E: I told my sister and my best friend about you...

L: Eren...

E: Before you freak out on me, they're not angry nor do they hate you.

L: I didn't want them to know yet. I wasn't ready, like, mentally ready.

E: Why are you so bothered over this? They're very positive about this situation. They even said they would like to meet you.

L: It's just... I know I'm being overdramatic but whenever people know about me and what I've done, they're never been friendly so I'm very hesitant.

E: I'm sorry I went against your wishes, but they were excited for me to confess. I'm sorry.

L: I want to be mad at you but I can't because of 1. I love you too much and 2. it would be useless and 3. when I am mad at you, I can't stay that way for too long. You're forgiven.

E: Really? I'm off the hook that easily?

L: It's fine, it was going to happen eventually I guess.

They were more than a week into their fantastic trip to Italy and although they did many things like explore the many beaches, go to tourist attractions and had road trips, Eren's parents couldn't help but notice that their son spent an awful amount of time waiting. They weren't too certain what he was waiting for, but living with teenagers for a while they suspected he was waiting for texts and calls from a lover. At first, they didn't mind too much, but then they noticed how anxious or excited Eren would get once night fell upon Italy.

One night Carla decided to question her son, seeing that whatever he was waiting for made him appear extremely anxious. She cared a lot for her son and wanted to make sure he was alright, especially after what happened a while back. He was sitting outside on the balcony's tiled floor, cross-legged and swaying side to side with his cellphone to the side of his face like it was stitched there. Carla couldn't see his whole face, but she could see the corners of his mouth and how they rose. She wanted to talk to him but didn't want to interrupt him so she leaned against the door frame and watched as the full, lace-like clouds flew by.

"I hope you're doing well," she heard Eren say. She couldn't hear him quite well which was good because she didn't want to invade his privacy. She basked in the warm and welcoming sunlight and closed her eyes as the soft breeze caressed her cheeks and bare arms. Italy was beautiful and if she didn't have any connections and a job back home, she would want to live here and purchase a villa where she and Grisha would stay with sun kissed skin and brittle but flowing hair when they get old. She stayed there like that for a while and was just about to leave and wait for Eren inside again, but stopped herself in her tracks when she heard what Eren said into the phone next. She didn't mean to hear it, but it was clear and there was no chance it would escape from her ears.

"Hahaha very funny, Ackerman. Yes, I know. Alright. Don't forget to take care of yourself and that I'll be back soon. I love you," Eren said before hanging up and lightly tossing his phone onto his lap.

Carla approached him slowly, her steps light but loud enough for him to hear. He turned around and stood to his feet, surprised.

"Oh, hey, mom," he greeted her casually. He appeared to be panicking; rubbing the nape of his neck and rocking back and forth on his heels.

"Who was that?" she questioned. Ackerman was a name she feared, the way a child cried at the thought of vampires and rated R horror movies. The name left a dent in her heart. When she had heard the name Levi Ackerman for the first time, she was not angry. She was scared because she didn't know why he did what he had done. He saved her son, but also helped with taking him away. Ever since then, she saw him as someone she was thankful to, but could never look them in the eye without feeling slightly disgusted.

"My girlfriend," Eren told her.

"What's her name? You've never mentioned a girlfriend before," she said as she walked forward and reached the balcony railings and leaned against it.

"L... Lila Ackerman," he lied. He was glad that she was looking straight ahead of her instead of at him because he would be betrayed right away by his own face.

"Eren," she began in a stern voice. She had been his mother for almost twenty years, and she was among those who knew him the best. There was some kind of spark in her heart that shocked her whenever she sensed he was lying to her. "You know me well enough to know that I can easily escape lies, especially yours."

"Mom, I can't."

"You can't what, Eren?" she demanded, suddenly serious.

"I couldn't let you know," he whispered. He didn't need to tell her the truth right away. Perhaps she knew the whole time and was just waiting for him to admit it.

"Eren, why?" she demanded. She was stunned. Carla was a smart woman and knew this had to do with the notorious Levi Ackerman in the first place, she was just hoping her rising suspicions wouldn't be true. She hoped with all her being that Eren wouldn't do this. In her mind, Levi manipulated him because of the vulnerability that seemed to hug his frail body like a coat.

"I love him," he admitted. His voice shook like the echo of a thousand rattling bones. "God. I am in love with him, and I wanted to tell you."

"Eren, you can't love someone like that. I understand he was the one who brought you back home, but he's still a dangerous man," she continued on. She turned around to meet his eyes, which shined and glimmered like transparent pearls. She frowned at him deeply as a sound between a gasp and a sob left her throat.

"This is why I couldn't tell you, mom, because I had a feeling you would react this way," he claimed as he threw his hands up in the air. Because of the intense anxiety, it left both his body and mind ablaze; from his chest to his fingers, he was so warm up to the point that it made him shake as if the fire within could not be contained. His head thumped and pounded with a sudden, intruding headache and his voice wavered like a noisy flag in stormy weather wind.

"Pack your things. We're going back," she announced curtly as she began to make her way inside again. The sandals she bought from a tourist souvenir stand clacked and clapped against the ground angrily.

"What?" Eren shouted.

"We're going home and you will tell that man you will never speak or see him again," she told him.

"But, mom, wait-"

"No," she yelled and spun around once again to face the distressed face of her son. "Eren, he ruined you, can't you see? I just want what's best for you and for you to be happy but that will be impossible if he's around. He's one of the reasons why you're like this, the reason why your mind is ill. He did this to you, wake up!" she exclaimed. Like Eren, she was shaking too, but her fire was much different than Eren's. Her fire was of anger so overpowering that she felt it was going to break her. She watched as her son's lip trembled and his eyes became broken faucets. In that moment she was so full of rage to even pity her own son. "We will go home and if you try to contact him or if he tries to contact you, I will get the police involved again."

"You can't do this," he whispered as he collapsed to his knees. The rough ridges and bumps of the balcony floor made his knees ache, but he was in too much emotional agony to notice. "I'm an adult and I can decide what is best for me on my own. You can't just take my source of happiness just when I've found it again."

"You're right, but that won't stop me and your father from getting the police to track him down again. Eren, I'm not going to do this because I hate you for being with him. I'm doing this because I am genuinely worried about you. You're not being rational right now, and that is why you see nothing wrong with being with him," Carla told him calmly. This was when Eren started to sob, his tears making little explosions against the ground as they dripped from his eyes like unsealed soda caps. It was a difficult task to breathe and he wished that he wouldn't be able to. It hurt so bad, the way his heart thumped and jumped and seemed to be begging him to return back to Levi and run into his arms where he truly belonged, to return to the familiar warmth and love. His heart twisted and recoiled inside of him. It did not like what Carla was telling him.

"He's just taking advantage of you because you're in a bad state of mind right now, Eren, and the only difference from him and Kenny are that he wasn't the one started it, but that doesn't mean he didn't play a big role in what happened. Eren, please. I need you to open your eyes. Honey, you know how much I care about you. I'm just trying to do my job as a mother," she said.

Eren stared at her with disbelief. The person whom he thought was supposed to have his back was now somehow against him because if there was no Levi there was no happiness. Carla was always very accepting and open-minded to many things and it shocked Eren that she had such a reaction. He knew she would be angry, but not this angry. He couldn't fathom why she was so protective when Levi proved himself to not being the bad guy.

He understood why he had been so upset at the airport before he left for Italy. It wasn't because he was aware that he was going to be away from Levi for a mere two weeks. Perhaps deep in his heart, he knew he wouldn't see him again. Maybe his heart did know the whole time. Maybe there was a subconscious part within Eren that awakened just now, a part that existed all along, and that part was the realization that he and Levi would not be together. Eren liked to think that his life was a spectrum of chaos; some days it was on the decent side of the spectrum and other days it was on the miserable part. It was always going to be chaotic but in different intensities. Today so happened to be the miserable part.

When his mom said she was going to do something and was determined, there was no stopping her nor would it not happen. So if his mother said he couldn't see Levi anymore, it would be true. Even so, he couldn't wrap around his head that perhaps...

Perhaps forever wasn't meant for them.

let the angst commence!

-t