Painting Monochrome ||Ereri/Riren||

Night Out

"Hello?" his deep voice oozed through the receiving end of the phone. In the July heat, I sat in my car parked outside of my apartment building with the windows rolled down.

"Hey...uh...are you busy?" My nerves were shot. I didn't know what to say or how to say it. I didn't want to say anything that offended him, but I also didn't want him to think I was weak. The middle ground was so hard to find.

"No, just filling out shitty paperwork. Why? What's wrong?"

"U-uh...nothing is wrong. I just have a question..." I inhaled deeply. "What are we, Levi?"

I instantly regretted the moment that the question left my lips. There was no turning back, regardless of how much I wanted to turn back. I heard him sigh heavily on his end of the phone, and it was quiet for a few seconds. My heart hammered against my ribcage as I ran a hand through my hair, pulling it away from my forehead.

"Eren..." he started. He didn't even have to finish the sentence for me to know where it was going. "I like you... I do.."

"But?" I prompted. In situations like this, there was always a 'but.'

"But I can't date my patients... how would that help your therapy in any way, Eren? If anything, it might make it worse."

"Okay. So then my next question is what's been going on recently? Because last time I checked, psychiatrists don't go leaving vulgar messages and hickeys on their patients' bodies."

"I...don't know. I don't know the answer to that. That was me overstepping the boundaries, and I shouldn't have done that. This just...can't happen, Eren."

"Okay. That's all I wanted to know. I'll see you Thursday, same time," I said and hung up the phone before he could respond.

I wasn't the least bit surprised. A little let down, yeah, but not surprised at all. I knew that it would go down that road. But since things were cleared up, I had room to wiggle now. Collecting myself, I got out of the car and made my way upstairs, unlocking the apartment door.

"Armin. I'm back. I talked to Levi, and it looks like I'll be going out with that bank teller after all."

"No way, what did he say?" Armin called from the kitchen. I could hear the sizzling of something cooking, so out of pure curiosity, I moved in that direction.

"That he likes me, but he can't date a patient," I said, leaning over and smelling the well seasoned and sizzling beef in the skillet. Armin kissed his teeth and shook his head as he continued to stir around the beef.

"Well, get on the good foot and call your bank teller before someone else snatches him up," he nudged me in the side with his elbow. I laughed and nodded, tossing my car keys on the counter and heading back towards my room. I flopped down on my back onto the bed, grabbing my phone and the sticky note with Erwin's name and number on it. After debating internally over whether or not it was too soon to call, I punched in the number and hit the green button. My heart picked up speed again, and in an attempt to calm myself, I took a few deep breaths.

"Hello?" his voice was deep and thick, the sound slamming against my eardrum and sending shivers up my spine.

"H-hey, Erwin. It's Eren, from the bank," I started, letting out a slightly nervous laugh.

"Oh, hello, Eren. How nice to hear your voice again," he chuckled. "Might I ask, are you taking me up on that offer?"

"I...uh... I am. I was wondering if you wanted to do something later, maybe tonight ?" the words rolled off my tongue, tasting so foreign and almost a little bitter. I could sense the smirk on his face as he spoke in my ear.