The Exchange Student

Chapter 11

"Grisha came home last night, so I told him you were at Armin's. He has to go on an impromptu trip to Japan. He's leaving on Friday evening. You'll see him before he leaves, but probably tomorrow too."

"Oh. How long is he leaving for ?"

"For a month," sighed Carla.

"He's leaving you for a month ?! With barely a day's notice ?"

"It's not his fault, he couldn't have known beforehand ; he was just as surprised as I was, darling."

"Mom ..."

Carla's lips curved upwards half-heartedly, as she rubbed the back of her hand over her right eye. "I wasn't expecting it, so it's a shame, especially since I see him so little when he is actually here."

"Mom, it's not fair for you."

Carla shook her head, shooting him a small, reassuring smile. "It's fine. Now," she clapped her hands together, "I would very much like to settle down and have one of our movie nights. Put on a film Eren, I'll go grab something to snack on."

They both headed over to complete their tasks, until Carla turned back to Levi, who was heading for the stairs. "Come back here, you're watching it with us !"

Levi stopped in his tracks, his eyes flickering between his left and his right. "I don't want to intrude."

"Don't be silly, you're more than welcome." Levi turned to look at her. "It doesn't bother Eren either, right honey ?"

Eren didn't feel pressured to answer yes, it came out instinctively. "Of course not."

Levi hesitated for a minute, then moved towards Eren and Carla, who had both settled down on the couch with a soft blanket covering their knees, one of the ones that Eren and Levi had used previously. He sat down gingerly, a little further from Carla and her son then they were from each other.

The movie began, the red letters spelling out "searching" fading into white.

Carla circled an arm around both boys on either side of her, pulling them closer to her, until they rested against her shoulders. She softly kissed both their heads, smiling as she felt Eren unconsciously snuggle deeper into her body. Levi had tensed up when he got pulled nearer to Eren's mother, but Carla felt oddly comforted by the tension fading from his body the longer she hugged him.
She sighed with a smile, content.

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"I don't know what I would do if you disappeared like that ..."

"I'm not going anywhere Mom." He snuggled into the creek of her neck, playing with her hair. Eren could see she was affected by Grisha's unplanned leave, and he was doing his best to make her feel better.

She passed her thumb over his soft cheek, covering him with a gaze full of love so strong she couldn't express it with words. Instead, she hugged him tightly with her left arm, her right one still around Levi. He didn't budge, but he didn't move away either.

The timer on the oven beeped, dragging out a heavy exhale from Carla, announcing the end of the embrace. She moved to get up, but Levi beat her to the punch.

"Leave it to me, I'll go take it out. Will I put it on the metallic grill ?"

"Oh thank you Levi ! You didn't have to."

"It's nothing." The raven left the sitting room to get the chicken breasts Carla had put into the oven halfway into the movie.

"The minute he walked into this house, he didn't strike me as a cuddly person. Turns out he's quite pleasant to hug," Carla thought aloud.