Levi continued to drive until the sun began to set. Eren didn't mind because it was a beautiful view, and it somehow calmed him down despite being away from home and having to listen to a stranger. The clouds looked like they were dunked in pastel pink dye, and the sky was an ombre of blue; the sky was a gorgeous mess and made Eren think of the art class' watercolour pieces that were hung up in his school's hallways when he was still in high school. It was playful and vibrant, but stung his heart when he realized that out there, his family had watched the same sky while worrying about him. He missed them more than anything.

The air in the small car was moist and warm. Eren slumped tiredly in his seat as he watched the road eventually lead to a small and empty looking town. It looked more like a ghost town with all of it's bare sidewalks and closed shops. There was many signs advertising expired local events, and the lights of the lampposts blinked repeatedly. The road was nothing but cracked cement with faded yellow and white paint. Eren suddenly had a sinking feeling in his stomach. He looked over at Levi as the car slowed down.

"Where are we?"

"I..." he trailed off and swore under his breath. "I think we're lost."

"We're what?" Eren demanded.

"We're lost," Levi repeated and sighed. He parked in the middle of the road, but it wasn't like it mattered.

"You did this on purpose, didn't you?" Eren said, blaming him.

Levi scoffed and shook his head quickly. "No, because what benefit would I get for getting us lost?"

"What are we going to do now?"

Levi leaned forward and rested his head on the steering wheel and closed his eyes for a brief moment before speaking up.

"We need to stay here for the night," he stated and he revved the engine again. "We have no choice."

"Why can't we just continue driving?"

"We can't. You're tired. I'm tired. Let's call it a night, kid."

He eventually parked in front of the nearly vacant parking lot of a run down motel. It looked less broken than the last place they stayed, which made Eren feel a bit relieved. 

"Listen closely," Levi said quietly as he slumped in his seat after the engine silenced. "Don't say anything weird that might make people think something is wrong. Don't run off and don't even try to think about it. You will follow what I say. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Eren said and swallowed nervously.

"Good boy. You will walk beside me. Do not look too tense or it will cause suspicion. I won't tie you up but if you do one false move, you're going to get hurt, and it's not going to end pretty. Got it?"

"Yes," Eren repeated. He felt pathetic having to obey orders from his captor.

"Alright. Now get out and bring your stuff with you."

Eren followed his orders and walked to his side like he was supposed to. Levi was too close for comfort as they strolled into the rickety old building. The overpowering scent of old cheese and dead roses hit them like a wave, and the tacky decorations reminded the both of them of old thrift shops. There was a jar of peppermint mints sitting atop the front desk, and Eren didn't want to guess how old they must be. There were two vintage looking armchairs near the windows with the broken blinds and the person at the desk was entertaining themselves by blowing a bunch of balloons and watching them float slowly to the ground as he let them go. He was a young looking boy, perhaps only a year younger than Eren. He was almost bald, but not completely. His hair looked as if it had been just shaved a few days ago, and now tiny little hairs were starting to sprout from his head. He had thin eyebrows and had that sort of look that made scary but stupid all at the same time. A name tag with the name "Connie" scrawled on it was pinned loosely on his soda stained bowler shirt.

"One room?" he asked without looking up. He let go of the small, pink balloon he was blowing into, letting it fly around the area for a few seconds before plopping down onto the floor. He began to tap at the computer.

"Yes," Levi answered.

"Two adults," Connie stated.

"Yes," Levi confirmed.

"For how long?"

"One."

After paying and getting the room key, they went straight to their room. Levi shut the door quietly behind him and ruffled his hair and sighed. The room was better than their last one, and it looked a lot more comfortable and spacey as well. The ceiling was high and the whole place didn't look too ugly. Eren didn't have to worry about bugs crawling in with him if he fell asleep. 

"Take a shower. Five minutes. If you don't get out once my timer is up, I'm going in. I'll start it once I hear the water."

Terrified at what could possibly happen, he rushed into the bathroom and stripped as fast as he could and twisted the shower faucet. It was too cold, but he felt grateful when he found the tiny bottles of shampoo and conditioner left on the sink counter. H grabbed it hastily and scrubbed at his hair. He felt gross, but knew that all the disgusting stuff was pouring down the drain. He could feel his skin sting where he had been injured as the water splashed onto his back and flinched, but he was a little glad that he was finally getting a little time to himself.

After making sure all the bubbles were out of his hair, he noticed that he didn't bring his new set of clothes with him. He mumbled a few swears under his breath and wrapped a towel around himself as he exited the bathroom.  Levi was sitting on the only armchair in the room with a cellphone next to his ear. It appeared that he was listening to voicemail, and from the looks of it, it was not anything good. He threw the phone to the floor out of boredom and looked up at the soaking wet Eren, who was hurrying to get the bag of new clothes. Levi exhaled loudly.

"You sure took your sweet time. I was just about to enter, actually," he said.

Eren ignored him and went back in the bathroom to get dressed. His skin felt raw and sore as he slipped into a shirt and hoodie, and was somehow not surprised that Levi got the right size. He could be some stalker too for all he knew. He left the bathroom and stood awkwardly next to the bed as he watched Levi.

"Well, what are you doing there? Go to sleep, kid. It's late," Levi said and gestured at the bed. 

Eren noticed how it was the only bed in the room and groaned internally.

"B-But it's the only-"

"So what? I don't need a bed," he cut him off.

Eren looked away quickly and made his way to the lumpy pillows and old blankets awaiting him. It was too soft, but it was oddly comfy. He wrapped himself up and looked away when he saw that Levi was watching him. His body begged for rest, and so he gave it what it wanted.

---

Eren woke up to the sound of loud but calm knocking at the door, and bolted up in a sitting position, awoken from his peaceful slumber.  A loud voice boomed from the other side of the door, and Eren watched as Levi slowly got up from the armchair and pulled the gun away from the waistband of his jeans. He walked to stand just beside the door, but fairly away from it. Eren glanced over at the blinking alarm clock on the bedside table and read 3:07 A.M. It was late, but the sudden noise made Eren feel awake than he had ever been in his entire life.

"Is anyone in there? We're coming in if you don't reveal yourselves."

Levi stared at Eren and brought a finger to his lips to tell Eren to stay silent. He mouthed "Say anything and I'll hurt you" before taking small steps backwards toward the bathroom. He gestured for Eren to follow him and grabbed his arm once he was out of the bed and dragged him to the bathroom. Eren struggled and fought back. This was finally his chance to run and escape and come back home where everyone as waiting for him, and he wasn't going to let the opportunity slip away so easily. Eren was lightheaded and numb as his feet rubbed the carpet floor. He opened his mouth to scream but his voice wouldn't cry out. A sound between a croak and a groan spilled from his mouth.

"No," Eren snapped quietly. "Don't"

Levi ignored him and continued to grab onto his arm. For his size, he was pretty strong. He had an iron-like grip, and Eren couldn't wriggle free from it. He kicked and squirmed with all his might, and finally he managed to scream, setting his voice free.

"Help!" 

Levi flinched and glared at him. He shoved him into the bathroom and entered with him and locked the door.

"I'm in here! Help me!"

Levi squeezed at his arm until Eren yelped with pain and glowered at him. "You're going to regret doing that." 

Without breaking a sweat or letting go of Eren, he stepped onto the toilet seat to reach the small window above it. Knowing it was a glass pane, he stepped back a little, aimed and then fired, causing a tiny explosion of glass. Eren covered his face with his hand to block himself from the sharp danger. Levi hoisted himself up and climbed halfway through it before pulling Eren up after him. He could feel the glass graze his torso. He screamed again, but said nothing in particular. He just wanted to let them know that he was here.

The night air hit him like a truck as they finally made it outside. He scrambled in the dirt for a few moments before Levi pulled him up and started to run. Eren shivered and didn't cooperate at all, instead, he flopped to the ground as an attempt to slow him down.

"Not now," Levi muttered under his breath. 

Without hesitating, he scooped Eren up into his arms and made a run for it. He threw him over his shoulder as if he were as light as a feather and made his way towards a bridge above a river. Eren gasped with surprise.

"Scream again and I'll shoot your balls off," Levi threatened. He was breathing hard as he sprinted with all his might, and Eren wondered how he was able to carry him.

His throat was dry even though he wasn't the one doing the escaping. The light rain stung his warm face and the tips of his fingers were tingling from the cold. He banged on Levi's back with his fists as hard as he could and continued to writhe with effort. Levi ran down a hill without tripping or slipping and Eren could still hear the yelling, but they were much more faint and distant now. Dread and terror nestled in his soul. Was that how easy to was to get away? Eren grit his teeth angrily as the sight of the motel grew smaller and smaller and soon disappeared behind the trees and mounded earth.

He wanted to yell again, but thought about what Levi said. Would he really shoot him? Eren figured he wouldn't because he had said he just wanted to bring him home, so there was no way he would harm him or have any ill intentions, right? But Eren couldn't help but fear the unknown. He couldn't afford to put any faith into this stranger.

He screamed anyways. He hoped they would still be able to hear him.

Levi cursed under his breath when they reached the river. Instead of going across the bridge like a normal person would, Levi jumped right in the murky, dark water and brought Eren down with him. Eren shouted in surprise before being pulled down under the heavy weight of the water, submerging his whole body and head. His lungs immediately felt like they were on fire, but it wasn't too painful. He closed his eyes in fear of anything gross going in, and now he was completely blind to his surroundings. He could feel Levi's hand on his shoulder. He was still with him. 

Eren couldn't tell how long they were in the river, but it was enough to make him gasp for air once they came out. He sucked in huge amounts of the much needed oxygen and turned his head to look at Levi, who didn't seem dazed at all. His hands were in fists as he glared at Eren with an angry expression on his moist face. Their hair and clothes were soaked and he looked a little more intimidating. Without warning, he lunged toward Eren and grabbed a fistful of his shirt.

"What the fuck we're you thinking?" Levi muttered with rage.

"I..."

"Haven't I told you to do what I say?" he questioned. "I promised I would take you home. Don't go screaming your head off at the sight of police, you stupid brat. I'm going to get caught because of you, and now they know what I look like, and I don't want to get in a mess. I'll continue running away no matter what, and I'm not going to let your idiotic ass stop me. But I guess now I have to handle you with more discipline."

Eren swallowed and nodded.

"Listen closely; I know where you live, and I know people, dangerous people. I think you know what will happen if you do anything stupid, do you?"

Eren opened his mouth in protest, but was stopped when the sound of barking dogs interrupted them.

"Fuck," Levi cursed. He looked genuinely surprised and scared for once, which shocked Eren. "We gotta go."

"Wha-"

"Do. What. I. Say," he said, his words choppy and separate, each one like a command. "Run."

---

AN: 

so sorry for the long wait again ;-;

i hope you enjoyed this chapter! thank you for taking the time to read it!

~your best friend takeshi