Silence
A/N: Greetings! First of all, I'd like to thank you for reading as well as apologizing for any mistakes, as it has been at least four years since I sat down to write any fanfiction. After recently starting to read them again, I thought it'd be cool to write my own, so that's what's happening.
Summary: British University AU. He wanted to hear his voice, if it was only once and only one word, Levi was convinced the boy would eventually speak. But there were times where his silence was golden. [Mute Eren, Levi the psychologist-to-be who is convinced he can help him.]
Note: Due to being British myself and not completely understanding the American school system, I've kept this simple for my tiny brain, using England as the location of the story. Currency will be in GBP but I'll be putting the exchange rates at the end of any chapter that contains prices of things, or if it's easier I could put them into brackets. The exchange will be from pounds to dollars.
Chapter 1
My heart felt as if it could have burst through my chest at any moment. There was people everywhere. If I had known it was going to be this bad, I probably would of just looked for a job straight out of school rather than forcing myself through those extra years in order to make sure I accomplished something with my life. Then again, my mum had raised me to never give up on my dreams, no matter how hopeless I may feel. The words she told me before I boarded the train from my comfortable home in the beautiful countryside of a tiny place known as "Pocklington" to the busy campus of Exeter University. Nearly seven hours away from my home to be exact.
There was only one person who'd come to the same university as me that I knew. My sister, Mikasa, was also attending. I knew she didn't want to and that she'd only done it in order to stay as close to me as possible, making sure I wasn't bullied (which I doubt would happen anyway, considering university is waaay different to high school.) Granted, Exeter University was not Oxford or Cambridge, but I'd looked into it a lot before deciding on attending this specific university. It was still one of the best in the country and I'd worked my little ass of to get in.
"Do you want to grab something to eat? I mean, after we've got our stuff to our dorms and met our room mates." I nodded in response to her question to which she smiled meaning she'd acknowledged my answer. Dragging my suitcase along was not easy for someone who barely did any exercise and preferred to sit indoors, playing games or drawing. It took the very last of my energy to even get to my dorm, with Mikasa's help of course, considering we had gotten lost and it was impossible for me to speak to someone to ask for help. "Right. This one is yours." She fumbled in her pocket, taking out two keys, checking the numbers that hung on little tags around them. Handing me mine, she gave me her "serious face." I rolled my eyes, waiting for her to talk. It would be something along the lines of "remember, I'm only down the hall if something happens" or "don't you forget to eat breakfast every morning, I'll be coming to check."
"Okay, first of all, do not lose that key," I gave her a nod, waiting for her to continue. "Second, make sure to change your socks every day. I know you forget." Shaking my head in an attempt to argue, she just let out a giggle. "There's no point trying to deny it. I've noticed. Unless all of your socks have the same pattern and stay on your feet for a few days while you play games." Okay, she had got me. But in all fairness, that was over the summer. When I was meant to be relaxing. And my kind of relaxing was not worrying about whether I remembered to shower or change my socks, because I had spent a lot of it in my room instead of going out into awkward social situations.
Grabbing my shoulders, she pulled me into her for a hug. It was embarrassing that she was taller than me even if it was only by two inches. I wrapped my arms around her and I felt her rest her head on mine. "Be good!" And with that, she grabbed her suitcase again, waving as she ran down the hall to find her dorm.
Okay, Eren. You need to breathe. Whoever is behind this door is going to be super nice to you. They'll understand that you can't speak to them, surely. All of my lecturers had already been informed, surely they would of told my room mate. Hearing shuffling on the other side of the door, I assumed it was already unlocked, pushing the handle down and slowly entering the room, my suitcase being dragged behind me. "Oi." Whoever that was, they already sounded pissed off. "Take your shoes off, don't fuck up this carpet anymore. It's fucking disgusting." My eyes widened at the sight of a rather small but well built man. Rather small? Scrap that, he was small. Not rather, just small. "Are you fucking listening?" I nodded my head, using a foot to pull my shoe off the opposite one. I looked around, noticing bleach bottles already set out on one of the desks, which I assumed he had claimed as his side.
He made some sort of grumble whilst he offered out his hand to shake mine. Of course, I shook. "Levi." He said, in the same tone he had previously just yelled at me with. "And you?" He let go of my hand and I was instantly panicking. How do you introduce yourself to people when you can't even fucking talk? I came up with a quick and probably stupid idea on the spot, taking out my phone and opening Facebook, before loading my profile and holding my phone out in front of me. "Eren?" There was a hint of curiosity in his voice and I had already guessed why. Nodding at him, he raised an eyebrow, before he came out with "Isn't that a girl's name?" There is was. That is what I had been waiting for. I shook my head. "Whatever then. It's not like I plan on talking to you, anyway. I just wanna get this shit over and done with and leave. Got it?"
Levi was scary for being so short. The fact he hadn't mentioned my not talking made me feel a bit better, but this was the first time I'd come across someone like him, with eyes that seemed to burn holes in you when he stared. It was strange for someone to not say something about my muteness or to laugh at me after I struggled to talk. After our introductions, I had the chance to begin my unpacking and organising. Taking my suitcase to my bed and opening it, I noticed a packet of donuts. Jam donuts that my mum had obviously put into my bag, knowing I would most likely be wanting something sweet when I arrived. I took them out, sighing, stretching over and placing them on my desk. The gesture was nice and I knew she had meant well, but I didn't even like jam donuts. Out of the corner of my eye as I continued the unpacking of my case, I noticed Levi watching me, or at least, close to me. It was like he was examining something. Whatever it was, it had his full attention. "What kind of donuts are they?"
Reaching back across, I grabbed the packet once more, offering them out to him. He put down the clothes that he held in his hands (folded incredibly neatly, making my mum's packing look as if it was done by a five year old) and took them from me. "Ah, these ones." Maybe he didn't like them either. As much as I would of liked to ask him if he wanted one, or maybe the whole bag considering I didn't plan on eating them, I couldn't. Instead, I just stared at him whilst he did the same to the packet of donuts. "Idiot, what are you fucking staring at?" Shaking my head again, I went back to unpacking, leaving the disgusting donuts with him.
I had to tell him he could have one, if he wanted to. He'd already placed them down on his desk but left them unopened, most likely waiting for me to grab them but I could see him, every so often, glancing over to packet. There was a temptation in his eyes and mentally, I laughed. Hell, the tiniest giggle escaped my lips which was about the only sound I could make, other than bodily functions like coughing or whatever. "The fuck you laughing at?" Putting away the last couple of t-shirts I was holding, I took my phone out again, opening the notes and typing out a message.
You can have them if you want I don't like them anyway
Once again, I held my phone out to him. "Thank you, Eren."
And with that, my mission to finish unpacking all of my clothes before my sister came back to drag me out for food began once more. Levi, however, was opening the donuts.
Notes: I certainly had fun writing this! But it's whether or not people actually enjoy reading it. I kind of wanted to give Levi something about him that was actually quite funny and the donuts sprang to mind since I was eating them myself.
If anything is wrong with this, please don't hesitate to let me know! It's always good to receive feedback. That's how you become better.
I'll try to update it as much as possible but I'm super busy with college at the minute since we're close to finishing for the year.
~ TA.
