AIN'T TALKIN' 'BOUT LOVE

CHAPTER 36 - BREAKDOWN by TOM PETTY (MATURE CONTENT 18+)

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These old elevators drove him crazy. A slight shimmy and a thud of a bell chimed for each floor climbed. Levi gritted his teeth and sighed heavily. Catching his reflection, his eyes were dull, and his shoulders sagged. This had been one hell of a trip, and all he wanted was to be buried inside his boyfriend, his nose in Eren's beautiful hair, and his boyfriend's pleading whispers coaxing him into oblivion. The last floor rang, and the loudest bell seemed to announce his destination.

His eyes roamed over the quiet office, dark, but still lit by a zillion blinking lights all throughout. At the end of the long hall, Levi could see Mina's sifting fingers, flying through all of the files on her desk. The yellow would be his, filled with all the necessary and urgent communications that no one else could do. The green file would be everything he needed to know but could take a shit before reading...things Erwin and Nutjob had taken care of while he was gone.

The demure woman's head lifted as he approached. She took one look at him and said, "Oh no. What happened?"

"Am I that obvious?" He lowered his suit bag on the couch across from her desk and let out a deep breath.

"Well, you always look like this, but much worse tonight," she teased and handed him the yellow folder.

"You're fired Mina." He sat at the edge of the desk and fanned through the folder. "We lost the funding for scholarships."

"Oh no!"

"Yeah. It really sucks."

She waved a hand at him. "I'm not worried, Ackerman," she changed her tone to one of confidence. "You always come through."

Levi narrowed his eyes. "Okay, you're not fired anymore." He glanced around again. "You need to get home before Jim calls the cops on me."

She folded her lunch bag and fit it into her purse. "All bark, that one." She looked around to make sure she'd gotten everything, then stopped and looked at him. "Eren's here."

His eyebrows went up, surprised. "What?"

She smiled. "Yeah, he's been here a couple of hours. Said he wanted to wait for you here instead of home." She patted his chest. "He's a good one."

"Thanks, Mina," he called. "Get Carl to walk you to your car, ok?"

Levi turned to his office door with his stomach full of butterflies. He stepped slowly to the glass door and pushed through easily. The light shone blue on his desk, and behind it, the city lights glittered like diamonds against the sky. He looked to his right and there he was. Eren lay with his back flush against the couch cushions. His knees were pulled up against his chest, and his hands cradled his face, hidden in the shadows.

Levi pulled the ottoman up next to the boy and sat, smiling, his hands in his lap. He wanted to gather him up right then and there and fuck the bejeezus out of him. But it was so enchanting to just watch his chest rise and fall, listening to the tiny purr of breath fall from his nose.

He couldn't help it. He reached forward to wind his fingers into the chocolate tresses. At Levi's touch, Eren groaned softly and tilted his head, blinking at him. Recognition filled his eyes and a bright smile ignited in the darkness. It pulled the Levi like a magnet.

"Hiiiii, baby!" Eren leaned up and wrapped the man in his arms, pulling him down so that they were face to face. "You've been gone so long!"

Levi snorted. "Maybe a couple of days, brat."