ONE ʙʏ ONE

ᴛʜɪʀᴛʏ-ғɪᴠᴇ

Eren gripped a baseball bat with threatening spikes. The hallway was empty, and Kenny's voice was distant. Eren was trembling vigorously, so Jean nudged him.

"Hey, we're ok. And when we get out, how about we have a normal date?"

Eren chortled, "You're asking me that question now?" Jean chuckled. "But yes, I really do."

He didn't really, but he couldn't go with Levi. Jean was his best chance, and right then, he was his strongest defense. Hange, Zeke, and Connie crept out first, blades held firm. A pair of footsteps began creeping up, and Levi could be heard talking to Carla.

"I'll take care of Levi. I have a score to settle with him," Eren planned, "You take the others out quickly, and make little noise."

Marco hesitated. "What about your mother?"

"That's not my mother anymore."

Hange gave a wistful but cheerful glance to him before gesturing for the others to follow her. They disappeared into a doorway further down the hall, leaving Eren to fend off Levi. Eren closed the door to the red room behind him and sighed, mentally preparing for anything.

Levi and Carla appeared around the corner with towels and a bottle of water. They froze when they noticed Eren smiling at the end of the hall. Levi handed the towels to Carla and reached for his sleeve.

'He stashes syringes in his sleeve. I need to get them away from him first.' Eren noted. "Levi, can we talk...alone?"

The raven was thrown off at first. He looked towards the bat and raised a brow. "Drop the bat first."

Eren reluctantly leaned the bat against the hallway wall. He knew he had to trick Levi, so he gathered the courage to walk up to him. Levi recoiled a bit as Eren embraced him.

"Does this mean you're finally letting all this chaos go and finally accepting what's good for you?" Carla wondered, handing Eren a water bottle. He took a sip, swishing his mouth clean.

Eren looked towards Levi, who was still was suspicious, and nodded. Carla sighed with content, happy to see her son accept her future son-in-law.

"I'll leave you two be." Carla left, luckily walking away from the red room.

Levi eased, not making any move towards his syringes. He glance over Eren's shoulder to the red room.

"Let's talk in the room, then." Levi suggested, having suspected that Eren let the others go.

Eren was quick to stop him by laying a hand on Levi's face gently. "I said alone. It's our moment, not their's."

Hearing the word 'our' shocked Levi, and a grin pricked the corners of his lips. Of course, he was suspicious, but he was willing to fight off an attack if he got to hear words like that from his love.

Levi gestured for Eren to follow him. As they walked, they passed Armin and Erwin carrying cleaning supplies. They nearly tripped over their own feet, seeing Eren free from his binds.

"Stand down, and do as you're told," Levi commanded.

Erwin shot a squinted look at Eren, trying to read him. Eren slipped an arm around Levi's waist and leaned close to the raven as the two walked away, staring Erwin in the eye with a challenging glare. The blond darted his gaze away and began guiding Armin back to the red room.

'I'm sorry, Armin.' Eren thought to himself as he saw Connie and Zeke creep up behind them.

Levi guided Eren to what seemed like a storage room. As the Levi shut the door behind them, Eren quickly formulated a plan to get Levi's weapons away from him. Walking there, he noted Levi's gun holster, syringes, and secret hand knife that was stashed in his pocket.