AOT Oneshots

Eruri HS AU Because I Still Say So (Pt. 2)

Crap, crap, crap.

Levi hurries through the hall to his next class with his head ducked down under his hood, regretting every on of his life decisions leading up to this moment.

Nice going, Levi. Meet a cute guy for 5 minutes and kiss him.

He stops short and slaps his forehead, hard. He gets some strange looks and whispers, but that's nothing new.

He makes his way to PE. As he walks through the metal doors to the gym, he silently prays that he won't find...

Erwin.

Dammit.

Erwin stands in the center of a group of jocks, laughing and talking to them like it's the most natural thing in the world. As if those dudes aren't the size of mountains. Next to him stands a smiling person in goggle glasses, laughing loudly.

He tries to walk past unnoticed, but Erwin, of course, notices him.

"Levi! Over here!"

Levi winces and tries to keep walking, but Erwin begins walking to him and he reluctantly turns to avoid the embarrassment of being dragged over like a child. "Yes?" he asks, trying to keep the blush from his cheeks.

The group of boys behind Erwin snicker and jostle one another.

"Yo, Levi. What's that on your face? Did you forget your gender, or...?"

Erwin turns and glares at the boys. "What's that on your face?"

The boy reaches up to touch his face confusedly.

"Nevermind. Just that sad attempt at facial hair."

He scoffs. "Yeah, sure, says you."

"Eloquently said, my dear sir. Now that we've established how so incredibly unintelligent you are, kindly walk away before you embarrass yourself further."

The group walks away, mumbling out retorts that no one hears.

Erwin turns back to Levi and smiles. "Now that they're gone..."

The student with glasses bounces up behind Erwin and smiles.

"Hi! You must be Levi! Erwin's told me all about you in the past few minutes, which is impressive because he hardly ever talks a lot, but now all he can think about is you, and he said that your hair is really fluffy and your eyes are-"

Erwin whips around and shushes them, face turning red.

"Oh, right, where are my manners? My name is Hange Zoë, but call me Hange. I prefer they/them pronouns, but call me whatever you what to, I don't care. I've never really understood gender. Like, why do you have to define yourself based on something people decided you were? Why do you have to pick one at all? Anyways, I like science and unsalted almonds and talking. All the time. As you can probably tell."

Erwin smiles awkwardly - cutely - and laughs softly.

"Yeah, sorry about them. They can be... a lot. I know them from my old school."

Oh, so they knew each other before. "So, are you guys..."

Hange laughs. "Oh, no chance. Erwin's too... stoic. He's all like..." they imitate an over dramatically bored face which is surprisingly accurate. It makes Levi laugh, which is also kind of a sigh of relief that they're not a couple.

Erwin laughs too and swats Hange's arm. "I'm going to go fill up my water bottle. Don't break anything."

"We'll see."

Erwin walks away and Levi watches him until he's out of sight. Before long, though, Hange pounces.

"Soooo, spill."

"Huh?"

"About the kiss!"

"H-he told you about-"

"Of course he did, silly! He's my best friend. Sooo, tell me about it! I wanna know all the juicy details."

For whatever reason, Levi knows he can trust them. He drops his voice.

"I met him in class. He got me out of trouble and talked to me when no one else did. He ate lunch with me and we talked about risks, and he told me to take one risk today. So I did."

"OOOO!" they squeal, clapping their hands in excitement. "That's sooo romantic. You should go kiss him again. But for real."

"What?!"

"He's alone in the hall! You've been going here awhile, right? You know the fountain he's going to is never used. But he insists the water is cleaner. So go up to him and kiss him!"

"I-I don't know- I mean, I can't-"

"Sure you can! Cmon dude! Do you like him or not?"

"I mean, I guess..."

"Exactly! When I like someone, I kiss them right away!"

"Of course you do."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing. Just... fine."

"Yes! Wooo! Levi! Levi!" They begin chanting as Levi grabs his water bottle and walks down the halls.

He arrives and sees Erwin leaning against the wall as the automatic fountain fills his bottle. The sun in the window lights him from behind and makes his edges glow.

He spots Levi and waves. Butterflies have made a home in his stomach.

He walks over and sets his bottle by the sensor when Erwin removes his.

"About earlier..." Erwin beings.

"What about it?"

"I don't know what you meant by it, but-"

"You dumbass! I kissed you, therefore I like you. You like me back, you kiss me back. There's nothing more to it."

He seems startled. "You kissed me on the cheek, so I couldn't kiss back. So how will you know-"

Levi stands on tiptoe again - which is kinda humiliating, but hey, short people problems - and properly kisses Erwin.

This kiss is more than the peck from earlier. It's less spontaneous and sweeter and calmer. It feels like sunlight hitting a cold glass of water, turning the droplets on the glass to rainbows.

Erwin kisses him back.

They stay like that long after the bottle at the fountain overflows, until a voice breaks the silence.

"YAY!"

Levi falls off balance and falls to the side, barely keeping himself upright. Erwin looks up, eyes wide. Hange stands triumphantly at the entrance to the hallway, grinning ear to ear.

"You did it, Levi! I knew you could."

Levi's ears heat up and he stumbles over his words. "I- we-"

"Oh, shut up and enjoy the moment, would you?" Hange cries, running forward and hugging them both. Normally Levi would pull back immediately, but something stops him. It feels like someone knows him. He feels seen. Like he belongs in this group.

So he stands happily in the hall in the embrace of the two outcasts he met today, who are now the people who know him best in this school.