Bite Me.

27.

That evening, just as Eren was tucking May into her makeshift bed on the sofa, he heard the door go.
'Will you get it?' Armin called from the shower. 'It's probably the wrong flat.'
Eren shrugged and opened the door. He almost allowed himself to hope, since Armin wasn't expecting anybody, that it might be Levi. No, that wasn't eh sort of thing he should be wanting. But on the other side, the one person he least expected to see was anxiously wringing her hands together in the same way he also did when he was anxious.
'Eren!' Carla breathed, throwing her arms round his neck. She felt frail compared to when he'd last seen her, bones sticking out in places they hadn't before. 'He's gone. I called the police. He's been taken into custody. Will you come home? Is May here?'
He didn't answer for a moment, still taken aback. He recovered after a few seconds and hugged her back, then reluctantly pushed her away.
'Yeah. We'll come home. I'm glad you finally saw sense,' he smiled. Things were starting to work out in his favour at last- his friends were no longer angry with him and he had his family back together. Armin finally got out the shower, and was equally surprised to see Carla in his living room.
'Hey, Armin,' she waved. 'I'm stealing my kids back. Thanks for looking after them.'
'Oh, sure,' he laughed nervously. 'I guess I'll see you tomorrow.'
Eren said goodbye and they left, his mum carrying a still sleeping May to the car. He was so relieved to be back with his mum. Although he had kind of hated her for a few days, he had missed her like hell too. He felt that of all people he had lied to, he owed her honesty the most. Obviously, he wouldn't disclose much because there was no point in making her worry more than necessary. No doubt she was already convinced he was insane. As soon as they were in the house and May was in bed, he took a deep breath and sat down with her in the kitchen.
'I need to talk to you,' he could already feel the butterflies beating his innards up.
'Oh?' She dropped some teabags into a cup. 'We'll need a cuppa then.'
Once she was finished, she sat opposite him at the tiny table.
'So what's on your mind?' She passed him a steaming mug.
'Thanks,' he glugged some down, burning his throat in the process. 'I... You know how I said I was staying at a girl's after Levi's party?'
'Is this where you tell me you got a girl knocked up?' She raised an eyebrow. 'If it is, you are in the biggest trouble of your life.'
'No! No, what I was gonna say before you assumed I got a girl pregnant was that I wasn't staying with a girl.'
'So you're about to tell me you stayed with a boy?' She laughed, but it sounded a little forced in lieu of the silence that followed it.
'Well, yeah,' he admitted. 'But not like that. Not completely. I stayed at Levi's for a few days.'
'So you're not gay?'
'No. Wait-' He took a deep breath. This was actually a whole 'nother conversation that they really needed to have. Best to just get it over with now and deal with the consequences. 'Actually, yeah. I am.'
'I saw that coming,' she shrugged. 'You played with barbie dolls a lot. So anyway, you stayed at Levi's. Does that mean anything?'
'You took that with good grace. Thank god, because I thought you were going to cry over not having grandchildren.'
'You're going to adopt.'
'Umm... Yeah. Right. Not the main object of this conversation. He's not a drug dealer, by the way. But he is a giant dickhead.'
'Ooh, I called that one too.'
'You've never even met him!'
'Maybe not, but I hear the stories.'
'Well, yeah. He is an absolute twat. But for some reason I thought it'd be a good idea to stay with him when I left. Then he did some pretty bad stuff so I got the hell out of there and I crashed at Armin's last night.'
'Bad stuff?'
'Just you know... Threatening to beat me up and stuff. And he did throw a few punches. I'm fine, though.'
'I'll sort that piece of shit out,' Carla growled, rolling up her sleeves menacingly.
'Have fun with that... He's deceptively strong, even though he's only 5"3.'
'That short? From the stories I assumed he'd be like a giant or something. Why's everyone so scared of him if he only comes up to their kneecaps?'
'Well, for one, he's got bodyguards. Also, he's just the kind of guy that is scary.'
'Is he cute?'
'Mum!' Eren groaned, slamming his head on the table.
'What?' She feigned innocence. 'Come on, is he or is he not?'
'No, he's not cute.'
'Is he hot, then?'
'Fine. Yeah, he is. But not my type.'
'You're blushing!'
'You got me, we kissed like three times. I'm not into him, though. It was a drunk thing.' It wasn't that far from being a drunk thing- more a high off venom thing.
'You're just like me, you know,' Carla sighed. 'Attracted to all the wrong kinds of people.'
'I said I'm not attracted to him.'
'Yeah. You can tell yourself that, but how come it took you so long to get away from him? And if you still think he's hot, you like him.'
'I don't like him!'
'Whatever you say, honey. Now, get some sleep. You have school tomorrow.'

Levi kissed Elspeth's neck, evoking a longing sensation in his heart. But he wasn't lusting after her, or her blood.
'What's wrong?' She didn't sound like she was having the best of times. He couldn't blame her- he was being a terrible host. All she wanted was sex and to be fed from. He wasn't exactly providing much of either. She was a pretty girl and had a good sense of fun, but he found her boring. He found everybody boring. He knew exactly why, as well; he was pining. And he was lashing out, knowing how it infuriated his brother when he wasted his day chasing after girls. Almost as if summoned, Archer chose that moment to walk into his room.
'You could knock,' Levi huffed, straightening himself out. 'In fact, you shouldn't be in here at all. I won't ask you to leave the house, but I'd rather you did.'
'I spoke to your friend earlier,' Archer dropped a casual bombshell. 'He's been sharing information he shouldn't have. He told a friend what we are. Doesn't that warrant immediate execution under your rules?'
Levi's face went pale. He quietly asked Elspeth to leave, and took on a businesslike manner.
'How do you know? Do you know the extent to which he has told him about us?'
'I couldn't be sure how much he's said, it was only one comment. He didn't think I could hear. But I'm certain that he has told this friend that we are vampires. And possibly some things we have done- he did call us psycho. Levi, you can't show him mercy. You have executed everybody else who disclosed this fact without fail, have you not? Like you said to him, he's not special.' So why should he get special treatment?'
He'd caught him there. Caught red-handed in the act of caring.
'This is my official pardon, then. Don't bother the boy anymore. If he wanted an escape so badly, he can have it.' It pained him to say this, but it was true.
'But don't you see? The fact that he told his friend means he's still thinking about you.'
'I don't really care,'
'You can't fool me, brother. Yourself, maybe, but not me.'
'You can fool me, then,' Levi cavilled in an acrimonious fashion. He didn't want his brother getting the wrong end of the stick and thinking he was forgiven. He most definitely wasn't.
'How long are you going to hold this against me?'
'As long as I see fit.'
'You need me. Admit you need me, now that the only other person you can stand for more than a few days hates the very ground you walk on.'
'I survived this whole year alone.'
'You survived, but barely. Look at you- you're a ruin. It's one thing to be alone, but to be lonely it's entirely another. Tu comprends?'
'I'm fine, alright?'
'Don't offend me by lying to my face. And especially with such an obvious lie.'
'Just leave it, will you?'
'You know I can't.'
'You really care about this, don't you? You really want to see me crack.'
'I already have. I've seen you break so many times, just subtly. Your entire foundation is made up of fractures. One more explosion and you're going to fall apart completely.'
'Why does this even mean so much to you?'
'Can't you guess? Tu est mon frère.'
'You keep saying that, but it means nothing. C'est juste un mot.'
'But by choice, not by blood. Does that not count for something?'
'You're quite the hypocrite, you know. I'm not allowed to shun emotion and yet you won't admit any genuine affection towards me, instead hiding behind a familial sense of duty.'
Archer was struck by this. Levi was right. He, too, found it hard to express emotions. He was supposed to be setting a good example, right?
'Okay,' he took a deep breath. 'Well then. You're my brother and that means I- I care about you a lot.'
'I would be inconvenienced by your death.' This was the closest Levi could get to confessing endearment.
'That's good enough for me.'
For now, their argument appeared forgotten.