Be My Salvation (Ereri/Riren)

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This chapter sucks. I'm sorry.

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The next several days were dull. Levi and Eren spent them trying to find ways to fill their time when school wasn't in session. Petra was tense after what had happened with Annie, and it seemed she didn't particularly trust anyone, and thus it felt like they were all on house arrest along with the girl, who held an annoyed scowl on her face more often than not.

Currently, Eren, Levi, Mikasa, and Marco sat in the living room. Marco was busy exercising his thumbs on a controller while the others watched, bored and mildly irritated. Other than the sounds from the television (which Petra made them lower) and the clicking of the buttons as the boy smashed his thumbs into them, it was quiet..

After six losses on a boss battle, Marco sighed and tossed the controller onto the floor in defeat, mumbling an "I give up..."

"Can I try?" Eren found himself asking.

The younger boy turned around, brows raised. "You think you can beat it?"

"Maybe...if you show me the controls."

"Okay," he agreed as Eren moved down onto the floor beside him. He tapped the buttons in a mini-tutorial of how it worked before handing the device off to Eren and settling in to watch.

Eren spent the next hour attempting to beat the same part, finally understanding the burning frustration Marco seemed to portray when he was unable to win. But Eren was stubborn and determined, and an hour and a half and two sore thumbs later, he finally declared victory, celebrating with a shout that had everyone but Marco flinching in surprise because he was celebrating, too, and thanking Eren over and over.

"Well," Levi stated after he and Eren retreated to the sunroom for some quiet, "that was a good waste of two hours."

Eren shrugged. "It was fun," was all he said.

"Hm. I didn't know you could be so loud," mused the other, something of a spark in his eye as he stared out across the back yard.

"I didn't either," Eren admitted sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. He sunk down onto the couch with a small sigh, realizing they were once again at a loss for what to do. Quiet settled over, Eren fiddling with a rough spot on the edge of his thumbnail.

"Levi?" Eren murmured after a while, breaking the older out of his thoughts.

"Mm?"

"When's your birthday?" he asked.

Eren could've sworn he saw Levi stiffen just a bit, his Adam's apple bobbing just a bit in a small swallow. "Why do you wanna know?"

"Because...you said you'd have to be out on your own when you turn 18. I just wanted to know how long it is until then..."

Levi pivoted and moved to plop onto the couch next to the brunette without crossing his arms. "Petra has me looking at colleges," he said. "Supposedly if I can become a full-time student, she's still allowed to support me until I get on my feet with a job and a place of my own."

"But?" Eren could feel it hanging off the end of the.

"But paying for one is the problem. Which means moving out right after my eighteenth."

"Which is when?"

"December."

Eren felt himself swallow hard. December. It wasn't horrible, but it gave them just under half a year.

Us, Eren thought, mentally rolling his eyes at himself, like I'm part of it, too...right.

"She said it'd be ideal to find a college with a dorm and do a work study," Levi explained, tilting his head back to gaze at the clouds rolling by. "It'd get me started, at least."