Marked With Deception (ereri)

Chapter Six

~Eren's POV~

At that moment, my brain couldn't even conjure up any response. Of all people, Levi found out my secret. 

Do you ever have that feeling where you want to cry just so randomly? Like you're tired of bottling everything up and it's reached it's limits. All you're emotions are fighting with each other in a closed cage and you can't even contain them anymore. So...you breakdown. 

I guess it's natural.

That's what I wanted to do, but not in front of him; the king.

The lifelessness within his cold eyes could make me drop dead. Not in a good way. Even though if I were to die right now, I wouldn't have to live through this stress and strain anymore. They say stress can kill you, but I haven't died yet so...I believe if I give it time, it will. 

But I can't die yet, God knows what that'll do to my mother.

"Eren?"

Him saying my name brought me back. 

"L-Levi...uh...I...I have to think about t-that!" My words sounded uneasy and uncertain. My feet scrambled to stand up on their own. 

The bill he had placed in my hand was now being shoved inside my back pocket. My only reaction or initial thought process was to get out of there as soon as possible. 

Leaving the scene in a matter of seconds, I remained shocked at how openly calm he was about asking me for such a lewd demand. I know I have to do this shit for a job, but the fact that Levi was the one to ask me. Me? A boy. A male human. And him. A king. Royalty in my perceptive.

He could get any girl he wants. He has all the money in the world thanks to his fucking uncle. Everyone either wants to be his best friend or his boyfriend. Plus he has a pretty face too. That's what I don't get. He has everything. So why would he ask for my body. I'm worth nothing in my eyes.

My nerves began to become at ease as I hurried back to my house. The fall leaves flew down dead to the concrete. The chilling breeze was nothing compared to the coldness and bitterness of my emotional and torn state at the moment. Autumn is nice, but Winter is what I always 'feel'. Cold, lonely, filled with pain when you slip on on black ice, hoping that Spring will come, pale as ever, and filled with dead things. Winter is coming. Hooray...

People only want pretty things, not broken things. I'm nowhere near 'pretty'. A broken ugly monstrosity is what I am. Broken and ugly.

Broken.

The front steps to my door looked more crumbled than ever. The stones were chipping apart at the corners with the rusting railings. If you ever ran your hand against it you'd probably get cut. The wooden door remained still along with it's crusty and rattly doorknob. 

Turning the knob, I was greeted with the same temperature as the outside; cold. We didn't use our heaters. My mother said it costed too much for the heat to be turned on. So we toughened up and stocked up on blankets. 

Everything was cold, dry, and sad. Always sad. Happiness was a luxury.

I heard stomping from the hallway until my mother peeked her head out. She still had her nightgown on from this morning and her hair was tied back in a ponytail. Her skin looked pale, but she still smiled ever so brightly.

"Hey! You had babysitting after school? You're home later than I thought!" Carla questioned with a hint of pink in her cheeks. I could tell she was shivering, but tried her best to hide it.

"Mhmm, I got a lot of money for you Ma," I spoke softly as I grabbed only about half of the cash from my bag. If I were to give it all, she'd be skeptical.