Chapter Text
It’d taken 3 months of solid planning and all of his free time, he was practically run ragged, hardly sleeping, but it’d be all worth it. The advertisements seemed to have garnered a lot of interest, and he was hopeful that they’d make a ton of money. Eren was packing up a weekend bag, checking things off his list when he knocked his phone off the bedside table.
He sat down as he picked it up, glaring at the contacts list that was displayed on the screen. Here goes nothing he thought.
“Ackerman” He answered curtly, shuffling through papers on his desk. Where was that damn form that Hanji had dropped off earlier?
“L-Levi” Eren stuttered.
“Eren” he said, dropping the paper he was holding onto his desk and leaning back in his chair.
“I wasn’t really expecting you to answer.”
Levi winced slightly; he knew what the younger man was getting at. He’d cut him off, without so much of a word, and in all honesty if he’d looked at the caller ID he doubted he would have picked up, but he was too caught up in work and was moving on autopilot.
“What do you want Eren?” he tried to keep his tone neutral, but still, he was coming across curt.
“Um, how are you?” the younger man asked, he sounded nervous.
Levi sighed, and stopped thumbing through the file on his desk. “Did you really call to ask me that?”
“No” the brunette admitted quietly, before his tone perked up again. “I’m actually coming home this weekend.”
Oh, Levi thought. Oh shit.
“I’m running a charity event this weekend, at the club. To raise money for the hospice Armin’s grandfather stayed in.” Levi hummed to show he was listening.
“Um, I’m a bit nervous… I’ve never done anything like this before and it’d be great to have you there. To… to have your support, you know, a friendly face.”
“What is it?”
“Huh?”
“The event what is it?” Levi clarified, running a hand through his hair.
“Oh” The brunette paused, and Levi imagined he was chewing on his bottom lip. “It’s a date auction.”
“What?” Levi was shocked…
“It’s where-“
“I know what it is Eren, sorry I er- I was just surprised.”
There was a pause as neither party really knew what to say.
“Please come, I know we haven’t talked… and maybe I shouldn’t be asking you. But it’s a big deal and I’m nervous and just, what if no one bids and we don’t raise any money?”
“Are you up for auction?” Levi asked, holding his breath as he awaited Eren’s answer.
“Um yeah” the brunette quietly admitted.
“Then you’ll raise plenty of money” Levi assured, rubbing at his chest trying to ignore the horrid pulling sensation.
Eren sucked in a sharp breath, and waited for Levi to continue, only he never did.
“So, will you come?” he asked again after a few moments of silence.
“Look, I’ve got to go” Levi said glancing up at his door that was being pushed open by Hanji. “Why don’t you text me the details and I’ll see what I can do.” He hung up without saying goodbye and placed the phone face down on his desk.
“Who was that?” Hanji asked, a sad knowing smile on her face.
“Just a little blast from the past” Levi said, finally locating the form she required. “Here” he signed the bottom hastily and handed it to her, not looking up as he did so, moving his attention to the next file.
Eren dropped the phone from his ear and blinked back a couple of tears… it could have gone worse he supposed, but still, he couldn’t deny how much it hurt to hear Levi sound so unaffected by their conversation. He rubbed harshly at his eyes and blew out a deep breath before continuing to pack.
He could feel the base of the music pounding through the walls as he climbed the stairs up to the private function room. Erwin, Hanji and her husband Moblit were only a couple of steps behind him. He was dressed casually in a white Henley, grey jeans and his favourite timberlands. He wasn’t sure what the dress code was for an event like this, but eventually Hanji had convinced him to just wear something he was comfortable in. As they reached the entrance, they could see the inside was decorated with fairy lights, candles and a lot of balloons. Levi raised an eyebrow as he peered through the doorway. A cheery petite blonde with hair in a high ringleted ponytail approached them.
“£5 entry fees guys, all proceeds go to St. Mary’s hospice- Erwin” she exclaimed as the tall blonde moved to stand next to Levi.
“Hey Krista, it’s been a while.” Erwin reached into his wallet and pulled out enough money to cover all their entrance fees, instructing her to keep the change. “It’s for charity after all” he said throwing a wink over his shoulder as he held the door open for all of them. Levi pushed past rolling his eyes.
He took in the surroundings, dim lighting and heavy sultry music set the mood alongside the decorations. There was a huge amount of people present and the bar itself was absolutely packed, as were the couches set up around the edge of the room. Towards the back of the venue in the centre was a small stage set with two microphone stands, a small spotlight illuminating it.
Levi scanned the crowd for a familiar mop of chocolate hair, the minute he spotted it he internally panicked and pushed his way to the bar. He ordered a round of drinks for them all and prayed that by the time he turned around Eren would be further in the crowd and he could avoid speaking to him.
The raven-haired man wove his way through the warm bodies, clutching the tray of drinks tightly until he made his way to Erwin, only to find him talking to Eren, No such luck there he thought. Eren’s focus moved from Erwin to himself as he approached, he forced himself to remain calm as Eren’s eyes met his.
“Levi, I’m so glad you came” and the smile that lit up Eren’s face was so bright that Levi couldn’t help but feel glad he came too, just to see that smile in person again. Instead of voicing that he nodded as he handed the drinks out and took another glance around as he sipped at his own beverage.
“It’s a good turn-out. Well done.”
“Don’t congratulate me yet, the night’s still young. Who knows if we’ll hit our goal.”
“You’ll do it.” Levi was certain of that, even now he could see several patrons around the room eyeing Eren, and not for the first time he felt the bitter twist of jealously burn in his stomach. Enough he chided himself, he’s not yours to be jealous of anymore. No, he’d fucked that up royally.
He let his gaze fall back to Eren only to find the young man blushing and staring straight at him.
“Right, well I better get going, we’ll be starting in a moment.” Eren bid his goodbyes to the group and Levi watched as he slipped effortlessly through the crowd and positioned himself next to somebody near the stage.
“You’ve still got it bad Levi” Hanji cawed pushing her way past Erwin to sling her arm around his shoulders.
“Oh, shut it” he said shrugging her off.
The lights suddenly dimmed further and the spotlight on the stage became occupied by a young tanned man with a buzz cut. He tapped the microphone before stepping forward and smiled charmingly at the audience.
“Hello everyone, and welcome to tonight’s fabulous date auction where all proceeds will be donated to our very own local hospice. They provide fantastic care and they’re not government funded as such they rely completely on donations so dig deep guys.”
He paused for a moment before bringing the mic back to his lips. “My name is Connie and I’ll be your MC for tonight, so let me explain how things are going to go before we delve right into the fun eh?”
Reaching into his back-pocket Connie pulled out a piece of paper and unfolded it. “Ok guys and gals, this is what we have, there are 20 lovely single people up for grabs tonight- oops that sounded a bit like prostitution”
“Connie” Eren chastised, hiding his face in embarrassment as laughter rippled through the crowd.
“Anyway, you can bid on these wonderful people, and as always highest bidder wins. You will then be able to go on one date with said individual and all the dates have been generously donated by local restaurants and businesses. The location or activity will be chosen by random selection. Everyone with me so far?” Connie looked up to see the crowd nodding. He listed off the dates up for grabs and went on to explain how he’d introduce the singletons through a fun little questionnaire.
“Are you ready folks?” The crowd cheered. “No, no, no, no that was terrible. Come on I know you can do better than that, I said are you ready?” The crowd roared even louder, and Levi found himself rolling his eyes at Erwin’s obnoxious cheer.
Levi watched with disinterest as strangers filed on stage and Connie auctioned them off one by one, the night so far was proving successful and Eren was definitely going to raise a lot for charity. He watched him as he stood at the end of the line by the edge of the stage. His skin was flushed, and he looked nervous despite the bright smile on his face. Levi felt his eyes lower as he took in the tight black shirt and jeans that perfectly framed his ass. He had no doubt that Eren would raise the most money. He was startled out of his thoughts by the sound of Erwin yelling out an offer. He whipped his head to look at the stage to see Armin in the spotlight looking petrified.
“Really Erwin?” Levi said looking up at his friend
“What?” Erwin shrugged “Poor kid looks terrified; thought I’d help him out.”
“I hardly think a date with gigantor is going to ease his fears any.” He couldn’t help but smile slightly at the snort Hanji let out. Erwin merely scowled and crossed his arms.
The night moved quickly and Eren soon found that it was his turn, as the organiser of the event they decided he’d go last and then he could issue a thank you to everyone. He stepped up onto the stage and found it was much higher than it looked. As he stepped forward into the spotlight, he plastered what he hoped was a confident smile onto his face. “Alright, alright guys and gals… this is the moment you’ve been waiting for. Up for grabs now is Eren, the organiser of tonight’s event and former bartender extraordinaire.
Eren rolled his eyes chuckling softly. “Now however he’s studying events management and business up in Manchester, and we asked him a few questions earlier. So Eren’s 5-minute claim to fame was when he twerked on stage at an Akon concert.” Eren hid his face in his hand for a moment, good god, why did he think it was a good idea to put that. He tried to scan the crowd as Connie read out the answers to his other questions. He’d just located Levi as Connie read the final answer. “And when asked if he puts out on a first date, he said ‘bid on me and you might find out’… hmm I don’t know, sounds like a bit of a cop out to me.”
Eren playfully shoved Connie and tried to assume a comfortable stance, it was a bit weird standing up there having everyone stare at you.
“Let’s start the bidding at £25.00 come on everyone don’t be shy, if Eren doesn’t tempt you the free meal should.”
Eren’s gaze was immediately drawn to the corner where the first bids were heard, followed instantly by some others at the back. Both women and men were bidding on him and whilst he was grateful for the ever-increasing bids, he only hoped he didn’t land a date with a woman. He didn’t fancy telling them they’d bid on a gay man. Eren glanced back to the corner to a group of men who seemed familiar, but he couldn’t quite place them. The man who was shouting the bids had a smirk on his face.
“We’re up to £80 now guys, do I hear anymore?”
“£85” a petite girl at the back yelled.
“£90” the guy in the corner countered.
Levi stood watching the bidding exchange with a tight throat, he knew Eren would raise the most, none of the other patrons had gone for more than £50. He took another sip of his now warm drink and grimaced. He hated this, why the fuck had he come. It was pure torture, like rubbing salt in a fresh wound. He knew he’d fucked things up with Eren, big time. Even with all the therapy he still couldn’t entirely figure out why he’d cut the brunette off the way he did, and now he had to watch someone else benefit from his mistake. The girl at the back had backed out at £95 and it looked like someone in the corner was going to get the privilege of going on a date with the stunning brunette. Levi leant forward trying to catch a glimpse of the winner.
Oh, hell no, his eyes widened as he recognised the asshole from the bar the night, he and Eren had been intimate for the first time. All this time and the same guy was making him jealous; it should be funny really, but instead all Levi felt was white hot rage.
“£95, going once…. Going twice”
“£100” Levi called out; arms crossed tight over his chest. The MC looked stunned at the sudden prospect of a new bidder. Levi forced himself not to check Eren’s expression.
“£105” This asshole really wasn’t giving up.
They countered back and forth. “£135” Cried Hanji wildly, Levi spun around to hiss at her as her husband tried to yank her hand down.
Levi could still hear the other man bidding; it was time to put an end to this. “£300” he called out confidently.
Silence fell across the room, Connie glanced at the opponent who shook his head grimacing.
“£300, a very generous donation, going once…. Going twice…. And sold, to a very angry looking man at the back there.”
The crowd laughed and Levi huffed, pushing his drink into Erwin’s hand as he moved towards the back of the room, he wanted some goddamn space.
Eren took the mic and Levi could vaguely hear him through his rush of thoughts, something about the great turn out and how this charity was close to their hearts and thanks for all their generous donations. The date activities were selected at random and announced before Connie wished everyone a goodnight and set the music back on. The lights came up and Levi glanced over his shoulder in time to see Eren headed toward him. He was halted though, by the guy bidding desperately for him. He loomed over Eren so much that the brunette had to tip his head back, Levi took it all in, the hand gripping Eren’s arm a little too tightly, and how the man pulled him in a little too close. Levi was about to intervene when he saw Eren’s face and froze.
Eren didn’t look uncomfortable, or awkward, not at all. In fact, he looked genuinely happy, a healthy blush covered his cheeks and he smiled widely nodding as the man released him.
Levi turned back to the bar and heaved a breath, he tried not to panic. Tried to think of his therapists calming voice, what would she say in this situation?
He whirled around as Eren placed a hand on his shoulder, the brunette jerking back slightly.
“Hey” Eren breathed, he looked nervous. Like he didn’t really want to be around him.
“Thank you so much, you have no idea how much it-“
“Don’t” Levi cut him off angrily.
Eren’s mouth hung open confused.
“Why the fuck did you ask me here Eren? Did you really have to rub it in how much better off you are without me?”
Eren tried to interject, hands reaching out to Levi shaking, but the older man smacked them away.
He dug into his pockets viciously. “Did you want to show me how much I’d fucked up, like I don’t already know?”
“No” the brunette desperately tried to explain, tried to reason with the raven, but he wouldn’t listen, crushed Eren’s pleas at every turn.
“Well I’ve had it. Don’t ever ask me to do shit for you again” and with that he threw a wad of folded bills at the brunette.
Eren tried to catch it through his tears but he fumbled, and the notes went everywhere as Levi stalked off, throwing the door open so forcefully that it slammed against the wall.
The sound startled the room, and everyone paused to look at Eren, standing motionless and staring at the money on the floor. Tears racing down his face.
Armin approached him gingerly, and placed an arm around his shoulders, shushing him as Krista and Connie helped pick up the money. Eren wiped his face hastily and crouched down to gather the remaining notes. “Thanks guys” he whispered, his voice weak and scratchy.
“Do you wanna get out of here?” Armin asked softly, guiding Eren from the room when the brunette nodded.