We have each other

Part 2

After being checked over by the school nurse, the boys walked to their next class together. Armin felt slightly nervous with Eren walking right beside him. Ever since he was young the other kids would pick on him and anyone who tried to show him any kindness or include him got the same treatment so most stayed away from Armin. Eren had saved him from those boys, he was new and couldn't possibly know what the repercussions of his actions would be. Guilt settled in Armin's stomach as thought of the possibilities. Eren may have just condemned himself to a school life of bullying. That or he would wisen up and either join the other boys in pushing him around or avoiding him like the plague. One of the two latter was more likely but he would still be bullied for at least a few weeks.

"You sure you're ok? You look a little pale." Eren said nonchalantly looking over at him. Armin nodded, keeping his eyes downcast as he wondered if next time Eren would be one of the ones shoving him around.

When they entered the classroom, every set of eyes turned toward them. "Hello! You must be Eren!" Came the teachers cheerful greeting as she stood up to introduce herself. Armin took his seat at the back of the class while the teacher shook Eren's hand and told him to pick a seat. To Armin's surprise and dismay, Eren walked right up and took the desk right beside him.

Armin didn't miss the way some of the other kids would send sideways glances toward Eren throughout the lesion before whispering amongst themselves. Eren, however, seemed unaffected. Either that or he didn't notice, Armin thought to himself. 

The class seemed to drone on forever, Armin's anxieties about Eren were making it hard to concentrate. When the bell finally rang for lunch, Armin jumped up and practically ran from the class. He didn't usually run away like this but he didn't want to talk to Eren, just in case it made things worse. 

Eren watched him go with a frown, he had hoped to talk with him again. He packed up his things and wandered off through the halls, deciding to try and find Armin so they could talk. It's not like he had anything better to do. He walked aimlessly for a while, still not knowing his way around. Most of the other kids were outside playing so he found most of the corridors were pretty deserted. Eventually, he found Armin sitting alone in a classroom. 

"Why do you keep running off?" He asked bluntly as he entered the room. Armin jumped a little looking over at him quickly before back at the floor. "Is it because of those guys from earlier?" Eren asked walking over and taking a seat next to him on the floor. "Kind of." Armin said with a shrug, avoiding his eyes "Why did you follow me?" 

Eren shrugged and pulled his lunch from his bag. Armin frowned, "You probably shouldn't hang around me." he said as Eren pulled out a sandwich and began eating, obviously planning on spending lunch with Armin. Eren turned to look at him "Why not?" He asked through a mouthful. "The other kids will pick on you, they always pick on people who are nice to me." Armin said finally looking over at him.

Eren shrugged again "I don't care." he said going back to his sandwich. Armin raised an eyebrow "You won't be able to make any friends, everyone will avoid you." Eren nodded "They usually do." Armin sat back and thought about what Eren had said for a few moments before pulling out his own lunch. What exactly did he mean by that?

The pair ate in silence until eventually, Eren finished and packed his bag back up. Armin thought he might have thought better of what he had said earlier and was leaving. Instead, he shuffled to face Armin. "So what the deal with the blanket?" Armin suddenly felt anxiety grip his stomach, that was the exact question that had started the bullying.

He shrugged and pulled the blanket around himself tighter, eyes shooting back to the floor. Eren saw how uncomfortable the question had made him and quickly tried to backtrack, "You don't have to tell me, there's stuff I don't like talking about either." Armin relaxed a little and nodded "It's not something I like talking about." Eren decided to be careful about what he asked next. He had a lot of thing's he didn't want to be asked about, mainly about his mother, and this boy was obviously similar. 

"Do you like seashells?" Armin raised an eyebrow at him. "When those boys tipped out your bag, there was a bunch on seashells in there," Eren said looking him over for any signs of discomfort. Armin nodded "I do, I collect them." he said with a small smile. "You must go to the beach a lot then?" Armin nodded again, this time with a little more enthusiasm "I love the beach, I go all the time! It's my favorite place to be." Eren was glad something to talk about, even if he didn't really care about it himself. His experience with beaches was mostly just driving past them on trips. "I haven't been to the beach here yet." He watched as Armin's eyes went wide, "Really? Oh my gosh, you have to! It's amazing!" He said becoming more animated as he spoke. Eren nodded "Would you go with me?" He asked.

Armin looked at him for a moment before nodding. He wasn't used to people actually wanting to be around him, it was strange."If you want you could come to my house tomorrow, then we could walk down." Eren smiled at him  "Sounds good," He was glad he wouldn't have to go home to Grisha after school and after the way Armin talked about it, Eren was interested to see what he was so excited about.

Not long after, the bell rang and the pair walked to class together. Both found it was nice having someone to walk with.