Bite Me.

13.

There was something different in the atmosphere of Park Hill school that Wednesday. It had to be something to do with the new student; apparently Levi's brother. He was treated with as much deference in lieu of this discovery, and he was very pleased to see this. Levi was in a worse mood than usual, and the both of them just seemed to always be fighting in the hallways. Due to their volatile and all-round just generally terrifying personalities, this was cause for great distress within the student body. Nobody wanted to be too close when they were going at it, but at the same time witnessing it was fascinating. Not once had Levi struck out at him, and this was a novelty. Had he finally met his match? Was this the one person who could stand up to him? If they actually did come to physical blows, that would be fascinating to watch. Neither one was particularly tall or bulky, but they both looked like they could rip anybody to shreds if they wanted to. They just exuded confidence, which made up for their lack of stature. Nobody was 100% sure what exactly they were fighting about but, for whatever reason, Eren Jaeger definitely had something to do with it. He avoided the brothers like the plague, but Archer was forever chasing him down and handing him death threats like a flyer for an event. Levi, too, always seemed to be somewhere near him, observing him from a distance. Armin was disturbed by this change, and wondered how on earth his friend could be mixed up with these ruffians. He'd also witnessed a change in Eren, who had become increasingly more jumpy- likely as a result of the death threats he was frequently receiving- but also he was more distant and always lost in thought. Not to mention that Armin didn't quite believe his story about where he had been after Levi's party. It was all too conveniently fitting that he should begin to interact with the King for the first time and be involved in his sibling rivalry the days following his disappearance after the party. He had tried to coax the truth out of him on numerous occasions, but had been met with nothing but denials. The brunet hadn't actually said a word or made eye contact with the King once, which was probably the most concerning thing of all. Clearly, he was out of his depth but had no means of escape. Even his mum was worried and had sat Mikasa down to ask if her son was doing drugs, to which she had replied that she didn't know. His jumpiness and increased irritability could be attributed to drug use... Armin hoped that this wasn't the case. Eren knew the dangers of drugs, and had sworn never to get involved for the sake of his younger sister. May's life had been affected enough by drug use already. If her brother got into it, she was at risk of being taken into care. If it turned out that Eren was doing something dangerous or illegal, Armin had no doubt that it would end very badly. He had to do something- he had to confront Eren himself. He grabbed him just before he started walking to third period, pulling him into an empty classroom.
'Hey!' Eren wrenched his arm away, his face a little pale. Had he really been so scared by that? 'What are you doing?'
'Sit,' Armin ordered, but Eren paid no heed to his demands. Instead he reached for the door and was about to walk away when Armin grabbed him by the back of his shirt. He pulled hard, revealing some distinct purple marks on the side of his neck.
'Sit down,' he repeated. Eren rolled his eyes and sat down, a wary expression etched on his face.
'What?' He scowled.
'This is an intervention.'
'For what?'
'Eren... Are you doing drugs?'
'Armin, what the fuck are you going on about?'
'If you're in trouble, just tell me. I'll get you out, whatever it is.'
'I'm not doing drugs, you twat,' Eren scoffed, leaning back on the chair. He couldn't believe that he even suspected that. Sure, he was maybe craving the sensation of having his blood drained like an addict parted from their drug, but he wasn't taking actual drugs.
'Then what's going on? That Archer guy keeps threatening to kill you and I'm not entirely sure he's joking. And Levi follows you round like a ghost. Something happened at that party and I won't rest until I know what.'
'For a start, Archer is definitely just joking-' this was a lie '- and also, Levi doesn't follow me round. What are you talking about?'
'He does! You can't not have noticed...'
Eren thought hard. Yes, it appeared that Levi was following him. But it wasn't that big of a school, and he was probably following his brother, who was in his class.
'Probably following Archer,' he grunted, but was met with stony silence. It wasn't that far fetched- why didn't Armin believe him? 'I'm done with your judgmental bullshit. Whatever. I'll see you later.' He mooched off, and was surprised (not really) to see Levi standing in the hallway, looking a little pale-faced. In fact, he looked like he hadn't eaten for days. Perhaps he hadn't. He had to settle this matter once and for all. There were people milling around and he really didn't want to do this here and now, but there was nothing for it. He had to. He strode as confidently as he could up to Levi and demanded in a strong voice,
'Are you following me?'
Levi's eyes ran him up and down, cold as ever. Then they looked down the hallway to where Archer was standing at the end.

Levi was shocked when Eren walked up to him and asked if he was following him, more because he hadn't talked to him since he had freed him than because it was true. He looked the boy up and down, and glanced sideways to see his brother watching over him. He couldn't afford to show any weakness here. He was sick to death of Archer threatening to kill everyone he loved- he didn't want Eren to be killed for no reason, simply because Archer had gotten things mixed up and thought Levi had any sort of feeling for the boy just because he had fed from him once or twice. He added an extra icy tone to his voice and kept his face blank as he asked,
'Who are you?'
Eren's face fell, then turned bright red. Did he really think that Levi had forgotten him? What a moron.
'I can't blame you for forgetting me,' he muttered. 'You probably use so many people that you forget their names.' He spun on his heels and disappeared into the throng of curious people.
Levi watched him go, dumbfounded. He didn't like how empty this made him feel. Not empty as in no emotion, but empty as in he felt an actual gaping hole within him. Why was he getting upset like this? It must be the lack of food; for some reason, no blood was appealing to him anymore, not since Eren had left. He took one look at the disappointed expression on his brother's face and stalked off, dismissing his bodyguards and sliding into his car. He didn't even start the engine, just sat there and stared vacantly into the street. He was dangerously close to feeling something other than emotionally void. How had he allowed this to happen? Hadn't he learnt the first few times that love would only serve to rip him to shreds with its supposedly well-meaning talons? He leaned his head on the steering wheel, feeling the pain of it pressing against his forehead. It was a while until he could breathe steadily enough to fire up the engine and drive recklessly home. He stormed into the house, slamming the door and ordering everyone to leave him alone and execute visitors on sight. He found the bedroom that Eren had slept in and started ripping the sheets from the bed, wanting to get rid of any trace of him. That boy had ruined everything he wanted to be. He should have just killed him while he had the chance, before he developed all these weird feelings about him. He caught sight of himself in the mirror, his fangs extended and his eyes filled with passionate anger, and tore it down in self-loathing, smashing it with his fist. He stood for a while after that, just breathing heavily and staring down at his bleeding fist. The blood formed tiny streams, meandering down his fingers until it dripped off them and onto the floor. The minute cuts had healed already, like the monstrosity he was. He felt the anger slowly dissipate, fading along with his injuries. He fell to his knees slowly and knelt on the ground, putting his head in his hands and trying to think clearly. He had to hand in that report later... He picked himself up and brushed off his clothes, walking calmly to the kitchen, where he picked up his phone and texted Hanji telling her to retrieve the report now. She arrived two hours later, and he gave it to her before ordering her away immediately. She looked a little hurt by his bluntness. As she walked away, he saw her pull out her phone. She put it to her ear and he was sure he heard the word Archer. He shrugged and returned to the kitchen, but moments later he heard a knock at the door. If that was his brother... He opened the door and was about to shout at Archer for trying to check up on him and wanting to find him crying or something when he noticed that this person was too tall and brown-haired to be his brother.
'Eren,' his voice fell flat. 'If you're here to get angry with me or something, don't bother.'
'I actually came to return this key,' he pulled it off his neck, handing it down to the King. 'I won't be needing it.'
Was he imagining it, or did Levi look a little wounded? No- what would he care about it? But Archer's earlier words of how he refused to care or be cared about echoed in his head, refusing to leave him be. He had to admit, he felt kind of bad about leaving him. He still looked very pallid, as if he was very much in need of some blood.
'You look sick,' he commented, no longer as afraid after he had seen how he didn't kill his brother for standing up to him.
'Your pick up lines are terrible,' Levi retorted, ducking his head a little to try and hide the circles under his eyes. 'I used to have a really good food source, but that's gone now.'
What was he saying? Why was he saying this? Why was he admitting to Eren mattering at all to him? He regained his composure, raking a hand through his hair.
'How did you get here?' He frowned, not seeing a new car in the driveway. Then he saw his brother's. So that explained it... 'Ash...'
'Yes, I orchestrated it all!' Archer leapt from his hiding place. 'That didn't seem very heartless to me... Eren, take your key back. Now I know that earlier you pretended to have forgotten him just because I was there. I know you far too well, brother. Now Eren, you must stay for some tea.'
Eren didn't have time to protest before the white-haired brother swept him into the hallway with all the grandeur of a duke. This was going to make for an interesting tea party.