Hey guys just so you know that it took me 3 tries to type this chapter because I wasn't happy with how it went and then I didn't like the ending so I just ended up scrapping the whole ending part. But I am proud of this chapter and liked how it turned out. It's currently 5am and I am tired so I'm going to have the reviews and let you guys get into the story. Enjoy.

Nathan Matheny: Haha thats awesome. Thank you for binge reading, I hope you like where this story goes.

CreatorX-501: Aww but I love your theories. Oh and I recently read your story 'True Feelings' and it is awesome. I hope you continue it because you are such a talented writer. And it's so cool to have someone that writes 10x better than you who likes your story. Your awesome I'll probably read your other stories soon.

Guest: Hmm I haven't heard about it but I'll go look for it and give it a read.

Chapter 8: The Parade

"Eren, it's time to go." Armin said knocking on Eren's door. The door opened and out came Eren with a hat on backwards, he had a black warm jacket. Eren groaned, "Do you really want to go to this. We can just tell Pyxis that we went and you could go back to reading your comic book in peace." Armin gave him a half smile, "Yes I do, It would be fun to hangout again."

Armin really meant it but the main reason he was going to go to this with Eren is because Eren needed to leave the house. He can't keep staying in here, it's just not good for him.

"Fine fine. I guess." Eren said reluctantly. They made their way out the door. The parade was past a couple of shops and a cemetery. As they walked Armin tried to start a conversation but Eren would be short with him.

"The snow is finally starting to fall down." Armin said looking at Eren. "Yep. it is." Eren said disinterested.

Armin mentally sighed. They walked past the shops. "They have cool new comics and mangas in there." Armin said pointing at the bookstore. "That's cool." Eren said in an emotionless tone again.

As they finally past the shops they finally were passing the cemetery. Armin was about to say something else to spark conversation but stopped when he noticed that Eren stopped at the front of the cemetery. Armin was confused when suddenly Eren walked in to the entrance of it.

Armin followed him without saying a word until Eren stopped at a pair of tombstones that were covered in snow. There was a shovel nearby one of the freshly dug graves on the opposite side. Eren walked over to the shovel and picked it up.

"Eren, What are you doing with that?" Armin said concerned. Eren simply walked over to the two tombstones with snow on them and proceeded to clear the snow off them. While he was doing it he finally said, "Do you know how I became an orphan, Armin?"

Armin looked at him perplexed for such an odd question. He has always assumed that Eren was just given up at child birth when his parents didn't want him or couldn't afford to take care of him like the others. He then remembered that he met eren at around the age of 10.

Without waiting for a response Eren finished clearing the graves and you could see on the tombstones, Carla and Grisha Jaeger loving father and mother. Armin froze and looked at Eren who was facing the tombstones. "They were good people. Good people that got into bad trouble with bad people." Eren said letting a tear escape his eye. He got up and passed Armin towards the entrance. Armin couldn't take his eyes off of the graves. He looked and saw that their date of death was, January 1.

Armin finally got up and followed Eren. "I had no idea Eren. What happened?" Armin said kindly. Eren finally looked him in the eyes with a stoic face, "They died in front of my eyes. They made me watch." Eren said then gave an empty laughed and continued his sentence, "You know, they say that a new year is supposed to bring new possibilities. I guess they were right."

Armin didn't know what to say. They walked the rest of the way in silence, Armin losing all ability to start conversation. They finally reached the parade and Armin finally knew what to say, "Thank you."

Eren finally broke away from his stoic face and replaced it with one of confusion. "What? What are you thanking me for?"

Armin smiled and said, "For defending me back then. For being my first friend. For taking me here even though you are in pain. For opening up a little to me about your parents. You know, in all honesty, I think they would be proud of who you became."

Eren looked at him and nodded. He gave him a small smile and patted him on the head. "Thank you bud. That means a lot to me." Eren said having his smile grow bigger, "Now what do you say if we go to the coffee shop and grab some hot chocolates."

Armin smiled and they both headed to the coffee shop.

XXXXX

The doorbell rang. Vere went to go open the door. "Hey! I'm so happy you came. Here Mikasa will be right down." "Mikasa come on it's time to go!" Vere screamed from down stairs. Mikasa was confused because she didn't know who her mom could be talking to. She made her way down the stairs and saw a brown headed girl standing with her mom. It was Sasha Braus.

"Hey sweetie, I took the liberty in inviting your friend Sasha for you to go to the parade with." Her mom said with a smile. Sasha waved excitedly, "Are you ready Mikasa." Mikasa was in a little shock but finally said, "Uh...sure. Yeah."

Mikasa grabbed her coat and made sure her scarf was wrapped around her. She then said goodbye to her mom and left with Sasha.

"You know, I found it weird that your mom called my mom and asked for me to come to the parade with you, but I feel like you could use a friend since you seemed to be sad on Friday." Sasha said thoughtfully. Mikasa nodded in return, not saying anything. "Hey Mikasa you in there?" Sasha said waving her hand in Mikasa's face.

Mikasa snapped out of her trance, "Yeah, yeah. I'm sorry. I'm just thinking about something else. But thank you for going with me, it means a lot." Sasha gave her a small smile, "That's what's friends are for." Mikasa gave a smile in return.

"So what happened Friday?" Sasha said cautiously since she didn't want to offend Mikasa. Mikasa looked at her biting her lip. Do I tell her how Annie said a lie that involved her.

"Um...Annie just did something that made me lose a good friend." Mikasa said softly looking at the floor. Sasha gasped, "No. You don't mean...Eren?" Mikasa gave a small nod. "Oh I'm so sorry Mikasa. I know that he made you happy. But it's going to be alright, right?" Sasha said worried.

"I hope so. I just have no idea how to get him to talk to me again." Mikasa said fiddling with her scarf. "You know what you need. You need to have a good time at this parade. And I know just what you need." Sasha said with a devilish grin. Mikasa was a little scared but kept walking with her to the parade.

They made it to the parade and saw all the floats coming around the corner. They had a Santa Claus float, a gingerbread man house float, candy canes, and snowmen. The streets were decorated with lights and many of the shops had decorations such as wreaths, lights, ornaments, and even little Christmas trees. They also had a big Christmas tree about 25 feet tall at the end of the road in the middle of all the shops.

"Here come on Mikasa, I want to take you somewhere." Sasha said dragging Mikasa through the crowds. They stopped at the outside of a bar. Mikasa looked at Sasha questioningly but she just dragged her inside. They went through the door and made their way to the bar. "Bartender, can we get two drinks over here, please." Sasha said to the bartender.

"Ahh, Sasha long time no see. How have you been my girl." said the bartender. "It's been well Pablo, but me and my friend would need a round to make it better." Sasha replied giving him a smile. "Anything for you. Here on the house." he gave them two bottles.

Sasha passed one two Mikasa and she looked at it hesitantly. "Mikasa just drink it. You need to lay back and relax." Sasha said as she gulped down her drink. "B-but were minors? We shouldn't be doing this." Mikasa whispered softly.

Sasha laughed and opened her beer for her, "Just drink up and don't worry." Mikasa looked at the bottle hesitantly and then picked it up. She took a quick swig and gave a sour face. "Haha, Yeah it's an acquired taste." Sasha said smiling. Mikasa then took another gulp this time the drink going down much smoother.

"There you go now you're getting the hang of it." Sasha said smiling.

I shouldn't be doing this. But I do deserve it, right? This could help me get through this and cut back on life. Yeah it's not that bad I deserve this.

XXXXX

"No way did Thomas say that! Haha! That's hilarious." Eren said laughing at what Armin said. "Yea he said next time you mess with him he's going to kick your ass." Armin said laughing. Eren laughed some more and replied, "You know I could beat him with a hand behind my back, right?" Eren had a big smile on his face. "Of course I know that Eren." Armin said rolling his eyes, smiling.

Eren took a swig of his hot chocolate. "You know this is really good hot chocolate but you know what would make it better." Eren said smiling. "Some funnel cake." Armin answered with a smile on his face. Eren laughed remembering how innocent Armin is.

He was going to say some liquor but he decided against is since he didn't want to pressure Armin into that. "Yea bud, Let's go get funnel cake." Eren said with a smile on his face.

Armin smiled and got up from his seat ready to take off to the desert store. Eren laughed as he saw the kid run out the coffee shop, he soon followed.

"Can we get strawberries on top?" Armin said excitedly. Eren simply replied, "Sure bud, whatever you want on it, my treat." Armin looked like a kid on Christmas Ever, which wasn't that far off since they were so close to Christmas Eve.

They continued their talk about funnel cake until they passed the bar. A certain red piece of clothing caught his eye in the bar. Eren stopped at the entrance of the bar looking in. It was definitely Mikasa, and she was...wearing...the scarf he was going to give to her.

Eren felt a flood of emotion hit him. She was wearing his scarf. The scarf he was going to give her. Something that was so little yet took so much willpower for him to get it for her. His train of thought was broken when he saw some guy come talk to her.

Armin noticed that Eren wasn't walking by his side after a while and turned around to see Eren walking into the bar. With a cold mean expression on his face.

XXXXX

"Hey baby, how are you doing." slurred a young man as he approached Mikasa. Mikasa looked at him with a dazed look, "I'm doing...better *hiccup* . Thank you for asking." Miksas said drunkenly. She had just finished her 3rd beer.

"You know, I could make it better by giving you a good time with me, Jean" Jean said scotting closer to Mikasa. Mikasa became uncomfortable and said, "No thank you. I'm *hiccup* fine, really." The man started to come closer to her. Mikasa looked towards Sasha for help but she was busy talking to the bartender as he handed her a 5th beer.

The man then grabbed Mikasa's arm and said sinisterly, "I don't take a no for an answer." Mikasa was about to yell when suddenly the man's face hit the bar counter. She was startled by it as the man's nose started gushing with blood. She looked behind him and there was a brown haired boy with green eyes that looked awfully familiar.

"She just said no bud. Take a hint." the man said coldly. Jean stood up and wiped the blood from his nose, "Do you know who your talking to kid?" he said angrily. The brown haired man put his fists up and said, "Yea I'm talking to someone that doesn't know when a lady has said no."

Jean then swung at him and the green eyed man easily dodged it. Hitting Jean squared in the nose again. The man stumbled a little bit until he got punched again, this time in the gut as he stumbled and hit the floor.

"Hey you. Get out of here, you're not allowed to start fights in here. Get out of my shop!" yelled the bartender. The green eyed man ignored his yells and grabbed Mikasa's hand. "Come on let's go." he said to her. She nodded and got up with him stumbling. She had to hold his arm for support.

A blond boy came in and Looked at the green eyed man. "Eren, what happened?!" Wait, Eren? Thought mikasa. "Nothing just grab that girl over there and take her outside." said Eren nodding towards Sasha. Armin gave him a puzzled look but complied and helped Sasha to her feet.

"Now get out you rotten kids!" said the bartender. Eren and Armin carried the girls out of the shop. "Armin, take her home and I'll take Mikasa home." Eren commanded. "but , Eren, I don't know where she lives?" Eren then stated simply, "Then ask her." and on that note he turned around and proceed walking with Mikasa towards the exit of the parade.

Once they exited, Eren then asked Mikasa "Where's your house?" Mikasa told him it drowsily and then said, "You know, you remind me of this one nice guy *hiccup* named Eren. He was a good guy, I miss him hehe." Eren gave her a soft look and kept walking with her.

Halfway to her house Mikasa fell asleep. Eren had to pause and start carrying her bridal style to her house. He made it to the front door and knocked on it, while still holding Mikasa. The door swung open and there was a very shocked lady in the doorway.

"Mikasa? Is that you. And who are you?" Vere asked looking frightened and angry at the same time. Eren replied politely, "Hello ma'am. My name is Eren, Eren Jaeger. Your daughter fell asleep at the parade and I wanted to take her home and make sure she was safe."

Vere looked him up and down and then turned her gaze to Mikasa. She smelt the smell of beer. She was going to call him out for it but then realized that this was the Eren Jaeger. The one that her daughter was talking about. "Here bring her up here." she said gesturing him to follow her. They went upstairs. She opened her bedroom door.

"Lay her down right here." Vere said pointing towards her bed. Eren set her down and then was about to turn around and head home when suddenly Vere said, "Wait. I want to talk to you, take a seat downstairs."

Eren gave a small gulp but then proceeded to go downstairs. He pulled up a chair at the dinner table and Vere went to the stove. She had a warm teapot boiling before he got here. "Would you like some tea?" She asked him softly. "No thank you ma'am." Eren said politely.

She poured some tea for herself and then went and sat down. "So your the Eren. I heard so much about." Eren slowly nodded not sure what she was talking about. "Hmph, so Eren, do you want to tell me what actually happened or not." She asked sternly,glaring at him. Eren stayed silent and stared at the table. He finally answered, "I didn't want her to get in anymore trouble so I brought her home."

Vere's expression softened and said, "Thank you. Thank you for bringing her home, I'll ask her in the morning when she wakes up about what happened then. Here you're free to go since you don't want to talk about it." Eren nodded and then proceeded towards the door. He reached for the knob but stopped. He then said, "Tell her that I'm sorry." Eren then opened the door and left.

Vere smiled and then said to herself, "I like him. He's a sweet boy." she then took another sip of her tea and went upstairs to her room.