Eren guessed that Petra was feeling pitiful that night, and he could tell because she walked into his jail cell with a few fruits and breads bundled in her milky-white arms. Petra probably figured he must have been hungry, which he was not. The only thing he hungered for was escape but that wouldn't happen if he just sat around doing nothing. The chance of leaping into action and saving himself was right at his fingertips and he was going to take it no matter what the risks were. Her eyes glowed a haunting shade of crimson as she looked down at him. The rusty nail was hidden inside the sleeve of his shirt, ready at its disposal.

"I must feed you so you won't die too soon. I'll kill you in front of Levi's eyes, that would definitely be much better." Even though she was suggesting an idea so gruesome, her eyes were soft with calmness. She proceeded to kneel down just a few inches away from him.

Eren couldn't  believe how this was the woman Levi used to be helplessly infatuated with. He used to talk about her like she was some goddess or unearthly being, but she was really just a cocky bitch. Though, her beauty was the same as what Levi described. The thought that her lips had touched Levi's made him strangely uncomfortable and angered. It was just weird to think that the two of them had once been a pair. He watched intently as she inched forward and placed the food on a piece of torn cloth and left it on the floor. Before she could get up, she reached forward to grab Eren's shoulder and brought her lips to his neck to retrieve a drink. Before her fangs could pierce his skin once again he could already feel the sting of pain. Her bites were like those of a million bee stings or fire ant bites in just one puncture, and Eren couldn't bare it any longer. When he joined the army he still continued to fear death and the causes of it, but in that moment he no longer cared what was going to happen. His arm shot up like a broken jack-in-the-box and struck the side of her neck with the bent nail.

Hurting her wasn't what he was expecting. He was half expecting her skin to feel like obsidion or to crack apart like glass, but it was like  any other type of skin; soft and delicate. The nail sunk itself deep into her neck with a faint squishy noise, and she froze up in place wither her eyes wide with a mix of horror and surprise. Her hand immediately slapped against her neck and Eren scrambled for the open door. He stood up even though it felt like glass was being pressed onto the soles of his feet. His body was begging for him to stop, because after all he was pushing himself beyond his physical limit. If he wasn't thinking of Levi as motivation, he was sure he would collapse by then, or even dead. The strangled scream of Petra rang through the cell as Eren exited and limped through the bright stone corridor. Flames flickered and danced across the wall and his shadow followed him. Petra may have had stepped on his leg, but he could still run. It was painful and it made his thigh sting with every step, but he was still able to run. Even if his leg was really broken, he would have crawled his way out.

His feet were already throbbing and his skin was raw and an angry shade of red from all the rubbing it received from the rough floor. Even with all the different forms of pain, he fought against them all. Thinking back about his past self he knew he would never side with a vampire, let alone fall in love with one. What he was doing was for love, and love made one go through such lengths to keep it alive. By now he was screaming Levi's name. The sound echoed and bounced against the walls like bullets ricocheting off metal. He couldn't hear himself, he could only hear the beating of his own heart. It was beating for him.

"Levi!" he yowled desperately. "Levi!"

Nothing else mattered. All he wanted was to see him again. It had been less than three days but he already felt like he was going to lose his sanity, he couldn't imagine how bad it would be if he were separated from him any longer. But that was what love did to him; it made him need him like he was the blood running in his veins.

"Eren?" a voice answered back to him. An angel's voice. A lover's voice. "Eren! Is that you? Please let it be you."

Euphoria swelled overwhelmingly in his chest and rattled his weak bones. That was all he needed to hear. His voice never sounded so lovely until that moment. Although Levi couldn't see him, he smiled from ear to ear. He was just so happy he was still alive to speak.

"Where are you?" Eren shouted.

"Right around the corner! You will see me there."

Eren almost skidded into a wall and pivoted to the left, and there he was. His Levi was waiting for him in an identical cage. His fingers were gripping the bars tightly, making his knuckles more prominent. His face was smeared with grime, dirt and dust but even so he was so beautiful to Eren's eyes. Eren fell to his knees just in front of the cage and wrapped his hand on top of his. Eren panted with heavy gulps of air as if he had just reached the surface of a deep lake. He squeezed Levi's hand, unrealistically afraid that he would fall from his hands like sand.

"You can open the door from the front. Hurry, quick!" he murmured.

Eren swung open the cell door and basically flew into Levi's waiting arms. Their balance was lost but Eren didn't feel a thing as his knee hit the hard ground. All he could feel was that he was finally with Levi again. Eren was half expecting himself to start bawling, because love made him an emotional person, but he didn't. Instead, he smiled as hard as he could as nuzzled his face into Levi's neck and hugged him as if the world was falling. For a moment they said nothing, because his embrace was enough to convey what he was feeling. His scent was a mix of rust and dirt and although it was not pleasant, he didn't think of tearing himself away from him. It was a moment of pure bliss. The two of them being together in such a weird and difficult scenario was more than enough to Levi. He didn't have to worry anymore because Eren was breathing right in front of him.

"You're okay," Levi said, mostly to himself. "It's you. It's really you."

"Oh God. You look horrible. Did she do anything to you?" Eren asked quickly.

"Yes, just a pheromone. It makes me weak and as much as I hate to say,I don't think I'll be able to escape," Levi admitted with defeat.

Eren began to panic. He hated how Levi told him bad news just when he was starting to feel happy again. "You're wrong. No, you're horribly wrong. Levi, you know I won't leave without you."

"You need to leave. There's no way she'll let you escape alive if she sees you here," Levi whispered as he tucked a strand of hair behind Eren's ear. "I'm sorry."

"I'd rather die than leave without you. I won't be able to bear it, it would tear me apart to live without you. Levi, I can't do this. I can't do it without you," Eren pleaded and held Levi's shirt in tight fists. "And besides, I'm pretty sure I stabbed her with an iron nail. Isn't your kind weak against iron?"

The vampire didn't answer him."How did you get here?" Levi said, changing the subject. Fortunately for him, Eren didn't notice too much. "I thought Petra broke your leg."

"She didn't. She was just trying get you angry. My leg is still injured very badly, though," Eren said and winced as he tried to place his leg in a comfortable position without causing too much discomfort.

"Stupid boy," Levi muttered breathily. He almost sounded as if he were about to cry, and his words came out in quick gasps. "You're doing all of this for an old man like me. I am so undeserving of you."

"You're right, because you deserve much better than a lowly human like me. I am stupid, but it's all worth for you. Always," Eren whispered. "Enough of this love talk, I want to get out of here. We need to get out of here."

"Eren, I already told you. I can't leave. I can't even raise my arm. It's impossible. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry for loving you. If I never approached in the forest, this would have never happened," he said with guilt spread upon his face.

"Don't say that. I would have died if it wasn't for you. Levi, don't talk to me this way. We can make it," Eren said desperately. Instead of feeling upset, he felt more angry. It angered him that maybe Levi didn't love him enough to believe that they would make it out alive together.

"I'm telling the truth here, I really can't move too much. If you tried to carry me, I'd be too heavy and I'll slow you down."

"No, no, no," Eren said as he shook his head with disbelief. His world was crumbling- no, his world was going to be torn away from him. "Levi, you can't do this to me. You just can't-"

Eren was swiftly and skillfully interrupted when Levi lashed his arm forward weakly and took a hold of Eren's hair and pulled him towards his face to kiss him, silencing his lips. He responded to the sensual action immediately and kissed him back as hard as he could manage. It was as if he could stop all of his worries just by doing the mere but passionate act of kissing. At this point, Eren was in his lap, trying to get as close to as he could, as if they couldn't get any closer. They were basically a tangle of limbs and Levi could feel Eren's living, thumping heartbeat against his dead chest. Due to the pheromone weakening his once strong abilities of movement, Eren was taking most of the lead. Levi's lips were delicately stroking his own, gently caressing the same pair of his lip he had kissed in the past. Although he loved it, this kiss had an element much different than the rest; it was sad. Even so, Eren didn't cry at all. He focused solely on the act of conveying all his feelings and emotions through his mouth. They both couldn't tell whether it was naturally warm in the cell, but they were both sweating. However, it didn't feel uncomfortable or disgusting to Levi at all. In all his few hundred years of wandering the world alone, he had never felt so alive. In the past, the act of loving someone was what got him killed, but now it was what motivated him to keep on existing because to him living did not exist. Because he was no longer alive, but now that Eren was in his life he could no longer remember what dying felt like.

Eren was muttering inaudible words into his mouth, to which Levi could not comprehend. With all his might he held him closer and tighter. Their lips were now moving sluggishly like morning kisses, but Eren would tug or lick at his bottom lip. Levi parted his mouth and welcomed the presence of his lover's tongue. If emotions and sensations were in the form on vibrant colours, the whole cell would be a divine painting. The colours would be strewn all over the place like piper airplanes and mini kites.

"It's ok, Eren," Levi muttered against his mouth. "You can go, you need to go."

"If I go, I'm coming back for you." Eren smashed his lips to his again. It was as if he were starving for him.

"You can't, you don't have enough time. You can't underestimate her. Whatever you did to slow her down, it won't last too long. You need to listen to me, Eren, please trust me."

"You need," he kissed him again, "to trust me as well. I can really do this, Levi, I can get you out." He was cradling his face in his hands now.

"Oh, if only that could be true," Levi said with a sad sigh.

"I'm going to do it," Eren stated firmly.  "I'm going to do it because I love you. God, Levi. I love you too much, it makes me do crazy things."

Levi shook his head with disbelief. He was too weak, too tired to shout or get angry at him for suggesting something so impossible. "You could die."

"And that's fine," Eren told him with a sad smile. His eyes blinked as he pressed another soft kiss to his lips once more. "I'd rather face a painful death than having to live without you."

"Come on, Eren, be reasonable. Don't say that-"

"But you're right, I should probably go now. The faster I leave, the faster I'll be able to get you out of here," he said with a small grin. He pushed himself up onto his feet, his body separated from Levi with his hand being an exception.  Levi looked up at him helplessly, like he was a small boy trapped in a dim and smelly well and Eren was the sun itself. He squeezed his hand. "I won't listen to what you say just for today, alright? I have to do this. I'll be back because I will always be running back to you."

Levi gasped to himself, which was a sound between a choke and a cry, and held on to Eren's hand with all his might. He could feel him slipping away from him once again. The pheromone did its job and enabled him to use his strength to his fullest potential, because he wasn't powerful enough to pull Eren back, or to hold him in place. It was almost like he was human again. Hundreds and flashbacks and memories began to pour instantaneously into his old mind. He was going to lose someone he loved again and the thought was strong enough to break his non-existent heart. He gasped again as if he were out of breath.

But before he could shout his name or argue with him, he was out the cell and all Levi could see was a last glimpse of his torn and ratty shoes. Levi collapsed to the floor dramatically. It had just occurred to him that he never got to say I love you before he left. He was too focused on the idea of Eren dying that he had forgetting to remind him that he loved him and that he was his universe and his stars and plants and everything in between. Greed and selfishness had taken over him. Because when you love somebody, you don't want them to ever leave your side because they make you feel a way that everyone experiences differently. In Levi's case, he didn't feel dead anymore. He didn't feel like the monster that consumed many barrels worth of blood. He felt loved, but now the source of said love was out on a suicide mission. He would be alone.

No, Levi thought to himself. You need to believe in him.

---

AN:

uwahhh a bad habit of mine is dragging out a fanfic, but I don't want to cram all the intense parts in one chapter uwu so you all get a cliff hanger ^^

love always, takeshi