The Tutor (Eremin) {Editing}

28. first love/late spring~mitski

A/N~afro-latino eren because i said so !!!!!!! also i'm haitian so i'm allowed. anyway enjoy this was so much fun to rewrite. pretty much pure, unadulterated fluff.

tw: v fleeting abuse mentions + v mild sexual content

28. first love/late spring~mitski

Eren's POV

~One Month Later~

It was graduation day.

I had made it. I had gone from a failing, uncaring student, to someone who managed to pass all their classes with fairly good grades. The realization was bittersweet.

The auditorium was a sea of red robes, humming with hundreds of chatting voices. It was enough to make a person feel nostalgic. However, I really wasn't. In fact, I couldn't be happier. It was the end of an era, and I was more than ready to begin a new chapter.

Cheesy, right? I know.

Mikasa sat beside me, absently texting her best friend, Annie, on her phone. She had her hair up in a spiky bun, her eyes lined in dark purple. She looked like a video game character.

The ceremony began with boring opening remarks that were excruciating enough to nearly put me to sleep. Next, they called us up to get our diplomas. That was pretty boring, too, as our graduating class was fairly large. The valedictorian gave a speech that moved many of my classmates to tears, as well as a few of my teachers. And then it was over. I had never been so relieved.

Ymir bounded up to me without a moment's hesitation, yanking me into a tight embrace. "Dude, we did it!" she exclaimed, fires of excitement in her eyes. "On to bigger and better things!"

Christa gave me a much gentler hug, her excitement understated. Her hair smelled like flowers and I had to lean down to return the gesture. Her smile was soft as she pulled away. "Congratulations, Eren," she said earnestly.

Jean and Marco found me next, bombarding me in a group hug. "Aw, you guys," I gushed, hugging them back as they sang their praises that I had made it through such a difficult school year.

"Dude, we absolutely have to hang out tons before we go away to school," Jean declared, his arm linked in Marco's.

"Of course," I agreed. "Naturally."

The five of us talked for a while, reminiscing about some of the best and worst moments of high school. We recounted the meanest teachers, the most obnoxious students, the one day where we roamed the halls and ditched class. I felt warm and fuzzy, with all my closest friends by my side.

Still, there was a lingering emptiness within me.

Suddenly, Mikasa was bounding over to me, a big grin on her face. I thought she was going to hug me, so I opened my arms in slight confusion, but she pushed them down once she reached me.

"Someone is here to see you!" she exclaimed, hardly able to contain her excitement.

No thoughts went through my mind as I looked out the glass doors into the lobby, where dozens of people were milling around, exchanging hugs and tears and large bouquets of flowers. It was nothing but an ordinary scene, the ever-present hollow place within me only aching at the loving families and beaming faces.

But then something extraordinary caught my eye, like bright gold in an ocean of dull gray. It stole my breath away, and the déjà vu gave me whiplash.

It was Armin. He wore cuffed, high-waisted jeans and a cropped yellow t-shirt and red converse, and he was staring at the floor with his hands clasped anxiously. And he had changed his hair—now it was short, like a pixie cut, framed nicely around his green-rimmed glasses. He was beautiful, too beautiful for words, and he was right in front of me. My heart picked up its pace, hammering hard against my chest. It was him! It was really him!