Nothing But A Freak (An Ereri FanFic)

Chapter 28

Okay, since the last chapter was so short, read on!

Eren looked up at the ceiling, nothing on his mind but at the same time, he thought about everything. Everything he had gone through and come to. It wasn't as if he totally regretted his choice to go to that house in the woods, he finally saw Grisha for who he really was, but he had hurt his friends because of it.

It wasn't something he ever wanted to do and he couldn't help but feel the guilt pushing down on his chest, seeming to make it hard to breathe. He took a deep breath, rolling over and hanging his hand off the side of the bed. It was dark out already, about four in the morning. He couldn't sleep without nightmares, so he ended up staying up most of his nights.

"Eren? Are you still awake?" He heard a whisper through the darkness. Eren looked away from the wall and to his door. In the doorway, stood Armin. He was dressed in light blue pajamas, the bangs of his hair clipped up on top of his head and pulled away from his eyes. He rubbed his arm, taking another step into the room. Eren closed his bad eye, not finding a difference in his sight as Armin walked over to his bed, seeming hesitant.

"Are you okay?" Armin asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed and reaching out to gently touch Eren's arm. Eren looked up at Armin, meeting his baby blue eyes.

"Yes, I'm fine." Eren lied, his left hand coming up and touching his chin. Armin paused before sighing, pushing Eren over and laying down beside him. He took Eren's left hand away from his chin and linked their fingers together.

"You know, you're a horrible liar. Your left hand always goes up to your chin. You don't have to lie to me Eren, I won't tell anyone." Armin said, giving Eren's hand a squeeze. At the action and those choice words, Eren felt his eyes begin to water. Why was he crying? There was no reason to. Tears blurring his vision, he swallowed around the growing lump in his throat, struggling to hold the tears back. "I hear you cry at nights. It's scary, ya know? To know that you're not telling me these things. To know that you think you have to be strong for us." Armin carried on, leaning over so the side of his head bumped Eren's lightly.

"It's okay to cry, Eren." Armin whispered. With those simple words, the tears began falling. A sob escaped his throat, his free hand coming up to push the back of his wrist against his lips as if to silence the sounds. He felt Armin nod and roll over, draping his arms over Eren and hugging him, careful of the cast encasing his wing. Eren curled into Armin, crying for what? He didn't know, but it felt good. It felt so utterly good to let go and just cry. Armin held him close, rubbing his back and just letting him cry into his chest. After a while, Eren's sobs softened into shaky breaths and quiet whimpers.

"Get some rest, okay?" Armin asked, rubbing Eren's hair softly. Eren nodded, feeling his eyes start to droop shut. Armin stood up and left the room quietly, leaving Eren with his head on a wet pillow. He grabbed the pillow, removing it from under his head and clutching it to his chest instead. He closed his eyes and let himself slip into a restless sleep.

"Run, Eren! Run!!" Grisha laughed maniacally as Eren sprinted down the hall. He dared not to look behind him as he ran, his wounded legs pumping and his bloody feet smacking against the ground. It didn't even hurt anymore, he was numb. From behind him, he heard a menacing snarl, the sound of claws scraping the floor as the beast chased him.

Eren pushed himself to run faster as he came to a corner. He turned sharply, instantly running into something hard. He fell back with a grunt of pain, landing flat on his butt. He looked up, seeing a large wall standing in front of him.

"No... No..." Eren whispered, horrified. The sound of a deep growl startled him to scramble up and push himself flush against the wall. A large, clawed paw stepped around the corner, a wiry haired body following behind. It was tall, probably eight feet in all. It's claws were about five inches, curving up into a menacing arch and tipped sharply. The dark brown, wiry hair coated it's large, bear like body and it's teeth dripped with saliva and what seemed to be foam. It's teeth looked as large, probably bigger, than it's claws and it had sharp eyes. It snarled, stepping closer to Eren. A choked sob escaped his throat as the beast walked closer. With it's muzzle mere inches from touching Eren's face, it let out a powerful roar, it's teeth scraping the tip of Eren's nose. The beast stepped back and seemed to unhinge its jaw. The jaw opened wide, three more rows of sharp, gleaming, bloody fangs emerging from it's gums with the gut churning sound of the teeth tearing through the gums.

Eren whimpered from fear, his knees buckling as he fell to the ground in a lump of tears and blood. The beast stepped forward, it's mouth going around Eren's head. It's foul breath that smelled of rotting sewage left out in the sun for weeks straight choked Eren as the monster began closing it's mouth. Eren felt its teeth begin to puncture his skin and he let out a horrified scream.

Eren shot up, his forehead smashing into something. His eyes slammed shut as he thought it was the beast, his legs scrambling to push him up against a wall that wasn't there. He spilt onto the floor, hearing curses tumbling from someone's mouth. Eren slowly peeked open his eyes, seeing Jean leaning against a wall with a hand pressed to his forehead.

"What happened?" Erwin stepped into the room followed by all of Eren's other friends. Eren looked at them with tear stained cheeks, his hands still shaking from the memory.

"Eren, are you okay?" Levi rushed in, kneeling down in front of Eren and cupping his cheeks. Marco rushed in and over to Jean, examining his forehead as Levi wiped the tears from Eren's cheeks. Eren shook his head roughly, latching his arms around Levi's ribs and clutching him like he was Eren's only life line.

"Shh, it's okay. You're okay. It's over now." Levi whispered, wrapping his arms around Eren and stroking his head in a soothing motion. "Do you want to tell us what happened?"

Cliff hanger! How was it? Got a bit of scare in there (Whoa! That rhymed!) and some brotherly love. Eren really needed that after what I put him through (I'm sorry Eren!) but anyways, much Ereri love to you all and I love you guys!