Crack of Sunlight (Ereri/Riren)

*~Chapter Seventeen~*

"You wanted the whole truth, correct?" murmured Levi, looking seriously into Eren's eyes. Said teen nodded and, with slight reluctance, Levi withdrew his hand and reached back to pull his shirt over his head. Beneath it, he wore nothing but a simple black muscle shirt.

Even through the shirt, his ribs were visible and his collarbones stuck out almost unnaturally. Unsurprisingly, the rest of his skin was just as pale as his face with the grayish undertone. The crimson hue of his rose tattoo - from the side of his neck, stretching down over his shoulder and collarbone - stood out brightly. It was a gorgeous tattoo; Eren couldn't help but wonder who did it. Accompanying it were two piercings - silver bars on each side of the collarbone. He bore another dark pattern of a tattoo on his right arm, though Eren wasn't paying much attention as to what it was. He couldn't, with the sight of the rest of Levi's body exposed in front of him.

His arms...they were atrocious. Scars marked them up and down all over, particularly on his forearms. Not only were they marked up, but were extraordinarily thin. The bones in his wrists and elbows stuck out as the skin clung close with little fat or muscle in between.

Interestingly, Eren noted his forearms to be void of any tattoos with the exception of one - one that greatly disturbed him. At the inner base of his right wrist was a line. Specifically, the line of a heart monitor. It contained several ups and downs until the remaining inch or so, where it flat lined. It, too, bore several scars, distorting it considerably. By the appearance of how faded it was, it was obviously fairly old.

The sight of it caused something in Eren to churn uncomfortably. He knew what it meant; there was really only one thing it could mean. He had the urge to touch it but refrained, unsure of how the man who bore it would react.

He continued to study the man for a long, quiet moment. Years of abuse were manifested on his small body - from the dozens of little needle pricks and prominent blue veins around them to the grayish undertone of his skin. It was scary, almost like death itself loomed over him, ready and waiting to pounce.

Finally, Levi broke the silence.

"This is the truth, Eren." His voice was low, calm, and very serious. "I won't blame you if you run away. It's not pretty, I know, but the truth rarely is. I wasn't lying when I said it gets worse - much worse."

The brunet forced a light grin. "I'm starting to think you're trying to scare me off."

"No!" replied the raven a bit too hastily. "No. I just...don't want to hurt you, but I'm too selfish to tell you to leave. I guess part of me hopes you'll make the decision on your own before I do something else I regret."

"Don't you get it? I have made my decision. I'm sitting here, aren't I?"

The more he spoke, the wider his smile spread. The look in his eyes was so soft and genuine, Levi thought he might throw up again. To have someone look at him that way was unlike anything he'd ever experienced before. It felt good - like he was actually a person rather than some sort of robot, merely existing rather than living. For so long, that's how it'd been - like he was some sort of machine and someone else was on the inside pushing all the buttons: eat, sleep, hit, repeat. This brat actually recognized the real person inside of all of that clusterfuck, and for that - though he'd never admit it out loud - he was grateful.

"You can't say I didn't warn you, though," he mumbled.

"I'm not completely ignorant, Levi."

"Tch. You're a brat." It seemed like he wanted to say more, but a coughing fit overtook him and left him breathless and leaning heavily on the couch next to him. Gooseflesh rose on his skin and his arms wrapped around his torso as if he was cold. Eren gently pressed the long-sleeved shirt back into his hands. He took it without argument and pulled it back over his head.