We have each other

Part 4

Eren stood staring blankly up at Grisha while he glared back at Eren. "Dina decided to stay for dinner. Go upstairs and get changed, we'll have a talk about this afternoon later." Eren looked at him for a few moments before turning on his heel and heading up to his room with no intention of coming back down.

He dropped his bag by the door and flopped down on his bed. It had been one of the best afternoons Eren had had since his mother's accident, he felt like he might actually have a real friend. He genuinely liked being around Armin, it didn't feel forced like it often had with people in the past. When he saw Armin's expression at the beach and the way his eyes lit up when they found the creatures in the rock pools, he felt like he was looking at something incredibly special.  The way Armin talked about things that Eren would usually think were entirely ordinary and dull made them seem amazing and beautiful. Eren smiled to himself, he couldn't wait to see him again in the morning.

About twenty minutes passed before a loud knock at his bedroom door startled Eren from his thoughts. "Eren," His father sounded incredibly frustrated as he entered. "Dinner's been ready for fifteen minutes, we've all been waiting for you." Eren looked over at him from his bed, "You can start without me." Grisha pinched the bridge of his nose "Zeke would like to see you." Eren gave him a look "Why?" Grisha glared at his son. "You have two minutes and you'd better be downstairs." He stated, "Or else you're grounded and I will be picking you up and dropping you to school." Eren huffed but got up and followed Grisha downstairs. 

Dina and Zeke were already seated at the dining room table. Dina smiled at Eren when he walked and greeted him warmly while Zeke just gave him a nod. Eren stared down at his plate, he didn't really want to see either of them. He remembered a lot of his parent's fights had been about Dina, his mother didn't like the amount his father would talk about her. Dina had never been unkind to Eren and had known her boundaries with Carla but Eren still didn't feel right around her. 

Eren had met Zeke a few times over the years, he used to come stay with them during summer but had stopped a few years back. Eren didn't really feel much about his brother, they were never particularly close. They didn't do much together when he came to stay, apart from compulsory family activities like board games so when he stopped coming, Eren didn't really care. 

Despite Eren never really caring too much about either of these people's preasance, tonight felt like an invasion. He didn't miss the looks Grisha and Dina shared as they ate or the slightly flirty way they chatted to each other. He couldn't believe his father would do this, His mother had barely been gone a year and here he was flirting!  It made his blood boil.

He opened his mouth to say something about it when Zeke spoke up. "So Eren, I was wondering if you were free after school sometime this week?" Eren looked at him for a moment. Zeke had no real expression on his face and just continued to eat as he waited for Eren to respond. "I don't know." Eren said stabbing at his food. He honestly didn't want to hang around his brother, not for any real reason other than he thought it would be boring. "I'm coming into town on Friday, I was wondering if you would like to go do something?" 

Grisha responded before Eren got the chance "What a wonderful idea, Eren could use some brotherly bonding." Zeke eyed Grisha for a moment before looking back to Eren. "Only if you want to." He said going back to his food. Eren knew he would have to, he was already in trouble with Grisha and saying no to this would really be pushing it. "Yeah, ok." He mumbled.

Dina and Zeke left shortly after dinner, as soon as their car had pulled away Grisha turned to Eren. "You are going on Friday." He stated sternly. Eren nodded, looking at the ground "Yeah, I know."

The next morning Eren once again had no trouble getting himself out of bed. He got dressed quickly and was sitting on the front doorstep waiting for the bus twenty minutes before it was due. It was cold out but he didn't really care, he just didn't want to see his father that morning. 

Eren looked around from where he sat and realized he hadn't really seen much of his neighborhood since they moved there. Shinganshia was a hilly town but his street ran from base to top of a particularly steep hill. The houses along it weren't too big but it was still slightly cramped, Eren decided he definitely liked the space and privacy of Armin's house better. He watched as people began to tiredly shuffle from their homes to their cars and the street slowly come to life until the bus finally arrived. 

He sat close to the front staring out the window, watching the town fly past. Eventually, the bus stopped at the end of Armin's long driveway and Eren watched as the small blonde jumped down from the porch and wave to his grandfather before running to the bus. 

"Hi," Armin smiled at Eren as he took the seat next to him "Hey," Eren smiled back "How was your night?" Armin shrugged as he tucked away his bag, "We had dinner and went to bed. How about you?" Eren faulted for a second "My brother came for dinner." he said, looking down at his feet. "That's cool," Armin said, "Is he nice?" Eren shrugged "Yeah but he can be boring." Armin nodded in understanding and the conversation died down till they arrived at school.

Eren was waiting while Armin swapped some things from his locker when he got an idea. Eren really didn't feel like being at school today, he was still in a bit of a bad mood about dinner the night before and school was only going to make it worse so why even turn up?

"Hey Armin," Eren said turning to face him "Yeah?" Armin said, shutting his locker and zipping up his bag. "Lets ditch today," Eren said it casually but he was honestly very excited about the idea of ditching and spending the day with Armin instead. Armin however, looked at him like he'd suggested murder. "We can't just ditch! We'll get in so much trouble!" Eren shrugged "We just have to be careful so we don't get caught." he smiled while Armin shook his head "I don't want to risk it." Eren frowned "Please, I don't want to be here and we wouldn't have to deal with those asshole's harassing us." 

Armin pursed his lips for a second before sighing. "Ok. fine."