Metamorphosis

Chapter 20

Eren's POV

At six in the morning, I stood out on the balcony in the frigid morning air. The parking lot was empty, which I considered a good thing, seeing as I hadn't bothered to put on any clothes. If anyone showed up right now, they would get an eyeful of everything below my waistline. I grinned as I thought about the scene that would cause, and pulled the lit cigarette from my mouth, blowing out a cloud of smoke that dissipated in seconds. I had cut down to a few a day by sheer willpower, but I was determined to quit before Levi's birthday in a few months. Although he wasn't pressuring me into this, we both knew nothing good could come from smoking, so I started a regimen of Nicotine patches and Nicorette gum without him knowing about it.

I folded my arms on top of the railing and leaned forward. Levi would be performing for the first time tonight. It didn't matter how many times I tried to come to terms with it, I was still pissed that I wouldn't be able to work as the head of security. I'd tried to convince Mikasa to let me, despite my injured arm, but she wouldn't budge on the matter. She was dead set on giving me time to heal and rest up, even after I insisted that I'd already spent the last three days doing that. I didn't need any more time. Of course it didn't matter what I thought, because she was the one that ran the club and called the shots.

I glared down at the gauze covering my stab wound and cursed.

"Such foul language so early in the morning," Levi said as he came strolling out of his apartment with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders to protect him from the cool breeze. He glared at me as though I were at fault for the weather. "How can you smoke out here right now? It's too nipply."

"Nipply?" I smiled around the cigarette.

"Nipply," he confirmed, coming to stand behind me to wrap his arms around my stomach. He pressed the side of his face against my back and hummed in content. "Mm, you're so warm."

"What do you want for breakfast this morning? I'll make you anything on your big day."

"Porridge and tea."

I tapped my cigarette out and turned around to face him. His hair was a wild mess of tangled puffs on top of his head. It was horribly adorable. "If that's what you want, then that's what I'll make." I took his face between my hands and squished his cheeks. He whined and batted at my arm. "You're so cute."

"No," he grumbled, the word coming out slurred through his pursed lips. "I'm manly."

"Did I say you weren't manly? You're incredibly manly. I mean, I get lost in your manliness on a daily basis."

"Shut up. You're so mean. Not everyone can have a defined six pack like you, you ass."

I kissed the side of his mouth. "I love your body just the way it is, though. I wouldn't change a thing about it. Now let's go inside. If you didn't remember, I have porridge to make."

We went back into his apartment and I closed the sliding door behind us. The first thing Levi did was walk over to his dresser to pull open the top drawer. He spent a considerable amount of time rummaging through his socks before he found a pair of black boxer-briefs he was satisfied with. I watched as he made a show of dropping the blanket from his shoulders, the fabric pooling at his feet in a heap of blue. Then, slowly, he bent down and slipped the underwear on. When he snapped the band in place, he looked at me over his shoulder with a wicked little grin on his face.

"You're such a tease," I said, not minding whatsoever.

"What are you talking about? I'm just practicing for tonight. Maybe you should get your head out of the gutter."