Hello everyone, me again! It's been a long time since I've posted any Ereri and I wrote this a while ago so I thought it was about time I put it up. I'm playing a little fast and loose with the whole actual process of a ballet production but y'all ain't here for that, y'all here for the romance. Here's the first chapter, I hope you enjoy :D
Eren Jeager: fag!
Eren Jeager sucks dick!
Eren Jeager's a cock slut!
In moments of high stress Eren's thoughts always turn back to what used to scrawled all over the bathroom walls of his high school. Ever since he decided to pursue dancing rather than taking up rugby or football like most of the other boys regardless of his actual sexuality (which only ever actually came up once at school) it was all he was known as. He half expected it and tried not to let it bother him, brushing off the bullies with anger and a hatred that had a lot of them quaking in place. He's always tried not to let it bother him but when he gets particularly nervous or stressed he can't help but think back to the relentless taunting from his peers.
"Hey," Armin says softly, placing a hand on top of his, "you okay?"
"What?" Eren starts out of his thoughts and turns to stare at his best friend.
"You look like you're lost in thought," Armin says, giving his hand a squeeze, "and not good thoughts at that."
"Sorry," Eren says shaking his head. "Just got stuck thinking about high school."
"Why?" Armin asks.
Eren shrugs. "I dunno, I just thought about Shadis yelling at me and telling me that I'd never amount to anything." He doesn't like lying to Armin but it is easier than telling him the truth in this instance. The two of them formed a bond when Eren found some of the guys who gave him a hard time picking on Armin and stepped in to help. They discovered a lot of shared interests and became firm friends, Eren taking a lot of the beatings meant for Armin because he knew he could take it and he didn't want Armin to have to.
"That was so long ago," Armin tells him. "You've already done so much more than anyone would have ever thought!"
"Yeah but..." Eren begins with a shrug.
"Yeah but you came top in your class when you graduated and you're going to get this, I know you are," Armin says.
"Yeah but this is the Royal Ballet School," Eren says getting to his feet and beginning to pace up and down his living room. "This is huge, this is like the hugest thing I've ever done even just auditioning and I don't know if I've got what it takes."
"You have!" Armin cries. "You have completely got what it takes! You're Eren Jeager! There is nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it."
Eren smiles fondly. Armin, the precious angel, has such a firm belief in him that Eren doesn't have the heart to tell him that he faltered slightly during the audition. He had landed his final jump but he had wobbled ever so slightly. To anyone else it would have been barely noticeable but to a panel of people watching his every move and being ready to pounce on the smallest thing they will notice and it might cost him.
"It's just that I don't really have a plan for if I don't get this," Eren says. "I did the stupid thing and I didn't think about what I would do with myself if I didn't get it, I just kept pushing to make sure that I did."
"Then you should be fine," Armin says. "It's obvious to everyone how hard you work and it shows in your dancing."
"I know but these guys are insanely good!" Eren groans. "I just might not match up to the rest of them. I'm only a beginner compared to some of them."
"Well yes there is that," Armin admits, "but pacing is not going to do you any good."
"I know," Eren sighs, still continuing with his pacing.
"You'll wear out the carpet and it's already pretty crappy," Armin chuckles in an attempt to get him to calm down.
"I know," Eren laughs but still continues to pace.
"Do you want me to make you some tea of something?" Armin asks, watching him with concern in his eyes. "Might help calm you down?"
Eren opens his mouth to answer but before he can his phone begins to ring. He suddenly stops and stares at it on the arm of the sofa. "Oh fuck!"
"Answer it," Armin tells him as he hands it to him.
"I don't know if I can," Eren mumbles as he takes the phone. He stares at the screen for a moment. It's an unknown number so this is probably it. No one else is likely to be calling him from an unknown number at a moment like this but if he answers it and it turns out to be one of those stupid Payment Protection Insurance phone calls it's going out the window.
Armin gets up and takes Eren's hand. "You can!" he says firmly. "You're Eren Jeager and you can do anything. Now answer it before it goes to voicemail."
"Okay." Eren takes a deep breath and presses the answer button. He holds the phone to his ear. "Hello?"
"My Jeager?" a cool, smooth voice asks down the phone. Doesn't sounds like Payment Protection but he's been wrong about these before.
"Yes that's me," Eren says, voice surprisingly steady. He can feel his hand shaking so grabs one of Armin's for support.
"My name is Erwin Smith, I'm a casting director for the Royal Ballet School," the man, Erwin says. Eren remembers him – tall and built with blond hair and a set of really large but very well groomed eyebrows.
"Hello sir," Eren says before he can stop himself. He must sound like such a fresh faced noob but he doesn't know how else to address someone like this.
"You auditioned for us yesterday and I'm just calling to follow that up," Erwin says.
Eren's stomach drops. Here it comes. He can hear the taunts from the boys in his year ringing in his ears and he's not sure if he's going to be sick or not. Everything feels as if it's spinning and he grips Armin's hand even harder. "Yes?"
"Congratulations," Erwin says. "You have got the part. Welcome to the production of Giselle, Hilarion."
Eren is so stunned he doesn't know what to say at first. He opens and closes his mouth a few times like a petrified fish before he finally manages to get his brain to engage. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god! "Th... thank you," he stammers. "Thank you so much."
Erwin chuckles. "It's quite alright," he says. "Rehearsals will starts next Monday but my assistant will email you with the schedule and with everything you need to know before then."
"Thank you," Eren gushes before he can stop himself. "Thank you so much."
"You deserve it," Erwin says. "Out of everyone we saw yesterday who has never danced for us before you were easily one of the best."
"Thank you," Eren says again unable to stop the smile from spreading over his face. He's squeezing Armin's hand so tightly and Armin is beaming at him, his eyes shinning as he judges from the look on Eren's face that it's good news.
"The next few months are going to be a lot of hard work," Erwin tells him.
"Of course," Eren says.
"So I suggest that you celebrate and we shall see you next week to begin rehearsals."
"Thank you so much sir," Eren says again, his voice almost more breath than word he's so excited.
Erwin chuckles again. "Thank you for accepting Eren. Good luck with rehearsals."
There is a click and the line goes dead. Eren keeps the phone to his ear for a good few minutes, too stunned to move. That is until he gets a text and it sounds right next to his ear making him jump. He throws the phone to the sofa – he can look at the message later – and throws his arms around Armin's neck, hugging him tightly and screaming happily.
"Good phone call?" Armin asks grinning, once Eren seems to have screamed out all his nervous energy.
"I got in!" Eren cries happily.
"I heard," Armin laughs.
"I actually did it!"
"See I knew you were worrying over nothing," Armin says.
"I don't really know what to do with myself now," Eren says as he releases Armin and goes to retrieve his phone.
"Well what do we always do when one of us gets good news and we need to do something to celebrate?" Armin asks.
"Get really drunk and listen to Ricky Martin," Eren offers. That has been their go to celebration method of choice ever since they discovered both alcohol and Livin' La Vida Loca and it seems silly to break that tradition now.
"I bough the CD just in case," Armin says pulling a CD out of his bag. Eren recognises it almost immediately. It's a CD of all the best celebrating songs from the late nineties, early two thousands that the two of them ripped from other CDs when they were seventeen and before Spotify was a thing.
"Yes," Eren grins, already feeling himself getting pumped for this. "I'll go get the booze."
"When do you start rehearsals?" Armin asks as Eren heads to his tiny kitchen on the hunt for anything with an alcohol percentage.
"Next week," Eren replies pulling a bottle of wine out from under the sink. It's dusty and he sort of forgot that he had it but it will do for now.
"So it doesn't matter if you get shit-faced tonight," Armin says.
"Not in the slightest," Eren grins. "Tonight is for celebrating!"
"Good," Armin laughs. "The last thing you want is to turn up to your first rehearsal hungover."
"Oh god no."
"What was your text from?" Armin asks as Eren comes back into his equally tiny living room with the bottle of wine and two glasses.
"Oh shit yeah." He opens the message. "It's from Mikasa."
[7:43pm] FROM MIKA: Have you heard yet? I'm stuck at work at the moment but I can come over afterwards if you want?
Eren sends back a message in all block caps telling her that he got the place and then sends a follow up of when he starts rehearsing and if she wants to come over after she's finished then she's more than welcome to although he will most probably be drunk and Armin will definitely be drunk. The sounds of Ricky Martin begin to fill his flat and Armin hands him a glass of wine.
"Come here," Eren says, throwing his arm around Armin's neck. "Selfie time."
"Yeah while you can still focus on a phone," Armin teases.
"Oh shut up," Eren says grinning.
He opens the camera app on his phone and takes a picture of the two of them, both pulling ridiculous faces and holding their glasses in shot. Happy with it he immediately uploads it to his Instagram feed with a lot of hashtags, tagging Armin in it. Within seconds it has a good solid number of likes and a comment from Jean begging Eren to get Armin to eat something if he's drinking wine so he isn't throwing up all of tomorrow. Eren ignores them all for the moment, throwing his phone back to the sofa, taking Armin's hand and leading him into dancing around the living room.