Author's note~ Hey guys sorry this was a few hours late I passed out and totally missed my timer, anyways here it is sorry again that it's so late. ~ Lawliet TJ

Eren finished all of his work and decided to check the time. A little over an hour had passed and still, his phone remained silent aside from one text from Mikasa. Eren put his work away and checked his phone just to make sure there were no messages. When he was sure he set the phone back down and leaned back against the couch with a sigh.

He couldn't help but be a little worried now having met the horrible monstrosity that was their mother. He had a hard time believing such sweet kids came from the devil herself. He sat there for a few minutes before finally standing up he walked over a drawer and pulled out some loose pieces of paper grabbing a pencil with them before return to the couch. He set the paper on the table in front of him and began sketching whatever popped into his mind.

After another hour had passed he found it harder and harder not to worry. He was checking his phone more frequently. He tried to tell himself maybe he just fell asleep, but his mind kept reminding him how unlikely that was. He stood up for a minute and stretched his legs and decided to grab some water. On his way back to the couch he heard his phone start to go off. He quickly set the water down and picked up the phone.

"Hello?" He asked with a bit of hesitation.

"Hey, Mr. Jaeger, it's me TJ," he heard the voice say and he sat down on the couch finally able to let his worry go. "Sorry for waiting so long to call, I wanted to be sure my mom went to sleep before I did," he said.

"It's alright," Eren said, "how are you, is everything going okay?" He asked.

"Yeah everything around here is fine, Alex is fine," he said with a little hesitation.

"How are you doing?" Eren asked noticing how he phrased his sentence.

"I'm," he started to say before going quiet. He stayed quiet for a few minutes. Eren listened as the silence grew and he was about to say something when TJ finally spoke. "I don't know anymore," he said with his voice shaking as he did.

"Hey, it's okay, just tell me what you're feeling," Eren said feeling pain in his own heart as he listened to the kid sniffle on the other end of the phone.

"That's the thing," he said his voice quivering as he did. He took a few breaths to try and get his breathing under enough control to finish his sentence. "I don't feel anything, yet I feel everything," he said before changing the way he worded it to make a little more sense. "I feel empty, but at the same time I feel like everything is happening at once that it's so overwhelming and chaotic," he said explaining it the best he could. He gave it one more try to try and get Eren to understand. "I feel like my mind is so empty and void of everything that the silence is screaming at me and it's deafening, yet at the same time I feel as if my mind is full and is going to explode from overcrowding," he said before going almost completely silent other than a few sniffles and whimpers.

Eren couldn't find his words, how was he supposed to help someone when he couldn't even help himself. He didn't have the solution to this problem, and he didn't know how to find one from thin air. He decided to just try what he knew. "Hey it's going to be okay," he started with, "I know things are hard right now, but they won't always be this way," he said. That was the one thing he knew he could say, the one thing he knew to be true. "I'm not going to lie and say that I know how to get through this, because the truth is I don't, but what I do know is that it doesn't last," Eren said. "Sure right now it hurts like hell and feels like the world is ending, but it won't always feel that way," Eren told him.

"I know," TJ said trying to calm his breathing down. "It's just I can't stop myself from shaking," he whispered.

"Take deep breaths and think of something calming, if your mind wanders bring it back to something peaceful," Eren suggested. "Do you have anything that helps to calm you down?"

"Yeah," he mumbled waiting to hear what Eren had to say.

"It helps if you do it," Eren said, "mine is drawing, so when I feel a little anxious it always calms me down to do that," Eren said giving him an example.

"Mines humming, or messing with my hair," he finally said with a quiet voice.

"If you think it will help then give it a try," Eren said.

The phone went silent for a minute and then Eren head a soft humming on the other line. He sat there and listened to him hum for several minutes before he finally stopped and spoke.

"It did help," TJ said his voice sounding more stable than before with his speech more calm and unwavering.

"I'm glad," Eren said soft tone.

"I'm going to head to bed now while my mind isn't yelling at me," he said with a yawn. "Thank you so much, Eren."

"Any time TJ," Eren said before telling him goodnight. They hung up the phone and Eren slouched back on the couch.

"How is he?" Levi asked walking up behind Eren and laying his arms over his shoulders.

"He's going through a rough patch," Eren said not really knowing another way to describe it. His mind had many ways of describing it, but his words just wouldn't translate from his thoughts to his tongue. The only thing he knew for sure was that he wasn't going to let the same monsters that terrorize him hurt this kid as well. "He's a fighter though, he will get through this," Eren finally said.

"Especially if he has you helping him," Levi said kissing Eren's cheek.

"Yeah," Eren said with a sigh, "I guess."

"It was nice seeing you go all mom mode, usually I only see that from Hanji," Levi said with a smile.

"Whatever," Eren rolled his eyes. "So how long were you standing there anyways sleeping beauty?" Eren asked.

"From the beginning," Levi said, "I heard your phone ring and I stopped where I was not wanting to interrupt your call.

"I see," Eren said.

"So what's for dinner?" Levi asked more talking to himself as he walked into the kitchen."What are you hungry for?" He asked looking back at Eren.

"It's after ten and you're talking about dinner," Eren asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah?" Levi asked. "Your point? It's never too late for food," he said before grabbing a cookbook.

"I think I'll just stick with leftovers," Eren laughed walking over to the fridge and pulling out the food from yesterday.

"Okay," Levi said putting the cookbook back. "If you are going with leftovers I think I'm just going to have cereal," he said with a shrug. "I'm too lazy to cook anyways," he said with a chuckle before grabbing a bowl.

They sat at the table and ate their food talking about how today went and about the lesson plan for tomorrow. When they finished they cleaned up and put everything away and headed up the stairs to the bedroom. They were going to watch a movie and head to bed, but when the movie they thought was going to be good turned out to be boring they found another form of entertainment.

Their lips on one another's they found the remote and turned off the Tv setting it aside. They weren't going to go all the way they were both too tired, but they were having fun at the moment. Their lips keeping each other company. After a little while, they broke apart and let themselves lay down. They got dressed for bed and turned out the lights. They scooted closer to one another holding each other in their arms before drifting to sleep listening to each other's soft breathing. Their final words before sleep overtook them were an I love you to each other.