Chapter Text
Eren basically raced to punch out when he heard that deafening, yet somewhat-relieving beep his digital watch made, indicating that his shift was over. He took his apron off and switched his white shirt for a more comfortable t-shirt he had also wore to college. He kept the same black jeans on. Eren loved the way that particular pair fit into his legs, not only were they a part of his uniform, they were also a piece of clothing that conformed his everyday wardrobe. Getting everything done quickly, he greeted Connie and Sasha, not much formality as he waved goodbye, since he would be seeing them from Monday to Friday for at least 6 months from now on. Saving up was his first priority along with getting his degree, after all.
The way back to his dorm wasn't that tedious, it was only a 15 minute walk. He was grateful over the fact that Libertad was in the limit of both Sina and Rose. The path was surrounded by nothing but beautiful houses and expensive apartments, not as fancy as the ones that could be seen in the heart of Sina, of course, but still stunning to someone that came from the humble neighborhood of Maria, where tall buildings had only offices inside them.
The view, in conjunction with the fresh autumn breeze and some good music shuffling in his iPod, allowed Eren to have some time to cool down and just let his body head by itself to the dorm, while his mind wandered off in its thoughts. Autumn was undoubtedly his favorite season. Wearing jackets made him feel comfortable, it was cozy, and it gave him a feeling of security he didn't have in the summer; when not being exposing your whole body or being at a pool, would mean a slow death by melting into the pavement or awful dehydration. Eren went through the East Entrance of the campus, only having to walk some yards to where the dorms where located.
He pulled his keys out of his pocket, opened the door and climbed up the stairs that led to the second floor, where his room was located. When he turned right he bumped into someone. “I'm so-” but his apologies were instantly dismissed before he could even finish them.
“Fuck Yeager, why is it that whenever I see you, the only thing you can do is get in the way”. Fuck yeah, the only thing left that could possible ruin Eren’s day more than it had already been, was seeing him, Jean Kirschstein.
“Get off my face, fucking horse. Shouldn't you be galloping on the meadow or something?”. Before Jean could do anything about that, he heard a giggle coming from behind horse-face.
It was Marco, who everyone in the dorm including Eren, knew was in a kind of relationship with Jean.
“Oh come on Jean, we need to get to the supermarket before they close, you'll complain much more later if we have to walk all the way down to the convenience store!”.
That said, Jean just gave him a “Tch.” and walked past Eren without another word. Marco looked at him apologetically, and Eren couldn't help but smile.
Eren liked Marco, he was always kind to everyone without exception and people could rarely see him pissed off or annoyed, thing that only happened when he argued with Jean. Eren was still not able to comprehend how Marco could put up with that asshole at all, but he guessed he wasn’t exactly the best one here to be judging relationships, or the best at relationships at all. He sighed and after unlocking the door he finally set foot into his room.
He couldn't really call it his home, but his bed and computer were there, so, in a way, he was reminded of what he once was able to call that. The room wasn't that bad, in fact, his college was well known for the accommodation it offered, as the rooms were bigger than in most dorms around the area. That was the student's life for people who couldn't afford an apartment so, he wasn't going to complain much about it.
He grabbed a Coke Zero from the mini-fridge, yeah Zero was his choice. Regular Coke made him have sugar rushes that were eventually not good to his brain, according to what his best friend had said to him, on a night Eren drank almost one and a half liter of regular Coke and couldn't stop talking about anything that crossed his mind. After getting ahold of his books and notes he had written down in class that morning, Eren turned on his laptop, waited for Skype to load all his contact's information and gave Armin a call. His friend answered almost right away.
“Hey Eren, how was your first day back at work? You had a month to rest from it after classes started, but I know how you work, are you still not used to it?” Eren chuckled. His best friend wasn't even asking him, it was more of a statement. Armin could read him in a way that couldn't cease to amaze him, sometimes for good and some other times not so much, such as those when he wanted to hide embarrassment in some situations.
“Well, you're not wrong there I guess. I've had to deal with a great amount of assholes today and bumping into the horse just a while ago certainly didn’t help my mood either.” Eren admitted.
“Oh, what happened before running into Jean then?” his friend inquired.
Eren started to describe the day in detail to Armin, telling him about how lucky he was to be picked on by a shorty that was supposedly a regular at his work place, at least according to Connie. Armin giggled throughout the whole story.
“He really got on your nerves, didn't he? It's fun though, I'd like to stop by the café someday just to see that. I've seen a lot of times how you turn into a tomato with the littlest stimulation.” his friend teased.
“Well, you trying to fuck with me isn't gonna make shit better you know”. Eren was upset now and this Armin did not pick up on.
“Oh I'm not, believe me. I'm not like those poor girls that want to get into your pants but only get rejected.” Realizing he'd left Eren speechless, Armin just kept on. “But that's another thing, you wanted to go through an analysis, right?” Appreciating his friend's sudden suggestion, Eren decided to roll with it.
“Yeah, I scribbled down some notes today but that doesn't mean I understand the content, so... here we go”.
It ended up in Armin basically reciting the same words the teacher had mentioned in class, yet overly simplified to keep Eren focused. Armin was a paleontology student, he'd always been into reading, and was also passionate about history and biology, which then turned out to be the perfect match when it came to the career he was now studying. Armin was anassiduous reader, so he had the basics to various subjects narrowed down already.
Eren tried hard, but his mind kept drifting away towards his best friend's words. He had been invited to the many parties that were held on campus when the mid-terms ended, and everyone usually wanted some time to have fun and waste away guilt-free. But he'd never gone for it, it just wasn't appealing. Not that Eren’s body didn’t crave that idea, but he simply didn't find fooling around with people he just met like something that'd give him actual satisfaction.
So, even at his age, he hadn't gone any further than kissing and letting his hands wander around a little bit, testing himself. Despite that, he never felt anything that resembled actual desire, the feeling of wanting to take someone and making him yours.
Armin had cautiously suggested him the idea that he might not be into women, basically, that he might be...gay. Eren didn't have much of an argument to refute that, so he simply shrugged at the idea and Armin didn't press the issue. He had never experienced with men though. He had been hit on, sure, but he always felt more creeped out by them rather than tempted to try anything.
He thanked his best friend for the explanations he provided him, and talked Armin into joining him and Mikasa for lunch on Thursday. When Armin was going through all the stuff Eren had seen in class, he'd got a text from her. "Eren, are you free on Thursday? It's been a while since we last met, I wanna know how you're doing, so lets meet for lunch. Tell Armin to come with us too if you want to."
He hadn't seen her sister in two weeks, and that time was more than enough to get her paranoid about whether Eren was taking proper care of his meals, studies or just anything, even breathing was no exception. He replied to her text lazily "k, we'll take about it tomorrow." He tried to be nice, but hated the feeling of control his sister pushed on him most of the time.
Armin was more than happy with the idea, he wanted to relax a little bit with his friends before starting with all the reading and research his career demanded. Eren had seen some of those books, twice the size of the things he read, and as heavy as a brick. When exams were around the corner for the three of them, get-togethers would consist of nothing but yawns and small chit-chat, accompanied by some strong coffee to keep them going.
Eren expressed his gratitude again and ended the call. At least he managed to grasp enough useful material from the talk to actually start studying by himself, it was the last stage of his career after all, so the more things he could store in his mind before getting around his thesis, the better.
Eren looked at the clock, it read 10:30 p.m., it wasn't that late, but he could feel the weight of the day in his mind. He decided to read a chapter of his favorite author's last novel, which was the second part of a three book saga that would soon be released. Eren loved crime novels as much as he loved the idea of justice. He could really get into the world the books created for him, especially the ones from this specific author.
Some of his books just felt so real and intense that Eren wondered if all of those stories were really nothing more than fiction. Eren rejoiced whenever the culprit was found and felt bitterness whenever the criminal got away with, well, murder in most of the cases. He was determined to get an autographed copy of the new book on the realease day, and he wanted to tell the author, what his works meant to him, that he basically inspired him to start writing and study journalism.
After going through the pages with enthusiasm, he got to the end of the chapter, and felt the need to keep reading, but it wasn't an option as he wouldn't be able to give it proper attention to details if he was falling asleep in the process. He finally gave up on the idea and slowly closed the book, placing it carefully below his cellphone charging beside him, and turned off the lights in his nightstand. It'd been a really tiresome day, so the need to sleep came into him in a couple of minutes.
His eyes shut close while he remembered the smell of coffee, the strongest type they had in Libertad. He suddenly felt warm and seconds later, even that smell started fading away, inviting the dreams inside his troubled mind.