other jealous?

"Weren't you two very close as kids? That's expected from best friends." Levi ran his fingers through Eren's hair. "You should probably put it in a bun so it doesn't get wet."

"I don't have a hair tie." Eren's hair grew a lot at that point and he didn't really care about cutting it.

"I bought some. Check the top drawer." Levi motioned toward the bathroom sink.

Eren stood and opened the drawer. He laughed when he saw the new pack of hair ties. "Only you remember these little things. What's next, my own towel?"

"You have that already." Levi stopped the water once the tub was filled. He climbed in and slowly sat. "You always use that gray one and I wash it in between your visits."

Eren took a moment to comb his fingers through his hair and put it up into a bun. He then stepped into the tub and joined Levi. "The water feels so good. I'm so sore."

"Gee, I wonder why." Levi mumbled sarcastically.

"Stop that." Eren joked. "So, earlier when I came back it seemed like you were on the phone. Did I interrupt something important?"

"It was just Hanji and Erwin. The usual. Sometimes we'll do a group call and just talk. I hate it, but they make me do it." Levi shrugged.

"That's what you do when you have friends." Eren teased. "You talk and talk about random stuff for hours. I heard you tell one of them to basically shut up though. Something you didn't want me to hear?" He asked jokingly.

"I had mentioned you were upset with me and they were giving me advice. That's all." Levi looked down at the clear water.

Eren smiled. "Aw look at that, getting advice from your best friends."

"It's not like I'd take their advice in the end. They're both single for a reason." Levi murmured.

"They don't have to be in a relationship to give good relationship advice." Eren added. "I'm sure Erwin probably has good advice. He seems wise."

"Wise?" Levi raised an eyebrow.

"Why are you so weirded out by that?" Eren laughed. "Don't tell me that's what gets you jealous."

"No." Levi kissed Eren's shoulder and rested his chin on it.

"What time is it?" Eren asked, leaning into the other.

"You came back here and it was practically night so...late. Do you open tomorrow at the book store?" Levi asked.

"No, I have the day off. I should probably go home at a decent time tomorrow so I can deal with the drama." Eren sighed.

-