XP

by NightmareDerpy

Rating: teen
Tags: Slice of Life, Human, Sad, Dark, Alternate Universe
Length: 5871

Zeke and Eren brother story

Eren and Zeke brotherly love.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2016-10-16 03:19:45 UTC

Episode 1

Ch1

(WARNING! If you do not know the beast Titan's full identity, do not continue reading if you don't want spoilers.)

  It's a sad day.

  The weight of unending sorrow pulls him down, brings him to a conflicted state. And he is lost now. What is he gonna do now that such pain is clawing at his heart? How will he continue, progress in life after all of this?

  It's so bright today, blinding, beautiful, too beautiful. The sky is blue, tinted with a glorious pink that glows through the thin clouds, and the trees are in bloom. Birds chirp loudly in the trees, and children laughing while playing in their backyard reaches his ears.

  It's not supposed to be like this. Why isn't nature sharing the sorrow of today, of tomorrow, of the remaining days of his life? Why can't it understand him?

  Where is the rain that represents his tears, the thunder that shows his anger and conflict? The deafening silence, where was that?

  Whenever something bad happens, it always rains, the clouds are always gloomy, and the sky darker than ever. But the world decided to be happy today, something the young teen doesn't mind, but still finds himself wishing nature would at least comfort him with sweet sounds of water trickling to the ground from the heavens.

  Propping his cheek with a fist Eren stares out his seat window, his green eyes are empty, and no sign of tears were left to scar his face to show his sadness. In front of him was a stranger, in the driver's seat he drives to take Eren to his brother's home.

  Looking down he eyes his black, expensive outfit, a black suit specifically worn for those type of days. Eren didn't like it, it was so dull, and plain, and not to mention uncomfortable. It was almost too tight in some areas.

  Eren would have requested a change of clothing before leaving, but due to the fact that they were on a tight schedule, and all his belongings were no longer at his used to be home, all being transported to his brother's house, he decide against it. So after the funeral he had to go straight into the transportation car with the rest of his luggage, dumping it in swiftly, and preparing for a long journey ahead.

  So for hours he was sitting here, his butt was sore, for the seats of this damned car were definitely cheap. It was good he hadn't drunk any liquids this morning, otherwise he would have most likely asked to pull over at a gas station, more than twice at that. He just wanted to get this over with so he could find a bed, and proceed to collapse and fall into a deep sleep.

  It took all day to get there, but Eren didn't care. Because he didn't want to be there.

  "We're here sir."

  Pointing out the obvious, Eren sighs.  Seeing the expecting look on the drivers face as he stares through the review mirror and right at him, Eren knows he isn't getting out to help him.

  Eren opens the door and grabs his red suit case and back pack. He struggles to not hit his head upon getting out, the car so low to the road.

  There was no need to pay the driver, for he was already given the money from his Aunt. Aunt Faye was the second to only family he had left. He would have gone with her if he had a choice in the matter, but he didn't.

  The child never gets to decide now do they?

  Since his Aunt is busy on a trip far away, she was sadly unable to take him with her. She wouldn't be back for a long time, Eren was unsure how long a "long time" was, but the sooner she got back, the better.

  Once the door to the car was closed, and he was sure that he wasn't forgetting anything, the car went driving down to make a turn in the cul de sac and leave. It's red lights were bright as he stops at the sign, and Eren kept his eyes on it till it was gone.

  The street light above flickered, making Eren come away from his thoughts as he looked up at his new home. It was a small house, a one story with a small backyard. It was very simple but very well taken care of. The paint was clean, the lawn of grass was cut and free of weeds, and the Rose bushes fully trimmed to perfection.

  Pulling the handle from his suit case he rolled it as he walked up the concrete driveway and onto the sidewalk leading to the entrance of the house. The sound of crickets, his footsteps, and the wheels of his case was all that he heard.

  A very quiet neighborhood, at least at night.

  When Eren came face to face with the door he didn't hesitate to raise his hand, and thrum his knuckles against the oaken colored door five times. Nothing happened. He rung the door bell. Nothing happened. A few more knocks. Then he waited, for around twenty seconds, then the door opened.

  "Oh, hi Eren," Zeke stood in the doorway, the man clearly just about to head to bed was standing out of the way to let him enter. "You're rather late."

  Eren didn't say anything to him, just walked passed and took in his surroundings carefully. Surprisingly to what he was expecting, it was clean, and well organized. Eren himself was quite messy unless frequently told to clean his messes.

  As Zeke closed the door to lock it, Eren was observing the fairly large living room he walked into. A flat screen TV sat against the wall, speakers surrounding the sides and ends of the leather couch across from it and by the end of the wall. To the right was a kitchen, the floors were a white tile, and counters were a black marble. That was all he could see from where he was, the wall of the entry way blocking his view.

  Then there were stairs, that made Eren furrow his eye brows. He thought this wasn't a two story. The stair way was carpeted, and the wall covered the side, a black rail nailed to the side of it.

  "Your things haven't arrived yet. Apparently there was a delay and it won't be here till tomorrow or the day after." Zeke explained as he looked around the room.

  That's when Eren actually noticed his brother's full appearance. No shirt, loose pants, and his hair was ruffled along with strange red marks on his neck.

  "Do you have company?" Eren asked as Zeke looked for a shirt briskly. Eren was just fourteen, but he by no means was a stranger on certain subjects.

  Zeke chuckled at him and apologized, but not answering him as he picked up a shirt from the couch, and threw it over his head, then pulled it down to cover his toned torso.

  "Do you need anything? You hungry?" Zeke started heading to the kitchen, walking past Eren on his way.

  Eren slowly followed him, keeping his back pack slung over his shoulder, and bringing his case with him.

  "No I'm fine." Eren replied simply, not sure what to do or say. After ten years of absolutely no contact from your brother, it becomes a bit strange seeing him again. Especially now of all times.

  Zeke returned with a glass of water in his hands.

  "Your room is upstairs. It's a guest room so you have a bed and blankets."

  Zeke seemed casual so far, while Eren just wanted to go to sleep. The first time seeing him since he was four, he left a strange first impression. A tidy man with a muscular build and obvious "I just got laid" signal coming off from him. Everything else was fine, but he thought he would see him in different circumstances. Like perhaps opening the door, and not smelling of sex and leave him waiting outside while he finished whatever he was doing.

  As they went up the stairs Eren heard a voice come above and after coming up that last step he saw a woman leaving a room. He hoped it wasn't his room.

  "Rico this is Eren, Eren-Rico." Zeke spoke, hand waving between the two as he introduced them.

  The woman was actually completely dressed and way more presentable than his brother. Her hair was messy, and probably smelled, but at least she had the decency of not coming out in a bra and underwear.

  "Ah so this is him huh? Well, nice to meet another member of the Yeager's, finally." Rico said while extending a hand to Eren.

  Eren gave a hesitant smile and gave his hand to shake. "Nice to meet you."

  Rico gives a half smile and nods, pulling back before giving Zeke a half hug and walking past them.

  "I gotta get home to take care of my mother. See you both soon." Rico waves as she rushes down the stairs.

  It was silent for a moment, and until Eren heard the sound of the front door opening and closing upon her leave, he then spoke.

  "Are you and her-" Eren glanced back down, and pointed his thumb over his shoulder.

  Zeke shook his head as he turned to walk along the hall. "Me and her are just close friends. Your room is over here. Usually Rico sleeps here but since it's yours she'll be using the couch."

  "Ah." That's all Eren said after that, not feeling the need to say anything else at the moment. So this Rico and Zeke were friends with benefits? Another great first impression.

  "The only bathrooms are the one in my room and downstairs. So if you ever need to use the shower just ask and you can use mine."

  Eren plopped his stuff down and went to stare out the window of his small room.

  "Well anyways, goodnight."

  Zeke closed the door behind him, Eren looking back before groaning, and plopping on the well cushioned bed that creaked upon the new intrusion.

  He curled up, not bothering to turn off the light, or get out of his clothing. He just wanted to get some peaceful, and hopefully dreamless sleep.

*

  Today is his birthday. Eren hadn't realized it till he was awake and pulled his phone from his dejected back pack and saw the date. He gulped, finding unwanted tears dancing in the corner of his eyes.

  This was gonna be the worst birth day of his life. Because this would be the first one he has alone. His mom was dead, his dad was dead. His friends, all way back home, far away. Mikasa, Armin, Jean, Marco, Connie, Sasha, Mina, Marlow, Hitch, and Hannah. They had been all that was left, and he was stripped away from them.

  Clenching his fists he shot up from his bed. He hated feeling like this, so weak, so vulnerable. He needed to treat it, and he knew just how to make it better.

  This bad habit all started when his mother died, but it wasn't as fierce as it was about to get. His dad had caught on it right away and helped him get away from it, to abandon the need to do such horrible things to his body. His friends helped him through it with such love and comfort, but they were all gone now. No one was here for him.

  Pulling off all his clothes he was left in his black boxer shorts. Glancing at the door he didn't bother locking it, as he doubted his brother would barge in, at least, that is what he hoped. Opening his back pack, he scurried through it to find a swiss Army knife hidden under all the clothes stuffed inside.

  It was what most children had, meant to defend oneself from cruel people. But Eren used it for unhealthy purposes. It was black, thin, with silver lining. He quickly found the knife and brought it out from it's folded position.

  He needed to get rid of this pain by directing his mind to something else. This anxiety over how he is going to survive this unfortunate event was pricking at his skin and he had to get it out.

  Looking at his wrist he examined the long forgotten, and faded old scars from his first time falling into depression. There were only a few, but he intended to put much more.

  So he did, hissing as he took the tip of the sharpened edge and running it right over the old scar, breaking it's bondage, and letting blood seep out of the open slit near his wrist. He did it again.

  He was starting to calm down, feeling his heart rate drop back to normal, and both his pain and his unease slowly faded away as he focused on the blood that unintentionally dripped onto the carpet, staining that spot Crimson.

  He reopened all of them till he was a bleeding mess. No doubt he would have to wait to go out. The bathroom was downstairs, so he couldn't just go down in nothing but boxer shorts, and blood dripping down his hip and wrists.

  So he did whatever he could do, and took one of the neatly folded towels he found after a bit of exploration that were hidden inside a dresser drawer. He would need to sneak that in a load of dirty laundry once he got the chance. Mentally he made a note to use this towel specifically when he needed to do this, relieve his stress.

  Eren didn't like to do it, it was scary. But it was the only medicine he had for now.

  After the bleeding went down, he decided to wear a loose hoodie and black pajama pants. That way the fabric of his clothing wouldn't run against them, and he wouldn't end up bleeding in front of his older half brother.

  When Eren was dressed, he grabbed his phone, and found his tooth brush to go clean himself up. Before leaving his room though he picked up the towel with a sad and lonely gaze as he tossed it under the bed.

  With that done he opens his door to leave after finally turning off the light that was on all night from his laziness.

  He immediately smelled something. Bacon and eggs. As he came to the stair step he looked up at the window at the wall above, wondering exactly what time it was. Didn't matter though.

  Once down the steps he folded his hands in his white hoodie pockets, and came to sit on the couch, looking up to see the news, something about robbery and murder, or some crazy shit.

  "Oh, you're awake." Zeke seemed to finally notice his presence after that long five minutes. "If you're hungry there is plenty of leftovers in there"

  Eren nodded at him while thanking him, sighing as he got back up and went to get himself a plate of whatever was in there. It was a bit difficult, it being a whole new house and all, took a good while finding where everything was. He almost stuck with a bowl for his bacon, eggs, and toast when he couldn't find any of the plates.

  After that, he came and sat back on the couch where his brother was on a laptop typing away. He ate silently.

  "Do you have wifi?" Well there is something. Eren looked up to see Zeke turn his head to him.

  "Hmm?...oh yeah sure just one sec." Zeke replied while running his finger over the mouse pad.

  "Alright. Do you mind if I change the channel?" Eren asked after feeling as sense of discomfort at what just came on.

  The remote was tossed to him and he quickly began to scan through the channels. Maybe he should check animal planet, maybe some cute puppies could lighten his mood, or perhaps distract him.

  "I'm heading off to work after breakfast, and won't be back till late afternoon." Zeke said as he rose and had asked to see Eren's phone to give him his wifi. "Will you be alright on your own."

  "Sure, whatever." Eren shrugged as he thanked him and took his phone back, finding himself disappointed when the message app showed no new notifications upon entering his pass code.

  Zeke left a little while after that, and now Eren was laying down on the couch scanning through Facebook. He didn't usually use the site, but he found that it was giving him more comfort than the TV. Why? Because all his friends, one by one, were commenting on his timeline, all calling out on his birth day and Mikasa even sent a video.

  Excited to just see their faces he quickly pressed the video and let it play.

  "Hey Eren!"

  Eren felt a small smile at the sight of his blonde friend Armin who was holding the phone. It looked like he was at Mikasa's right now by the familiar house furniture in the background.

  "Mikasa and I just wanted to know how you are doing. And of course tell you-Happy Birth day!"

  Mikasa and Armin both said the last words together at the end, Eren watching the loving smiles on their faces.

  "We really miss you! And please talk to me if you need anything Eren. We love you so much." Mikasa was still trying to be motherly by offering comfort to him even though they were so far away. That made Eren chuckle.

  "We hope you'll be happy living with your brother! Face time us back soon!" Armin's finger came in view of the camera as he went to turn it off.

  Eren dropped his phone and rolled to his side, feeling all the depression from yesterday come back in waves.

  "I miss you too guys."

•

•

Authors Note: The knife that Eren uses in this story to cut himself looks like the one he used to kill the kidnappers. Right now Eren just turned fifteen, and in this story Zeke is 25 instead of 34. This chapter may change, if it does then I'll just tell you when the next chapter is out. This story is just something to put out there I guess. I wanted to write this after going through a situation of wanting to cut myself. That's it for now.

Episode 2

Ch2

  Things are so quiet here. It's almost annoying how silent it can be. It's only when the TV is on, or when Zeke is on the computer, and you can hear the sound of the computer keys, or when Rico comes over, then it's just some friendly chatting between the two. Eren has nothing to do for the past two weeks he's been here now.

  Now he's bored of well...being bored. He has his phone, but nothing to do on it. He's never had much use for it unless his friends text him. But it was early, which meant everyone was at school, which meant he wouldn't hear from anyone for a while.

  Eren should be at school, and even though it was weird, Eren actually missed going, if only just to do something other than lay in his simple guest room. Zeke had already assigned him to the school nearby a day after he got here, it's  just a few blocks away from here, but any way of going was out of the question till his things arrived, for all his schooling supplies was inside those cases.

  Thankfully it was today. Eren had been stuck with just a few pairs of clothing, what a nightmare that was. He always had to wash his clothing daily in order to be able to wear anything the next day, or anything clean after a shower. Zeke had complained once that washing such small loads of clothing was a waste of water, so that didn't help.

  So when he heard the sound of the door bell ringing throughout the entire house, he had waited patiently to find out whether it finally arrived, or if Zeke's friend had just come over. Zeke had knocked on his door, and upon answering it he was given his remaining luggage, and he finally sorted everything where it needed to be after a lot of failed attempts.

  Eren was never aware of how much stuff he owned until now. He had quite a bit of trouble fitting everything into the closet. It would have been nicer if he had inherited his mother's, and father's well sense of organization. He could tell Zeke had for sure.

  So now that meant tomorrow he was going to school, but now he wasn't as excited. Going would just be a painful reminder that he would no longer arrive to see the faces of his beloved friends. Eren, Armin and Mikasa would always greet each other at the door, no matter how late he ended up being. They were the closest out of the entire gang.

  Jean drove him nuts, but he had to admit that he enjoyed his company. He loved it whenever the man would come over and give small, innocent shoves, and that would turn into a small playful competition to see who was stronger. He also couldn't help but stay attached to him since they were kinda in a-ya know, relationship, if only for a VERY short time, mainly cause they were curious. But you couldn't really call it an actual romantic relationship.

  Connie and Sasha. They always put a smile on his face. They were both perfect for each other, be it platonic or romantic, whatever was going on between the two. He always looked forward to seeing them everyday.

  Mina and Hannah were the only girl friends he could actually stand. Even though he didn't spend as much time with them as he did everyone else, he admired the two. Oh and Hitch, can't forget that silly bitch. Bitch was her nick name as it rhymes with her real name. She hated it, but of course, we never stopped.

  Marco was a very pleasant friend. He was smart, and very kind to everyone. His smile always pulled you out of any darkness pulling you down that day. He was his favorite boy friend. He was close to Jean too.

  Marlowe was more in the background. But he was also a good friend, and easy to get along with. It seemed he, and him had a lot in common in certain areas, which made him a very understanding buddy.

  He got to see each and every one of them, every single day. He wouldn't this time. So now as he left the house the next day, he was dreading each footstep as it brought him closer and closer to the school. Maybe it wouldn't be as bad, for it wasn't the same school.

  Eren was right, it wasn't that bad. But it was still depressing walking through long halls alone, constantly being shoved into a corner from racing students. No one ever paid attention to him, it was like he didn't even exist sometimes.

  Eren thought he should probably make some friends, but after studying all the characters around him, he didn't even bother. Everyone here, just by glancing at their clothing and the way they prance around, you could tell they were a bunch of rich snobs who thought they were better than everyone else.

  It wasn't long till he got into a fight, and on his first day too. Eren got that he was new, but that didn't mean he needed to be sure he was put in his place. Someone in his class, a tall dude with a gang claims everything. The bathroom, the chairs in the classroom, the best seats in the cafeteria, all "their's".

  When they try to get you to pay them to go into the fucking bathroom to piss, that was something Eren wasn't going to stand. He didn't care about anything else, the stupid chairs didn't matter. But he would not tolerate such bitchy behavior. It was just plain childish.

  So when they told him to pay or get lost, Eren forced his way in. The fight ended before it could really start, but Eren had still gone home with a bloody nose. At least he had done worse to the other guy.

  Zeke wasn't happy, and told Eren that he wouldn't have such foolish behavior on the first day. Eren didn't say anything during that small lecture his brother gave him, he just wanted to run to his room, and find out if his friends had texted him, or called him.

  It made him smile to see so many notifications upon turning on his phone. They all talked to him as if he never left, albeit with the addition of saying they miss him, and can't wait to see him again.

  It made Eren worried when his friends announced that a their school was going to take the students to camp, so that meant if they went, he wouldn't hear from them. But he was content till then, that day not even bothering to cut himself while his friends called to him.

  It wasn't till next week that things really got bad. Another fight after another, they just wouldn't leave him alone. Eren couldn't do anything because then he would get in trouble. What kind of messed up shit was that? He gets pushed around and nothing happened to the people trying to pin him down like some kind of dog, while if he reacts to them he is seen as a bratty teen who needs punishment.

  Teachers are so blind. His own fucking brother always takes their side.

  "They threw my lunch on the floor! What was I supposed to do about it?!" Eren was arguing with his brother after his fourth fight the following week.

  "The professional thing to do would have been to ignore them." Zeke always replies so calmly, although his tone was firm and his voice was strong, so you know when he is angry at you. "Why can't you just behave instead of give all of this unnecessary trouble?"

  "I am NOT just gonna sit their and be bullied! I will fight! I won't be a wimpy coward like everyone else." Eren is seething at how much Zeke doesn't even care about his reasoning, just sitting there on the couch and not even making eye contact.

  "Then just complain to the teachers if you need to. Reacting like that to bullies is childish. If they get a reaction from you they won't stop. You should know how this works." Zeke finally looked at him, "I'm not gonna tolerate you fighting anymore. As long as you are in my care you will do as I say."

  Eren heaved and tossed his hands up admitting defeat, or rather giving up before grabbing his back pack, and stomping up the stairs. He never had to deal with this before, not when friends were constantly around him, when family always defended him if someone treated him wrongly.

  Mikasa would have knocked the shit out of them for even laying a finger on him. His mother and father would be asking the teachers to do something about it. But his brother does nothing! Like hell are they ever gonna listen to him, they never do!

  Eren dropped his pack and closed the door, then while gripping his hair he groaned and fell onto his back against the mattress.

  He wasn't so angry about the bullies, and he knew he wasn't just being a hormonal teenager. But he would appreciate it if Zeke would at least acknowledge his problems, or even him for that matter. Eren hadn't ever said this due to deciding not to, but he missed his brother the ten years he had left them alone. Just the age of four he and his brother had been so close, Eren wonders whatever happened to that man, what went wrong? Did he ever do something wrong and that made him leave him?

  When Zeke left them, that was when the first wound appeared on his heart. Then when his mother died, then just three weeks ago his father. Now it was just a scar. Now after all these years, Zeke doesn't even treat him like family anymore.

Eren glanced at his desk, seeing his knife and immediately going for it. He needed to get his mind off of this, away from the stress that school brought him, and the giant weight of depression.

  He pulled up his white sleeve, studying his irritated flesh, pink and raw. Taking his knife he cut the suffering skin, feeling a sigh of relief as he watched it split slowly.

  The sound of his phone ringing made Eren jump, and that accidentally caused him to stab his hand.

  Eren didn't mind the pain, and grabbed his phone, seeing that Armin was calling to face time. Glancing at his bloodied arm he quickly moves to find his towel, and clean up before putting himself in front of a camera.

  "Hey guys." Eren smiles, coming face to face with Armin, Mikasa, and even Jean.

  "Hi Eren! We decided to go ahead and call you, we didn't interrupt anything did we?" Armin asked.

  Eren shook his head and scratched his head with his right hand, the one without cuts.

  "No, you aren't interfering with anything."

  "You okay there Jaeger bomb? You look kinda pale." Jean peeked over at the camera near Mikasa's shoulder.

  Eren shook his head, "I'm fine, just a little exhausted by all that's going on at school."

  "Like what?" Mikasa comes in.

  Oh boy. He really didn't want to talk about it. They were just gonna worry for him, and fuss over how many fights he's gotten into. He didn't want to make them feel that way for him.

  "Nothing really, it's just there are a lot of jerks here, and the math is fucking tough." Eren growled with a roll of his eyes, thinking about the same guy targeting him. That one part wasn't a lie, the math was rough. He swore there were more ways to do a problem than necessary.

  "I hear you there." Jean sighed, leaning back on the couch they were all sitting on, his face going out of the screen.

  "So how about you guys?"

  Armin shrugged, "Nothing more than usual. Although yesterday Connie accidentally slipped in the bathroom and had to go get stitches." Grimacing, Armin smiled sheepishly. "But he's okay."

  "Well at least he is okay." Eren bit his lip, hating to hear such news. Thankfully stitches wasn't as bad as a concussion.

  Armin became silent and fiddled with his hands. "So uh....you know about the camp the school is going to this year?"

  Eren furrowed his eye brows curiously as he replied, "Yes."

  "We all talked about it, and felt it would be a good idea to go. Especially since now is the perfect time to go with the weather."

  Eren felt his heart drop. There was an announcement at his school as well for a trip, but he didn't want to go, nothing but trouble was in it for him. And there wasn't any way he would see his friends there. So what was the point?

  "I see." That's all Eren seemed to be able to say.

  "We just wanted to be sure it was okay with you. None of us will be able to make contact with you since iPhones aren't allowed. We just wanna be sure you'll be okay?" Armin explained softly, all three of them watching his reaction.

  All of them were concerned for him, Eren guessed it was because he told them about how he feels so rejected here. It didn't help that a while ago he talked about how much talking to them made him feel better.

  But Eren didn't want to be the reason for them to not have fun. That felt selfish.

  "I will be alright guys. You go on and have fun. I think I can survive." Eren gave a forced chuckle, trying to lighten the mood, seeing it worked by the way Armin smiled.

  "You sure buddy?" Jean raised and eye brow, him being the only one seeing past the small mask.

  "Yeah, I'll be fine. I will of course miss you but it's just for a month right? Just go on ahead." This time Eren gave a more convincing smile.

  "Okay, I'll let everyone know then." Jean took out his phone and began texting.

  The rest of the conversation Eren couldn't remember. He was feeling somewhat panicked. A month, would he really survive that? He hadn't been so needy to cause self injury when talking to them, with them gone for that long, his anxiety may increase.

  He already felt his fingers itching towards his knife that still glistened with his blood.

  "Eren."

  The young man jumped from being interrupted from his trance with his knife. Armin was looking at him with a soft expression and a kinda smile.

  "I know that your brother is driving you crazy. But you should try giving him a chance." Armin said. Jean's and Mikasa's voices were in the distant background.

  Eren sighed, blowing a strand of his hair away from his face and fingers twisting around another.

  "Don't know if that's even worth it. How can I give him a chance when he doesn't even care if I'm being bullied."

  Armin's eyes widened. "You're being bullied?!"

  Eren cringed. Oops. He quickly put a finger up and shushed Armin, hoping that the others hadn't heard his friends words of surprise.

  "It's nothing I can't handle Armin. Just....don't tell Mikasa. She already worries enough about me. I don't want to be a burden on your guy's trip." Eren explained while showing Armin the slight plea in his eyes.

  "You won't be Eren." Armin leaned forward, his face now laced with concern for his child hood friend. "I won't promise not to tell her, but just be careful Eren. We both know your condition-"

  "I'm fine Armin! I'm passed that now." Eren rolled his eyes, tired of the subject.

  "No you're not. When C-when your mom died, you know that you went into depression. Now with your dad gone..."

  Armin was right, but Eren was stubborn, and talking about this was making his itch to cut increase at the reminder.

  "I'll manage. You forget I had you guys with me and taught me how to get through that. I know how to be strong Armin. I am strong." Eren spoke firmly with a smile.

  Armin returned it. Eren could tell he wasn't convinced, though. But the boy realized that Eren wasn't going to take any reason.

  "Alright, well. Goodnight Eren." Armin's hand moved to find the mouse and get ready to stop the call.

  "Goodnight."

  Armin glanced up from the screen, "We'll call you one more time before leaving tomorrow."

  "Alright."

  Eren felt his heart fully sag as the screen of his phone went blank, and his friend disappeared.