No Name [Ereri/Riren Fanfic] [COMPLETED]

Chapter Twenty

DETAILS ABOUT RAPE AND ABUSE
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     "Everything started after my mother's passing. My uncle, Kenny, he took me in for a while as his way of looking after his sister's son, his nephew. Things were alright for a while until he started getting me involved with his work... He was a mercenary of sorts, but he only took up the grotesque jobs. I stayed with him because he had taught me everything I needed to know until he decided to drop me from his life. So I was on the street with nothing but my knife Kenny had given me. I didn't have any money so I ended up stealing whatever I needed just to get by. Eventually, I came across Erwin and he gave me an out.

     "He took me in, bought me new clothes, and provided me with healthier food compared to what I'd usually get. I guess he found out about my humming and singing because one day he took me to a recording studio, this one in fact, and had me explore my dream to share my own music. At the time, I didn't know that I'd have to pay a price for all that he did for me, I was only ten. I immediately took a liking to both him and the studio and began working hard to come up with some songs that I could possibly sing when I grew older. Before all of that though, after Kenny had left me, I had met H. She and I got along fairly well and grew up together until I met Erwin. Once he took in me in, I had asked if she could be a part of our little family.

     "He agreed to it and so I found her and we took her in. The three of us, well, actually four because Erwin was married at the time, lived like an actual family and wore bright smiles. Those were the happiest days of my life, but after I turned thirteen everything deteriorated. Erwin's wife had left him because she found someone else, and that didn't bode well with him and so he spiraled out of control. He began drinking heavily and would occasionally beat H and myself. Eventually I started taking all the beatings so I could protect H..."

     "Protect her?"

     "I couldn't stand seeing her cry from being abused from the man we once called our father. So in a sense everyone here is an actual family. Only, now the 'parents' are H and M... Erwin is out of the picture."

     "It seems to me that Hanji and Miche aren't alienating Erwin from this supposed family, though."

     "Because they didn't get it as bad as I did... They don't even know what happened; I fine with him one day and then I started avoiding him the next. They never questioned it since they just assumed I got fed up with the beatings. And yes, after we got Miche Erwin kept beating us. Eventually, Miche started taking all the hits since he claimed that he was 'used to it.'"

     "... Why haven't you filed a lawsuit?"

     "Because I found a way to make him stop his abusive ways, though it might stop working whenever Erwin decides he's had enough."

     "What did you do?"

     "Since he kept receiving income for the day of our debut as the band No Name, I thought of a way to get him to stop abusing us. I told him that if he kept beating us like mere objects then we'd leave him for good. Of course, he didn't take it too well but that was the last time he ever touched us."

     I gulped down my saliva and let out a breath I didn't think I was holding. After telling him all of that, I was terrified to tell Eren the real reason why I had threatened Erwin. My tremors had gotten worse as I thought about that and I ended up squeezing the brunet's hand. He squeezed mine in turn and pulled me into him, so I left my head to rest against his chest.