This book now has a schedule over on AO3. I will update this book every month on the second Saturday! If you want to read the next chapter early, on the new set schedule, you can head on over to my AO3 here: /works/34378969/chapters/85550926

Please keep in mind that this book is originally a Reader insert, so the version on AO3 is in its original form. If that's not your thing, that's ok! I will be posting the next chapter a week later here on Fanfiction, on the third Saturday of every month. Thank you for all my readers for your patience!

In which Eren finds friends.

Hope you enjoy!

Eren has fit in nicely in Rose's little family. He was good with her twins and they even bonded with him quickly. It took a week and they were stuck to him like glue. They even memorized his name, especially when Eren tried correcting them on how to correctly pronounce his name. They'll now sometimes say his name right, but if they speak quickly, they would go back to "'ren".

Rose was especially pleased when she had to leave Eren alone with them when she was called in for an emergency at work. Levi was halfway done with his work day that day, so with his wife gone, that would leave Eren alone with two toddlers. She returned within a few hours to find the twins already fed and sitting with Eren on the couch practically cuddling with him. It was an adorable sight and she took a surprise picture that had Eren flinching. It's been the background picture for her phone ever since.

It's been three months now since Eren has been living with them. Levi had been home-schooling him and it's been going nicely. Eren wasn't as fast a learner as Levi was, but it's been a nice and steady progress. He's mastered the alphabet and can easily count to one hundred. Meanwhile, he's slowly been teaching the twins, who can now count to five. Rose is proud of all three of her children—yes, three. She couldn't not see Eren as her second son—and she made sure she told them this for each accomplishment.

Eren has even become comfortable enough to ask for more bedroom furniture, albeit he'll ask with a bashfulness that pulled at Rose's heartstrings. He wanted a work desk, so he can work on his homework and study in his room in peace if he wanted. She also got him a furniture set: two bedside tables, and a tall drawer with chest. The shop she bought it from threw in two small lamps for free for being a loyal repeat customer. His room was looking more like someone's room, instead of a guest bedroom. Levi even got him a T.V and stand for his room and hooked it up to the cable, where Eren sometimes watches T.V. when he wants some alone time.

Eren was working on his homework now, asking Levi—who had his day off today and tomorrow—for help. It seems he was really struggling with this specific subject. Surprisingly, Levi is a really good tutor, Rose almost envied Eren. She's certain Eren's steady progress is because of her husband's tutoring. She was working on laundry as Levi and Eren were working on homework in the living room. She had agreed with Levi that Eren would go to school once he has all of the basics down. Even as a cadet, he still had normal schooling with normal subjects mixed into his military training, so thankfully he won't be too far behind school, he just needed to know how to read and write the modern way.

Eren hasn't even left for school and she was already missing him. It won't be too long now, she'll have to buy him clothes for high school. Perhaps she'll go shopping with him, although she noticed Eren was a true boy and didn't really care about shopping all that much. She feel like she had to take him, though. Nowadays, high school boys care about their looks.

"Rose?" Eren snapped her out of her thoughts. "When's lunch?"

"Feeling hungry already?" she asked, smiling.

He has what you would call a healthy appetite.

"Oi, damn brat." A bit annoyed, Levi called Eren's attention back to the workbook in front of him. "Lunch is ready when it's ready. Pay attention to your work."

"Levi, he's been working all morning." Rose responded, already starting on lunch. "How about a break? Then he can have lunch and he can go back to his work until dinner?"

"Tch. You're too soft on him." Levi scoffed.

"No, you're just too strict."

Levi scoffed again, but he's not pushing back so she know he's not really upset. Eren caught her eyes and she beamed at him, Eren returning her expression with a smile of his own. He leaned back in his chair and stretched, one arm bending as if he were putting a hand to the back of his neck and the other arm straight in the air. After twenty minutes, she served paninis for lunch, a smaller version for the twins, then Eren went back to his tutoring for six more hours until she started dinner at seven.

Eren is such a trooper. There's a lot of subjects he's taking in all at once, on top of learning new words to read and write every day, but he's taking it all in without complaint. Rose noticed he still acts like an army boy, he follows requests like orders; he begins immediately and he completes it as quick as he's able to, even if the request is as simple as passing something. Rose hoped that one day he'll realize that he doesn't have to act like that anymore, that now that he's in this world, he can live as a normal teenager, worrying about things like studying for the next school exam and not the study of the ground work for the next expedition or worrying about wanting the next best smart phone, not about how to spread communication best while out in the field. Now that he has the opportunity, he should take it and live like a normal teenager in the modern world.

She sincerely hoped for that.

Over the next three months, Eren continued Levi's study times and passed enough home-school tests that he can attend high school. Rose and Levi took care of Eren's enrollment to the local high school and agreed that Levi would drop him off in the morning and she would pick him up after school since she was done with work by the time he got out. Levi even went out and bought Eren a smart phone so that it'd be easier for him to get in contact with one of them should anything happen while he was away from them. A few days before he entered, he expressed that he was nervous and that he didn't want to go. Rose expressed that it would be better for him to go to an actual school rather than stay at home. Besides the possible better teaching, he can interact with more people his age, possibly make friends and he can find more enjoyable things like after school programs. The talk didn't seem to lift his spirits up much, but he ultimately accepted it. Levi talked to him after she did. As she wasn't in the room with them to know what was said, she didn't know what Levi said to make Eren seem more enthusiastic about school. It made her pout. Eren seems to take Levi's words to heart more than hers and it made her feel inferior.

"Eren regards you as highly as he does me." Levi tried to soothe his wife when she brought it up with him. "He's grateful for the both of us, he's told me. He can tell you himself, I'll call him."

"No, it's OK, I believe you!"

She felt embarrassed bringing this up with him, she didn't want to embarrass herself further.

The first few days of school were tough on Eren. When she asked him how school went, he told her that he felt alienated. Everyone knows about his "post-human trafficking" situation and no one is trying to talk to him besides the teachers.

"And they're only talking to me because they have to!"

He was frustrated, and rightly so, they weren't treating him fairly. She reassured him that he won't have to worry about that in the long run.

"It'll be hard and maybe unfair, but it's going to take time for people to warm up to you. The only thing you can do is give them time and focus on what you should be doing. Don't let them bother you, OK?"

A month into school, things started to settle. He still didn't have any friends, but the judgements against him seemed to stop and Rose was glad that he wasn't coming home stressed anymore. A second month passed without incident.

Or so was thought until both she and Levi were called into the school in that second month. Eren got into a confrontation with another boy and destroyed this other boy's pride. Apparently, Eren tossed this boy to the ground and proceeded to hold him down until he conceded defeat. Their boy came out completely unscathed, the other boy, however, came out with some bumps and bruises, but nothing too bad. The boy's mother apparently wanted to meet and "discuss" it.

"We called you in for unruly behavior. It was brought to my attention that Eren was involved in a fight with his classmate, Ryan. Ryan claims that he was just talking to him when Eren attacked him." the principle recounted the story that was told to him, all the while Eren had his head down, scowling and clenching his teeth at the accusations.

Rose and Levi listened to the man with unamused faces. Eren isn't disruptive for no reason, she and Levi both knew that for a fact.

"This boy should be suspended at the very least for doing this to my boy!" Ryan's mother pressed.

"Right." was Rose's nonchalant answer. "Eren, tell us what really happened."

Eren looked at her, as if asking if that was really OK. The other boy's mother got irritated from her nonchalance and started saying some unsavory things, but both she and Levi shot her a glare that had her shutting her mouth.

"Go ahead Eren." Rose soothingly said, a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"He's been annoying me for a week. Spreading rumors about me and talking smack to my face. He touched me, so I knocked him down."

"So he's been trying to bully you and he made the mistake of touching you." Rose reiterated.

"That's a lie! My Ryan doesn't bully."

"You shut your mouth." she glared at the woman again, her words sharp.

"You're obviously a shit mother if you don't know what your child is up to." Levi talked next.

"How dare you! Do you have any idea who I am?!"

"I don't give two fucks who you are." Levi smoothly answered.

"I can get him expelled!"

"You have cameras in this school, don't you?" Rose turned to the principle talking over Ryan's mother.

She noticed Ryan perk up at the mention of cameras.

"We do."

"Have you bothered checking them, Mr. Principle?" she continued. "I'm sure Eren can tell you when and where this happened."

Ryan started to look nervous and it didn't go unnoticed by her, Levi or Eren.

"What's wrong, Ryan?" Eren asked, obviously angry. "You're looking nervous."

Eren's being a little shit right now, but neither Rose isn't about to stop him, she was also angry. How dare this woman call Eren a liar. She's probably the reason why this Ryan kid is going around bullying other kids!

"Interesting. Why would your precious boy look so bothered if he was the victim?" she mockingly cooed, then turned back to the principle. "Bring up the footage. Show us all the truth."

"Ryan, what is wrong with you?" his mother asked, as her boy looked visibly concerned.

Eren stared at the boy with such intensity that it was making him squirm.

The principle did indeed bring out the recorded footage of the day and time that Eren provided. The footage clearly showed Ryan and Eren in question, the footage itself in black and white, but clear quality. It showed Ryan and Eren talking in an open area. Ryan looked condescending and seemed to mock Eren and Eren seemed to be talking back to him. Ryan then grabbed Eren by the shoulder, his other hand coming up in a fist about to punch him, but Eren reacted quickly, catching Ryan's thrown fist and twisting his arm. Ryan slumped, trying to minimize the pain and Eren hit his face, then kicked him down, pinning the boy's face and upper body with a hand on the back of his head and a knee on his back—it was quick and happened in less than a minute. There was no audio in the entirety, but Eren spoke while he had the other boy pinned. After a minute, Eren finally stood up, seemed to glare at him, then stomped away.

"Would you look at that!" Rose exclaimed in mock surprise. "Self defense! Maybe pay attention to your son and he won't turn out to be a disgrace. Do me a favor and keep your kid away from my son."

Ryan's mother looked at her son in disbelief, it was obvious that a lecture was dancing on her tongue, but she didn't say anything. She'll probably let him have it while they're alone together.

"Eren, pick where you want to eat out." Levi said in a matter that suggested this conversation was over.

"We're eating out?"

"If you want to. I've been craving Korean Barbecue." Rose suggested.

"We can go for some Korean Barbecue."

"Rose." Levi drew out her name slightly. "Let him pick on his own.

"Alright, alright." she giggled.

"We're done here right?" Levi turned back to the principle once more.

"Yes. Thank you for your time." the principle stood up and reached a hand out to shake, which Levi returned giving his hand one firm shake as his wife led Eren out of the room.

"Eren never fights unprovoked." Levi explained one last time. "If he's fighting, someone started it, but he will end it."

The principle nodded. "I understand."

Levi nodded, then proceeded to follow his wife and Eren out of the room. The three of them, including their twins ended up going to a good Korean Barbecue place. Having yet to go out to a place like that, Eren thoroughly enjoyed himself and Rose was overjoyed.

Yet another month in, the news of how easily Eren kicked Ryan's ass spread like wildfire, but the rumor was a bit exaggerated. Eren couldn't care less about the rumor, he was just glad that no one else had tried to mess with him since.

"Hey!" someone called Eren's attention at lunch time, just as he was about to eat at his desk in the classroom. "Did you actually beat up Ryan?"

Looking up, Eren swore his heart skipped a beat. Gazing at him with genuine interest was a smiling Armin, but he couldn't believe his eyes.

"...Armin...?" he shakily asked.

"Huh?" the blonde's face fell for a moment. "Oh, let me introduce myself! My name's Arnold Vence."

Eren's mood fell. This guy looks so much like Armin, but it's was painfully obvious he wasn't his best friend, even his voice was lower. This guy's hair is shorter, he was a bit taller and he was so obviously talkative. Armin wasn't afraid to meet new people or anything, but he wasn't so forward.

"This guy," Arnold pointed to another classmate behind him. "is coincidentally named Ven, Ven Klein."

Ven was taller than Arnold, had light, ash-brown hair and was on the slender side. He reminded Eren of Jean.

Noticing Eren's expression, Arnold's smile faltered again. "Are you OK?"

Eren spent all his energy on learning and trying to adapt to his new surroundings that he didn't realize just how much he missed his friends. He couldn't help but tear up a little, but he quickly pulled himself together with a shake of his head.

"Yeah." Eren sniffed and rubbed his face. "I'm Eren Yeager and yeah, I taught that guy a lesson."

"Hahaha, that's so cool, man!" Arnold's smile was back and he laughed merrily. "Ryan was notorious for being a total asshole. People fought back, sure, but no one's beat him so fast that he actually backed off!"

"He got suspended." Ven spoke.

"Right, you also got him suspended! Nice work!"

"Thanks."

"The big question here is, and you don't have to answer; just tell me to mind my own business, did you really come from...y'know..." Arnold lowered his voice. "the Underground."

Eren recognized he was talking about that human trafficking bull that people just slapped onto him to explain his sudden appearance and lack of existence in the system.

"Yeah..." Eren answered.

"Dude, what was that like?!"

Arnold took a seat at the desk in front of Eren, sitting backwards on the chair and Ven stepped closer to continue standing next to his friend. Eren's not going to have time to eat if this keeps up, so he went ahead and just started eating.

"What do you mean?" Eren asked.

"Like, is it really an underground city?"

"It's more open than you think." Eren said, thinking about the walls.

"There's talk that that place had its own military."

"They did."

"No way! Were you part of it?!"

"I was."

"Holy crap, no wonder you beat Ryan, he had no freaking chance!"

"Arnold. You're so fucking loud." Ven pointedly spoke up.

"Oh, sorry. It's just this guy's so interesting!" Arnold paused for a second to gather his thoughts and Eren continued to eat his lunch. "Eren Yeager..."

Eren stared at him at the call of his name.

"Even his damn name's pretty cool."

Eren was starting to get uncomfortable with all the compliments, but this was also strangely nostalgic. He didn't mind their company.

"You should sit with us at the cafeteria tomorrow, Eren."

That was unexpected, but Eren felt some happiness bubbling to the surface. Someone actually wants to spend time with him?

"You're joking, right?" Ven spoke up again.

"Aw, don't be like that, Ven. I wanna know more about him."

"I'm not gonna be comfortable with some weird guy sitting with us."

That was rude. What's this guy's problem? He didn't do anything to him to warrant that.

"...No one asked for your opinion, horse face."

There was a moment of silence as Eren realized his mistake. This guy isn't Jean, but he still regarded him as such. Arnold was so obviously trying not to laugh at the insult.

"Hah?" Ven snapped at Eren, then grabbed him by his collar. "You seem like the type of guy who has a knack for getting himself into trouble. Got some kind of death wish, you suicidal bastard?"

Eren takes it back, this is so obviously Jean. Ven seemed more reserved and is definitely rougher around the edges, but he has the same hot headed intolerance.

"If you don't let go of me, I'll show you what I did to the last guy who touched me." Eren's eyes were suddenly intense.

"Now, now, c'mon guys, we're gonna catch a teacher's attention." Arnold tried to defuse the situation with a nervous smile. "But y'know Ven, this is your fault. You were pretty rude, my dude."

"Tch." Ven scoffed, letting him go. "Whatever."

Without another word, Ven put his hands in his pockets and walked away, leaving the room.

"Wait, Ven!" Arnold tried calling after him, but was unsuccessful at getting him to stop. He sighed, turning back to Eren. "Hey, man, I apologize for him. He's really not a bad guy."

"Yeah...I don't think I'll be sitting with you guys."

"Don't be like that! Ven just needs to get to know you, that's all. He's used to it just being the two of us. He has a hard time connecting to other people."

"I can tell."

"Ahaha..." Arnold laughed nervously. "Lunch's almost over. I'll leave you alone so you can finish. See you at the table tomorrow, OK?"

"Yeah..." Eren really didn't think it was a good idea, but he can just leave the table if it ended up he didn't like it.

He finished his food just in time for class to start up again. Despite the almost altercation he had with wannabe Jean, he enjoyed talking with them.

Rose picked Eren up from school and when she asked how it went, he told her that he met a friend today. She was ecstatic, asking him for more details and he obliged, telling her that he was basically a more talkative Armin. The mother could see the sadness in his eyes at the mention of his friend's name, so she reached out and put a hand on his head, an affectionate gesture he's grown to like.

"You'll see your friends again one day." she reassured him and he sincerely hoped so.

"Eren!" Arnold stood up and called him over when he spotted him looking lost.

"Why is he here?" Ven asked, slightly irritated.

"It's the cafeteria, he's here to eat." Arnold answered.

Ven didn't say anything else and simply pouted as Eren sat down next to Arnold.

"So." Arnold started. "Tell us more about the Underground."

"Fuck's sake, Arnold!" Ven complained. "Mind your own business!"

"What?" Arnold whined. "I didn't say anything bad."

"You have no fucking tact. Talk about literally anything else!"

As much as Eren didn't seem to get along with him, he was grateful for Ven. He really didn't want to talk about his previous home, he's having a hard enough time not living there. Eren sent him a quick grateful look, but Ven simply looked away with a small huff.

"OK, sorry." Arnold smiled sheepishly.

The rest of the lunch period was pleasant with Arnold asking about Eren himself to get to know him better. Ven didn't interact with Eren at all and only spoke when Arnold engaged with him. Despite that, Eren was still pleased.

During the span of two weeks, Eren found out why Ven was so distant. Ven learned from long ago that making friends was a waste of time and the "friends" that he did have, were anything but that. In middle school he was running with the wrong crowd, but when the gang went against itself, he had nowhere to go as the gang was his home and his family. Ultimately, he decided he should at least try to get an education and continued going to school. That's where he met Arnold, the new transfer student.

Arnold was the same he was now, optimistic, talkative and way too nosy. At first, Ven wanted nothing to do with Arnold. He would tell him off, blow him off, run away from him, he even threatened him a couple of times, but Arnold would always come back to him. When Arnold failed to "bother" him one day, is when he realized that Arnold was the only one who didn't care about Ven's past situations and was genuinely trying to get to know him. Arnold was sick that day and since he was still out of school for a second day in a row, Ven decided he waited enough and just visited the guy with the info Arnold had given him before. Ven was glad he forgot to throw it away.

"*Cough* I thought you hated me." Arnold had expressed after he invited him inside.

"You thought I hated you and you still stuck around?"

"Well...yeah. *Cough* You're interesting."

Once Eren understood Ven a little more, he tried to be respectful to him and it wasn't long before Ven in turn respected Eren as well. The more time the three spent time together, the closer they became and Rose was so proud of him. They even showed up for Eren's birthday and she finally got to formally meet them. She agreed with him that they did resemble his friends back home, but it was obvious they weren't them.

A year now in school, almost two years living with Rose and Levi, Eren's finally acting like a modern teenager. He still sometimes snaps back to the cadet he's so used to being, especially when he speaks to Levi, the boy spent the better half of six and a half years as a cadet after all. Rose was just glad that he embraced the opportunity to be a normal teenage boy.

"A party?" Eren repeated the words of a girl he was talking to.

"Yeah! It's going to be awesome! It's an evening party. There's going to be games and drinks."

Eren recognized this girl to be part of the "popular" group. He wasn't popular, but he wasn't in the lowest of the high school food chain either. Not once has he ever talked to her, yet today she magically decided he has to be invited to this party.

"It's next week. Think you can make it?"

"I don't know, maybe." Eren nonchalantly answered, intent of going back to eating his food.

He honestly couldn't care less about this party. He's not the type of person to go out partying anyway.

"Come on, you have to come!"

"No, I don't." he answered quickly.

"You can even bring your friends." the girl pouted, gesturing to his friends who were just watching the entire exchange.

"Some friends..." Eren grumbled, but Ven heard him.

"Come again, Yeager?"

"Aren't my friends supposed to help me? Tell her to leave me alone."

"Hey." Ven sharply called her attention. "He doesn't care. Buzz off."

"Whatever." she scoffed with an eye roll. "Think about it, OK, Eren?"

Eren opted to ignore her, quietly eating his food. After she left, Arnold leaned over to talk to Eren quietly.

"It's good to just ignore her. That party she's talking about doesn't sound good."

"What kind of party is she talking about?" Eren matched Arnold's body language, leaning in and talking low.

"Well, she said there'll be drinks there, but it's most likely not the kind of drinks you're thinking about."

"What kind of other drinks are there?"

"What are you, dense?" Ven spoke up, holding his head up with an elbow on the table and his hand on his cheek. "They're talking about alcohol. There's probably going to be drugs there too, if she's going around inviting everybody willing to listen."

Ven eyed the girl who stood a couple tables away, talking to someone. Most likely inviting them too.

"In short, it's really not a good idea." Arnold finished. "If you're going anywhere, you're better off coming over to one of our houses and hanging out."

That doesn't sound like a bad idea. It's been so long since he's been over a friend's house.

"Can I?"

"If you want." Arnold answered with his usual cheer. "My parents aren't usually home since they travel a bunch for work, so I wouldn't mind having another person over. Ven's always over, so he doesn't count."

"Screw you, I don't."

Arnold laughed at his answer and Eren smiled, letting out a chuckle. Yeah, coming over to a friends house sounds like a fun time. Screw that suspicious sounding party, Eren would rather go over Arnold's place. He's never been so it should be fun.

The rest of the week went by uneventful, with the exception of that girl coming to bother him again about the suspicious party. After the third time, he finally put his foot down—even though he's already told her he wasn't interested more than once—and told her in the sternest way possible that he didn't care about her stupid party, he's not going and to leave him alone. She huffed away, and he was confident that he finally got his point across. A day before the hangout he thought to ask his parent figures if this was fine.

"Hey, Levi?" that Friday, Levi was the one picking him up for some reason. Rose must be tied up with something important.

"What?"

"Arnold invited me to sleep over his place. Can I go?"

"The kid's whose parents are never home?"

Crap. Just with that information, he's not going to let him go, is he?

"What are you going to be doing?" Levi continued.

"Nothing, we're just going to hang out."

"Just you two?"

"Well, Ven's coming too."

Levi hummed, giving it some thought. After some silence, he finally spoke.

"I don't have a problem with it, as long as one of us drives you there and you pick up your phone when we call you a few hours in."

"Ok." Eren nodded. "I can do that."

"Good, now you have to convince Rose. You know how protective she is of you. You aren't going anywhere without both of our approval."

Eren hadn't thought of that. She was very protective of him after that fiasco of being called in by the principle. Honestly, Eren felt like she was babying him and he didn't like it, but at the same time, it showed that she really cared about him. He hoped that she won't make this into a big deal.

"Arnold's parents are always out of town, right?" she responded when Eren asked her.

Again with this question.

"Yeah, Ven's going to be there too."

"I don't like that there isn't going to be a parent there."

"Levi said it was fine."

"Under what bases?" she asked, glancing at Levi who was sipping tea nearby in his usual unique way.

"He said as long as one of you drive me there and that I answer my phone when you call."

Rose sighed, conflicted. It's going to be three seventeen year olds in a house without supervision. They could be doing anything. They can even leave the house, then lie that they did nothing of the sort! Why couldn't Eren invite them here for a sleep over instead? It's not that she don't trust Eren, it's that teenagers are just as curious as children just with more adult things. She wanted to tell him no, but Eren was giving her this look. A look that resembled puppy eyes, but it was much worse.

"Fine." she sighed again, Eren's expression lighting up immediately. "On all of Levi's conditions. If you break one of those conditions, you're coming back home."

"Got it. Thanks Rose!" Eren hurried to his room to pack the things he needs for a night's stay.

Rose shook her head, but smiled. That joyous smile he gave her was well worth her decision. He's finally worrying about meaningless teenager things and she couldn't be more proud.