lovefool | eren x levi

six years.

♡♡♡♡♡♡

kuchel wanted to cry.

she wanted to weep on her kitchen floor for two hours and stay in bed for the remainder of the day.

a churning feeling deep in her stomach exaggerated the sickly feeling crawling up her spine.

it all came from one word, one syllable. and yet, it made kuchel realize that levi was not her little baby anymore. she did not have to carry him everywhere; she didn't have to feed him baby food anymore, because he was independent enough to feed himself, and walk himself.

"mom? can you hel–"

"mom?" kuchel repeated incredulously. "i'm... mom?"

"can you help me with my homework?"

"yes, sure, as your mom, i will help you with your homework," she said, trying to see if levi had actually meant to call her mom, and not mommy.

he just scooted over and showed the sheet to her, which made kuchel want to crumple and die.

she was so attached to the feeling of being someone's mommy. now, the actuality of having a child was catching up to her.

she was a middle-aged, broke, single mom living in the poorest district to exist. a middle-aged, broke, single mom that was participating in the most degrading acts to exist just for a kid that has now grown up.

"i'll, uh, i'll help you with your homework, lev." as if she hadn't declared that already.

"okay! um, so, hold up your hands."

levi held up his hands, holding them so close to his eyes they were covering them.

"now keep taking away fingers until you get to seven fingers. let's count."

he put down one finger.

"nine, eight, seven," he chanted.

"how many fingers did you put down?"

"seven?"

"no, you put down three. and what does that problem say?"

"ten minus three equals..."

"so what does it equal?" kuchel said with an edge of anticipation in her voice.

"seven!"

"good job, levi! now, keep doing those problems, okay, sweetie?"

he nodded and wrote a blocky seven in the underlined space. kuchel walked into the bedroom, shut the door, and laid down on the floor. looking at the ceiling, she tried her best to not let the rollerblades of reality run her over.

but, before she knew it, she felt the wheels gliding over her chest. she felt her actions creeping up towards her ears, whispering the deeds she had done in exchange for a living.

she felt the harshness of a middle-aged, broke, single mom embracing her. squeezing her into their arms like one of their own.

she felt like a middle-aged, broke, single mom.

♥♥♥♥♥♥

if you have been to a levi ackerman birthday party, you would probably think that anything remotely associated with 'levi ackerman' is, nine times out of ten, uneventful. and, if you do think that, you're right. most of the time.

recently, there's been another thing that correlates to levi ackerman's name. something that isn't run by one struggling adult and her overprotective best friend. something that was run by levi ackerman, and levi ackerman only. something that was actually fun, and yet, had no money involved!

it seems like a first grader's dream, right? so where exactly where this paradise located? was it out-of-country? was it in europe? or france?

actually, it was right in his school's cafeteria. and it was nowhere else except the grand location of his lunch table.

"spell icup, farlan," eren said with a smile. elbows on the table and head on his hands, he awaited farlan's response.

"i cee you pee... wait a second."

♥♥♥♥♥♥

"snack time, everybody!" said their teacher. eren clapped with the other kids.

"table one, if you have food in your locker you want to eat, go get it," she called. she continued calling the tables row by row, and eren waited patiently and shushed his tablemates so they wouldn't be held back.

"table five, if you have food in your locker you want to eat, go get it."

eren jumped out of his seat and ran out of the door, opened his locker, and pulled out a small, oval-shaped metal bowl.

opening the lid for a bit, he smelled the strong pasta aroma that felt like heaven to him. he then sped back into the classroom and placed it on his desk.

but, just as he was about to dig in, he felt the need to pee.

"uh, mrs. sullivan?" eren said, with his hand up. she nodded towards him.

"can i go to the bathroom?"

"take a pass," she said.

eren got out his seat and went out the classroom, hoping that he could relieve himself quick enough to finish his pasta in time.

with eren gone, levi and farlan looked at each other for five seconds and then back at the pasta.

"do you wanna put a shoelace in it?" levi said, still looking at the thermos container it was in.

"sure, but why?"

"i wanna see if eren would eat it," he said, untying his shoes to get the shoelace off.

"how are you gonna get new shoelaces?"

levi shrugged and slipped the slim thread inside of it. levi shook it up a bit and peeked inside, seeing that what once was white was now yellow. he smiled and closed the container.

as they waited for eren to come back, levi ate some of his rice, trying his best not to look suspicious.

eren skipped in, rushing to get back in his seat.

as much as levi tried to look inconspicuous, he couldn't help but lean over when eren started eating.

with a few bites, eren started to chew erratically, biting up and down. levi and farlan shared one glance at each other and then started to snicker.

eren looked at them and then realized what was happening. "bleh! bleh! bleh!"

eren took the stringy material off his tongue and glared at both farlan and levi.

"i'm telling the teacher."

"wait, no!"