Alternate summary: Don't run from the cringe. Embrace the cringe. Become the cringe. Be free.
[ READ ON AO3 | KO-FI ]
—————
Eren couldn’t believe it. When he had asked his long-time boyfriend for a NoName concert ticket for his birthday, he honestly didn’t think Levi would actually get it for him. The man had always been strangely jealous of Eren’s slightly obsessive fanboying over the band—the vocalist especially.
And so, when he had opened the envelope Levi had presented to him ten days before his actual birthday, he had expected anything but the two elegantly designed pieces of paper.
NONAME SPECIAL LIVE SHOW
EARLY ACCESS
Trost City, March 29, 20XX
The night before his birthday, in their city.
A show Eren’d heard nothing about, and he had notifications on for all the band’s social media accounts.
“How,” he squeaked finally, after what felt like hours of staring dumbfoundedly at the tickets in his hands, holding them like they were the most precious thing in the whole world.
“I have my ways.” Levi shrugged, sounding almost disinterested, but with the way he was carefully watching Eren’s face, the creases between his eyebrows just slightly deeper than usual, his voice a little strained… It was painfully obvious to Eren how nervous he really was.
A smile so wide his cheeks hurt spread on Eren’s lips. Quickly placing his early gift on the coffee table, Eren jumped at his boyfriend, wrapping his arms tightly around his neck as he hugged him, mumbling thank you, thank you over and over again.
It took Levi a moment to recover, but soon, his arms snaked around Eren’s waist, pulling him closer. He almost melted into Eren, tension leaving his body all at once and Eren couldn’t help but giggle at the change. Levi really was painfully nervous, wasn’t he?
“You’re welcome, brat,” Levi sighed.
Eren didn’t think the smile he was wearing could get any wider.
The warmth in his chest was almost overwhelming; it felt like it was going to burst any moment, leaving him to drown in these emotions, in this happiness.
This love.
Ah, Eren was so fucked.
—————
Weaving his way through the crowd in the club, Eren marvelled at how many people there already were. The band had made the official announcement about the special live barely ten days earlier and yet, the show still sold out. That was NoName for you, Eren supposed; after all, he was there as well. Would have been there even if Levi hadn’t gifted him the tickets, would have been there even if he wasn’t in the city. He would have flown over from a different country if he had to.
Luckily, he didn’t have to.
He did, however, thank whoever was listening—and especially Levi—that his tickets were early access. He really, really wouldn’t have wanted to end up all the way in the back somewhere. As it was, they were able to grab their drinks and comfortably claim their spots near the stage.
So close it felt like he could almost touch the band once they would emerge.
“Mikasa, your drink,” Eren said as he handed his sister her cup.
Mikasa smiled, nodding her thanks before she gratefully accepted her gin & tonic.
“And thanks for coming with me,” Eren added once they both settled into their spots, happily sipping on their drinks.
A small smirk on her face, Mikasa shot him a sly look. “What else was I supposed to do since your asshole boyfriend refused to go with you? Let you go alone?”
Eren rolled his eyes. “You know damn well Levi could never come to a NoName concert—or any concert for that matter. Can you imagine him here, in this crowd?”
“I’m just teasing.” Mikasa laughed with a cheeky wink. Eren could only roll his eyes again.
“By the way,” Eren drew out after a moment of comfortable silence, “aren’t you hot? I’m hot just looking at you.” He looked his sister up and down critically, eyeing the zip-up hoodie she had casually thrown over her shoulders in particular. She may not have had her arms in the sleeves, but that was hardly helping—especially while she was still wearing the old, well-worn scarf Eren had given her all the way back when his family first adopted her.
Mikasa, however, simply shrugged, muttering a not really before taking a sip of her drink, completely dismissing his concern.
Still not really convinced, Eren gave his sister one more doubtful look, swearing to remind her of that statement once all the people packed in and the concert started. Eren was already feeling warm just in his shirt and he knew it was going to get a lot worse soon. She was for sure going to be absolutely boiling in that get-up by the time the show was over.
Knowing Mikasa, however, she wasn’t going to admit defeat or let him talk her into taking either the hoodie or the scarf off.
And so, Eren simply shook his head, turning his attention to his drink as they waited for the show to start.
—————
By the time the show reached the half-way point, Eren’s throat was already sore.
He loved NoName so fucking much, ever since he had first heard them performing during the festival in high school during his second year. He fell in love instantly back then; he could hardly believe those people could be attending the same school—just kids slightly older than him. They were simply too cool and so good, even back then. Full of talent and charisma while Eren had nothing to his name except his father’s expectations and a hopeless crush on an upperclassman.
A crush that didn’t turn out to be so hopeless in the end, but that wasn’t the point.
The fact stood that even years ago, in the shitty school gym, the band was already incredible. These days, they just felt completely unreachable. Amazing. Incredible. Stunning.
Eren would go to his grave being their fan; just watching them on stage filled him with energy, a feeling of freedom filling his entire being. Under the best circumstances, live shows were almost overwhelming. And today…
Today, it was almost too much.
The night before his birthday, a gifted ticket, all the songs he loved the most performed right there, in front of his eyes, the members just out of his reach… He almost couldn’t take it.
It also didn’t help that somehow, they were even cooler than usual. M’s drum solos were insane, H was radiating even more energy than usual, and L’s voice…
God, his voice.
Eren could listen to it forever and never get tired of it.
“Hey, guys!! Are you enjoying the show?!” A round of deafening cheers was H’s response and she laughed, nodding to herself in approval. “That’s awesome! Thank you all so much for coming on such a short notice! If it makes you feel better, we got this sprung on us only a few days before you because this dumbass here—” she paused, pointing an accusing finger on L “—thought it would be really smart to ask us to do this with, like, a two week heads-up!”
The club erupted in laughter, the fans’ joy only heightened when L himself muttered an annoyed fuck off into his own mic.
H, however, ignored him. “But, you know… We couldn’t really say no to him because! Today’s show is extra~ special!!” A dramatic pause followed, and everyone in the club held their breaths. “A tiny little birdie told us it’s going to be a certain someone’s birthday tomorrow! Everybody, say happy birthday to one of our beloved fans! Happy birthday, our precious E!!”
As the crows excitedly screamed HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Eren’s mouth fell open, no voice coming out. He felt a fierce blush rising to his face, realisation dawning on him. Was that him? Was this real? Did H really give him a shout out on stage?
Was this whole show… actually for him?
He could hear Mikasa snicker next to him, no doubt amused by the sight Eren made right then. He refused to look at her.
“Thank you guys, you’re awesome!! E, don’t forget to catch me later! I have an awesome L-themed gift just for you.” L clicked his tongue at that, but H ignored him once again; instead, she simply continued with a wide grin that was almost audible in her voice. “Now, I believe someone else would like to have a word so I’ll take my leave~!” She gave the crowd a little bow and an energetic wave before skipping backwards, leaving the center of the stage empty.
And then, slowly, carefully, L stepped forward, raising his mic to his lips.
Immediately, the fans started screaming. After all, L didn’t talk during concerts often; he usually left entertaining the fans during breaks to H, the woman with boundless energy revelling in the interactions. But, that was what made it all the more special when he did speak. Usually, Eren would be cheering right along with everyone else. Tonight, however…
Tonight, he was speechless. No noise would come out of his mouth if he wanted to.
He only kept staring at L with wide eyes, his mind completely blank.
“Stop squealing and let me talk, you pigs,” L said with annoyance and immediately, the club went completely silent. L took a deep breath, turning to look down from the stage at the people in the first rows.
Eren couldn’t tell for sure through the bandages L was wearing, but it felt like he was staring right at him, his eyes piercing straight into Eren’s soul and his breath hitched in his throat. Suddenly, he felt like crying.
“Hey, shitty brat. I don’t know why you keep asking for such dumb shit but I hope getting a whole show instead of a goddamned ticket works for you. Sorry it’s not on your actual birthday, but I’m a selfish bastard and want to have you all to myself tomorrow.”
Eren gulped heavily, willing the tears to stay where they were supposed to stay. He didn’t need to start sobbing right now…
“Crybaby,” Mikasa muttered next to him, amusement clearly audible in her voice.
“Fuck off,” Eren shot back, never taking his eyes off of L.
Mikasa only laughed, the sound nearly inaudible over the gasps and hushed murmurs of the crowd around them. Eren couldn’t blame them; NoName guarded their privacy fiercely, hardly any details ever escaped. So this sudden glimpse into L’s life, the revelation that there was someone he was willing to do a whole show for, must have been shocking to the fans.
Eren didn’t care. He could barely hear them.
“I still can’t believe I’m fucking doing this here.” He paused, taking a deep breath. He looked like he was searching for words, or maybe preparing himself for what was to come. “I probably should have asked this a long time ago, but fuck it. Brat, you’ve been here since fucking day one and I can’t imagine doing any of this shit without you there.”
The crowd went crazy all over again as L took something out of his pocket and slowly, so painfully slowly… came down to kneel on the stage, never looking away from Eren. “Brat, you’ve been here from the start. Will you be there with me till the end?”
A strange, choked noise escaped Eren.
He couldn’t fucking believe this man; what was he even doing? What was Eren supposed to do? He was down in the audience, not right there in front of him…
Actually… who the fuck cared about that? Eren knew exactly what he wanted to do.
It didn’t matter where either of them were.
However, before Eren could so much as take a step forward. something soft and warm came down to cover his back and head and he froze, turning to stare at Mikasa.
The girl was looking right back at him with a smirk and a raised eyebrow as if challenging him to ask what she was doing. “Cover your face, dummy,” she teased, making sure to pull down the hood of the sweatshirt she had tossed over Eren’s head just a moment earlier.
The very same sweatshirt she had been wearing over her own shoulders the whole time, refusing to take it off. And suddenly, Eren understood why.
And she gave his sister a half-hearted, accusing glare. “You were in on this?”
“Maybe.” Mikasa’s smirk widened.
Eren wanted to be annoyed with her, but he really couldn’t find it in himself to be. Instead, he pulled her into a hug—one that was interrupted a split second later by L’s annoyed voice coming through the speakers.
“Don’t cheat on me right in front of my face right now.”
Without missing a beat, Mikasa flipped the man off. And Eren couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of his chest. Muttering a quick thanks, he stepped away from Mikasa, struggling to get his arms into the sleeves of the hoodie properly to make sure he didn’t lose it before he forced his way past the few people in front of him.
He didn’t waste any time jumping over the barrier separating the crowd from the stage. Before he could reach the elevated platform and jump up there, however, a security guard ran over to him, grabbing his arm roughly to stop him.
“What are you doing?!”
Eren understood where he was coming from but right then, he really, really didn’t give a fuck. “Let me go,” he growled, giving the man the most venomous glare he could muster.
The guard visibly faltered, taken aback by the look in Eren’s eyes, but he still didn’t budge. “Sir, you can’t—”
“Yes, he fucking can. Let him go.”
Eren looked up at the voice; it wasn’t coming from the speakers anymore, but rather from L himself, standing right above him. Eren’s lips quirked into a smile; he didn’t spare the security guard another glance as he took L’s hand, letting the man pull him up on the stage with him.
The second he found his footing, Eren threw himself at the singer, hugging him as tight as he could.
Immediately, L’s arms snaked around his waist, pulling him even closer. Being so close to him, feeling his body heat, touching him like this… Eren could feel his boyfriend’s hands shaking. Was he nervous? Scared of how Eren would react? How he would respond?
Ah, Eren felt like he was drunk.
He laughed weakly, his arms tightening around L momentarily.
Eren wasn’t sure how long they were standing there, just hugging each other, but then, L whispered into his ear, sending a shiver down Eren’s spine.
“What’s your answer, brat?”
With a huff, Eren pulled away. He wanted to look into his boyfriend's eyes before giving his reply, but he clicked his tongue in annoyance when the bandages hiding L’s identity came into view instead.
So, Eren simply stated, “My answer’s no.”
Immediately, L froze.
Eren almost wanted to laugh, but he managed to hold himself back, only letting a wide smile show before he adjusted the hood over his head, then quickly turned them around so that L’s back was facing the crowd.
“What are you doing?” L asked, sounding so very confused.
Eren didn’t explain. He simply shook his head, his hands going up without a word to work on the shitty fucking bandages. Not that he was getting anywhere; how the hell did these come off? Where did they end? Were they fucking glued together or something?
He was getting decidedly frustrated and the way L was clearly struggling not to laugh was not helping.
“Do you need scissors?” came a monotone question from somewhere behind them and if Eren didn’t know any better, he’d think M was making fun of him.
Asshole.
“I got it, I got it,” Eren replied in a voice full of frustration instead of telling the man to shove it, before he grabbed the bandages to unceremoniously rip them off of L’s face, pulling the whole thing over his head.
L cursed, one hand immediately leaving Eren’s waist to touch his head where Eren presumably pulled on his hair a little bit too roughly. Whoops?
Unfortunately, Eren couldn’t say he much cared about his boyfriend’s discomfort at the moment—he was much too impatient. So, he ignored the dirty glare Levi shot him as he grabbed his chin, looking deep into those sharp, grey eyes he loved so fucking much for a second, before he pressed their lips together in a short, but firm kiss.
“Try asking again now, Mr L?” Eren muttered cheekily after he pulled away.
Levi huffed out a laugh, the sound piercing through Eren and shaking him to his core.
“Eren, would you spend the rest of our lives by my side? Not as NoName’s L, but as Levi Ackerman?”
Gulping down his own weak laugh, Eren nodded a few times, hoping to god he would not to start crying again. “Yes,” he whispered. “Yes, always.”
The way Levi’s whole body relaxed felt almost surreal, just like the smile that spread on his lips. Eren couldn’t take it.
He lunged forward, capturing Levi’s lips in a kiss—a kiss that was equally as sweet as it was desperate, the touch making Eren’s entire body heat up.
It only took Levi a split second to get over his surprise, almost immediately returning the kiss, their lips moving together with practiced ease while Levi’s hands travelled up to grab the hems of the hood over Eren’s head, pulling him closer by the fabric.
Eren giggled against Levi’s lips, the sound swallowed by the man slipping his tongue into Eren’s mouth. His laughter turning into a sigh, Eren wrapped his arms around Levi’s waist, revelling in the way their bodies moulded together, Levi’s body heat seeping into Eren. He wanted to touch this man forever; to feel his chest rise and fall as he breathed, to smell his cologne, to taste his lips. To love him, and be loved in turn, to know this man belonged to him and him only.
He wanted to stay with him like this forever, but then a loud—all too loud—sound of someone clearing their throat came through the speaker and Eren jerked away from Levi, suddenly reminded of where exactly they currently were.
As the sounds started registering in his ears again, he became acutely aware of the screams and cheers and cat calls that were coming from their large, very large audience.
Immediately, heat started creeping up to Eren’s face, his skin burning so bad he almost thought it would melt. Levi didn’t look affected at first glance, but Eren could see the tips of his ears turning red as well. The way he clicked his tongue also sounded more embarrassed than frustrated.
An awkward chuckle made its way past Erens lips and he had to fight the urge to pull on the strings coming from his hood to hide himself inside completely.
He was stopped from running away, however, when Levi leaned down to pick something up from the floor—the small velvet box that he had been holding before Eren jumped him. Eren hadn’t even noticed when he had dropped it.
Eren gulped, watching as Levi finally opened the box to reveal a ring, a simple band in white metal with a row of tiny, clear embedded stones. Eren didn’t want to know how much that damn thing cost. He almost wanted to tell Levi that it’d better not be platinum and real diamonds but he stopped himself; he wasn’t about to scold Levi for spending too much money on him now of all times…
So, he simply watched as Levi took the ring out, tossing the box away without care again before taking Eren’s left hand. He squeezed it gently before he slid the ring in its rightful place.
It was only then that Eren noticed Levi was already wearing a ring of his own, one in the exact same design as the one he was putting on Eren.
A wave of warmth washed over him at the sight, a wide smile spreading on his face.
He wanted to kiss Levi again.
Doing his best to ignore the goddamned crowd just a few feet away, Eren leaned down to do just that.
“Levi~! Ere~n!!”
The excited, high-pitched squeal was their only warning before Hanji slammed into them at full speed, enveloping them both in a bear hug and nearly sending all three of them to the floor.
“I knew you’d say yes!! Congrats!! You’re so damn cute, I love you guys so much!!” she rattled off, giggling like a maniac.
Eren chuckled, patting her head as he thanked her, the both of them ignoring the string of curses that was coming out of Levi.
A moment later, Mike joined them, a smirk on his face as he tossed Levi’s discarded bandages at them. “Congratulations, really. But maybe don’t make out on stage and go get fixed up before someone takes a too-good of a photo.”
Levi rolled his eyes but nodded, shoving at Hanji’s face to get her off of him before he grabbed Eren’s hand, pulling him backstage.
Eren couldn’t stop smiling; he couldn’t stop smiling while he helped Levi put new bandages over his eyes, couldn’t stop smiling when he sneaked back into the audience through a side door ten minutes later, and he couldn’t stop smiling when he returned the hoodie to Mikasa.
Even when he woke up the next morning—past noon—with Levi in his arms only to find about a hundred notifications from his friends and family wishing him a happy birthday and congratulating him on his very public engagement, he couldn’t stop smiling.
It didn’t matter that he had to delete some twenty texts and thirty voice messages from his pissed off half-brother—god knew he couldn’t deal with Zeke’s jealous outburst so early in the day. Not even Jean’s text of happy birth and congrats but jfc dude, that was SO embarrassing to watch first thing in the morning, you owe me a fucking drink for the psychological damage could have dampened his mood.
He was too happy, too in love, too giddy over the ring on his finger, and no matter what anyone said, he didn’t care.
He did have to reluctantly agree with Jean though. Seeing the headlines, photos, and clips of them kissing on stage fucking everywhere for a month after was beyond mortifying.
—————
EXTRA - two weeks earlier
“I just don’t get it.” Levi sighed as he leaned back in the chair in the band’s manager’s office. “He could have asked for anything. Anything. A Michelin star dinner and a movie. A trip to Korea. To Hawaii. To the fucking Maledives. He could have asked for a new phone or a car. And what does he ask for? A fucking NoName concert ticket.”
Hanji snickered from where she lay sprawled on the couch. “Eren’s seriously too precious. He’ll always be just an L fanboy at heart, huh?”
Levi clicked his tongue in annoyance, hiding his expression behind his tea cup.
Hanji tilted her head to the side, scrutinising him with a strange look in her eyes, almost as if Levi were some shitty specimen under a microscope. “Levi Ackerman, sir,” she said slowly. “Are you actually jealous of yourself?”
Levi looked away pointedly; he didn’t want to see the shit-eating grin that only got wider with each second that passed. The pregnant pause most certainly didn’t help Levi’s case though. But he couldn’t fucking help it, okay?
Still, he tried to deny the accusation. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Immediately, Hanji burst out laughing. She nearly choked on air in her glee as she rolled around, chortling and squealing like some sort of banshee.
“You two—” she gasped, trying to talk in between her fits of laughter “—you two are priceless! I should give him a signed L poster so he can hang it up above your bed!”
“Fuck off, Four-Eyes. This is fucking idiotic.”
“And yet, not only are you actually giving him that ticket,” Erwin interjected in a calm, conversational tone, “you’re asking me to schedule an entire unplanned, unmarketed live show for his birthday. With a two week notice.”
“Can you do it or not, Eyebrows?” Levi snapped, starting to lose his patience with these fucking people.
“Of course I can do it. I’m just saying it’s hilarious.”
Levi huffed, rolling his eyes. “Then just do it and don’t be a little bitch about it.”
“Why are you so desperate anyway?” Mike asked curiously, giving a little sniff as if he could smell Levi’s intentions if he tried hard enough. “Are you planning to propose on stage or something?”
Levi didn’t say anything. He simply took another sip of his tea, taking great care not to look at any of these assholes that he, for some fucking reason, called his friends.
It only took a few seconds before Hanji started cackling all over again.
—————
Levi’s “ways” of making a concert happen in two weeks: accidentally make yourself sound so whipped that it becomes way too funny to not go along with
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
I rise from the dead to present to you the most 2014 fic I've written since 2014! (ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧
I'd love to say with this my writer's block has been broken through but you know how that shit works xD Either way, I had a lot of fun writing this and that's good enough for me ❤️
Ship: Eren/Levi
Rating: General Audiences
Additional Tags: NoName, NoName!Levi, Ererin, Kinda, Ymir Fritz is Eren and Levi's adopted daughter, because of course she is, POV Outsider, Fluff and Humor, mentions of Jean/Mikasa
Words: 2955
Summary: Working security at your favourite band's concert feels like hitting the jackpot until you realize you're stuck by the back door. But hey, it's not all bad. For exaple, you get to learn that VIP passes tend to miraculously disappear suspiciously often. You might get to meet interesting people, and sometimes you can learn something new about your heroes.
