Awake My Soul - Ereri

Chapter 17 - Official First Dates

 "So where are we going?" Eren looked at Levi hopefully, he'd been trying to drag the answer out of him all week, but so far he'd had no luck. Levi plainly refused to tell Eren, what he had planned for their date. Eren had expected him to have to organise the details of the date himself, but Levi had surprised him and had informed Eren that he'd organised something a little over a week ago. Not that he had let Eren know what they were doing. Eren was practically bouncing with anticipation as he stared over at a poker faced Levi.

"I told you, it's a surprise." Levi said, staring at the road ahead of them. Eren huffed and crossed his arms and staring out the window. They were travelling along the highway and they'd been in the car for over an hour.

"I mean, we're on the way there, why can't you tell me?" Eren whined. He knew he sounded childish, but he really wanted to know.

"Because I want it to be a surprise." Levi stated simply, he gave Eren a soft smile, knowing how much the secret was killing him.

"But I hate surprises." Eren lied, it was worth a try. Now Levi laughed loudly and happily, just that sound made Eren feel ecstatic. He didn't get to hear it often. Eren thought that he could probably only count on one hand the number of times he'd heard Levi truly laugh. But it dragged Eren out of his whiny huff as he looked over to the laughing boy.

"What? Why are you laughing at me?" Eren smiled, he'd meant to sound angry but he couldn't, not with Levi laughing like that.

"I'm not." Levi's laugh drew to a close, but he still looked out at the road with a big smile on his face.

"Yes, you are." Eren turned to face Levi, his whole body moved closer to the driver.

"It's just" Levi paused, "You make me really happy Jaeger." Eren's heart stopped beating momentarily and he beamed at Levi. Levi's hand slid over to rest on Eren's knee and Eren placed his hand over Levi's, smiling up at the older boy. Eren moved Levi's hand to his mouth where he kissed his palm gently, before intertwining his fingers with Levi's. Eren realised; as he observed Levi staring at the road, a small look of concentration on his face, and his small hand against his own, and the way that his hair was parted nicely, resting just in front of his eyes; that he loved Levi. It was a scary thought, and one that he knew he couldn't share with the other boy next to him. Eren understood that Levi wasn't ready for that emotional connection with Eren, and Eren doubted that Levi would ever be. It didn't matter to Eren, he didn't mind. Eren didn't need to hear it from Levi; he would be able to tell, without Levi telling him. But Eren so desperately wanted Levi to stop the car right that moment so he could tell Levi over and over again. He wanted to tell Levi, every morning and every night. And there was a small part of Eren who desperately wanted to hear Levi say it back. But Eren knew that Levi wouldn't want to hear Eren's declaration and there was no way that he would hear Levi's. So instead he said,

"You make me really happy too, Levi"

The way Eren said Levi's name, almost made him lose control of the car. It was dripping with emotion, and for some reason it made Levi feel important. He was important to this amazing boy sitting next to him. Eren was staring out the window smiling, but Levi noticed a slight frown upon his face also.

"What's wrong?" Levi asked the younger boy.

"What?" Eren said pulled out of his train of thought. "Oh, nothing." Levi could tell that he was lying, but he would ask later, he didn't want to ruin their day. Maybe Eren could tell that Levi was worried about him because he gripped Levi's hand tighter.

"It's nothing you need to worry about." He clarified. Levi looked at Eren's features. He had a soft look on his face and seemed kind of sad. How anyone could be happy but sad at the same time baffled Levi.