Author's Note~ Hey everyone, I'm really sorry that this update is going out so late, but I was really sick for the past three days and wasn't able to write or update. Sorry for any inconveniences, and I will try to get the next update out on time. Hope you enjoy the chapter ^.^ ~Lawliet TJ

Erwin dropped Levi off and told him to keep him in the loop. Levi walked into the house and proceeded to go about with grabbing everything that was on the list.

Eren looked at the time and saw that it was almost 10 and he was expecting to see Thomas come in soon. He grabbed his phone out of his pocket just to make sure that no one had tried to talk to him since he had his phone shut off. He unlocked his phone and seen a bunch of unread messages and then realized that there were still some from Mikasa yesterday that he never checked.

He clicked on messages and saw that there was one new one from Levi. He read the message and it said that he had got home safely and he would be texting back in a little bit to get everyone's orders. He also said that if Thomas and Ash were there to get their orders too.

Eren sent back a short message before taking a deep breath before deciding to tackle Mikasa's messages. He was planning on just reading the last few since she had sent over 30 different messages. When he clicked on it he saw something that he definitely wasn't expecting.

The last message read: "I'm sorry for acting crazy it's just I don't want your depression to get bad again. I'm just worried, but I'm going to trust you on this. Just know if you need to talk, about anything I'm here."

Eren didn't even bother reading the other messages because that seemed to be the only on that wasn't her panicking or rambling on. Eren sent her back a text, "Thanks, Mikasa," he said clicking send.

Eren shoved his phone into his pocket putting it on vibrate and keeping his hand on it so he would know when Levi texted him. Eren looked up at the person standing in the doorway and stood up. "Thomas," Eren said standing up to talk to him.

"Eren," Thomas said looking at him, but back to TJ who was laying in the bed. "Is he okay?" Thomas asked his hands down at his sides balled into fists as he tried to stop himself from shaking.

TJ looked so fragile, his skin paler than normal, the black tone of his hair weakening, the bags that were under his eyes, he looked weak. Thomas wanted nothing more than to throw his arms around him and hug him, but he felt if he did so he might break him.

"He's going to be okay," Eren said looking behind his shoulder back at TJ. "They are just keeping him overnight for observation."

"Are you sure he's okay?" Thomas asked looking at him, "he looks so fragile," he said.

"He's just had a rough night that's all," Eren said watching Thomas's demeanor he looked different than normal. "Where's Ash?" Eren asked.

"She's parking the car," Thomas mumbled.

"Okay," Eren said before heading back over to the chair he was in previously. He kept an eye on Thomas knowing that something was bothering him, but he knew he shouldn't bring it up just yet.

It seemed that Thomas was keeping an eye on Eren too. Eren couldn't quite put his finger on what he was trying to do, his best guess was that he wanted to talk to him, but didn't know how to start or what to say.

Ash poked her head in the room and when she saw the familiar faces she walked in. She walked up to Eren and talked to him for a moment before taking a seat and nodding at him. Eren had stood up and walked over to Thomas who nodded and followed Eren out of the room.

"Was it that obvious that I wanted to talk to you?" He asked.

"Pretty much," Eren smiled. They started walking down the hall with no destination in mind. "So what's up?" Eren asked.

"I was in the same room as him, and I never realized," Thomas said looking down. "I'm afraid I will never be able to make him truly happy," Thomas sighed.

"Hey, hey," Eren said putting a hand on his shoulder. "You can't beat yourself down about that," Eren said, "TJ seems to be at his happiest around you and Alex," Eren said, "you can't be angry at yourself about not noticing his depression because it's something that he can't control," Eren sighed trying to figure out how to explain it better.

"What do you mean?" Thomas asked hopping Eren would explain himself a little more.

"Well, depression isn't something that just goes away with the slightest bit of happiness. It's a constant fight that people go through every day. People who have dealt with it for a long time have a certain way of hiding it, not even the people closest to them can see past the facade," Eren said looking up slightly to try and think of what to say. "When he's depressed it doesn't mean that he is unhappy with you it just means that there is something going on in his head that he can't explain. I mean everyone's depression is different, but that has been my experience with it," Eren shrugged. "As you probably know I've dealt with depression all my life," Eren started.

"Yeah," Thomas chimed in, "that's kinda why I wanted to talk to you about this," Thomas said with a shrug, "Ya know, see how you and Levi make it work," Thomas said. "How does Levi help you with your depression?" Thomas asked trying to figure out how he could help TJ with his.

"I can tell you a story about how Levi first started to learn about how to handle my depression," Eren suggested.

"I'd like that," Thomas said, before shooting his eyes up to Eren's. "Only if you're okay with it," Thomas said.

"Of course," Eren smiled. "Well," Eren said thinking, "a couple years back," he started, "Levi was still trying to figure out how he could help me with my depression. He would try to kiss me or hug me to try and make me happy, but that only worked a small percentage of the time. A lot of the time when my depression was really bad I would be easily irritated and I got a lot of headaches. The last thing I wanted in those moments was physical contact. However, I was too afraid of telling that to Levi especially since all he wanted to do was help me," Eren said remembering what that lead too.

"What happened next?" Thomas asked curious to know how they overcame that.

"Well, a person could only take so much for so long," Eren sighed, "I ended up snapping at him. I shoved him off of me and ended up yelling at him telling him, 'Depression isn't something you can just kiss away, it's not something that can be fixed, and it's not something I expect you to fix,'" Eren said repeating what he said word for word.

"Oh," Thomas said realizing that what he was trying to do was the same thing that angered Eren when Levi tried to do it. "How did that go over," Thomas asked with his head lowered.

"Well after I stormed off Levi didn't bother to follow after me, and when I got home later that night from walking around he was downstairs waiting for me. When I walked in I felt extremely guilty for yelling at him, but not for what I said because it was something that needed to be addressed. He actually was very supportive about it and he wasn't angry, he was actually very patient with me. He wouldn't even let me apologize for yelling because he told me I had every right to do so," Eren said rubbing the back of his neck thinking how lucky he is to have Levi. "Ever since then Levi usually picks up on the different moods that come with my depression. Like if it's bumming me out and I'm just really sad then that's when he knows that its okay to comfort me the way he was trying to, but when I get really irritated that's when he changes his comforting strategy."

"How so?" Thomas asked a little curious.

"Well, before he touches me, even if it's to just put a hand on my shoulder he will ask 'Is touch okay,' based on that he will either give me some breathing room while he talks or he will walk over to me and put a hand on my shoulder or back. From there he will ask me a few questions such as 'do you need some time alone,' or 'is there anything I can do to help,' and depending on my answer to those he will sometime bring up suggestions like if I need some time alone he will ask if I want to paint anything or go for a drive, or if I want to be at the house alone. If I tell him I want him to stay he will suggest doing something that doesn't require much talking or thinking such as playing a board game,  watching a movie, or baking something," Eren shrugged.

"That's makes a lot of sense," Thomas said nodding, "so I should ask him how he's doing and if he says he is depressed, or I noticed signs of depression I should ask him how I could help?" Thomas asked.

"That's what I would recommend," Eren said, "eventually you will start to see a pattern," Eren said.

"I see," Thomas nodded. "Thank you," he said smiling at Eren, "it really helped to talk to you about it."

"Of course," Eren smiled back ruffling his hair, "anytime you need to talk I'll be here," Eren said, and with that, they both headed back down the hall to the room. They walked back in and sat down in some of the chairs. As Eren sat down he felt a slight vibration and pulled out his phone. He asked Ash and Thomas their orders before walking up the two kids and getting their orders. 

Alex and TJ had only slightly woken up, and after they had given Eren their orders they had drifted back to sleep. The bags under their eyes had begun to fade, but it was still obvious that they were very tired.