make me fade || e.jaeger

9. how we came to be

What happens when one person falls but the other does not?

They either get over it and remain friends or cut off all communication to overcome their feelings. But there's one last possibility. An obsession occurs. That person would be willing to go to any extent to have their feelings returned.

Since early childhood, Eren and Mikasa had been close friends. Just friends. That's how Eren had always seen it at least. Mikasa chose to look at their relationship differently at some point. With her parents always working, she didn't receive the love and attention she needed. Her first friend, Eren, is where she received what she always sought for.

The first year of middle school is where they met for the first time. Eren noticed the quiet girl that always sat alone during lunch and decided to join her. The light she had lost in her eyes due to her parents lack of attention was immediately returned. He had no idea how she felt because his mother always treated him like he was the most special specimen on earth but he hated to see people suffer alone.

This mentality is also how Armin got introduced to the newly found duo. He was a victim of the middle school bullies. When Mikasa noticed the smaller boy getting pummeled into the ground, she pointed it out to Eren. A suggestion to help couldn't even leave her mouth before Eren was already running at the bullies. After getting rescued, Armin was taken under the wing of Eren's friendship just like Mikasa.

The trio hung out almost everyday at Eren's house. His mother, Carla always enjoyed their company and enjoyed the fact that she could show off her wonderful cooking skills by making them dinner everyday.

The three friends were inseparable. That was until their first year of college when Eren's mother became sick. The illness came out of nowhere and struck their small family like a freight train. Eren was inconsolable. Mikasa and Armin tried to comfort him in the time of need. They wanted to be there for him like he was there for them in the past. Though their attempts did not work, the only person Eren would listen to was his older brother Zeke.

The two brothers were not fully bonded by blood, they only shared the same father. Despite this, Eren found an understanding through Zeke because he had lost his mother, while their father was nowhere to be found.

Zeke was unfortunately the individual that introduced his younger brother to the world of drug use. He informed him that drugs helped him get through his mother's passing. Which was true but there was another reason behind this recommendation that he could never mention to his brother. Zeke was married, had a demanding job, and a family of his own therefore at this point he didn't have the time to comfort Eren whenever he needed. It was cruel but he was never the best at these types of things so he could only help Eren with suggestions from his own experiences.

Eren of course was hesitant at first but ended up being convinced because even though he was not around that much, Zeke was the only man in his life that he could look up to. He started out with simply smoking marijuana from time to time but when that was unable to help anymore he progressively went for harsher stimulants.

As Carla's sickness got worse, so did his dependence on drugs. When he wasn't in class, he spent all his time getting high on whatever he could get his hands on. Though with his dad not in the picture and his mom sick, he soon realized he had to step up and make all the money, to pay for his school, medical bills, and other necessities.

With this newfound drive to take care of his mother, Eren didn't care so much about doing the drugs himself anymore. His new goal wasn't to get himself through the situation by getting faded, he needed to get money by any means necessary.

When people addicted to something say they can stop anytime they want, they're usually lying. This wasn't the case for Eren though. He was strong willed and could actually stop when something more important became of interest.