Swing Life Away [Ereri/Riren]

Unsteady - Part 1

Lame title, I know, but I only remembered that I needed to think of one last night and this just kinda happened, lmao. I might think of a better one later and change it (and I'm open to your suggestions :3).

But yay, more angst! I like this chapter a hell of a lot more than the last one, and I hope you guys like it too c:

Also. Trigger warning for suicide, depression, and self harm. Read at your own risk, and please be safe ♥

---

Timeline: Charlotte is about 13, making Levi about forty and Eren mid-late thirties. Alex and Reiner are in their early forties. Peter is 15. Carla's somewhere in her sixties. Eren's a youth counselor. Levi works at a different shop closer to their house that he moved to after the falling out with Alex.

~*~

"White pencil."

"What? But Mr. Zacharias said--"

"Trust me. It blends better. Look." Levi worked on lightly coloring two different colors over one another - yellow and red to make orange - before he selected the white pencil to blend them. After only a few steps, he had a decent orange with only a few pinpricks of red or yellow in between. "It doesn't work as well if you use the colorless blender," he said, doing the same thing with said pencil.

Charlotte's jaw nearly dropped. "That's crazy. Maybe you should be my art teacher."

Levi grinned lightly at her. "In some ways, I am."

"But wait...what if I get in trouble for using the white instead of the blender?"

"Don't get caught." Levi winked at her, causing her to bear her braces for a split second before she looked down, hiding them again as she always did.

At that moment, Levi heard the sound of the front door opening briefly before shutting again. He glanced toward the kitchen door, frowning.

"Do your best with it," he told Charlotte absently, who hadn't seemed to notice the sound and had gone back to coloring. "I'll be right back, okay?"

"Mhm," she hummed.

Levi exited the dining room and swung into the living room via the kitchen to find Eren in the entryway, kicking his shoes off with his head down, that strand of hair fallen in his face again. What alarmed Levi, though, were the evident tear streaks down his cheeks.

"Hey," Levi murmured, striding slowly in his direction.

Eren looked up. His eyes were wet, puffy, and red. It was clear he'd been crying for a while.

"What's wrong, love?" Levi asked, reaching up for his face to catch the tears with the pads of his thumbs. "What happened?"

Eren could only shake his head and practically throw his arms around Levi's waist, pulling him in tightly and tucking his head down onto his shoulder. Levi, in turn, slid his arms around Eren's shoulders. The brunet was trembling, his breath coming in odd, quick patterns as he wept. Levi gently ran his fingers through Eren's hair, rocking him back and forth a bit in hopes it would help calm him.

"Eren, love, talk to me," he said after a minute. "What's wrong?"

Slowly, Eren lifted his head and dragged a hand across his face. "It...it looks like I'll be attending a funeral soon," he managed past his tear-thick throat.

"What?" Levi could feel his frown deepening. Automatically, his thoughts strayed back to Carla, but immediately knew he was wrong. "What are you talking about?"

Eren pulled back just enough to reach into his coat pocket. "Where's Charlotte?" he mumbled.

"Dining room doing her homework."