Pathway [Eremin AU]

Chapter Six//Armin

"So you g-graduate i-in about th-three months?" Eren asks as him and I sit at a table with Mikasa at a small Starbucks.
  "Yeah. It's more like two months and a week, but we round it up. I can't wait till this summer because then I get to be with you guys till I get to collage," I say.
  "What collage are you going to?" Mikasa asks.
  "Either Yale or Lipscomb. I may look for an online collage to I can stay here," I say, "Speaking of collage where do you go Eren?"
  "U-university o-of Utah. I-I do a-an o-online program so I-I don't h-have t-to travel u-unless i-it's f-for ph-physical practice for d-dance, and I-I t-take all o-of my business c-classes online," Eren says.
  "Wow," I say and nod slightly, "What about you Mikasa?"
"I don't go to school. I just help my mom with her work," She says. I take a sip of my flat white mocha and lean back in my seat.
"I-I'll be r-right b-back," Eren says as he gets up and pulls out his phone that is silently buzzing. I nod and he walks outside.
Eren walks back in after a few minutes, but he has a tired look on his face.
"W-we've g-got to get g-going," He says.
  "Is everything all right?" I ask.
  "Yeah, j-just a-a bit of t-trouble at h-home a-again," He says. Mikasa has a scared look on her face and slowly stands up, "I'll go ahead." She walks out the door quickly and Eren sighs.
  "Hey, if you want, head over to my house after you're done. I can help you with your stuttering problem," I say.
  "Okay, th-thanks," He says. I nod and we walk to the door. We spilt our ways and I make my way back towards my house.

"Mom," I yell, "I'm home."
  "Welcome back coconut," She says, her voice echoing from the kitchen.
  "I can't believe you and dad got home a day early," I sigh as I walk into the kitchen.
  "Yeah, it just didn't go as long as planned," She says, "But your dad is at his office still. He might not even get dinner if he doesn't head home soon."
  "You're real nice," I chuckle.
  "I know, right?" She smiles. I sit on a stool by the tall kitchen table and pull out my phone.
  "Who are 'ya texting?" She asks.
  "Just a friend," I say.
  "Which one? Sasha or Connie?" She asks.
  "Neither," I sigh.
  "Oh! Is it someone from that dance club?" She asks.
  "Yup," I say and set down my phone after sending a text to Eren. We exchanged numbers earlier today.
  My mom sets a plate of chicken and mashed potatoes in front of me and pours me a glass of lemonade.
  "Thanks for dinner," I say to her as she sits next to me.
  "My pleasure."
  We eat our food, talking about what has happened while we were apart, and about the dance club. After we finish my mom does the dishes and I head to my room. I've had extra classes the past few days and I have a little online homework now. School starts back up in two days, so I have to get this done by tomorrow.

I started my homework about an hour ago and still haven't gotten a text back from Eren and he hasn't shown up, not yet at least.
  "Hey, Armin, someone's at the door, can you check who it is?" My mom yells from her office.
  "Yeah," I say and stand up. I put my hands in my pj pants pockets and walk to the front door. I open it and see Eren.
  "Hey, s-sorry for SH-showing u-up late," He says.
  "It's fine. It just been about two hours," I chuckle, "I've been working on homework for a while, so let me finish up this last sheet and we can start."
  "O-ok," He says and I let him in. I walk to my room and he follows. I sit on my bed and he sits at my desk chair.
  "I have five questions left, so it shouldn't take me long," I say and sit criss cross. I pull my lap top onto my lap and grab my notebook with all of my work for algebra on it.

About thirty minutes pass and I'm on the second to last one. I feel bad for making Eren wait, but I hope it won't take too much longer.
  "H-hey, do you w-want m-me t-to help y-you?" Eren asks.
  "If you're good at algebra, then sure. This stuff is just a bit tough since I haven't done it before," I say. Eren nods and comes and sits next to me.
  "T-take this a-and f-find the square r-root of th-that, a-and the-the a-answer should b-be equivalent to the a-answer t-to your n-next p-problem. Divide th-that b-by nine then m-multiply it by th-this," He keeps explaining all of this stuff to me, and I'm surprised on how he knows it all.
  "Wow, you're really good at this," I say as I figure out my answer and type the number four into my computer. He hovers over my shoulder slightly and points to the arrow for the next questions.
  "M-my mom m-made m-me do th-this in high sch-school," He states, "I d-didn't e-enjoy it though."
  He helps me through my last question and I put down my lap top.
 
  "Ok, so now for your lessons," I chuckle.
  "H-how d-do you teach s-someo-one not t-to stutter?" He chuckles. He takes off his vest and sets it next to his boots, which he took off a little bit ago.
  "I've done this before, and I don't really know how to explain it, but I'll give it a shot," I sigh, "I give you a list of works to say, and till you can say them all without stuttering, I won't give you new ones to work on."
  "Th-that is c-confusing," He says. I nod and sigh again. I sit facing him and grab a sheet of blank paper.
  "I'll give you lessons till you can give me a speech without stuttering and you have to be stutter free for a month," I say as I start to write down words.
  "I'll do print outs, but for now, you'll have to work with my handwriting," I say, "And it will be fifty words. You'll come over twice a week, Monday's and Thursday's."
  "O-ok," He says.
  "Just as long as that's alright with you," I say and look up at him. He nods and I quickly write out a hand full of words.
  "Ok, done," I say after about two or three minutes, "Try to read these off without stuttering, if it strains your throat, stop."
  He nods and reads over the words to himself first then tries to do them aloud, "I, blue, r-red," He pauses and repeats it without stuttering.

(A/N: Ok, so with this, I plan to have a second part kinda. It's going to be a chapter where they're mostly trying to keep Eren from stuttering over the first list. I honestly though Armin trying to help Eren like this would be cute, so I hope it works out.
- CT)