No Name [Ereri/Riren Fanfic] [COMPLETED]

Chapter Eleven

     The next day came by slowly as Eren had his nightmares again which required me to stay up until he fell asleep. We were both groggy but I didn't mind it if it meant that he didn't have to put up with whatever nightmares he had to face alone before. I do have to say that I've been changing slowly as the last few days have passed since Eren joined us, and I think I'm liking this change. Eren certainly has played a major role in that change and for that I don't regret adding him into the band.

     I began to sit up, being careful I didn't wake Eren, and got out of my bed for my closet. I picked out my clothes and folded them into a pile before taking them with me into the bathroom. I did everything I needed to; took a shower, brushed my teeth and hair, got dressed. Once I got out I saw that Eren had started to wake up, as he was stretching with his arms above his head.

     "Morning," was all I said while I put my sleepwear away.

     "Morning, L... today's the day you were telling me about last night, right?"

     I recalled our conversation and remembered telling him that and that Erwin was after him. I could tell he wasn't all too thrilled about this but I was going to make sure that bastard wouldn't lay a finger on the brunet.

     "Listen," -I walked up to him as I spoke- "I want you to stay with me the entire day today, alright? Erwin won't hurt you if you do."

     "You better swear on your life, L."

     I thought about what he had requested from me. This was important to him. He finally ran away from his father's abuse and sexual assaults but now a different man wants the same thing from him. I was the one who brought him into this band, so it was my responsibility to look after him.

     "I swear on my life that I won't let him hurt you."

     I watched as Eren nodded to himself before slowly getting out of bed and heading for his room where his belongings were.

     I've been trying to piece together Eren's life before he joined the band and what Erwin could possibly want from him, but thinking about too much all at once made my head spin a million miles a second. For now, I needed to get Eren through today without Erwin causing him too many problems. I had gone downstairs to get breakfast going but came across a tall blond man in the room already. My nonchalant expression turned into a slight scowl as I walked over to my seat at the bar, keeping my gaze on the man in the room.

     "You're quiet as a mouse L. So, how's Eren adjusting?"

     "How do you think? He's still stuck in the past; he can't even sleep in his own bed without any kind of PTSD."

     "Is that an issue for you?"

     I thought carefully about what I would say in response, because frankly I would've said some awful things to this man knowing he deserved those vulgar words. "No. He's doing fine now that we came up with a solution, one I wish to keep disclosed even from you."

     Erwin huffed a curt chuckle as he set down the knife he was using to cut up the ingredients for our breakfast. "After all these years, now is when you don't trust me?"

     "I've never trusted you to begin with. You've got quite the history with sexually assaulting women; you even went as far as to harass an eleven year old boy once. Then suddenly you straighten yourself out five years before you met me and my friends. I don't see that as a coincidence."

     "You're very perceptive, I will give you that. I do have an interest in this band but for reasons I wish to keep disclosed even from you.'"

     I had to hold myself back from beating the living shit out of this man in front of me. He smirked and simply went back to cooking like nothing had happened, then I heard Hanji and Miche come into the room. They greeted our manager with big smiles and pats on the back but it disgusted me so much that I had to leave the room to get some proper, clean air. I walked up to a window in the living room and leaned against it all the while staring out of it. I could understand why Eren wasn't looking forward to this for two reasons; Erwin's clouded history and the fact that we have to put up with him all day long.

     As I was clearing my head, I felt someone's presence in front of me so I looked in that general direction to see Eren wearing long sleeves, jeans, and socks.

     "It's going to be a hot one today, you sure you want to wear all of that?"

     "Yeah... Besides, there are scars I'd rather not let you see..."

     "... From you father I presume?"

     He simply nodded in reply but in all honesty I didn't care if he had scars or not. I wanted to see all of him, but with his consent of course; I wouldn't want to pressure him into anything he didn't want to do. Suddenly I thought back to last night when I had tried to kiss Eren. I don't know why I had but the thought just came up... 

     There's clearly a part of me that wants to cherish Eren in that way, but the real me simply wants to support him and be by his side. Two completely different things, right? Right then and there I blurted something out I really didn't want to ask the brunet in front of me.

     "Do you think you think you'll show me your scars when you feel comfortable doing so?"

     I knew he'd be uncomfortable about it but I really hadn't meant to ask him that. He must think I'm trying to pry too much at this point.

     "... Sure..."

     I was shocked. "Wait, what?"

     "If you want to see them and when I'm ready to show you, I will... I've never shown anyone, not even my own friends..."

     "I'd be the first..."

     He nodded again before tugging at my sleeve and leading me back upstairs. We went into his room and he shut the door before heading over to the closet and motioning for me to join him there. I did and he started picking out shirts and pants that would still be long enough to cover his scars but short enough for the intense summer heat. Eventually, I got him to wear grey chino pants, a white shirt with half sleeves, and a light blue dress shirt left unbuttoned to top it off. I noticed that he wore a necklace with a golden key on it but I decided not to question him about it.

     We had went back downstairs to join everybody else in the kitchen and to quickly eat our breakfast. I could see that Eren was on his guard with Erwin in the room but he did his best not to let his fear show through in his speech or expressions. Once everyone had finished their breakfast and the dishes were cleaned, we all put on our shoes and headed out the door to enjoy our day as normal people instead of the famous band No Name.

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Hello! I finally wrote this up, phew. I'm kind of happy the word limit for this one is around 1,500 words so that makes writing these chapters a bit easier. I hope this chapter is alright, I haven't written in this story in a long while so I hope it's still good.

~ Author-san