Exhaustion
"So... Why so many cookies?" The brunet asked. Jean had pulled the final batch out of the oven, making five total. "I read the recipe wrong." He answered, taking off the apron and oven mitts and resting them on the counter. He seems nice enough, Eren thought.
"How do you know Armin?" Eren said, taking a cookie. "We were," Jean paused trying to remember the word. "Pen friends." He finished. "Do you mean pen pals."
"Oh um yeah." The taller mumbled.
Eren was a little unsure about how to feel about the stranger in his home. He began to miss Annie's familiarity, even if her attitude sucked 24/7.
Eren was drawn out of his thoughts by a familiar question. "Do you have a soulmate?" He felt his heart begin to pound with just the thought. "Not yet." He muttered.
"Me neither, Armin got me to move by telling me I might find my soulmate here, but I haven't found anyone that matched my eye."
"Oh," Eren took the chance to gaze at his new roommate's multicolored eyes.
The left was a greenish yellow color that almost glowed. The right was a sweet golden honey color that reminded him of ocean sunsets. His right eye looks like my left, but his left doesn't match me at all, weird.
"Are you going to school around here?" He asked, partially wanting to be the one to show the new American around his scool. "Yeah, that's the other reason I moved." Jean said, taking a cookie. "And a job?"
"Oh yeah, Armin got me a job at the coffee shop right by the big marketplace.
Eren hummed in approval. The whole awkwardness of the situation was begging to sink in. Eren looked around the room, noticing the lack of anything Annie. He also noticed various bottles of liquor lining the far counter.
"Are you an alcoholic or something?" Eren stated, pointing at the bottles? "No, no I'm having a party." Jean replied. Eren had planned to have a quiet night so he could regain the energy he lost to traveling. A party was at the bottom of the list of things he wanted to do tonight.
Exhaustion won over his common sense and the anxiety and anger that had been building over the past few days overflowed. "Hey! Maybe you should've thought that through a little better. I'm tired as shit and a crappy party isn't gonna help anything!" Jean looked taken aback by the shorter's sudden outburst. But soon enough the same breed of rage filled his voice.
"Well I'm sorry you didn't find your soulmate on that stupid journey but I'm allowed to live life the way I want to!"
"Don't call my trip stupid!" Eren bit back the urge to punch the other square in the jaw. "That's the truth, soulmates are ridiculous, so is your trip!" Jean yelled, slamming a fist on the counter surface. "Asshole! Take that back!" Eren yelled back, grabbing Jean's green shirt and pushing him back against the wall. His heart pounded with a strange sense of loathing, except he really hadn't realized how hot Jean was until now and oh god he was so close.
"Jean I'm coming in please don't be naked-oh.." Eren let go of Jean and turned around to find an even taller man standing in the doorway. In his arms were grocery bags and a key. His face was absolutely covered in freckles, along with his arms and legs. He had a short black haircut and a birthmark going along the right side of his face.
His expression went from slightly shocked to one of utter disappointment when he saw Jean's irritated look. "Armin told me this might happen." He sighed shaking his head. He put the grocery bags down and then turned to Eren.
"Hi, I'm Marco." He said, extending a freckled hand. "Eren" the brunet said, returning the handshake.
Marco took one look at the bags under Eren's eyes and rushed to one of the shaws bags. He pulled out a bottled Starbucks and handed it to the shorter.
"Sorry about the whole surprise party thing," Marco stated as Eren opened the coffee. Jean made a disapproving 'tsk noise. "I guess this wasn't really the best day for it, but me and Armin wanted Jean to make new friends and feel a little more welcome." The Raven haired man said with an apologetic smile.
Eren gratefully sipped his coffee, looking at the strangers multicolored eyes. The right eye was a piercing blue that looked very familiar and — wait! That's Armins eye! Wow this just got awkward ...
"So uh, how long have you and Armin been-"
"Hm," Marco looked up from thought, taking note of Eren's intense stare. "Oh uh, we met four days after you left, picking Jean up from the airport."
Eren smiled at his drink, happy for his best friend, yet hurt by the fact that they couldn't share the experience. "That's.. Nice" the brunet finished. He didn't want to hurt Marcos feelings with his own jealous input.
Jean stood from his previous wall slouch position, excusing himself to go grab something from his room. Once out of sight, Marco leaned in, a scarily serious look on his face.
"Eren, Jean is my best friend. Take care of him" he said. Eren didn't know what to feel. The immense amount of emotions he'd gone through that day began to slur together.
He felt nauseous and sad and irritated. "I'll be in my room if anyone needs me." The brunet muttered before sprinting down the hallway in the direction of his room. He shoved passed Jean in rush, earning more than a few insults. When he finally reached his familiar bedroom he slammed the door behind him, slumping to the ground and resting his head in his hands.
What am I gonna do? What can I do? His chest tightened with fear of what's to come, how he was so alone. He wanted to scream, but of course that wasn't an option. The brunet looked up at the ceiling, but his mind was elsewhere. "Hey mom, if your up there I could really use your help."
He rubbed his eyes, groaning and standing back up. I can't hide forever, can I?