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Eren sat down to catch his breath after spending hours on his feet.
The ceremony was perfect, and so was the reception. He finally got married to the mad he loved, and he couldn’t be happier. He looked for Levi with his eyes around the room and saw him talking and laughing with his friends, which put a smile on his face.
He just couldn’t believe how lucky he was. He met the best person ever over 20 years ago, and now they were more than ready to spend the rest of their lives together.
4 years old
Levi was sitting on the floor, playing with his blocks, when he heard a cry. He looked at all the kids to see where it was coming from and that's when he saw a little boy curled in the corner, hugging his legs, drowning in his teardrops. Levi immediately got up and went to see what was wrong, just like his mother did every time Farlan, his little brother, would cry. She always told him that they have to do their best to stop others from being sad, and so Levi followed his mommy’s words.
He approached the little boy, and pat him on the shoulder. He looked up at him and Levi could see how scared that boy was just by looking into his eyes.
“Why are you crying?” Levi asked. It took a while for the boy to be able to answer due to his sobbing, but when he managed to calm down, a sweet voice replied.
“I… I miss my mommy…”
“I miss my mommy too, but she’s going to be here soon, don’t cry.” Levi sat next to him and held his hand.
“B-But my mommy p-protects me… I get scared without her..." As the boy was saying this, Levi thought of a solution.
“Then I’ll be your mommy until she gets here, I’ll protect you. I promise.” He smiled and held his pinky up for the boy, who looked relieved and amazed.
“Really?” He gave Levi a little smile.
“Yeah!” The boy stared at the pinky that was held in front of him, and hesitantly rounded it with his own. That made Levi really happy, because his mommy told him that this gesture meant a lot and was a sign of trust, and since he promised he would protect the boy, he wanted to gain his trust. “What’s your name?”
“Eren.”
“Hi Eren, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Levi.” Not letting go of his hand, he took him to where he was playing before. “Here, you can play with my blocks.” Eren took a block and put it on top of the construction Levi had made, but accidently knocked it down.
“I’m sorry…” He looked at Levi, in fear of his reaction. “I didn’t want to…”
“It’s okay. We’ll make something new. Let’s make a castle! It’ll be very big!” Levi didn’t look sad, and immediately started building it.
“A castle?”
“A big castle so I can protect you.” He smiled radiantly at Eren. “Want to help?” Eren smiled back at him and nodded his head yes, excited "Then let's do it!"
Eren relaxed a bit in his chair and put his hands in his pockets like he always used to do, but immediately looked confused due to what he felt. He smiled at the tiny object in his hand, a blue hair clip, and wondered if Levi put it in there without him noticing.
The little item had a small story behind it, and Eren laughed at the cute memory of how he got it.
6 years old
“Eren!” Eren looked up and pushed his hair away from his face and smiled as soon as he saw who was running to him.
“Levi!” Levi stopped next to him a bit out of breath, with something in his hands.
“Sorry I’m late, I asked my mom to stop at the store before coming here.” They entered school together. “I bought something for you.” He said shyly, and Eren looked surprised.
“For me?”
“Yeah, here.” He gave him what he was holding. “You always say that your hair gets in your way, but you like it long like that, so I had an idea.” Eren looked at the tiny package in his hands that he assumed was wrapped by Levi on the way from the store to school, and opened it. “I know it’s for girls, but you’re just as pretty as one, so I thought there would be no problem…” Levi looked worried, he was hoping that Eren would like his present.
Inside the package was a hair clip. Eren knew what it was because his older sister, Mikasa, had lots of them. The hair clip was simple and blue, Eren’s favourite colour. He was really touched by the lovely gesture. It meant that Levi payed attention to him and cared about him to the point of choosing his favourite colour! And he even called him pretty…
“I love it!” He smiled brightly and Levi smiled back.
“Really?”
“Really. Can you put it on me?”
“Yeah!” Levi nodded his head, grabbed a portion of Eren’s hair and secured it with the blue clip, careful not to hurt him. “There.”
“Do I look pretty?”
“The prettiest.” Levi answered sincerely.
They were really cute as kids, and had lots of stories like that from what their parents told them.
Of course they didn’t remember most of them, but the most important ones always stuck around. Like the memory of their first kiss.
8 years old
“Have you ever kissed anyone?” Levi asked casually while they were in the playground, on the swings.
“Yeah. Lots of people.”
“Really? Who?”
“Mommy, daddy, Mikasa, you, Farlan, Mrs. Ackerman-” Levi interrupted him.
“No no, I mean, on the lips.”
“Umm… I think I kissed my mommy a few times. But why, you don’t?”
“Do your parents ever kiss?” Levi asked, ignoring his question.
“Yeah, a lot. Sometimes they hide in their room so I don’t see them.”
“My parents kiss a lot too…” This has been on his mind for a few days now, ever since he saw his parents kiss in the kitchen while they were making dinner. Levi found it a bit gross and unsanitary, but his parents seemed to like it. He couldn’t understand how something as gross as a kiss could make a person so happy.
“Why do you think that is?” Eren asked, now curious too.
“Maybe they like it a lot?”
“Mommy said that that kind of kissing should only happen when we’re older and when you really like someone.” Levi stopped swinging and thought for a moment, and it did make sense. His parents were older and since they were married it means they liked each other. But he was still confused…
“I like you.” Eren stopped his swing too and looked at him and gave him a huge smile when he heard those words.
“I like you too Levi!” That’s right, Levi liked Eren and Eren liked Levi, so… Was kissing really only for parents?
“Do you want to try?”
“Try what?” Eren looked at him confused.
“Kissing.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. We like each other, and know each other since ever, so that makes us old.” It made perfect sense in his head, and Eren seemed to think so too.
“Okay.”
“Okay.” They both leaned in, a bit apprehensive, and gently sealed their lips together in a small peck. After a few seconds, they pulled apart and looked at each other. “What did you think?” Eren seemed to think about it.
“It’s okay.” He said, not really understanding what he was feeling.
“Yeah it was okay.” Levi tried to hide it since Eren didn’t seem to like it, but kissing him had been just as good as the kisses between his parents seemed to be.
They were dancing what was probably their 10th dance as a married couple, and honestly, they couldn’t get enough of it.
Eren was a bit opposed to the idea in the beginning because he was shy, but after Levi showed him several videos of married couples dancing on their wedding, Eren started getting more found of the idea, and eventually gave in.
And it wasn’t the first time that something like this happened.
10 years old
Eren was staring at the book we was supposed to be reading, but couldn’t concentrate on it. He was currently in Levi’s room and they were doing homework, but there was something on his mind that has been bugging him for the past few months, and he just felt like he had to share this with Levi, his best friend of 6 years, before he told it to anyone else.
“Levi?”
“Yeah?” Levi looked up from his books.
“I have something really important to say.” Levi sensed Eren’s tension and discomfort, and put his books aside.
“What is it?” It took a while for Eren to answer, but then he finally gained courage, took a deep breath, and confessed.
“I think I might be gay…” He looked at Levi, afraid of his reaction.
“Gay?” Eren nodded. “As in, you like other guys?” Another nod. “Why do you think that?”
“Well, I don’t really think that girls are as pretty as guys…” He still wasn’t really sure of how to explain it. “Like, I think you are cute…” He said shyly. “I tried to search for things about this on the internet, and some people said that one of the ways that helps to understand how I feel would be by watching porn, and I didn’t like it very much either, so…” He finished quietly, thinking he might have disappointed Levi, and Levi sensed his sadness.
“Well, that’s okay Eren, don’t be sad. A lot of people are gay.” He didn’t know much, but he knew enough to be sure that there was nothing wrong with Eren, and there was no reason to be sad. “I heard the word gay also means happy.” Eren gave him a small smile.
“Really?”
“Yeah. So now that you’re gay, you also have to be happy!” He encouraged him, trying to show him that he wasn’t mad.
“Alright, thank you Levi.” They both smiled and Eren was really happy and relieved that Levi didn’t think badly of him.
“Sooo…” Levi said awkwardly after a few minutes of silence. “You watched porn?” Eren blushed at hearing the question.
“Yeah…”
“How was it?”
“Weird.”
“Do you want to watch it again?”
“I guess…” Levi turned on his laptop, opened the internet page and opened a folder in his bookmark entitled “porn”. Eren laughed, and Levi blushed madly.
“I’ve done some research too…” He said quietly, clicking on the first site that appeared on the list, and immediately a few very explicit thumbnails showed up. “Which one do you want to watch?”
“I don’t really have a preference.”
“This one?” Eren shook his head. “This one?” Again a no. “How about this one?” Same answer. Levi sighed and looked at the side bar under the name of “Categories” looking for something that might interest Eren, until he found it. “Hey! Look at this!” The mouse cursor was on top of the “Gay Category”. “Have you been here?”
“No… I didn’t even know boys could have sex… How is it possible? They don’t have girl parts.” Eren asked, really confused.
“Maybe they just kiss.” Levi said, unsure of himself. “Want to find out?”
“Okay…”
Levi clicked on the category and on the first video that showed up.
“See! Told you. They kiss!” Eren hummed, while watching the two young men kissing on the screen, not so differently from what he’s used to see from his parents.
“Fast forward.” Levi clicked in the middle of the time bar, and the screen showed a really zoomed in frame of what was happening.
“What’s that?” Levi asked Eren, who looked equally confused. “What’s happening?” All they could see were some movements, but couldn’t really make up what was happening, until the camera started zooming out, then everything became clear to Eren and Levi.
“That’s… That’s…”
“Oh my god!” Levi screamed and Eren closed the laptop, just as shocked as Levi. “…Well… Did you like that?”
“Not really…”
“Yeah, me neither…” Another awkward pause. “But they were kissing at first, maybe the other part is optional.” Levi suggested.
“Maybe… Hopefully…” Eren said the last part quietly, and then Levi remembered something.
“Hey! We kissed, a couple of years ago. Do you remember?”
“Yeah…” Eren blushed madly.
“Want to try doing it again?”
“Okay.” They both slowly leaned in, and gave a short and innocent kiss. Eren instantly felt sparks all over his body, and Levi thought that kissing Eren was way better than he had remembered. When they pulled away from each other, both had a slight blush on their cheeks. Levi cleared his throat and spoke after a few seconds.
“Did you like that?”
“Yeah…” Eren nodded embarrassed. He felt that all of his confusion about his sexuality was cleared away with that kiss. “Did you?” He looked expectantly at Levi, who just gave him the biggest smile he had ever seen.
“Yeah.”
Levi interrupted his thoughts by kissing him on the cheek and asking what was on his mind. Eren just said that he was remembering moments from their childhood. Levi just smiled and kissed him, and Eren was happy to know that he still felt butterflies whenever Levi’s lips met his own.
13 years old
They were both in the park where they kissed for the first time, playing in the snow, which was Eren’s favourite thing to do in the winter, his favourite season, just enjoying their time alone and giving some shy kisses here and there, when Levi noticed Eren’s uneasiness.
“Did something happened?”
“No, it’s nothing, Mikasa has just been complaining about her boyfriend since yesterday. So annoying…” Eren laughed bitterly, and Levi pulled him into a hug.
“Come here.”
“It got me thinking though…” He said after a while.
“About what?”
“About us. Levi, what are we? Just… friends?” He questioned shyly. The questions has been on his mind ever since they started kissing every day after that one time they watched porn when they were 10. “I don’t even know if you’re gay… I know I am, but what about you?
“Well umm… Do you like me?”
“I like you so much Levi.” He said immediately.
“I like you too.” Levi smiled. “I don’t know if I’m gay or bi, never really thought about it, I just know that I am crazy about you.” Eren was listening to him attentively, and Levi caressed his cheek, not breaking the eye contact. “I love spending time with you, we’re always together, know each other since we were little kids, we kiss… I just need you, and only you.” He finished and kissed Eren’s hand. “So I guess that means we’re more than just friends?” Eren smiled widely.
“Really?” Levi nodded. “As in, boyfriends?” Levi nodded again.
“If you want to, of course.” Eren just hugged him tight. He got his answer.
The ceremony had ended, and Eren and Levi were in the elevator, going up to their honeymoon suite, for their first night as a married couple.
They were silent and tired, but they didn’t need words to express their feelings, they could easily understand each other with one simple look.
Levi opened the door to their room, looked at Eren and picked him up bridal style. Eren giggled, holding onto Levi as they entered the room.
16 years old
“So…”
“So…”
They were sitting awkwardly on Eren’s bed. They had the house all to themselves because Eren’s parents and sister were out of town.
They both had grown into two good looking teenagers. Levi had an undercut, and Eren had grown to be taller than Levi.
Levi looked over at him and thought how lucky he was to have Eren all to himself, but sighed because of the tense atmosphere between them.
“Eren, we don’t have to do this if you’re scared.”
“I’m not scared.” Eren said quietly, looking at his hands. “It’s just…” He gave Levi a quick glance. “Last time, it really hurt.” He whispered shyly and Levi hugged him sidewise.
“I know, but that was months ago. And as I said, you don’t have to be the one on the bottom.”
“No, I want to Levi. I really do.”
“It’s not going to hurt this time.” Levi assured him. “We’ve been preparing you for this, you said you liked it.” Levi was referring to the most intimate touching they had done to each other.
“And I do!” Eren exclaimed quickly.
“So now it’s going to feel even better. I brought condoms and lube. We’ll go extra slow so you can get used to the feeling. We can take a bath beforehand so you can relax.” Eren smiled at his boyfriend.
“Levi, that’s really sweet.”
“I just want the best for you.”
“You are the best for me. Thank you Levi.” They kissed and Eren finally hugged back.
“I want you happy, I’ll do everything to see you smile.” Levi said as they looked at each other, and he went on caressing Eren’s cheek. “I love you.” Eren looked at him, surprised.
“We never said that to each other before.” Levi smiled at him and pushed him gently onto the bed, whispering above him.
“Don’t you think it’s about time?” Eren felt like he forgot how to breathe for a second, but then kissed Levi and rolled both of them over, now being on top of him. He looked outside and saw that it had started to snow, which made him smile widely and as he looked back at Levi he said.
“I love you too.”
The morning after, they lied in bed in each other’s arms doing nothing, just enjoying each other’s company. Levi had only got up to get their breakfast that they had in bed, and two pills, since they both had a slight headache from all the champagne they drank the day before.
Eren gladly took the pill, randomly remembering a memory that had to do with Levi trying alcohol for the first time.
18 years old
Eren got a message from Jean at 2 in the morning telling him to come pick up Levi from his place. He was having a party, and apparently Levi passed out, which made Eren jump out of bed immediately, not only because he was concerned but also because he thought that something might have gone wrong because Levi had told him he was not going to the party.
As soon as he arrived at the house, he went looking for him, and found him leaned over the kitchen table, sleeping and surrounded by dozens of shot glasses.
“Levi!” He desperately tried to wake him up. “What happened?” Levi finally opened his eyes and smiled.
“Ereeeen… you’re here…” He mumbled.
“Did you drink all of that?” He asked looking worryingly at the shot glasses. A couple of guys who were standing nearby answered.
“As if! He fell asleep after the second shot. What an idiot.” So Levi didn’t overdrink, he just fell asleep. That was a relief.
“Levi, are you okay?”
“My head hurts so bad…” Eren sighed and tried to put him on his feet.
“Come on, let’s get out of here.” Eren wanted to take him to his car and drive him home, but apparently Levi was still a bit drunk, which made that task really difficult, so he decided to just go to a room to get some privacy. As soon as they found one, which Eren assumed was Jean’s room, he locked it and Levi fell on the bed, asking Eren to join him.
“Levi, what happened? You said you weren’t going to the party. Why did you lie to me?” Levi turned his back on him, not wanting to look at him.
“I knew you wouldn’t approve.” He whispered and Eren laid sidewise next to him and caressed his back.
“You’ve been really weird lately, is it because of your SAT’s?”
“Don’t even mention that god damn thing!” He quickly stood up and turned back to him, but immediately regretted his actions and held his head, helplessly trying to ease the pain, and slowly laid down again. “Oh no, wrong move, very wrong move.” Eren moved closer and pecked his head.
“Levi, it was just a test.” Levi shook his head.
“You don’t understand, I feel like I disappointed everyone around me… My mom, my dad, Farlan, you…” He looked at Eren with teary eyes. “It’s really frustrating you know, I worked really hard throughout the entire year, and then I got a shitty result… It’s like everything I did was in vain…”
“So you decided to get drunk?” Levi looked away again, knowing it was a stupid thing to do. “You never drank before... You’re going to have a massive hangover tomorrow.”
“I don’t care.” Levi was looking at the ceiling, clearly upset at the situation.
“Levi… I understand why you feel like that, but you have to remember that a simple test doesn’t determine who you are and what you know.” Levi just shrugged and Eren made him look at him. “Levi, your parents are really proud of you and Farlan looks up to you, you’re his idol! You’re an amazing person. Sweet, caring, intelligent, always ready to help. And me? Levi, I love you. I can't even start to express how much you make me happy. I have so much fun with you, I feel so comfortable around you. I can’t imagine how I would turn out if it wasn’t for you because I am who I am today partly due to you. We grew up together, we complete each other, and we’re a part of each other. This is really cheesy, but I’m afraid to imagine my life without you…” At that moment Levi’s face softened and now Eren was the one with the teary eyes, because he really couldn’t and didn’t want to imagine his life without Levi, since he was there for every important moment of his life. “I know I got a little bit off topic, but this was to tell you that your grades, compared to all of what I said, don’t mean squat.” Levi was really touched by these words, and hugged Eren tightly.
“Eren… You’re amazing…” Eren hugged back after quickly drying his eyes, and laughed.
“Are you even going to remember what I just said tomorrow?”
“I’m not that drunk.” Levi kissed his head. “I’m sorry for making you worry.”
“It’s okay, you’re fine, there’s nothing to worry about.” They looked at each other. “Let’s get you home.”
“Nooo, I’m so comfortable… Let me just lie here for a bit.” He hugged Eren by the waist and got comfortable on the bed, and Eren just laughed, giving him a quick peck.
“I have something for you.” Levi said after they had breakfast. He got up and went to his bag, looking for something.
Eren looked weirdly at him, not expecting to receive anything other than the gifts the guests had sent them, and looked curiously at his husband’s naked form, the lower half covered by a white sheet.
Levi came back to bed with a medium sized box, and urged Eren to open it. It was a snow globe, with a castle inside it. To other people it might look like just something cute and adorable, but Eren knew that Levi meant to give it to him with a meaning behind it.
“I saw this the other day and wanted to give it to you. Let it be a symbol of our married life. I will always protect you.” The snow represented Eren’s favourite season and the castle represented the castle they built when they were 4 years old when Levi had claimed it would serve to protect him.
Eren looked at him and Levi wiped the tears that Eren didn’t even realize were falling. He looked at the other man’s eyes and he just knew that he was safe with him.
“I know you will.”