Chapter 7
Eren
Beep beep beep beep.
Deep in sleep, Eren could vaguely hear his alarm go off. It started off like a single bee, happily buzzing around Eren’s head and grew into an angry swarm, loud and annoying. Eren jerked up, trying to get away from the noise and the possible promise of a thousand bee stings and ended up falling out of bed. He groaned in frustration.
He realized a moment later that the sound wasn’t a swarm of bees wanting to peel his flesh from his body, but his alarm clock. He sat up and glared at the offending device.
Shut up you stupid alarm! He thought with a frown.
Eren sighed and turned off his alarm. He closed his eyes, leaning his head back against his messy bed. He was really tired.
He’d nearly fallen back asleep when his phone began to ring. Why does the world hate me?
“Hello?”
“EREN! GET YOUR LAZY ASS UP! YOUR SHIFT STARTS IN TEN MINUTES!” He heard Mikasa’s voice ring through his phone.
Work starts in ten minutes. 10 minutes. His green eyes widened.
“OH SHIT!” He yelled, jumping up and rushing around his room.
“Armin! Why didn’t-” He stopped when he realized that Armin was nowhere to be found.
Dammit, Armin!
He grabbed a pair of black jeans from his dresser and threw on a green button-up shirt. He picked up Armin’s beanie from the ground and his bracelet from the drawer and up them on. He then slipped his key necklace over his head and ran to the bathroom.
Eren brushed his teeth as quickly as he could and ran to his dresser to grab a pair of socks. He chose a pair of black sneakers from his closet and pulled them on.
Taking the stairs two by two, he headed downstairs and grabbed his keys, then bolting out the door.
“Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!” He muttered to himself.
Levi was going to disembowel him. Or worse. He knew he should’ve listened to his stupidly loud alarm clock when it had first gone off.
Please God! Don’t let me die by the hands of Levi Ackerman! When I thought about his hands on me, this isn’t what I meant! I’m too young to die!
Eren drove as fast as he could without breaking any laws. By the time he made it, he checked his phone to see he had 3 minutes to spare. He sighed in relief. Eren ran to the elevator and straight to Levi’s office.
He knocked on the door and heard a muffled “Come in.” Inside, he was met with a short, glaring man in a suit.
“You're la-” Levi began to scold but Eren cut him off.
“I’m so sorry Sir! I didn’t mean to be late! It’s just that I’ve been feeling so tired-”
“Brat-”
“I promise it will never happen ever again!”
“Brat!-”
“And I’ll-”
“Eren!” Levi yelled.
Eren was taken aback by his loud voice. Wait, did he just use my first name?
“Just get me a fucking coffee.” Levi sighed. Eren nodded and walked out of the room.
He’s still alive. I must be dreaming. Did he really just walk out without having a scratch on his body?
Is this some kind of prank? He thought to himself.
Eren walked over to the break room and found Armin pouring himself a cup of coffee. He noticed Armin’s clothing and… wait, are those his jeans?
“Hey, Ar.” Eren greeted. Armin turned to see Eren and gave him a warm smile.
“Hey, Eren!” He said cheerfully.
“Why didn’t you wake me up earlier?” Eren asked him. Armin turned to him and raised an eyebrow.
“You had already turned off the alarm. I thought you were already awake. Is that my beanie and bracelet?” Armin asked, curiously. Eren sighed.
“Are those my jeans and necklace? And really? Star Wars?” Eren sassed.
“Touché.” Armin shrugged. “And yeah! Star Wars is amazing!”
“Armin! I swear you’re such a nerd! I still can’t believe you made me watch the whole seasons of it!”
“You lost that bet! It was only fair!” Armin laughed.
“It wasn’t my fault! I couldn’t remember what happened at the end of Lord of the Rings!” Eren whined, pouting slightly.
“Well, you shouldn’t have bragged about your extensive knowledge of the series then!” Armin retorted as he laughed.
“Oh my God! You’re Satan, I swear!”
“The one and only.”
“And I thought wearing black was my thing!”
“It is but I thought I would try it. But I must say. I think I look better than you’ve ever looked in black.”
“Excuse me?” Eren put a hand on his heart and mocked an offended look on his face. Armin threw his head back laughing.
“I’m wounded. How dare you! I’ll cut a bitch, Ar. Don’t push me!” Eren warned. Armin stuck his tongue out and Eren playfully shoved him.
“Love you, Eren,” Armin said sincerely.
“Doesn’t feel like it.” Eren scoffed, teasing. Armin laughed.
“You’re such a dick, Eren.” Armin laughed and rolled his eyes. “You’d better get Levi his coffee before he murders you,” Armin suggested.
“Yeah, you’re right.” Eren grabbed a cup and poured some coffee into it. After he was done, he turned to Armin.
“Eren, I was thinking. That new club just opened downtown. We should totally go get wasted tonight!” Armin exclaimed. Eren raised an eyebrow.
“Why?”
“Because! It’s been 6 months since my 21st birthday! Can we go? Please?” Armin pinned Eren with his famous puppy dog eyes and Eren sighed in annoyance.
“Ugh! Fine, just put that away! I can’t ever say no to that face.” Eren shielded his eyes with his hand. Armin squealed and hugged Eren.
“Yes!!! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” Armin let go of Eren and ran out of the room with a smile on his face. Eren could tell he was beyond happy.
“What am I going to do with you?” He mumbled.
Eren looked down at the steaming cup of coffee in his hand and sighed. He felt jittery. He always felt this way when he was around Levi. His boss. His unfairly attractive boss. Eren knocked on the door and heard a “Come in.”
As he walked in, he noticed Levi typing away on his computer. Eren quietly placed the cup on the desk and walked towards the door.
“Oi! Brat.” When Eren turned back around, Levi was giving him an intense look. Eren felt his face heat up and his stomach tense nervously
“Y-yes Sir?” Eren silently cursed himself for stuttering.
“Get these paper to a man named Farlan Church. His office is on the 4th floor and to the left. His name's on the door, shouldn’t be hard to find. Got it? One of the things I hate is having to repeat myself.” Levi said, eyes never leaving Eren's.
Eren nodded and took the papers from Levi’s hands. At an accidental brush of hands, Eren felt his heart leap into his throat.
He quickly made his way out of the room and closed the door behind him. He leaned against the door and tried to calm his frantic heart.
Once he was calmed down and breathing normally, Eren walked into the elevator and clicked on the fourth floor. As soon as the door opened, he found himself lost.
The layout of this floor looked completely different from his. Eren took a few steps forward before turning to see a redheaded girl smiling brightly at him. Where the hell had she come from? He shrieked and fell flat on his butt.
“Oh! I am so sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you!” The woman said, concerned. He shook his head.
“No, it’s okay.” He said. She offered her hand and he gladly accepted it as she helped him to his feet. He took note how beautiful the girl was. He also noticed her shirt and smiled.
“Nice shirt, I love My Chemical Romance.” He complimented her. The girl perked up.
“I love them too! I was so upset when they broke up. They were such a good band!”
“I know right!” They both smiled at each other.
“Hey, you have really pretty eyes. They’re kinda similar to mine, actually.” The girl said brightly. Eren stared into the girl’s eyes and saw emeralds. He gave her a soft smile.
“I guess they do really look similar! Anyway, um... could you tell me where Farlan Church’s office is?” She gave him a bright smile.
“Yeah! I’m his assistant! I’m Isabel by the way.”
“I’m Eren.”
The walk was short and Isabel turned to Eren and pointed to the door.
“That’s his office.” She gave Eren another warm smile.
“You seem like a really cool person, we should hang out or something sometime. I don’t have many friends, it would be nice.” Eren gave her a small knowing smile.
“Yeah! You too. Thanks for the help!”
“No problem, Eren! It was nice meeting you! I hope to see you soon!” Isabel said, starting to turn back.
“Wait, Isabel! Would you like to go drinking with my friends and I tonight? You-”
“Really? Oh yes! I’d love that!” She bounced around in excitement. “You’re the first person to ever invite me to somewhere.”
“Really? You seem really fun to be around.” He said. She gave him a warm smile and grabbed a pen and paper from her back pocket.
“Here’s my number, message me whenever, okay?” He smiled and nodded, taking the slip of paper from her. Isabel smiled once more and walked towards the reception desk.
Eren sighed and knocked on the door. He heard a “Come in” and opened the door to see a man with dirty blonde hair and silver eyes. Eren had to appreciate his unique appearance.
“Mr. Church?”
“Yes, and you are?”
“Hi! I’m Eren-” Eren began but got cut off by Farlan.
“Wait, are you Pixis’ Grandson?”
“Yeah, I am. I’m also Levi’s assistant. He sent me to give you these papers.” Eren handed him the packet and Farlan nodded, giving Eren a charming smile.
“Thank you,” Farlan said. Eren nodded and left.
The day consisted of Eren running around delivering papers to people, getting coffee, making calls and leaving messages. By the end of the day, Eren was exhausted. Being Levi’s assistant was a lot harder than he thought. He felt like he’d lost a good ten pounds by the end of his shift. He clocked out and grabbed his things.
As he walked down to the lobby, he was stopped by Armin.
“Hey, Ar.”
“Hey, Eren! Can you give me a ride? Mikasa has the keys and she’s working late.”
“Of course. I want to go home to change before going out, but we need to invite Krista first. I can send her a text.” Eren said, pulling his phone out. He really didn’t want to have to walk all the way back up to her floor to ask in person. Armin raised an eyebrow.
“Krista? The Krista that broke up with you Senior year for Ymir?” Armin asked. Eren laughed.
“Yeah, that Krista. Don’t worry Ar, it was a mutual break-up.” Armin nodded and they walked out to Eren’s car.
Just before Eren started the engine, he got a text back from Krista.
- Krista: Hey! Yeah, I’d love to go! But do you think I could get a ride? Bert was my ride but he’s working late tonight.
Eren quickly typed up an answer.
- Sure, I need to do some stuff before we go, though.
- Krista: Yeah, that fine.
- Armin and I are waiting out in the car, so hurry.
While they waited, Eren dialed Mikasa number.
“Hello?”
“Hey Mika, could you be the designated driver for tonight?”
“Sure. I don’t really like drinking anyway. Is it alright if I bring someone?”
“Yeah, it’s cool! I’m bringing Isabel and Krista.”
“Isabel? Who’s she? And Krista? The Krista that dumped you for a girl?”
Eren rolled his eyes.
“Mika, it was a mutual break up, you know that. Her and I are friends now. And I met Isabel today. Don’t worry, you will like her!” He heard a small laugh and smiled.
“Alright, see you in a bit. Love you Eren.”
“Love you too. Bye Mika.”
By the time he hung up, Krista was running to the car. She hopped into the backseat and gave a sincere thank you.
“No problem, Krista! Ready to go?” The last part was for both of them.
“Yeah!” Armin pumped his fist enthusiastically. Krista giggled a little.
“Yeah let’s go!” She said with a grin.
Eren and Armin sang along to Uma Thurman by Fall Out Boy with Krista smiling and giggling behind them. Eren stopped by the house and both Armin and him quickly changed as Krista sat on the couch.
They arrived at the Club about twenty minutes later, and Eren parked the car just a short walk from the entrance.
They showed their ID’s to the bouncer at the door. The bouncer winked playfully at Krista and then looked back down at the ID’s. Krista shifted uncomfortably.
Eren noticed her discomfort and slipped his arm around her shoulders protectively. The bouncer immediately narrowed his eyes and sighed.
“The pretty ones are always taken,” He mumbled to himself.
They walked inside and Eren let his arm fall back to his side as they sat down at a table.
“I’ll go get us some drinks.” With that said, Armin got up from the table and headed towards the bar, leaving Eren and Krista alone.
“Krista, I know it’s not really any of my business, but are you thinking about getting back together with Ymir?” He asked.
“I don’t know. I miss her and I still do love her but she needs to prove to me that I’m worth it. You know? She’d been treating me like I didn't even exist for the last three months of our relationship. But now she’s been calling me lately and I don’t know if I’m ready to face her.”
“I understand.”
“What about you? Is there anyone you’re interested it?” She asked
Eren choked on his own spit. Krista gave him a concerned look.
“N… no. Um… not really? I don’t know. It's complicated.” Eren muttered, blushing. He nearly hugged Armin when he returned, distracting Krista from their previous conversation.
“Here.” Armin passed a drink to Eren and Krista.
“Thank you, Armin!” Krista said with a smile.
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
They’d been there for about fifteen minutes and Isabel still hadn’t shown up. Eren took out his phone and texted Isabel.
- Hey, are you coming tonight?
To his surprise, she texted back fast.
- Isabel: Yeah! Which club are you guys at?
- Club Rose.
- Isabel: I’m on my way!
- Okay :)
Eren slipped his phone away and took a sip of his drink as he listened to Armin and Krista’s happy conversation. And he smiled.
“Hey Krista, do you remember when Armin forced me to eat sushi?” Eren asked, joining the conversation. Krista laughed.
“Yeah, I do remember! You threw up on the table and the Janitor got so mad at us!” Krista snorted.
“Ugh, I hate octopus.” Eren pouted. Armin laughed at the face he made.
“Come on! It wasn’t that bad!”
“Armin! Yes, it totally was! I thought I was going to die or something.”
When Eren looked towards the door, he could see Isabel walking towards them. He stood and waved at her, smiling brightly. Isabel quickly turned her eyes towards Eren and smiled back as she walked over to them.
“Hi, Eren!” She greeted.
Eren smiled and hugged her.
“Hey, Isabel!”
“Guys, this is Isabel! Isabel, these are my friends Armin and Krista.”
Krista gave a warm smile to Isabel and Armin grinned and waved.
The whole night was full of laughter and drinking. Mikasa and Sasha showed up a little bit later and introduced themselves. Soon, everyone was heavily intoxicated, besides Sasha and Mikasa, who were the designated drivers.
The group bantered with each other, teasing light-heartedly and having a good time.
“Oh, Sasha! I love your clothes!” Krista said.
Sasha grinned and shook her head.
“If anyone has fashion sense, it’s definitely you!” She replied.
“Mikasa! Is that my beanie?” Armin asked and Mikasa smirked.
Isabel suddenly stood up and tugged at Eren’s shirt. Her legs slightly wobbly and her words were slurred.
“H-hey Eren, w-will you dance w-with me?” Isabel stuttered. Eren smiled and nodded, standing up as well.
He took her hand and led her to the dance floor. They danced and laughed hysterically when the other tripped or stepped on their foot, both intoxicated by the alcohol. It was fun.
It had been awhile since Eren loosened up and hung out with his friends. Eventually, when they were tired and needed more to drink, they both headed back to the table.
Eren let his mind wander. First, he thought about what Krista had asked him earlier. He was ashamed to admit that the first person to come to mind when she had said that was Levi.
Eren didn’t even know if he liked Levi like that. Sure, the man was gorgeous and the way he seemed almost docile around Eren, as compared to with others, made Eren’s heart beat frantically. But… Eren was just so confused.
Eren always felt like he was having some sort of a stroke when he was around Levi. Which, he supposed, couldn’t be good for his health. He wondered if he should just ask to be switched, not even worry about the thing going on with his brain.
So Eren decided to call Grandpa. He punches in the numbers, fingers wobbly and vision slightly blurred. Within two rings, the older man picked up.
“H-hey Grandpa! Ummm... I wanted to talk to you about s-something. I need advice. M-my boss, L-Levi, h-he makes me feel nervous whenever I’m around! My heart always pounds and my stomach tightens when I’m around him.
He’s an asshole but then he’s not and it’s just… I don’t know. Sometimes he’s almost nice to me, but he’s not like that with his other co-workers. I mean, just this morning I ended up being a few minutes late and I thought he was going to murder me, but he didn’t do anything! He didn’t even seem that mad. I haven’t felt this way in such a long time.
But sometimes I wonder if he even likes me. I’m just… I don’t know if I should stay or request to transfer. I like being his assistant, I do! But I just don’t know what to do.” Eren slurred.
He waited for a response, but none came. Eren felt confused. He frowned. Why wasn’t Grandpa talking?
“H-hello? Grandpa? Are you there?”
“Don’t assume things, Eren.” A voice said.
Eren felt his heart drop into his stomach. That wasn’t Grandpa’s voice.