Chapter Text
It was one of those days on which you just knew they end up being a complete disaster. Eren looked at his watch laying on his nightstand beside him.
It read 8:26 a. m. “Damn.“ he murmured. Already overslept.
He hurried to crawl out of his bed. Throwing his clothes from last night on the floor he ran into the bathroom to brush his teeth, one hand already trying to put on some new clothes. After failing to even put on some socks Eren finished brushing his teeth and finally managed to put on his clothes, grabbed his bag and left his apartment the next second.
Being late to a lecture isn’t all that bad unless you have a lecture with one particular professor. Eren made it to uni in less than 40 minutes, a way which normally took him more than an hour. And so, he stood in front of the door to the lecture hall, bracing himself.
He tried to open the door as quietly and silently as possible and maybe it would have been possible to sneak in without his professor noticing but of course his greater-than-great friend Jean had to call out to him.
“Eren! Fancy seeing you here!”
Eren was undecided with dying on the spot or killing Jean. His professor took the choice from him.
“Yaeger!” his voice grumbled through the hall. Eren could feel the smug grin of Jean on him. Dying on the spot would be really appreciated right now.
Eren smashed his forehand on the table, earning a sympathizing smile from Armin and a small sigh from Mikasa. They both comforted him during the lecture in which Eren had to answer each and every question, had to come up to the front and had to read out every passage.
“What is it with today?” His bought lunch looked even more unappetizing than before. Without much of an appetite he bit into his sandwich. Eating lunch with his friends became much of a tradition even when they didn’t have any lectures together.
“Don’t take it so hard, Eren”, Armin reassured him. “Everyone has bad days.”
“Yeah, and mine is especially bad. Thanks to a certain someone.” He growled into his food. “If he just didn’t say anything…” Eren didn’t need to talk anymore, his eyes said it all.
“Don’t take it out on your food, Eren”, Mikasa interfered, “you should enjoy your meal and just forget about Jean.”
Eren glanced at his friend. “Why do you always have to defend this fucking guy?!”
“Language.”
“Fuck your language.”
Eren threw the wrapping paper away and shouldered his bag. “Okay, I’m off now. Have to do some things.”
“Wait, Eren, you still have class today!” Eren shrugged at Mikasas statement. “Gonna skip today.” He earned a disappointed flick of her.
Armin waved him off. “Ah, can I come over tonight? You wanted to study for the upcoming test?”
Eren slowed down a bit biting his lip. “Uh, well, you see, today is not good. Uhm, tomorrow. Yeah, we can study tomorrow!” he sprinted off leaving two puzzled friends. Mikasa shot him a suspicious glare.
After leaving the train Eren walked through the crowded street searching for something that he didn’t know yet himself. Today was kind of special. He didn’t have much experience with dates and the last two and only ones he had were with some girls he just thought were pretty. But today he has a date with a guy.
It was a long and rough way until he realized he was gay and even harder for him to accept. So in hindsight of that he wanted this evening to really work out and for that he had to push himself. He just didn’t know what to do. Should he dress up nicely? Buy flowers? Style his hair a different way? Look up some topics they can talk about? His hands were twitching in his pockets. ‘Okay, first, look up that restaurant he suggested’ thought Eren to himself trying to breathe deeply a few times. He fished for his cellphone and googled it.
“Okay…” he murmured. It was kind of fancy, but not too much and it has a small bar in it. Good, good. So, when every bridge burns, they still can get drunk.
Eren wasn’t in possession of any fancy shirts much less of any jackets or something equal so the least he could do was to shop for something that just gave the impression that he knows what to wear. He entered a small store where a petite girl with long, blonde hair greeted him. “Good afternoon!” Her smile was goddess like. Eren scratched his cheek and looked around unsure what to ask.
“Uhm, I’m sorry, so, uh, I need a shirt? Like something good looking? I… I have a- an appointment this evening.” Eren knew he stumbled over his words more than ever therefore he was more than grateful that the employee didn’t seem to mind.
“Sure, sir. I need your size and to know if you have something in mind, color, fabric?”
“Uhm, well, I think I wear M and I don’t really know. Sorry, something that works with a white shirt?”
The girl let out a small giggle. “That, I think, will be possible.”
They searched for about half an hour and came up with a white shirt that has some stitched lines in the middle and a dark brown jacket that matched his eye color. Eren was satisfied with that. He thanked the girl for her work and made sure to tell his friends about this store.
Back at home he threw his bag in the next corner, took a shower and spent the next hour in front of the mirror and tried to get his hair in shape. He knew he had a somewhat good looking body and that he can pull off the suit like look but was so much more insecure about his face and hair.
He tried to comb it backwards, tried different partings but in the end, he just let them fall loose like they always did. He sighed heavily. “Damn.” He felt his heart pounding. What was he so nervous about? The worst thing that could happen was that they didn’t like each other and they part ways after tonight.
After putting on his new clothes and doing some random poses in front of the mirror to check if everything he did looked good and nodded to himself in reassurance. One last look at his cellphone to check if his date cancelled on him and he went out the door.
Eren decided to not buy any flowers or chocolate or something else that could wait for another date or two. Or never, maybe it didn’t work out like he wanted or his date didn’t like stuff like that. The whole ride on train was the most nerve-racking one he ever had. ‘It’s just a stupid date, calm down you idiot!’ Eren purposely took two trains early just to make sure he was on time and had time to calm himself down.
When he exited the train and slowly walked to his destination he took many deep breathes to calm himself. ‘It’s gonna be fine. We gonna have some awkward small talk first then talk about uni or something and after some drinks everything will be fine!’ Before entering the restaurant Eren checked his hair and his outfit in the mirroring window one last time. ‘Make it or break it!’ A waitress welcomed him with a warm smile. “Good evening, sir. Do you have a reservation?”
Eren nodded. “Uh, yes. On the name ‘Yaeger’. For two.”
The waitress checked it in the book in front of her and smiled after she found his reservation. “Please follow me, Mr Yaeger. Your company has not arrived yet.” She took him past the small bar which looked inviting and stopped at a small table next to the wall. “Do you want something to drink, sir?”
Eren nodded maybe a little too vigorously. “Uhm, yes. Water, please. A bottle and two glasses, please.”
“Of course. Coming right away, sir.” The waitress vanished behind the counter just to come up again a few seconds later and brought him his water. Eren emptied his first glass of water with one gulp.
‘Okay, it’s only quarter to seven. Just 15 minutes left… Maybe he’s nervous, too and comes a little early.’ Eren had to smile about this thought. That would be kind of cute.
He checked his phone. No new messages. ‘It’s okay, it’s fine.”
To kill some time, he played games on his phone, checked his messages still every other minute, no new messages. 7.10 p. m. Eren looked at his cellphone again. ‘Maybe the train’s stuck.’ He argued a while with himself but send his date a text message anyway.
Hey :)
just wanted to know where u r?
handsome man waiting for u ;)
He was a little embarrassed but sent it anyway. Make it or break it. Showing some initiative and self-confidence are both good traits. He emptied another glass and tried to hide his nervousness. ‘What is taking him so long? He better got a good explanation!’ After playing some more on his phone and drinking almost half of the bottle on his own, still no new messages he tried one last time by calling him. His finger tapped on the table while Eren heard the free-line signal. No one answered and the mailbox went on.
“Hey, Eren here… Well, I’m waiting for you. You know, we had a… a date?
Eren run his hand through his hair and groaned. His leg began to tremble. ‘Okay, 10 more minutes. It’s only…’, Eren looked at the time, ‘…almost eight. Well.’ His head hang low when his phone vibrated in his hand. Eren flinched and looked a bit startled at his phone. One new text message. He unlocked his phone with trembling fingers and read the message.
sorry can’t make it
girlfriend came over back together
Eren breathed in sharply. “What the fuck?!” The people around him looked up and Eren ducked his head. “S-sorry!” He read the text message a few times more, only to find him at loss of words. ‘What do you mean ‘back together’?’ Furiously he tipped a few words. He won’t let this guy just play with him.
and you couldn’t tell me a little bit earlier?
wtf man thats just fucked
asshole
Frustrated he rubbed his face. That just can’t be happening. The worst thing he imagined was that they weren’t into each other and the evening would end kind of awkward. But not this. Was he, like, being stood up?
Eren stood up too fast and his chair screeched on the floor. Without an apology, he entered the bathroom and tossed water in his face. He felt so humiliated and embarrassed. His cheeks were deep red and a few tears shot into his eyes.
Aggressively he washed his face and looked up into the mirror. His eyes looked a little bit puffy but his face wasn’t red anymore. Feeling slightly better he returned to his seat. If he already made it here he could at least enjoy himself. He spent way too much money on this disaster anyway.
He was just going to call over the waitress, when she showed up at his side.
“I’m sorry, sir, here is a glass of wine.”
Eren looked up puzzled. “But I didn’t-“
“It’s from the gentleman at the bar.” smiled the waitress. “It’s on him.”
Eren looked over to the bar where a rather good looking man sat on one of the few stools and watched him. Another heatwave made it to Erens cheeks but nothing compared to earlier.
“Uhm, uh, thanks, I guess?” Eren took it, clinked his glass towards the guy from afar and sipped on it. It was tasty for a wine. Eren sipped on it one time more and carefully glanced over to the bar again. The other one still watched him. He turned away way too fast. ‘Great job, Eren. You’d make a great spy.’ His cheeks felt warm again. ‘Fuck it.’
He grabbed his glass and walked over to the bar. The other guy still watched him. His gaze was intense and Eren didn’t know if he should return that gaze but couldn’t in the end. He sat down next to him. “Uhm, thanks. For the drink.”
“You looked like you needed one.” His voice was quieter than he thought but rougher than expected. He wasn’t sure he should cry again or laugh.
“Well, that’s the understatement of the year.” He emptied the glass in one go and waved the bartender over. “A doubled whisky on the rocks and for him another one of whatever he has.”
“Thanks.”
Eren shook his head. “No problem. Thanks to you.” They quietly sat there and enjoyed their drinks.
“So, what happened?” Eren sighed. No small talk to break the ice, huh? Eren took a big sip of his drink. For a second he thought about not answering to this complete stranger. But why not, can’t get any worse than this.
“Asshole stood me up. He is back with his girlfriend, apparently. Like, if you still have someone on the hook don’t fish for other people? And at least have a spark of decency and show up and tell me face to face. And here I thought, I can have a nice evening, enjoying some fancy meal in some fancy clothes. I even stood in front of the mirror for over an hour? An hour wasted for asshole. Like, even more. I bought these clothes just for today. Okay, well, except for the pants. Everybody has a pair of black pants. And I was so nervous. For this… this… this guy?!”
He took another sip. “And worse, I thought I really liked that guy? He was funny and easy to talk to and now he changed into this kind of guy. What is this telling about me? I mean, I’m so bad at judging people and this is what I got. I-“ Eren stopped midsentence. “Uh, I’m sorry… Woah, sorry for rumbling. I’m… I’m not good with alcohol.” That was the only excuse he came up with.
The other guy clinked his glass with Erens. “Just get it all out.”
“I-…” Eren sighed. “I’m happy I didn’t tell my friends about this. Telling them about this would be crucifying.”
“I am, uh, Eren.” Eren glanced at his new found company once more. He was rather small, you could even tell when he was sitting. His hair was neatly cut in an undercut with a straight pony and a slight part to the right. His face looked rather gloomy and on any other day Eren wouldn’t have dared to walk up to him. He wore a greyish jacket and black pants which fitted him perfectly especially around his waist. He looked amazing in this suit. But the most striking part about this man were his hands. Slender, delicate fingers which still look strong enough to punch some teeth out. The man had his head rested on one of his hands and the other one around his glass, circling the top with the tip of his finger. Eren swallowed. Alcohol isn’t his best friend.
“Levi.”
Eren looked up. “Huh?”
“My name. You just introduced yourself.” A small smirk played around his lips. He seemed to know that Eren was just checking him out. Eren blushed once more.
“Ah, uh, yeah, nice to meet you.”
They spent the rest of the evening talking about everything and nothing. Eren told Levi of his uni, some of his courses and his friends while Levi talked about his work and his colleagues. They were so emerged time flew by and when Levi looked at the time it was already past 11 p. m.
“Ah, sorry, I should go home soon. Have work early tomorrow.”
Eren couldn’t even hide his disappointment. “Oh. Yeah, sure.” Levi gave him a long thoughtful look. Then he took a napkin and wrote something on it.
“Cheer up, Eren. It’s not the end of the world.” When he stood up, he slightly whatsoever brushed his fingers against Erens hand and left. Erens whole body jolted a little bit by this small touch he couldn’t even say goodbye.
“Ah…” Eren watched Levi walk out the door then he looked at the napkin. A phone number in small, neat handwriting. Erens heart made a skip and he just couldn’t not smile. Maybe today wasn’t as bad as he thought.