Eren woke just a second before his alarm went off. He pulled himself out of bed. What did he feel like wearing today. He walked to his closet. Opening it He realized he really needed to do laundry tonight. He shifted through the few shirts hanging there. In the back was an old worn favorite of his. The cuffs were frayed there were scattered holes in it, but he loved it. Pulling it out he tossed it on the bed. It was a vibrant orange color.
Laughing he went in search of Blackie. The cat was sitting on the counter in the kitchen. Eren popped open a can of cat food. He dumped it onto a plate and gave it to the cat. "So, I am going to leave even earlier today. Ugh, I just can't walk in the same direction as Levi. He probably won't even talk to me." Eren fixed himself a bowl of cereal as he talked.
"You know, Blackie, I think he won't even see me. Ya know like those light spectrum things were you can just hide inside..." He laughed chewing a bit of food. "Yeah, been hanging out with the science geeks too much." He sighed, washing out his empty bowl.
"Damn I forgot to pack a lunch. Guess it's starvation day for me. Not like I haven't been there before..." He walked away stroking his hand along the cats slick fur. He went to his bathroom to brush his teeth. Pulling a tank top on, he put the orange sweater on over it. His wore a pair of black jeans, these were slightly bagging on him. He didn't like wearing them often.
"Remind me to do laundry tonight!" He told the cat curled up on his bed. He walked out to get his bag. He heard a soft pop sound. Thinking it was the cat jumping off of his he'd he called out to it.
"Don't get into too much mischief today!" Laughing he walked out locking the door. Eren walked down to the stairs. He jogged down, hitting the front door with no sign of Levi. The morning mist was just rolling off of the grass. The semi darkness lifting as the boy grinned up at the new day. He had texted Armin earlier that he would met him at school. Jogging along, Eren moved to the opposite side of the road as he neared that corner. It wasn't even seven yet, so he was pretty sure they weren't there. As he jogged past, he noted they weren't. A good day was forming. He could feel it. With a giggle he added to his speed, racing the last few blocks to school.
Eren had a favorite tree he could hide in when he got to school this early. He rounded the side of the building. Hanging his bag on both shoulders, he reached up.
"What are you doing?" a grumpy voice called out. With a squeal Eren lost his hold as his one foot that was on the grass slipped in the dew. He fell back. Landing on his pack, he blinked up to see the hot Levi above him. The teen stood looking down at him.
"I was going to hide before the muggers got here." Eren groaned as he went to sit up. A pine cone rolled away from him. He reached over picking it up. It was the perfect shape. He smiled.
"Blackie doesn't have any toys..." He muttered to himself. He slipped the pine cone into his bag. A hand appeared before his eyes. He blinked. Levi still stood there.
"Oh, hey." Eren tried to smile. Levi wiggled his fingers. Eren grasped the hand. He felt an elecetric shock zip up his arm. Levi tightened his hold to pull the taller teen to his feet. "Uh, thanks."
"Whose Blackie?" Levi asked.
"Oh, well it's this cat that sort of followed me home the other day..." Eren scratched at his face.
"Kind of a dumb name." Levi muttered. He leaned against the tree. Eren smirked.
"Yeah, we couldn't agree on a better one..." Eren was nervous this close to the hot teen.
"Sit with me at lunch today." It was said like an order.
"Um, no, I would rather not." Eren turned to walk away.
"Why not?" Levi asked. Then he snapped his fingers. "Blackie like the black hole of destruction or the blackest demon, ok, I like it better now." Eren turned to look at him. The smile still lingered on Levi's thin lips. It was so perfect on the handsome face, that Eren felt his own face heat up. He turned away again. He had one other spot, if he could get to it in time... A hand caught his arm.
"Hey, you didn't answer me, brat." Levi held him in place. Eren saw a few kids heading up the sidewalk. He knew the school opened at six thirty for the free breakfast. He also knew that if Bertolt and Reiner didn't find him at the tree they would hurry here.
"Please, I need to hide..." Eren cried trying to pull his arm away.
"I'll let you go when you tell me why you won't sit with me." Levi looked him in the eye.
"It, it's not you, it's them..." Eren looked away.
"Connie and them?" Levi asked looking confused.
"No, please let me go!" Eren tried to twist his arm free but Levi held on. He saw the fear in the others eye. Slowly his hand open. Eren nodded before running away. He darted around the end of the building.
"Damn that kid is fast." Levi muttered to himself. He walked to the front of the school. He picked up his bag and tea he had left there when he saw Eren. He didn't know just what the kids story was.
Levi found he was only in three of Eren's classes. Lunch, gym or study hall after lunch and the last class of the day. They both had art. He was reviewing his schedule while he waited outside of the lunch room. He wondered if he could sweet talk the secretary into putting him in more of Eren's classes. It would be a little bit of a stretch. He hated being nice.
Eren came around the corner. He was talking to the small blond Armin again. The two were laughing at each other. Then, Reiner dropped an arm around their shoulders. He said something and turned the smaller boys toward the bathroom. Levi saw Eren's eyes flick down the hall. They met his. They looked terrified.
"There he goes again." A voice said at Levi's side. "Where's Marco, he's usually here by now." Levi saw the blond girl from yesterday standing beside him. Before Levi could say anything he heard a scream from the bathroom. He ran down the hall, busting in he took only a second to see what was going on.
The teacher saw the kids exit the bathroom one had a bloody nose, on had a black eye, the last was holding their wrist. It was twisted at an odd angle. "What's going on here?" He demanded. When no one spoke he looked into the bathroom. Checking all the stalls he didn't find anyone else. He sent the boys to the nurse with instructions to see the principle afterwards. He yelled at them about fighting in school.
Levi walked into lunch, Eren had vanished on him once more. He didn't see the kid at lunch. Nor was his blond friend there. In study hall, Eren was again not present. Levi frowned. When he walked into art he saw the boy sitting at an easel. It was apparent he had been there for some time. Eren glanced up as the teacher came by. She placed a hand on his arm. Levi moved to hear what she was saying.
"... leave, just make sure you put the paints away." She moved away. Eren began to clean up.
"Brat, aren't you suppose to be in this class?" Levi asked. Eren smiled without really looking at him.
"Doctors appointment." He left cleaning up his station.
Eren watched Levi move around to look at his painting. He couldn't see the others face. He frowned but finished cleaning up. Once done he grabbed his things. He waved to the art teacher as he headed out. He didn't have an appointment. The teacher knew this but it was their way of getting Eren out of class early on days he had study hall. He hurried home.
Once there he looked all over for Blackie. Not seeing the small cat, he just sat the pine cone down. Eren began his chores. He started the washing machine first. Then swept and mopped. He took out the garbage, making sure to clean out Blackie's litter box. By the time he was walking back in from the dumpster, he saw Blackie curled up on the couch in his apartment.
"Where do you hide so well?" He asked. He switched his laundry into the dryer. "You won't believe what happened in school today. Levi talked to me." He picked up the cat, taking him into the kitchen. He poured him some milk in a saucer. Eren pulled an apple from the fridge as he ate he talked to the cat. He told the cat all about their early morning meeting. Then he picked it up and they went into his room.
With the cat nestled in the crook of his stomach, Eren curled around it. He petted it. "Just before lunch Reiner found Armin and I. He put his arms around us as we were heading to the cafeteria.
"Hey, LGBTQ+ asses, why don't you blow me?" He laughed but we couldn't get away from him. He dragged us into the bathroom. He throwing us against the stall wall. Standing before us.
"That hurt. I think I have a bruise on my shoulder. Anyway he whips his dick out, let me tell you, he needs to stay off the steroids if ya know what I mean." Eren chuckled. "Then he goes well whose sucking it first. It was so small!" Eren buried his face in the cats fur as he laughed.
"But it was scary. He punches the wall yelling at us to suck it. He grabbed my shirt pulling me up, it ripped, and he slammed me against the wall. I yelled for Armin to run. He did so, screaming as he ran out. Then, Blackie you know what happened?" Eren's eyes shone as he recalled the next turn of events.
"Levi appeared. I thought for sure Reiner was going to make mincemeat out of my face. He punched out, but I dodged and he hit the wall behind me. He yelled and Levi was kicking him from behind. Reiner fell down and Levi just kept kicking him. Bertolt came in then. Levi head butted him in the face. He fell back against the door. Reiner managed to punch Levi, but then, Levi caught his hand and twisted it like before. We all heard something snap in it." Eren shivered. Bertolt ran out, Levi went after him. I saw Reiner get up. I thought for sure he was going to go after me again. But he was crying holding his arm. He just looked at me, called me a faggot again..." Eren rolled his eyes. "... and ran out. The teacher came in. I knew if he saw me he would yell at me for fighting. I managed to hide in the vent behind the door.
Eren chuckled. "Oh, I got you something." He jumped up almost dumping the cat from the bed. He went to get the pine cone. Coming back he sat on the floor rolling it to the cat. The black cat just looked at it.
"I know it isn't much, but I can't get you toys just yet." Eren went to pick it up, guessing the cat didn't like it. Blackie batted the brown cone away. He caught it in both paws, lifting it up to toss it. When it fell back to the ground, he pounced on it. Eren laughed. It made him happy that the cat liked his little toy.
He took it rolling it back to him. He played with the cat until his dryer was done. He took care of his clothes and found some dinner for both of them. They next day was Friday. "That means Armin can come over after school to play video games with me." He smiled to the cat. "I can't wait for you to meet him." Eren took the cat back to his room. He laid in bed putting a movie on. The cat curled up with him as they watched the movie together.