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“Levi!” Eren called from the kitchen, tossing the vegetables he was cooking a few times as he waited for his boyfriend to appear. They were having a special anniversary dinner to celebrate being together for four years and the food was pretty close to being done with no hint of Levi in the room.
Levi had been excited for the dinner for the past week, making sure that everything was going to be perfect in his own quiet little way. He had spent forever making absolutely sure to have the right music queued up on their speakers and making sure the room was perfectly clean, any dust in the room was seen as a personal offense.
Eren had almost wanted to make a comment to Levi about how nervous he seemed, but he held back. Levi hadn't been in many serious relationships before and tended to get nervous when big relationship milestones came around so Eren decided to let him work it out himself, in his own special way.
It was good for Levi to find his own way to balance nerves and fears without having Eren constantly checking in on him about it...at least that what Eren told himself as he watched Levi over the past week.
Finally Eren watched Levi enter the kitchen, having heard Eren’s call. Good, Levi looked much calmer and more relaxed than the rest of the week, it must have just been stress. Now that he was feeling better, they could have a fun evening together just like they planned.
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He was just about ready for tonight.
Levi only needed to check over his outfit one more time, but other than that, he felt prepared for the evening in with Eren. Plopping down before at the bar that separated the kitchen from the rest of the room, Levi took Eren in as he cooked with the kind of confidence only a seasoned chef could have.
His boyfriend was skillfully moving between all the different stations he had arranged in the kitchen, tossing vegetables in their pan on the stove before turning and cutting a few slices from the baguette he had bought then moving to checking on the chicken, making sure nothing was burning in the process.
Eren was quite the chef, if his job was anything to go by, and he had a dorky smile on his face the whole time he moved around the kitchen in a little haze, having forgotten he called his boyfriend in the room.
Levi was happy to let Eren forget he was even there, content to watch him in his natural element. As he watched, he took in Eren’s anniversary outfit. While Levi was dressed in a button up and a tie to be a little nicer and dressed up, Eren was more casual, wearing a soft red sweater with its sleeves rolled up and his favorite dark jeans.
Neither of them were very up-tight or fancy people so a simple, relaxed dinner was more than enough for them to celebrate their four year anniversary.
Eren’s shoulder length hair was tied back, excluding a few strands that refused to cooperate, in a ponytail to keep it all out of his face. When they had first started dating, it had been shorter, but over time it grew out and they had both grown to love the new style too much to let it go.
Pulling his phone out of his pocket, Levi entered his music app and turned on the connection to the speakers. Pop music drifted through the room from the speakers in the living room and Levi let out a little laugh as he watched Eren do a shimmy to the beat of the song.
Eren finally turned his head and saw Levi sitting there with a soft smile on his face, watching him from the comfort of a bar stool. Smiling right back at him, Eren leaned over the counter and gave him a quick kiss.
Pulling away slightly, but not farther than a couple inches, Eren smiled sweetly before leaning in again. He paused, a hair’s breadth away from Levi’s lips, and whispered, “Did you remember to water Mrs. Smith’s flowers? We’re supposed to keep them from dying while they’re on vacation.”
Levi’s nose crinkled as he tried not to smile at Eren’s little trick. Very sneaky.
Pecking a kiss onto Eren’s lips, Levi decided to copy Eren’s move, only leaning back slightly as he whispered, “Those plants were dead when we got them and they’ll be dead when we give them back. Fuck the system.”
Eren rolled his eyes in mock annoyance as he pulled back to look at Levi fully. “Fuck what system, Levi? The ecosystem?”
Levi’s brow furrowed for a second before he smirked and responded, “If that’s what it takes!”
“I thought an old man like you would love nature. I thought the rules were the older you get, the more sentimental and sappy you become.” Eren snarked, smiling like the sun as he teased Levi.
Levi rolled his eyes as Eren started laughing at his own joke. “Har har, you’re so funny. My hair is turning more and more grey everyday and you want to just sit there and make your little snarky jokes at me! Well, two can play at that game!”
“Oh, really?” Eren smirked. “You think you can keep up with me?”
“Of course.”
“Give it your best shot.”
Levi straightened up again and surveyed Eren, looking for something he could tease him about.
“Well, I might be an old man, but you’re a…”
Levi’s voice faded as he couldn’t think of what to say. He had come up blank when he had tried find Eren’s flaws. With Eren staring at him, a wide smile on his face and soft music filtering in the room around them, Levi couldn't think of a single thing he could possibly want to change about who he was with…
“...model.”
Eren’s eyebrows furrowed and he paused, trying to figure out how Levi was getting back at him. They sat there in a strange silence for a few seconds before Eren burst out laughing. Levi joined in a few seconds later, chuckling about how ridiculous his come-back had been.
Still chuckling, Eren called out to Levi as he turned back around to attend to the food. “Can you grab some wine to go with dinner? I think we have a bottle that we didn’t finish the last time that your mom was here for a visit, it should be in the cupboard by the sink.”
Walking over to the cabinet, Levi pressed a kiss to Eren’s cheek as he passed him, smiling at the little blush that still rose to Eren’s cheeks when he didn’t expect that things like that to happen.
Opening the cupboard, Levi was just able to spy the sealed opening of the wine bottle on the very top shelf.
Goddamnit.
Levi began to wonder if Eren had planned this, making him awkwardly reach for the bottle on the top shelf as Eren just watched him struggle. His fingers were about an inch shy of the bottle, and he started getting impatient, not caring for the reminder of his height. A little snort from behind him made him turn his head to glare at Eren for watching him just as he gave a little hop to try and grab the mouth of the bottle.
Everything began to move in slow motion as the bottle’s stopper came loose in his hand and wine spilled out of the cupboard like a slow motion waterfall. Levi turned his head back to the cabinet just in time for the wine to splash his face like a bad skin care commercial.
Time regained its normal speed as Levi moved his hands to shield his face, squinting to keep the wine from getting in his eyes. The stream quickly stopped, leaving only an empty silence behind, neither Eren nor Levi were sure how to break the tension.
Levi ended up breaking the quiet with a stream of curses that could make a sailor cry as he tried to wipe off the wine that had fallen on him.
Quickly grabbing some paper towels, Eren came to his rescue, cleaning off his face and dabbing at his now stained shirt and pants. Eren tried to give Levi his space to vent at the mishap, but as he let loose a new stream of curses, Eren couldn’t stifle his giggles anymore.
Levi paused in his plan to curse the entire universe out of existence for fucking his night with Eren over when he opened his eyes and saw Eren barely hiding his laugher, little snorts and shaking shoulders giving him away.
“What,” Levi asked incredulously, “could possibly be funny about this right now?”
Eren just smiled at him and responded, “I don’t mean to be rude, sweetheart! I promise! it’s just that you stressed out so much about having the perfect anniversary dinner over this past week that I don’t think you even realized that this is the perfect night to represent of our relationship. We are just trying to figure out how to adult together, everything doesn’t need to be perfect for us to figure out who we are. This is the best possible way I could could think to celebrate our anniversary.”
Levi paused for a few seconds as he thought it over before he grinned at Eren in one of those rare smiles that seemed to blind Eren every time he saw it.
Taking a step back from Eren so there was some distance between them, Levi slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out a little velvet box as he bent down on one knee in the puddled wine on the floor. Neither of them even seemed to notice it staining his pants further as Levi finally worked up the nerve to speak.
“I meant for this to be a lot more dramatic and...not so covered in wine...but you’re completely right. Those fairytale proposals that we all see on TV just aren’t for us. We spend our weekends playing video games together and claim that we see Bigfoot everytime we go hiking. We aren’t a textbook couple, but that just makes us all the better because of it. I wake up never knowing where my day might lead with you, everything is spontaneous and sometimes ridiculous, but there has never been a single moment where I haven’t known you are the man I want to spend the rest of my life with.”
Eren teared up as he watched Levi speak, the truth of everything he was saying was clear in his eyes which were so hopeful as they looked up at Eren for a sign that he understood what he was trying to say.
“Eren, you are the love of my life. Every single day seems brighter just because you're in it with me and I wouldn’t be half the man I am now without you. You are my love, my life, and most importantly, my home. So...will you do me the honor of being my husband as well?”
Throwing himself forward, Eren pressed his lips to Levi’s in a tender kiss, both flushed from the abnormally long speech Levi gave. Eren’s arm’s came to wrap around Levi’s neck as he held Levi as close as he could.
Pulling back slightly, Levi had to make sure. “That...That’s a yes, right?”
Eren snorted as he nodded tearfully, not really trusting his voice.
Levi smiled at him as he slipped the ring onto Eren’s finger before laced their fingers together in a tight grip like they couldn’t let go of one another.
They met in the middle for another sweet kiss before Levi whispered, “I can smell the food burning… should we get up and take care of that?”
“Fuck the food! I just got proposed to, nothing is interrupting this.”
“Message received: Fuck the food and fuck the ecosystem!”
“...Shut up and kiss me, you asshole…”
“Anything for my lovely fiance .”
“Say that again.”
“ Fiance .”
“I can't wait until you say husband .”
“Just trust me, I won’t let you wait long for that.”
“Good, I’m counting on it.”