Scars

Scars Pt. 1

Eren's father woke him up about 5:00 in the morning for school.

"Dad, school doesn't start for another 2 hours."

"I don't care, Eren!! And what did I tell you to call me? Get dressed and get in the car!"

Eren sighed heavily as he stared at a picture of his mom as his dad left the room. He took the picture and held it close and tight.

"Why? What happened to you?"

His dad rushed in again.

"DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU AGAIN!?"

Eren rushed up. "No, sir!" He rushed to get dressed. He got in the car and he got to school. For some reason, there were two other people there. Jean, his bully. And Levi, the most popular guy in school.

Of course, Jean started with his casual poking fun of Eren. Eren ignored it this time, though. But then, at one point, Jean mentioned self-harm.

"Aww, what? Do you hide your arms to cover your self-harm scars? How adorable." Jean walked away, and Eren formed tears but did his best to hold them back.

Levi walked up to him. "Eren, right?"

He nodded.

"Pretty sure you already know me, but Levi." Levi noticed his voice break.

"Is there something you need?"

"Look, Jean is just trying to get into your head."

Before he could finish, Eren spoke. "Well, it's working... Pretty well, too."

Levi sighed. Eren spoke again.

"He knows how to hit the core of your body. He mentioned my self-harm." Eren sat on the ground, and Levi sat with him.

Levi pulled him into a soft, warm embrace. "You can cry if you want. It's not weak, and it's not stupid. It's an emotion. People shouldn't shame you for it."

Eren leaned into his embrace and slowly calmed down. His breathing steadying.

"That's it. Just breathe. I've got you." Eren felt safe in this embrace.

The rest of the time, Eren stayed next to Levi, and Jean kept his distance. He's had a fight with Levi before and didn't dare to touch him again after he lost.

"You work? I swear I've seen you at that corner restaurant."

"Actually, yes. I do work there. The job is just to stay away from my father. I needed to find a way to at least have some time away from him."

Levi had a concerned look on his face. "I'm sorry for that."

Eren shrugged it off as if it was nothing. "It's alright. It's been like this for years. He drops me off early because he doesn't wanna see my face. Why are you here so early?"

"I'm sorry, Eren. I'm here early because my mom has work, and she doesn't trust me home alone."

"I can kinda understand that."

Levi showed a small smile on his face. Eren made him happy. He didn't know why. He just did.

Eren leaned his head on Levi's shoulder. "Is this alright?"

Levi had a small blush. "Yes. It's fine. What time did you wake up? You look super tired."

"My dad woke me up about 5:00."

"Damn."

"I just wanna sleep, but I can't. My dad says if I fall asleep at school at all, he'll shoot me. Based on what he's already done to me, I don't doubt it."

Levi's face was pure shock. He was shocked with no words.

Time skip

School had started, and Eren had his first class with Jean.

"Great. At least my next class is with Levi."

Jean started picking on him the second they both walked into class.

"Where's your boyfriend? Did he die, and now you're all depressed?" Him and his friends laughed.

Soon enough for Eren, class ended, and he was so grateful he had Levi. But he had Jean in that class as well. But he couldn't do anything because he didn't sit anywhere near Eren. However, Levi sits next to Eren.

"You alright? You look you're about to cry."

"I'm fine. Leave me be, please."

Levi could tell he wasn't alright. Although, he didn't bother pressuring Eren into saying anything. He knew from experience what it was like to be pressured into saying something he was uncomfortable with saying.