laying, lying - jean kirstein
summary - You've been in a relationship with Eren Jaeger since high school. Now, in your second year of university, the relationship is very mundane. You both go through the motions of a relationship, but the spark just isn't there. Hoping to reignite the spark, you transfer to Trost State University (TSU), where Eren attends.
Somehow, transferring intensifies the distance even more; now you feel isolated in his friend group. That's until Jean Kirstein becomes an unlikely ally as you traverse through university. You start to realize that the cracks in your relationship are slowly causing you to lose yourself. Jean sees the pieces that have started to chip away, and he wants to keep them safe, even if it means the end of you and Eren.
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"Good morning, babe." The blinds were shoved open abruptly, disturbing you from your sleep. You quickly moved your hand to cover your eyes from the unwelcome light. Turning over your shoulder, you fumbled for your phone.
"Why the fuck are you waking me up?" You grumbled and shoved upward.
Eren jumped on the bed with such force that it caused your body to rise off the bed. Sometimes, his antics amused you, but today was not one of those times. You had just moved all your belongings into Eren's apartment yesterday. The excursion was rough on your body, as Eren conveniently couldn't assist you in the move-in process. Your sister offered to come up and help, but you didn't want to take her away from time with her son.
First, he didn't help, and now he had the gall to wake you up.
"I missed you." Eren's mouth approached yours, puckered. You felt annoyed but pressed a quick peck to his lips. He smiled at the action and settled closer to you.
He smelled faintly of sweat and spearmint; courtesy of a morning jog and the nicotine pouches he clung to. You weren't too fond of the habit or of his sweaty body strewn across the bed, but you elected to not say anything about it. You were in his bed, in his apartment, which he allowed you to stay in after transferring to Trost.
With your relationship in rocky territory after graduating high school, you thought maybe closing the distance would repair some of the cracks. Though you originally planned on moving into the dorms, upon inspection of the shitty living quarters, Eren suggested you move in with him for the time being.
Red flags went off in your head. You were a girl who liked space, and because of the long-distance relationship, you had grown used to it. Perhaps this was part of the rift; you avoided sleeping in the same bed and sharing your space.
You had started dating Eren in your freshman year of high school; as such, there were no sleepovers. He would stay all day just for your sister to drive him home at 3 am. Then, once you got older, your sister allowed him to stay over, only if he slept on the couch.
That became the habit there on out, and you had never explored the possibility of sleeping in the same bed ever since.
This isn't to say you had never been in bed with him; you had needs. Eren was really good at fulfilling those needs. Though you wouldn't know as of late, it had been nearly five months since you guys had sex. Yet, you didn't feel that need, and Eren must not have either. He had never brought it up.
"Anyways." He pulled out his phone and interrupted your thoughts. "I woke you up for lunch. I want you to meet everyone." He smiled his dumbass grin, which meant he was going to make you do something.
You, extroverted dumbass.
"Put your damn smile away." You huffed. "It couldn't have been dinner?"
"Well we can't do dinner because we are going to Armin's after."
All you wanted was to sleep; instead, a whole day of socialization had been planned on your behalf. "Are you serious?"
"Y/n, can you just please be cordial for one fucking day?" He pushed out his hands in frustration.
You threw the comforter from your lap onto the nagging man next to you. "As if I'm not perfectly cordial every time I'm around your friends." You shuffled over to the still-packed box of your clothing on the floor and riffled through it. "Also, I don't know if you forgot, but I don't know anyone here. I want to meet your friends, believe it or not, I'm not a complete recluse who wants to sit in bed all day and watch reality TV."
"Could have fooled me." He mumbled so low that you had to piece together what he said. You didn't even give a reaction to the thoughtless words. This conversation was teetering on the line of an argument, something you didn't have energy for.
Instead, you moved quietly as Eren scrolled on his phone. "What type of restaurant is this place?" You broke the tension in the air.
He was quiet for a moment, distracted by his phone. "It's an um-" He snapped his fingers trying to come up with the words, "It's a diner."
Nodding, you decided a casual outfit was suited for the diner experience.
Hopefully they have a good patty melt... or onion rings.
In about thirty minutes, you were ready. Very similarly dressed to Eren, a hoodie and jeans, both of you wore. Eren was wearing his signature half-up, half-down hairstyle. He had started styling it this way once he reached college, deciding upon growing out his hair. You liked it a lot, actually, especially how he kept a couple of strands resting on his forehead.
When you came out of the bathroom, Eren smiled. Almost as if the sight of you dissolved the furrowed brow he had been sporting since your conversation ended. "You look cute, babe." He kissed your forehead. Smiling in return, you followed him out the door.
Eren informed you that the diner wasn't far, so there was no point in taking the car out of the parking garage. He hadn't told you that before leaving the apartment but thank God you opted for sneakers instead of your usual short black boots. While so cute, not great for long walks.
As you walked, you took the opportunity to actually take in your new environment. Trost was a decent-sized city, but was still highlighted as a college town. All of the good restaurants, activities, stores, etc. were all surrounding the campus. It made it nice if you lived close; it was pretty walkable.
The sidewalks were surprisingly clean for such a densely populated area, and trees were lining the streets. It was clear that whoever did the city planning had a specific vision in mind—lots of brick pathways and greenery. Even most of the shops had a similar look that incorporated these elements.
When your gaze drifted from your surroundings back to Eren, you noticed he had been watching you this whole time with a smile. While you had your issues lately, you couldn't help but melt when he looked at you like this. In your first meeting with the man, he donned the same smile. The smile you permanently fixed into your brain's passageways.
When he hurt you, or when doubt crept in, you clung to the image of the man you saw right now— a halo of sunlight around his handsome face, his eyes flecked gold in the light, and his tan skin glowing.
This was your Eren. You had to remind yourself of that.
He laced his fingers through yours and led you to the restaurant. The outside of the diner was under the same theme as the city landscape. It had large windows encased in a brick composition. The large sign read the name of the establishment, Wall Maria. Your eyes darted to the chalkboard sign on the curb with the daily special:
There was no question what you were ordering. You opened the door, and Eren squeezed ahead of you. Following Eren, you heard the bell chime as it closed.
The inside was filled with upholstered booths and wood-trimmed tables. The restaurant had greyish-black walls covered in vintage memorabilia: movie posters, newspaper articles, sports merchandise, and vinyl record sleeves. It gave it a cheap but cozy vibe, you were certain was perfect for the college students that overwhelmed Trost.
You stood near the front as Eren pulled out his phone to call his friends. He picked up the phone and chatted briefly before moving and motioned you to follow. He looped through the restaurant to a back room, which looked like it had been sanctioned for larger parties, as you were made aware this would be. Eren had too many fucking friends.
When Eren walked into the room, everyone started making a commotion upon his arrival. Most especially a slender man with a silver buzz cut, who jumped up from his seat and dapped up the man. "What's up, man?" Buzzcut asked your boyfriend.
"Not much, dude." Eren's eyes roamed over the group. "Everyone's here already?"
"Yep, even Marco got his ass out of bed on time." Buzzcut dug at someone in the group, a name you didn't even recognize.
Buzzcut returned to his seat, and then you and Eren followed over. Eren slid into the second closest empty chair, and you next after him. Everyone exchanged hellos with Eren, who already had a Coke sitting in front of him. "I ordered you a Coke." A girl with really short black hair turned to Eren.
You had seen her in a picture Eren posted before but couldn't place her name. "Thanks, Mikasa."
"Oh, by the way," Eren interrupted everyone. "This is my girlfriend, Y/n." You gave a slight wave as all of their eyes moved to you.
"Finally, we meet her." A blond man, whom you were sure was Armin, spoke up. He smiled and reached his hand out to shake yours. "We've seen the pictures and heard about you plenty of times."
"Hopefully good things." You jokingly poked Eren's side, which caused his body to scrunch.
"And you claimed you weren't ticklish, Jaeger." Another blonde man spoke; his frame was much broader than Armin's. He had clearly been on a regular juicehead gym routine for a long time.
"Just so you wouldn't pull that move out when we wrestled, Reiner." Eren snorted before taking a sip of the Coke.
"Sorry, we didn't order you a drink, gotta give us a couple times so we know your go-to." Armin smiled.
You politely nodded, "Oh, it's alright, I'll just ask the waiter when they take food orders."
Mikasa suddenly glared at Eren, "So are you gonna introduce everyone to Y/n or are you gonna just sit there chumming it up with Reiner?" You giggled under your breath at her words.
"My bad." Eren shot daggers her way, then started to motion around the table with names. "Right next to you is Armin. I'm sure you figured that out." You nodded curtly.
"Then obviously Mikasa." He pointed at a girl with a brunette high pony next, "Sasha, our resident foodie." She smiled widely, departing from the orange juice she was chugging.
"Reiner and Bertholt. Reiner's a gym rat and a total dick-" He was interrupted by Reiner suddenly, "Well, good thing my dick is bigger than yours."
"Stop lying to yourself." Bertholt said next to him before tousling his hair.
"Anyways, moving on. Down the line, we have Onyankopon, Marco, Annie, Historia, and Ymir." You followed his hand while putting names to faces. "Finally, next to me, Jean and Connie."
So Connie was Buzzcut....
Connie winked at you as you looked at him, but your gaze caught on Jean instead. He looked at you awkwardly as your eyes met. His eyes were a light amber with gold flecks, just like Eren's. He dipped his head to the menu in front of him after an uncomfortable amount of eye contact.
You forced your eyes back to Eren. "So that's the group." Eren concluded his introductions.
"Good thing I'm good with name and faces." You smiled. Eren ignored the comment and turned to Connie on his left.
Great. He was already in friend mode and had concluded his boyfriend duties. You were certain you were now left to navigate the group and its dynamics on your own.
With eyes off of you, you picked up the menu in front of you to decide what you wanted to pair with the special. Trying to make conversation, you turned to Armin and Mikasa, "What's good here?"
"So glad you asked." Armin leaned over to point out dishes on the menu. "I love the union rings, but you have to get the Titan Sauce to dip them into."
"What does it taste like?"
"It's kind of like a spicy ranch, but they put other spices in it. You can only get it here, and I literally buy the packaged bottles of it so I can have it at my place."
"Well, if it's that good, I have to get it." You smiled before closing the menu.
"Babe, what are you getting?" You could probably guess. He ordered the same meal at every restaurant.
"Two bacon burgers and steak fries." He didn't look at you as he responded, still facing his friends.
You nodded, opting to be silent. He clearly only brought you along because it was the right thing to do. You knew nobody, and this friend group was large enough that adding another was like nothing. Yet you weren't sure how you were going to mesh if your own boyfriend elected to ignore you in their presence.
You didn't blame them for initial weariness; you had just interrupted their excursion, and they weren't meant to be completely open with a stranger within fifteen minutes of your arrival.
Soon, a waiter came to interrupt the group's conversation, one that you were simply observing. He collected the menus and shortly came back with a large ice water for you.
"You're a water at a restaurant type of girl?" The tanned girl your boyfriend introduced as Ymir asked.
You nodded, "Yeah, don't really drink much soda."
"You're just like Jean." Sasha loosely pointed at the man's cup, which indeed was an ice water, half drained.
"She's right, carbonation hurts my stomach. I'll get a lemonade sometimes, though." Jean stirred his drink before briefly looking in your direction.
"I'm literally the same way. I'll just drink way too many lemonades, and my stomach ends up hurting anyways." You laughed. "So I keep it safe with water."
Eren scoffed, "Don't let her fool you, this girl can't handle a carbonated soda, but when I went down to visit her last semester won a shot drinking contest at a frat party."
Your cheeks heated at the recollection of the event, but you were grateful he threw you a bone to add to the conversation, "Hey!" You elbowed him. "It wasn't that many."
"Babe, you had seven shots in seven seconds."
Jaws dropped all around the table. "So, I know who my new partner is in drinking games." Reiner pointed at you excitedly. "Bert, you've been replaced."
"Good, you outdrink me by a million." He shrugs. "Less hangovers for me."
"You're on, Reiner." You point back to him.
"Why don't you tell us a little more about yourself, y/n?" The smaller blonde speaks up, her name was Historia, if you remembered correctly.
You look over to Eren, who is suddenly paying attention to you again. "Well, I'm from Shiganshina, like Eren. I was going to Shiganshina Tech, but to be honest, I wasn't really a fit there. So, when Eren suggested that I transfer here, I thought maybe it would be a good change." You made sure to not mention the largest reason behind your transfer.
"You and Eren have been together since highschool, right?" Armin asked.
"Yeah, we have, since our freshman year, so about six years now." You replied. Saying the length of your relationship out loud was crazy. Six years was a long time, even if it hadn't felt that long. Eren was just such an ingrained part of your existence that you hadn't often reflected that there was a start to all of this.
The length of your relationship was also something that kept you fighting. Many of your memories, he was there. Almost everything good in your life involved Eren to some extent; the good usually outweighed the bad, and you would be willing to traverse through a rough patch to preserve everything you had built.
"That's huge, dude." Marco nodded with approval. "One day that'll be me."
"Good luck, dude." Jean raised a brow.
"Why do you say that?" Marco looked deeply offended.
"Mister, leaves the toilet seat up, and puts broken vodka bottles in the sink, is not boyfriend material."
The table erupted in laughter, including you.
"It's so bad, Y/n. I got to warn you in advance." Ymir started. "When you go to Jean and Marco's, you have a fifty-fifty chance of walking away with an injury."
"And that fifty-fifty is based on if Jean has been home to clean or not." The other blonde, Annie, added.
"You guy's laugh but I have to live with this!" Jean glared pointedly at Marco.
"Take away his Playstation!" Connie suggested.
"I'm not his fucking Mom?"
"Might as well be." Connie chuckles.
The laughs are broken up as the waiter starts to bring out the food. You stare down at the Bacon Ranch Patty Melt and onion rings. Your mouth starts to water as you look wide eyed at the food. Your expression draws a laugh out of Armin. "Let me know what you think of the sauce."
You nodded and dipped the onion ring into the sauce. The smooth sauce coats your tongue, and your expression cannot contain how much you loved the taste. "This is phenomenal."
"Told you. I'll give you a bottle once we get to mine." He takes a bite of salad.
"Oh no, you don't have to sacrifice your God sent of a sauce." You chuckle.
"Please take one." Mikasa adds. "His pantry has at least five bottles, it's practically a shrine in there."
"Looks like Mikasa's making me take it off your hands, anyways."
The rest of lunch consists of laughs, a few questions headed your way, and minimal attention from Eren. The only time you noticed at least a second glance was due to his looks thrown your way after one of the guys asked you a question. You noticed this specifically with Jean.
If he couldn't handle me being around other men, he shouldn't have brought me here.
Regardless, you were grateful when he paid for both of your meals.
You all got up and moved to the front of the restaurant. Just as you started to walk out the door, Eren turned to you. "Maybe we should have brought the car." He clenched his teeth.
"Why?" You raise a brow and shove your hands in your hoodie pocket.
"Well, Armin lives a fifteen-minute drive away." His face changed to that dumbass expression he made when he knew for certain your irritation was an impending doom.
Annie overheard this as she walked just behind you, "Don't wanna interrupt this little convo, but it's no big deal, you guys can just ride with one of us, no?"
"Yeah, I was planning on riding with Bert." He threw back to Annie, but it only drew more irritation from you. He did not just realize that you two were left without a ride; he clearly had asked Bertholt to ride with him before this conversation, and he was covering his ass by acting like he forgot.
The group moved to the parking lot. You saw Bert walking toward a car, and annoyed with your boyfriend's blatant lack of regard for your mode of transportation to Armin's, you shuffled quickly up to him. "Hey Bertholt, do you have room for me to ride?"
Bertholt grimaced, clearly feeling bad for what he was about to say. "I don't, unless one of you fuckers wants to ride with someone else so Y/n can be with Eren?"
Reiner and Annie looked at each other, neither one volunteering to switch cars. Connie walked behind you, "Y/n, if you're comfortable, you can ride with me. I have enough room in my big ass car."
You shot a look to Eren, who you could tell wasn't going to come with you. His face feigned indifference, so you turned in the direction of Connie's car.
One thing about Eren you had come to know very well, was you had to move around his will. He wanted to ride with Bertholt, so he was going to ride with him no matter what. He didn't care that could mean you were in a car with total strangers for the duration of the ride to Armin's. You had to bend to fit his plans, just like always.
"Thank you, Connie." You tried to procure a smile for his kind gesture, regardless of the annoyance Eren caused.
"It's no problem, you're part of the group now." Connie threw a playful arm around your shoulder which drew a genuine laugh from your lips. You could tell Connie was a goof, and used that humor to uplift others.
When you reached his white van, he slid open the door for you, which you nodded a thanks for. When you entered the vehicle, you saw the only seat open was the middle seat in the very back between Jean and Marco. Sasha was up front, Ymir and Historia were in the second row of seats.
You moved in between Historia and Ymir's single seats, "Hey guys, do you mind?" You pointed to the sliver of seat in between them.
The guys scooted as far as possible apart to give you room to sit, but once you got seated, you were shoulder to shoulder with them.
"Sorry, it's a little tight back there!" Connie yelled back to you as he put the key into the ignition.
"No, it's okay! I just appreciate the ride." You responded.
You looked quickly between Marco and Jean who were already looking at you. "Sorry guys, I know this isn't ideal."
"It's fine, I'm just surprised you didn't ride with Eren." Marco mused.
You gulped awkwardly, a reaction Jean seemed to notice as his gaze drifted to your neck. "Luckily for you, you ended up in the cool car." He smiled lightly, an attempt at helping you relax.
Soon, the car was in motion, and you tried to relax the tension in your shoulders. You didn't want Eren's friends to notice the irritation he caused so you put on your best "I'm fine" attitude.
Normally, you would be used to his actions, but you thought he would try to change for today. If not for the pure reason that you transferred here to fix things, perhaps to at least keep up appearances in front of everyone. Instead, he was so absorbed in everyone else that your welfare was thrown to the side, an action he often did and a point of contention in half of your arguments.
As if almost reading your thoughts Jean spoke up, "You alright?"
His face was scrunched with concern, and you were momentarily shocked at his words.
How had he noticed something was wrong?
"What makes you ask that?" You nearly bit your tongue as the words slid out.
He looked at you as if your worries were clearly painted on your face. As if you had "I hate my fucking boyfriend" in permanent marker on your forehead. "Your jaw is clenched." He raised a finger pointedly.
Immediately, you tried to relax your face through the release of a couple of breaths. "Oh, I think its just because I'm new to the group. I want you guys to like me."
He nodded, definitely not buying the bullshit. However, you hoped for your sake that he would leave it alone. "Makes sense." He nodded suspiciously.
You puffed out a sigh of relief that Jean, who for some reason was an expert at reading emotions in the hour you knew each other, that your boyfriend of six years was oblivious to, did in fact leave it alone.
"Y/n, there's nothing to indicate that we don't like you, so I would discard that thought." He turned to face the window.
You fumbled with the strings on your hoodie. "You're right, but I just don't know anyone here, so I really want to fit in."
Historia heard these words and turned to you from her seat. "Oh, please, you already fit. You're fucking stunning, and clearly you have a sense of humor, you got Annie and Mikasa to laugh at lunch."
"Is that a feat?" You questioned.
"Definitely. Connie tried to make them laugh for a bet a couple weeks ago, he tried for a whole hour and left with no laughs and twenty dollars poorer." Ymir bellowed a deep laugh as the last words left her lips.
Connie looked up in the rear view mirror and pointed. "Shut up, Ymir. Usually I make all of you laugh, my humor just isn't suited for them."
"Proud words from a man who lost twenty dollars." Ymir quipped.
That drew a laugh from you, resulting in a smile from Jean.
He must've been worried about your stressed demeanor, as his eyes gleamed relief. Again, you were held by his gaze, the amber so warm it made your mood lift. His hair, a sort of muted copper, rested on his forehead softly and reached the back of his neck in an intentional placement. He shuffled it, and you realize you have been studying his face too long, causing you to dart your vision down again.
"Like what you see or something." He joked, and while it seemed flirty, you knew it wasn't. It was merely to keep your spirits up. You furrowed your brow jokingly, "Not too much now."
He chuckled softly. "Sorry you're stuck back here with us, probably doesn't do much for the nerves."
You shook your head, "No it's okay, short ride anyway."
As soon as the words left your lips, you peered around Marco's head to see that you had arrived at Armin's. His place was quaint but cute. It was a ranch-style home painted white, with perfectly placed flowerbeds and bushes. There was no garage but a decent sized driveway, which proved useful as three cars pulled into it.
Despite the plenty of room available, Connie somehow still parked on the grass. Sasha yelled something about his shitty parking skills, and you all piled out of the car.
You looked around for Eren, and when you spotted him, he was laughing so hard that tears started to form. Reiner had been attempting to pick him up bridal style and was muttering how he had gained too much muscle, making him hard to pick up.
You tried to fight a bit of sadness that revealed itself. You hadn't seen him look this happy in a while. It was nice to see him this way, but you wished to be the reason for it.
You caught Jean once again studying your features, something you decided to ignore as you walked up the small steps into the house.
The outside was just as cute as the inside. Armin was clearly tidy and definitely a bookworm. His living room was the first room as you entered. It had a brown couch, with a wooden coffee table stacked with books. The two wooden bookcases on either side of the television setup reflected the same. You scanned the walls and smiled at pictures of family and friends. His house was so homey, and honestly, you thought it was a mature setup for someone of your age group. It so clearly juxtaposed Eren's practical bachelor pad, something you had been hoping to handle anyway.
"Go ahead, find a seat." Jean whispered, you hadn't realized he was next to you.
When you made your way over to the group, some were on the couch or the loveseat, some on the floor, and it looked like Annie was grabbing folding chairs in case someone else wanted to sit.
"Hey, Reiner?" You followed Armin's voice to the kitchen. "Yeah?" The man replied.
"Could you move those books to the shelf please, so I can bring out the drinks?"
Reiner responded to the request with a thumbs up, and soon Armin was at the table with drinks. You had elected to sit on the floor, and Eren finally decided to acknowledge your presence and slid next to you. He slinked his arm around you and placed a kiss on your cheek. You didn't have it in you to pretend everything was okay, but you would do so to keep impressions up around his friends.
You gave him an awkward smile, which he clearly noticed as he removed his arm and dropped it to his side.
Connie pushed out his hand with a beer in it.
You nodded your thanks before practically chugging it. "Damn, Y/n. Slow down, you look like an alcoholic." Eren rudely commented. The comment made everyone perk up. Clearly, his words came off just as hostile as they felt. Concerned glances were thrown your way, which you tried to ignore.
"She's okay, Eren. We pretty much are all heavy drinkers, including you." Mikasa spat back. You wished you could hug her for the response. It felt like, for a second, someone was on your side.
"He's right. Bit thirsty, I guess." You shrugged.
"I could grab you a glass of water?" Armin was still standing behind the couch. "That would be great, thank you." You swallowed down the words and accepted the glass gratefully when he returned.
"Now that we are all here-" Jean started. "Connie, can you pull up the spinner?"
Connie nodded and slipped his phone out of the pocket of his sweats. "Since Y/n had never played I'm gonna explain it." He started typing on his phone.
"So I put everyone's name on this spinner, and then whoever it lands on picks from the jar." He pointed to Sasha who was holding a jar of folded papers. "The papers all have some task/dare type of thing. Some of the prompts are mild and some are insane." He shoots a glare to Bertholt. "Right, Bert?"
Bertholt's face turns immediately red. "Okay fuck you, Connie."
"That's very similar to what you sent Annie on that snap, but if I recall, it said, "fuck me" instead, no?" Reiner poked his side.
Annie made a gagging gesture, "Seriously was disgusting, even if I was single at the time." You looked curiously. Annie noticed the expression, "I'm with Armin."
You didn't expect that at all, but you smiled; maybe it was opposites attract sort of thing.
"Ready, guys?" Connie asked, and everyone leaned in. The phone made a click-click-click sound to sound like a real spinner. "Ymir!" He announced.
She huffed disinterest, and Sasha passed her the jar. "What was the last text you sent?" She read out and pulled out her phone. She scrolled for a second. "It was to Historia." She nodded to her. "Connie is pissing me off".
Giggles erupted from everyone. "When the fuck did you say that?"
"Mm... five minutes ago." She spoke coldly.
"Damn! That's when I just walked in." Connie huffed with outstretched arms.
Connie rolled his eyes and pressed the spinner again. "Jean."
Jean's posture straightened as he grabbed the jar from the table. He shuffled long fingers in between the papers before selecting one. He unfurled it slowly and darted his eyes nervously to you before looking back down at the paper. "When is the last time you masturbated?" Jean winced as the words left his mouth.
He ran a hand down his face and itched the faint beard on his chin. "Um, probably-" He looked up. "A couple of months ago."
"Damn, no libido these days?" Reiner laughed.
"I'm surprised you do with all the steroids you're on. Thought it shrunk your balls." Jean joked, which made you snort. You hadn't done that in a while.
Jean's cheeks were mildly pink; it was very earnest. "Hope you aren't playing any sports, Renier." You added with a chuckle.
"Nah, not since my injury last season. Career ending unfortunately." He flashed sadness across his eyes for a moment before wiping it away. "All good though, I can pick my training regimen now." He leaned back with his hands behind his head.
"Right, no coach telling you what to do." You looked down to your lap. "I know how that is."
"You play sports?" Onyakonpon asked.
"Used to play soccer at Shiganshina Tech, didn't make the team here." It was something you hadn't quite processed yet. Soccer was your whole life, but it was ripped away on the move here. It was the last thing on your mind lately. You thought for sure you would make it, but you didn't.
"I was shocked." Eren perked up. "She's amazing."
The compliment took you back. You don't want to cling to his words too closely, as fleeting as they were. He probably spoke only to give his own input to the conversation. "They um... didn't need a center."
The room was momentarily silent before Jean once again broke the tension. "Who's next?"
"Right!" The clicks echoed again before Connie moved his eyes to Eren. Eren sighed and motioned to Jean for the jar. He took the jar in both hands and shook it to shuffle the slips of paper.
You could see the paper over his shoulder.
Name one thing you disliked about your ex.
You sighed in relief, knowing Eren had no ex, so nothing stressful would be revealed about your relationship just yet.
He showed the paper to everyone. "Can't answer, only ever been with her." Eren's eyes didn't even glance at you as he set the paper down.
"Well, for you we can edit it," Mikasa suggested, to which Eren looked expectantly for what she said next. "What do you guys argue about the most? It's similar."
Eren breathed in and nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "Um, I don't even know."
You knew. But to admit it, he'd have to recognize it as an issue.
"Maybe, my attentiveness." Bingo.
"What do you mean?" Marco posed. Eren looked at you to help explain, but you kept your lips shut. You wanted to see what he truly thought about this.
"Well, it's part of the reason she moved here. She felt like I wasn't giving her enough attention." His expression was dull; clearly, he thought he was giving you plenty of attention.
"Why don't you give it to her then?" Jean added.
Eren looked almost betrayed by Jean. "Well, it was hard when she stayed in Shiganshina."
"But like you didn't visit her?" Historia glares at him.
He looked to you again for help. He's drowning in this; he wants you to pull him to shore like you've always done. Eren threw himself into this without acknowledging how guilty he is.
He gulped. "You guys know I was busy here!" His tone was increasing, something he did when he felt attacked. Yet no one had said any mean words to him; they were only digging up the truth, which made him uncomfortable.
"Sure. Hanging out with us at the frat every weekend made you so busy." Bertholt dropped the bomb that's residuals hit you straight in the chest.
He had told you he was studying, that his course load was so rough. So bad that he was getting tutoring sessions. He was lying the whole time.
Your head snapped to Eren, who was looking at the ceiling. "What?" You clenched your teeth. Things were worse than you thought if he couldn't tell the truth about his whereabouts.
Fuck keeping up impressions.
Suddenly, thoughts aggressively flowed into your mind. He was lying about partying? Why would he do that? You both partied pretty hard in high school, and even the one time he visited you for Halloween last year. This only led you to believe that something happened at these parties.
Eren looked beyond guilty as he met your eyes. He opened his mouth like he was about to speak but gave up. He must've realized there was nothing he could say to make this not seem suspicious.
author's notes - hi guys! so excited to start this as my first big work on this account. i hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter. again i want to repeat there will be mature things explored in this fanfiction. but trust, we are in for a wild ride and a good time.
date published : 7/16/2026
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