Be My Salvation (Ereri/Riren)

XVI

By the end of his retelling, Eren was in tears, one dripping off of his chin right after another. His fingers, where they once held onto the cherry blossom petal, were now curled into loose fists. That was more than he'd ever told anyone about his past...

Next to him, Levi sat still and speechless, a tooth hooked loosely on the ring in his lip. All he seemed to be able to think about were the scars he'd seen that morning, forever marking up the skin now covered by Eren's shirt. He'd been...beaten...and from the sound of it, it hadn't happened too awfully long ago. Levi was stunned.

It took him a minute to drift back to reality, but when he did, all he could think to do was slide his arms around the crying boy's shaking shoulders. It felt awkward. Stiff. Nonetheless, Eren leaned into the contact. His head came to rest upon Levi's shoulder, tears never ceasing or slowing down. And Levi let him cry.

"The...the police showed up...later," Eren managed in a thick voice. After clearing his throat he began again. "I don't know how long I'd been down there before they dragged them out and found me. I think...I think one of them told me a neighbor had put in the call...something about not having seen me in months?" He shook himself. "I'm not really sure. But then I met Petra. She told me I could live with her, and that I could bring Zoë, so I went. And then a few months later you showed up..."

"Did they not go on trial?" Levi mused, staring blankly across the tops of the headstones, his mind somewhere else completely.

"Mm...yeah," Eren mumbled, lifting his head and dragging an arm beneath his nose. "Petra said they did...but it was short because there was plenty of evidence in the house. Said they didn't even need me there. And I'm glad 'cause I never want to see their shitty faces again."

Levi nearly snorted at the sound of Eren cursing. "So why couldn't you live with your grandparents?"

"My gramma had severe dementia," Eren explained as he was working on wiping his face. "And they were too old to take care of a little kid by then, anyway..."

"And what about your friend?"

"Who? Armin?" The brunet tried masking the crack in his voice by clearing his throat. When Levi nodded, he went on, "I don't know...I haven't seen him since I was in school. And that was months ago..."

Levi scoffed and playfully pushed Eren's head away. The younger looked genuinely offended and confused. "What was that for?"

"You're a damn idiot," muttered the raven, spinning his lip ring.

"Wh-why...?"

"Because you wasted your wish on something pathetic instead of coming here or going to see your friend instead."

Frowning, Eren attempted to return the gesture, shoving on Levi's shoulder but not getting very far. "I think you're the idiot," he shot back.

"For?" Levi prompted, cocking a brow.

"You keep saying I wasted my wish on you. And it's not true at all."

"I still don't understand why you did it," Levi sighed. "I don't think I ever will."

"Then...I guess that's something we have in common."

"...what?"

"Unless you just used your wish to bring me here because you felt obligated."

Levi was quiet for another moment, working through his thoughts to form his answer. "Maybe at first," he murmured, preoccupying himself with running his fingers through the patch of crabgrass near his right knee. "But when you told me about her, and when I realized how much you love her, it changed." He cleared his throat to punctuate the sentence, attempting to mask the sudden uneasiness he felt.