The Exchange Student

Chapter 5

Sorry for the delay, I've had some things to deal with.
Anyway, enjoy :)

The streets blurred by in a melody of colors, yellows, blues, greys, reds and greens, an ever-changing rainbow, passing by all the tourists and passersby that seemed to be walking in the streets of LA no matter the season, weather, day or hour. The Hyundai slowed as it reached the parking lot, finally coming to a stop in the middle of the parking space, marked by the two white lines painted on the ground. Eren stepped out of the car, shielding his eyes against the sun as his eyes adjusted to the brightness. Levi attempted to not have to cover his eyes for a minute, resulting in him squinting.
Grisha grabbed the lime green bag containing a couple of towels, snacks, and sunscreen, and changed into tongs so as to not get sand in his shoes. Carla did the same, slipping into a pair of discreet but nice looking white flip flops with some delicate flower designs. The group walked over to a spot on the beach, laying down a towel and a tartan red and black picnic mat.
"Now don't forget to put on sunscreen," began Carla, raising her voice jokingly as she continued, "Even if you keep on only getting a tan and no burns Eren. I will leave the choice up to you Levi, but I would really like you to put some on."

"Fiiine" grumbled Eren, playfully rolling his eyes.

"I appreciate your concern Mrs. Jaeger, even though I usually don't put any on because I don't seem to soak in the sun rays. Uh, unlike Eren. But I don't want you to be worried so ... Would you mind putting it on my back ?" Levi asked timidly, shying away from Carla's softening gaze for the first time.

"Of course honey ! I'm touched that you want to please me. Come here" she smiled, her fine lips turning up, a soft shine in her chocolate brown eyes, as she opened her arms, Levi slowly moving into her motherly embrace.
They stayed put for a minute, before Carla began applying sunscreen on Levi's pale, smooth back once he had removed his tee-shirt, his back hunched over.
Eren watched them, happy that Levi was slowly warming up to Carla, and that he didn't treat her coldly, but with respect.
Carla finished applying the white product, handing it to Levi who thanked her, so that he could finish putting some of it on the rest of his body if he wished. Levi straightened up and started to apply the cream into his chest, his hand passing over the three horizontal lines marking his chiseled abs, of which Eren couldn't help but feel a bit jealous. Once Levi was done he passed the bottle over to Eren, saying something about the sea and walked down to it.
"Are you joining him ?" asked Carla.

"Mhm," responded Eren, his hands sticky as he finished up, hating the feeling.

"Enjoy, I'll be here if you want anything. And", she added, "that does not include food. Unless Levi is hungry, in which case tell me. I think the French people have some sort of a custom called ... Let me think ... «goûter» that's it. I should've asked him the other days in case he takes it too."

"What is that ?"

"It's a break at roughly four or half four where they eat snacks, but they eat almost like a regular meal, with bread, jam, croissants, pains au chocolat, brioche, and other sweet foods" she laughed lightly. "You'd love it."

"Sounds like my type of thing," her son grinned. "But wait how do you even know that ? As far as I know you've never been to France."

"Google exists for a reason my dear boy" Carla said, with an exaggerated knowing face.
Eren laughed, lightly kissing her cheek as he followed the slight dips caused by Levi's footsteps in the golden sand, where he had walked beforehand. Reaching the cerulean water, he looked around for Levi's pitch black hair. He began to get a little worried, until a head popped out of the water a few feet away from him. Phew. Levi shook his wet hair, running a hand through the soaked strands, causing them to be flattened against his scalp. Eren waded out to join Levi, enjoying the feel of the cool water against his skin, making him realize how much he had missed swimming. The last time he had swum in a pool, let alone the sea, was years and years ago. Eren shuddered, forcing his mind to think about something other than that memory slowly resurfacing to his mind, after being kept down for so long.
"Eren" spoke Levi, in greeting.