Chapter 12
About an hour before the three of them planned on heading to the club, Eren decided that he wanted to change his clothing. The t-shirt and jeans just didn’t seem fancy enough for a club, so he headed up to his room to find something better suited to wear.
He picked out a shirt and a nice jacket, as well as his key necklace. He didn’t wear it as much as he wanted to, but he did really like it.
He didn’t know what pants to wear, however. Jeans, he had already deemed unfit for the occasion and he wasn’t about to wear his work pants. This was a club, not an office party.
He grazed his fingers over a certain pair at the back of his closet. He’s only worn them a handful of times, they weren’t exactly fit for everyday wear. At least conventionally speaking.
Deciding that tonight was a good night to bring them back out, he pulled them from their shelf and moved to tug them on. They were jet black and skin-tight, leather material highlighted the subtle curves of his ass and thighs.
They never failed to bring out a sense of confidence in Eren, more so than normal. They made him feel powerful.
He ran his hands over the slick fabric, humming appreciatively. After he finished dressing, he moved to the bathroom to mess with his hair.
There really wasn’t too much he could do with it. It was unruly and unmanageable, but he quite liked the look it gave him. He massaged some balm between his fingers before threading them into his hair, piecing it out and giving it an even messier look.
Once satisfied, Eren made his way back down to the living room. Armin and Mikasa were slipping on their jackets when they turned to look at him. Eren smirked at their reactions to his appearance. Armin’s eyes were as big as dinner plates and Mikasa's face was adopting a soft blush.
“Holy shit, Eren. Leather? Damn, you’re gonna have to watch out tonight. There’s gonna be a lot of people drooling for a piece of that.” Armin teased.
“Oh my god, shut up. No there’s not.” Eren croaked. Armin sent his friend a wink and Eren just rolled his eyes.
“Everybody is going to be meeting us there. Though, Bert said he might be a few minutes late.” Armin finished tugging on his coat and the three of them headed out to the car.
“Okay, that’s fine,” Eren replied, sliding into the passenger seat.
On the way to the club, the three of them rocked out in the car to some Galantis, getting ready for the excitement of the upcoming night.
The trip was short, and soon they were navigating through the crowd inside the dimly lit club, music loud and upbeat. They headed to an empty table near the bar, and Armin and Eren moved to get some drinks, Mikasa adopting the position of designated driver again.
Their friends trickled in over the next few minutes. Sasha and Isabelle arrived at the same time, chatting about something Eren didn’t particularly care about.
Berthold and Reiner arrived a few moments later, scanning the place for their friends. Tagging along with them was a petite blonde with an unimpressed look on her face. Eren waved them over.
“This is Annie, guys. I invited her to come along, I hope that’s okay.” Berthold said, gesturing to the woman beside him with a sheepish smile.
“Yeah, totally! Welcome aboard, Annie!” Armin greeted brightly. Annie replied with a glare.
Well isn’t she just a bundle of sunshine.
Mikasa made a strange sound and Eren turned to see what the problem was. Mikasa was quite obviously glaring at the short blonde, though Eren didn’t see the need to figure out why. It was quite common to find Mikasa glaring at people.
Within the first few minutes, Eren had already finished his first drink, then he was on to the next. The night blurred together like that, laughter, drinking, and overall merrymaking. Eren ended up getting hit on by at least four different people. He ignored Armin’s smirking to the best of his ability.
About halfway through the night, Eren started feeling the weirdest thing, like someone was watching him. He just figured it was the alcohol until he heard Armin gasp across from him.
“No fucking way…” Armin said. Eyes locked onto something over Eren’s shoulder.
“W-what?” Eren asked nervously before glancing towards whatever had caught the blonde's attention.
There, across the club, sitting at a table in a far corner was Levi, Hanji, and Erwin on either side of him. Eren felt his face pale, all the blood draining from it in a rush.
Eren could vaguely hear the murmurs of his friends as they all turned to look at the subject of the commotion, but he paid no attention to it. All the could think about was the dream, and the sultry rasp to Levi’s voice as he spoke to him. Eren felt the blood come back, leaving his face red and hot. He wouldn’t be surprised if it suddenly burst into flames at this point.
Of course, the place where he least expects to see his boss, fate decides to be a giant asshole and force them together.
Figures.
Honestly, had it not been for the alcohol in his system that was clouding his judgment, Eren would have been booking it for the exit by now. But like the stubborn little shit that he was, Eren just puffed out his chest and tried to ignore the feeling of sharp slate eyes burning into the back of his head.
This situation wasn’t at all like the last one, this was so much worse. There is no “talking it through” with this one. How does one even confess to someone something like that?
“Good morning, Sir. Here’s your coffee. And oh, by the way, last night I dreamt of you fucking me into my mattress. Just thought you should know.”
Fuck that. To answer that question; you don’t. You don’t tell someone about shit like that. You lock it away into the farthest reaches of your mind to never be heard from or seen again. Ever.
Eren threw back the last of his drink, letting the burn of the alcohol distract him from the burning on his face. He let out a defeated sigh.
There wasn’t really much he could do at this point. Come Monday morning, Eren would just have to suck it up and get on with his life, even if every time his eyes met the others man’s, Eren felt the need to douse himself with ice water. He was a big boy, he’d get over it. Or at least he hoped he would.
However, until then, Eren would ignore all thoughts of work and his gorgeous boss. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do while enjoying time off anyway? Forget about all your responsibilities for a while before having to go back to it all.
His friends didn’t seem to understand that though, as they were now chatting leisurely about their jobs.
Sasha mentioned something about the size of Erwin's eyebrows suggesting the size of other parts of him, to which Armin let out a strangled whine, blushing furiously.
Eren snickered loudly, knowing that Sasha had said that just to fluster their blonde friend. His infatuation with Erwin wasn’t exactly unknown at this point. Armin sent him a heated glare, jutting out his bottom lip in a way that took any viciousness out of his expression. Not that there was much there anyway.
Eren was surprised, however, to see Armin’s betrayed expression quickly morphing into a mischievous grin.
“I wonder, Eren. What about Levi? He is pretty short after all, I wonder if he makes up for it in other ways.” Armin wiggled his eyebrows at his friend.
Eren groaned obnoxiously. “Oh my God. Don’t even start, Ar. I don’t wanna hear it.”
Eren hoped that would have been the end of that, he really did, but obviously, the world wasn’t so kind. Sasha seemed to pick up on Eren’s embarrassment and decided to join in on torturing Eren.
“You know, I heard the man’s a beast in the sack. Apparently, the only small thing about him is his height.” Sasha said, grinning as well.
Eren slammed his head down onto the table. “Okay, fuck you guys.” He said through a mortified chuckle. “I swear.”
The whole table was giggling now, even Mikasa, the traitor. Eren stood from his seat and rubbed at his temple.
“I’m going to the bar for another drink. I need a few minutes away from you assholes.” Eren shook his head as he spoke, his insult more lighthearted than angry. He did love his friends, even if they were a pain in the ass sometimes.
Eren made his way to the bar, sliding up onto one of the tall bar stools lined up there. The bartender nodded at him as he finished a drink for another customer before coming over to take Eren’s order.
“What can I get you?”
Eren ordered himself the stiffest drink he could think of and thanked the bartender as he slid the glass over to him. Eren relished in the warm burn as the drink slid down his throat. It both cleared his head and fogged it back up all at once. He could feel the effects of the alcohol already, both from his previous drinks and the one he’s having now. Eren wasn't exactly a lightweight when it came to alcohol, but he didn’t have the strongest tolerance to the substance.
Eren let his mind drift off on its own, and thoughts of the night filled his head. He really was lucky to have such great friends. When he was younger, after what had happened, he’d had such a bad temper that no one could stand to be around him for long, except Armin and Mikasa of course. He’d grown up a lot since then, he has a steady job, good relationships and a good head on his shoulders. It really felt like maybe things were finally going right for him. Aside from the whole “having wet dreams about your boss” thing.
Eren took another swig of his drink and glanced around. Almost as if on their own, his eyes glanced back towards a particular corner where three familiar figures sat. Hanji was laughing wide-mouthed at something Erwin was saying, a small smile on the blonde's face. Levi, on the other hand, was simply staring disinterestedly down at his drink, his left hand stirring it absentmindedly.
The light hanging from the ceiling above them really highlighted the man’s features in a beautiful way. It brought out the slick shine of his dark hair and laid shadows in the contours of his face, accentuating the man’s angular facial structure. Just when Eren doubted he could get any more gorgeous, Levi proved him wrong with simply some shitty lighting. Though the alcohol could have something to do with that, but Eren doubted it.
Suddenly, as if being called, Levi’s eyes met Eren’s, sharp steel mixing with vibrant green-blue. Eren felt his heart speed up at being caught staring. He couldn’t avert his eyes, no matter how much he wanted to. Levi had ensnared him in his gaze, and he knew it. The way Levi was looking at him send chills down Eren’s spine.
Hungry
Eren could be wrong, but he could have sworn he saw Levi’s eyes rake down his body, appreciating his appearance. Though, Eren couldn’t be sure of anything at this point.
Just when Eren didn’t think he could take anymore, a deep voice to his right broke his attention from Levi. Eren would have felt thankful if it wasn’t for the fact that his savior was now eyeing him like a piece of meat. Eren found himself groaning inwardly.
“Hey there.” The man greeted smoothly, despite the slight alcohol-induced slurring of his voice.
Soft looking blonde hair framed the man’s face nicely, brown eyes pinning him to the seat. He was attractive, but only averagely so. He kind of looked like a douche bag if Eren was being honest. He really didn’t have much interest in the guy.
He nodded slightly before turning away, hoping the other would get the hint. As always, he wasn’t so lucky.
“Are you here all by yourself?” He asked, leaning closer. Eren gave him a look before he sighed and answering his question.
“No, my friends are here too.” Eren motioned back towards the group.
“Then what are you doing over here all alone?” The man pressed further, voice deep and husky. He probably thought he was sexy as hell right now. He couldn’t even hold a candle to Levi, honestly, Eren thought before slapping himself inwardly.
Eren just glared at him, getting tired of him already. The man just waved his hands.
“Anyway, could I buy you a drink?” He asked.
“No, thank you.” Eren dismissed quickly.
“Awe, c’mon baby. Just one?”
Eren felt his eye twitch. “I said no.”
The man grumbled but didn’t leave, much to Eren’s disdain. He simply furrowed his brows and thought about his next plan of action.
When the man suddenly hooded his eyes and smirked seductively at him, Eren watched him cautiously. The guy was really starting to bug him.
“You know, you’ve got some of the prettiest eyes I’ve ever seen. I feel like I could get lost in them.” He said, walking his fingers up Eren’s thigh.
“Is that so? Why don’t you do that then? Hmm?” Eren sneered at him.
“Do what, baby?” The man asked, thinking he’d won.
“Get lost.” Eren deadpanned before grabbing him by the wrist and pulling the man’s hand from his thigh.
“Oh, don’t be like that. You know I’d show you a good time.”
“I’m not interested. Thanks. Now please leave me alone.” Eren grunted, irritated.
“I'd be the best you’ve ever had. I can promise you that.” The man continued, whispering in Eren’s ear.
Eren pushed him away harshly when he felt his hand on his thigh again and a face in his neck.
“Don’t fucking touch me. I said no.” Eren said loudly.
“Oh don’t pretend you don’t want it. I bet you’d beg for…” The man sneered but was cut off by another voice Eren hadn’t expected to hear.
Eren turned to look at Levi, who now had an arm wrapped possessively around Eren’s shoulder.
“Hey, dickbag, I think he asked you to leave.”
Eren couldn’t think at that particular moment.
The man eyed Levi viciously. Levi glared right back.
“This your boyfriend or something? Isn’t he a little small?” The man said sarcastically.
“That’s really none of your business. Now, please leave, or I’ll make you.” Levi warned.
“What are you gonna do, pipsqueak? Hit me? I don’t think you could reach.” The man taunted back.
In the blink of an eye, Levi had let go of Eren grabbed the man by his collar, pulling him face to face.
“Listen here you asshat. I don’t need height to beat the shit out of you, trust me. So if you’d like to leave here with all your limbs, I’d do it while you still can. Now, why don’t you go outside and play a nice game of hide and go fuck yourself.” Levi said before nearly throwing the guy to the floor.
The guy quickly righted himself and smoothed his clothes out. He sends a glare to the pair as he left.
Eren was still in shock.
Levi turned back to Eren and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, you okay? You look a little pale there.”
Eren shook himself out of his thoughts and looked at Levi as he slid into the barstool next to him.
“I’m alright. Thanks. That guy just wouldn’t take the hint.”
“Don’t mention it. The guy was a grade-A douche bag. When I saw him giving you a hard time, I figured I’d lend you a hand.” Levi said, waving the bartender over to order himself a drink.
“I appreciate it,” Eren said sincerely, smiling warmly at the shorter man.
The bartender took Levi’s order and started making his drink. After he was finished he pointed to Eren’s nearly empty glass.
“Can I get you another, Sir?” The bartender asked politely. Eren nodded and let the man do his work.
Levi made a sound as the full glass was slid to Eren, and Eren turned to give him a questioning look.
“What?” Eren asked, bring the glass to his lips.
“Nothing, I just hadn’t taken you for a hard liquor kind of guy,” Levi admitted.
Eren scoffed, slightly amused. “What kind of drinks would you have expected me to like then?” Eren asked, genuinely curious for Levi’s answer.
Levi thought about it for a moment. “Honestly, something fruity or tropical. Something you’d drink on the beach.”
“Why do you say that?”
For a moment, it seemed like Levi wasn’t going to answer. It was like he had something to say but didn’t know if he wanted to or not.
He decided to say it anyway. “Because it looks like you’ve got the whole fucking ocean trapped in those eyes of yours.” He said simply, not looking at the brunet.
Eren was at a loss for words. Was that a compliment? Eren couldn’t tell, but he definitely noticed the way his face heated up like a sauna. Eren turned to look at the man, a light dusting of rose across Levi's cheekbones. He contributed it to the alcohol.
Levi seemed to recover quickly however, and was now moving on, which Eren was thankful for.
“What about me? What drinks would you expect me to enjoy?” Levi asked, all trace of blush gone from his face.
“Maybe a Manhattan or something. Something sophisticated.” Eren shrugged.
“Hmmm. Fair enough.”
The conversation died down between them. The silence didn’t seem to bother Levi, but Eren felt jittery. He couldn’t even hold a conversation with the man. Eren usually didn’t have a problem with being outspoken but around Levi, he couldn’t even find the words.
He wanted to say something, anything. Wanted to make the man laugh or smile, anything besides the usual mask of indifference he always wore.
He glanced at Levi from the corner of his eye. The dark-haired man was taking a sip of his own drink, and Eren watched as his Adams apple bobbed as he swallowed. Eren suddenly felt thirsty but had no interest in the drink only a few inches from his hand.
Levi looked over at him from the corner of his eye. “What?” He asked curiously.
Eren gawked at being caught staring, he hadn’t realized he was being so obvious.
Words wanted to come out, but he didn’t know what to say in reply to Levi’s inquiry. Eren would open his mouth to say something, but nothing would come to mind. He just ended up looking like a gaping fish.
He could feel the mortification rising up in him as Levi’s expression grew more concerned by the second. Eren needed to do something, so he did the only thing he could think of. He glanced around the club, looking for anything that he could use to save himself from the ensuing awkwardness.
He looked to the dance floor, and around the moving bodies on it.
Eren blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
“Do you want to dance?”
The words were out without a second thought, and Eren immediately regretted it. He wanted nothing more than to take them back and melt away from existence.
He’d half expected Levi to get pissed and tell him off, call him an idiot for such a preposterous suggestion. But Levi simply stared at him, reading his face, before throwing back the rest of his drink and announcing a loud “Fuck it.”
Levi stood and stepped away from his stool, expecting Eren to follow him but stopped when he realized that Eren was still firmly planted in his seat.
“You coming? It was your idea after all.” Levi asked, holding out his hand.
Eren looked up into gray eyes, searching for anything that might give away the possibility of the whole thing being a joke. He can’t possibly want to dance with Eren. But Eren found no such thing there, just faint curiosity and an invitation.
So, with a defeated sigh, Eren took the offered hand and let Levi lead him through the crowd of tightly packed, gyrating bodies.
As the pair moved through, hands connected tightly, Eren could feel the music thumping up through the floors and vibrating his bones. Lights flashed all around them, illuminating bits of Levi’s back before switching positions and blanketing him in darkness.
Suddenly, a pale hand was snaking its way around Eren waist, the other hand still entwined with his own.
Eren let his grip on the other man’s hand release, instead placing his hand on Levi’s shoulder.
He timidly stepped in a hair’s width closer, but it didn’t seem to be close enough for Levi as he rolled his eyes and pulled the taller man flush to him.
“It’s not a high school dance, Brat.” Levi scoffed, but his eyes portrayed no harshness. Instead, they held a strange form of teasing that sent chills up Eren’s spine. It made him feel like teasing back.
“I guess that whole ‘face to face, leave some space’ policy doesn’t apply here, huh?” Eren smirked, slipping his arms around the shorter man’s shoulders.
Levi simply snorted, amused with Eren’s poor attempt at flirting. “Moron.” He said, smiling the slightest bit and shaking his head.
The two let themselves be absorbed by the strong beat and the flashing lights, only focusing on each other as they moved together in time with the music.
It felt like the world had slowed down around them, and all Eren could focus on was the man pressed up against his chest. He looked down onto Levi’s face, examining the soft pink across his cheekbones that was barely visible in the dim lighting. His eyes looked darker than usual and were slightly squinted and Levi looked back up at him.
At the short proximity, Eren could feel the soft puffs of Levi’s breath ghosting over his face. Could smell the alcohol and a trace amount of mint. It intoxicated him in a way that had nothing to do with the alcohol. Eren wanted to lean in, see if maybe Levi tasted as good as he smelled. He quickly derailed that train of thought, however, and attributed his idiocy to the alcohol reeking havoc on his judgment.
Eren needed to remember that this was his boss and that his fantasies were just that, fantasies that shouldn’t be acted upon. Sure, neither of them were working right now so the air of professionalism was diminished, but that didn’t mean Eren could throw caution to the wind and do something he might later regret, lest he wants sexual assault charges or worse.
To Eren, the chances of any of his highly confusing feelings being reciprocated by the older man were similar to that of winning the lottery. He really didn’t know how to feel about that.
“Relax kid, you look like you’re about to shit yourself. What are you thinking about so intensely?”
The sound of Levi’s voice knocked Eren from his thoughts. He quickly smoothed out his features once he realized that his thinking had caused him to look something akin to constipated.
Eren let out a soft laugh. “Nothing. Just thinking about how strange the circumstances of how we got here are. When I first started working for you, I was almost sure that you hated my guts, yet here we are, dancing together at a nightclub so close that people might mistake us for lovers. Hell, you certainly played the part back there with that creep.” Eren played off, not about to tell the real topic of his thoughts.
Levi seemed a little perturbed at first but quickly recovered.
“Do you dislike it? The prospect of people mistaking us for lovers, I mean?” He asked, catching Eren off guard. Levi’s eyes showed no hint of emotion besides the default that he always held.
Eren wanted nothing more than to deny any allocation of disliking the idea. It was quite the opposite actually. But he wasn’t sure how to express that without giving off the wrong impression. What if he answered wrong, or offended Levi and scared him away? Though, Eren did pride himself for being an honest man, even if the truth scared the shit out of him.
“No, I can’t say I do,” Eren answered calmly. Levi’s eyes seemed to gleam at the confession, taking over Eren's face.
Eren suddenly felt a ball of nervousness building in his chest, his heart began to beat rapidly. What was that look?
One of the hands at Eren’s waist seemed to drop slightly towards Eren’s hip. The other came up to trace over Eren’s chest, stopping just below his collarbones. Levi’s eyes flicked down to the lower half of Eren’s face and Eren found himself gulping nervously. Then, Levi’s hand began its journey again. It moved up farther, his fingertips grazed just over the side of Eren’s neck. Fingers hooked themselves into the dark hair behind Eren’s ear as Levi’s thumb came up even farther to stroke Eren’s jaw lightly. Eren felt goosebumps rise to his skin at the contact.
“Good.” Was all Levi said. His eyes flicked back up to Eren’s, and suddenly Levi was moving, tilting his head up and slowly closing the space between them. Eren felt the breath catch in his throat, not believing what he was seeing. Was Levi going to…?
Eren leaned forward, ready to meet Levi halfway. He gradually began to let his eyes close. He could feel the other man’s breath sweeping across his face. He was so close.
“Oh! There you are, short stack! I was wondering where you’d ran off to!” A sudden, excited voice rung out, startling the pair. Eren jumped back in a rush, a deep blush creeping onto his cheeks. Levi turned to glare at the intruder.
Hanji seemed to pick up on the sudden tension and her face lit up with a knowing smirk.
“Oh, was I interrupting something?” She asked, wiggling her eyebrows.
Both Eren and Levi responded at the same time, Eren sputtering out a series of high-pitched ‘no’s and Levi answering with a firm ‘yes’ and venomous glare to go along with it. The pair glanced at each other momentarily before returning their attention to the woman nearly vibrating with excitement.
Eren suddenly felt dizzy, thoughts of the past events swimming violently around in his head. There was no way Levi could have honestly wanted to kiss him, even with all the evidence claiming the opposite. But if Hanji hadn’t shown up, would they really have done it? Eren felt mortified at the idea of sharing a sloppy drunken kiss with his boss spawned in the heat of the moment and then have Levi regret it when he’d sobered up again.
Eren could see Levi and Hanji arguing about something through blurry vision, but couldn’t focus on what they were arguing about. It seemed like all the alcohol had finally gotten to Eren as he stumbled back slightly and felt a wave of nausea wash over him.
“Oh god…” he said with a gag as he slapped a hand over his mouth and frantically looked for a bathroom. He stumbled his way through the crowd of tightly packed bodies and towards the neon bathroom sign hung up on the wall.
Eren could vaguely hear the sound of someone calling his name behind him, but he felt didn’t halt their trek, the desire to prevent any embarrassing messes much stronger than the curiosity to turn and address the person calling after him.
Despite his clumsiness, Eren made it to the bathroom without issue and entered the first stall he could get to. He dropped to his knees and wretched violently, releasing the contents of his stomach into the (thankfully) clean toilet. His throat burned as if he was spitting up a fire, his eyes watering slightly. After he was done, he caught his breath to the best of his ability and wiped at his mouth with the back of his sleeve.
Eren's vision suddenly darkened around the edges, and his body instinctively leaned against the stalls wall as he realized that he was about to pass out. All he noticed before he did so was the sound of the bathroom door suddenly bursting open and the click of heels heading in his direction.
“Eren!”
He really needed to stop drinking so much.