The cool autumn air nipped at your cheeks as it poured in through the cracked window. You squinted your eyes as you tried to open them, the sunlight momentarily blinding you. Eren's phone was ringing for the third time this morning but he was sound asleep. He looked peaceful and you were thankful he was resting. He really needed it.
You frowned at the bruising around his eye and even more when you noticed the faint marks on his neck from Zeke. Motherfucker.
Reaching across Eren and grabbing his phone off of the nightstand you quickly silenced it, looking at the number. It wasn't in his contacts but you felt like it could be important so you quickly got up, pulling the covers over Eren gently before scurrying out of the room and closing the door.
"Hello?" You answered the call, your voice still groggy.
"Hi, yes. I'm looking for Eren Yeager?" The man's voice asked.
"Who's calling?"
"My name is Erwin Smith, I run Paradis Gym here in the city and would like to recruit him. My scout saw his fight last night and we want him on our team."
Your eyes widened, covering your mouth to contain your excitement.
"Oh, of course! I will let him know. Thank you." You quickly responded, unsure of what else to even say.
"Terrific. I look forward to hearing from him. Oh and tell him we will offer him a handsome sign-on bonus of fifteen-thousand dollars, dear."
"O-of course, Mr. Smith. I will let him know right away and he'll be in touch."
You ended the phone call and silently jumped up and down with excitement. The other missed calls from this morning must've been other gyms trying to recruit him and the thought of that in itself was exhilarating. He was going to make it to the top in no time at all.
Making your way to the kitchen in hopes Jean was up, you smiled when you saw him and Connie sitting at the kitchen table having coffee.
"Morning, boys."
"Morning, pretty lady." Connie sang back, Jean just laughing. "Want a cup?" He offered to you as he got up.
"No thanks, I'll make some tea." You responded with a wave of your hand, placing Eren's phone on the charger for him as you filled the kettle at the sink.
"Gyms have been calling him all morning." You announced to the boys, Connie's eyes widening.
"What? That's awesome! He'll be so hyped to hear that." Jean said excitedly, his eyes drifting away as he reminisced on what unfolded last night. You looked away too, a frown spreading across your face. The hangover must've made your memory foggy as to just how bad it really was.
"Wait, what's wrong? Something happen?" Connie asked, scratching his head in confusion. Jean nodded and filled him in as you continued to make your tea, Jean's voice hushing as Eren shuffled into the kitchen.
"Hey! It's the big champion!" Connie yelled, jumping out of his seat and jumping up on Eren to put him in a playful headlock. Eren coughed at the pressure on his throat and it made you drop your mug on the floor, cursing under your breath. "Connie, stop!" You yelled, knitting your brows at Eren's pained expression.
"Shit, sorry. Sorry. I forgot." He apologized as he quickly backed off and patted Eren's shoulder. Eren coughed again before quickly spinning around and picking Connie up, throwing him over his shoulder before slamming him down onto the couch as Connie screamed like a girl.
"Knockout!" Jean bellowed, cupping his hands around his mouth like a megaphone before getting up to help you clean the shattered mug off the floor. You both laughed as Connie continued to scream for his life on the couch as a much larger Eren continued to pin and wrestle him.
"I think he needs you to save him." You whispered to Jean, pointing to Connie writhing under Eren who had him pinned on his stomach and was about to give him a wedgie. "It's like they've regressed to teenage boys somehow.." You added, a puzzled look on your face.
Jean laughed in agreement and got up, walking over to the boys on the couch and began pulling them apart. Once they calmed down and Connie caught his breath, Eren made his way over to you in the kitchen. You felt his strong arms wrap around your waist as he rested his chin on your shoulder while you poured your tea into a new mug.
"Good morning." He said, his voice still raspy with sleepiness.
"Are you done preying on the weak and vulnerable?" You teased, side eye Connie who was glaring at you. "Oi!" He shouted. "Watch it."
You all laughed when Eren's phone started ringing again, him looking over at it.
"Oh, shit. I was looking for that. Why is it down here?" He asked, picking it up off the charger and glaring at the name on the screen before silencing it. You didn't even need to ask who was calling him. You knew.
"Oh, uh. It was ringing nonstop this morning so I answered it so it wouldn't wake you.. Have you heard of Paradis Gym?" You sheepishly responded to his question, excitement building in your heart to tell him the good news.
"Shit, yeah. That's the gym that all the big dogs train at. Why?" He returned the question, cocking an eyebrow at you.
"Well, thee Erwin Smith called you directly! Well, I answered.. But he was looking for you because he said he wants you at his gym. Which is Paradis.."
Eren's eyes widened, his head lurching towards you in shock before a huge smile spread across his face and he picked you up and slung you over his shoulder.
You giggled as he spun you around before putting you down, never having seen so much excitement on his face.
"You're fucking joking." He said, his tone bewildered.
"Nope." You shook your head. "He wants you to call him ASAP! Oh, and he wants to give you fifteen grand, too." You added, biting your lip to try and hide your huge grin.
Eren's mouth dropped open as Jean and Connie high-fived each other, congratulating their friend. He quickly grabbed his phone, pulling your chin up to his face as he pressed a hard kiss on your lips before running back upstairs to call Mr. Smith back. Once he was done and came back to the kitchen, you made all of the boys omelets and bacon, making one for yourself at the end too.
"So? What'd he say?" Connie asked with his mouth full.
"They want me to stop by today to sign some contracts and take my measurements." Eren explained, unable to suppress the smile on the corners of his lips.
"That's awesome, babe." You gleamed, squeezing his hand before taking another sip of your tea.
The four of you continued to have breakfast and laugh, sharing stories and explaining exactly how the fight played out to Connie. He already had reels and tiktok edits people were making of Porco Galliard being knocked out by Eren, dramatic music in the background of each one. You checked Eren's instagram and your eyes widened at the fact his followers tripled overnight. He had twenty thousand now, only having five thousand before yesterday.
Once the boys finished eating you quickly cleaned up the table, leaving the dishes in the sink for later. You had to be at work in an hour and didn't want to be late. Hange has been so kind on accepting all of your requests off leading up to the big fight that you didn't want to take advantage of her.
You quickly plaited your hair in a dutch braid before pulling on a pastel pink sweater and some faded black jeans, pairing your favorite boots with them and grabbing your bag. You found Peep snuggled up in the blankets on the bed and couldn't leave without giving him a quick pet first, kissing his little pink nose like you always did.
The boys were watching the game on the tv as you were grabbing your tea and pouring it in a travel mug, Eren sorely getting up off the couch to say goodbye.
"No, no. Sit!" You scolded him, pushing his shoulders back down onto the couch and kissing his cheek. "I'll see you after work. Let me know how it goes at the gym! Let's maybe celebrate with some drinks tonight?" You added before opening the door, waving goodbye to Connie and Jean.
"See ya, toots." Jean added and you rolled your eyes, Connie giggling like a little kid.
"Yeah, let's do that. Love you, have a good day." Eren smiled at you as you left, his mood shifting to being disappointed that you had to leave. He wanted to spend every minute with you, even though he didn't want to admit it with his friends sitting right here.
The bookstore was only a few blocks away and you walked there in fifteen minutes, punching in on the old school time clock in the back before you put your apron on and grabbed a cart with books that needed to be put out. You were excited to read the newest volume of Chainsaw Man on your break today.
A few hours had passed since you got to work when Sasha texted you.
Sasha -
Hey! How is Eren doing? I heard the news! Good and bad...
Y/N -
Hes okay :) He's signing with Paradis Gym today!
Want to go out for drinks tonight to celebrate?
Sasha -
Um DUHH! Nic and I will be there! Just let us know where!
Y/N -
Will do, ttyl :))
Hange was consumed with a new range of encyclopedias that the store started carrying, she had been in her office your entire shift. You were closing up when you said goodbye to her, making sure she was good for the night before heading out. You locked the front and back doors to make sure no one could come into the store before leaving and hurrying home, texting the address of the bar you decided on to Sasha. It was just a little dive bar that you guys liked to go to when you didn't feel like getting all dressed up to go out.
As you were walking home you slipped your AirPods into your ears, turning up the volume on your phone as your walk synchronized to the beat of Happiness by The 1975. It was yours and Eren's favorite song at the moment. You smiled to yourself as you listened to the lyrics, thinking about how much you've turned your life around and how happy you've been these last few months. Things were really looking up for you for once and Eren made all of that possible for you. He showed up at the perfect time for you and although you didn't know it, you did for him too.
You were three blocks away from your apartment building when you felt like there was a pair of eyes on your back. Lowering the volume on your phone you glanced over your shoulder. The street lights on this section of the block were sparse so the lighting wasn't great. There was a tall figure walking behind you with their hood on. They were a good ten feet away and not looking at you, but you still felt on edge. It was definitely a man with a bigger build, but it was hard to tell his age from just your quick look and the darkness of the night.
Hugging your bag tighter onto your side, you began to walk faster. You completely turned off your music but left the AirPods in your ears so that you didn't seem like you were acting weird or anything. Your hand slipped into your bag and quickly found the mini pepper spray Eren made you carry with you ever since your apartment was broken into. You kept your fingers wrapped tightly around it and took a deep breath. One more block, you just had to make it one more block.
You began to feel silly, shaking your head at yourself. Its probably just some guy walking to wherever he was going. Just because he was walking close behind you didn't mean anything, right? To ease your nerves you took your phone out and called Eren, biting your lip as the line kept ringing.
"Pick up, pick up.." You whispered to yourself, hearing the footsteps behind you getting closer. The phone went to Erens voicemail and you rolled your eyes. He was probably in the shower since he was at Paradis gym all day. You considered calling Jean, but you didn't want to bother him. Besides, you were already walking into your apartment building. Just have to get to the elevator.
You saw a reflection of the same man that was behind you now walking into your apartment building, his figure reflecting off of the decorative mirrors in the lobby. He was following you. Without hesitating you ran for the elevator, thankful someone had just gotten off so the doors were still open. You fumbled for your key card, quickly pulling it out of your bag and inserting it into the elevator while pressing the button for your floor. You let out a breath you didn't realize you were holding as the doors began to close, only to gasp when a hand shot in between the closing gap and made them open again.
You looked up, wide eyed at the man standing in front of you. He pulled his hood off as he stepped into the elevator with you, his broad body blocking any room for an escape. His blonde hair glistened in the warm lighting of the room as a disgusting sinister smirk spread across his face and you could feel the bile rising in your throat, frozen in place.
"I've been looking everywhere for you."