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Never in a million years did Eren expect to find himself stood on the slab, surrounded by slab-rats, and being offered a cigarette by Levi Ackerman.
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The slab was a place where people went to smoke so they couldn't get in trouble for smoking on school grounds. It was just a street across from the bus loading zone at school. It was merely a field with three concrete circles, also known as slabs. The main one, used to be an old shack, which was torn down due to parental complaints.
Eren had never been to the slab, let alone the field which held the concrete circles. He and his friends prided themselves of staying away from it. It was just a place for smoking and usually fighting. Eren preferred not to be around the slab-rats, which was what the rest of the student body called those who hung around the slab.
Eren had just been sitting in his computer class, one of the only two classes he had with the super-hot twelfth grader. It was the last class just before Homeroom, which was held between fourth and fifth period. Eren had barely noticed the chair beside him being pulled out, and someone plopping down into it. His focus on the PowerPoint project that would be due at the end of class.
"Brat," Eren jumped slightly at the voice. He tilted his head towards the voice, and quickly snapped his attention back to the screen before the other could notice his agape mouth. Eren didn't know why Levi Ackerman was talking to him, a tenth grader.
"Um, H-hi," Eren greeted, gritting his teeth in frustration at himself. Everyone in the tenth grade knew about Eren's crush on Levi. It was hard to hide, especially when Eren turned up to all the raven's basketball games. Eren cursed his nervous stutter as he turned towards Levi. The raven was leaned back in the chair, one leg crossed over the other, his eyes on Eren's screen.
"I saw you at the game yesterday." Eren heard himself gulp, and he prayed that it hadn't been as loud as he thought it was. It had been an amazing game, the team won 14-4 and Levi had scored the majority of the baskets. Eren remembered making eye contact with Levi for like two seconds before the raven had raced after the ball. He'd actually though it was just his imagination.
"O-oh, yeah. Um, congrats on the win..." Eren awkwardly smiled. The raven raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Eren turned his gaze back to his screen and saved the PowerPoint, before logging off the computer. The bell was going to ring any second.
"That assignment was fucking stressful," the raven muttered quietly, only Eren could hear him, "I need a smoke after that shit."
Eren nodded, he didn't agree with it, but Levi was talking to him, so he wasn't going to just up and say what he thought about the cancer sticks in the raven's pocket.
"Yea," Eren said quietly.
"You smoke?" Levi questioned, clear shock on his face. Oh shit.
"Uh, yea." Eren was kicking himself by replying with that. It was harmless, it wasn't like Levi would know if he didn't actually.
"Wanna ditch homeroom and come to the slab?" The raven questioned. Eren was nodding before he could even process the first part of what the raven had said. Levi Ackerman, superhot, heartthrob twelfth grader had just invited Eren somewhere with him.
It was a dream come true, Eren couldn’t of been happier.
“Y-yea, uh sure. I mean- alright.” Eren attempted to reign in his nerves. Before either could get another word in, the bell rang. Levi made a move towards the door, pausing when he saw Eren wasn’t behind him.
“You coming, brat?”
“Yeah!” Eren stumbled, standing to follow. It was then, the brunette recalled where they were actually going. His face paled, and his hands started to shake. He was going to the one place, in the whole small town of Shiganshina, that his mother had forbade him from going too. And he was going to be doing, the one thing his father had been clear about him never doing.
Heading off to the slab for a cigarette.
Oh, how disappointed and just plain pissed off his parents would be if they’d ever found out.
Oh god, he was screwed if Armin or Mikasa managed to see him.
Eren followed behind Levi in silence. The two got questioning looks from others (who were on their way to homeroom, like good students should be), mostly because nobody Eren Jaeger was actually going somewhere with Levi Ackerman.
It wasn't until Levi held the door to the outside world open for Eren, did Eren's nerves kick in. It was against school rules to leave the school between periods. Eren had always followed rules, minus the whole fighting rule, but he always followed little ones like this. But here he was, out during Homeroom.
Walking out the door.
Walking down the walkway.
Crossing where the busses park.
Over the little patch of grass between the buss loading zone and the road.
Across the road.
And... right into slab territory.
The slab was disgusting. Smoke butts littered the grass, garbage from the cafeteria and vending machines laid haphazardly across the lawn of sickly yellow grass. The garbage can was laying on its side completely unusable, not that anyone ever used it. Crowds of people huddled together on stone circles. There were dried spit marks on the pavement, along with old wads of chewing gum and a couple splatters of blood.
"Oh," Eren whispered to himself. He had half a mind to turn on his heels and march back into the school, beg for his homeroom teacher's forgiveness for his tardiness.
"You say something?" Levi asked, looking over his shoulder. The raven found it funny how the younger walked so stiffly and was clearly terrified to be here.
"Oh, uh, n-no. I didn't." Eren stuttered nervously. Levi eyed him up and down but shrugged it off.
"Keep up, Brat," Levi mumbled, making his way through the crowds. Eren watched from a few paces behind the older but shorter boy. Everyone greeted Levi. People offered him things, like a light (Eren supposed this meant using someone's lighter to light his own cigarette) some congratulations (for basketball games?) or wanted the raven to touch a part of their body with his own (high-five, fist-bump).
Slab-rats were weird.
Eren knew some of these kids from some of his classes. Most were the annoying ones. You know, the ones who push the teacher's buttons constantly and the rest of the class is left to deal with a salty teacher because that kid doesn't know when to quit. Others were the ones who he'd seen on the first day of school and maybe one or twice in between. A lot he knew from watching sports. All of Levi's friends and teammates hung out at the slab.
The brunet was fearing for his life in the back of his mind. People roughhoused, jumped on each other and pushed one another into the disgusting earth below them. No one paid these people any mind, just continued on with their vaping and smoking.
Eren quickened his pace when a shady looking kid eyed him with an unamused look on his face. Levi huffed out an amused breath as Eren slowed right at his side.
"You act like you've never been to the slab before." The raven mused effortlessly.
"Oh, uh, just been a while..." Eren mumbled quietly, avoiding eye contact with just about everyone.
"Mhm," Levi raise an eyebrow, "anyways, this is us." He stopped his walking.
Eren looked up from his stare at his shoes and cursed his whole existence. They were at the original slab. The one that used to be the shack. Where people would huddle together in the coldest of snowstorms, get themselves dredged in water during rainstorms and sit in the shade during classes, just for a stupid smoke.
Eren didn't know what to say. He watched Levi slip his hand into his jeans pocket and pull out a little carton, along with a black lighter. Eren turned his head up at a loud whistle, he noticed Erwin, the star football quarterback, gesturing to Levi. The shorter man rolled his eyes and tossed the little black lighter to the blonde. The man lit his cigarette and tossed the lighter back.
Eren was a little grossed out as he watched Erwin take a drag of the cigarette before handing it to Mike, who was the football forward, who did the same. They passed it back and forth until Mike dropped it down and ground it into the cement with the toe of his shoe.
"Yea, that's fucking gross. Don't expect me to do that with you." Levi rolled his eyes after looking towards the two friends. Eren was quick to shake his head mumbling out a hurried 'no, no!' Eren looked towards Levi, noticing a cigarette balanced between his lips.
"You need a light?" Levi asked calmly, pushing the button on the lighter and holding it out to Eren.
"Ah," Eren mumbled quietly, patting his pocket, "must've left my smokes... somewhere..." Eren coughed what was supposed to be an embarrassed little awkward cough but was actually the second-hand smoke irritating his lungs.
"Shit, got a buck? I'll sell you one."
"No, sorry." Eren feigned disappointed.
"Here," Levi held out the smoke he'd lit and had a few drags of.
"I thought you didn't share?" Eren internally cringed.
"Fuck that shit, I don't. I'm giving. I don't want it back." The raven curled his nose up in disgust. The raven pulled a new cigarette out of his pack after he'd passed the first to Eren. He lit it quickly, cupping the small flame around the end of his cigarette to protect it from the breeze that blew by.
Eren stared wide eyed at the cigarette in his hands. He was awkwardly holding it pinched (probably too tightly) between his pointer finger and thumb. He studied the bright orange tip and the black ashes as they tumbled away and caught in the breeze.
"What are you waiting for?" Levi questioned. He took the smoke from his lips and exhaled a cloud of grey before replacing it.
With a gulp, Eren carefully maneuvered the cigarette so it was resting securely in the space between his middle and pointer finger. He once again stared at the small stick. He shifted his eyes around the field and to the school doors to be sure no one he knew (or could tattle on his) was watching before pressing the stick to his mouth.
Eren took a deep breath in and held the smoke in his mouth. It was disgusting. He pulled the cigarette away from his lips but kept the smoke in his mouth.
Levi watched Eren with interest. It was clear, Eren was definitely not a smoker. This was proved as the kid turned a ghostly pale, before shading blue.
"Kid- Eren, breath out." Levi encouraged urgently. The kid was holding his breath with smoke in his mouth.
When Eren did exhale, a series of violent coughs wracked his body. His throat burned and his lungs were on fire. His nostrils ached and coughing just added to his misery.
Levi stepped forwards quickly, patting the youngers back (which was something his never did- touching people was gross)
"Breath, Eren." Levi reminded, slightly louder than usual, over the violent coughs. Eren hunched forwards as he coughed, his eyes watering as this feeling he'd never felt before.
"Eyes to yourselves fuckwads." Levi hissed out, grabbing Eren's hand and leading the hacking boy across the road and around the corner of the school so they were out of sight.
Eren heard Levi speak, but couldn't piece his words together. He felt himself get pulled and his feet take him somewhere but he had bigger issues to deal with. It was a few minutes before the coughing died down. Eren took a few deep wheezes (because breaths didn't exist right now). It was then, that Eren noticed that: 1) Levi Ackerman was switching between rubbing and patting his back and 2) Levi Ackerman was holding his hand.
"Christ kid," Levi sighed, "you good?"
Eren nodded weakly, looking towards the blackened smoke in his hand. It was just ash now.
"Sorry about your smoke." Eren mumbled quietly. Levi huffed out a breath, rolled his eyes, lightly slapped Eren's hand so the cigarette dropped from it, and ground it into the dewy green grass.
"I don't care about the fucking smoke." Levi rolled his eyes, "you should've said something if you've never smoked before. You could've passed out or something. You're supposed to breath, you idiot."
"I'm sorry." Eren pouted, "you invited me somewhere. I was excited. I didn't think smoking would be like... that."
"Excited huh?" Levi smirked, "why would you be excited?"
"I um, well-" Eren blushed a dark red right to the tip of his ears.
"Would this have anything to do with how I always see you at all the Scout's games?" Levi inched closer to Eren. "How you're always watching, me specifically, as we play? Hmm?" Closer. "Why you're always staring at me in Computer Science?" Closer. "How you stutter and how cute you blush when I'm around?" Even closer.
"Well.. Uh-" The two were nose to nose now. The distinct smell of smoke wafted between them, but it was hard to make out who exactly smelt of it stronger.
"I was excited that you came." Levi whispered softly, lips so close to Eren's. Just about touching. Eren gasped lightly as Levi moved in, pressing his lips against Eren's. The younger followed the elder's lead pressing back against Levi's.
It felt like heaven. Who knew kissing Levi Ackerman, Basketball star would feel this good? Eren gasped quietly as the raven nipped his bottom lip before pulling back. A pleasant taste of mint and cigarette smoke swirled in Eren's mouth.
"Not bad," Levi muttered, leaning forwards to steal one last kiss, "let's get you back to last period."
Eren nodded, a dopey look in his eyes as he practically floated behind Levi. He was on cloud 9. Levi pulled the younger along by his hand. Taking Eren directly to his next class (he had the brat's schedule memorized, so what?) and lightly pushing the zoned-out boy in. With a shake of his head, the older pulled out his phone and sent the brunet a Facebook Messenger message.
Coffee? My treat. No smoking, I promise.