A/N: Hello, everyone! So this is the final chapter. Thank you so much for reading, reviewing, favoriting, everything. I've literally been on a high all week while posting this. I can only hope that you guys enjoyed reading it half as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thanks for sticking with me until the end! :D

When Eren opened his eyes there were roughly ten heads leaning over him.

"… hi?" he said, or questioned rather. There. That seemed like a good enough way to start things off.

"Hi to you too." Armin snuck an arm around Eren's back and with Mikasa's help on his other side they succeeded in getting him upright. Blinking groggily, Eren took in the mass of people piled around his bed. Sasha and Connie were draped over one another at the foot while Jean sat between them and Mikasa, his butt sort of half-on half-off the edge like he didn't really want to commit to being there. Ymir was lounging in the corner and Krista was, as usual, using her as a personal throne. Gunther, Eld, Mike, Auruo, and Petra had made a strange sort of nest on the floor while Hanji occupied a table off to the side.

"About time you woke up!" she called and everyone nodded. Okay. So he'd been asleep for a while then, apparently, and now had a congrats-you're-finally-awake welcome party. He could accept that. How long had he been asleep anyway?

Eren scratched at the back of his head, trying to remember. "Heeey. Did I, uh, almost die again?" It was a distinct possibility. Though Eren did have to question whether, if he'd really been dying, if everyone would be munching down on pie right now.

Seriously. Befuddled he searched the room and—yes—everyone was stuffing their face with large, steaming slices of pie. Mike had a dark smear of what looked like berries on his shirt collar while Sasha was leaving crumbs in his bed.

"Don't joke about something like that," Mikasa said. She set her fork down with a 'clink' before grasping his hand. "You were only asleep for a day."

"Oh. Well that's good."

Auruo rolled his eyes. "Don't get smart, brat," he mumbled, stuffing another piece of crust into his mouth. "Though I guess maybe planning a whole Midsummer Feast would be tiring. Whatever."

Eren was just about to snap that only the Corporal got to call him 'brat' when the word 'feast' finally clicked, alongside 'Levi,' and suddenly the whole night came rushing back. Eren threw his weight forward and accidentally smacked his head against Armin's.

"Ow!"

"Sorry, sorry! Ah, the feast. Was I really asleep a whole day?"

"You betcha," Hanji said. She twirled her fork expertly. "Erwin came riding in at dawn with you slung over his horse. Walked right up here with you, bridal style I might add. Drooling all over his jacket. You were soooooo cute." Ducking his head, Eren realized for the first time that he wasn't down in the dungeon. He could now fuzzily recall Commander Erwin's congratulatory speech out in the courtyard, but the knowledge that he'd deliberately kept him above ground meant a whole lot more. Eren toyed with a loose thread in his blanket.

"Insisted on putting you to bed himself," Hanji continued. She let out a little sigh that was… disturbing. "Tucked you in, undressed you—"

"Undressed me?"

Eren scrambled up to get a look at his clothes, very nearly hitting poor Armin again. Up on his feet he found that he was dressed in a simple tunic and cotton pants, his feet bare. Frantically, Eren patted down his chest.

"C'mon, Eren." Eld laughed. "What? You think you've got anything the Commander hasn't seen before?"

"No. No, that's not—where's—?"

"Looking for this?" Relief rushed threw him has Petra held up a familiar package. Her eyes were hard though and they were directed at… Connie? "It was on your bedside table. Commander Erwin was kind enough to place it there for you, but then this afternoon someone got nosy—"

"It smelled nice!" Connie exclaimed. He waved his hands around apologetically. "I just wanted to see, Eren, honest. I didn't mean for it to rip—"

"You mean you didn't mean for it to rip that much." Jean cut it.

"Aw man. It's not like that…"

"Connie, it's fine. Really." Eren took the package from Petra, his muscles relaxing when it was back in his hands. Yes, there was a large rip down the side of the tissue paper. It was manageable though. Carefully (and well aware that everyone was watching) Eren nudged Armin aside and placed all the pieces down on his bed. He then tore the ripped bits of paper away and rewrapped the whole thing in the opposite direction, leaving just enough slack for him to gently tuck a pin between the folds, holding it all in place. Eren looked up at everyone, already resigned.

"I suppose you all saw then?" he asked.

"Yep!" Sasha said. She toasted him with a bite of pie.

"I think they're beautiful, Eren." Petra piped up, even as he blushed at the praise. "They're homemade, right? Really, it must have taken you such a long time to—"

"They're for him, aren't they."

That wasn't a question. The room went silent as Mikasa's voice died down. Still sitting on his bed she'd wrapped her arms tightly about her waist. Though, surprisingly, after a moment lifted her eyes skyward.

"I don't like it," she murmured, seemingly more to herself than anyone there. "Of course I don't. He beats you up and he insults you and he never gives you the praise you deserve. He's twice your age, not even good looking, he—"

"Mikasa," Armin interrupted. He fixed her with a look that Eren was pretty sure she'd received more than once while he was gone. It had that kind of weight to it. Armin turned to him with soft eyes and a bitten lip. "What Mikasa is trying to say is that she doesn't like it but, like we discussed, she wants you to be happy, and that's really what matters most. Right?"

"Mikasa?" Eren asked. She'd been silent a little too long.

"Don't be stupid," she finally said. She hid her face against the headboard. "I always want you to be happy, even if it's with a psychotic shorty."

"He is pretty short." Gunther chimed in. He raised a hand barely four feet high until people started giggling. "Humanity's Shortest! Hell, I'm down with it though."

"You… are?" Eren voiced sounded disbelieving even to his own ears.

"Yeah. You two are cute together!"

Hanji gave a saucy wink. "An even cuter couple than you and Erwin."

"I think it's disgusting," Connie laughed. "But maybe if can keep him, you know, happy, then maybe he'll go a little easier on the rest of us."

"Yeah. There's an idea!"

"Keep him reeeeeeal happy, Eren."

"Speaking of—"

"You need pointers—"

"—full disclosure—"

"—or, you know, I've got one or two toys—"

"—are you a—?"

"—wouldn't mind helping you out, man, seriously, anything you need—"

"This conversation needs to end," Mikasa called. A good thing too. Eren would definitely swear now that he was capable of steaming outside of his titan form.

"Anything at all," Eld finished. He made a rather crude gesture with both hands.

"Eld. No."

"…Jean?" Eren finally managed. He was the only one who hadn't thrown in an opinion. Really, he hadn't said much of anything at all.

"I told you," Jean said, breaking off a large piece of pie. He took his time chewing and swallowing it. When he did look up there was a distinct smirk marring his lips. "The Corporal dotes on you, bastard. Now I can spend the rest of our lives saying, 'I told you so.'"

"You're a fucking ass, horse-face."

"Am I an ass or a horse, Yeager? Need to review your barn animals before you do the down and dirty?"

"I will show you down and dirty—"

The ensuring 'fight' really wasn't much of anything at all, though Eren did manage to smash a piece of pie against Jean's ear. Sasha cried out as if mortally wounded and set about trying to lick his face, which Jean wasn't exactly keen on. Laughing, Eren held up his fruit smeared hand.

"This is mine isn't it? Where did you all even get this?"

"Erwin." Hanji said. "Well, technically the caravan that arrived three hours after Erwin. He said something about you getting a reward? Oh! And he had a message: 'The King made sure there were leftovers.' What's that all about?" She dug her nose back against the plate, clearly more interested in eating than in hearing what it was actually 'all about.' "All I know is that a crap-load of pie showed up on our doorstep and Erwin said we could eat it so, yeah duh, we're eating it. He was pretty stoked by the way. I mean, normally I'd be questioning you about how the feast went but considering that Commander Handsome was walking on air…"

Petra nodded. "I've never seen him so pleased, Eren. Not even after his tactic for avoiding titans outside the walls was approved. What did you do?"

"Other than make really fantastic pie." Ymir said. She quietly savored a berry on the tip of her tongue.

"Well…" Eren didn't really want to get into all that had happened that night. No doubt word would spread from the interior eventually, but for now he was content to keep his foolishness to himself. After all, they might all be supportive of… something with him and the Corporal (even 'something' brought a tingle to Eren's fingers and toes) but that didn't mean they needed to hear about his ridiculously public declaration. Not yet anyway. Besides, it wasn't as if Levi had said anything in return. He'd run. Eren didn't know what to make of that. Was he mad or…? Erwin had said he was rattled. A good rattled.

They needed to talk.

"I just cooked well, that's all." As easily as he could Eren slipped into the shoes beside his bed and snatched up his package. He made his way towards the door. "Listen, I'm glad you guys are enjoying the pie, but if it's alright by you I'm going to step out."

Everyone had indeed gone back to enjoying the dessert, talking quietly amongst themselves. It was Armin and Mikasa who looked up. Knowingly.

"We'll be here waiting," Armin promised. He gave a tiny, supportive salute while Mikasa lifted her hand.

"Fix your hair," she said.

"Right. Uh, thanks."

"Go, Eren."

So Eren pulled the door shut and began heading towards Levi's office, all the while trying to flatten what was no doubt an atrocious bedhead.

Corporal Levi wasn't in his office. Or his bedroom (though Eren knocked so tentatively he wasn't sure he'd have been heard anyway). He wasn't up in the high towers of the castle cleaning between the stones and he wasn't out in the stables tending to his horse. Finally, legs weary from waking up not too long ago, Eren found him out beside the well—the one he'd tried to transform in and failed. Levi was dressed simply in civilian clothes, his hair an absolute mess from the wind. Eren gave up trying to fix his own mop and jogged over.

It was only when they were shoulder to shoulder that Eren realized he could see movement coming from the castle. Straight before them was a high window where shadows moved across the glass. If Eren strained his eyes a bit he could just make out Connie sneaking behind Krista, a bit of pie balanced on his finger and that finger heading towards her ear.

"Were you watching me?" Eren asked.

Levi shrugged. "Were you always this much of a self-absorbed shit?"

Eren didn't bother trying to hide the laugh that escaped. He inched just a little closer, feeling daring. He had slept the day away and now twilight was beginning to fall, his friends' outlines getting harder and harder to see. The entire time he'd spent looking for his Corporal Eren had fretted—was he mad about the feast? Would Levi accept his gift? Would they move towards something that was…well, just something? But now, seeing Levi standing at attention, his gaze directed towards where Eren had been, there was a thick kind of comfort settling in his stomach. The longer they stood in silence the closer Eren edged until their feet lined up and the soft cotton of his pants brushed Levi's boots.

However, silence was only comforting for so long.

"Aren't we going to talk about it?" Eren eventually huffed.

"Talk about what, brat?"

"The feast!"

Levi eyes slide his way. They looked small and sharp in the darkness, but Eren knew better.

"If Erwin didn't yell at you for that dip-shit stunt then there's no reason for me to."

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

The shadows kept growing and Eren wanted some light for his gift to be seen by so, with a resigned air, he tugged it from behind his back and shoved it at Levi. It wasn't the grand presentation he'd been envisioning, but Levi took it all the same. Eren rocked on his toes as gently—astoundingly gently—Levi peeled back the tissue paper. The smell hit them both before the paper was entirely gone.

"The fuck did you get me, brat? potpourri—?" Then Levi's mouth snapped tight as three bars of soap tumbled out. All a light, pinkish purple, the bars each had an imprint molded into the top: one of the Survey Corp's insignia, the Garrison, and the Training Corps. Eren had thought it best to forgo the Military Police's crest entirely. Indeed, Levi's hand immediately strayed to the Survey Corps bar, scooping and lifting it to his nose. The subtle scent of lavender was carried by the wind.

"I know the scented bars are harder to come by; more expensive." Eren babbled. "They never give them out to soldiers, but then you know that. I thought I could just make you some myself. I'll make you more too, if you like these—"

"Eren." Levi squeezed the bar in his hand, hard enough for his fingers to leave imprints. "The fuck did I tell you about being too useful?"

"I know. But, Corporal—no. Levi." The name slipped somewhat awkwardly off Eren's tongue, at least in its owner's presence. Something hot was coiling in Eren's chest that he had to push through in order to keep speaking. "Levi. You know I enjoy helping you and I can be useful to you in… other ways. If you want me to." Levi's had head snapped to stare at Eren's profile, at his darkening cheeks. "But only if you want me to. I mean, I meant everything I said at the feast." Eren felt his voice dying, diminishing into a whisper. "I… care for you…"

"And what makes you think," Levi suddenly growled, "that I'm interested in a snot-nosed child who's got the self preservation instincts of a goddamn lemming?" He closed the distance between them unnaturally fast, causing Eren to jump back in alarm. "A stupid, fucked-up brat who thinks it's just a brilliant idea to run off during expeditions because his co-dependent friends are hungry? Or who yaps on and on about being fucking useful and then works himself to shit until he can hardly stand?Or—or fuck. Who goes off and announces to every cock-sucking pig that he equates me with the King?" Levi suddenly wrapped one had in Eren's shirt. The grip looked painful, but Eren could only feel a soft pressure as Levi's fingers leaned against his breastbone. They spasmed in an odd sort of caress—and Levi was still talking."You're housing some kind of psychological fuckery that makes you want to feed everything in sight like some sort of diseased mama bird and Sina help me, I don't need it. You hear me? I don't need a slave and I sure as hell don't need your delusional hero-worship. You're not some mindless devotee. I'm a lot of fucking things to you, Eren, but a king isn't one of them."

"Yes, sir." Eren replied.

"Oh fuck you. Here." Levi's other hand came up. For a split second Eren thought he was going to get a smack, but it was only one of his bars of soap. Levi shoved it under his chin.

"Go wash your hands." He said. "Face too."

"Sir?"

"Now!"

Eren went. He didn't have to go far. After his failed experiment, and with the knowledge that they'd be using the castle for some time to come, they'd decided to re-dig the well. It was a work in process, but there was a substantial bit of water down there now, more than enough for a bucketful. Eren pulled one up and braced himself against the cold. Half mourning the death of his soaps' detailing, he set to scrubbing and five minutes later he felt confident enough to come back, pink and shivering. Levi stood with his arms cross. His legs were planted stiffly, wide apart.

"You washed your face?" he asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Head up."

"Sir—?" But then Corporal Levi was kissing him and Eren's surprised squeak was lost between them. Levi kissed hard and fast, with a nip that made Eren's cold lips ache and his teeth chatter. After a moment though, everything began to warm. The hand not cradling the rest of his gift splayed across Eren's back, forcing him closer. When he stumbled forward Levi released a puff of breath through his nose that felt inexplicably hot. A distant part of Eren noted that Levi's lips were chapped and wondered, lovingly, if he could make him balm as well as soap. Or perhaps simply sooth them on his own. Somehow. Before he'd entirely committed to acting on that though Levi had flicked his tongue out, like he was leaving a signature, and pulled away.

There were shadows hiding his face but that cravat was tellingly askew.

"Hands?" Levi asked softly.

Just as breathless, Eren held them up. Levi took them between his own, tracing the knuckles, inspecting each nail. It felt less like a test and more of a memorization.

"Adequate," he said and threaded their fingers together. With a leading tug Eren definitely needed they started meandering back towards the castle, hand in hand.

"Still want to be useful, brat?"

"Yes, sir." Eren said, then corrected himself when that smaller hand squeezed his. "Yes, Levi." He could feel a huge, goofy grin beginning to split his face.

"Good. You're not sleeping in that cold-ass dungeon tonight. My quarters, understand?" Levi looked back at Eren, pursing his lips. "But first you're cooking dinner."

Three weeks later Levi, his squad, Eren, and the rest of the 104th returned from their latest expedition outside the walls—all of them.

Eren celebrated with a miniature feast. He gave out a great deal of food that night and, in return, received a moment or two with his Corporal. After all, a good chef could always use a taste tester, or simply a warm pair of eyes to watch him work.

That night he slept in a bed with feather filling instead of straw, in a room that was exceedingly warmer than the dungeons. He penned a letter with another's weight pressed against his side and a smaller hand plunged into his hair. Eren wrote slowly, savoring the moment like he would any good dish.

Risa,

Read this to Millie, won't you? Just let her know that I'm back. I came back, and my 'boy' did too.

Love always,

Eren.

Fin.