Forever and Always

Chapter 72 - Pregaming Halloween

The drive to Christa and Ymir's apartment was mostly uneventful, but Levi's horrendous driving certainly worked to liven things up.

"Why don't you just let me drive?" I asked him, fed up with the sharp turns and action-movie-grade speeding. "I'm sure I could do a better job than you're doing right now."

"Oh really, Jeager?" Levi scoffed. "You think that you could drive better than me? I've driven several getaway cars back in New York on fucking ice, and you ran into a shopping cart in an empty parking lot," he reminded me, and I cringed at the recollection.

"Okay, listen, it was dark, and I didn't see it," I argued, folding my arms at him.

"Oh yeah, right, you just didn't see the stationary shopping cart directly in front of the car. I was standing right there, Eren. There's no way you didn't see it."

"I didn't! I swear!" I pushed, throwing my hands up in frustration.

"And that's why you're not in the driver's seat right now," Levi snapped, turning into Christa's apartment complex.

"Ugh, you're so mean," I said, a sarcastic expression twisting the muscles in my face to fit the emotions I was feeling.

"But we haven't died yet, so I think I'm doing a pretty good job," Levi smirked, throwing the car into park and cutting the engine.

"You don't need to drive the car like we just robbed a fucking bank, Levi," I breathed, unbuckling and stepping out of the car, while I felt Levi's arm snake around my waist, rubbing his thumb along the side seam of my shirt.

"But where's the fun in driving like a law abiding citizen? Do you seriously want me to start driving like somebody's grandmother? Like I got a bingo game with my best friend Gertrude at four?"

"Okay, first of all, fuck you, second of all, you don't have to drive like a grandma either. Just drive like a normal fucking person," I tried to explain, but the thought crossed my mind that any driving Levi would have done back in New York would have been in some pretty strenuous circumstances, given the age that he left for rehab at. He wouldn't have had his license for long, and even with a license would still have been driven around most of the time.

"Whatever. Just deal with it. I won't let us die," Levi said calmly, though there were some pretty obvious emotions in his eyes as they clouded up for a moment. Not even a second later, he regained his composure and blinked away the tears.

We rang the buzzer for the apartment building and asked for the apartment number that Ymir had given us. The person at the front desk told us to wait for a moment while they confirmed with the residents of the apartment before buzzing us through the front door. The young man showed us to the elevator and told us the floor that their apartment was on before returning to his desk and pressing play on whatever he was watching on his phone. We rode the elevator up to the fourth floor and quickly found the apartment before Levi reached out and knocked on the door.

"AAH!" Ymir squealed as she flung the door open, grabbing both of our hands and dragging us into the apartment. "Hi guys! How are you?!" She said in an incredibly excited, almost childlike expression of happiness. As we were admitted into the poorly lit apartment, I noticed how spotless it was. Not an inch of dust or dirt could be seen anywhere, and even in the soft glow from their string lights, I could see their surfaces shining. These were Levi's kind of people. I watched as my fiancee audibly let out a breath he had been holding, like the clean apartment had been a huge relief.

"Hey!" Christa grinned from the kitchen table, munching on a bag of doritos. "Come on in, sit down. We got a pizza in the oven and several options for a movie to watch." Neither one of the girls was wearing shoes on their feet, so Levi and I got the message and slipped ours off, not that Levi even had to think twice about it.