Key to a Caged Heart

It Makes Me Ill

A/N: Hi guys! Sorry about the slow updates. I have a few ideas for how I want the story to go and I'm paralyzed until I decide. That's the official excuse. The other excuses are that I don't make time to write during the school year and my winter break was cut short because I became an RA and went back to school early for training. But thank you to everyone who has stuck with this story! Even though I won't be updating often, I'm still around if anyone wants or needs to just talk. Song: It Makes Me Ill - NSYNC

"You're back late," Levi remarked without looking up from his book.

Eren kicked off his shoes in the entryway and hung up his coat before stepping further into the apartment. Levi was sitting in an armchair by the window, a steaming cup of tea on the small table next to him.

"Didn't know I had a curfew," Eren retorted. He didn't want to be snappy with Levi, but he hates when Levi acts like a guardian. It is like a punch to Eren's gut, reminding him that he can never have the relationship he wants with Levi because the older male will only ever see him as someone he has to take care of, and never think of Eren taking care of him in return.

Levi just stared at him, making Eren shrink under the searching gaze.

"You don't. I was just making a comment since you're always here when I get home from work, and today you weren't."

Eren pursed his lips. Of course he was always here when Levi got back. Before Levi, he only hung out with Reiner, Jean, and Bertholdt. They usually went out to parties or got into mischief. He didn't party anymore since he worked weekends with Levi, and now that he planned on attending college, any illegal conduct could ruin his chances of being admitted. He still hung out with the guys in school, and sometimes went to Armin's house after school, but was almost always home by five o'clock so he could help Levi prepare dinner. Not because Levi asked him to help, but because he wanted to. He enjoyed their cooking lessons.

He never noticed how many hours of the day he spent with Levi before, because there wasn't anywhere else he'd rather be. There still wasn't. Yet, now that he was aware of how much time he spent around Levi, he couldn't feel happy about it as he wanted to. He could spend all this time with the older male because they were roommates and worked at the same establishment. They were also friends, Eren knew, but he sometimes wondered if Levi would spend all this time with him if they weren't living together. Levi never hung out with his other friends this much, and that was because he chose not to. Eren wasn't special because he saw Levi so much. He was just lucky enough to live with him.

"I saw a movie with a friend." Eren watched Levi closely, in the vain hope that Levi would react negatively to the news, but the silver-eyed raven continued to read his damn book.

Eren continued as if Levi had shown interest. "Thomas kept asking me to see a movie with him so I decided it couldn't hurt."

This finally garnered a reaction.

"Was it a date?"

Eren thought he would be pleased if Levi found out. In all the romance movies he was "forced" to watch (because Netflix kept recommending them), it was situations like this that got the other party to realize they didn't want their love interest to be seeing other people.

Now that they had reached that point, Eren had the instinct to deny everything because he worried the truth would push Levi away. But Levi didn't feel the same way about him, so there was no reason for Eren to worry. Levi could care less what he did.

"Uh...kinda. I mean, he paid for everything, so I suppose it was..." He trailed off, feeling more and more uncertain about how this would impact his and Levi's "friendship."