Listen to the thing above as you read (particularly when you get to the actual wedding part with the vows and stuff (; ).

---

Levi's insides felt like fire itself licked them up and down. His stomach heaved and his chest felt like it was about to burst open as yet another round of vomit came up. He detested the sound and the taste of it; tears spilled down his flushed cheeks and his hair stuck to his sweaty forehead. Though it'd only been going on for a few minutes, it felt more like hours and he just wanted it to end.

Finally, after it was nothing more than a dry heave, he collapsed against the side of the bathtub, reaching up to flush the toilet. The walls of the bathroom seemed to roll around him and he swore that something had to have seared through the lining of his stomach.

Dammit, he thought over and over. A fucking day before the wedding, and now you decide to act up...

He shut his eyes for a while, only picturing himself being at the 'altar' and having a sudden attack of nausea and needing to run straight to a trash can.

Several long minutes passed before he managed to peel his eyes back open and look up at the clock mounted on the wall. 4:22. Eren got off in eight minutes, and it only took about ten minutes to get home. Levi would have to pull himself together quickly...

Two more minutes he allowed himself before he forced himself to his feet, thankful when the walls stayed in place, and readied his toothbrush. It took two separate brushes and an entire minute of swishing mouthwash to rid his mouth of the fowl taste of vomit, but of course that did nothing for the sheen of sweat on his face of the pale, sickly state of his skin. He wet his face, trying to shake off and wash away the disgusting feeling. After a little work, he decided he looked...presentable enough to not raise any suspicions in Eren - the last thing he wanted was to worry his already tired and stressed fiancé about something as trivial as this. After combing through his hair and spraying a subtle amount of air freshener, he exited the bathroom and shuffled down the hall.

4:31, the clock on his phone read as he slid it out of his pocket. Eren would have just gotten off, leaving him with ten minutes give or take to regain his composure despite how uneasy his stomach still felt. After grabbing a cold water bottle from the fridge in hopes to appease the burning of his throat, he settled in on the loveseat with a game on his phone to break some glass.

Fifteen and then twenty minutes passed with the game distracting him, and only did he glance up from it when he heard a key jostle in the lock before the door swung open and a tired yet content Eren emerged from the other side. Discarding his paused game onto the coffee table, the raven stood to greet his companion.

"Hey," Eren breathed, shutting the door with his foot.

"Hey," Levi replied casually. "How was work?"

"Fine," Eren responded. "Glad I'm off for two weeks, though." He smiled and bent down to press a kiss to Levi's lips, who accepted it willingly.

"Did you just brush your teeth?" Eren inquired with a small furrow in his brow.

"Yeah. Had leftover onion flavor from lunch," Levi lied smoothly. He hated lying to Eren, especially about things having to do with the weaknesses left over from his brutal addiction because it was something Eren always wanted to know the truth about more than anything, but in Levi's mind, it was for a good cause.

"Hmm. Well, I brought Chinese," Eren said, pulling a brown plastic bag away from a stack of two styrofoam boxes. Just as he said it, the smell hit Levi, and he expected his head to spin and his stomach to churn at the scent, but to his surprise it actually smelled pretty good.

"So that's why you're late," Levi murmured, moving to the kitchen to retrieve plates, silverware, and serving spoons.

"I figured I'd save you the trouble of cooking," Eren explained as he opened one of the boxes and began piling Lo Mein onto his plate.

"And what would you have done if I'd already made dinner?"

Eren stopped mid scoop. "I don't know..." he mumbled.

Levi breathed a mild laugh and bumped his shoulder into Eren's before moving back to make himself comfortable on the couch. Eren wasn't far behind and turned on Friends - not a show Levi was particularly fond of, but Eren liked it and he didn't mind too much.

Attempting to get his mind to focus on the nonsense of the TV show as a distraction, he started with small bites of the chicken. It'd smelled good, but the lingering flavor of toothpaste butchered the flavor. Still, for Eren's sake, he continued to eat, hoping to get at least half of it down before he decided he was finished...

He only managed to make it through two and a half pieces of chicken before the sickly feeling hit like a bus once more, and he was shoving the food out of his lap, onto the coffee table, and bounding for the bathroom in an instant.

If there was one thing he'd learned from having such a weak, fucked up stomach, it was that almost no matter how much you puked up, there could always be more. The fire grew again, searing its merry way up his esophagus and causing hot tears to spill from his ducts. He wanted to block out the sounds, to numb his insides and to kill every last taste bud residing on his tongue.

It had been worse - nothing could compare to how it felt during days of the agonizing withdrawals, but that didn't excuse this.

Levi had lost count of how many times he'd heaved painfully before the light switched on and Eren's smooth voice met his eardrums, saying his name in that tender way he sometimes did, trying to reassure him it was okay and that it'd be over soon. And once the heaving was over, the coughing didn't cease for what felt like an eternity. Slowly and carefully, Eren coaxed some cold water down his throat once it finally ceased. Levi's face was an alarming shade of red.

"Are you alright now?" Eren asked halfway through the second cup of water.

Levi managed to nod. His head was pounding, his lungs and throat burning from so much coughing, but he was alright as he could get for the moment.

"I knew there was something off the minute I walked in the door," Eren murmured, his hand gently rubbing Levi's knee.

"How?" the raven croaked.

A small, insincere smile made its way onto Eren's lips. "Please, Levi. You only play Smash Hit when you're trying to distract yourself from something... especially something like this."

Levi merely distracted himself by taking another sip from the cup.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"...didn't wanna worry you."

"Too late. What brought this on?"

"I... don't know," Levi half-lied. "I didn't eat anything that should upset my stomach..."

Eren nodded slowly before he rose to his feet and offered a hand. Levi first handed him the cup before allowing himself to be pulled to his feet, grateful when his surroundings stayed in place. He moved to brush his teeth again, trying to will away the shakiness of his fingers as he squeezed toothpaste onto the bristles to hide it from Eren.

"I'm sorry," he said finally before stuffing the brush into his mouth.

"Quiet, you," Eren mumbled, watching from the doorway. "I'm only upset that you didn't tell me."

Levi spit and swished several times, and once done, thinking of nothing to say, turned and buried his face in the side of Eren's neck with hands curling into fists around the front of his shirt.

"Idiot. I didn't tell you because we're getting goddamn married tomorrow and you've got more important things to worry about than something that happens often enough anyway."

"Mhm, yeah," drawled Eren sarcastically. "Because making sure the caterers and shit are in order are more important than the well-being of one of the people actually getting married tomorrow," he muttered, pulling the shorter closer.

Levi sighed. "It's probably nothing, anyway..."

"You don't know that for sure," Eren says, his voice suddenly wavering a bit.

Levi slipped his arms around Eren's waist and tilted his head to look up at him. "It's fine," he insisted. "I feel better."

"Promise?"

The raven nodded. It wasn't a complete lie, so he went with it, glad that Eren didn't seem to see through him.

~*~

That night, Eren woke a bit, sighing as he rolled onto the opposite side and stretched an arm out in search of his companion to find nothing but cool, disarrayed, empty sheets. Immediately deciding Levi was just in the bathroom, he allowed himself to drift back into unconsciousness. Only a while later he woke up to the same situation and glanced over at the clock, noting that it'd been almost half an hour.

Sighing sleepily, he sat up on an elbow and rubbed an eye, squinting in the direction of the door to find it open with a sliver of light streaming in from the other side of the ajar bathroom door.

"Levi?" he called in a hoarse baritone. Clearing his throat and getting no response, he kicked his legs out from beneath the blankets and made his way over to the bathroom, blinking in an attempt to get his eyes to adjust to the light.

"Levi?" he asked again into the opening. Nothing. He nudged the door open with his foot, craning his neck around the door.

Levi was sat on the edge of the bathtub, one strap of his muscle shirt hanging off his shoulder with his head in his hands, fingers tangled through his scraggly black locks.

"Hey," he murmured. Levi twitched but didn't look up. "Throw up again?"

"Mhm..." the raven grumbled.

"How long have you been in here?"

"...'bout an hour..."

Eren glanced at the clock. Sunrise would be in about two hours, and they'd gone to bed only a few hours before. "Did you sleep at all?"

"Maybe half an hour..."

Eren frowned as he filled the cup on the sink with the coldest water he could coax from the faucet. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"What good would that have done?" Levi took a tentative sip.

"You wouldn't have had to be alone."

"It's okay," Levi sighed. When he finished the water, Eren handed him his readied toothbrush.

"Should we postpone?" Eren murmured as Levi spit into the sink.

"No."

"But...if you're sick..."

"I'm not gonna let you throw away all your hard work in planning because of this bullshit." He swished and spit twice, rinsing the toothbrush and dropping it back into the holder next to Eren's.

Eren chewed his lip, considering. There was no way he'd go through with it if Levi's stomach continued to act up this way whether he liked it or not, but he couldn't deny Levi's point, either.

"We'll see how I feel in the morning," the raven stated. "And then we'll talk about it."

"...okay." Eren tugged the strap of Levi's shirt back into place. "Are you okay to come back to bed?"

"Think so."

"I'll get the bucket just in case."

"'Kay..." Levi sighed again as he shuffled back across into the bedroom, pushing a hand through his hair while Eren retrieved the bucket from beneath the kitchen sink and joined him.

"I'm not gonna let the shit from back then ruin our wedding," Levi was saying as he curled up against Eren's side. The younger could only squeeze him around the waist and place a soft kiss to his forehead.

~*~

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Alex was asking for what felt like the millionth time the next morning as they stood in the two-story 'country club' venue just off the shores of Lake Sina. It stood on the opposite side of the beach where a large deck had also been constructed for parties and other events such as these. From the moment they arrived, Levi and Eren had been separated and pulled to rooms on opposite ends of the building to get ready, Levi by Alex and Eren by his mother.

"I probably won't be able to eat much, but I don't think I'll hurl in the middle of my vows," he told her irritably, annoyed that Eren let it spill on the phone that morning that he'd been throwing up a good portion of the night.

"You better not," she scolded, still trying to get his hair precise in slicking it back away from his face.

Levi rolled his eyes. "Thanks for your sympathy."

Alex simply hummed, too caught up in her work to respond. When she was finished, she directed him toward the full-length mirror next to the door. Behind him, fashioning her own pastel purple dress, pink and blue curls resting on her left shoulder, and matching makeup and shoes, she smiled in satisfaction with her own work.

"What do you think?" she asked.

"It's..." Levi struggled for the right words. "...cheesy," he concluded. He'd never once in his life worn a full-on tuxedo complete with a tie and boutonniere, his hair slicked neatly back and even having just a bit of concealer dabbed around his eyes to hide the dark circles that were a result of such little and poor sleep. To him, he barely looked like himself with only the top few roses visible on the side of his neck.

Admittedly, he hated it. But it was for Eren. It was because of Eren, and he knew letting the kid see him in it would bring forth that thousand-watt smile Levi loved so much. He'd only have to wear it for a few hours before he'd be free. For that, he would endure it.

~*~

Eren swore he didn't recognize himself, wearing the suit, tie, and boutonniere with his hair swept to the side and gelled down, parted on the left. It felt odd, and he didn't feel like himself, but the giddy feeling in his entire body didn't allow him to care about that.

He was getting married today, and to Levi. He was only 21 years old, but it didn't matter. Nothing in his life had felt more right than this. He was head over heels in love to the point that he could barely remember his life without this feeling and couldn't see himself never feeling this way again. Levi was his. He was Levi's. It all felt so unbelievably right that it was dizzying him.

"Ten more minutes. Are you ready?" Carla asked from the other side of the room where she was putting the finishing touches on her own outfit - a beautiful teal knee-length dress with sequins, light makeup that brought out her natural beauty just the right amount, and her hair simply hanging around her shoulders in its natural waves.

"I'm so ready I don't wanna wait ten more minutes," was Eren's response.

His mother spun in his direction, smiling and striding towards him. She reached up to place her warm, soft hand against his cheek. "I know you probably don't want to hear the mom speech, but I'm going to give it to you anyway." Eren could feel his smile turning a bit sad. "I'm so proud of you, Eren. And I'm so glad you've found someone you want to spend your life with, despite it all. You're stronger than anyone I know, and I'm so happy I get to experience this with you." Her own sadness crept in; Eren braced himself for what he knew she was about to say. "Your father would be proud of you, too, for doing what you did for Levi. And I know he would want to be here, too." Her eyes began to gloss over with tears. "He loved you, Eren. I truly hope you know that. He loved all three of us, and I'm sure wherever he is, he regrets not getting to see the two of you grow up."

Eren all but threw his arms around her, hugging her tight. "I know, Mom. Thank you."

She hugged back for a moment before pecking him on the cheek and pulling back, smiling again. "I'm so happy for you."

"Me too."

~*~

Eren. The whole world consisted of nothing but the chocolate-haired boy clad in a black tuxedo identical to Levi's. Everything else was a blur - unimportant, irrelevant, all but forgotten.

He was the most beautiful thing Levi had ever had the privilege of laying eyes on, with his hair slicked to the side and the material of the tuxedo shaping perfectly to his form, accenting all the right places in such a classy way. His eyes shined brighter than Levi had ever seen them, like two turquoise suns standing out over all else. It was literally breathtaking.

Nothing seemed to register all that quickly as Eren stepped into place in front of him, neither of them taking their eyes from each other. Levi never suspected he'd feel this way today - absolutely captivated and in love and caught in the moment. He expected a simple ceremony before a party, followed by getting some sleep before their flight left at four the next morning.

But this felt anything but simple. Anything but standing in front of people to say a few things and be married. It suddenly meant everything. And oddly enough, he couldn't wait.

Levi was paying zero attention to whatever the officiant was muttering about and was focused entirely on Eren. And when it came time to say his vows, the edgy nerves he expected were instead totally calm; it was as if the audience and everything around them completely disappeared for him to promise his life to Eren.

How are you still standing here right now? How have you put up with me all this time? These are questions I don't think I'll ever find the answers to, but as long as you are still here, I don't much mind. You saved me, Eren. If not for your tenacity, I would not be standing here now. 'Thank you' aren't words that can do my gratitude justice, but I have to say them anyway. Thank you. You deserve the world, and until the moment I take my last breath, I swear I'm going to do my best to give it to you. I love you so much. This is only the beginning.

And as Eren recited his own vows back, Levi never realized how powerful words could be.

I love you. And there are no words or actions that could ever come close to expressing how absolutely much I love you. You've brought me something I never thought I'd get to experience, and I can't be more grateful to you. I can't wait to wake up to your sweet face every morning and kiss your lips every night. I will always be there when things get rough, and I will always be there to help you find your smile again. I am wholly and eternally yours, and I promise that will never change.

Both of them threw everything they had into the kiss, sealing the words with the physical, intimate touch.

The party began not long after, everyone shuffling about the deck once it was cleared of chairs and the altar and heading back into the clubhouse for refreshments. Eren kept Levi on his arm, securely by his side knowing how uneasy he could get in large crowds.

"How's your stomach?" he whispered as they stepped foot inside.

"Fine." Levi stayed close, ducking around a few people he didn't recognize.

"Think you can eat something, then?"

The raven didn't answer right away, seeing his sister practically prancing in their direction with Reiner in tow, a giant smile on her face. Before he could even process it, she was all but throwing her arms around him; he managed to awkwardly return the hug (or more like pat her on the back) without releasing Eren, stiffening up until she finally pulled away.

"You didn't puke," she said, grinning.

Levi rolled his eyes. "Neither did you," he muttered, only causing her to laugh.

"I'm so happy for you, baby bro," she said, squeezing his shoulder simply because she couldn't ruffle his hair.

"Thanks," Eren cut in before Levi could throw out a snide remark.

Alex took that as her invitation to hug Eren next, who gave her little more than a small squeeze before releasing.

"Welcome to the married life," Reiner said with a laugh. "Hope it treats you as well as it's treated us."

Alex's elbow went for his ribs, which he promptly dodged, still chuckling. "What? I'm serious."

"Once the hype has started to die down, find me," Alex instructed. "I've got something to tell you both." With that, she winked, tapped Levi's nose, and strode off again.

"Anyway," Eren said after watching her walk away for a moment, "wanna try and eat something?"

"I'm alright," Levi lied smoothly. His stomach had actually been growling since before the ceremony began, but he didn't want to risk ending up nauseous again.

"Please?" Eren asked, pleading with his eyes. "You haven't eaten all day. I'm getting worried." He was already working on steering them in the direction of the wall of tables of food where people were already lined up and picking over.

"Alright," Levi sighed, giving into those eyes. "Something small."

With Levi nibbling on a plate of crackers and cheese, they started making the rounds. From Eren's friends all huddled in a group together to what grandparents he had left to his mother and then their coworkers, back to Alex who reminded them to scout her out later and to Mikasa and Annie (who Eren had finally met after only hearing about her for months), even to Dr. Smith, Levi's therapist, who'd managed to make it. The more people they had to go around to, the more tired Levi felt. He barely knew most of these people - most of them he'd met that very day, and it made him uneasy to be in such a crowd. As a result, he was grateful for Eren staying at his side as much as he possibly could.

"Time to dance!" Alex announced about an hour into the party, when the sky was just starting to darken.

"What?" Levi muttered, staring at her in disbelief. Still, he had no time to argue before she was practically shoving them into the middle of the floor, and for the first time that night, he felt like he might vomit. "Do we have to?"

"No," Eren said at the same time Alex said, "Yes!" When Eren sent her a glare, she rolled her eyes. "It's customary," she stated. "It's not official until you've danced."

"In front of everyone?" Levi asked, voice lower. At that point, people were starting to pay attention.

"Sort of. But everyone else will be dancing, too," Alex explained just as Reiner stepped up next to her, a smile on his face.

It was then that the music started and several others - mostly Eren's friends - stepped in to dance as well. As soon as Alex moved away a bit, Eren's attention was back on his new husband.

"We don't have to dance if you don't want to," he said with a small smile. "I won't be mad."

Levi studied his face for a moment with minutely narrow eyes. "But you want to," he said.

"A little, but if y--"

And suddenly Eren was being pulled further into the crowd of dancers by Levi's hand that Eren couldn't help but notice was mildly sticky with sweat. The shorter tucked his twined fingers behind Eren's neck, just as he'd done any other rare time they danced, and pressed himself close.

"Levi, you really don't have to do this."

"I want to."

The brunet couldn't hide his surprise. "S-seriously? Are you sure?"

"No. But you want to, and this day is about you, too. So fuck it."

Eren blinked at him, a bit dumbfounded, before a broad smile spread itself across his face and his arms found their way around Levi's slender waist coming to rest at the small of his back. They began in small rocking movements that gradually formed into a circular motion - nothing too complicated, nothing they hadn't done before - and Levi swore he could feel Eren's heart beating in time with his, in time with the music ringing out over the crowd and drowning out most other talking or clanking of silverware.

"So," Levi said halfway into the second song, "you really do love me, huh?"

Eren couldn't help but laugh a little. "You're asking me that on our wedding day?" he chuckled.

"Tch..." Levi averted his eyes, prompting Eren to lean down and kiss his forehead.

"Of course I do," he said against his skin. "So much."

Levi moved his arms further around Eren's shoulders and tucked his head beneath his chin. "I love you, too," he murmured.

~*~

"So what's so big you had to wait for the party to disperse?" Eren was asking as he and Levi strode out onto the deck toward Alex and Reiner, who stood at the edge of it leaning against the railing.

The woman turned around, automatically smiling at the two of them as they approached. "I didn't wanna steal your thunder," she said, "but I couldn't wait any longer to tell you, either."

"Tell us what?" Levi asked.

Alex rolled her eyes. "Can't you guess?" Her grin widened as she reached back for Reiner's hand, who once again stepped up beside her, his own cool smile relaxed into his face.

Levi rolled his eyes right back. "Just tell us," he muttered. "'M too damn tired for guessing games."

Alex spared Reiner one last glance before saying, "Reiner and I are gonna be parents."

While Eren's face immediately spread into a smile, Levi's brows raised in mild disbelief. Eren immediately lunged forward to hug Alex and hold his hand up for Reiner to slap, passing along his congratulations in the process.

"When?" Eren asked, still smiling, as he returned to Levi's side.

"Sometime in May," Alex responded.

"That's great," Eren beamed.

Once Levi murmured his congratulations, though not quite as heartfelt as Eren's (although that was to be expected), they headed back into the building to wrap things up and be on their way home for a short night's rest before they had to be on a plane on their way out to the sea.