Pen-Pals \\Ereri//

11

"Feel like meeting some new people?" Levi broke the silence in Eren's room a few minutes later. Eren furrowed his eyebrows, trying to decipher what Levi was talking about. "We can head to that party." Levi clarified, and Eren shook his head slightly.

"Not tonight, sorry. I'm fine now if you want to go back. I didn't mean to make you leave." Levi sighed, looking over at the boy who was sitting on his bed with his knees to his chest.

"No point now, I'll just go to the next one. Want to do something?"

"Just us?" Eren asked, and Levi nodded. He stood up from Eren's bed and offered Eren his hand. The brunette looked between Levi's hand and the back of his head before standing with the shorter of the two, accepting the offer. He pulled a sweater over his head and put his phone in his pocket.

"Just ignore her if she says anything." Eren warned Levi about the bitch that was downstairs, and Levi nodded. It was odd, Levi didn't seem like he did when the two went to get coffee. He seemed somber.

They made their way down the stairs and neither turned to look at Mikasa as they left, even though Eren could feel her glare as he slipped on a pair of sneakers. They left and Eren slammed the door shut behind them, shivering as the cool night air hit his skin. Levi was already almost in his car, and Eren jogged to catch up.

"Is something wrong?" Eren asked, and Levi sighed.

"Yeah, but I haven't figured out what it is yet." Levi lied, knowing fully why his brain was racing. He hadn't even known Eren for a week, and he still chose him over his friends.

Choosing silence over any more deception, Levi turned his music up and pulled a carton of cigarettes out of the dash. Eren looked over at Levi, who already had a lighter in hand.

"My first time seeing you smoke." Eren commented, and Levi laughed.

"It's not a rare sight, I promise you." His cigarette was held between his lips and he put his car in reverse and back out onto the road. Eren fiddled with the arm rest as the smell of burning tobacco hit his nose, and he scowled. He hated the smell of cigarettes, but he kept quiet. Levi blasted the heat in the car and rolled his and Eren's windows down slightly, as if he could read Eren's mind. "Do you like rum?" He asked.

"I don't really drink." Eren said sheepishly, and Levi chuckled.

"Well, tonight you do. Rum it is."

They drove with no sounds other than Levi's music playing from the speakers, til they pulled up to a ratty old convince store. An open sign flickered in the corner of the window, set up beside a sign that beamed XXX.

Eren looked over at Levi, who was undoing his seatbelt. "I went to school with the dude that works back shift here. I'll be out soon." He watched as Levi climbed the stairs and swung the door open, disappearing inside. Eren rolled his window down all the way and stuck his face out into the fresh air, trying to rid the stagnant smoke that was pouring out of Levi's lit cigarette that laid in his ashtray. Eren could almost gag, but he knew he couldn't fight Levi on it. Fighting would be no good if Eren knew he couldn't win.

Levi was out of the store before his smoke burnt to the filter, walking to the trunk with two bottles of rum, a bottle of Coke and a pack of smokes dangling from his fingers. Eren raised his eyebrows, not exactly sure what the older boy was planning.

Levi dropped himself in the drivers seat so hard the car shook, grabbing the filter and stealing the last two drags before throwing the cotton out of his window.

"Off we go." Levi mumbled as he reversed out of the dodgy stores parking lot, before stomping on the gas and speeding down the empty street.