Ereri - One shots

Just a scratch

Authors Note: In this one Eren gets bullied regularly at school and Levi is the school nurse. Yep, that's it. Enjoy. 

TRIGGER WARNING: Slight mention of suicidal thoughts.

Punch after punch rained down on my battered and bruised body, day after day it was always the same. Go to school, get beat up, visit Levi, go home to an empty house and sleep. To say I was done with it was an understatement. The punches and kicks finally stopped after what felt like an eternity. Begrudgingly I got up to go to Levi, he always tended to my wounds the best he could, he had been doing so for at least a year. He had tried to stop the bullies but as a worker at school there is only so much you can do to students without parents complaining about it and possibly making you lose your job. Levi had told me that I should fight back, if only once, but he doesn't understand, it's not that easy. The bullies had created my school life into my own hell, no matter what I did I couldn't change that. 

I slowly open the all to familiar door, not bothering to knock first, he would know it was me. As soon as the door closes behind me a small man walks out of the linking office, tea mug  in hand, black hair being fixed by the other. His bright silver eyes met my own dull ones, their colour had faded long ago. 

"Goddammit Eren." Putting down the mug on his desk he then walks over to me, his warm hands gliding over my body, pressing here and there looking for the main sources of pain. He gently guides me over to the plush black chair in the corner of the room and orders me to sit and wait while he gets some first aid supplies. "Honestly, this needs to stop Eren." The raven haired man sits down in front of me on his desk chair, he takes care of the swelling in my right eye first before moving down to my chest. 

"I know." I mumble, almost too soft that Levi barely heard it. Tears pricked at my vision as I gingerly pealed my shirt off, Levi had to get a better look at my chest to see the damage. As his stern eyes swept over my discouloured chest, I avert my eyes from him in shame and blink rapidly to make the tears go away, hoping Levi wouldn't notice. My efforts were a waste of time because before I knew it tears slipped down my cheeks, my arms were too tired to reach up and brush them away so I watched them fall. One hit Levi's pale hand, his head immediately snapped up, his stern eyes softening as they met mine. He carefully puts his arms around my fragile body as to not hurt me any further, the tears didn't stop for a long time, Levi just sat there, holding me. No sobs escaped my mouth only muted whimpers, the tears just rolled silently down my cheeks,

"I don't want to do this anymore. " The words left my mouth before I could stop them, Levi instantly stiffened against me, 

"Don't say that." His voice had lost his normal strength, it was now unsure, as if any word spoken badly could break me. In all honesty, it probably could have. 

"Why not? Nobody gives a shit about me anyway, even my own parents gave up on me." My voice cracked halfway, bitterness lacing every word. And in my heart I knew it was true, no one did care.

"I care. Goddammit Eren, I care." Levi moved out of the hug and held me at arms length, his eyes boring into mine. Confusion made my head spin, what? I mean, I knew he always patched me up if I needed it, and he was always there if I needed to talk to someone... Oh. He cares? My chest flared up, for once not due to pain, but due to something else, something indescribable. 

"Oh." I wanted to slap my self ten times over, was that really all I was going to say after that? But then, what if he's lying? What if he's just saying what he thinks I want to hear? Tears spring back into my eyes and I turn away from his gaze, "Don't lie to me. You don't care, why would you?" The words escaped a mere whisper but Levi still heard them. 

"Look at me." He put his finger under my chin, gently turning my head to look at him, "Do I honestly look like I'm lying?" His words were woven with an emotion I could hardly place, was it hurt? Why would my words hurt him? Unless... no. He doesn't care. No one does, no one ever will. To be honest I don't blame them. How could I? Every word, every insult, every hit. I deserved them. 

"Eren, I hardly care about anything, anyone for that matter. But I care for you. Now I don't know why I care for you as much as I do, but I just simply do." His caring words rang through my brain, destroying all the previous doubts with tremendous force. I don't understand, how come I finally believe him, how come I can't turn his words into treacherous lies in my mind.

"I don't deserve someone like you." the words came out more broken than I had wanted, I didn't want to sound ungrateful, I was simply just stating a fact. 

"You're right, you don't deserve someone like me." He paused and my heart plummeted to the ground, my chest hurt and my eyes stung. "You deserve better." My body froze, my mind couldn't register all the emotions were cascading through my mind,

"There is no one better than you." the words left my lips and I didn't regret them, they were true. Never in my pathetic excuse for a life had I met someone with such a big heart. Who cared so much about someone who was barely worth it. 

"Agree to disagree." He stood up and ruffled my hair, he walked over to his desk pulling out a brass key from a drawer, it dangled on a thin chain. He lay it carefully in my palm,

"I want you to keep this okay? When you finish school and meet someone you truly love, you give them this. Promise?" I started to protest but stopped when his gaze met mine, "I have to leave to another school Eren. I need you to keep going okay? I need you to meet that special someone. I need you to live a good life." And with that he guided me out his office and into the school corridor. "Stay strong."

That was the last time I had talked to Levi. He soon moved away from our small town and started work at another school.  I wore the key around my neck wherever I went, it was my anchor, it kept me safe. The bullies eventually stopped and school became more bearable.I had finished school just as Levi had asked, and yet the other promise I had still failed to fulfill. 

-----Time skip (One year after Eren graduates)-----

I knocked softly on the apartment door, excitement and nerves rattling my body, my stomach doing little flip flops as I wait for the door to open. A small minute passed and a short man with steel eyes and raven hair opened the door. His eyes widening just a little at the sight of me, he went to speak but I immediately silenced him,

"Levi, four years ago you made me promise two things. The first was to finish school, I did that, just as you had asked. The second, I had to give this to someone I truly loved." I pulled out the key from my pocket,

 "Thing is, I've already met that person. I refuse to give this to anyone else but to the first person I really loved." I walked closer to him, holding out my hand with the key in it, I take a deep breath,

"I refuse to give this to anyone but you."