We have each other

Part 1

Eren sat on his bed, glaring at his backpack. He hadn't wanted to move here. This town was a small town like any other, small and boring.  It wasn't the fact he had lived in his old town his entire life, it was gray and boring there too, but leaving meant leaving all he had left of his mother. 

His father had tried to convince him it would be a fresh start, in a place where he might actually be able to make friends and have a clean record. But Eren didn't care about his record and other kids never seemed to like him. He didn't want a fresh start, he wanted his mother back.

It didn't seem to matter however because two weeks after, his father had told him they were moving. Next thing he knew he was sitting in the passenger seat of his father's car with all his worldly possessions in a trailer attached to the back, driving away from his home.  

Eren hadn't left the house since they arrived three days earlier. His father tried to get him out so he could get to know the place a little but Eren flat refused. He refused to do anything his father asked him to, too angry at him for forcing him to move like this. 

"Eren!" He heard him call from downstairs. "Are you ready to go?" Eren ignored him and continued to glare at his backpack. A few minutes passed before he heard a knock at his door, "Eren, come on. You're going to miss the bus, which will mean I'll have to drop you which will make me late." Grisha said opening the door and crossing his arms. Eren shifted his glare from his backpack to his father and said nothing. Grisha glared back, neither of them willing to back down. After a few moments, Grisha pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Look, I know you're not happy to be here but could you just do this for me? She'd want you to make an effort with school." Eren's shoulders relaxed a little. He stood up and grabbed his backpack before wordlessly pushing past Grisha.

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Armin sat on faded white and blue porch steps, blanket wrapped around his shoulders, arranging the seashells he'd found the day before. He placed them in small patterns across the step beside him as he waited for the bus to arrive. 

"You're taking the blanket with you again?" came his grandfather's voice from behind him. He turned to look up at him before averting his eyes again and shrugging. He went back to arranging the shells, hoping his grandfather wouldn't say anything more on the subject. He really didn't want to hear it all again. Luckily, Grandpa Arlert just sighed and took a seat on the step above him and looked at the patterns with a  tired smile. "Looks nice," he said ruffling his grandson's hair. Armin smiled up at him and nodded.

The bus honked from up at the road. Armin jumped up, scooping the shells into his backpack and running off toward it, stopping briefly as he got on to give his grandfather a wave before going to take his seat. The bus wasn't very full but Armin knew better than to sit with any of the kids on board. He took a seat near the front, the only person close by was a boy he didn't recognize. He figured he was new and probably wouldn't give him any trouble just yet. 

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Eren stared at the kid who had just gotten on, he thought it looked like a boy but wasn't sure. He looked kind of odd, he was thin, with nearly shoulder-length blonde hair and was wearing a blanket around his shoulders. 

They made a few more stops along the way. Eren didn't miss the way the boy would tense when certain kids climbed on board or the looks they'd give him as they passed. He didn't quite know what was going on but it didn't sit well with him.

When they arrived, the boy got off the bus first and walked straight inside while everyone else took their time grabbing their bags and chatting. Eren was intrigued by the kid, he seemed really strange. He wanted to know why he was wearing that blanket and why the other kids acted like that towards him.

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Armin watched as the teacher called the boy from the bus up to the front and introduced him as Eren. Armin didn't think much of it, he was just another kid who would either end up avoiding him or beating him up. He doodled along the side of his notebook and listened as the teacher began to talk about the book they were all supposed to be reading this week.

After class Armin made his way towards his locker, keeping his eyes down and trying to move fast. Unforchunantly, when he reached his locker he found a familiar trio of boys waiting for him. "Hey Armin," one said as if he was greeting a friend as he slandered over and stood looking down at him. Armin kept his eyes trained on the ground, "See ya wearn' that ratty old blanket again." he said "You really haven't got the message have ya?" he said suddenly shoving Armin back against the wall, he hit the wall and fell to the ground with a loud "Oof" The boy stood over him "We don't like weirdos in our school." the two other boys moved to stand either side of him "But you keep wearing that and doing weird shit." 

Armin sat silently glaring up at them, clutching his bag to his chest and holding his blanket tight around himself. "Wonder what kinda weird shit you got in here," one of the boys said snatching his bag from him. Armin jumped up and tried to grab it back, but one of the other boys shoved him against the lockers again. The first boy emptied the contents onto the floor and laughed, " Look at this shit."  he said picking up one of the shells from that morning. Armin tried to grab it from him but ended up being shoved down again, this time getting a rough kick to the guts as well. The boy dropped it on the ground and stomped it as the other two laughed before doing the same to the rest. Tears welled up in Armin's eyes as he watched them destroy the shells but he forced them away, he wouldn't give them the satisfaction.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing?" The boys stopped and Armin looked up to see what was going on. It was the new kid, Armin took a second to remember his name. "None of your business." One of the boys sneered at him. Eren glaring at them, not saying a word. "What, you looking for a fight?" the boy laughed. "The new kid thinks he's tough," he said before taking a step forward and going to shove at Eren. He dodged him easily, making him stumble. He growled and tried to swing at him but Eren was too quick, moving in and landing a hit on the kid stomach, knocking him back. The other two boys looked shocked for a moment before they both ran at Eren. He got a few good hits in but the pair managed to overpower him. The stockier of the two held him while the other two began to punch at his gut.

"Oi Brats!" a voice rang out, Eren was released instantly as the boys scrambled back "What do you think you're doing?" a short man with dark hair and an undercut strode toward them. "Uh we-uh We were, um" one of the boys studdered as they backed away. "Beating up the new kid?" The man finished for him, voice monotone. "You three, get to my office now." All three boys hung their heads and quickly ran off. "You two alright?" He asked looking between Eren and Armin. Eren shrugged as he stood up, holding his stomach. The man wrote a quick note and handed it to Eren. "Go see the nurse, Arlert here knows the way. Have her check you over then head back to class." He said before walking off in the same direction as the boys had gone.

The pair sat side by side waiting outside the nurse's office. "Why'd they do that?" Eren asked, Armin only shrugged. "You didn't put up much of a fight, why didn't you run away or something?" Armin looked over at him "They think I'm weird, that's why they beat me up. When they don't understand something, they attack it. If I ran away it would give them the satisfaction of knowing they scared me. I refuse to give them that kind of power over my life" Eren frowned, this boy was defiantly strange but in an interesting way. He wanted to know more about this boy. "I'm Eren." He said holding out his hand. Armin stared at Eren's hand for a few moments before taking it "My names Armin."