- ONE YEAR AGO -
EREN POV:
Usually, Armin would come over and play a couple of rounds of games with me but last night and all of today he didn't. I didn't see him at all either, it made me wonder what he was up to because normally he'd send some sort of text if his plans changed but he didn't this time.
Which is exactly how I ended up on the street of his house, it was late; maybe 11 PM. I saw none of his lights were on except the one in his bedroom which was even more strange, I kept my phone between my hands and texted him to see if he'd reply. He had to of been home since his car was in the driveway and his light was in so I just wanted to know why he was ditching me. The street lights were on and sitting in my parked car really made me look like some sort of creep but I just wanted to know why he was ditching me so often.
Then I saw his front door open. I looked down at my text and he still didn't reply so I was confused.
I was even more confused when Annie was the one walking out of the door, last time I checked Armin and y/n have been together for about a year now.
She was walking down the steps of his house with a bag over her shoulder, Armin stood by the front door and watched her leave. Another car pulled up in front of the driveway and Annie got inside, must've been her ride home.
I'm not an idiot, it didn't take a genius to put together what they were doing. The real dilemma lied with what I was supposed to do about it, I couldn't be seen because my car was black and my headlights were off, I was pulled over a few houses down too. He was my best friend, he did a lot of shady questionable shit but this made top five on the list and not for the simple fact that he was cheating but the fact that he was cheating on a girl who I wanted first.
I knew If I told anyone, the chances of believing me were slim. So when she walked down the steps of his house, I took a picture and made sure they were both visible. Him being shirtless didn't make it look that great either.
Y/N POV:
About an hour and a half ago you were arguing with Armin, he was shouting and so were you. It was over something pointless, you hated arguing with him because he always managed to find a way to make himself slide through the cracks of purity. Escaping your expression of anger by making himself look innocent and you hated it, hated it so much that he managed to make you cry even when you were angry.
Simply frustrated yet you were crying, not out of sadness but you picked up the things he knocked over whilst your cheeks were hot to the touch. You called Annie and asked her to come over, she always knew how to comfort you after an argument and she was so good at it you told her almost everything when it came to these arguments.
Tonight you called her over too and you heard a knock on your bedroom door when you were in the middle of picking up a book off the floor that got knocked over.
"Yes?" You answered and Annie pushed the door open and walked in.
You stood up and she hugged you tightly, she already knew why you called her because there was only one thing you would call for this late. Comfort.
"I'm sorry," she whispered as she kept her arms firmly fitted around you.
"I hate him...so much," you whispered back breathlessly to her.
"I know I know," she rubbed your back and you were forced to look at the mess made in your room from both parties.
-PRESENT TIME-
Y/N POV:
"He's got a thing for you."
"Thing? As in...?"
"He likes you. Head over heels since high school," Levi confessed and drove in front of the hotel you were staying at.
"What? No, he doesn't,"
"Trust me. He does, why do you think he's such an ass to everyone...but you?" Levi parked the car up next to the sidewalk and turned his head toward you.
"I've to known Eren longer...before I even met or started dating Armin. So that can't-"
"Deny it all you want but I know things. I'm not some old guy who just pesters him for no reason," Levi boasts proudly and you shake your head before getting out of the car in disbelief.
You pulled out your phone whilst starting to walk and called the one person who would tell you the truth as long as you had the guts to ask.
"Hey, Connie," you greeted and kept the phone to your ear as you unlocked your hotel's door.
"What's up?"
"Does Eren...-"
"Like you? Yep. He finally told you?!" Connie answered excitedly and you stopped walking and just stood there.
"Oh..."
"That doesn't sound like a happy "oh"..?" He responded to you and you hung up and sat on the couch in the lobby.
You were confused, you knew Eren before dating Armin so if he liked you in high school...why didn't he tell you when he had the chance? Honestly, you probably would've said yes if he asked you out then, so why did he wait? Was it pure lack of confidence or was he hiding something else?
"Surprise!" Mikasa shouted and she and Sasha both posed dramatically in front of you.
"We're here to hang out with you and take you out!" Sasha gushed and sat next to you; tossing her arm over your shoulder.
"What's wrong?" Mikasa asked and tilted her head at the sight of you staring at the floor.
"Eren has some big secret and I've been trying to figure out what it is but it wasn't what I was expecting,"
"Ooohh what is it?!" Sasha pestered impatiently.
"Connie says he likes me," you confess and look at Sasha.
You were expecting more of a reaction from both of them but they just stared at you blankly. Sasha blinked exaggeratedly a couple of times at you, Mikasa just stood with her hands across her chest silently.
"Uh....?" You mumbled and furrowed your brows to get them to say what they were thinking.
"We're waiting for you to tell us the "big secret" part," Mikasa announced and Sasha nodded in agreement.
"You guys knew too?!"
"What? Did you think we were idiots? It was obvious," she sighed and sat on the other side next to you on the couch.
"So it was obvious to everyone but me?"
"Pretty much," Sasha shrugged and sighed after.
"Who else knew before me?"
"Sasha and I, Connie, Annie, Armin, Pieck-"
"So pretty much everyone I know except for me?" You interrupted and sucked your teeth as you squinted her way.
"Yes. Now moving on, we have an evening full of fun shit to do!" Sasha perked up from the seat next to you and grabbed your hand; dragging you alongside her after Mikasa followed.
"What should I say to him?"
"Nothing." Both Sasha and Mikasa said in sync.
"Why not?!"
"If he knows you know, you'll just make him feel embarrassed. Not to mention, you don't like him back so he'll just feel bad and it'll get all awkward! Now can we stop talking about this?!" Mikasa snapped and Sasha stopped dragging you right by the door.
You and Sasha both looked at each other then back at Mikasa, there was always something more to the story. This time, it involved Mikasa.
"You don't like him back...right y/n?" Sasha asked and now all attention had been focused back on you.
"He's nice and funny, he gets me fries and-"
"That's not what I asked...do you like him?" Sasha squinted exaggeratedly and it felt like the entire lobby went silent in your mind.
"No....?" You answered in the most unbelieved tone, Sasha bought it but Mikasa didn't obviously, Sasha grabbed your hand again and led you out the lobby doors to where her car was parked and Mikasa followed along and sat in the front seat.
You wanted to know why the both of them seemed like they didn't want you to like him but then again you wanted to know a lot of things.
"Where are we going?" You shut the backseat car door.
"Where cotton candy lives," Sasha answered and began her route back into the road, you froze for a moment to think about which singular place she was talking about.
"State fair?" You asked and she smiled enthusiastically and nodded.
"Do you guys have a charger? My phones one-two percent," you announced and Mikasa started searching the car for a charger.
"I don't think I do...you'll be with us so it's fine. We won't keep you out all night don't worry,"
——-
You got out of the car once she parked in the huge parking lot outside the fair, Sasha was always that friend who did a lot of spontaneous stuff and you loved it. You left your phone in the compartment in the front seat of in the car and the three of you approached the wristband stand.
You got your wristbands and Sasha had this habit of yanking you in a certain direction when she saw something she liked. Similar to dogs yanking their owners when they saw a squirrel.
"Let's get on this ride!" She yanked you toward the skinny teacups and you were forced to ride along with her while Mikasa got to walk slowly and take her time like a normal human being.
You got your wristbands checked and the man holding the gate opened it for you all, she dragged you to the blue teacup and the two of you sat down in it together. When you looked past her by the gate you saw Mikasa standing there grinning that she got away with not getting on the ride.
"I invited Connie too! I think he's already here," Sasha informed and the teacups began spinning, the smile on her face was priceless as she got excited by almost everything.
You continued getting on and off rides, some Mikasa got on both others she remained just holding Sasha's stuff and waiting for you two to get off. After she acquired her cotton candy and it got a little darker outside, you found Connie by the food stands chugging a bottle of soda.
"I'm gonna go to the bathroom real quick," you tapped Mikasa and she nodded as Connie and Sasha did their dramatic greeting where they acted out some movie scene, the bathroom was just behind you all so you walked over to it.
You walked past the side of it and when you turned the corner, you felt someone pull you and push you up against the brick wall.
"Eren?!"
"I've been calling you nonstop, wheres's your phone?" He asked urgently and you were still focused on the fact that you almost pissed yourself.
"It died and it's in Sasha's car! Why did you just snatch me like that?!" Your eyes went wide and you stared at him waiting for a reply.
"Because you're being followed,"
"By who?! You!" You claimed and he was pressed up against you since the bathroom was built right next to another building, the space he pulled you into was extremely narrow.
"I'm not following you, I'm here because Connie asked me to come and pay for his corn dogs."
When you finally calmed down a bit you realized what you knew, you wanted to know if he knew that you knew. You couldn't ask of course but being so close to him made it hard to breathe...hard to think.
"There's something I need to tell you." He says in a much more serious tone causing you to think he's going to confess to you.
"Yeah...?"
You catch him glance out the corner of his eye before saying anything else, the anticipation rose and you started to think this wasn't about liking you. He wasn't actually looking at anything, he seemed to be avoiding something.
His hands were on the wall behind you.
"I know I should've told you this sooner but I wasn't a hundred percent sure." He blurts and still avoids looking you in the eye, this leads you to believe that he's going back on track with confessing to you and you can't help but feel nervous.
You find yourself not breathing at all, you just stared at him and kept waiting for him to say it but it felt like he was taking forever.
"I know that you l-"
"You have cotton candy on your lip." He addressed at the same time as you and cuts you off, you roll your eyes at him.
"I thought you were going to say something serious,"
"Of course not, I had to lighten the mood after telling you that you're being followed." He brushed his thumb against your bottom lip while smiling at you and he got the cotton candy off.
"Well...now what?"
"You get to stay with me again. Woohoo!" He cheered sarcastically and led you out from the narrow space the two of you were in.
"Why don't I just buy my own apartment?"
"Jeez if you hate living with me so much you could've just said that...I'll buy it," he shrugs and stands in front of you just outside the bathroom area.
"You don't need to buy me an apartment, I can get it myself-"
"It's my fault you're being followed anyway. If you won't let me pay for all then let me pay for half," he insisted and looked behind your shoulder.
Before giving you a chance to speak he grabbed your hand and led you off elsewhere, you didn't know where but there was this sense of trust you always felt from him. He was the first to tell you about Armin and Annie, he wasn't particularly open about things but he wasn't a liar.
He was wrong about himself.
Despite how he acted toward you earlier, he seemed to be perfectly fine earlier. You remembered that Levi told you about his little outburst of anger, they shouldn't be taken seriously or personal so you didn't take it that way.
"Where are we going?"
"To my car. You distracted me, I still have to get you somewhere safe," he said and continued to lead you elsewhere.
"I need to tell Sasha and Mikasa and get my phone from her car," you enlightened and he sighed while you let go of his hand and waved over to Mikasa and Sasha.
Awkward.
That's exactly how things felt with the three of you standing by Sasha's car, neither of them said a word as you leaned into her car to grab your phone.
Mikasa was eyeing Eren and so was Sasha, he just patiently waited for you to get the phone so you could get in his car.
"Sorry guys," you apologized and put your phone back into your pocket.
"It's fine. We'll plan to hang out another day," Sasha crossed her arms over her chest and you awkwardly slid past them both to head off with Eren.
"Why were they staring at you like that?" You asked whilst walking through the gravel-coated parking lot side by side next to him.
"I don't think they like me very much,"
"Why? What did you do to them?" You were skeptical of him because Sasha could be particular sometimes but Eren wasn't the type of person she'd hate.
"Nothing silly," he unlocked his car and you both got in.
You never noticed until now how nice his car was, very sleek and very expensive. All black including the rims of the wheels, the interior was black as well but had a lining of red on some parts of the interior.
"What type of car is this?" You asked and buckled up just before he started driving.
"I have no idea. Carlos got it for me as a birthday present but refuses to tell me the name of it because he thinks I'll try to pay him back for it," he responded casually.
"Would you?"
"Of course. He insisted that I stopped searching for the type of car it is so I did. Now I just don't know," he yawned and glanced over at you.
You nodded slowly and looked out the window.
"Why are you so calm about this?"
"If I don't act calm then I'll pee on myself," you confessed and he started laughing at you.
It was dark out and so was his car, only the redlining in his car gave a little bit of a red tint to the inside of the car. Other than that, you heard Eren ruffling with something and turned your head at the sound of it. He began driving a lot faster as you were in a straight shot road and no other cars passing, he was loosening his tie off his neck and you watched him keep on hand on the wheel while doing it all.
Faster, he had no clear intentions of slowing down but you were too focused on his hand clenched onto the knot of his tie and pulling it off with ease before throwing it into the backseat. He unbuttoned the first two buttons on his white shirt and in the midst of it all, his jacket moved to the side a bit and you saw a blood splatter peaking out despite being in the dark.
"Are you okay?!" You put your hand over to his abdomen and he looked over at you.
"Uh...yeah, I'm fine. It's not mine...technically," he said hesitantly and you slowly moved your hand back over to your lap.
"Oh..." you mumbled and stroked your hands over each other on your lap.
The entire ride back, you couldn't help but glance at him. As if you were waiting for something, you didn't know what but you could feel the anticipation of something. Whatever it was, it made you beyond nervous.
He rolled down his window and his hair thrashed in the wind, still remaining intact in the bun he wore just a lot messier. He kept his one hand on the wheel and the other tapped his thigh repeatedly, all the way until he pulled into his driveway.
"Carlos isn't here so if you need something just ask me," he announced and unlocked the front door.
You both walked in and he went straight upstairs, probably to go change his shirt. You stayed downstairs once you caught sight of the jolly ranchers on the coffee table in a bowl.
As you sat down you contemplated and contemplated until you couldn't anymore, you sat there for maybe five minutes before thinking about what it was that you were anticipating.
Then you got it, it clicked and you decided to act on it. You had a blue jolly rancher in your mouth, you set the wrapper down and got off the couch to walk around the couch onto the wooden floors and up the dark wooden steps to his room.
You knocked on his door; holding your breath until your chest tightened.
"Yeah?" He answered and you opened the door and shut it behind you before standing there and holding eye contact with him.
He was shirtless and just in his black jeans, he leaned over in his spot on the edge of the bed with his phone in his head. You didn't say anything further but instead took the steps to him, the only light that was on was his closet and bathroom light.
"What's wrong?" He asked in a concerned tone.
You paused just in front of him and froze, he stood up as well and set his phone down on his bed behind him. Your chest got even tighter, tensed just like your shoulders. Once he stood up and you were forced to face the closeness of his body next to yours, you slid your hand back up to his jaw and pulled him in close to your face.
He was staring you down, keeping this exact moment tucked away in his head...something the both of you wanted but never imagined happening again.
The tension was thick between the two of you but when you managed to finally pull him onto your lips, all that tension sunk. You kissed him...again.
You felt your lips slide against each other with ease, you put your hand on the back of his neck and kept his lips onto yours. His hands moved to your waist and gripped onto you tightly, he tilted his head to match the motion of yours.
You felt him slide his tongue against yours and take the jolly rancher out your mouth and glide it into his; smirking through the kiss right after.