"I'm going out with Sasha and Connie this weekend,"
"I'm working."
"I know, that's why you're not invited." You ate a piece of fruit and he side-eyed you with a straight face.
"What are your plans for today?" Levi asked Eren, shifting the attention back onto him.
"Y/n and I are playing video games all day. That's all," he took a sip of water right after speaking and Levi nodded.
"You didn't ask me if I wanted to,"
"Wait you're serious? You have too much to do today Eren," Levi added and Eren rolled his eyes, you remained silent and enjoyed the surprisingly good breakfast he cooked. You ate the last of the breakfast potatoes on your plate as Levi pulled out a folder with information inside.
"No work at the table-"
"Buyer twenty-three is late on two payments along with twenty-nine and forty-one. Their deadline was last night so you need to go see them today," Levi ignored him and started reading off the papers in the folder.
You stood up to take care of your dish and Eren took the plate from your hand and set it back down on the table next to him while still discussing things with Levi.
"No, I don't want to. I'm sleepy," he forcefully yawned and Levi was very obviously fed up with him at this point.
"Fine. Sleep all today but tonight I will be back and I expect you to be ready," Levi stood up from the table and grabbed the folder, you were still just standing next to Eren because he took your plate and wouldn't allow you to clean it.
"No promises," Eren mumbled under his breath once he saw Levi walking toward the back door in the kitchen.
"Now. What game does the lady want to play?" Eren turned his head and got up out of the chair to stand directly in front of you.
"Whatever game you think I'd like,"
"Ooo I get to chose," he hummed and left the plates on the table, he walked around you and started heading toward the living room in which you followed behind him.
You sat next to each other on the couch and he handed you a controller after choosing whichever game he thought fit best. The game started and without explaining anything, he just let you figure it out yourself for the first ten minutes.
It seemed like some sort of quest game, like in the end there was some sort of goal but his player, in particular, faced more challenges to deal with. Meanwhile, your player had more of the decision to make, very difficult decisions at that.
"Do you like it?" He asked mid-gameplay.
"No," you denied but continued to play anyway, he turned his head and stared at you with a blank face; blinking repeatedly.
"You don't? Then why don't you pick a different one instead?" He suggested and you turned your head to look at him.
"I wasn't being serious. It's fun,"
"Oh-" his phone rang before he could add to his sentence, he glanced at the name of the call and then held the phone in his hand.
"You can take it. It's fine," you assured and paused the game.
"I'll be quick," he answered the call and stood up, you watched him walk away and around the couch where he talked in the dining room.
He only talked for no more than thirty seconds, he looked a little annoyed when he got interrupted and even more annoyed when he walked back to you.
"We can finish this later. I've gotta go," he informed and you just nodded.
He turned and went to go walk upstairs, you unlocked your phone and scrolled mindlessly for a couple of minutes until he came back down and tossed you the remote.
You looked up from your phone and saw him standing in a black suit, white button-up, and no tie, just the first buttons unbuttoned at the top.
"I should be back around five. Don't burn my house down," he announced just before walking out the front door.
"Hmm, I'll think about it," you joked and grabbed the remote on his way out.
He shut the door and you searched for something to watch, normally you'd be spending this time doing everything you could to regain all that time lost in two years the moment Armin decided to cheat. You just didn't feel comfortable enough to face others knowing you weren't even sure of your own identity anymore, not knowing whether you were enough or too much of something else.
There had to be a reason Armin did what he did to you, Pieck too. We're you a bad friend to her? You never thought you were, of course, you thought you were a great girlfriend too but look where that got you.
What could you have done? If you made a list, could you find something that could explain your unexplainable? That's what you did. You made a list on your phone of everything you've done for Armin over the past two years of strictly dating, every interaction, phone call, and even gift.
It took you about an hour; you were definitely the type of person who would buy your partner whatever they took the slightest interest in. It didn't matter why it was or even the price, as long as it made them happy it didn't really bother you.
You re-read the list and went back and put a checkmark next to everything that could've driven him to what he did. You left a little note of what was wrong with what you did after each check and how to "fix" it. As if you could fix those lovely habits of yours that you saw as an ugly part of yourself now.
The simple fact that you really sat there, knees up to your chest on the couch, and casually wrote down everything you thought you did wrong in your relationship and how to "improve" was absolutely insane. It was what he did to you, the effect his actions had on you.
It was painful, so painful that you went numb to the realization of what you were doing. You thought this was a normal reaction, just casually writing down everything you now grew to hate about yourself.
EREN POV:
"Is he dead?" I asked in the foldable metal chair, it was rusted but nobody really cared.
"I'm not sure-"
I put my shoe up to his badly bruised face, limp on the floor he looked like he was just passed out from the pain at this point. I'd forgotten my shoes were just shined, the black leather that was now under this man's jaw, I pulled the blunt away from my lips and tossed it aside.
"Hmmm. Think we have some time to stop and get a burger on the way home?" I hummed and rocked the man's limp head back and forth playfully.
"Of course-"
"Oops, that's gonna hurt like a bitch in the morning. Can you check his pockets for me?" I asked and removed my foot from under his jaw on accident, resulting in him face planting the floor.
"Of course," he walked over and rummaged through the pockets of the man Levi told me about earlier today.
"No money. Just some ID's"
"This part sucks, just past the debt onto his family for me. I have to be home by five," I looked down at my phone to check the time and he nodded and tossed the other man's limp body over his shoulders.
Y/N POV:
You remained in the same position on the couch, sitting there picking out every newfound flaw that you didn't even consider a flaw or imperfection until this list.
Five PM rolled around and on the dot, you could hear the front door being unlocked and saw Eren entering, he was staring at his phone but looked up and smiled at you.
"Glad to see my house is still intact," he joked and you set your phone down from being close to your face and rolled your eyes.
"Ha ha. Very funny,"
"Are you hungry?" He questioned just before walking up the steps.
"Somewhat,"
He didn't reply but instead continued upstairs; then. Of course, after he asked you started to think about what you wanted for dinner. You set your phone down with the list app open on the coffee table. Eren's door closed shut and you got up to go suggest what you had a taste for, a part of you hoped he'd cook again.
You walked around the couch and up the wooden steps until you reached his room. You used the back of your hand, knocking on his door with your knuckles but there wasn't a reply.
"Eren?" You knocked again.
No reply again.
Your hand fell down to the metal doorknob where you turned it and cracked it open a little to peek inside first.
Eren was standing at the end of his back; back turned and facing you so you could only view his back profile. Yet again you observed the tattoo of a blueprint, the longer you looked you released he had several dark purple bruises on his back and sides, in the ribcage area.
He had another shirt in his hand, you could see something peeking out of the side of the pants he was wearing but you were too far back to decipher what it was.
"Fuck..." he groaned in a deep husky voice after the slightest movement and glanced at his body in the mirror in front of him.
Not to mention, your first instinct when seeing the bruises on him was to enter the room and ask how's he get them. Then again, he didn't even know you were there, nor did he seem to like it when you asked personal questions.
You did really want to know, you wondered for a moment if you should just enter the room and let that speak for itself on its own.
Instead, you shut the cracked door silently and just knocked a little louder.
"Eren?"
"Just a minute," he replied and ruffled something on the other side before opening the door to you standing there.
"I'm going to order a pizza. What toppings do you want?"
"Hmm, pepperoni. Here, call for this place I like them," he handed you his phone after unlocking it and pulling up the contact for the specific pizza place he wanted.
You nodded and walked right back down the steps, when you reached the bottom of the steps you heard Eren's door open and he walked down the steps too. You stood in the living room and just leaned against the back of the couch with your arms crossed.
Eren plopped down on the couch behind you when you started to order. You glanced down at him and saw he furrowed his brows at the sight of your phone in front of him on the coffee table.
You thought he would just leave it alone but when you saw him reach for your phone with a slight tilt in his head, you turned to stop leaning against the back of the couch and you shook your head.
"What's this?" He asks and you start giving the pizza place his address.
You tried to reach for the phone to take it from him but he moved it into his right hand and held it farther away from you, you talked on the phone while trying to take your own phone from him but he was already reading it.
"Okay, thanks-...give me that!" You hung up the phone and reached farther to grab it from him.
"No, is this what I think it is?" He took it a step further and stood up with the phone in his hands, tapping the screen and scrolling on the list so he could read more of it.
"Give it back!"
"You always ask me questions but never answer mine," you huffed in annoyance and walked around the couch.
"So?"
"So, it's not fair. Now give it," you stood in front of him with your hand out.
"Wait, what questions have I not answered? I answer everything you've asked."
"How did you get injured?" You questioned abruptly.
"I'm not injured? Don't be silly and make up questions-"
"The bruises on your back and ribcage." You blurt and watch him continue to keep your phone from you.
"Now how'd ya manage to see those? You spyin' on me?" He chuckled and cocked an eyebrow.
"That's not an answer,"
"Never said I'd give you one," he responded, you snatched your phone from his hold after rolling your eyes and you walked back around the couch to go upstairs.
"Now I get to ask one. What's this list? I hope it isn't what I think it is," he started following you but you just ignored him completely.
"Hellooooo?"
"What? I never said I'd give you one," you mocked and could still feel his presence behind you.
He laughed and reached the top of the stairs behind you, you pushed your bedroom door open and before you closed it he stopped it with his hand and stared at you.
"I like you the way you are." He blurts and you swallow in a slight sense of embarrassment.
You shut the door anyway after making what felt like an hour of eye contact but really was just a minute. Sure, you could've been a bit nicer about the situation but you didn't want him out of all people to view you differently when seeing how vulnerable you truly were.
Over the years, even though you and Eren didn't have much of a "bond" more so just talked when you were with Armin...you still had a very sarcastic frame or rather an image of yourself in your mind that you just projected onto others. With that, people often thought of you as playful and obviously sarcastic most of the time, not really the type to write a list about what you hated about yourself due to a man's actions.
You sat down on your bed and just sat there staring at the wall.
You worried it was wrong of you to bring up the bruises, then again he grabbed and went through your phone without your permission so you didn't feel your actions were unjustified.
The pizza.
The pizza came and obviously, you weren't going to be that stubborn and just not eat, you opened your door and saw Eren sitting by himself on the couch. The pizza box on the coffee table and the entire house was silent, he didn't appear to be on his phone either and you started to wonder what was on his mind.
You awkwardly joined him, you sat on the other end of the couch and the two of you didn't say anything but still ate the pizza in a silence so awkward you'd rather him just find your embarrassing photos than sit through this.
He kept glancing at you but still didn't say anything.
"It's a blueprint of a particular store," he announces randomly and you look over at him.
"What?"
"The tattoo on my back," he explained.
"Oh."
"Now tell me what the list is,"
"Why? You clearly know exactly what it is," you shrug and grab a napkin to wipe your fingers.
"Why did you write it?"
"This is awkward," you blurted and looked to the side.
"If you don't answer, I'll make it even more awkward." He insists and sets his slice of pizza down in the box.
Obviously, you don't answer and he takes it upon himself to slide over next to you at the end of the couch. His shoulder is against your body and you try not to laugh at his closeness.
"Time is ticking," he taps his wrist with his finger exaggerating his seriousness and you laugh a little.
"You know why."
"Because of Armin and the other one?" He asks after moving even closer to you at the sound of your laughter.
"Her name is Pieck-"
"Don't care," he cuts off and observes you a little bit.
Being so close to you, you noticed how detailed his tattoos really were. He was just wearing a white tee and he had a couple of tattoos on his arm, not comparable to his back.
"Connie did this one for me when we were drunk," he pointed to one of the tattoos on his forearm after he saw you looking at them.
"Why would you agree to that? And since when does Connie know how to tattoo?"
"I said we were drunk, didn't I? I probably would've agreed to a face tattoo," he joked playfully.
"Well, why didn't you?"
"My face is too pretty," he boast and leaned back, he put his arms on the back of the couch and one arm behind you.
You rolled your eyes and shook your ear before biting into the crust you had left.
"What? I'm serious, it is." He claims again.
You felt a buzz in your pocket and grabbed your phone. It was a notification from your bank that a large amount of money was just deposited into your account. You scrunched up your eyebrows because you never deposited any money.
"What? You thought you would play video games with me and not get paid?" He responded to your facial expression.
"But how did you...?"
He shrugs expressively and doesn't answer you, as if he didn't know how but obviously he had to of known.
"Ya know, Armin is kind of contradictory. He says that I can't protect you but I've done a fine job so far, no? Especially coming from the one who isn't an undercover cop," Eren yawns and places his feet up on the coffee table after announcing something so bold.
"Huh? Wait an undercover cop? So are you one too? You don't answer any of my questions but always leave me with hundreds,"
He started chuckling and grinning a little when you asked if he was a cop too, he shook his head and stared at you.
"I'm not but he is,"
"So then...what do you do? What's contradictory about him saying that?" You ask again before realizing a very confusing aspect of his information.
Information that he was blurting all at once so casually, as if you knew about it before he said anything. How much did he really know? Even how much did he hear?
"What's contradictory is that he's the one hurting you."
You stare at him, he still has his feet up on the coffee table and you notice he's wearing duck socks, bright blue and yellow. You glance at them then back up at him.
His expression is smug, a smirk remains on his face as he chuckles to himself about it all for a moment.
"How did you know he said he could protect me better than you...?"