ASSIMILATE

different person

"Why is he here?" Armin almost immediately stared at Eren as Eren was standing at the doorframe.

"He's helping me study...I know I said I wouldn't-"

"Whatever. That's all. Right, Connie? So I'm heading back," Armin shouted at Connie who was suddenly searching through your fridge.

Connie turned his head at the sight of Armin leaving and Eren moving out the way for him and just glanced at you with a blank expression. Eren never really seemed to be bothered by Armin which led you to believe Eren was definitely the one who did something to Armin.

Connie soon followed after Armin and left the room with packets of instant ramen in his arms.

"Is that my food?!"

"Thanks!" He quickly shuffled off and Mikasa took off in her room so she could start unpacking.

You sighed as you realized he was always taking food from your fridge and Eren sat next to you on your couch, placing his book bag on the floor next to him as well.

As he opened his book bag he pulled out a textbook and something fell out, you glanced at it and saw a small compact monitor fall out. It looked like the ones in doctor's tv shows, like a heart monitor or maybe a different kind but he threw it back in the bag so fast you couldn't even see it.

He didn't address it but instead opened the textbook up on the coffee table in front of you both.

"Read this format and memorize it. Let me know when you're done," he instructed sternly.

You nodded and leaned over so you could start to memorize the two pages full of steps and instructions on English literature formats for future papers.

He sat in silence, didn't open his phone or turn on the tv but instead just stared at the wall as he waited for you to finish which only made you more nervous.

Why was he so silent? Was he judging you? Maybe you had something on the back of your shirt and he was secretly laughing at it in his head. Maybe he was trying to find something on your arms that he didn't like and make fun of it with Jean. It could be anything but why was he so silent?

This everlasting physical pain of being paranoid paired with overthinking. Your mind was like the ticking of the clock, not a clock itself but just the ticking. The noise of the clock was the same as waiting for an episode of a show to come out, the anxiety from knowing what would happen in a new episode.

Except it wasn't the good kind of anxiety that you get from the rollercoaster, it was the one that caused you to pick at the skin on your face. The anxiety that made you think everybody was pointing out your biggest insecurities when in reality, nobody gives a fuck about what you look like.

Nobody cares what you're wearing or what you ate. The truth was, nobody gives a fuck about you. And somehow, knowing that nobody cared...was comforting. It put your mind at ease because you'd be surprised to know that the people who do care about you, judge you the most.

"Hey, do you have anything sugary? Like candy or pop tarts?" Eren's voice stammered a bit as he tapped your shoulder.

"Huh-? Oh...I think there's a Twinkie that's a couple of months old if you want that-"

"Thanks. I'll pay you," he reached into his pocket and pulled out three dollars.

You thought he was joking at first because he was paying for a box of Twinkies when he was only getting a three-month-old one. He placed the cash in your hand and stood up.

You didn't not take the money, you put it into your pocket and watched as he grabbed the Twinkie off the counter and unwrapped it. You focused back on your work but you couldn't help but think about how gross Twinkies were.