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Eren sat on the cot and waited for the school nurse to come bandage up his scraped knees. Jean was such a jerk sometimes. Eren would never admit that he actually started the fight. He didn’t really mind being here though, Nurse Armin always gave him a lollipop. And he was pretty like a girl. Eren was determined to marry him someday.
“Eren?” The blond giggled. “Back again so soon?” He saturated cotton balls in hydrogen peroxide, “This is gonna sting a little, okay?” He pressed them to Eren’s bloody knees, the liquid sizzling away the blood.
Eren watched as Armin’s soft hands undid the big bandaids and covered his wounds. Just two days ago he came to the clinic for a stomach ache. He refused to go home though, just laid on the cot while Armin went about his day treating the other students.
“Yeah… Well, it’s not my fault this time. Jean’s a bully.” Eren frowned, his big green eyes full of anger. Such passion in such a little body. Armin always enjoyed treating him even if he was a little chaotic. He was just such a unique kid.
“Hey, tomorrow is Valentine’s day. Are you going to make a card for your mom?” He gathered the trash from the bandage and threw it away along with his gloves.
“No!”
“Ah, so you have a girlfriend then?” Armin teased the kid and smiled at him. That Mikasa girl from the other class was always following him around. Oftentimes he came by the clinic with a headache, he’d whisper to Armin that his head didn’t actually hurt, he was just hiding from Mikasa.
“No…”
Armin washed his hands and brought over the jar of suckers. “I’m starting to think you get hurt on purpose just to get a lollipop.” He smiled and let Eren choose a flavor. Blue raspberry.
“I don’t!”
Eren pouted and stuck the hard candy in his mouth. He slid off the cot and let the blue flavoring turn his lips and tongue cerulean. The nurse signed his hall pass and sent him off. Eren huffed as he walked the empty halls, looking at artwork from other classes and making sure to not step on the cracks of the tiles. He wanted Armin to be his wife one day.
Eren cut pink and purple hearts out of construction paper and messily glued them to a heart-shaped card. He wrote “I Love U, Nurs Armin” in red marker and glued candy hearts to the paper, even though the glue made the sugar run colors down the page. Miss Pieck said his art was very cute as she walked by all the tables of students. Eren didn’t want it to be called cute. This was a declaration of adoration. Of devotion. Not that Eren knew either of those words (they weren’t on last week’s vocab quiz).
Everyone seemed to be taking his courting as a joke. He carried the card to recess and held onto it as he slid down the swirly slide. Jean stood at the bottom with his arms crossed, an arrogant smirk on his face.
“Whatchya got there, Jaeger?” Jean snatched the Valentine from Eren’s hand and held it up above his head. Curse Jean for getting a growth spurt first!
Marco stood at the top of the slide and worried his lip between his teeth, looking around for the teacher.
“Jean! Don’t! Leave him alone!”
“Stay out of it, Marco!” Jean yelled up at him.
Eren scowled and lunged for the card. “Give it back!”
Jean opened it up and read it out loud. “ I love you, Nurse Armin. Oh my gosh, Eren’s gay!” He shouted and waved the card around.
“Stop it! No I’m not!” Eren didn’t even know what the word meant. They were only in the 1st grade. Tears filled his eyes as he watched Jean tear the Valentine in two.
Marco slid down the slide and pulled Jean away, scolding him. “That wasn’t very nice, Jean.”
Eren grabbed the two pieces of the heart-shaped card and held them together. Maybe if he had tape…
Eren sighed and got up off the ground, going back inside to the classroom. He went for the tape on the teacher’s desk and accidentally cut himself on the serrated edge.
“Ouch!” Eren stuck his thumb between his lips and sucked on the cut, metallic taste on his tongue. “Oh!”
He taped up the card with one hand and grabbed a ring pop out of the candy bowl, rushing to the school clinic. He didn’t care if he’d get in trouble for not having a hall pass. He burst into the room and thrust the card into Nurse Armin’s hands.
“HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!” Eren shouted. He tore open the plastic of the ring pop and sank down to one knee, holding it up with enthusiasm. “Will you marry me?”
Armin was touched, he placed a hand over his lips and giggled. Eren was such a cutie. “I do.” He gave Eren his left hand and let the boy slide the ring on.
“Oh um… also I got hurt again…” He held up his other hand, a bead of blood coming from the cut on his thumb.
Armin sighed, “You know the drill, kiddo.” He placed the candy ring onto the clinic desk and set down the card, getting another bandaid for Eren. He was covered in them by now. Such a reckless little boy. Armin placed the paw patrol bandaid on his thumb when Eren finished washing his hands and sat on the cot.
“Are you really gonna marry me?” Eren smiled up at Armin with his teeth, one of the canines missing. Adorable.
Armin nodded. “Of course I will. Hey, guess what?” He leaned in close when Eren did and whispered, “Don’t tell anyone, but you’re my favorite.”
Eren gasped. “Really?” He was giddy, kicking his short legs from where they didn’t touch the ground.
Armin nodded reassuringly and took his hand. “Now let’s get you back to class, okay Eren?”