Break in to My Heart

Eren thought he was having a pretty good day, at least before he ended up sheltering a criminal.

He'd just started his new job a week ago as a security guard at the Museum of Modern Art where he was working for the summer. This was partly to pay for next term university expenses since his parents were abroad and partly because he'd thought it would be pretty cool to be a police officer of some sort. Armin had teased him about his childish way of thinking since they were already twenty and according to Mikasa, should be 'choosing a good career for the future'. Eren agreed with them but hey, there was no harm to a simple summer job. Or at least, that's what he believed up until now.

His step-sister Mikasa, who was dubbed a prodigy by their high school teachers, was helping out as a beginner police officer. His best friend Armin is attending medical school and would be working part-time as a doctor's assistant over the summer. So compared to them, Eren supposed his choice did look a little lame, but he liked it nonetheless.

Everyone at the museum was very nice and easy to get along with. Their secretary Christa, a pretty, petite blonde girl, was kind enough to show Eren around on his first day and also steered him in the right direction the first five times he got lost. Her friend Ymir taught him how to set up the paintings for display before opening, though the gesture was set back a bit when she kicked him for almost dropping a painting. Reiner and Bertholdt, who were always together, showed him the special exhibits and how to handle the artworks. The only person who Eren had a slight difficulty getting along with was Jean, who was also most conveniently placed on the same shift as him. Though as Armin had said, Eren should probably consider himself lucky he didn't get fired after getting into a fight with Jean on his first day. But in his defense, Jean was the one who almost tripped him while he was carrying an expensive painting, which would have definitely gotten him kicked again by Ymir if not worse.

Like him, most of the people working at the gallery were university students trying to make some money over the summer. According to Annie, a small but fierce girl that usually tagged around after Reiner and Bertholdt, she wouldn't be here if she didn't need to pay for her classes. The only person who looked like they genuinely wanted to be there was Christa, and everyone liked her for her cheery and bright personality.

So up until this point, Eren thought he was doing pretty well. After a week of working at the museum and finally lasting a day without getting lost, everything just had to take a turn for the worse. Tonight, he was assigned night shift with Ymir, Annie, and to his disgust, Jean.

Eren wondered why they were even called night shifts since they started at seven and pretty much finished at ten. Ymir just scoffed and asked him sarcastically if he wanted to work even later.

They were patrolling the corridors of the new exhibitions when the security alarm went off.

"What?!" yelped Eren. "What's going on?"

"Like hell I'd know!" retorted Jean, who had only started a week before Eren and had never been in an emergency. But the way Eren looked at it, he never passed any chance to get into a fight.

"I wasn't even asking you!"

"Both of you shut up!" snapped Ymir, whacking them both heavily upside the head. Annie sighed at this display of childish behavior and took out her pager, muttering a quick conversation with Reiner who was working at the front desk.

"What's happened?" asked Ymir looking towards Annie.

"There's been a break in."

"What?"

"Eren shut up!" growled Ymir. "The museum closed early today, so you're saying there's a thief?"

Annie nodded. "Well not necessarily, the alarm at the front door went off, the doors were locked two hours ago, and there was no one detected on the security camera entering or exiting the building."

Ymir scowled. "Well then, I guess we'll have to find this thief. Eren! You take this floor, Jean - no Jean shut up!-you're doing the other half of this floor with Eren, Annie will do the second floor - Annie gave a quick nod-, and I'll cover the third," finished Ymir commandingly. "Christa will call the cops. Page the front desk if you find anything. Though if you do, do not attempt to approach them, none of you are trained and remember to put your own safety first." And with that she whipped around and ran out of sight.

Eren still stood there gaping at where Ymir had left. What was he supposed to do? He'd only been here a week and suddenly they have a break in.

So basically we have to go and find a thief in this huge museum?! For all we know they could already be gone by now…

Annie regarded him with a scowl. "Eren, if you're scared then go to the front desk and meet Christa there. I'll take over your floor."

"Wha-" Eren snapped out of his thoughts. "What- no, no I'm fine. I'll- I'll be going now." He threw Jean one last glare (which Jean returned with a challenging smirk as though to say I bet I'll catch him first) and ran off in the direction of the entrance. "I'll meet you back here when we're finished Jean!"

Might as well start from the front, thought Eren. Maybe the thief is after the new exhibition?

Shoes clicking down the hallway, Eren made his way to the entrance of the exhibition keeping an eye out for movement. Unless the others finished their floors, Eren should be the only person here. He rushed through the rooms, checking behind and under all the works and flipped open storage rooms and cupboards he encountered. So far, no one was here.

The intruder isn't stupid, they've probably heard the alarm too. Anyone in the right mind would have left the first chance they got, it's not like they'd wait for the police to arrive.

Once he thought he saw a flash of white out of the corner of his eye, but when he looked again there was nothing there. Probably just a trick of the light, he thought, trying to keep himself calm. To be honest, he kind of liked the adrenaline rushing through his veins. The hallways were dimly lit and his shoes clicked against the tiles as he ran from room to room. He thought about his other group mates, had they finished their floors yet? Maybe someone had already caught the intruder.

Well if it were Jean, he's never going to be hear the end of that. Hmm what if..? Eren imagined what if would be like it he had caught the intruder. Well, he'd get to rub it in Jean's face, that almost made it worth it. In his mind's eye, he could see himself tying up the thief which he pictured as an old guy with a mustache like they see in the movies. But Mikasa would be really angry if he put himself in danger merely for the purpose of showing off to a colleague. Eren sighed. Maybe he'll get lucky and this whole thing would just be a false alarm.

Ah, there it is again. A slight flash of white to his left, but it was so brief that Eren didn't even trust his eyes. Blinking a few times, Eren looked around, debating whether or not that was worth calling the front desk. Annie and Ymir would get seriously pissed off if he had seen wrong. He was just about to turn around and leave when he heard a muffled clinking sound behind him. Whipping back he stared down the hallway. Are my ears playing tricks on me too?Though he could've sworn he saw movement back then as well…

Pulling out his flashlight, he walked into the nearest room to his left where he thought he'd heard the sound. The room was fairly dark. The walls were lined with numerous paintings and there was a bench at the entrance, a table at the far corner, and a closet in the back. No one was here.

Making his way into the room, he ran his gaze over the paintings and the furniture wondering if there was any place to hide in here. It was pretty plain, the only place he'd think a person might fit would be in the closet in the far corner and they'd have to be fairly small. He shone the flashlight to the very corners and crevices of the room until his green eyes focused again on the closet. Swallowing hard, he walked up to the closet as quietly as he could and put a hand lightly on the handle. Heart thumping in his chest, he gave a quick count to three before yanking the door open.

It was empty.

Eren let out a sigh of relief he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Guess this room is clear after all.

Just when he'd turned around to leave, his foot caught on the edge of the carpet and he crashed loudly into the table. His flashlight rolled away across the ground leaving him in darkness.

"Ow-ow…" muttered Eren, wincing slightly as he blinked his eyes, trying to adjust to the darkness. "Ugh, I'm so clumsy…I hope I didn't break anything…" After a few seconds, his eyes widened realizing what he was seeing.

The hard form under him which he'd thought was the debris of the table was actually … a person.

He's was hiding under the table. His clothes camouflaged perfectly so that when he was crouched, the shadow would hide him from view. If Eren hadn't fallen, he wouldn't have noticed him at all. Through the darkness, Eren could make out his pale blue eyes and he looked around Eren's age.

Eren's brain jolted into motion.

So he's the intruder.

The person stared at him in surprise. He had pale eyes and skin Eren noted, and short dark hair fell around his face parted roughly in the middle. His mouth was parted slightly in shock.

Not what I pictured him to look like, this guy looks around my age…

With a gasp, Eren sat up and pinned the guy's arms forcibly down by the wrists onto the ground. The intruder, who'd recovered from the shock, sent his knee up and knocked the breath out of Eren. Though coughing heavily, Eren's grip didn't falter, he still had the boy pushed against the ground though his eyes were starting to water from the impact. All thoughts about Mikasa's warnings had long left his mind.

His head snapped up when he heard footsteps coming towards the room. The boy's eyes darted to the door before snapping back and meeting Eren's gaze. It was only a brief moment, but Eren thought he saw fear in the boy's eyes. It was only a quick flash before the pale blue hardened and it couldn't be clearer that he was about to attack again.

Eren's mouth pressed into a thin frown. Throwing one last look towards the door, he grabbed the boy's wrist and yanked him up harshly, dragging him into swiftly to the closet at the end of the room. The boy began to struggle immediately though he knew better than to yell, still Eren had to use all his strength to keep a hold on his wrists. A leg shot out and hit him hard on the back of his heel and Eren gasped as his leg gave out under him. The boy managed to slip one arm out of Eren's grip and pulled it back about to punch him hard in the face. Whipping out the handcuffs attached to his belt, Eren snapped one onto the boy's wrist that he still had in his hand and the other to the inside handle of the closet before shoving him into it.

The other finally spoke, he seemed angry to the point he could no longer keep quiet. His pale eyes flashed dangerously.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" he hissed, trying to keep his voice down but wringing his wrist so that the metal chains clattered against the door.

"Just stay here! Don't move and be quiet." Muttered Eren and he closed the door.

Inside the closet, the boy looked around quickly, there were no other exits.

But who am I kidding? This is a freaking closet. What am I expecting, a vent to crawl though?

He wrung his wrist again in a futile attempt to free his arm before sighing heavily.

Who would've thought that a kid would end up catching me. He's probably gone to get the police. Ah hell…

Left with no other option, he pressed his ear to the door and strained to hear any sounds from the other side. There were voices.

"Have you seen anyone?" asked a familiar voice. He was the big guy guarding the door he noted. The one he had no trouble getting past.

"No," replied Eren. "I checked this whole floor, there's nothing here."

His eyes widened. Why was this person lying for him, a total stranger and a criminal to boot? He couldn't be thinking about turning me in himself right? He can't be that stupid.

"Well we finished the rest of the building, nothing's there as well."

He heard a sigh from the other side of the door.

"That must mean it's a false alarm right? Wow... I was worried. We should be heading back now Eren, the security cameras might be down for a little while though, Christa's getting them checked."

"Yeah," Replied Eren vaguely. Ear pressed against the door, he heard footsteps before they receded out the room.

"What's your name?"

There was no reply. They were at Eren's apartment sitting on the couch, he took the chance that the security cameras were down and left work early saying that he wasn't feeling well. Eren didn't know what to do with the boy. It was his spur of the moment decision that he didn't turn him in so he supposed he couldn't just leave him there. He explained that they were going back to Eren's house, and he simply followed without complaint. The moment they arrived, Eren gave him a full body search and was surprised at the fourteen knives he found. Some were hidden in the weirdest of places, like the upturns of his sleeves and on the inner side of his belt. Strangely enough, he didn't protest or even speak as Eren disarmed him, he only watched with a flat expression as though he were judging him.

After a quick shower, Eren walked back into his living room to find him still sitting on the couch eyeing him with that pale blue gaze. He had been unsure of whether it was wise to leave him there alone while he went to take a shower, but he wasn't armed and after his search, the boy hadn't moved an inch from the couch. And he hadn't spoken either. Eren made his way towards him, a towel draped across his shoulder wet hair dripping onto the carpet. He received a disgruntled look.

"Um- hey, do you have a name?" Eren repeated cautiously, glancing at him.

He shot Eren a sharp stare.

"Why." He demanded.

Eren blinked in surprise. "You mean why I didn't turn you in? I… I don't really know." He answered honestly, shrugging his shoulders. "Maybe its cause you don't look like a criminal, you don't look too harmful but that kick really hurt. Maybe it's just cause you looked around my age too…"

He shook his head. "Never mind, what's done is done. So, would you like something to eat?"

A sigh. "You're stupid."

"Hey! Don't just start badmouthing the moment you-"

"Levi."

"Huh?"

"My name. It's Levi."

Eren stared at him. "Oh, alright then…"

Oh sure he doesn't tell me his name when I ask and when I'm talking to him he just cuts me off.

"Anyways..." Eren began awkwardly, "Levi, do you want something to eat?"

His eyes narrowed.

"You're not even going to ask me why I broke into the museum?"

"Do you want me to?" asked Eren exasperatedly. Talking to this kid can be so difficult…

"I'm not a kid."

"How did you-?"

"Your face says it all," replied Levi tonelessly. "How old are you?"

"Oh, twenty," answered Eren.

"I'm twenty-four."

"Really?" exclaimed Eren in surprise. "But- wow, you definitely don't look it."

"What that an insult?"

"No! No-"

"Good."

Eren's eye twitched nervously. This is my house yet why is he acting like he's in charge.

"Anyway," Eren pressed on, "My name is Eren, Eren Jaegar, it's nice to meet you Levi." He held out his hand and smiled.

Levi regarded his hand with wary apprehension. After a few moments, Eren dropped it with a sigh.

"Alright then, we're done with introductions. Levi, do- do you have anywhere to stay?"

No reply again.

"That's fin-"

"I'll leave."

"What? But where to?"

"That... doesn't concern you, I appreciate you not turning me in. I'll leave." He repeated, making to get up from the couch. Though he had somewhat said thank you, his voice was monotone and emotionless. Eren was quite sure he didn't even mean it.

"Woah woah no-," groaned Eren, grasping his shoulders and pushing him back onto the couch. "You're not leaving."

"Don't touch me," hissed Levi and Eren snapped his hands back reflexively.

"If you don't have anywhere to go, you can stay with me," offered Eren, giving a small grin. "I live here with my sister Mikasa but she's away for studies and staying at a friend's. She won't be back until next month, but she may drop in to visit."

He gestured down the hall. "That's the guest room, you can stay in there for now until you find somewhere to go."

Leaning back on the couch, Levi surveyed him with his hard eyes. "But I'm a criminal."

"No, you're not."

"Excuse me?" asked Levi incredulously. "I broke into that museum."

"I said you're not. You haven't stolen anything so technically you're not a criminal."

But what about the knives?

"I- wow, you're quite the airhead."

"Though it'd be great if you'd stop with the insults," muttered Eren somewhat to himself. Levi chuckled. Eren stared at him with wide eyes.

"What?"

"You…You laughed!"

"Huh? So what?"

"That's the first time you've actually showed some emotion, not like a statue!"

"Tch. And why are you so happy about that?"

"Mm I don't know, it just makes me happy that you're finally acting yourself," smiled Eren. "It means you're getting comfortable around me."

"You don't even know me so how would you know I'm acting myself?"

"Oh, good point I guess. Well either way you talking is way better than sitting there like a statue and glaring at me all the time."

"Uh-huh…"

"Hey Levi, I'm going to get something to eat okay? You hungry?"

Levi didn't reply.

"So we're back to this again," sighed Eren. "Just a sec 'kay?"

Eren stood up and went in what Levi assumed was the kitchen. A few minutes later, he returned with two steaming bowls of instant noodles. He placed the bowls carefully on a round table in front of the couch and set down two pairs of chopsticks.

"I hope you don't mind instant noodles," smiled Eren nervously. "I'm not that great at cooking."

"It's fine… thanks."

"No problem." Laughed Eren. "That's the first time you said thanks."

"Hm."

Halfway through eating, silence fell again. For the first few minutes Eren had tried to keep up a conversation but Levi's answers weren't very encouraging given he even answered at all. Levi was eating very slowly and staring at the food as though deep in thought. For the first time Eren noticed that Levi's arms, or rather most of his exposed skin, was covered in scratches, mostly healed but a few looked quite recent. His arms were fairly muscles and he could see a faint bruise welling up where the handcuff cut into his skin. After the meal, Eren set the bowls in the sink and got set to washing them. Levi watched him from the couch with the same calculating expression.

"So Levi," began Eren, wiping his hands on a towel before setting it back onto the kitchen counter. "You should get to bed. There's bathroom's that way if you need and I'll show you to your room."

Making his way over to the couch, Eren pulled Levi up by the arm and lead him to the room next to the kitchen. A single bed was shoved into the corner of the room and a large desk occupied the rest. There was another door at the end of the room for what he assumed was the bathroom. It was fairly small and quite cluttered, the room wasn't too big to begin with but with the bed and the desk, there wasn't much empty space. Papers and binders were strewn all around the room so that there was barely any stepping space.

Levi gave the mess a look of disgust but didn't say anything. Eren glanced at him nervously, "Sorry about the mess… I was studying for finals. I'll get that cleaned up tomorrow alright? So um, I hope you're okay with it..."

"It's fine," said Levi flatly. And it's not like I'm in any position to complain.

"One last thing though, Levi I hope you don't mind but I'm going to lock the door tonight okay? Just for- for a precaution."

"Alright."

"Good night."

The door snapped shut and with a click of metal he was locked in here. Levi settled down on the bed, it was a little hard but nothing he couldn't adjust to. It was a smart move, disarming him and locking the door.

So he doesn't trust me yet.

His lips curved into a faint smile and his pale eyes drifted shut.

Shame he was stupid enough to even bother with me in the first place.

A/N: thanks for reading! ^^

edit oh dear I didn't realize I used rivaille instead of levi in one place XD sorry I didn't notice I'm still too used to that name. thank you guest for pointing that out c: