Chapter 1

~

"Grisha, hold on," I heard my Mom say, "don't you think he's too young for you to be treating him like this?"

"No, I don't think so. He needs to learn... Learn how to be stronger than his useless brother." He spat and glared at Zeke, who was watching from up the stairs.

"Yes, but," Mom hesitated a bit before continuing, "isn't there another way for him to become stronger?"

"..." My Dad didn't respond. He only looked at my Mother with disgust. "Shut up, woman."

"I-I didn't say anything b-bad..!"

"I said," my Dad walked to my Mom, greeting his teeth, "shut up."

I stood up immediately, trying to protect my Mother. "D-Dad, wait!" I held my hands up but he grabbed my wrist and threw me to the wall, knocking the air out of my lungs. I fell on my side and coughed up a bit of blood, mixed with my saliva. I looked up weakly and saw my Dad about to hit my Mother.

"DA-"

~Present~

I shot my eyes open and sat up, screaming until my throat got soar. I started panting and clenching on my bedsheets, trying to calm myself. I heard soft footsteps and heard the keys jingling and entering the doorknob.

"Eren? Are you okay?" It was Levi. He left the keys in the doorknob and walked over to my bed, gently sitting on the edge and letting out a soft sigh. "I heard you scream from my room. Was it a nightmare?"

I nodded slightly and rubbed my eyes. "Sorry, Rivaille. I didn't mean for you to wake up." I apologized and looked over at him.

"It's fine. And you need more sleep. The bags under your eyes are very noticeable. They're getting a little darker every night." He pinched my cheek and smiled.

"I know," I leaned against his hand and sighed, "sorry for worrying you. I'm glad it wasn't Zeke who came here." I chuckled and he let out a small laugh.

"Yeah. Even though I'm not part of the family, he still treats me like I'm his little brother."

"Well, yeah. We met when we were in Kindergarten. He knows you. After your Mother died and Kenny left you, he was really heartbroken when he found out you had nowhere to live. So he let you stay with us. He even likes calling you 'brother'." I patted him on the shoulder and he laughed again.

"Wish I had a family like yours... But not with your Dad." He added quickly at the end and looked up at me. "Go to sleep. Our first day of school starts in a few hours. It's two in the morning so you'll have plenty of rest." He yawned the last part and stood up. "I'm getting sleepy myself."

"Alright, alright. You go on ahead. I don't want you to lose sleep because of me." I stood up and rubbed my right eye.

"Shut up."

The door closed behind me and he took out the keys, walking back to his room.

________________________________

HEYOO! This is my second story! I'm not good at writing it this way so YEA! I know this chapter was short but EHH I tried ;-;.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***