Band- It College Years

My best friend

Armin POV
Eren was oddly quiet. He didn't turn the radio on. He drove one hand on the wheel, one hand on the shifter. I eyed him. This was the shell Levi had left behind. My friend was hiding and I didn't know why. I did know Eren had gotten better. Those videos I had sent Levi, they weren't the only ones I had. They were some of the worst. My hand reached up to my shoulder. I still had a scar there from when Eren attacked me. If he ever remembered that... I sighed.
"What?" Eren's dry voice broke into my thoughts.
"You're shutting me out again." I told him.
"I'm sorry." He looked out the window. I waited.
"Do you think..." He stopped then tried again. "Should I be here?" he asked.
"Alive, yes!" I cried catching his wrist. He gave me a weak smile.
"I'm not suicidal any more. Mostly." His lips twitched. He leaned his head back as the night raced past.
"Then what?" I asked. He frowned.
"I don't know. Maybe me going after Levi wasn't the smartest thing..." He muttered. I slapped him. His hand jerked the wheel. He kept us from going in the ditch.
"What the fuck!?" he yelled at me.
"You're looking for Levi, going after him! That's what brought you back to us! Don't you fucking say it wasn't worth it. If Erwin didn't offer that to you...!" I couldn't talk any more as tears ran down my face. Eren pulled off of the road. He hugged me.
"I'm sorry, that wasn't what I meant either. I just don't know if Levi really wants me around. I feel like such a burden to him." He kissed my head.
"You're not ya know. Even if you were he can fucking deal with it." I muttered. Eren chuckled.
"Hey, Eren?" I looked at him as I wiped my eyes dry.
"You going to tell me the real reason you skipped class?" he asked. His smirk telling me he didn't by my earlier explanation.
"The teachers daughter really did have a baby!" I complained.
"But?" He went to pull back onto the road. I reached over to stop him. He looked down at me.
"I don't want to freak you out." I whispered.
"Armin, the only thing that's freaking me out right now is you not thing me..."
"Petra's pregnant!" I blurted. Eren stiffened a second, then burst out laughing. I looked at him. He was doubled up laughing so hard he was crying. I chuckled. Then began to laugh too. It felt good to laugh with him. I had been so worried about the baby and telling my best friend. I knew how fragile Eren's mind was right now.
His large hand clapped me on the back as we began to sober. "God damn it, Army!" he yelled. "Ever since you came into the shop I knew you had to tell me something. I've been freaking out that you were going to say you had cancer or something!" He chuckled.
"Well, I've been freaking out. I'm going to be a father!" I cried.
"Ha, that means I'm going to be an uncle." Eren pressed his forehead to mine. "Don't worry, I swear we will help you no matter what." He promised. He drew back.
"In fact you guys can... well let me talk to Levi about that first but, don't worry ok?" he smiled at me.
"Thank you. You're the best, you know that!" I grinned. He smiled ruffling my hair like he did in the old days. Before pulling back onto the road he turned the radio on. I sat beside him as he sang along. My friend was coming back, more and more each day I saw it. I rubbed the scar. I would never tell him where it came from. I sang along with him as we goofed around until we got to campus.
Once I got into my dorm room, Eren had left I sent Levi another video. Then begged him to delete the one where Eren attacked me. I couldn't risk Eren ever seeing that. He didn't respond. I laid down feeling a lot better about the news Petra told me nearly two months ago.
(Eren POV)
I called Levi, there wasn't an answer. I watched Armin walk into the building as I listened to Levi's voicemail greeting. I told him I was on my way back and hung up. I felt happier than I had in such a long time. Armin, the first of us to have a kid, like really? I shook my head the smile still on my lips. I sang along with the radio as I drove back home. When I pulled in I saw the lights were all off. Fear gripped me. Did Levi leave again? I raced upstairs. The bedroom was empty but his stuff was still there. I looked in the bathroom. As I came out to look around the main room, something caught my eye. Levi was out on the balcony. I sighed. Walking out I bent to kiss him on the head. He blinked. Opening his eyes. They were red. I frowned.
"Eren!" He cried bolting upright to hug me tightly. He kissed me hard on the lips. "I'm so sorry!" He kept repeating as he kissed me. I frowned.
"Sorry about what?" I asked.
"Leaving. I shouldn't have ever left!" He snuggled his head into the space between my shoulder and head. He was kneeling in the chair.
"You weren't in the right headspace to help me." I said. "But what brought this on?" I asked curious. He drew back.
"I talked with Armin, he uh..." Levi sat down picking up his phone. He glanced at a text message. He looked out into the dark. "He told me what you went through."
"Liar." I said he looked back at me. "I know he has videos of me. He won't show them to me, but I know they're pretty bad."
"Yeah." Levi agreed. I knelt down beside him. Laying my head in his lap I muttered.
"If you need space away from me, I get it." I whispered. I went to stand back up, but his hands held me in place.
"No, that's the last thing I want." He muttered. I lifted my head to rest my chin on the arm of the chair.
"Don't say that just because you think I will go back to the suicidal freak I was." I said. "If you need space, I can move back in with my parents..." He shut me up by kissing me.
"No, Eren I want you here beside me. Ugh!" He flung himself back into the chair. "We lived such different lives until we met." He chuckled. "I never dealt with what my uncle did to me. I just buried it like everything else I had no control over. That's why it doesn't bother me to talk about it in general. If I begin to think about it in detail..." his body shivered. He cupped his hands around my cheeks. "I want to tell you everything. I want to share my past with you, and my future."
"Speaking of the future." I chuckled. He looked concerned. "Guess what Armin told me?"
"What?" he asked.
"I'm going to be an uncle." The word my Levi shiver. He blinked.
"Mikasa?" he asked. I barked out a laugh.
"Oh that would go over well!" I chuckled. "No, Petra's pregnant by Armin!" I watched his eyes go huge.
"Holy fucking shit!" He muttered. "But he's just a bean, what the!!!" He exclaimed I giggled.
"I know that's what I thought!" we laughed together. Then Levi stood up suddenly.
"Wait here." He dashed into the bedroom. I sat up in another chair. I could hear him scrounging around for something. He came back a few minutes later. He sat on my lap facing me. Something was clasped in his hands.
"I thought about asking you to marry me." He confided. "One day I will, but neither of us are ready for that. I don't want to ask out of guilt." He stated. I rubbed my hand up and down his back.
"No." I muttered shaking my head. He caught my hand.
"Eren, I've tried to think of something, anything to prove to you I won't leave again. I know I tell you, but I see you don't believe me." He smirked. "Not that I blame you." He added. He lifted his head up to look at the stars above us. Then he took my hand. I felt something being pushed onto my finger. His hand covered it.
"This belonged to my grandfather. If Kenny knew I had it, I'm sure he would have killed me for it. See, mom stole it before she left. It proves I'm an Ackerman." He lifted his hand. On my finger was a man's ring. It was sterling silver with a huge setting. A stone sat their blood red. Etched into it was a rose winding around a cross that somehow looked like a gun.
"This is the Ackerman family crest. This ring has only ever been worn by an Ackerman. I promised mother, that it will never be placed on the hand of anyone who isn't an Ackerman." I looked up at him. Was he telling me?
"Take this, wear it as my promise to you. One day you will be my husband. Until then, we have a lot of shit to sort out." I pulled him to me. Kissing him hard on the lips.
"I love you, Levi. I accept." I smirked. "Oh! I wanted to talk to you."
"Oh yeah, you really are a brat!" He teased. I chuckled. "What?" he asked.
"The left over space above the shop. Let's not make it office buildings." I offered. He leaned back his eyes calculating as he followed my line of thinking.
"You mean..."
"Let's build our home there. It's enough room to make two apartments." I offered.
"Armin and Petra?" he asked. I smiled kissing his nose.
"Yeah." He turned to look back into our apartment. A sad look crossed his face.
"I'll miss this place, it's were I took your virginity." He smirked. I slapped his ass.
"We can keep the couch and bed!" I rolled my eyes. He turned to look back at me.
"Deal." He agreed. He leaned in to kiss me. As his eyes closed, I lifted up my hand. I looked at the ring.
"He never wore it. Mother stole it before gramps could give it to him. It was never Kenny's. I wouldn't give you anything that would remind you of him. If this does, then we can go design you a different promise ring." He offered me. I closed my fist around it.
"No. I know you have few things from your mother. For you to give me one, I know what it means to you." We kissed again. I stood up carrying him into the bedroom. Vowing to myself we wouldn't get much sleep tonight.