Press Play - Ereri

Chapter 4

I was sleeping calmly when my computer made a noise. Being the extremely light sleeper that I am, it dragged me straight back into consciousness. Really, it was good that it did wake me up as it was now around five in the afternoon, and a man has to eat and a man has to piss (if you can call me a man, that is). Groggily, I forced myself towards the computer. It was good that I did. Levi had been calling me. Is this guy needy or friendly? I mentally asked myself, but clicked the answer button anyway.

"Hm?" I mumbled, too tired to answer. You see, when you have a messed up sleep schedule like me where you barely sleep at all, sleeping makes you feel even more tired.

When I opened my eyes to look at him, he was in a state. He was shaking, and he looked angry, scared and sad all at the same time. No tears, though; most people tend to wake up crying after something bad happened.

"Levi? What?" I was gobsmacked. This was the biggest amount of emotion that I had ever seen him express up to this point. Actually, that was a dumb thing to say as I barely knew the guy.

"Uh, Eren. Hi. I, um, I had a nightmare and I was wondering if we could talk a bit? I'm scared, you know?" I smiled at him, and he stared at me hopefully.

"Sure," I sighed, but not in a disapproving way, "not like I have anything better to do, is it? Um, you want to talk about it?"

He looked me dead in the eyes, with a cold expression all over his face. "No." It should have sounded like a shout, but he said it so quietly and sharply that it was terrifying.

"Sorry." I breathed, and looked away for a second or two before looking back. Levi was still staring, but the coldness had melted into a soft, warm gaze.

"I'm going to get some tea, wait here." He muttered as he had seen me looking at him staring, if that makes any sense whatsoever.

"Tea? Levi, I thought you were French, not British!" I joked. He rolled his eyes.

"Watch it, brat." I looked around his room after he had left, and it was spotless. Everything was either a stunningly crisp white, or a pale icy blue. Like him. Cold and stunning. Wait...

When he came back, I looked at what he was wearing. An oversized light grey sweater, and long shorts that were clearly meant for in-bed purposes only (no sexual references intended).

"You have extremely good fashion sense, Levi." I blurted out, trying not to laugh.

"Definitely kicking your ass now when I get the chance." He smirked, and I smiled awkwardly.

~~~

A couple of hours later, we were still talking. It was a bit later, and I was sure I heard keys in the front door that happened to be just above my room. Shit, I thought.

My dad came down the stairs to the basement first thing, and I frantically turned off my computer and Skype, and sat in front of my xBox like nothing happened, which wasn't exactly the best idea.

"You've been on that thing all day, haven't you?" My dad yelled, getting red in the face. I looked up at him, not having much of a reaction towards his shouting. It was normal.

"You're back early," I said, purposely avoiding his question and pushing my luck in the process.

"Listen here, you shit'" he was almost screaming at this point, "my train got cancelled, so I went to the bar with a few friends. I called and called, but did you fucking hear? No! You were too wrapped up in your own things to help your own father!"

"You're the adult. Getting home when you're clearly wasted is your problem, not mine. And also, you, friends? I don't believe it." Crap. I'm going to regret this, aren't I?

"In case you didn't realise, Eren, you're an adult now too. But do you have a job? No! Do you do anything around the house? No! And don't you fucking dare speak to me like that, you wouldn't have spoken to your precious mother like that, would you?" He knew how to get me. My mother was something we never spoke of.

"Don't you dare bring her into this! You've been like this ever since she died! Before she died, actually! Did it ever occur to you that I'm like this because of what's happened? Her dying? You being a fucking douchebag to me all of my life?" I shouted, getting hotter and hotter by the second. Tears of frustration were welling up in my eyes.

"You know why, Eren? Because it's your fault she's dead! It's your fault she killed herself. Not mine. Not hers. Yours. I loved her, and you killed her. You piece of shit! You disgust me." His words stung. That was enough. It can't be, can it? I couldn't have- my own thoughts were cut off by me running at the man I called my father clenched-fists first.

I aimed at his face, and hit him right on the bridge of his nose. It made a sickening cracking noise, and he recoiled away from me. There was blood dripping from his nose, and I stood, breathless and shocked at what I'd done. There was an intense look of anger in his eyes, and I wasn't prepared for what would happen.

"I never had two parents," I said softly, but even I could sense a menacing tone in my voice, "just her. I didn't kill her. You did. You took the one parent I had away from me. You're a monster."

With that, he swung one of his own fists at me, and unfortunately for me, even though he was tall and lanky, he was still strong enough to knock me over. I thought I would be fine, but somehow, being the clumsy bastard I am, I whacked my head on the side of my bed and knocked myself out..