Artist's Hands [Ereri/Riren Fanfic] [COMPLETE]

Chapter Ten

Eren's POV

While we were in the elevator we had shared some light jokes and shared the coffee I had bought. At first I had thought that he would be a bit more intimidating based on how he had left the last time we met, but it looks like he's trying his best to apologize for it by doing this much. The atmosphere between the two of us seemed as though to cover up what had happened the last time we saw each other, and quite frankly, I liked it. It reminded me of how things used to be with my family, before my mother passed away, before my father became an alcoholic, before my dreams of living with a loving family were shattered. All those thoughts brought me to ponder about what Levi's family was like, he said he'd answer any questions I had so I figured I'd ask him that as my final question before I leave.

When the elevator doors opened I got a sneak peak at the floor number displayed above the doors and saw that we were at the top of the building, he lived in a penthouse. The whole floor was his, like a house built atop of a normal high dollar hotel. I stared in awe as I looked around, but what caught my eye the most was the view of the ocean beyond all the hustle and bustle of the huge city I've worked in since the age of twelve. The view was breath taking, I was lucky I had brought my camera with me, so I decided to walk out onto the over hanging balcony to take a few pictures. The sky reminded me of the day my mother had given me this camera, my birthday, the sky was blue with the hints of sunset dribbling over top of the brilliant colour.

I must've been stuck in my daydream of the past because Levi had sneaked up behind me and by the time I had noticed, he had spoke up in a loud and clear voice. Why did he remind me so much of my mother? What was so unique about him? What made him so special? These thoughts kept swirling in my head until I shook all my thoughts off and put on an embarrassed smile.

" Sorry about that, the view is amazing from up here so I thought I'd take some pictures for my mom's sake." I spoke calmly as I rubbed the back of my neck with my free hand.

Levi had taken another sip from the coffee I had bought and smiled gently, " Don't worry about it, must be nice to have a loving family to go home to." The man spoke softly as he walked outside onto the balcony, leaning against the glass railing looking out to the ocean.

What he had said made me chuckle aloud by accident, but the last bit of his sentence was something that I wished would still be around. A "loving family" isn't what I have anymore, the man next to me must've noticed my changes in character so I decided to tell him my childhood first in exchange that he tell his after.

" Levi... I um, I want to tell you about my childhood if you don't mind that is. However, after I tell you about it I want to hear about yours."

There was a pause, but he agreed to do it. With a sigh of relief, we went back inside and sat down on the lounge chairs in the visiting space that viewed the ocean. Before I started telling him about my childhood, I wanted to know where his sister was at since I haven't seen her when I got here. But right before I even got to ask he beat me to it.

" I'm guessing you're wondering where my sister is at correct? Don't worry so much, she's down in the lobby helping the kitchen make the food and coffee for tonight. After we're done sharing the information the both of us want we can head down there to indulge ourselves to dinner."

I nodded and cleared my throat. One deep breath, and let it out. My mouth opened and began to tell my story of my life up till now.

"As far back as I can remember, I'd always look up to the sky. I'd wonder if there could ever be a day where I could touch the clouds instead of looking at them and comparing them to other touchable items. However, I guess you could say that I was born with a strong passion to explore the world I was born into, a free spirit. My mother was the outdoors loving type while my father was a very well known doctor in the urban cities, our house was located near the Redwoods in California. My parents loved each other deeply as well as they loved me, their only son." I took a few more breaths before continuing, " My life living in that environment didn't last long though, when I was only eight my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. At first I didn't understand but my father kept telling me to smile, for her sake, when he couldn't bring himself to do it. A year went by and it was my birthday, and on that day my mother gave me the last present I'd ever get from her."