𝐃𝐎𝐍'𝐓 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐌𝐄 • 𝖤．𝖩𝖠𝖤𝖦𝖤𝖱 𝖪．𝖲𝖧𝖨𝖭𝖩𝖮

09 | Her Old Self.

Eren's POV:

Great, now what? Eren thought as he was scribbling the following lyrics in his notebook. Flipping his pencil anxiously, he kept humming the tune in his head.

This world is cruel, drenched in shades of blue. Through all the pain, just know I still love you.
Even if I sacrifice it all, just know that I will protect you.

He continued scribbling the thoughts down before he could forget and quickly grabbed his guitar to play it out.

It was 2 pm at Sina University, and Eren had locked himself in the music room to write his song for Kiaran. After last night, he still couldn't get that kiss out of his head, but more importantly, if she was alright.

He had never seen her so violent apart from when they wrestled one another in the scouts club. So, this new behavior was new to him as the girl he once knew was absorbed in substances.

Soon enough, he heard the bell ring as the free period ended. Annoyed, he picked up his stuff and shoved his things into his bag.

Walking to class, he wondered if Kiaran remembered what he had done for her last night. He didn't know how much she had drank or the times she hit her vape, but it looked like her body couldn't handle it.

Upon entering the classroom, his eyes widened in surprise to see Kiaran sitting in her seat. She was decently dressed and seemed to be much better than before. His mouth became a bit dry upon seeing her. His palms grew sweaty. Okay. Okay. Just stay calm. Eren told himself as he began walking into the classroom.

Heading to his seat, he approached the table as she was breathtaking. Her hair was manageable, that same dress she always loved to wear from high school, and her eyes were lost in thought somewhere.

"Hey—" Eren said, taking a seat next to her.

Kiaran looked up from her book slowly as her eyes scanned him. "Oh hey—" she said.

She appeared to be sucking on some Jolly Ranchers as he noticed the scattered wrapping paper across the table. "How are you feeling?" Eren asked.

Her eyes fell back on the table, fumbling with the papers. "Okay, I guess. You—?" she asked.

Eren smiled, happy she was talking. "Better now. So—anything new happening?"

She shook her head.

He was fine with that response as the class started.

For the majority of the day, he couldn't help but admire her as she was slowly but surely becoming her old self again. He would glance over a few times, noticing how neat her notes were, the beautiful san font, all the crucial parts highlighted in different colors based on the topics, and small doodles on the side of her paper of anime characters with guitars.

She's so cute. He thought as he went back to writing in his book. Pushing aside his textbook, underneath was his notebook with the drawings of her. Every time he managed to look, he was sketching her. Thankfully—she didn't notice as she was more focused on her own work.

He heard her breathe slowly as she rested her chin in her palm and laid her pen on the table. She looked so tired as he could still see the bags under her eyes, even with the makeup on.

At 3:30 pm, when class ended, Eren gathered his things as he moved a bit slower to see if she would want to talk to him. She still had her stuff on the table as she was buried in her books.

Reaching over, he gently tapped her shoulder as she jolted back, her eyes darting over to him as if she had woken up. "What—is class over?" Kiaran asked.

Eren nodded. "Yeah. It's been over for a few minutes now—you okay?" he asked.

She quickly gathered her things, shoving them into her bag as she stood up from her stool. "Yeah—I'm okay. Oh wait," she said, reaching back into her bag.

Eren raised a brow, confused about what she was looking for, but then he noticed the jacket he had given her. She still had it? "I—I should have thanked you that night at the party. So, here you can have it back," Kiaran said, holding it up to him.

The jacket was neatly folded as he glanced down at it before pulling back. "No—you keep it. You actually might need it more than I do," Eren said.

She looked surprised but insisted that he take it back. "I don't want Levi questioning me—so please. Take it back," Kiaran said.

Oh, that's right. That guy is a prick. Reluctantly, he took the jacket back, flinging it over his shoulder as she seemed a bit happy. The smile was faint, but he could see it appearing on her face, like a child who had just done something good for someone else.

"Thanks. But—perhaps we could maybe—I don't know, go out for lunch?" Eren asked, playing with his hair.

He hoped she would say yes as he was taking steps, but maybe that was too soon. Glancing down at her, he was surprised she almost seemed flustered about his question. Her lips pressed together as she gripped the ends of her hair, twirling them a bit. "I think—I would... like that," Kiaran said.

Secretly, in his mind, he was jumping for joy, but he smoothed his hair back, giving off a confident grin. "How about we go to that new place—"

The sound of her phone ringing cut him off. As he watched her answer, he was slightly disappointed but waited for her to finish. As the classroom had cleared out it was just the two of them to which Eren leaned back again the desk waiting for her wondering who could be calling.

She seemed calm initially, but her facial expression slowly changed until all that excitement just died.

Eren watched as her hand dropped along with her phone to the floor. She trembled as the tears started to pool in her eyes. He quickly took her by the shoulders as he wondered what was wrong. His eyes flickered to the phone as he recognized the number as it was the hospital.

The silence in the room soon turned to her cries flooding with the most heart-wrenching scream he had ever heard. Pulling her in closely on instinct, he knew that this couldn't have been good. She withered onto the floor as he fell to his knees with her, and she could only scream out sobbing. "Kiaran, it's okay—"

"He's dead—he's gone. HE'S GONE! FUCK FUCK FUCK!!!" Kiaran screamed out uncontrollably.

As he realized what she meant, she was talking about her dad. He couldn't imagine what she was feeling at that moment as even though he knew her father well, he was such a good man—including for adopting her.

Her tears soaked into his shoulder as he tried to calm her down. Just sitting on the classroom floor with her as she let it all out. His arms around her tightly, ensuring she would feel comfort in his embrace as he couldn't bear to see her like this.

The guilt was eating him alive as he wanted to tell her. But that would probably only ruin things between them.

All he could do was just—let things remain and give her the comfort she needed.

♡ Lvdymontague ♡
Vote/Comment/Share!!