Be My Salvation (Ereri/Riren)

III

Above: basically the sunroom as I see it, although a bit wider and different furniture; that far wall the photo shows would be where the couch is, and behind the photographer would be the piano and fireplace and such. The door into the house is to the right, and the door to the backyard is to the left. I hope that makes sense. ._.

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Lucy quickly became Eren's best friend in the place, the sunroom his favorite part of the house. It was so easy to gravitate back to it and watch sunsets, to see the rain fall against and slide down the glass, to lie on the couch while his hand stroked over the canine's glossy black fur as she laid on the floor next to him, watching the clouds roll lazily by over the month he'd been there.

His bruises, after what had seemed like an eternity, had finally faded completely away. His follow-up check up had gone well two weeks after being discharged from the hospital, but he still remained silent, something no one could figure out. In truth, something had been boiling inside him since waking up that first day in the hospital; he was afraid that if he opened his mouth and tried to speak, he'd end up screaming instead. Whatever it was, it was left over from Them and everything they'd done to him while was there. It hurt, yet he was strangely afraid to let it out.

Because of it, he didn't make easy friends with the others. Marco and Mikasa, he found, were nearly inseparable. Annie kept to herself more times than not. And that was why he stuck with Lucy, who welcomed him easily. He'd often leave his bed in the middle of the night and sneak down to the sunroom to curl up on the couch and sleep. Oftentimes, Lucy - who was free to wander the house as she pleased during the night - would come find him and sniff him awake; he'd curl up next to her on the floor, getting a much better sleep there than upstairs.

"He might've gone mute," he heard Petra saying in a hushed voice one morning. He'd been in the sunroom again and could hear her from the kitchen, talking on the phone as she got breakfast ready. She'd either overlooked him or saw him and presumed he was still asleep. "He's been through so much trauma...it might have mentally scarred him so bad that he can no longer speak." A pause as she listened on the other end. "Yes, I've spoken to doctors about it. They all tell me to take him to a psychologist, but if he can't speak, I don't see how that will help...I know, I'm just worried...No, he hasn't really made friends with the others. He's taken to Lucy, though, which is something." A sigh, and then, "Mhm...He sleeps in the sunroom a lot, but I don't know why...No, the records say his father was killed in a car accident and his mother overdo--"

At that point, he couldn't take listening anymore. He'd bolted up and out the backdoor before he could hear her finish the word.

Petra homeschooled in the dining room four out of seven days of the week. She'd just had him jump in with where everyone else was, and he picked it up easily. Studying, though, had him thinking of Armin, and that pain in his chest grew a little bit every time he thought of his long lost friend. He thought about using his wish to see him, but that would require speaking, and he wasn't sure he even deserved to see any friends anyway.