Forever and Always

Chapter 70 - The Subtle Art of Giving Levi an Aneurysm

As Thursday grew to a close, the sun glimmering as it waved the horizon a final goodbye, I saw Petra's little prius pull up to my driveway, parking beside Mikasa's car, that had been for the both of us, but as Mikasa got older, she tended to monopolize it. I watched Levi exit the driver's side, dressed in casually monochromatic clothing and ambling towards the front door of my house, taking a hit of his e-cigarette before slipping it back into his pocket and stepping onto the front stoop. I sprinted from my bedroom, jumping and sliding down the banister of the staircase just in time to hear his fist come gently down on the door.

"Hi," I breathed, pulling open the front door for him and pulling him into a soft hug. Before pulling away, I pressed my lips to his cheek. "How are you?"

"I'm alright," my fiancee hummed, stepping into the well lit foyer. "Where is everybody?"

"Where were you? They left a day early. Petra's with em, but my mom's in her office, and Poppy went to bed early," I asked, thinking that he would have known if Petra had left the apartment, especially going early on a several day trip with my sister.

"I was with Dominic," Levi muttered quietly, a wry smile playing his lips.

"What about Rivaille?"

"He's been with you all day," Levi said softly, patting my shoulder.

My eyes widened in the shock that coupled with that revelation. I hadn't even seen anybody that looked remotely related to Levi. "He has?"

"He's doing his job well, I assume. I told him not to interfere unless necessary, and I think he got the message. You haven't seen him at all?"

I shook my head slowly, still eyeing Levi while my body continued to jolt itself to life with the numbness of shock. I wasn't upset, only surprised.

"He didn't even introduce himself?"

I shook my head again and Levi let out a small chuckle at the dumbstruck look on my face.

"Christ, Eren you look like you've seen a ghost. I thought we were saving the paranormal for later."

"Oh whatever," I muttered, beginning to compose myself again.

"So we have to be there at seven thirty. Would you wanna go meet Dom and Riva right now? We wouldn't have an exorbitant amount of time to chit chat, but certainly enough to allow you to get a feel for em." Levi adjusted his black bomber jacket, pulling the hood of the hoodie he was wearing beneath it through the back of the jacket, so that it was no longer stuffed into the back of the jacket.

"Sure, that sounds good," I nodded, feeling relief at the safety Levi, and by extension, his cousins, were able to provide. "How long are they here for?"

"As long as we need them, but at least until I go back to school, if they haven't gotten involved with their shipments out here. If they start focusing on their income, they may be out here for quite some time." As I listened to him talking more, I began to notice the utter lack of emotion that oozed from his every word. He seemed to be burying himself in some sort of apathy.

"I see," I nodded while my mom rounded the corner, and entered the foyer. "Hey, Mom," I smiled while she approached Levi, wrapping her arms around him.

"Hi Sweetie," my mother said to Levi, pulling back and turning to me again. "And you," she said, raising a thin, dark eyebrow at me and pointing at me with her index finger.

"Uh oh, somebody's in trouble," Levi said, in a gentle singsong voice while his lips curled into a happy smirk.

"What did I do this time?" I exclaimed, throwing my hands up at my mother who only rolled her eyes.