When Flowers Bloom-EreHisu fanfic

1: End of Summer

Eren stared wistfully up at the clouds as they began turning gold with the setting sun's rays. One hand under his head and the other twirling his hoodie string. He turned his head over to look at Armin and Mikasa who sat beside him on the grassy hill. "You guys ready for another year?"
Armin looked up from his book and smiled sheepishly. "Of course, but I'm not exactly excited about summer ending." Mikasa nodded in silent agreement.
Eren sat up brushing grass off the back of his head. "Yeah. Me neither." He gazed at his close friends fondly remembering all the fun they'd had over the summer. "On the bright side, our families are going on that camping trip in September. That'll get us through the first bit of school."
A strong breeze blew across them making Eren thankful that he'd brought a jacket. Mikasa tucked strands of her long dark hair behind her ear. Armin shivered slightly. The sky had now turned a brilliant shade of red as the sun made its descent. Not many clouds littered the sky this evening. Eren preferred it that way. Ever since he was a kid he had loved gazing up at the sky.
Another breeze swept over the trio. Mikasa stood up offering a hand to Armin. "We should get home before it gets dark. Dinners probably ready by now."
Eren watched as Armin took her hand and she pulled him to his feet. Mikasa was always looking out for them both. She had probably noticed Armin shivering and decided to cut their lounging time short. Eren sighed and got to his feet, reaching his arms above his head as he stretched. Mikasa called out to him as he took one last gaze at the setting sun. He was gonna miss summer.
"Yeah, I'm coming." He shoved his hands into his pockets and followed after Mikasa and Armin. "We'll walk you home, Armin, it's almost dark."
Armin nodded his teeth clattering. "Man, I should've brought a jacket." He rubbed his hands against his arms using the friction to warm himself.
Eren chuckled. "Good thing we're not far from your house. If I wasn't cold I'd let you use my hoodie."
Mikasa wrapped her arm around Armin as they walked. "Better?", she asked.
Armin couldn't help but smile. "Yes, Mikasa. That's better."
Eren smiled continuing their walk in silence. The first of Fall's leaves crunched under their feet. It was an almost soothing sound. Fireflies lit up near the tree line, just starting their nightly rituals. Armin spoke up after awhile. "Can't believe we're starting our 2nd year of high school tomorrow. I hope it's better than last year."
"Of course it'll be better!" Eren immediately piped in. "We won't be bottom of the barrel anymore." Eren remembered sourly how much Armin had been picked on by upperclassmen and how many fights he himself had gotten in to defend his friend. Eren huffed getting riled up by just thinking of it. "If anyone even tries to start anything-"
Armin jumped in cutting him off. "Relax Eren." He said tugging at Eren's arm. "New year means a fresh start! Plus I doubt anyone will try to start anything with you around."
Eren pulled his arm away silently agreeing. Armin was right. This school year would be fine. Eren always got worried starting new things, school was no exception. But despite his anxiousness he knew things would be okay. They always were.
He looked up as Armin's house came into view. Moths swirled around the flickering porch light. "Thanks for walking me home. I'll meet up at your place tomorrow morning."
Mikasa gave him a quick hug and Eren grabbed him in a gentle headlock. "Show up early just in case I sleep in.", he said grinning.
Armin chuckled shoving Eren off of him. "Alright alright. Don't worry too much about tomorrow." He said with a soft smile. "It's just school. I'll see y'all later!" He fished his house keys out of his pocket and made his way inside.
Once the door closed behind him Eren and Mikasa headed home.
Eren glanced over as Mikasa spoke. "Armin is right. You don't have to worry about tomorrow." She adjusted her scarf before continuing. "Everything will go smoothly."
A sigh left Eren's lips. "Yeah I know." His friends really could read him like a book. Despite him trying to hide his worry they sniffed it out like a bloodhound fast on a rabbit's trail. His eyebrows furrowed together as he remained deep in thought. It's not that he was worried about school starting up again. Just that he wasn't sure of himself as of lately. Mikasa had already signed up for the volleyball team and Armin had been approved for the high school journalism group and Eren..well he hadn't signed up for any extra curricular activities. Nothing had caught his interest and he made a hasty last minute decision and signed up for a cooking class. How lame is that? Silently berating himself he almost walked past his own house before Mikasa snapped him back to reality.
"We're home, Eren." He looked up as he heard the familiar jingle of her keys. Pushing his thoughts away for now he tried focusing on the rest of today.
As they stepped inside taking their shoes off at the door the sweet aroma of food wafted towards them. Eren didn't realize how hungry he was until his stomach loudly grumbled. "Kids, is that you?", said a sweet voice from the kitchen.
"Yeah!" Eren said pulling his hoodie off and hanging it up in the entry way closet. "Sorry we're late. We walked Armin home."
"Oh that's alright." Eren's mom came around the corner drying her hands off with a sage towel. "Dinners ready. I made hamburgers."
Eren and Mikasa hurried over to their seats at the dinner table as Eren's mom served them. Eren took a big bite thoroughly enjoying it. After wolfing it down in just a few bites he looked around. "Where's dad?" He asked wiping his mouth.
His mother sighed softly. "Work held him up. He won't be home til later tonight." She looked almost sad.
"Again?" Eren said slightly bothered. This had been the 3rd time this week. He should be home. "Did you eat?", he asked trying to focus his attention to anything other than his dad.
She shook her head softly. "I didn't have much of an appetite today."
Chair legs scraped against the hardwood floor as Eren stood up. After discarding his trash he made his way into the kitchen and to the fridge. There was Tupperware with different dates on them. Pulling out the container with today's date he emptied the contents onto a plate and popped it into the microwave. Opening the door just before it beeped he picked up a fork and made his way back to the table. Sitting down beside his mom he placed the plate in front of her.
"Please eat just a little." He urged her.
She took his hand in hers squeezing it gently. "Thank you sweetheart." As much as he hated being called 'sweetheart' he smiled at his mom.
Mikasa picked up the remaining dishes on the table. "Eren and I can wash the rest of the dishes." Eren pulled his hand from his mother's and followed Mikasa into the kitchen.
Eren washed the dirty dishes as Mikasa rinsed them off and set them in the dish rack. Out of their mom's earshot Eren voiced his worry. "Is she..really better? Her last couple of visits have shown she's clear but.." He stopped for a moment letting the running faucet ground him into reality. "What if she's still sick?"
Mikasa set the last plate down and softly rubbed Eren's arm. "Don't cry." Not even realizing he was he quickly rubbed at his eyes to stop the tears. It didn't really help. Mikasa continued on. "They ran tests, they all came back clear. She's okay. She just needs time to adjust."
"Yeah. You're right." He forced a smile still feeling tears prick at the corners of his eyes. "She's fine."
They both straightened up as they heard her stand up from the table. Eren rubbed at his eyes again to keep his tears at bay. Mikasa took the plate from her hands as she stepped into the kitchen. "Thank you dear." She leaned down kissing Mikasa's forehead. "I'm going to sleep, please don't stay up late. I don't want y'all to be late for your first day tomorrow." Eren couldn't help but turn away as his mom approached him. He didn't want her to see the worry written all over his face. She gently stroked his back. "I appreciate everything you do for me sweetheart. I love you."
"I love you too." He couldn't hide the shake in his voice despite his best efforts. He felt her kiss his shoulder and her touch vanished as she left to her bedroom. Once she was gone he turned to Mikasa. "How much did she eat?"
Mikasa sighed showing him her plate. From the looks of it she'd only taken a few bites. "She ate more than this morning at least."
Eren chewed on his lip. Was she really getting better? It didn't seem that way to him. "Just throw the rest away." He turned back to the remaining dishes and finished washing them. The silence in the air was suffocating but neither of them could really put into words how they felt.
Tears flowed freely down into the sink. Now that his mom wasn't in the room his tough face he put on was cracked. Mikasa finished washing the dishes as Eren sat on the kitchen floor silently weeping. She let him be knowing he needed to let out what he'd been holding in for weeks. Drying her hands off she sat down beside him holding onto his hand.
After a few minutes he finally got a hold of himself using his shirt sleeve to wipe at his face. Drawing in a shaky breath he stood up. Still tightly holding Mikasa's hand he made his way upstairs to his bedroom. Mikasa pulled her hand from his as they stood outside his bedroom door. "Goodnight, Eren." She hugged him and went to her own room.
His door creaked as he pressed his forehead to it momentarily before swinging it open. Not even bothering to shut the door behind him he immediately crawled into bed. Despite laying around all day he felt tired all the way down to his bones. He plugged his phone into the charger and shoved it under his pillow. Hopefully he could make it through tomorrow.
Burying his face in his lumpy pillow he tried his best to push away all his nagging thoughts.
Summer was over and now things could get better. That's all he wanted.

End of Chapter 1
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Author's Notes: this turned out a lot more angsty than I intended it to be omg anyway, I hope you like this so far, I've already planned out this story to its end so stick around to see it to its end c: idk when I'll update this, just whenever I have time!