Chapter Text
Four months ago - 23rd August, Perth, Australia.
”Eren Yeager! You’ve done this time and time again! And you still expect to get away with it!?” His mum yelled, she had a thick Aussie accent, sometimes it was hard to take her seriously.
”I know mum! But-“ Eren tried to get himself out of trouble.
Eren had unkempt brown hair, it had since grown to his shoulders ; making him look like he had a mullet. He was olive skinned, accustomed to the hot climate ; keeping him tanned all year round.
His mum was protective of him, she was always on his back. Especially when Eren said he wanted to be a footy player.
7 years before, Eren was 9.
”No Eren, you will not play footy, it is too dangerous. Have you seen the injuries they come back with?” His mum put her foot down.
“But mumma!” Eren kicked his legs.
”No buts Eren! My decision is final.” Carla liked to lay down the law with Eren.
”Eren… if you’re good. I’ll show you what I’ve been fixing up for the last few weeks.” His dad warned.
His dad was always the peacekeeper, the one who would let Eren get away with things if he thought it was too much of a hassle. You could say he was a bit more laidback than Carla.
”I don’t want to hear your excuses young man! You had your last chance four days ago.” His mum went on.
“What’s all the commotion about in here?” His dad was holding the key to the summer house.
”Eren was misbehaving again, I think it might be time for some discipline to be introduced. We’ve been to easy on him.” Carla warned.
”There’s no need for that, dear.” Grisha tried to keep the peace.
”Maybe somewhere like juvie… that’ll keep you straight. Maybe then you’ll stop acting like the drongos from down the street.” Carla huffed.
”No mum!” Eren begged.
”Carla..” Grisha took her elsewhere.
Eren was left to his thoughts again, he decided to call his boyfriend, Armin.
Eren waited for him to pick up…
A beep noise echoed from the laptop, Armin was connecting to the call.
“Hi, Eren. What’s up?” Armin asked.
”Nothing… just the fact I might be getting sent to juvie.”
Armin’s face dropped, “Juvie!?”
“Yeah, juvie.” Eren confirmed.
Armin had blonde short hair, blue eyes, his skin was tanned from all the time he spent at the beach.
That’s where they first met, the beach.
Armin was preoccupied looking at the pretty seashells scattered along the shore. When a tall boy with brown hair and olive skin came into his peripheral vision, the boy was wading through the water, looking like something straight out of baywatch.
Armin was instantly attracted to him, smiling at him as he hopped on the surfboard.
”Armin?.. You there?…” Eren asked.
”Oh, yeah! Sorry!” Armin said, his Australian accent wasn’t as thick as Eren’s, but it was still there. Armin wasn’t originally from Perth anyway ; he was from Victoria.
Armin only moved because his parents wanted to be closer to his Grandfather, who was sick was influenza at the time.
“Anyways, I think this is it for me Arm. Mum’s really mad, she says I’m acting like one of the drongos from down the street.”
”Your mumma never said that! She’s too nice for that!” Armin was in disbelief.
”She’s not all she’s cracked up to be. She can be gnarly, especially that time when she found out I wanted to play footy.” Eren laughed.
”Well Eren, I hope you make it out alive.” Armin retorted.
”Fingers crossed.”
Silence…
”Anyway Eren, I have to go. I’ve got heaps of hard work to do for school.” Armin cut in.
”Bye Arm, love you..” Eren smiled.
”Love you loads.” Armin blew a kiss at him.
The call silenced.
Later on…
When Eren entered the kitchen, his mum was wiping the surfaces clean, humming a tune.
”Oh, hello there Eren.” She kissed him on the cheek.
”Have you been surfing? You smell of the sea.” She asked.
”It’ll be my new aftershave, it’s meant to smell of sea salt.”
”Oh, right.” She nodded.
Just before Eren left to watch the telly, she stopped him.
”Eren, uh. I’ve been meaning to say something to you for a while…” She glanced at him.
”What is it mumma?..” Eren asked sweetly.
”Please don’t get mad at me… but me and your dad have collectively decided that your behaviour should change for the better ; So… we’ve decided it would be good for us, and you. To have someone else try and help.” She gulped.
”Oh, so like a therapist?” Eren replied.
”Uhm, no… like another family.” She spluttered.
”What!? Another family!” Eren shouted.
”Not forever! Just for a couple of months, until you get your head straight.” She tried to calm him.
”it’ll be like an exchange program, that’s what we signed up for.” She suggested.
”Oh, and that makes it better does it!?” He chided.
“I just want you to respect us more, Eren. We’re your mum and dad, not some random drongos off the street.” She soothed.
”Fine… Where is it?..” Eren grumbled.
”America…” She muttered.
”America!-“ Eren paced around.
”Sh.. we don’t want to make it harder than it is, baby. Trust me, I don’t want this for you either. But, we’ve entrusted you to the best out there. They’ll know what to do.” She tried to soothe his anger.
”Me and your dad have known them since school. They aren’t random Yankees off the street.”
This calmed Eren’s nerves a little, but still, he’d not been without his mum or dad in forever.
Ever since that time they’d went out on a night when he was a toddler and the sitter told them he cried for them all night, she just couldn’t leave him alone.
Eren was set to leave in a week, he was counting down the days.
A week later- 30th August, Perth Airport.
“You have got everything haven’t you?” Carla asked, she was a mess today ; the departure of her son seemed to have messed with her emotions.
”Yes, mumma.” Eren reassured.
“Just open your suitcase so I can check.” She fretted.
”Carla! calm down. He’s gonna be fine.” Grisha tried to reassure her.
“Okay.. Okay..” Carla stopped fretting.
”You’ve got your passport haven’t you?”
”Yeah-“
”And your phone?” She frantically pressed him for answers.
”Yes, mum..” He muttered.
”Okay then… you’re all set.” She gave him a big cuddle, squeezing him as hard as she could.
”I’ll miss you mumma..” He hugged her back.
”I’m gonna miss you heaps baby.” She crooned.
Eren eventually let go, taking hold of his suitcase.
”You stay safe out there, and when you get there, look for a tall fella and a small fella ; they’re the ones you’re staying with.” His dad pat him on his head.
Eren gave a curt nod, entering the airport with his suitcase in hand.
“This is gonna be one heck of a journey.” Eren shook his head.
Hours later, New York, America.
When Eren exited the plane, he remembered he hadn’t told Armin about his little journey to America.
”Shit. Maybe I am a drongo..” he muttered to himself.
“Excuse me..” One of the flight attendants asked.
”Oh, nothing..” Eren went beet red in the face.
He continued his journey through the airport, his passport in one hand, hand luggage in the other.
Eren looked up at a sign.
Toilets, no..
Departures, no..
baggage collection.
Eren followed the signs throughout the airport, until he arrived at baggage collection.
There was 10 conveyor belts, heaps of people crowding around them. Searching for their bags frantically.
Eren was lost, which conveyor belt had his suitcase on..
He was in an unknown country, where the people didn’t really understand him, kids screaming, people scrambling for their own luggage.
Eren recognised a few people from his flight heading to belt 8, he decided to follow along.
Eren waited for the luggage to roll around the belt, he kept checking his watch to pass time.
Suddenly, luggage started rolling around.
He waited patiently for his luggage, watching everyone else’s be rolled around continuously.
He saw a woman to his side struggling, she had around 4 kids. One of them having a meltdown, the toddler kicking and screaming in her arms and her other 3 were running ravage around the belt.
Eren saw her glance at him, pleading eyes begging for help.
He took her stroller off the conveyor belt for her, he helped her place the screaming toddler inside.
”Thank you..” She turned to him, she was American, a thick New York accent.
”It’s no problem.” Eren’s Aussie accent came through.
She fixed her kid into the stroller and off she went, into the nighttime.
Eren waited a few more minutes before grabbing his case and following the signs towards arrivals.
His case rolled along the marble floor, making a slight squeaking noise.
Eren came to a front when he saw crowds of people standing in front of him, there was sign after sign, he was a bit befuddled.
Eren tried to make out two men.
He was searching high and low, no sign.
“Why is this place so complex? Australia isn’t like this?..” Eren huffed.
A blonde man approached him.
“G’day! You must be Eren!” The man put on an Aussie accent, as if to please Eren.
”Erwin, cut it out. That was awful to listen to.” A raven haired man cut in.
Eren scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
Erwin seemed on edge after the other man’s comment, he quickly turned away.
”Anyway, I’m Levi and this is my husband, Erwin.” Levi introduced himself to Eren.
“Nice to meet you, I suppose you know my mum and dad, right?” Eren asked, the thick Aussie accent coming through when he spoke.
”Yes, we’ve known Carla and Grisha since their school days.” Erwin nodded.
”How come you know my mum and dad when your a bunch of Yankees?” Eren questioned.
”We met at high school.” Levi said.
”How though?” Eren was still as confused as ever.
”Well, we were exchange students when your mom and dad were at school.” Erwin confirmed.
Erwin took Eren’s case off him and placed it on a trolley.
Levi kept giving weird looks at Eren, and Eren started to notice. It was if he was trying to work Eren out.
When Erwin realised, he was quick to chastise Levi about ‘not scaring the guest away’.
Eren looked up at the six storey car park, following Erwin and Levi through the double doors.
”You guys go and get in the car, I’m just paying for parking here.” Erwin threw the keys to Levi.
Levi led Eren to their Chevy truck, opening the trunk for Eren’s luggage to go in.
Eren placed his luggage in carefully, not to disappoint Levi.
When Eren entered the truck, Levi glanced back at him.
”I’ve heard you like surfing.” He tried to start some small talk.
”Yeah, I’ve loved the waves since I was six.” Eren nodded.
”You ever got hurt?” Levi asked.
”Once.. but it wasn’t bad, I just got hit by a gnarly wave and landed bad on my board.”
“Right.” Levi turned on the radio, it was on an oldies station, playing songs that Eren had never heard before.
”This what you Yankees listen to?” Eren snorted.
”Oi, Aussie boy. you better watch out calling people Yankees around here. Or else you might upset someone.” Levi warned.
Eren held his hands up and shrugged.
Erwin entered the car with a slam, “I hope you’re not scaring our guest.”
“Nope, just pre-warning him.” He smiled at Erwin.
”Oh, right.” Erwin nodded.
”Levi. Let Eren have a go of the aux, I’m sure he doesn’t want to listen to this.” Erwin added.
”Fine…” Levi groaned, sounding like an angry child.
He passed Eren the aux cord, Eren plugged it into his phone.
He pressed onto his Spotify, playing his music. The music was Australian, the accents were thick and strong.
The music played for a couple of minutes before coming to a halt, his phone was buzzing. Mum…
”Oh god..” Eren muttered, answering the call.
”Hello sweetie! Are you okay? Did you get there fine?!” Carla asked.
”Hello Mrs Yeager! We’re just in the car with Eren.” Erwin said, sporting a grin.
”Oh, Erwin! You’ve been keeping my boy safe haven’t you?” She questioned.
”Yes, of course we have.” He confirmed.
”Oh, thank goodness. Where’s Levi?” She tittered on.
”Right here,” Levi reassured.
”Make sure that boy of mine doesn’t end up like some drongo by the time you’re done with him.”
“I won’t, Mrs Yeager. By the time I’m done with him, he’ll be crying to go home.” Levi sported a smirk.
”Eren? Are you there baby?”
”Yes mum, I’m fine. It’s no wucka’s.” He confirmed.
”You make sure to behave, don’t get your knickers in a twist when things aren’t going your way.” She warned.
“Yes, mum.” Eren sounded like he wasn’t bothered about what his mum was saying, it was all going over his head.
”Anyways, I have to go. So, I hope you have a good time in New York Eren!” She exclaimed happily.
Eren stayed silent.
”Love you, bye.” She cut the call off.
“You need to start treating that woman with some respect, she works her ass off for you, Aussie boy.” Levi growled.
”I know she does.” Eren huffed.
”So, why do you treat her like she’s some piece of shit then?” He chided.
”Now, now Levi. Calm down.” Erwin chastised.
”I’m only asking him..” Levi whispered.
”Not now though, you’re making things worse for him.” Erwin tried to comfort Levi.
“We need to get his full trust before honing in on him..” Erwin whispered.
Eren heard the low mumbling and tried to deflect his attention from it, he couldn’t make out what they were saying anyway.
When they got to the house, Erwin got Eren’s luggage out of the trunk ; dragging it into the main hallway.
”Oh, yeah. There’s someone we want you to meet.” Erwin said, leading Eren into the living space.
There was a girl sat on the couch, she had black hair, clad in fishnets, a mini skirt that barely covered her ass, and a tiny crop top.
Eren got the full whack, wherever he looked there was more ; piercings basically covered her body, along with a few tattoos.
She had a slight look of Levi, which made him wonder if they were related.
”Hey.. your the Australian boy, right?” She asked, her voice was sweet like honey, which made Eren even more addicted.
”Yeah..” He breathed.
She definitely wasn’t like Levi in the personality department, she was sweeter, kinder.
Who the hell was this? And why was she like a goddess?