Castaway - (ereri/riren)

Castaway - 24

Eren slipped his hand out of Armin's grip with ease. He wanted to find Levi.

The teen was panicked, an upset look in his eyes. He brought it up, and it was his fault. Eren didn't really think it would trigger him so much though? Was this all Levi? Was all of this stress and worry making him feel like he was on thin ice with himself? He couldn't believe that there were certain things he couldn't say aloud because they would trigger him.

Losing a parent isn't easy. He lost both, and his past still haunted him. Still ate away at his mind. He was so vulnerable. Any happiness he could get turned into him clutching onto it, blind at what was to come afterwards.

He didn't see that his actions had some sort of consequences until it was too late.

Eren couldn't help but second guess all of his actions. Did his issues lead to him sticking to Levi? Levi seemed like such a constant in his life at that moment. They were stuck on an island together for crying out loud.

There had always been some feelings there, but was that just his issues? Even off of the island Levi was a constant in his life.

Teaching him five days a week, seeing him in detention and so on.

It didn't make sense to him though. Armin was a constant in his life and he wasn't attracted to him in that way. He wasn't drawn to him like he was to Levi.

So what was it?

Was everything he had done up until that point a mistake? Did he screw himself over?

Eren's search for Levi was short. He stopped short and took a break to think. He was letting his heart and mind fight over what was right. It was tearing him apart.

It took a mental breakdown for reality to set in for him. Levi made him forget though. Life wasn't as hard. Acting out and getting detention was his life. Talking back to the teacher or not doing his homework as much as he should've. His life. Not studying a lot, spending way too much time on his phone. Also his life.

It was also many other teenagers' lives.

Eren had that one little distraction though.

-
Levi had been sitting on the rocks where he and Eren had spent a lot of time. He stared out at the water, occasionally seeing a dolphin pop up and break through the waves.

The moon's light added a beautiful glimmer onto the water. The full moon left a hint of light.

"Moping?" A deep voice spoke, causing Levi to turn and look. Erwin.

Levi and Erwin had some history. Before teaching together they had known each other in high school as well as college. The two got along quite well.

The raven haired man watched as his co-worker and friend climbed up, sitting next to him on the rocks.

"You don't remember hearing about the death of Eren's parents?" Erwin murmured. "Five years ago..we were doing the same thing. Teaching. Eren was.. ten correct? In the sixth grade, I suppose. It was in the news and the principle had wanted to spread awareness through the district."

"I remember. I didn't think I'd end up this involved with the fucking best." Levi scratched the back of his neck.

Erwin chuckled. "You always had such a vulgar vocabulary." He thought about the past, the bar hopping in college, graduating and thinking he'd never see his grumpy friend again.. to working with him.

"Not surprising. I've always been like this, being a teacher isn't going to change that. They're high school students, the word fuck shouldn't scare them." Levi rubbed his hand against the growing hair on his face. Erwin was already starting to form a small beard. "I was raised with the constant swearing, it stuck."

"I guess that's true." Erwin watched Levi and chuckled. "I can see you really wish you could shave."

"Who knew shaving would become a luxury. First thing I'm doing if we ever get rescued is taking a shower. I feel filthy. This facial hair, the lack of being able to properly bathe? This is a nightmare." Levi kept his miserable expression, it only darkening slightly. He always looked angry, so when he was actually angry it wasn't as easy to tell.

"Things could be worse." Erwin shrugged. "Think about it. Someone could be dead or really hurt. We could be starving."

"We practically are starving." Levi rolled his eyes and stood up from the rock, feet splashing in the waves as they came to shore. "I think it's time I look around for Eren. I'm surprised he hasn't made his way around yet."

Time barely existed to them anymore. Who knew the date, or what time it was. Counting the minutes wasn't really done either, so Levi didn't exactly know how long it had been. It just felt like a long time, though he is pretty impatient when it comes to certain things. It could've only been ten minutes, they wouldn't know.

Levi walked, trying not to cringe as white sand stuck to his wet feet. It was one of the most uncomfortable feelings. He hated the beach and all that it brought. Salty water, sand and sunburn.

His ideal choice would be a pool, but if he had the option, he'd pick neither. That wasn't him, but that was definitely Eren. They were such opposites. How did they attract?

After shuffling through the sand for a bit, he finally spotted a dark shadow. It had to be Eren. "Eren?" He called out, still walking closer.

"Hey." The teen spoke softly, watching as Levi approached and sat next to him.

"How can you just sit here this sand is making me want to scream." Levi spoke under his breath and let out a sigh. "Are you feeling better?"

Eren hadn't expected Levi to ask. "I guess I'm good. I just get triggered easily it seems. Especially being here and under so much stress." He drew circles into the sand with his finger. "The thought of being able to go home is in my head, along with a hundred other thoughts."

-

A/N: it's been more than a year since I updated this story and that thought is crazy to me. I've been on Wattpad a lot more recently reading some old fan fictions, so I felt it would only be fair to try and update my own! Maybe get some closer to being done at least. I would hate to leave people on cliffhangers forever.

Anyways, please vote and comment! Thank you.