Growing up too fast

Chapter 2

Eren Jaeger POV

"I know boss but I don't have anyone else that can watch her, you know she'll be good she always is, Erwin has Armin so it'll just be Mikasa." I pleaded trying to get my boss to allow Mikasa to stay in the breakroom.

I heard my boss sigh on the other end of the line "Fine, she can come with but this can't keep happening Eren."  He said much to my relief.

"Thanks, I'll try not to let it happen again," I said hanging up and setting my phone down. I started my car and drove off to get Mikasa from school. I'm honestly surprised this car is still working I don't what I would do if it stopped working, I certainly don't have the money to rent a new one.

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"Guess who gets to come to work me today?" I asked Mikasa as she climbed into the car.

"ME?!" She asked excitedly.

"Mhm, Hanji got herself into some trouble so you'll be with me today." 

"Yay!" She yelled bouncing up and down in her seat. I laughed at her behavior before having her settle down and buckle up so I could drive. 

Once I arrived at work I set Mikasa in the breakroom and gave her my phone along with the charger to keep her busy while I worked. I worked several jobs, the one I'm at now was just a small convenience store that I worked at on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I worked at a Diner on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Then there's my least favorite job that I only did occasionally when I was struggling more than usual which was stripping. It made really good money if you did a good job but I lack body confidence. My boss there also knew my situation and so if I needed help he let me take a shift. 

I put on my uniform which was pretty much just an apron and hat and got to work. 

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"What do you mean this isn't enough?!" The woman yelled at me.

"I'm sorry ma'am but I don't control the prices," I replied calmly. 

"Ugh! I can't believe this! I will be talking to your Manager!" She yelled again but this time she threw her food at me and stormed out. I sighed well at least my shift is over now. I took off my now pizza sauce covered apron and went to the break room to get Mikasa who was now sound asleep. 

I carefully picked her up so I didn't wake her and carried her out to the car. I set her in her seat gently and buckled her up and moved up front to start the car except... it wouldn't start, damn it. I tried to get it to start a couple more times before sighing in defeat. I got out of the car and lifted up the hood of the car only to see smoking coming from it, well shit. I grabbed Mikasa from the car in case it caught on fire and held her since she was still asleep and called Erwin.

"Hey Erwin, I'm gonna be late picking Armin up, the car is smoking," I paused and looked back at the car. "Scratch that it's on fire, I'm really sorry, I have no idea how I'm gonna get there but I'll figure it out. Can you watch Armin a little longer?" I said freaking out a little bit but trying to keep calm for the sake of everything.

"Yeah, that's no problem, he can even stay overnight if you need him too."

"Thanks Erwin I owe you one, I'll talk to you later," I said again hanging up. 

"Why does this stuff always happen?" I said as sirens approached, someone probably called about the smoke. How the hell am I supposed to get anything done without a car, maybe it's time to drop out of school and work full-time to afford things. 

"Wow looks like you have yourself in quite the predicament." I heard someone say next to me.

"Gee I wonder what gave it away, maybe the burning car." I snapped back. "Sorry I didn't mean to be rude it's just been a really bad day," I added. 

"Don't worry about it, the name's Levi."

"Eren," I greeted back. "I'd shake your hand but I have my hands full at the moment," I said referring to Mikasa who was now starting to wake up not that I blamed her. 

"What's going on bubba?" Mikasa said rubbing her eyes and then she saw the car and her eyes widened. "Woah is that our car?!"

I sighed "Yes Mika that's our car."

"Awesome!" she cheered causing the short man beside me to chuckle.

"No Mikasa, this is in no way awesome," I replied exhausted.

"Oh, not awesome, got it," she said laying her head on my shoulder again as I was still holding her. The firefighters arrived and checked us over and made sure we were ok (Physically that is, the mental stress I'm going through can't be healthy) and reassured me that I did the right thing by getting Mikasa out of the car when I did or she would probably have died. Thanks captain obvious that's kinda why I got her out, I didn't actually say that though since he was just trying to help but this situation kinda put me in a not so good mood. 

Once the firefighters put the fire out they came back over to us. "I can't salvage that car can I?" I asked already knowing the answer. 

"No, we're sorry but it's unusable now, everything in the back of the car is burnt up too," The firefighter said. 

"Shit," I said.

"Eren! That's a bad word!" Mikasa scolded.

"Ah sorry Mika," I said before turning to Levi. "You wouldn't happen to be looking to buy a burnt-up car would you?"

"Can't say that I am but I could give you a ride to get you back home." He offered. 

"I appreciate it but we'd have to go get my other one," I said not actually willing to leave Armin somewhere overnight. 

"Oh, so you have two kids? How old are you?"

"Sixteen, they're my siblings, we don't have parents anymore for a variety of reasons so they are my sole responsibility and reason for living and that's all I'll say about that," I explained.

"Geez that's rough, sorry I didn't know, how old are they?"

"Armin is nine months old, I've been taking care of him pretty much since he was born, and Mikasa is six."

"And a half." Mikasa chimed in almost completely asleep again.

"Sorry, Mikasa is six and a half."

"I see, well hop in I'll take you where you need to go," Levi said and so I buckle Mikasa up and got in and we were off.

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Word Count: 1131