Armin woke up, his and Eren's legs were tangled together and Eren had his arms around him. Soft light shone through the window into the room and for a moment the whole world was peaceful. Then, Armin remembered last night. He remembered how the kids at school bullied him, taunting him and slamming him against walls and lockers.
"Oh god." He muttered. "Oh god. Oh god. Oh god!" His breaths became quick and he started to cry again. Eren woke up and moaned softly.
"Armin?" His eyes became wide with concern and he cupped Armin's face in his hands. "Armin? What's wrong? Calm down, I'm here." Armin buried his face in Eren's chest.
"Oh god." He whimpered. "Why me? What did I do to deserve this? I-I... I'm sorry!" Eren shushed Armin and comforted him.
"Ssshhh. It's okay. You're okay now, I won't ever let anyone hurt you again." He whispered into Armin's ear. Armin looked up, face glistening with tears.
"Really?" He choked out.
"Really." Eren assured him. "Now let's go downstairs and have some breakfast."
"Okay." Armin got off of the bed and gave him a large T-shirt to wear.
"I don't have any pants that would fit you, sorry." Armin put on the T-shirt, it came down mid-thigh on him. It covered up Armin enough, luckily he and Eren were best friends and it wouldn't have mattered whether or not it covered him. After all, they had taken baths together, and not just when they were little either.
"Okay, let's go downstairs now Armin." Eren opened the door and looked at Armin.
"Wait, one more thing." Armin reached out for Eren's hand and laced their fingers together. "Please never leave me, okay." Eren grinned at him.
"Okay." He squeezed Armin's hand gently. The two walked downstairs to the table where Mikasa was waiting. "G'morning Mikasa." Eren yawned. She looked up from her waffles and gestured to the toaster on the kitchen counter. "Good morning Eren, good morning Armin. There's waffles in the toaster for you." Eren got out two plates and waited for the waffles to pop out of the toaster.
Armin on the other side of the table as Mikasa and rubbed his eyes sleepily. His small feet hardly touched the ground and he swung them back and forth. Eren set down a plate of waffles in front of Armin and took a seat next to him. While they ate Mikasa kept shooting Eren looks that said,"You like him" and,"You should totally ask him out." Eren tried his best to ignore her until she leaned towards him and whispered, "You guys already act like you're dating." Eren blushed uncontrollably.
After they were done eating Eren and Armin went back upstairs to Eren's room. They sat on the bed and talked for a while. They talked about their problems, about classes,and about their friends. They talked until they ran out of things to talk about.
Eren sat up suddenly. "Let's get ice cream. "Armin nodded in agreement. After 10 minutes of looking for some pants for Armin to wear they finally found some old shorts that fit him. Eren jammed some money into his pocket and they stepped out into the blazing Summer heat.
Armin pulled his hair into a ponytail to let his neck cool off. Eren nearly died of how cute Armin looked in a ponytail. They arrived at the ice cream shop which was nearly empty except for an elderly woman and her granddaughter. Eren ordered for both of them, he knew Armin's order by heart. " I'll have a scoop of double fudge and a scoop of mint chocolate chip in a cake cone and he'll have a scoop of cookies and cream and a scoop of vanilla in a waffle cone." He handed the money to the woman over the counter and gave Armin his cone. They walked outside, careful not to drop their ice cream. They sat on a bench, the sun making their ice cream dribble onto their hands.
Eren's expression became serious and he looked into Armin's eyes, making him blush. "Armin, who bullies you? I will kill them. Or...at least get them expelled." Armin shifted nervously and looked at the ground.
"It's fine Eren, really." He forced a weak smile.
"No Armin, it's not okay. Now please, tell me who bullies you. What did they do to make you want to die?" Eren used his free hand to hold Armin's. It was something they had always done, when they were sad, mad, or scared, they would hold hands. Tears began to bubble at the corner of Armin's eyes. He let out a shaky breath and began to tell Eren everything.
"They call me a faggot. They shove me into lockers and beat me up. They...they tell me to k-kill myself!" Armin wiped his eyes and squeezed Eren's hand tighter.
"Who? Who does this to you? I want to make sure they will never even look at you again. I don't want this to go on anymore." They sat in silence for a few seconds and Armin opened his mouth to speak.
"It's Jean. He's the one who bullies me."
