The Intruder (Eren x Levi)

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Eren's POV:

It's been six days since Levi was released, and today was also Christmas Eve.  Not much has really happened since then, since we were pretty much stuck at home.  Levi couldn't work for another two weeks, and I'm pretty sure school wasn't going to resume any time soon, so we spent most of our days lounging around the house and watching movies on the TV.  Most of them were chick flicks, so it got tiring quickly.  Today, Levi had a checkup at the hospital at ten, but he insisted that he went alone.  I had no issue with it, not because I didn't want to be with him, but because his absence gave me time to kick myself into the holiday spirit.  I went behind his back the other night and went shopping with Armin to get Christmas decorations, as well as a small tree and ornaments.  I still don't think Levi is one for Christmas, but it wasn't going to stop me from celebrating.  I hadn't done so since the passing of my mother and sister, so it was a pretty big deal for me to do this.  Whether or not Levi laughed in my face or enjoyed it, didn't really bother me.

I invited Armin over for the day to help me with decorations, since I wasn't the best when it came to what looked good and what looked terrible, something Armin had a knack for.  I pulled three plastic bags full of decorations and a large box out of the closet from the hallway and dragged them into the living room, unsure of where to begin.  Thankfully, Levi and I cleaned the house yesterday, so I didn't have to worry about doing any quick cleaning before decorating.  

I glanced around the room and decided to put a holly in the center on top of the fireplace.  I thought about getting stockings and hanging them, but even I wasn't a huge fan of that idea.  On each side of the holly, I added white candle sticks, which made it look more elegant.  I shrugged as I realized I underestimated myself, and at the same time Armin knocked at the door and came in, all smiles as usual.

"Hey," he smiled, taking off his heavy, blue coat.

"Oh, hey, you're just in time," I replied, opening the box to the Christmas tree.  Armin smiled and rushed over like a kid getting its first puppy.  He was probably more excited about this than I was.

"Do you have any scissors or a knife?" he asked with a laugh as I struggled to open the box because of the sturdy tape holding it together.

I nodded.  "Yeah, there should be a pair of scissors in a drawer somewhere in the kitchen."

I sighed in defeat and stood straight with my hands on my hips as Armin went to find scissors.  Box: 1, Eren: 0.

"Found them!" he shouted and skipped over, handing them to me carefully, anxiously waiting for me to cut open the box.  Yeah, he was definitely more excited.

I flipped open the scissors and made a cut in the middle of the tape, opening the box and revealing the dark green Christmas tree inside.  We were a little lazy in buying it, because it already had lights on it, but at least we still got to decorate it.  Armin and I carefully lifted it out of the box and set it to the side while we grabbed the stand, finding a place for it near the balcony window.  Then, we carried it over, the smell of plastic and dye filling my nose from the new tree, and snapped the trunk into place with the stand and began fanning out the branches.  I've always found this to be the bitch of the whole process, but at least I wasn't doing it alone, or I'd probably throw a fit.

When the tree finally began to look like a tree, I left Armin to do some last minute adjustments to the branches while I opened a box of ornaments.  Our house was pretty neutral with colors, so I grabbed a light blue and green mixture of decorations to bring some color to the place.  It added some feeling of nature to it, creating a lively vibe to the whole holiday spirit.  Now, I was beginning to get excited.

As I opened the clear, flimsy box, the plastic slit my thumb, leaving a small cut.  

"Fuck," I winced and subconsciously dropped the box onto the floor.