-Chapter 1-

Eren leans back and stretches his arms out, letting out a small yawn as he does. His co-worker, Sasha, notices and asks him if he is tired.

"Yeah. It's getting kind of late, huh?" Eren responds, looking at the clock. Just about seven more minutes and I can go...

"It is getting around that time," Sasha glances at the clock as well, "It's almost 8:30, you're shift is only going to last a few more minutes." Almost immediately upon saying this, the doors slide open and a young man with black hair and a face full of freckles walks in.

"Hello, good evening, sir!" Eren and Sasha say in unison as they bow slightly to the customer.

"Can I interest you in our daily special, the Barbecue Burger?" Sasha asks him.

"Or perhaps an order of Special Cut Fries and a Chocolate Shake?" Eren questions.

The man is silent for a second before walking to the counter to Eren's register. "Um... Can I get a Number Three meal?" He says, his mouth slightly quivering with each word.

"Of course, sir! Will that be all for you today?" The young man nods his head and hands the money to Eren. "And for here or to go?"

"T-to go." he states. After receiving his change, he walks over and sits down at a small table.

"Hey, Eren." Sasha whispers, leaning towards him. "Is it just me or does he seem kind of nervous?"

"Yeah, a little bit. But maybe he just doesn't like being in social situations. I have a few friends like that."

"Huh. I dunno, it was just kind of odd." She says.

After having served the young man his food and talking to Sasha for a little bit, Eren left and got on his bike. Pulling his phone out, he check the time. 8:42? I better hurry if I wanna make it! he thinks as he pushes off the ground and starts cycling down the street.

"Ahh..." Marco sighs, slowly edging into the hot water. He takes a deep breath through his nose before finally settling in. "A whole lot of steam is just what I need to clear my nose. I hate allergy season..." He had just finished eating his food before coming to the local bathhouse, paying his saved up money to come relax. "Maybe I need to get a better job... It took a while just to pay for this one trip with money to pay bills."

After a couple of minutes of silence, Marco hears a door sliding open. He sits up quickly and looks towards the entrance. Standing in the doorway is a lone boy, a towel wrapped around their waist and a bundle of clothes in his arms. He is panting slightly as he walks in and closes the door. Walking over to the nearest stool, he sets his clothes down, washes himself down at the faucets, and walks to the bath. Removing his towel and lowering into the water and lets out a loud sigh.

Meanwhile, Marco has not even tried to hide his staring. This late at night!? I thought I'd be the only one...

"You gonna keep staring, dude?" The young man asks, looking over to Marco. "Oh, hey. You're that guy from earlier." Indeed, Marco had realized that this boy was the same cashier he had ordered from a small time ago. This information only heightened his embarrassment. "Are you okay? You look really red."

Marco looked away and closed his mouth. Why me? Why now?

"Well, my name's Eren, if you were wondering." Eren states, leaning back and closing his eyes. "Sorry if I make you uncomfortable, but I don't feel like wasting that money, so I'm just gonna stay here."

"Yeah... I, uh... I understand." Marco says, turning to look back at Eren. "Sorry, I'm just... I... My name's Marco."

"Hello, Marco. Don't be scared to talk, man. I won't bite." Eren says, laughing lightly.

Marco sighs and closes his eyes as well. After a fem moments, the silence is interrupted by Eren.

"So, what's up, Marco?"

"Huh?" Marco responds, half asleep from dozing off a bit.

"I said what's up. Anything interesting happening with you?"

"N-no. Not really." Marco could think of many interesting things, but he knew they would probably seem pretty lame to someone else. "The only thing I can think of is that I got a new job."

"Really? That's pretty cool. Where do you work now?"

Marco was silent for second before responding. "That book store by the new park."

"Oh, Chapter All? I love to shop there. They carry my favorite manga there. Well, it's my step sister's favorite really, but I read it from time to time. It's pretty good.

"What's it called? I know all of the books we carry, so you can't lie!" Marco says, smiling a bit.

"Um, I dunno. I usually just look for the font and general cover. It's about, like, some sort of fighting dolls? Except they're not dolls, they're gods or something probably. Actually, that's probably not it either. They kick some serious ass, though, that's for sure."

"I think you're talking about Rozen Maiden. That is pretty popular among the female demographic. I read it sometimes too."

"Yeah, that's it! She loves to read it. I sometimes see her reading all of them again. She gets pretty impatient around the time the next volume comes out." Eren says, laughing loudly.

"I can imagine why. It leaves pretty intense cliff hangers. Sometimes I ask the store if they can speed up the delivery process or something, but they always refuse."

"If it sells well, they should have it delivered sooner, right? Why don't they?" Eren wears surprised look on his face.

"Budget doesn't allow it." After giving Eren the answer, Marco notices that Eren has actually moved closer to him. Ignoring it, he continues to talk. "But our best sellers are actually the BL novels."

"BL? Is that a form of book? Like picture books or something?" Erens questions.

"It's more of a genre. BL means Boy's Love. You know... boy and boy romance? Not really that surprising, we have a lot of female visitors."

"Ah, Boy's Love. I always forget that term. I do purchase a lot for Mikasa, but I don't read them as often as I do the manga. Long blocks of text are like the bright colors of a poisonous bug of books for me."

"You read BL novels?" Marco is stunned by the revelation. "Are you... gay?"

"Nah. I don't think you have to be gay to enjoy good books. But I am bisexual." Eren winks at Marco and laughs.

He laughs a lot. Marco thinks. That's pretty cute. I wonder...

"Hey, dude? You okay? Your face is red again." Ereninterrupts Marco's thoughts.

Pressing his hands to his face, Marco responds. "It's... um, allergies. I get really red sometimes this time of year."

"Really? That must suck." Eren has moved close enough to Marco that by placing his arms around the side of the bath, he could almost touch Marco.

He is really close. Marco thinks. Screaming on the inside at himself, Marco brings up another topic. "So what about your sister?"

"Oh, Mikasa? I love her. She was pretty young when we got her, but so was I, so it's whatever. I can remember the day that Dad brought her home."

"Did she come from an orphanage?"

"No, Dad told me where she came from later. He said that her family had been robbed and had asked him to take care of her as they try to get their lives back together, but eventually they left. He said he doesn't know how or why, they just sort of disappeared."

"That's rough... Does she know?"

"No, Dad said that she doesn't need to know that. She will probably figure it out later, though. She's smart."

"I see."

"She's really strong too! Man, I swear she might be a body guard one day or something with how good she is at martial arts. She's kind of my body guard all ready." Eren tells Marco, with a face that suggests he is embarrassed by it. "She's bailed me out from bullies more times than I can count on my hands!"

"That's not good!"

"It's not that I can't fight myself, but she's just... overprotective?" Eren sighs. "Ugh, I have run into a few bullies that are too much for me, however. She busted me out of several of those encounters. Dad had to bust me out of the police station for getting into a fight though. What about you, ever get in a fight?"

"No, I-" Marco is interrupted by an employee's voice.

"Hey, you boys! We're closing up, so please hurry and exit the bathhouse. Thank you."

"Okay." Both answer. After the door closes, they get out and dry off.

"So you have a phone?" Eren asks, drying his hair off.

"Yeah. Let me get it." Marco answers.

Marco is laying bed, his hair still slightly wet from the bathhouse. Staring at the ceiling, he brings the phone to his view. Smiling, he scrolls through his contacts until he finds it, "Eren". Maybe I should ask him out on a date? He wonders as he closes his eyes. Maybe...