Healing Takes Time

Bonus Chapter

Okay, I know that the last chapter got really awkward, but I decided that I'd made my bed, and I had to lie in it. So that all happened. I also had a conversation with somebody about how the people that Eren had confronted before Jean reacted, and I decided that I just had to write a bonus chapter.

Enjoy!

--Shelby

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Bonus Chapter

Eren watched as the three nice-looking teenage girls about Jean's age walked by. Two of them were blonde and the other was a brunette. All three of them were wearing short shorts and colorful tank tops. One of the blondes had her hair up in a messy bun.

"... think I wanna go shopping," Brunette said.

"I know, me too. I should probably get something more exciting for my boyfriend," Bun Head replied.

Other Blonde made a sound halfway between a laugh and a snort. "Who needs a boyfriend when you have a dildo?"

All three of them laughed.

Eren felt his eyebrows pull together. He had never heard that word before.

"Hey, Eren!"

He turned at the sound of his twin's voice.

"What are you looking at?"

He spared one last glance in the girls' direction before running towards the water. The rocks hurt his feet until he got far enough in that there were hardly any at all. "Mikasa, do you know what a dildo is?"

Mikasa's back was to him, and she turned around very slowly. One of her eyebrows were raised. "Huh?"

Eren pointedly looked at her. "I didn't stutter."

Armin splashed over. "What's going on?"

Eren turned on him. "Do you know what a dildo is?"

Armin's eyes grew really wide. "Omigosh."

"What?"

"You shouldn't say that."

"Why not?"

"Seriously, Eren," Mikasa told him with a knowing look. "You don't want anybody to hear you say that. It isn't very good."

"So you do know what it is?"

She raised her chin slightly. "I might."

"Then why won't you just tell me?"

She didn't answer, just stared at him defiantly.

Eren rounded on Armin again.

"Oh, no. Uh uh. No freaking way am I gonna say it. I told my mom that I would never talk about it ever."

Eren groaned but decided to let the subject drop. For now.

* * *

Mom almost spit her mouthful of red wine all over Eren and started coughing even harder than she did at dinner.

"What did you say?" Dad's voice drifted out from the kitchen where he was washing the dishes. "Did you just ask what a dildo was?"

Eren nodded.

Mikasa groaned and dropped onto the couch next to Connie. Eren noticed that he had headphones on and was playing on the tablet he'd gotten a while back. "Not this again," she muttered.

"Again?" Mom sputtered.

God. Eren just couldn't understand why these people wouldn't tell him and get it over with.

"Yeah. He asked earlier today, but I wouldn't tell him."

Dad sighed. "Well, a di--"

He was cut off rather suddenly by his wife putting his hand over his mouth. Eren wondered how she had gotten over there so fast. Dad looked at Mom with a raised eyebrow.

"You will not tell him," she hissed.

He made a muffled sound beneath her hand.

"Because he is too young to know right now."

Another muffled sound.

"I guess you have a point..."

His face seemed to say, Duh. More muffled talking.

"Oh, yeah, I guess you can get back to washing the dishes." She pulled her hand away.

"I agreed to the terms and conditions of marriage, but I don't remember signing up to deal with this shit," he muttered.

"Well?" Eren tried again, getting impatient.

"He could always ask Jean."

The three of them turned to Mikasa.

She shrugged and went back to reading her book. Sometimes Eren thought that she was more like Jean than himself.

When Eren turned back to his parents, they seemed to be having a conversation with their eyes.

"Just go ask Jean," Mom said finally.

Eren threw his hands up the air and turned to climb the stairs. He would much rather have his parents answer this question than his older brother, but if he wanted to know, then he knew he'd have to suck it up. I'm not a quitter, he reminded himself.

* * *

After it was all said and done, he wished that he had let the question drop completely.