Not another day

Hook and Flower

I woke up to the sound of banging on my door. It was 12 pm I was guessing it was Hangi. I walked down the stairs and opened the door.

"YOU SAID YOU WERE GOING TO SCHOOL YESTERDAY AND YOU DIDN'T SHOW UP! I KNOCKED ON YOUR DOOR AND YOU NEVER ANSWERED. THEN YOU DIDN'T SHOW UP TODAY AND I NEARLY BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF EREN BECAUSE I THOUGH HE DID SOMETHING TO YOU!!!! THEN HE TOLD ME HE SAW YOU YESTERDAY BUT YOU LOOKED SICK SO I CAME OVER AND KNOCKED FOR A WHOLE MINUTE! I WAS ABOUT TO KICK OVER THE DOOR BECAUSE I THOUGHT YOU DIED WITH THE FLU!! WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING!!!!"

"Hangi, I'm really sorry. I just felt really sick, so I just couldn't tell you. Besides I needed my sleep too."

"Leeeevi. You should've been honest with me yesterday then. Don't force yourself next time. Also, take care of yourself better. I won't bother you anymore, but get better soon. I'll see you then."

"Ya. Don't worry. You know I'll take care of myself anyways, so it's all fine. Bye Hangi. I'll see you soon." I hope. I closed the door and made my way back to bed. I slept more. I had nothing else to do anyways. I should tell my other boss, Erwin, that I wanted longer hours because I didn't have school anymore, but there's no way I'll be telling Eren that. Today was Thursday. I had work later at 3:30. Since it was still 12, I decided that I should sleep in a bit. 

I called Eren. He didn't answer. Well, he is at school, so that was pretty dumb. I decided to text him telling him I can't make it to work today. Then I fell asleep once again.

I woke up for the second time from banging on the door. Who could it be? There's no way it could've been Hangi because she knocks on the door so hard, I swear that even the other side of the world can hear it. 

I went downstairs to open the door. On my way down, I noticed that the clock read 4:16. As I got to the door, the doorbell started to ring. I opened it and saw Eren standing there.

"Uh... Hello? What are you doing here?" I said

"You idiot. I've been knocking on the damn door for the past 45 minutes and you wouldn't even answer it or your phone! You also didn't even go to school today. It's only your second day of work and you already asked for a leave? Are you trying to get fired?" He asked angrily.

"I'm sorry. It's just that I haven't been feeling well lately, so I thought I should stay home and rest." It wasn't exactly a lie. I was feeling unwell, but at the same time I was alright.

WHAM

I was on the floor. My face was aching a lot. I looked up to see Eren burning up with anger. I don't know what I did to earn a punch to the face or why Eren is angry.

"You fucking bastard! All you ever do is make up fucking excuses! Is it really that hard to say that you don't want to see me anymore? What? Is it because you don't want to leave me? Answer me!"

I was shaking at this point. Not because I was scared of him or anything, but because I knew that I had to leave this place. All I ever do is make Eren angry. As much as I want to stay with him, I know I can't.

"Yes, I really don't want to see you anymore. The only reason why I haven't been showing up to school or work is because I have to see you there. If I never have to meet you again, maybe I'll start to go to work and school." It was a lie but I had to force it out. I smiled at him.

I don't know what it was, but he looked hurt. Maybe it was just me because he ended up kicking me. This time, I let him. When he realized that I wasn't doing anything about it, he stopped and picked me up by my shirt. He dragged me into the house and shoved me down on my couch. Then he left. I was about to get up until I saw Eren come back with a rope in his hands. Where did he get that from? I wondered. He grabbed both my hands and tied them together. Then he reached up to tie the other end of the rope to the hook in the ceiling.

"Wait, Eren, stop! Don't use that hook!" I yelled at him. I didn't care if he tied me up or anything. As long as he didn't use the hook.

"And why should I listen to you, huh?" He demanded.

"Because...because it's important and I don't want to use it for anything else than...that." 

"Than what?" I could tell he was growing impatient.

"The flower. My parent's flower."

"A flower? You don't want to use it because of a flower?" He sneered

"Y-yes" There was a lump in my throat. I knew I was going to cry. Eren didn't have to make it sound like it didn't matter. The flower was something that was really important.

-flashback-

"Hey Levi, come look at this!" my dad called out.

"Coming!" I called out. 

I ran down the stairs to see my mom and dad looking up at the ceiling. More specifically, the hook in the ceiling.

"Dad, why is there a hook in the ceiling?" I asked

"I'll show you" He said

He took a huge ring, the size of a cup, out of his back pocket and put it on the hook. The ring was in the shape of a flower. (Thats what the picture at the top is for. It's for reference) 

I started to jump up and down in excitement. 

"Hey, I remember that! It's from the amusement park that we went to! Our first trip!"

"Yup, it is. You remember how you found Eren there for the first time? He gave us the ring for helping him find his parents and because he thought that we had a great bond in our family. Remember how he told us that the ring was a symbol for everlasting love? Well, I'm going to put the ring here to display it for us all to remember what happened that day." He chuckled

"Aww, sweetie, I love you so much. I can't believe you kept it for so many years. Eren wanted us to be happy forever like that day." Mom said

"That's exactly why I put it there. To remind us of our happiness and how we grew closer together on that day. We don't even have anymore fights like the ones we used to have."

-End of flashback-

My mom took the ring off the day my dad died. She didn't want to be reminded of how much joy the ring was to us. It was too painful to remember all the fun we had with dad, fun we can't have anymore.

I was crying now that I recalled all my memories. That was the very first time I had met Eren and I was filled with joy when I saw him again a few years later, but now, it pains me to see the hatred he has in me. 

Eren didn't bother with my explanation, instead, he ignored my plea and tied the rope on the hook. I cried even harder, knowing that this hook isn't used to represent the love Eren created for our family. It also represented the hatred he had in me.

"Can you stop crying already? You're so fucking annoying!" He shouted

I tried to muffle my crying, but it didnt work. He went to the kitchen and came back with a cloth, stuffing it into my mouth. Then he started to punch me. I curled up in pain, but because the rope was stopping me to do so, I could only stand up straight. Eren continued to throw punches at me as well as a few kicks. I soon started to hurl blood on the floor, but that didn't stop him. I was screaming in pain. The moment I was starting to feel unconscious, he stopped. He left the room for about a minute or so and came back with a bucket of water. Just as I thought, he splashed the water at me waking me up from drifting into unconsciousness. He gave me one more punch in my face and left me, dripping wet and still tied to the hook. He didn't even untie me. I waited a few more minutes just in case he was coming back to help me, but he didn't.

I'm sorry, mom, dad.

I yanked hard on the rope. It cut into my skin a little but the hook also came out of the ceiling. It took me about 10 minutes to untie the rope from my hands. Once I was done, I cleaned up the water and blood on the floor. Then I went upstairs to take a shower. My eyes were puffy and red from all the crying. 

It was already 8 pm when I finished taking a shower. I knew that no libraries were opened at this time, so I texted Hangi that I was coming over to her place and use her computer.

Yes I know, this is probably a boring chapter. Buuuuuuut don't worry. It gets interesting. Hopefully :)