The Exchange Student

Chapter 8

The afternoon dragged on, the only action involving writing out revision slips, dropping onto the bed, dropping onto the couch, or dropping onto the bathroom floor to shed a few hidden tears. Just as he was mentally dropping into a nest of knives.
Levi had left to study in the living room after attempting to get Eren to talk, ending up just about as successful as he would have been if he had tried talking to a statue.
Eren didn't even give a second thought to Levi's possible feelings, which made him act just like his roommate had for the first few days of his stay, the same reason Eren had yelled at him for.

He was changing - but not in a good way. He who usually cared for everybody, had started becoming careless. His attachment and loyalty to Mikasa and Armin had been pushed away, buried under a mound of worries. Even his shy but joyful personality had been blocked out, replaced by a thorny shell instead.

Sighing, he threw his pen into his black pencil case, getting up once again to lie restlessly on his bed. He looked up to his alarm clock, indicating 5:19 PM. Three options were possible :

Firstly, he could get up and get back to studying, if he could pay attention to what he was supposed to be learning off.

Secondly, he could go and walk around town, or head to the park again.

Or thirdly, he could walk his careless ass downstairs and apologize to Levi - an option he immediately shoved out of his mind. He wasn't capable of facing Levi after what he had done and said - or not said, if truth be told - to him.

Rejecting each possibility, he decided to go and see Historia. Speaking to someone else was the last thing he wanted to do, but she had a calming, ever content and happy aura he told himself he needed to be near. His two best friends should have left by then if they were at her house.

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Eren wandered down the streets, watching a group of kids running past him, chasing each other, giggles overflowing from their mouths curved into smiles, their cheeks shining a rosy glow. How innocent they were. Happy. Excited. Playful.
The streets were alive in the autumnal weather, passersby enjoying the last bit of warmth for that evening. The sun played hide and seek behind the clouds, a light breeze ruffling the brunette's hair. Shadows danced across his face as he stepped in and out from under the trees bordering the sidewalk.
He passed by a boy of his age, surrounded by a blonde girl, and a young man, his hair dyed blue, with defined cheekbones - he looked like a Rick - no, a Jake. The teenager in the middle was talking to the female beside him, while his left hand was stroking the other male's fingers, a smile playing on both if their faces.
They look so happy and carefree.
Eren found himself squashing a mix of unexpected envy and longing as he watched them go by.
He had never really dated anyone, just one girl last year, and another the year before, but neither relationship had lasted very long, and had never been any further than kisses. To be honest, he wasn't looking for somebody to date at the moment, and he hadn't been attracted to anyone for a while now.

Shoving his hands into his single sweater pocket, he moved downtown, towards a majority of sky blue houses. It had always seemed funny to him, the way someone built and painted a house in blue, and then someone else found it to be pretty, and followed suit. And the gears were set in motion, resulting in a painted sky on earth.

He knocked on the white door, waiting until he spotted movement behind the blurred diamond shaped window pane a short moment later.
The door opened to reveal a smiling blonde girl.

"Eren ! It's great to see you !"

"It's good to see you too Historia," greeted Eren, following her inside as she waved him in. She led him into the living room, the silence in the house indicating no one was home.
Eren sat down on a dark brown sofa, settling back into the cushions behind him.