Crack of Sunlight (Ereri/Riren)

*~Chapter Ten~*

School continued about a week after the new year began. Eren went to work, the sole fact that he needed to support his family being his only motivating factor. Levi hadn't been there at all, but the teen didn't allow himself to have an opinion about it. He worked, went to school, studied, ate, and slept, forcing his thoughts to focus on only those things while he did.

It wasn't long before his friends began to notice a change in his overall demeanor. He, Armin, Sasha, Christa, and Marco were having lunch together one day when it was brought up.

"Eren, how have you been doing?" asked Christa in her little girl voice, seeming genuinely concerned for him.

"I'm fine," he answered blankly.

"Are you sure about that?" Armin chimed in. "You don't seem like yourself lately."

"I guess so," he mumbled with a shrug before taking a huge bite of his sandwich.

"Lately you've seemed so...distant, though," Sasha piped up. "There's definitely something up."

"Maybe he doesn't wanna talk about it, guys," Marco said. "Don't bug him about it."

Suddenly, a thought occurred to Eren. He was told many times by his past therapist that he should let people who care about him know what's going on in his mind and that it should at least help him feel a little better...getting the crap off of his chest. He figured it couldn't hurt to try.

"No, you guys are right," he said after taking a swig of water. "There is something wrong."

"Do you want to talk about it?" asked Christa.

"I guess. Do you guys remember the guy I told you about from work? Levi?" He had trouble uttering the name, but he forced himself to say it. When they all nodded, he continued. "Turns out he's got a lot of...issues. Issues like my dad had before he died." Only Armin would know what that truly meant, but it was fine. He didn't want to reveal Levi's secret to anyone; even after the whole shitstorm, he wasn't that kind of person. "Remembering what that put my mom through and everything, I decided to stop...seeing him. We weren't together or anything, but we don't talk anymore." Eren kept his eyes on the table in front of him as he spoke.

"But he's your coworker," Sasha pointed out. "Isn't that kind of hard?"

Eren half-shrugged. "Not really. He hasn't been there since I found out."

"So you did have feelings for him," Marco murmured, staring wide-eyed at his brunet friend.

Again, Eren shrugged. "I-I guess so..."

"See, Marco? You and Jean aren't the only gay ones here," teased Christa.

"Shut up, Ms. Lesbian."

The blonde held up a finger. "Pansexual," she corrected. "Not lesbian."

"What about your girlfriend, then?"

Christa giggled. "She's lesbian."

"Point proven."

Armin turned solely to Eren, ignoring yet another bantering about sexuality by his friends, and spoke. "Eren, I think you made the right choice about what to do with Levi. But...remember what I said?"

"It doesn't matter," Eren said in a hard tone. "You were wrong."

With that, he hurriedly collected his things, threw the remaining contents of his tray in the garbage can, and rushed upstairs to his next class.

Armin was wrong, and so was his old therapist. He didn't feel better in the slightest after letting his problem off of his chest. In fact, he felt worse; the weight of the situation seemed to be sitting on him, crushing his chest, poking at his lungs and on its way to his vulnerable heart.