Pathway [Eremin AU]

Chapter Seven//Armin

"Seven, eight, nine, t-ten," Eren lets out a small cough.
"You can stop if you want. I don't want you to hurt yourself," I say.
"No, I c-can do th-this," He says.
"P-punch, punch, word, root, th-the, the, collection," He coughs a little louder.
"I'll go get you some water," I say. I stand up and walk to my door.
"Ok," He says.
I walk to the kitchen and grab two cups. I grab the pitcher of water as well and head back to my room. I walk in and Eren is still working on the words.
"Ok, you take a break," I say and hand him a glass. I pour some cold water in his glass and then into my own.
"So I have an idea. Every lesson I'll keep tallies on every word you stutter that is on the list," I say.
"Sounds g-good," He says and takes a drink of his water.
"We'll have a class Monday too, and you can come from anytime between three and nine. Anytime before three and I'll be in school still, well, at least till the summer. Anytime after nine, I might be asleep," I say. He nods and sets his empty cup on the floor next to his stuff.
"Ok," He says. He picks up the paper again and starts to study it.
"Aragoto f-for g-giving me l-lessons," He says. I smile and nod. He starts to read them off again and we go on and off till about eleven.
"I sh-should get g-going, I feel b-bad for keeping y-you u-up this l-late," He says.
"No no, it's fine. I just hope your parents won't be mad at me," I say and rub the back of my neck. I lean back on my bed and he sits on the edge putting on his shoes.
"Make sure to text me when you get home so I know you at least got home alive," I say.
"Ok," He says. He grabs his vest and throws it on. I get a glimpse at the back of his neck and there is a big bruise. But I only see it for a second till he turns towards me. I then see one on his hand till he puts it in his pocket.
  "I'll b-be g-going," He says. I stand up and lazily walk towards the door with him. I walk him to my front door and we say our goodnights and he heads off towards his house.
  The bruises left me wondering though. The thought kept me up till he text me that he was home.

It's now Monday and school has started back up. I finally see Connie and Sasha after a long week, and I greet them with a sarcastic comment.
  "So who enjoyed themselves?" I chuckle and look at a bruised up Connie and Sasha.
  "Connie fell out a tree and I laughed, so he pushed me into the river," Sasha pouts.
  "Ah, such an abusive relationship," I chuckle.
  "Don't push it gay man," Connie says and walks off to his seat.
  "One, I'm not gay, I'm bisexual, and two, how dare you," I chuckle at the last part. I take my seat as well and my AP history teacher walks in.
  "Ok, so to start off today, we are having an assembly," The teacher starts. I kind of zone out for a bit till we have to head to the auditorium.

The end of school rounds to an end and I make my way to my locker.
  "I'll see you later. Can we maybe go out Wednesday after school?" Sasha asks.
  "No, I'm a bit busy," I say.
  "Awe! For how long?" She asks.
  "From three till later that night," I say.
  "Dang. Well, I'm off," She says and walks towards the exit of the school. I grab my duffle bag after her and Connie leave and I walk towards the back side of the school. I walk out that exit and I see a familiar boy standing by a small motorcycle.
  "Hello," He chuckles.
  "And what might you be doing here?" I ask.
  "M-my mom t-told m-me to come p-pick you up," He says.
  "Oh, really?" I ask.
  "Y-yup," He chuckles. He takes my backpack off my shoulder and sits on the riders seat of his bike.
  "Hop on b-behind m-me a-and p-put your duffle b-bag o-on," He says as he turns the key. I nod and hop on. He grabs his helmet off the handle of his bike and puts it on my head.
  "It's a-a bit big b-but i-it will w-work for a f-few m-minute drive," He says. I nod and a small blush appears on my cheeks. I adjust the helmet and look around as he backs out. A ton of girls are giving him heart eyes and some of the guys are trying to get the girls attention.
  "Armin, are you gay or something?" One of my bullies say as they run by and slap my helmet, making my head tilt a little. I huff and latch on to my backpack that Eren is wearing. I hear a few people snickering over the roar of the engine, but I try to ignore it. Eren then speeds a little to fast and stops quickly. I look up and over his shoulder. I see the bully at the front end of Erens bike with a scared look on his face.
  "L-leave him a-alone," I here Eren stutter, but then he quickly goes around the boy and drives out and off to the club for our class.

"Hey, I'm sorry about Jon," I say as I put my face closer to Erens ear so he could hear me.
  "D-don't s-sweat it," He says. I nod and sigh as I sit back in my seat a bit.
  I look at my surrounding as we zoom by every store and business building.
  I wonder how Eren views me now after what happened.

(A/N: Ok, so this took me a little less than an hour? I just planned to write this up for you guys before bed, and I know I just posted chapter six about an hour ago, but here's a small continuation off it I guess. Hope you enjoyed this little moment, and Armin finally saying something to Eren in the next chapter, and just wait, something else kinda big happens too.
- CT)