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Description
Chapter Eleven

Eren's POV

After that day in Levi's apartment that I remember so well everything went down hill.

My physical condition continually went down hill. My headaches came on at an accelerated rate, I would have up to 3 skull-splitting incidents a day. There were several occurrences where I couldn't speak, others where I couldn't see, and even more when I couldn't hear. I had trouble forming words, writing words, or anything that involved complex thought. I slowly was having to slow down to think hard over the stupidest things. Worse, at times I couldn't move a limb. Sometimes I would be unable to have my hand do what I wanted it to, walking became increasingly difficult for me. My fine motor functions were nonexistent.

And Levi's stress level was through the roof. I was panicking just as much as him, but I hid it better. If I had shown Levi just how scared I was, it would have made his even worse. We kept going to doctors, but they kept pulling up results of nothing to worry about and referring us to other specialists who also had no clue what was wrong.

Finally, after a terrifying episode of me collapsing because my leg muscles cramped up and my vision began to flicker, I agreed to go to the hospital.

And it was there that we finally got back a positive result.

It was our worst nightmare.

The doctor came into the room, and told me to sit down. I sat in the hard plastic chair in front of his desk, Levi stood behind me, hands on my shoulders, gently rubbing them.

“Mr. Jaeger, I am very sorry to inform you, but your MRI shows that you have a brain tumor.”

Those words flowed through the room, spun in my head, danced in my brain. He probably only said it once, but my mind replayed them over and over and over again until it echoed in my skull.

The doctor continued to slowly talk. I think Levi asked a question, his hands had tightened on my shoulders when those words were spoken.

“I am really sorry, but there's nothing we can do.” He pulled out a few photos from my folder and put them on the light-up board behind him. He flicked it on and there was two images of brains. He pointed to the first one. “This is what a normal, 25 year-old male brain should look like.” He moved his finger to the other photo. “This is Eren's.”

The photo showed an opaque splotch a little to the left of the middle of my brain. It was massive and completely dominated the left side of the image.

“If we had found this earlier, maybe we could have done something, but now we can't remove it.” He turned to us. “I'm sorry, but you only have 38 weeks, approximately just under a year, to live.”

Tears flooded my eyes and I turned my vision back to the images. I brought a hand to my head, there was a thing festering in me for months, and I didn't know it?

I glanced back at Levi. His eyes were dull and his head bowed.

The doctor said he would give us a moment, then he walked away from the room, leaving the door open a crack.

Tears fell from my eyes, my lips quivered, and sobs were ripped from my throat. Levi's hands kept their tight grip on my shoulders.

After a little bit I twisted around and clung to Levi. He wasn't crying, but he still hugged me with all his strength,

“What are we going to do, Levi?” I whispered to him.

“I don't know.” He replied.

When the doctor came back in he explained to us what to expect. He talked about how my migraines would get worse, how I would have increasingly less control over myself. Everything he spoke of, all of it, had been happening to me. And now that I knew what was wrong made it all so much worse.

Now that I was 100 percent positive that something was seriously wrong with me, I almost couldn't process it. The episodes I had, were just that much scarier now that I had reasons for them. I thought finding answers would make everything better, but I thought wrong.

On our way back to my apartment, Levi and I held hands, he was very gently rubbing circles with his thumb. I gripped his hand in a death hold.

I unlocked the door to my small abode, and he stepped in to begin making tea.

I sank down on the couch, looking out at the room, not seeing anything.

Levi came in with the tea and gently sat down next to me. He handed me my cup, making my hands grip it, checking to make sure I was holding it before letting go.

We sat silently for a long time, minutes stretched by. After some point I had finished my tea and set the cup down on the coffee table. Levi took a last sip of his own before setting it down as well.

He took a deep breath before turning to me. “Eren...” He reached a hand out and gently cupped my face.

He was about to say something else, but I didn't let him. I lunged forward and roughly shoved our lips together. He was still for a moment before kissing me back in return.

“Don't treat me any differently, please. I can't handle it if you treat me as if I am made of cracked glass.” I whispered to him, pressing our foreheads together, our lips barely centimeters apart.

His eyes looked worried. “But Eren—“

I interrupted him again. “No buts, I am still the same Eren who you have been with these past few months.” I took a shuddering breath. “Just going to be leaving a but sooner then I thought” Tears pricked my eyes.

Levi gently brushed the tears that fell away with his thumbs. “I know Eren, I know.” He hugged me, squeezed me in a manner that made my believe he would never let me go. How I wish that he would never let me go.

Eventually I feel asleep, somewhat comfortable in his arms. I awoke later, the both of us leaning on the other on my couch.

I sat up, stretched and yawned. Levi shifted from my movement. He blearily opened his eyes. He mumbled nonsense for a moment before sitting up as well.

“Levi, come with me. We are going to the pet store.”

He looked at me like I was crazy. “Pet store?”

“Yup, I have been thinking about it for a while, but I think I want to get a cat.”

Levi blinked at me. “Brat, this seems like a spur of the moment decision.”

I shook my head at him. “Maybe, but I'm still going to get a cat.”

He sighed. “Fine, fine.” He gave me a piercing look. “But you have to make sure to do this properly.”

When we got to the pet store Levi got more into the cat thing then I did. He grabbed all the best things for it. Medicine, food, bed, and assorted other items. I looked at collars, but he said not to get one until we actually had the cat.

“How do you know so much about cats?” I asked him.

He sighed and looked at me. “Because I had cats as a kid.” He gave no more explanation then that, and I didn't ask.

After that we went to the animal shelter. I walked through the rows of cats in sad little cages, and then one completely captured my heart. It was a tiny, chocolate brown kitten with a few white spots on her paws, a white strip on her left ear, and a white stomach. She had the most amazing fluffy tail, it curled around her perfectly to hide her nose. She had sparkling eyes and was meowing adorably at me. I must have been staring at her for a while because Levi taps my shoulder and tells me that he adopted her already for me.

I hug him, then a shelter worker opened her cage and handed her to me. She snuggled right up to my chest. I grinned at her.

“You name will be Layla.”

After that Levi and I went back to the pet store and chose a small pale green color for her. It had a tiny silver bell on it that Layla was pawing at. I also purchased a small, heart shaped tag that had her name and my number on it. She was spayed, but not de-clawed, so I would of course let her be an outside cat as well as an indoor.

On that note I also got a thin leash for her, because she might really appreciate a walk—hey, some cats do and she seemed to be adventurous.

Once we got back to my apartment I set Layla down on the ground and she began to wander around happily.

Levi turned to me after he set down all of the cat things. “Eren, tell me the truth. Why did you decide to get a cat?”

I sighed. Guess I can't avoid him for long. “So you aren't alone when I am gone. So I am not alone now.”

Levi blinked then hugged me. “You won't be alone, ever, Eren.”

“But you will.” A few tears pricked my eyes

“It will be okay Eren.” He held my cheeks between his hands and kissed me softly.

It soon escalated and we were on the bed, me lying down and Levi hovering over me.

We were kissing for the longest time. No sex, just the sweetest kisses. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Levi's POV

After the make out session Eren fell asleep, cuddled up to me.

I very carefully extracted myself from his hold and got out the bed. I went into the living room and Layla was lying down on the couch, her tail gently resting on her nose.

I gently picked her up—she gave me a look that said 'what the fuck bro'—and placed her down by Eren. She quickly feel back asleep.

I softly smiled at the two of them.

Unfortunately, I have a mission, and standing around will only waste the time I have before Eren wakes up.

I walked into the living room where I opened his laptop. He had told me his password a while ago, so it wasn't an issue. I looked through all of the different realtor offices until I found one that I liked the sounds of.

I walked out of the house and first went to the real estate office. There I talked to this guy named Armin—he looked oddly familiar—about moving into a bigger apartment, one with two bedrooms and two bathrooms. I also wanted one in a nice area of town, near my coffee shop and Eren's photography studio(although he probably wouldn't be spending much time there anymore) and was also near a hospital for the most part. I wanted one where there was a view. One with a fully renovated kitchen. One with fully renovated bathrooms. I wanted to get a dream of an apartment. If Eren was going to be... gone soon, he would spend the rest of his life in style. He said he would call me when he had any information on apartments in the area that fit my criteria.

After that I made my way down the street to a jewelers. I spent quite a while in there, but none of the items I was looking at seemed quite right. So I headed to another jeweler. And another, and another, until finally one had the perfect item I was looking for.

I was shopping for a ring, the perfect wedding ring for Eren.

Description
Chapter Eleven

Eren's POV

After that day in Levi's apartment that I remember so well everything went down hill.

My physical condition continually went down hill. My headaches came on at an accelerated rate, I would have up to 3 skull-splitting incidents a day. There were several occurrences where I couldn't speak, others where I couldn't see, and even more when I couldn't hear. I had trouble forming words, writing words, or anything that involved complex thought. I slowly was having to slow down to think hard over the stupidest things. Worse, at times I couldn't move a limb. Sometimes I would be unable to have my hand do what I wanted it to, walking became increasingly difficult for me. My fine motor functions were nonexistent.

And Levi's stress level was through the roof. I was panicking just as much as him, but I hid it better. If I had shown Levi just how scared I was, it would have made his even worse. We kept going to doctors, but they kept pulling up results of nothing to worry about and referring us to other specialists who also had no clue what was wrong.

Finally, after a terrifying episode of me collapsing because my leg muscles cramped up and my vision began to flicker, I agreed to go to the hospital.

And it was there that we finally got back a positive result.

It was our worst nightmare.

The doctor came into the room, and told me to sit down. I sat in the hard plastic chair in front of his desk, Levi stood behind me, hands on my shoulders, gently rubbing them.

“Mr. Jaeger, I am very sorry to inform you, but your MRI shows that you have a brain tumor.”

Those words flowed through the room, spun in my head, danced in my brain. He probably only said it once, but my mind replayed them over and over and over again until it echoed in my skull.

The doctor continued to slowly talk. I think Levi asked a question, his hands had tightened on my shoulders when those words were spoken.

“I am really sorry, but there's nothing we can do.” He pulled out a few photos from my folder and put them on the light-up board behind him. He flicked it on and there was two images of brains. He pointed to the first one. “This is what a normal, 25 year-old male brain should look like.” He moved his finger to the other photo. “This is Eren's.”

The photo showed an opaque splotch a little to the left of the middle of my brain. It was massive and completely dominated the left side of the image.

“If we had found this earlier, maybe we could have done something, but now we can't remove it.” He turned to us. “I'm sorry, but you only have 38 weeks, approximately just under a year, to live.”

Tears flooded my eyes and I turned my vision back to the images. I brought a hand to my head, there was a thing festering in me for months, and I didn't know it?

I glanced back at Levi. His eyes were dull and his head bowed.

The doctor said he would give us a moment, then he walked away from the room, leaving the door open a crack.

Tears fell from my eyes, my lips quivered, and sobs were ripped from my throat. Levi's hands kept their tight grip on my shoulders.

After a little bit I twisted around and clung to Levi. He wasn't crying, but he still hugged me with all his strength,

“What are we going to do, Levi?” I whispered to him.

“I don't know.” He replied.

When the doctor came back in he explained to us what to expect. He talked about how my migraines would get worse, how I would have increasingly less control over myself. Everything he spoke of, all of it, had been happening to me. And now that I knew what was wrong made it all so much worse.

Now that I was 100 percent positive that something was seriously wrong with me, I almost couldn't process it. The episodes I had, were just that much scarier now that I had reasons for them. I thought finding answers would make everything better, but I thought wrong.

On our way back to my apartment, Levi and I held hands, he was very gently rubbing circles with his thumb. I gripped his hand in a death hold.

I unlocked the door to my small abode, and he stepped in to begin making tea.

I sank down on the couch, looking out at the room, not seeing anything.

Levi came in with the tea and gently sat down next to me. He handed me my cup, making my hands grip it, checking to make sure I was holding it before letting go.

We sat silently for a long time, minutes stretched by. After some point I had finished my tea and set the cup down on the coffee table. Levi took a last sip of his own before setting it down as well.

He took a deep breath before turning to me. “Eren...” He reached a hand out and gently cupped my face.

He was about to say something else, but I didn't let him. I lunged forward and roughly shoved our lips together. He was still for a moment before kissing me back in return.

“Don't treat me any differently, please. I can't handle it if you treat me as if I am made of cracked glass.” I whispered to him, pressing our foreheads together, our lips barely centimeters apart.

His eyes looked worried. “But Eren—“

I interrupted him again. “No buts, I am still the same Eren who you have been with these past few months.” I took a shuddering breath. “Just going to be leaving a but sooner then I thought” Tears pricked my eyes.

Levi gently brushed the tears that fell away with his thumbs. “I know Eren, I know.” He hugged me, squeezed me in a manner that made my believe he would never let me go. How I wish that he would never let me go.

Eventually I feel asleep, somewhat comfortable in his arms. I awoke later, the both of us leaning on the other on my couch.

I sat up, stretched and yawned. Levi shifted from my movement. He blearily opened his eyes. He mumbled nonsense for a moment before sitting up as well.

“Levi, come with me. We are going to the pet store.”

He looked at me like I was crazy. “Pet store?”

“Yup, I have been thinking about it for a while, but I think I want to get a cat.”

Levi blinked at me. “Brat, this seems like a spur of the moment decision.”

I shook my head at him. “Maybe, but I'm still going to get a cat.”

He sighed. “Fine, fine.” He gave me a piercing look. “But you have to make sure to do this properly.”

When we got to the pet store Levi got more into the cat thing then I did. He grabbed all the best things for it. Medicine, food, bed, and assorted other items. I looked at collars, but he said not to get one until we actually had the cat.

“How do you know so much about cats?” I asked him.

He sighed and looked at me. “Because I had cats as a kid.” He gave no more explanation then that, and I didn't ask.

After that we went to the animal shelter. I walked through the rows of cats in sad little cages, and then one completely captured my heart. It was a tiny, chocolate brown kitten with a few white spots on her paws, a white strip on her left ear, and a white stomach. She had the most amazing fluffy tail, it curled around her perfectly to hide her nose. She had sparkling eyes and was meowing adorably at me. I must have been staring at her for a while because Levi taps my shoulder and tells me that he adopted her already for me.

I hug him, then a shelter worker opened her cage and handed her to me. She snuggled right up to my chest. I grinned at her.

“You name will be Layla.”

After that Levi and I went back to the pet store and chose a small pale green color for her. It had a tiny silver bell on it that Layla was pawing at. I also purchased a small, heart shaped tag that had her name and my number on it. She was spayed, but not de-clawed, so I would of course let her be an outside cat as well as an indoor.

On that note I also got a thin leash for her, because she might really appreciate a walk—hey, some cats do and she seemed to be adventurous.

Once we got back to my apartment I set Layla down on the ground and she began to wander around happily.

Levi turned to me after he set down all of the cat things. “Eren, tell me the truth. Why did you decide to get a cat?”

I sighed. Guess I can't avoid him for long. “So you aren't alone when I am gone. So I am not alone now.”

Levi blinked then hugged me. “You won't be alone, ever, Eren.”

“But you will.” A few tears pricked my eyes

“It will be okay Eren.” He held my cheeks between his hands and kissed me softly.

It soon escalated and we were on the bed, me lying down and Levi hovering over me.

We were kissing for the longest time. No sex, just the sweetest kisses. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Levi's POV

After the make out session Eren fell asleep, cuddled up to me.

I very carefully extracted myself from his hold and got out the bed. I went into the living room and Layla was lying down on the couch, her tail gently resting on her nose.

I gently picked her up—she gave me a look that said 'what the fuck bro'—and placed her down by Eren. She quickly feel back asleep.

I softly smiled at the two of them.

Unfortunately, I have a mission, and standing around will only waste the time I have before Eren wakes up.

I walked into the living room where I opened his laptop. He had told me his password a while ago, so it wasn't an issue. I looked through all of the different realtor offices until I found one that I liked the sounds of.

I walked out of the house and first went to the real estate office. There I talked to this guy named Armin—he looked oddly familiar—about moving into a bigger apartment, one with two bedrooms and two bathrooms. I also wanted one in a nice area of town, near my coffee shop and Eren's photography studio(although he probably wouldn't be spending much time there anymore) and was also near a hospital for the most part. I wanted one where there was a view. One with a fully renovated kitchen. One with fully renovated bathrooms. I wanted to get a dream of an apartment. If Eren was going to be... gone soon, he would spend the rest of his life in style. He said he would call me when he had any information on apartments in the area that fit my criteria.

After that I made my way down the street to a jewelers. I spent quite a while in there, but none of the items I was looking at seemed quite right. So I headed to another jeweler. And another, and another, until finally one had the perfect item I was looking for.

I was shopping for a ring, the perfect wedding ring for Eren.