❥ this is eren's pov, beginning from the point where he arrives at Sasha's old house to meet up for the lake trip and get on the bus. enjoy!!

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Eren drives up to Sasha's house. He hasn't been here in a while. It's been so long he can't even remember the last time.

Her parents were always so nice to him so he used to enjoy coming often with the group. But ever since the death of his parents and his shift in behavior and personality, he's been almost ashamed to be around them.

Whether they have heard stories of the infamous Eren Jaeger or not, he didn't want them to see him that way. In their eyes, he was still sweet Eren who just had a bad temper but overall a big heart.

Since Sasha's parents own a lot of land, the drive from the entrance gate to the actual house is kinda lengthy.

When he makes it to the house, he sees several cars already parked outside. Of course, he would be the last one there.

He looks around and mentally connects the cars to their owners to figure out who is here already. He sees your car and for some reason his stomach starts to turn.

He turns off his car, leans back in his seat and takes a deep breath. Eren wasn't the type to socialize as much anymore. He used to love being with his friends. Now it seemed like his social battery was always cut in half. He hated that. It took everything out of him, and some convincing from Sasha and Armin, to agree to coming on this trip. Plus, it couldn't be too bad since you were there.

The dark haired boy steps out the car, making sure to throw his Nike duffel bag over his shoulder and begins to make his way to the bus. He figures everyone is either inside the bus or in Sasha's house because he doesn't see anyone but the closer he approaches the large yellow, graffiti covered vehicle, he hears a bunch of loud voice coming from inside it confirming their locations.

"Hey Jaeger!" He hears a voice yell. He stops walking and tries to find the source. For some reason it sounds like it came from above so he looks up and sees a dark figure sitting perfectly on top of the roof of the bus. It's hard to tell who it is because they are sitting in front of the sun so they just look like a shadow but he could recognize that voice anywhere.

He shields his eyes from the sun to try to see you better and he walks toward you. "How did the hell did you get up there?" He asks.

You shrug. "I have my ways."

Of course, she'd be up there away from everyone.

He chuckles and decides to climb up the bus too. He was nervous for some reason. He hadn't really spoken to you in a while.

"Hey, it's actually easier over here." You state pointing at the opposite end of the bus. He ignores you and continues to climb his way. It was already too late to stop anyway because he was already halfway up. "Or not."

Once he finally makes it to the top, he looks down at his hands and sees them dark and covered in dirt from climbing up the bus. He wipes it off on his pants. He looks at you and catches you watching him, scrunching up your nose in disgust.

He rolls his eyes in response. "Don't be a baby. We're in the woods, you're gonna get real dirty here. Get used to it." He drags out the real to signify an alternative meaning to the word. You scoff and look away from him.

You get quiet and he grows even more nervous. He had no idea what to say to you. You looked so pretty with your hair tied up and away from your face, the sun reflecting on your skin and the way it made it glow.

"How have things been?" He says trying to make conversation. "You would know if you actually talked to me." You laugh.

He frowns. He didn't understand what you meant by that. But then again, he saw where you were coming from. The two of you didn't talk nearly as much as he wanted to. "I do."

You turn your head and return the same facial expression. "Barely. If I didn't just call you over here right now we probably wouldn't have talked this whole trip."

"That's not true." Eren says growing irritated. But it was true and he knew it, that's why it made him angry. The two of you never spoke after the water park and didn't talk until Wednesday night when you bumped into him and didn't speak after that either.

You guys never text, never call, nothing. And it's not like he didn't want to. He just didn't wanna bother you or annoy you.

"Okay, talk to me then. This whole trip. Don't pussy out." You say confidently. Now he was mad. It wasn't that he was a pussy, he just didn't want to cross a line. Plus, he knew you were into Jean so why waste his time?

But then again, if she was still into Jean after what I told her, she would be with him right now.

He didn't know what to think. Did you end up cutting Jean off or were you actually dumb enough to stay with him? He had no idea and no way to be sure. "Shut up." He says looking away from you.

You shrug. "Or not, see if I care." He watches you jump off the bus, cringing a little when you make impact with the floor. He laughs because he can tell you hurt your ankle a little but that you chose not too show it to not ruin how cool you looked.

Such a drama queen.

Eren sighs and jumps down after you. There was no way he was gonna let you be right about him not talking to you the whole trip. He was gonna prove you wrong.

He begins to walk behind you but stops once he sees Sasha and Historia approaching you. He understood your situation with Historia even if you hadn't directly told him. He knows Historia and how much of a possessive, mean girl she could be and the last thing he wanted was to mess things up for you or ruin the trip for you.

He loved seeing you happy. And because of that he chooses to walk away and silently hop inside the bus while you stay and talk to the girls.

He enters the bus and automatically approaches Mikasa and Armin who instantly smile and greet him. He smiles softly back and takes a seat by the window.

His two friends begin talking to him about something but their voice sound a million miles away as he watches you from the window.

Ymir joined your group now and he wasn't sure what they were saying to you but you looked annoyed or bothered but like you were trying your best to not show it. He knew though. Something was bothering you.

Reiner stands up from the drivers seat and claps his hands together. "Alright, everyone ready to leave?" Niccolo speaks up. "Sasha and some others are still outside talking."

Reiner sticks his head out the bus doors and tells everyone to get on already. Eren turns his face away from the window to avoid you catching him looking. He returns his focus to his two friends and tries to catch up with their conversation but he's honestly so lost that he just nods here and there like he knows what the hell they are talking about.

He hears the sounds of footsteps entering the bus but he keeps his composure and continues to talk to Armin and Mikasa.

He's curious on where exactly you're gonna sit and with who. If you sit with Jean, then his question from earlier will be answered.

Without making it obvious, he side eyes you and watches you walk right past the front seats and even past the middle and approach the very back.

He noticed that when you walked past Jean who sat toward the front, he looked at you with sad eyes and mouth twitching like he was fighting the urge say something to you. I guess I was right. But he knew he couldn't be sure unless he straight up asked.

He can't help but smile a little when he notices you sat at the very, very back away from everyone. It was a typical you move. Sasha and Niccolo trailed behind you and sat next to you.

He looks at Sasha and notices that she somehow managed to steal the box of markers Armin had which he found odd because he's been with Armin this whole time and never saw her take it. It must've been when he was staring at you.

Sasha sets the box down on the table and says something that makes you giggle and then begin looking through the box. He doesn't even realize he started smiling when he saw you laugh like that.

He's admiring you and his heart stops when you randomly snap your head up and make direct eye contact with him. Sweat starts to form when he sees your eyes cold and your expression angry like you're giving him the stink eye. What the hell did I do?

Suddenly your eyes soften and you smile at him. He sighs with relief. Okay good. She isn't mad at me. Maybe just bipolar.

He stands up and begins to make his way toward the back. Mikasa and Armin both make confused and offended faces considering they were right in the middle of a conversation with him but he didn't care.

He sits beside you and says nothing but begins to also look through the box to play it off like that's what he came for while he tried to come up with something to say to you.

"You wanted to color too?" Sasha grins. He chuckles. "Something like that." He turns to Niccolo. "Congrats on the win, bro. Nothing but big moves from here on out, huh?"

Niccolo smiles big. "Thanks! Yeah, I start Monday. I'm pretty excited. You guys are welcome to go anytime."

Eren knew the two of you were just friends. Barely that considering the two of you didn't get along at all just a few weeks ago. There was only one way to find out how friendly you really were with him. He was a little hesitant but he decided that the worst you could say was no.

He looks at you and you're in the middle of drawing what looks like the yin and yang symbol on the wall when he elbows you. "Let's go."

"Like, together?" You ask looking up.

"No shit." He says biting the cap off a marker. He grows nervous when he sees you hesitate and look at Sasha who is too busy drawing and then back at him. "Okay, sure."

"Cool." He turns away and pretends to be looking around for a spot to draw something to hide his smile. When he's looking around he sees all his old drawings and connects the memories together. He frowns once he sees a sun drawing he drew probably four years ago. Something looked different. Did someone put their picture there?

"Hey. That was my sun." He points at your photo that was now stuck to the wall. "Whoops, my bad." You laugh. It's her picture?

He bends down to look at the photo clearer and couldn't control his mouth as it formed into a cheesy smile. He thought you looked so adorable. He began to get flashbacks from when he took pictures of you on the ferris wheel and how you did that exact same pose in one of them.

"Looks kinda like you're saying she's your sun." Nic laughs. Eren was so grateful he was crouched down and facing the way so no one could see how red he was turning. He hadn't even thought of it that way.

He was prepared for you to say some smart comment back or even a rude one but you say nothing so he turns his head to look at you and catches you slightly smiling and turning away to hide it.

"It does, huh?" Eren says, trying to make you even more bashful. Only one way to get even. He sits back down and grabs your hand and begins drawing the moon on it. "Hey!" You yell. You try yank your hand away but he apply more pressure to it so that you can't even move it.

When he's done he lets go and he studies your confused expression. "Now he's your moon." Niccolo explains for you.

You stare down at your hand and rub your thumb along the drawing. He wasnt sure if that was your attempt to get it off but if it was, he was glad he drew it with permanent marker. He smirks when he notices it doesn't even smudge.

"TA-DA!" Sasha sings. She throws her arms in the air pointing at the direction of her drawing. It was a drawing of a large bobble head with blonde wavy hair and a chefs hat and uniform with a ribbon that said #1 CHEF on it.

Niccolo bursts out laughing. "Is that me?" Sasha nods. "You like it?" He nods and begins to draw her on the wall next to it.

Eren rolls his eyes at the couple. He was truly happy for them but envious at the same time. He never was the relationship type but you can't lie that Niccolo and Sasha were perfect for eachother and he began to wonder how it must feel to find your perfect match.

For some reason, your name pops into his head and he turns to see what you're doing. Your eyes are narrowed and your brows knitted together, looking toward the front of the bus. He turns to see what you're looking at and it's Jean and Mikasa sitting together.

Jean seems to be upset with his head down and Mikasa comforting or something. Her hand rubbing his back.

"That manipulative little shit." He hears you mutter under your breath. You stand up fully prepared to charge over there. Oh god. Eren might not have known you for too long but he knew you well enough already to know what was about to happen. He grabs your arm to stop you. "Don't."

Reiner hits a speed bump and everyone jumps up in their seats, including you who loses her balance and falls right into Eren's lap. He freezes and tries not to laugh which becomes a lot easier when he sees your still serious expression.

"Let me go." You command, your eyes burning into him. He shakes his head. "Don't go over there y/n."

He feels you try to get up and he grabs your waist to pull you back down and keep you in place. "Why?" You snap at him. "Not worth it." He replies back calmly. He knew he had to remain cool so you could settle down too.

"Uh, why are you sitting on his lap?" Sasha asks abruptly. You gasp and stand up then return back your seat. He immediately missed the feeling on you on his lap. The feeling of you next to him period. "Don't be such a cockblock, babe." Niccolo laughs.

"Babe?" You ask, nervously brushing hair out your face. "Oh yeah. We're kinda dating now." Sasha giggles. "Not kinda. We are. I asked her on Saturday at the dinner." Niccolo corrects.

"Awww! Finally!" You gush. Eren sees Connie, Armin and Marco head to the back of the bus where you all are seated. "What about you y/n? When you and Jean finally gonna date?" Niccolo asks. Sasha slaps his arm. "Ow! What?"

For some reason, that comment got Eren mad. He knew you and Jean were a thing but the fact everyone else knew it and wanted it to happen annoyed him. He didn't think Jean deserved you at all. Although, this was the perfect opportunity to see how you felt about it.

Connie laughs and sits beside you. "Yeah, when are you guys gonna start dating?" Eren taps his foot impatiently as he waits for your answer.

"Never." You scoff. His foot stops tapping and he feels a rush of relief. Connie squints at you. "Oh yeah? Then what happened on Saturday?"

Eren's jaw clenches. He didn't want to be reminded about that. Something about Jean being the one to be able to touch you like that didn't sit right with him at all. Was he... jealous?

"I just wanted some head." He hears you say. His mouth drops open. He knew you were savage but to say something like that out loud? And in front of Jean's friends too? He was impressed.

Everyone else's mouths drop open too. Sasha starts howling with laughter. "Damn girl!"

"Sheesh. You gonna do my boy Jean dirty like that?" Connie winces. "He'll be alright." You respond. He smiles at your confidence but it instantly drops when he hears what Marco says next.

"You know y/n..." Marco starts. "I give better head than Jean in case you know, you ever need that again." He winks. Eren's hands turn into fists under the table.

Sasha shoves him. "Ewww!" He responds by throwing his hands up in the air. "Hey! Shooters shoot!"

You laugh. "I wouldn't be surprised if you do. He wasn't that good at it." He couldn't believe how quick you were with coming up with the slick responses.

Sasha's mouth drops all the way to the floor and the boys, Eren included, wince in pain. "GAHHHH DAMNNNN!" They all yell in unison.

Eren couldn't stop laughing his ass off. Mainly because he thought it was funny but also because he was happy he was right about you cutting Jean off.

"That hurt my feelings and it isn't even about me." Armin says. The boys all nod in agreement. "If someone said that about me, I'd end my shit." Connie shivers.

Marco rips off the cap of a red marker and says, "In that case..." He draws a heart on the wall and writes "M+Y/n"

Eren's face got hot. He couldn't understand why he was getting so pissed. He's never been the jealous type over anyone. Is this what it feels like?

He didn't blame them though. He thought you were absolutely gorgeous and knew that it was impossible for you not to get hit on. But there's something about him having to hear and see it in front of him that made it unbearable. The fact that it was one of his friends made it even more annoying.

Finally after a long while of drawing all over the place, you all finally arrive at the lake.

Eren looks out the window and admires his old summer camp. He had spent wayyy too many summers in this place. He didn't regret it though. He made some fun ass memories. He laughs when he remembers the day they tried to ban him and Connie from coming here but his parents talked them out of it. His heart drops a little when he pictures their faces. 

Once the bus is parked, everyone stands up and grabs their belongings.

He waits for you to walk down the aisle first and when you're not looking, he grabs a black sharpie and scribbles over the M+y/n that Marco wrote. "Like that's gonna happen." He grumbles, putting the cap back on the marker.

He follows behind you and the two of you step down off the bus. "Okay! Let's talk about rooming set ups."Historia announces, clasping her hands together. "I'm thinking girls with girls and boys with boys?"

The girls agree but the boys, of course, let out a couple moans of protest. Historia rolls her eyes. "Look if you guys wanna have sex, there's 4 cabins that are gonna be empty." The boys start cheering again. Eren rolls his eyes because he knows damn well none of them, besides probably Niccolo, are gonna fuck anybody. Well, at least he hopes not.

He catches Marco looking at you after Historia says that comment and he already knows what is going through his mind. He felt his body temperature rise.

The boys begin walking to their cabins to set their stuff down and so do the girls. Marco watches you as you walk, admiring your body and Eren feels himself about to lose it. He rushes up to you and stops you. "Let me show you around since you've never been here before."

You furrow your eyebrows at him. "Okay...." You say with a suspicious look on your face. He laughs and pushes your head. "Shut up. Come on."

As the two of you start walking away, Eren turns his head back and smirks at Marco sends him the middle finger.

You follow the boy and he walks you through the entire camp. He saves the main building for last.

"This is where we would eat. When we weren't eating, we would do like activities in here like painting or making shit. All the other stuff was mainly outside." He says taking a seat at the table he used to always love to sit at because it was right by the A/C.

"I've never been to summer camp before, it sounds fun." You say sitting across from him. He smiles and looks around, reminiscing.

He can see his younger self sitting at the table with his friends always doing something he shouldn't be and how the counselors would always get on his ass for it. "Yeah it was pretty dope. I got in trouble a lot, though."

You laugh. "Of course. I'm surprised they didn't ban your ass from coming."

He snorts. "They almost did but my mom convinced them not to. Connie got banned though." He can tell you're not surprised at all.

"Is this how you met everyone?" You ask.

"Kinda. Mikasa and Armin I've known since diapers. Sasha and Connie I met in first grade during Detention. I went to school with everyone else but we never got close cause we didn't have classes together until we all started going to summer camp in middle school." He answers.

"Ah, so this place brought you guys together and made you get closer." You say. "Yeah I guess you can say that." He responds.

It was true though. Armin and Mikasa were there from day one. Their parents were super close to his so it was inevitable.

In elementary, he got sent to detention for fighting a kid who was bullying Armin and he met Sasha who got caught stealing from people's lunch boxes and Connie who got sent there for always sleeping in class.

The rest of the group, he remembers seeing them in the hallways in passing or at lunch. Only ever saying hi whenever they were in a situation where they had to talk to eachother.

It wasn't until the first summer he spent here that he had to actually talk to them and ended up becoming close to all of them. He found it kinda crazy how they ended up staying in his life for years after that.

"Do you think we would've been friends if younger you met younger me?" He hears you ask him, calling his attention back to you. You place your elbows on the table, your hands holding up your head and your wide eyes bat curiously.

He honestly wasn't sure. He knew he liked you now but he had no idea how you were as a kid. "Probably not." He jokes.

You gasp and hit him. "Rude. Your loss anyway. I made some mean friendship bracelets back in the day." You cross your arms proudly.

"Oh yeah?" He laughs. He found you ridiculously adorable. He loved teasing you to see your little cute reactions.

"Y/n?" Eren's smile drops when he recognizes the voice. You both turn to the entrance door and see Jean standing there. The two of you stare at him in silence. Of course.

"Can I talk to you?" He asks approaching the table. Eren looks at you and he's surprised when you look back at him and completely ignore Jean. "Anyways, what were we talking about?"

Damn. They must've really ended on bad terms then. He felt bad that he was little happy about that.

"Look I just want to say sorry. We're gonna spend this whole camping trip together and I don't want there to be any bad blood so please atleast let me talk to you just this once. Then if you decide you still hate me, you don't ever have to talk to me again." Jean says.

Eren laughs in his head. He couldn't tell if Jean was genuinely sorry or just telling you what you wanted to hear like he does with everyone. He always found that part of Jean annoying. How he sugarcoated everything and sweet talked the crap out of anyone who would listen.

You sigh and get up. He catches Jean smirk and grab your hand and that makes him finally snap. He was done with this already.

"You know," Eren stands from his seat, "I'm getting really tired of you hoarding her all the time."

You and Jean spin around at the same time with different facial expressions. His triggered, eyes narrowed and brows furrowed. Your eyes wide and mouth dropped open.

"What did you just say?" Jean asks even though he heard perfectly the first time, he just wanted to see if he had the balls to say it again. And since it's Eren Jaeger, the answer is yes.

" I said..." Eren takes a step forward now just a few feet from Jean's face. Jean steps in front of you, pushing you behind him, still holding your hand. "I'm getting really fucking tired of you always pulling her away from me."

Eren was never scared of Jean. In fact, this isn't the first time this has happened. Eren and Jean argued on multiple occasions and have gotten into many, many fights especially as kids.

They haven't physically fought in years however. Eren was much more strong now than he was back then too. He was confident that if something were to happen, he would beat the shit out of Jean. Especially over you.

Jean scoffs. "You jealous or something?" Eren stays quiet and just stares at Jean, his eyes cold. He was jealous. He hated admitting that. He's never been jealous over a girl before but he has been over other things so he knows the feeling. It's the same feeling he gets everytime he sees you with anyone else.

Jean bursts into a laugh. "You are, aren't you? Don't you have a million other playthings to bother?"

Eren's straight face turns into a smirk. If he was ready to admit to himself he was jealous, he was ready to admit other things too. "You're one to talk. Plus, I want this one." He reaches for your hand but Jean pushes you further back.

"This one is mine, actually. Sorry about that." Jean smirks back, proudness in his voice and adding strength to his grip on your tiny hand.

Eren didn't know if he wanted to laugh or strangle him. He wanted to laugh because he recalls the way you spoke of Jean on the bus and if you were his like he claimed you were, there's no way you would've said the things you did.

Then he wanted to strangle him because it triggered him how he felt he could just claim you after the shit he did and knowing how he hurt you as if nothing happened.

Eren chooses to laugh. He barks out a loud, rough laugh that causes everyone in nearby hearing range to turn their attention to you three but he doesn't care anymore. "Is she now?" He grins deviously.

"STOP." You hiss. He finally takes his eyes off Jean and looks at you. His eyes piercing into yours. "What? You don't like us fighting over you princess?"

He saw you getting pissed. Well, your face was pissed, you eyes looked worried or scared and he knew it was because everyone was listening now. He knew it was selfish of him but he wanted everyone to know. He knew how he felt now.

"How about we let her choose who she wants to go with?" Eren suggests once he realizes you're too stupid at the moment to answer, cockiness in his voice. He crosses his arms over his chest.

Jean laughs exuding confidence. "Fine." You look up and see the two boys paying close attention to you, searching for the answer in your eyes. Eren wanted you to so badly say his name. Come on. Say it.

You look around and see everyone else here now, staring at you. He begins to feel bad when he sees you turn sweaty. You look terribly embarrassed and nervous, almost like you might pass out.

Suddenly, your scared expression turns angry. He began to think maybe he took it too far.

You turn back to the two boys and then look down at your hand that was connected to Jean's and yank it away violently.

"Neither, I hate both of you." You say, heat in the moment. You spin around on your heel and exit the cabin.

Fuck.

Eren shrinks into himself. Immediately regretting what he did. He hated that he made you upset. He was being selfish. He should've known you wouldn't have confessed to something like that in front of everyone knowing what would happen.

In the moment, he didn't care if everyone hated you and you lost them all. He was fine with being the only person in your life. In fact, he secretly wanted you to himself anyway. He knew that was shitty of him.

He looks down at his feet and sighs. The girls chase after you, leaving him, Jean and the rest of the guys there.

Jean who still was angry speaks up. "So you like y/n now? Funny how before she started messing around with me, you wouldn't even look her way. In fact, you were the biggest piece of shit to her. But since she was mine, you just had to try and take her from me. You can't stand me having something you don't have." He snaps.

That wasn't true at all. Yes, Eren was a dick to you. But he is one to everyone. It was nothing personal or against you in general. But the lie was when Jean claimed he never even looked your way. The truth was Eren couldn't stop looking at you since the day he first saw you.

He remembers seeing you under the massive tree at the college, Armin's favorite tree, and how you laid under the shade, on your stomach, reading a book. Sasha, Connie and Jean were next to you but he didn't even pay attention to them cause he was too mesmerized by you. He remembers exactly what you wore that day too.

He remembers the way you looked up from your book and how your eyes connected with his and how he smiled at you and how beautiful you looked when you returned one back. He couldn't get you out of his head the whole day. He hoped you were coming to his party that night and luckily, you did.

He knew he a complete piece of shit to you that night but at the time, he just thought you were hot. You wanted to sleep with you. It wasn't until he actually started to get to know you that he began to fall for you.

That's exactly why he tried his hardest to keep his distance from you. He was terrified of falling in love with you. He didn't even realize he was until now. It made sense now why you were the only person who made him feel like himself again and the only person who truly made him smile and laugh the hardest.

You were annoying and clumsy and a crybaby and had a smart mouth that pissed him off but God, he couldn't get enough of you. He wanted you to annoy him forever if that meant having you around all the time. When the hell did he become such a simp?

"You're so used to getting everything you want that it drives you crazy that I got something you can't have." Jean goes on.

Eren snaps his head back up. His brain was too consumed by thoughts of you that he had completely forgotten he was in the middle of an argument with him. "You're still talking?"

That comments throws Jean off the edge. He runs up to Eren and grabs him by his collar. "Shes mine. I had her first."

Eren pushes him off. "She isn't yours nor was she ever. You had a chance to make her yours and you blew it because you're a fucking idiot. Just leave her alone already."

Jean grits his teeth.

"You should've heard the stuff she was saying about you on the bus, man. She definitely don't give a fuck about you anymore." Connie laughs.

Marco joins in. "Yeah, that ain't your girl no
more."

Reiner crosses his arm and smirks. "I don't think she ever was." Connie laughs again, this time even harder. "She just wanted some head." He quotes you.

The group bursts out laughing, Eren included once he sees Jean growing angrier and angrier. "You're lying, she didn't say that." He yells. He turns to Armin. "She didn't, right? They're fucking lying?"

Armin laughs nervously. "Do you want the truth or do you want me to tell you what you wanna hear?" The guys laugh even harder now.

Niccolo covers his mouth to try to stop his laughing. "Damn Jean. I was rooting for you guys but I think you gotta take the L on this one."

Jean spits out a laugh. "I can still have her if I wanted to. She said all that stuff because I slipped up and got caught. If I actually tried, she'd be mine." He turns to look at Eren. "Now you. You on the other hand can't even have her. She wouldn't go for you because she knows she'd lose all her friends if she did." His mouth stretches into a shark line grin.

"How about she says fuck both of y'all and comes with me instead?" Marco says, leaning up against the wall with a sly smile.

"Or me." Connie grins. Jean scoffs. "Any of those options are more likely to happen than Eren."

Eren immediately grabs Jean's shirt and pushes him up against the wall, his fist about to make impact with Jean smug smile when Reiner grabs his arm and stops him. He is probably the only one who is strong enough to do so.

"Alright, alright. As much as I miss watching you guys beat the shit out of each other like the good ol days, we came here to have fun. Not fight." Reiner says to the two boys.

Eren and Jean remain glaring at eachother. "Besides, you guys already made y/n uncomfortable, imagine when she finds out you guys made it even worse." Bertholdt adds.

Eren sighs and moves his hands away, releasing Jean and stepping back. They were right. He already messed up, he didn't want to make things worse.

Jean clears his throat and fixes his shirt and hair. "Idk maybe they should fight." Connie laughs. Marco joins in. "Yeah while you two are busy beating eachother up, me and Connie will go comfort y/n."

Jean and Eren yell at the same time. "SHUT THE HELL UP." Niccolo shakes his head and laughs. "You guys are so bad."

"How about we go get some fresh air outside and play some old fashioned football to cool down?" Reiner suggests. The boys all follow him outside.

Connie races to the cabin to grab a pair of his underwear. "Remember that one summer I took down the flag and hung a girls panties up there?" He smiles as he points at the tall flagpole. Eren laughs. "You mean the day you got banned?"

Connie nods. "They thought they could get rid of me, eh?" He begins to shimmy up the flagpole and Eren watches along with Armin and Niccolo. The rest of the guys setting up a game of football.

Connie barely makes it to the top when everyone hears Historia yell. "Hey! We're going swimming!" The boys all turn and their mouths fall open, drool practically spilling out when they see all of you in bathing suits. Eren's eyes immediately fly to you.

They automatically charge to their cabin to change, causing all of you laugh and make fun of them.

The boys all quickly change and there's comments like "Did you see Historia?" and "Y/n is so bad bro."

Eren wasn't surprised the guys were talking about you. He couldn't stop picturing you in your bathing suit either. The thought of you is what made him change into his swimming trunks with record breaking speed.

Eren doesn't even wait for the guys to finish and begins to speed walk out the cabin, trying to not seem too desperate to go see you already but once he sees the rest of the guys running full speed, he does too.

All the guys go straight to the water and then head to the cliff. He carefully looks to see if you're coming up there but sees you plop down on the grass instead and admiring the lake. It kinda looked like you were deep in thought. Maybe she really is mad.

By the time everyone makes it to the top of the cliff, Eren notices Armin has joined you on the grass and he prays Armin will somehow say something that will get him back in your good graces.

While he's watching you, he studies your body language to try to get an idea of how you're feeling and even though it's hard to see clearly from such a distance, he sees you smiling and laughing.

Then suddenly you look away from Armin and turn your attention to the cliff and Eren immediately looks away to avoid being caught.

One by one, the boys begin to jump off the cliff. The last two are Eren and Jean. Eren looks at the tall boy and wonders if you really were going to forgive him. He honestly didn't want you to. For his own selfish reasons, of course. Knowing you, you would forgive him but he knew you weren't stupid enough to forgive him fully. Just enough so it wouldn't be awkward anymore.

But Eren didn't want you to at all. Not even a little. If it were up to him, Jean would be as far away from you as possible. He didn't care anymore, he could admit it would his whole chest. He was jealous.

He didn't understand how or when he began to feel this way. He never felt like this about anyone. The idea of falling in love had always grossed him out since a kid and he never grew out of it. It all began with the fear of being disappointed or betrayed or hurt. Then when his parents died, it was the fear of losing someone important to him.

He had always had a large group of friends he loved and cared for. He would hate to lose any of them even though they tend to get on his nerves a majority of the time. After the death of his parents, he tried to distance himself from his friends so he would slowly lose attachment to them.

Of course, they didn't let up. If anything, it made them closer to him and he hated that. So then started the Asshole Eren Era. He decided if he was a complete piece of shit, no one would want to be around him anymore and then it would be a lot easier.

But again, they didn't take the hint. They were annoyingly loyal. It seemed like he was stuck with them for life.

He had come to terms with it. Hoping that maybe after a while they would eventually get tired of it. Tired of his drama. Tired of his attitude. Tired of his rudeness. Tired of his actions. Tired of him.

And for a moment, it seemed like they were. He noticed Sasha fading away from him. Like she couldn't look him in the eye anymore. Historia practically hid everytime she saw him. Jean only talked to him here and there and when he did, it was usually dry.

Then you came along. And changed everything. It was like you were the glue that held everything together. And for some damn reason, you made him want to stop pushing people away.

He knew you thought low of him. He knew you had heard the stories about him before he even got to introduce himself to you. He knew he left an awful first impression. And at first he didn't care at all. He didn't want to get close to you. The fact that you hated him made it easy.

Then suddenly, no matter what he did or said to you, you always seemed to try to talk to him. You were still making an effort to get to know him. He had come to the conclusion that you had probably found out about his backstory. It was the only logical explanation. Then the night at the waterpark, you confirmed it.

He can't blame you though. For taking pity upon him because he did the same to you. When he saw you with Pieck and then what happened with Anthony, he saw a whole different side of you. You were deeper and more complex then he thought. His view on you did a complete 180. That's the reason he asked you to hang out the next day.

The night of the waterpark is when his feelings truly began to grow. Even before that, he felt something. When you kissed his nose in the ferris wheel, he had butterflies in his stomach. A crush began.

Then he kissed you in front of Anthony and he didn't want to stop. He knew he did it because he was protecting you but he really wished there wasn't an excuse. He wished he did it because it was the perfect moment. He remembers kissing you and wishing no one else was around. Wishing you weren't in a public place. Wishing you weren't kissing him back with tears streaming down your face and a hand print on your cheek.

Then, he beat the shit out your ex. Eren fought often. Okay, more than often. Sometimes for the dumbest reasons, sometimes for no reason at all.

But this time was different. He really did want to kill him for hurting you. He couldn't stop picturing your scared face and how you cried and tugged at his arm to run away. That's the only picture he had in his head as he pounded into the boy's skull.

That's when he began to realize maybe it's more than a crush. Then, on the way to the car. You kissed his bloody hand. He freaked out and began blubbering like an idiot and blamed it on him being disgusted by blood getting in your mouth but it was actually because he was realizing he actually had feelings for you. Deep feelings he never felt for anyone. It was foreign to him and it made him feel sick.

Then at Sasha and Connie's apartment, you wrapped his hands up and clean the wounds. He remembered looking at you while you were doing it and how pretty you looked when you were really concentrating. And how part of him wanted to get hurt a lot more often just so he can have you hold his hands like that again.

Eren hears a loud splash and realizes Jean finally jumped now just leaving him alone up there. He stands at the edge and then turns around to run and does a front flip off the cliff.

When he lands in the water, he swims up to the surface. He moves his dripping wet hair that now clung to his face and hung over his eyes so he can see.

When the strands of hair that blocked his view are out of the way, his green eyes focus on you and Armin still in the midst of conversation. He tries to squint and read your lips but Sasha jumps out the water and blocks his view.

"Come on, let's jump!" She says as she tugs on your arm. "Okay, okay." You lazily stand up and follow her to the cliff.

He turns his head to see who's up there and sees Marco and Connie. They instantly growing excited once they see you.

Connie and Marco's words from earlier repeat in his head.

"How about she says fuck both of y'all and comes with me instead?"

"Or me."

"Yeah while you two are busy beating eachother up, me and Connie will go comfort y/n."

He started getting mad again. He knew you didn't belong to him. You were free to do whatever you wanted. But he hated the idea of sharing you. Hated the idea of someone getting to know you the way he got to.

Because if you managed to make Thee Eren Jaeger fall in love for the first time in his life, he knew you were capable of making anyone else do the same.

Marco and Connie both jump off and he feels his blood pressure return to normal again.

Then just like that. It rises up when he sees Jean up there now. Forget Connie and Marco, Jean was the one he didn't want you near at all. Especially since he knows how far you've gone with him. He's just glad sex never happened.

He's grateful when he sees Sasha still up there with you knowing Jean won't try to make a move if she's there cockblocking. And then of course, Sasha jumps off and from the many years of knowing Sasha, Eren wasn't surprised. She hated awkward and weird tension and was always the first one to dip to avoid the situation.

He sees the two of you standing there but he's too far away to see what's going on and if there's even words being spoken. The fact that he had no idea what was going on made him even more angry.

He felt stupid. He didn't get why he was protective over you when you weren't even his girlfriend. Well, he did know but he knew it wasn't fair.

He sighs disappointed in himself and gets out the water. He starts walking to the cabin with all the restrooms and showers when he sees Mikasa walking out.

"Oh hey." She smiles. Eren stops. "Hey. I was wondering where you were."

She points at the restrooms. "I had to use the bathroom. Did you go swimming?"

Eren looks at her dumbly. "Nah, I'm just soaking wet for no reason."

She rolls her eyes and hits him. "Shut up. It was a rhetorical question." He lets his hair down to retie it. "Don't ask dumb questions that you already know the answer to. You know I hate that." He twists his damp, dark hair into a bun and wraps the hair tie around it.

She scoffs and leans against the wall with her arms crossed. "I bet you don't mind when y/n asks you dumb questions." She brings two fingers to his bare chest and walks them up to his collarbone.

He looks down at her fingers and then back at her. He comes closer to her and brings his face right by hers.

He grabs her chin to lift her head up to look at him and her dark eyes sparkle and lips part open like she's prepared to kiss him. "She doesn't ask stupid shit like you." He speaks right into her face. Her faces freezes for a moment and she shoves him away.

"I doubt that." She spits. He laughs. "You jealous or something?"

"Of y/n? Why would I be? I can get anything she can." She says proudly. "Oh yeah?" Eren leans against the wall beside her.

"Yeah. You think I'm jealous you're paying a little attention to her? I already had you. I can get Jean too and you know I can." She snickers. Eren shrugs. "Go, do it then."

Mikasa turns her head to him, her face shocked. He can tell she was expecting him to say no. Eren always kept Mikasa as his friend with benefit, he knew she was in love with him and took advantage of that. Always hitting her up for sex.

But even though it was just sex and nothing serious or official, Eren didn't wanna share Mikasa with anyone. He wanted her to just be for him so she expected him to get mad that she was saying she was gonna go with Jean. But what she doesn't know is Eren no longer cared.

"Go. I don't care. In fact, I dare you." Eren grins. Eren is fully aware of Jean's obsession for Mikasa and how he never grew out of it since they were kids and how he used several girls to get over her but it never worked. If he got Mikasa to go with Jean that would be two problems off his hands. Jean would finally leave you alone and Mikasa would leave him alone. It was a win-win.

Mikasa studies Eren's eyes as if trying to see if he was joking or testing her. "You serious?" She grits her teeth. He laughs. "I knew you wouldn't do it. You don't get tired of always needing my permission?"

Her eyes jolt open and she slaps him. "Fuck you." He sighs and rubs at his face. "Am I wrong? You don't have the balls to do it." He keeps going.

She steps up to his face, eyes burning with anger. "Watch me." She growls before walking away. Eren smiles to himself. Everything seemed to be going as planned.

After that slap in the face, Eren needed a drink and if he recalls correctly, he saw a large Yeti ice chest that had bottles in it. He approaches the chest and begins to pour himself a drink.

"What do you say y/n? Wanna play or are you scared?" Reiner asks you. Eren looks up at the sound of your name and sees you in a group with everyone. "Can I choose what I take shots of?" You ask. He remembers you telling him to talk to you the whole trip so he walks up to the group.

"Let's make things interesting. Whoever hits you with the ball, gets to choose your shot." Eren speaks up. He catches you stand up straight when he speaks from his peripheral view.

"That sounds potentially dangerous as hell." Armin whimpers. Marco hits Armin on the back. "As long as you don't get hit by the ball, you don't gotta be worried."

"I'll play." You smile. The boys cheer. "What about the rest of you girls?" Reiner asks. "I guess I'll play. But you guys better not hit me hard." Historia slurs.

Ymir and Annie confirm their compliance. Sasha jumps up and down with excitement. "Let's start splitting up into teams! Are we an even number?"

Everyone begins to count heads when Historia frowns. "I know I'm drunk but we're missing someone, aren't we?"

"Mikasa isn't here." Armin says looking around. Eren looks around and sees Jean is missing as well. He smirks because he knows exactly what is happening. It worked.

"Jean isn't here either." You speak up once you notice too. "He said he was going to the restroom." Connie explains. Eren laughs in his head.

"Let's just start without them. They can join after." Marco suggests. Everyone agrees and begins to discuss how to spilt up in teams.

"There's 12 of us not counting Mikasa and Jean. So 6v6, right?" Armin asks. "How do we decide who goes where?"

"On the count of three, put one or two fingers on your forehead QUICK! 1,2,3, GO!" Sasha yells. Everyone rushes to slap fingers onto their foreheads. Eren slaps his single index finger on his.

He automatically looks at you in hopes you're on his team so he can be closer to you but you sadly have two fingers up. He realizes he can make do with that too. It gave him an opportunity to flirt with you with some friendly competition.

Everyone splits into their groups and huddles up, planning their game plans. Once everyone is done, their huddles break apart and the game begins.

Eren automatically takes out Historia since shes the easiest target which leads to her drunk crying on the side line. "Vodka." He points at her.

Annie takes out Bertholdt and tells him to take a shot of tequila. Sasha and Niccolo both aim at Marco at the same time and take him out. "Hey!" He yells. Sasha grins. "Malibu since you're being a girl."

You take out Ymir while she's too busy looking at Historia cry and she isn't even mad about it because she gets to be with her now. "Hennessy." You call out to her.

Connie aims for you but you dodge it, the ball hitting Niccolo instead. "Not who I was aiming for but fuck it, we ball." The boy says. Sasha gasps. "You did NOT just hit my man!" She throws a ball full force and it smacks Connie right in the face. He falls backward.

"Hennessy!" She smiles deviously. She kisses Nic on the cheek as he walks to the sideline. "I got you babe."

Reiner aims at Eren but he dodges it. You aim for Armin but he jumps out the way. You see a ball fly toward you and you instantly duck. There's a loud impact noise beside you and you turn to see Annie got hit by a ball.

Her mouth drops open and you look at the other team to see who did it. Armin brings his hand to his mouth, biting his nails. "Sorry Annie! You weren't looking so I had to." Annie leaves after Armin tells her to drink vodka.

Eren catches Reiner whisper to you and Sasha and he already knows that he told you to aim for Armin while he and Sasha try to take out him.

You throw a ball at Armin barely missing him and he throws one back and you catch it. You pretend you're about to throw it at Eren so Armin looks away and when he does you throw the ball right at him and it makes contact. "YES!" You cheer.

Eren turns to look at Armin as soon as your ball makes contact with the blonde boy. He turns to look at you jump up and down, smiling with accomplishment and he takes this opportunity to hit you with a ball causing you to fall on your ass.

"Hey!" You yell. Eren grins. While he's smiling at you, Sasha and Reiner both attack him and he tries to dodge it but they're much too fast and they take him out. He's not even mad he lost because now the game is over and he can talk to you.

"LETS GOOOOOOOOO!" Sasha roars. Both her and Reiner chest bump each other.

Eren walks over to the ice chest and sees you telling Armin what shot to take. "Hmmm, tequila." You decide. He cringes, takes the shot and immediately sucks on a line.

"Okay. What about me?" Eren hears you ask him. He freezes for a second but plays it off. This is the first time you've spoken to him since what happened. "Which do you hate the most?" He decides to test the waters by teasing you. You glare at him.

"Malibu." You lie. He laughs. "Nice try. I'm gonna say...." He lifts up the brown bottle of Hennessy. You immediately scrunch up your face. "Oh yeah. Definitely this one." He pushes the bottle toward you and you pour the shot.

"You do Henny too." Reiner says, passing the bottle back to Eren once you're done with it. You hold up your shot and wait for him. He then holds up his and you both take it at the same time.

After that, everyone decides to sit around the campfire and just drink. Eren looks around and sees there's still no sign of Jean and Mikasa. He honestly couldn't believe she actually did it. All to prove a point that he didn't even care about.

Eren must've approached the logs too slow because when he goes to sit by you, you're already sitting with Reiner and Marco. He sits across the fire from you with Armin and Annie.

He looks at you and you're looking at Reiner and Marco talk about something but it almost seems like you're zoned out and not really listening. She's probably already starting to feel the alcohol.

He doesn't want you to suddenly turn around and catch him staring at you so he turns to Armin and Annie and pretends to care about what they're talking about.

Jean returns and sits by Connie and Bertholdt. "God damn, you have diarrhea or something?" Eren hears Connie ask. "You missed an entire game of dodgeball."

Eren tries to listen to whatever excuse Jean comes up with but he can't hear over Reiner and Marco laughing loudly about something. "Right y/n?"

"Huh?" You turn your attention back to the two boys. "Connie's face when he got smacked in the face was priceless." Marco says. You giggle. "Oh yeah! There's probably marks from the ball on his face."

All three of you squint at Connie and howl with laughter when you notice there is indeed marks on his face. Eren looks at you and watches you die with laughter. He loved the sound of your laugh. He always felt so proud of himself when he made you sound like that or when he made you scrunch up your nose in the cute way you do when you laugh.

"Who hit him again?" You ask wiping a tear from your eye. "Sasha. She did not go easy on him at all since he got Nic out." Reiner chuckles. "Oh yeah, the lovebirds." You say turning to look at the couple.

Niccolo was whispering something in Sasha's ear that made her turn bright red and giggle. "They're so cute, it's almost annoying." You sigh. Marco grins. "I can whisper in your ear and make you blush like that, too. Watch." He leans into you and you lean back and giggle uncontrollably. "Stop!"

Eren feels his face heat up. He finally got rid of Jean and now he's gotta do something about Marco too?

You jump and run away. Marco chasing you making kissing noises. He knew it was petty but he wanted Marco to trip and fall and eat shit. For his own sake, and honestly everyone else's too, he looks away to avoid triggering himself even more.

Eren sees Marco return back to the fire without you and he turns around and sees you trailing a few feet behind with Mikasa. She looks red and flustered, her hair messy and he laughs because he recognizes that look from experience.

The rest of night Eren never really gets the chance to get you alone. In fact, he barely gets the chance to talk to you at all. Only here and there. That was the problem with trying to be with the girl everyone loved to have around. There was always people surrounding you.

He decided he was just gonna wait for everyone to go to sleep so no one could bother you and him. Slowly, one by one people started passing out or going to bed. He was in the middle of talking to Reiner when he turns to check up on you and sees that you're gone.

Shit, where did the hell did she go now?

He waits a little while and then heads to your cabin to see if you went to sleep when he sees Ymir and Historia about to walk in.

"I can't believe y/n saw us." Historia whispers but loud enough for Eren to overhear. She was probably too drunk to even notice he was right there.

Based on the fact the two girls were in towels, he figured they just came out the showers and that you were over there too. He debated going over there and waiting for you to get out but he knew you'd get the wrong idea so he just decided to wait.

He walks back to the fire and helps clean and put up everything with Reiner, Bertholdt and Jean who were the last ones awake.

Marco and Armin went to bed, Connie was passed out on the ground, and Eren was pretty sure he saw Niccolo lead Sasha to one of the empty cabins.

After everything is picked up, Eren heads to the showers and takes a quick hot shower. Then, he heads back to the cabin and waits in bed for everyone to go to sleep which honestly doesn't take long because as soon as the three of them hit the bed, their loud snores fill the room,

He picks up his phone and checks the time. 4:02am. He knew there was probably a good chance you weren't awake but he had to try it anyway. He prayed your phone wakes you up to the sound of his text. He would sneak in there and wake you up himself if he had to, he didn't care. He refused that you be right about him not talking to you the whole trip.

He opens up his messages and he opens up the conversation he has with you. He begins typing the text message asking if you're awake and gets up to go wait outside the cabin. Like he said, he was gonna get you to wake one way or another.

By the time he makes it to the cabin, you replied. He smiles big when he sees your response.

Y/n 🍼
Eren: u up?

y/n: i am now

Eren: outside hurry up

He waits for you to step outside and he smiles at your contact name. It was fitting because he was always calling you a crybaby. For a moment, he scrolls through his emojis and debates changing it to a sun. Since you were supposedly his sun now.

"Hey." You say once you're in front of him. He looks up from his screen and can't even hide his smile as he admires your pajamas and half asleep demeanor. "Cute pjs." He snickers. "Shut up. Why did you call me out here?" You groggily respond.

"I wanna show you something." He says. He starts walking and then tilts his head signaling you to follow him. "Come on."

He begins leading you to the last cabin and its uncomfortably quiet. He wanted to say something but wasn't sure what. Suddenly, the sound of crunching grass behind him stops and he spins around to see what happened.

"Um, what are you doing?" You ask. He looks at you confused and then laughs when he realizes what you're thinking. "Calm down, horndog." He points to the roof of the cabin. "We're going up there."

He loved how you managed to make him laugh without evening trying. Just by being yourself. He was so happy he finally got you to himself.

He hops up a large steel, box outside the cabin and he climbs up onto the roof, extending his hand for you to take.

You take his hand and climb up onto the roof with him. He scoots over so you have space to sit. He sits a little further from you then he usually does because he still doesn't know if you're still mad about what happened earlier. It's been really hard to read your expressions. There was only one way to find out though.

"Okay. What did you wanna show me?" You say. "You'll see in about..." He takes his phone out and checks the time. "Two hours, maybe three." He replies back.

"Huh?! Three hours?" You shout. "Shhhh. People are sleeping. And yes. Three hours. Maybe two." He says, his finger to his lips to shush you.

He loved messing with you. It was so cute when you got irritated at him. Well honestly, he found everything you did cute.

"So, you hate me now, huh?" He smirks. "Shut up." You reply. "You know I didn't mean it."

He felt his heart jump and his body grow excited but he shifts his legs to hide it. "Idk, kinda sounded like you meant that shit."

You lean back, putting your palms face down behind you. "If I hated you I wouldn't be out here right now."

He looks at you. That damn smart ass mouth. He looks at said mouth and frowns when he sees you have a cut on it that he barely notices because this is the first time he actually got to fully look at you without anyone around.

He brings his index finger to your bottom lip and pulls it down, making it bounce back up. "What happened to your lip?"

"Huh? Oh." You pinch your bottom lip and tug it slightly. "I bit on it too hard when I was mad and it busted open."

He laughs. "Is that what you do when you get mad?" You shrug. "I punched a couple cardboard boxes at work too." You shrink into yourself. "And some other really dumb stuff."

He's honestly not even surprised. He was already used to your temper. "Yeah like what?"

You groan and cover your face. "I don't even wanna say it's too embarrassing."

He scoffs. "You know how much stupid shit I do when I get pissed? I'm the last person to judge you."

You stare at him. "Fine. I poured ketchup all over Jean's car." He snickers. "Ketchup? Out of all things?" What a weirdo.

You throw your hands in the air. "It was the first thing that came to mind. It was really impulsive and in the heat of the moment. I was basically blacked out."

He shrugs. He's done worse. "I get that. Man, he must have really hurt your feelings for you to do all that." You look off in the distance. "Yeah. I guess."

He kinda was a little disappointed from hearing that. If you reacted that way it was because he did hurt you and that implies you did have strong feelings for him. He was aware that feelings don't just go away in a day.

"I also bumped into the girl right after I did it and said some pretty nasty things to her. She probably didn't deserve it because she's just as clueless as I was but I was just so mad." You cringe.

"Damn." Eren says. So she did really like him.

"Yeah I tend to do reckless shit when I'm angry if you haven't noticed." You explain further.

"Like slapping your sister across the face?" He laughs. He was honestly trying to change the subject because he was sick about hearing about Jean. You shove him with your shoulder. "You're the last person to talk about anger issues."

He looks out in the distance, watching the wind pass the two of you by. "You know. I'm surprised you even let Jean do that to you." He says. The wind stops for a second and it's dead quiet. "What do you mean?" You ask.

He recalls back to the night the two of you met and goes on to explain how formidable you seemed that night compared to how you act now. How the girl he met that night would've never let Jean walk all over her.

"I guess I just believed he was different. I don't know." You say.

"No. I don't think it was that. I think you knew since the start you needed to keep your distance from him but you got attached anyway. Why?" He points out.

Eren knew the truth. He may not have hung out with a lot but the few times he has, he has gotten to know the real you. That's who he fell for. Not the girl you wanted everyone to think you were.

"You were trying too hard to be someone you aren't." He finishes for you. "Am I wrong?"

You sigh and set your chin on top of your knees. He begins to get worried that he might have pushed you too far when you don't speak for a bit. "No. You're right. I was. I'm not necessarily proud of who I am." You finally say. He sighs with relief.

"Neither am I but I'm rolling with it." Eren says, looking up at the moon. The current moon phase was a waning crescent that looks just like the one he drew on your hand earlier. "Who were you trying to be more like?"

You bring your knees closer to you and hug them tightly. He looks back at you and noticed you were now looking away from him like you were trying to hide your face. "Was it Sasha?" He asks. He already knew the answer though.

You snap your head around. "How are you..." He shakes his head. "I can tell. The closer you got to her the more smaller you became. You got quieter, nicer. Like you were trying to be as friendly as her but not overshadowing her."

Your eyes grow twice a big. He was right. Your reaction saying all he needed to know.He could tell you were getting sad by the disappointed look on your face. Like you were ashamed he caught on to your facade. He felt a little bad because he hates seeing you down but it's something he knew you needed to hear. No one else was going to say it because he's the only one who's gotten to see the real you.

He continues to go on and further explain his theory. He naturally didn't have a filter so it all just comes out without thinking it through.

His heart drops when he sees your eyes water. He has to remind himself that the truth hurts and that this will all be worth it when you finally realize that.

"I just wanted to start over. To forget everything that happened and be a new person." You say in a low voice. "You wanted to pretend everything didn't happen but everything that happened made you the person you are. And personally? I prefer you the other way. I've had enough Sasha to last me a lifetime." He admits.

"I just feel like no one is gonna like me if I'm myself. I mean look at whats happened so far." You sigh. "Fuck em. I like you." He says bluntly. He honestly felt like throwing up. He felt like such a simp saying this kind of stuff. He grew even more nauseous when he saw your reaction.

You spin your head toward him, eyes wild. "I mean I like you as person." He tries to cover up. "I've seen how tough you can be and then i've seen the soft person you try to be. I prefer you the way you are."

You turn away from him and look up at the moon. He watches as your fingers fiddle with your jacket's zipper anxiously. He didn't want you to stay uncomfortable so he tried to make you feel a little better.

"I'm a piece of shit and they're still my friends." He says laying on his back.

"They've also known you since fucking birth. They barely even know me. If they find out i'm just as bad at you they'll..." You begin.

"They'll what? Stop being your friends? If they don't like you for you then they were never truly your friends in the first place." He finishes for you.

You turn your head back to look at him. "When did you get so wise?" He laughs, looking up at the sky. He wasn't really sure about when that happened either. You brought out a side of him he didn't even realize he had.

"I'm just being honest. I'm amazed myself they haven't given up on me because I've done some pretty fucked up shit." He says.

You lay back so that you're now on your back like he is. "You know, everyone kinda hates that I'm getting close to you." You mention.

He laughs. "They'll live."

He wasn't surprised by that either. He knew that was going to happen. He knew them too well. He also couldn't blame them, they loved you and they had already gotten used to Eren being this womanizer, heartbreaker type person.

"By the way." You turn your head to the side so you can look at him. "Are you talking to a girl?" He looks at you confused. "What?"

"Are you talking to a girl? Sasha says you seem different. I noticed it too but I just thought you were warming up to me. I didn't know you were just in general being nicer." You clarify.

"What does that have to do with a girl?" He asks. "Well she said you also haven't been going out with girls or sleeping around. Like you might be actually settling down with someone." You say nervously.

He tried to put the puzzle pieces together in his mind. There was no girl except you if that's what you were referring to. He had no idea Sasha was noticing stuff like that. It's true that he did stop sleeping around and texting girls. Ever since the fair, he stopped sleeping with them. Then after the waterpark, he stopped talking to them altogether.

To him it wasn't a big deal, he honestly didn't even realize he was doing it. It was like his mind was subconsciously doing it for him. It started with him picturing your face when he was with girls, to getting grossed out when he realized the girl wasn't you. Then he just stopped having energy to reply to them point blank.

"There's no girl." He mumbles. He turns his face back to the sky. You do the same. "Sorry. I was just wondering."

The wind blows again and the only sound is the wind making the leaves dance in the trees. He doesn't know what to say again. Does he tell you that it was a lie and that there is a girl and that girl is you?

"Thanks, by the way. For earlier in the cafeteria. You know, pretending to claim me again like you did with my ex." You say finally breaking the silence.

He looks at you with disbelief. Now there was no way he was gonna tell you. Not if you still think he's doing this just to pretend in front of others. I mean, how much more obvious could he get? He knows you're not that much of an airhead. Maybe it's the fact you are trying to pretend you don't see it. Like you know deep down inside he meant it but you don't wanna believe it's true so you act dumb.

"What?" You ask. "Nothing. You're welcome." He sighs. Maybe it was better off that way.

You sit up on your elbows. "Say it." He shakes his head refusing to make eye contact with you. You scoot closer to him. "Say it or I'm gonna keep annoying you about it."

He glares at you. "You better not." You scoot closer. "Say it then." He already knew you were not gonna let it go so he braces himself.

You were now sitting up but he keeps his cool by remaining planted on his back. "Go on."

He stays quiet and just stares at you. You stare back. You start poking his cheek repeatedly. "Say it. Say it. Say it. Say it."

"Stop y/n." He grows irritated. "Not until you tell me." You continue to poke at him. You see his face getting more and more angry but you don't stop.

He really didn't wanna say it. Not when he doesn't know if you feel the same way. Knowing you, you'd probably laugh in his face if the feeling wasn't mutual. He wasn't ready for that yet. It would be the first time in his life he confesses his feelings to someone and he did not want it to end that way.

Part of him knew the answer already. Even if you did feel the same, you would deny it. You couldn't have feelings for him. I mean, you could but it wouldn't end well. Not if everyone found out. You would lose all your friends and he knew that. He knew you would lose Hitch and how bad it would hurt you because he remembers you going on and going on about how much you love her and felt blessed to have her as a roommate.

Besides the annoying poking at his cheek, he began to grow angrier and angrier. Why did they have to ruin everything? If only he had met you first. If only you weren't friends with all of them. If only they weren't so bitter and held grudges. If only he hadn't slept with them and then tossed them to the side, making them hate him and anyone else who tries to be with him. He hated this. He hated it so damn much that he wanted to scream at the top of his lungs.

"ENOUGH ALREADY." He shoots up and twists his body so that he slams you down on your back and he's on top of you, your wrists pinned down with his hands. "You're so god damn annoying." He says from above you.

"I wouldn't have to be if you just told me what you were going to say." You snap back. He stares down at you, your stubborn eyes looks back up at him.

Your breathing gets harder once you realize how close is he is to you. It takes him a moment to realize he's practically right on top of you.

He tries to decide whether to say it or not. To be selfish or selfless. To watch you lose everyone and have you alone to himself or let everyone keep you and him not have you at all.

You smile when you see him internally struggling which causes you to bring his attention to your lips.

He looks down at your mouth and licks his lips. He wanted so badly to kiss you. Kissing you is all he thought about after he kissed you at the fair. It was the best kiss he ever had and he knew it's because all the other kisses he had with girls were meaningless. It was just the foreplay before the prize. But with you it was different. He didn't care if there wasn't no prize afterward, he just wanted to kiss you.

He thinks back to the kiss and how amazing it felt and how it took everything out of him to stop and continue to play his part. He stares at your lips admiring them and can't look away. You laugh a little when you see sweat gleaming on his forehead.

"Are you about to kiss me, Jaeger?"

His heart stops. Shit. He looks back up at your eyes again. "What will happen if I do?" He says. He didn't know if you were joking and just teasing him but he couldn't hold it anymore. He didn't care if it was obvious he wanted to kiss you.

"Don't." You breathe hard. "Why?" He whispers back, his heart aching. "You know why." You reply. He did know. He knew this whole time but he still had to try.

He takes his thumb and drags it along your lips. You wince when he touches the open cut on your lip. Both of you are breathing hard and slow. The tension was unreal.

He didn't wanna pull away. He wanted that kiss. More than he wanted anything. And part of him, no a huge part of him, is screaming to just do it. No one will know. But he didn't want to keep you a secret. He wanted everyone to know. He was ready.

But if he had to wait for you to be ready too, so be it.

He sighs and places his forehead on yours, closing his eyes. He prays he doesn't regret not kissing you. He prays he gets more opportunities in the future. He prays no one beats him to it.

He lays back down on his back besides you and looks up at the moon. He then grabs your hand and lifts it up to the sky to compare his drawing to the moon above. It was honestly just as excuse to hold it.

"You did a good job." You say. He laughs but not a real laugh. He had to force it out. He felt sad. Mostly angry at himself. He was regretting every decision he's ever made in the past. All the choices he could've made differently that would've made this so much simpler. "Thanks. I tried."

He sets your hand back down, his resting right by it. Your fingertips barley kiss the top of his. He wanted to hold your hand so badly but it was just going to cause the both of you even more pain.

The two of you stay up talking for hours and hours until finally it's time for him to show you what he called you out here for.

"Get up." He says as he sits up. You sit up beside him and follow his gaze. The sun was coming up. It had to be like 6 something by now. The two of you really talked for two hours up here.

He was excited to show you the view. He was absolutely sure you were going to love it. He wasn't lying when he said he's always been looking at you. He noticed every time you were in awe of the beautiful nature the town provided and how much you appreciated it because you were just accustomed to tall buildings and traffic.

"Wow." You gasp softly when you see the sun rise and how it woke up the pastel colors in the sky. The stars above slowly saying goodbye. He smiles at himself, proud he got the exact reaction he knew you were going to make.

"Yup." He nods his head. The two of you watch in silence as the sky grows more colorful. Going from a dark indigo to a bright red then fading into a lighter orange and then to a beautiful pink. The pink slowly growing into the blue of the sky.

"Thank you." You say, still keeping your eyes on the sky. "For showing me this."

He looks at you and smiles. Then he turns his eyes back to the sky. He didn't want to leave this roof. Didn't want to leave your side. As much as he loved watching the sun rise, the higher it rose meant the faster time was going and how soon he'd have to pretend he wasn't in love with you again.

"Come on. Let's go pretend we were asleep this whole time." He says standing up. You grab his hand and he looks down at you. "Let's stay just a little while longer. They won't be up anytime soon anyway. At least until the last star disappears."

He couldn't explain the feeling he had. It was like he was feeling every emotion all at once. It was a bit overwhelming but when ever he looked down at you and saw your wide, pretty eyes looking back up at him, all his worries faded away. He was glad he wasn't the only who wanted to make this moment last just a little longer.

He chuckles and sits back down beside you, even closer than before. "Okay. Til the last star disappears."