Dangerous Territory

Cellar Reunion

Eren came back down the hotel staircase, realizing that he needed to be out in public, not stuck in his room with all those dark thoughts. He no longer trusted himself to be alone. He strode swiftly past Wim and Holger, seeing that Daz and Samuel had joined them.

"Oh hey, Jäger!" Daz called out. "We're planning to go to Madame Carly's, get us some girls for the night. You definitely need a woman after a month away in battle!"

Eren felt his stomach twist at the idea. "Yeah, I definitely do, but not tonight. I'd probably just fall asleep on top of her."

"Where are you going?" asked Holger.

"To check on my men. Have fun, you guys!"

Not wanting to hear them talking about prostitutes, or get dragged along, Eren rushed out of the hotel.

He began to walk aimlessly through the streets, looking around at all that had changed. After a month crouching behind walls or sprinting from one cover to the next, he wanted a simple stroll in the sunshine.

He thought it would be nice to go to the cathedral and pray for his lost men. It took him half an hour to walk there, and by that time he had seen the changes to Metz in the month since he left.

Back then, there were still civilians around. Now, the few people not in uniforms had haggard looks. Some were too old to pack up and leave on their own. Others appeared to be too poor and making due by scavenging off the empty houses. Others had defiant looks, too stubborn to abandon their homes and businesses, while a few looked like they had resigned themselves to fate. Almost all the stores were boarded up. The streets were empty and dirty.

This city was now a war zone.

As the spires of the cathedral rose over the tops of roofs, he found himself distracted. Instead of walking inside, he continued on down the street. Although he knew he wanted to offer up prayers eventually, his mind apparently knew what it really needed at that moment.

His feet were heading toward the wine shop.

It was a ways farther down the street. He thought about that final walk he and Levi had, silent in grief at having to say goodbye. Now, he felt anxious about reuniting.

He saw that the wine shop was still open. Although Eren could have stepped in there and not looked out of place, he hesitated.

How could he get to Levi? It would be dangerous to simply walk in there and ask for someone with a Jewish name like Levi. He considered buying a bottle of wine and hoping the shopkeeper recognized him, but that was unlikely.

Just entering might be bad for Levi.

What if the French Resistance no longer trusted him because Eren now knew their hideout?

What if Levi was already gone?

What if Levi wanted nothing to do with him?

After all, it was rather crazy to think that a widowed man like Levi, who had never had romantic feelings for another man in his life, fell for him in the first place. He lost his wife and child, he had been brutally raped, mercilessly tortured—Eren himself had whipped him—and Levi had hesitated so much during their first few weeks together.

What if Levi only gave in because he felt he had to just so Eren would continue to shelter him?

What if Eren really had unintentionally pushed him into it?

What if Levi reconsidered being with a man?

What if he simply didn't want the danger that came with being homosexual?