Chapter Text
Erwin — Fourteen, Year 10
He piles off the bus that morning, following the path of countless other students as he makes his way through the front courtyard and toward his homeroom block.
It’s still rather early and school doesn't start for another half hour, but with his dad's early work hours and early bus timetables, it’s something he’s going to have to get used to. He lives around the corner from his previous high school which had made the commute each day a lot easier and quicker, but he figures the bus to this new school isn't so bad. It gives him time to prepare himself for the day ahead.
He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t nervous. After changing schools due to bullying, starting grade 10 in a new place is a bit daunting.
His father had hugged him tight before he left and told him very firmly to come to him if anyone starts anything. Erwin hugged him back with a smile and told him it would be fine, but that he would let him know if anything happened.
He knows he can’t control the need people have to pick on others, but that simple reassuring sentence still eases his father's mind. He can’t deny that he doesn't want a repeat of the last two years.
When he enters his homeroom there’s a small lot of students already scattered at desks, all preoccupied with music in their ears or books in their hands. Erwin decides to do the same. He ties his hair up in a neat bun at the base of his head to keep it out of the way, only a few strands seem to slip their way out. He tucks the stray hairs behind his ears and pops earphones in as he takes a seat at the back of the classroom, playing some tunes while he waits for the rest of the students to find their way here.
He doesn't want to think it’s intentional, but all students seem to avoid his table when finding their seats as they arrive. There’s one seat remaining at Erwin’s side, which after a couple of minutes ends up being taken by some dark-haired kid that finally makes their way in just as the teacher arrives. He seems pretty quiet and only gives Erwin a brief look as he sits down and plucks his own earphones out of his ears. He makes himself comfortable, stuffing his hands in his school jumper pockets and rocking backwards on his seat. The teacher notices.
“Levi— I don’t know how often I need to tell you that these chairs are for sitting and sitting only .”
He hears this kid — Levi — huff out of his nose and mutter a small “sorry” as he abides by the teacher's wishes and lets the chair rest on all four of its legs for the remainder of homeroom. Erwin chuckles quietly under his breath as he watches the kid rock on his chair when the teacher isn’t looking. The kid doesn’t hear him, thankfully.
His first morning lessons go about as well as one could imagine. He keeps his head stuck into his work and pays attention to the teachers, still wanting to learn but not wanting to bring attention to himself. He finds that everyone here tends to stick to their own groups, too, so Erwin spends his first lunch by himself at one of the tables near the school sporting grounds. He enjoys the fresh air and the sun, he always has, and he spends the time listening to music while he eats, people-watching the students walking around the school and the ones on the sporting field.
There are a few playing a game of soccer. Nothing too strenuous from what he can tell, just passing the ball to one another and racing to steal it from them too. General practice, he assumes.
From the bunch of kids he can spot Levi amongst them – the one from his homeroom. He sees him near someone else who seems familiar to him; tall and blond. Erwin thinks he’s seen him in his maths class. He watches them as they kick the ball to and from each other, and Levi is fast. Faster than his friend there, that's for sure. He dodges and slips around him with ease.
The school bell rings and Erwin watches on as everyone slowly packs up and begins heading to class. He watches as Levi and that other boy do the same, too.
Second lunch break arrives and Erwin decides to head toward the music block. With permission from the teacher, he decides to spend time in the practice room. He knows he’ll enjoy the solitude, as well as the space to get used to playing an instrument, as required for his music classes.
Erwin chose guitar. He’s always been interested in learning how to play properly, and though he’s never been too good in any of his past attempts, he thinks it will be one of the easier ones to get a hand of now.
“You’re free to use these rooms whenever you would like. One student is currently using it, but you're more than welcome to join them.” The teacher is sorting through files as they speak to him, looking up and giving Erwin a small smile. “Just make sure to tidy up when you both leave.”
“Of course. Thank you.”
Erwin leaves the music office and heads down the small hall to the room that houses the instruments, taking a guitar for himself that is somewhat in tune.
He then heads to the practice room and takes a peek through the small window before opening the door. There, he spots a head of dark hair sitting at the one electric drum set along the back wall, vigorously thrashing at the kit. Erwin can just make out the muted thwack and clang sounds from out here.
He makes sure to shut the door silently as he enters. He searches around for the best place to sit and sets the guitar down beside him as he takes his lunch out to eat.
He listens to the kid play while he eats– well, what he can hear of it. Electric kits may mute the noise but never completely, and from what Erwin can hear he thinks he sounds good.
Once he’s finished, he pulls his guitar into his lap, strumming a few chords to practice.
After some minutes, the kid at the drum set turns around to face Erwin.
It’s the kid from his homeroom and on the field earlier — Levi. The one rocking on his chair like a rocking horse.
“Hey,” Levi says, nudging his headphones off one ear.
“Hi,” Erwin replies back, strumming paused and guitar held carefully in his hands.
There’s a very short silence. “Let me know if I’m too loud,” the kid says, plainly and simply.
Erwin just shakes his head in response. “You’re fine,” he says. The other kid nods and nudges his headphone back over his ear and continues drumming for the rest of the lunch break. The bell rings after some time, and they both pack their things up and continue on their way.
The rest of his school day is standard— he keeps his head down and works, and notices that Levi is in one of his final classes for the day, too. Much like Erwin, he also seems to keep to himself for the most part.
* * * * *
His dad arrives home an hour after he does. Erwin is reading at the dining table with a light afternoon snack when he hears the car pull up and soon after the front door opens.
He looks up from his book to greet him. “Hey, dad.”
“Hey honey,” his dad smiles back. He places his work bag on the table nearest to the front door, kicking his shoes off. “How was your first day?”
Erwin thinks his dad sounds cautious. He can’t blame him for being worried, a new school and new people means new potential for kids to be horrible — but the day was good. Sure, no one really spoke to him outside of his classes, but no one went out of their way to be horrible either.
“It was nice. The people seem okay.”
“Just okay?” He sees his father looking at him, idly standing by at the kitchen counter. Erwin sighs and puts his book down, giving his attention over to his father. “They were fine, dad. Most people kept to themselves anyway.”
His dad raises his hands in a feigned surrender. “Fine, fine,” he says.
“It’s the first day,” Erwin reassures him. “It’s hard to get a read on everybody just yet.”
“I know, sweetie.” His dad looks at him and sighs. “As long as people are nice.”
‘They are. I promise.”
His dad smiles. “I believe you.”
Erwin nods, focusing again on his book as his dad begins to remove items from their fridge and pantry in preparation for dinner. Erwin finishes his food and cleans his dish, heading off toward the hall that leads to his bedroom. His dad gives him a tight hug and presses a kiss to the top of his head.
“Alright. I’ll call you out when dinner is ready.” Erwin nods and continues on his way.
* * * * *
Over the coming days, it becomes a normal routine for Erwin to spend at least one of his lunches in the music block every other day. He doesn’t mind it, it’s usually quite peaceful there. Gives him a place to do his schoolwork, as well as practice guitar.
Some days Levi is there, playing the drums and guitar on occasion, too, and with each passing day they grow more comfortable in greeting each other.
Levi says hello every homeroom as he sits down next to him each morning, then he promptly gets told off by the teacher again for rocking back and forth on his chair. Erwin can’t help but laugh each time.
He never seems to learn, apparently.
When he makes his way to the music block Levi is always there before him, and now always greets him with a soft smile before turning back to his drums.
“You come here a lot,” he hears Levi tell him one day.
Erwin looks up from the lunch he has in his hands, meeting Levi’s gaze across the room.
“Sorry?” Erwin replies, slightly confused.
“To the music block. You eat your lunch here a lot,” Levi nods in the direction of the sandwich in Erwin’s hands.
It’s closing in on two weeks since he started at this new school, and while a few kids have engaged in conversations with him during class and have been kind to him too, none have really offered up a seat at their table for Erwin to join.
“Ah, yeah,” Erwin smiles and shrugs, taking another bite from his lunch and swallowing before he continues. “I don't mind it in here. Less chaos, and it's quiet. It lets me think.”
Levi just looks at him. “Yeah. I get that.”
They work on their separate things in peace, the sounds of their drumming and strumming the only sound shared between them. The bell rings to return to classes and they clean up their things and ready themselves to leave.
“Hey, Evelyn,” he hears Levi say once they step outside.
Erwin turns around at the sound of this name. He pauses and takes a deep breath in— “Yes?” he says.
“D’you wanna sit with me and my friends next lunch?” Levi adjusts his bag over his shoulders, shifting his stance as they both stop just outside the music block doors. “We sit at the tables behind the art block if you wanna join us first break tomorrow.”
Erwin smiles. “Okay. Yeah, thanks.”
“Okay.” Levi says, “See you at homeroom tomorrow.”
Erwin smiles. “Yeah, I’ll see you then.”
* * * * *
Erwin sees three heads as he turns the corner of the senior art block at lunch the next day. Black, blond and red— Levi and his two friends. He feels a little nervous; Levi has been nice to him, but he’s still new to him, and these other two are even more unfamiliar. He does know he shares math class with the blond boy, but that's as far as his knowledge of him goes.
The red-headed girl spots Erwin first, excitedly waving her hands in the air to grab his attention. Levi seems to catch wind of her actions and Erwin can see him rolling his eyes as he swats at the girl's hands in an attempt to calm her down. It brings a smile to his face.
Erwin walks over and takes a seat at the table across from Levi and next to the girl, glancing around the table and offering up a small smile to them all.
Levi watches as he sits down before speaking. “Hey,” he says. Levi sounds the same as usual– slightly unimpressed and a little too casual. Erwin thinks it suits him.
“Hi,” Erwin replies. Levi still looks at him for a while before averting his gaze elsewhere.
The red-headed girl is called Isabel. He’s seen her around school a handful of times, sometimes with Levi and other times just in passing on the way to class. Farlan is the blond boy, and he seems to be just as nice as Levi is to him.
“We have math class together, don’t we?” Farlan leans forward on the table, his attention focused on Erwin with a welcoming expression on his face.
“We do, yes.”
“Mr. Pixis is a piece of work, don’t you think?” Farlan says, leaning back and reaching into his bag to grab his lunch, popping a stray grape from his lunch into his mouth. “I swear he sounds like he’s drunk all the time.”
Erwin can’t help but chuckle. “Yeah, he does a little bit.”
“He’s not that bad in my classes, thank god,” Isabel adds, “he’s just a mean old man in mine.”
“That's because he is a mean old man, Isa,” Levi says.
Erwin smiles and chuckles, earning a smile back from Levi too.
The simple conversation happens easily, though mostly Erwin just listens to them speak and only chimes in every so often. Farlan is more reserved and similar to Levi – but with a few more words to add to a conversation. Isabel is definitely the chattiest of the three, and louder too.
“Your hair is so pretty!” she says to him, excited and reaching out to play with the strands of Erwin’s ponytail. He wears it in a low ponytail today, neatly tucked away at the base of his neck. He doesn't like to wear it out much— it's too long, and it just gets in the way of everything.
“Hey— Isa,” Levi cuts in, reaching over the table to swat at Isabel's arm, “don’t just go touchin’ people's hair like that.”
Isabel sulks down onto the seat, head resting defeated in her hands. “Fine,” she mumbles, “I just wanted to ask if I could braid it.”
“It’s okay,” Erwin gives him a small smile, turning to offer another to Isabel. “Maybe another day.”
The bell for class rings a few minutes later and Erwin and Levi make their way to their classes while Isabel and Farlan walk off in the opposite direction.
A small moment later, Levi leans in toward him. “Sorry about Isa, she's a bit excitable sometimes.”
Erwin turns to face him. “It’s alright, really. She’s friendly at least.”
“A little too friendly sometimes,” Levi scoffs, and Erwin laughs. He sees Levi smile slightly too.
* * * * *
Erwin leans back in the chair he’s seated in, the guitar resting on the wall by his side as he eats his lunch. Levi sits on the floor beside the drum kit, doing the same with his own pre-packed lunch meal.
“Why didn’t you take music class?” Erwin asks. Levi looks up at him, curiosity in his eyes at the question, but doesn't say a word. Erwin keeps talking. “You play the drums really well.”
Levi swallows down the food in his mouth and sets his lunch box down on the floor. “I did last year, but they never taught the stuff I wanted to play. So I just don’t bother.” He shrugs and takes another bite of his food. “The teachers are still nice enough to let me practice here sometimes, at least.”
“And thanks. I’ll take that compliment,” Levi says, a tiny smirk tugs at his lips.
Erwin smiles down into his lap. “You’re welcome.” He looks at the drum kit and back to Levi.
“I’ve always been interested in learning. Though I haven’t exactly been good at it.” He chuckles softly. “Guitar is a bit easier for me to handle, I think.”
“I could teach you— if you want?”
Erwin lights up a little at the offer. “Really?”
Levi nods, smiling a little. He shuffles his sitting position on the ground. “Yeah. I have a kit at home— my uncle even soundproofed the garage so I wouldn’t annoy my mum with it.” Erwin can see Levi smirk still as he finishes that sentence.
“Sure, yes, that would be fun.”
Erwin watches as Levi pulls out a page from his notebook and scribbles something down onto it passing it over to him. He unfolds the little note to reveal a phone number.
“So we can chat,” Levi says, putting his book back into his bag. “And if you want to hang out, or play drums.”
“Yeah,” Erwin smiles and tucks the piece of paper into the front zip of his bag. “Sounds good.”
The bell sounds and the both of them get to their feet and pack away their instruments and other belongings, always so sure to leave the room tidy each time they leave. They say goodbye and head on to their final classes of the day, the last few before the weekend arrives.
As soon as school ends and Erwin arrives home he heads right for his room, dropping his bag down by his desk, taking the piece of paper with Levi's number. He lies down on his bed, puts digits into his contacts and texts him right away.
— “Hey Levi, it’s Ev :)”
He rests his phone by his side and pulls out his English homework to continue with his current assignments. A few minutes pass by when he hears his phone chime beside him.
— “Hi Ev. How was ur bus ride home?”
Erwin smiles to himself and puts his homework aside, texting Levi back immediately instead. And instead of homework now, they text each other for hours that afternoon instead.
Only a few weeks into this new school and Erwin might have just found himself a friend.