Jean snapped the middle finger and thumb of his right hand and watched the small flame that appeared burn, the events of that day running through his head. He had been able to control it so well these past months, and yet he slipped. His damn irrational anger got to him and it was all because of Jaeger that everyone saw. Right then he really wished any mark he had made on Eren during lunch would be permanent, but as he learned they unfortunately would not be. Of course he gets the nice mutation. No chance of hurting anyone, no chance of getting hurt himself. And then there was Jean, he thought, stuck with this. Now a whole batch of people from their school knew and, oh god, who knows how quickly that would spread-

His thoughts were cut short by the vibrations of his phone on the bed next to him.

From: Marco

Hey! You left so quick I never got a chance to properly talk to you! Stupid question, but are you okay?

Well at least he had the decency to admit it was a stupid question.

To: Marco

of course im not okay. there is literally no way in hell i can be okay right now.

Jean put his phone back down on his bed, waiting for his best friends reply. He tried to focus on homework, to maybe take his mind off things for a bit, but it wasn't helping. There was another buzz from his phone.

From: Marco

Yeah I sorta figured. Do you want to talk about it? :(

No he most certainly did not want to talk about it. Not with anyone, not even Marco. What was there to talk about? He had slipped up and exposed himself in front of a bunch of their peers, who probably aren't going to be looking at him the same way when he walks into school tomorrow. Or, well, if he walks into school tomorrow. There was another buzz from his phone.

From: Marco

Oh yeah, and I'm coming over right away if I don't get a reply in a certain amount of time. :)

Oh hell no.

Jean typed a reply as fast as his fingers could go.

To: Marco

marco bott i swear i will set fire to everything u love if i hear u coming up those stairs. i dont want to talk about it!

"Oh, well then you should have typed that out quicker! Nice black eye, by the way."

Jean was so startled that he ended up tossing his phone right up at his ceiling, where it hit and landed on the floor with a loud thud. In that moment he was very grateful for otter boxes.

"Jesus Christ Marco, what the hell?!" He collected himself and picked up his phone. He shot his best friend a dirty look, but it melted into a reluctant smile when he noticed Marco's half-assed effort to stifle a laugh.

"So, what's going to be torched first? My laptop, or my phone? Or maybe my book shelf? That one might be better. Oh, but I like what's on there…"

"Marco."

"Oh! I know! We start with the book shelf, than throw everything else in like a bonfire!"

"Marco." Jean repeated, raising his voice a level.

"That's not important though, I absolutely did not come here to discuss you committing arson against me! I came here to talk about-"

"Maaaaaaaarcoooooooooo." Jean began poking him repeatedly in the face, not missing a freckle.

"…what?" Marco slapped Jean's hand away from his face, and sat up against the wall. "I was just trying to say-"

"How did you get in here?" Jean interrupted again, with a questioning, and slightly amused, look on his face. He backed up and sat against the wall next to him. He had to admit, even if he really did want to be alone, having Marco there did bring his mood up a bit. He always did have a sort of calming effect on Jean, which is one of the reasons he was so successful at controlling his abilities. Up until now, that is.

"Huh? Well, I walked here of course! I only live two townhouses down..." Marco said, looking down and rubbing his nose. Ah hah, Jean figured as much. He didn't hear him coming up the stairs, or open his door, or walk to his bed after all. His mind may have been a million miles away at the time, but he certainly wasn't an idiot.

"Marco…" Jean began, stifling a laugh and getting closer to his face. "Did you… Did you seriously phase through two peoples houses to get here?" Marco rather pointedly avoided eye contact during this intense interrogation.

"N-no one was home!" He blurted out fast, his face turning an interesting shade of scarlet. "At least, not on the top floor. I didn't break any entrances or trip any alarms, so what does it matter? I wanted to get here quick!"

Jean playfully punched his arm and let his laugh out. "Saint Marco, a regular home invader! Wait until people here about this one!"

Marco shoved him back in return. "H-hey! It's not like I-"

"Oh, yeah, sorry, wouldn't want to hinder that Boy Scout reputation of yours!" Jean said, in a rather sarcastic tone. "So you agree then?"

"Agree on what?" Marco replied.

"That you don't want people to know? That you're mutant, I mean." Jean's tone became more serious, but still had an edge of sarcasm in it. "Cutting the bullshit, you came here to talk about today, so let's talk about today."

They looked at each other in silence for a moment, with Marco clearly struggling to think of an answer to Jean's question. At least, an answer that would satisfy him. "…You have nothing to be ashamed of Jean."

"I said we were cutting the bullshit," Jean snapped out in response. "You can't even tell me that everything will be fine walking into school tomorrow! We've seen it before, after all. I'll go in, and anyone who saw, anyone they told, and god knows who they told, won't even be able to look at me in the eyes. I'm just so excited for people to start treating me like some kind of freak! Hell, I am a goddamn freak so it's not like they'll be wrong!" He curled his knees to his chest and dug his face down. "Like hell I'm even going to school for the rest of the week. And besides, why the hell are you telling me that, I mean, you moved here three years ago for a fucking reason, so don't even give me that bull-", He cut his sentence short when he noticed the pained look on Marco's face the moment he brought up that sore spot.

"…Sorry. God dammit, sorry, that was out of line. Sometimes I wish I knew when to shut up, I'm sorry, stop making that face, fuck." Jean dug his face into his knees again and really wished Marco would speak up. He wouldn't have blamed him for walking out at that moment, but instead he felt a hand on his back.

"You know Jean, sometimes I really wish you would discover your off switch, but I guess you just wouldn't be you if you did." A small smile returned to Marco's face as he said this. Jean couldn't help but laugh at this statement, and jokingly shoved him to the side. "Also, I hope you realize you're not alone here by the way. I don't think the others would mind coming to your rescue if anyone gives you any grief tomorrow… If you come that is."

"Yeah, sorry, that's still a no. People's shitty attitudes aside, I don't want to deal with him." He rolled his eyes and sat back up, crossing his legs and leaning on his palm. Jean admitted to himself that the one upside to this was that it was Jaeger's problem too. Jeans clearly flaming hand was one thing, but the injury Eren sustained on his face from said hand also very clearly to everyone present healed in a matter of a minute.

"That asshole can deal with it tomorrow all by his goddamn self; it's what he gets for starting it."


Armin sat back on the bench and watched the rain drizzle around them. The weather forecast that morning had said it wasn't supposed to start until tomorrow night, but it seems Mother Nature had her own ideas. He glanced over and saw Mikasa nuzzling her face into her red scarf, the expression on her face gradually softening. On the other hand Eren, who sat between them, was making a face that wasn't showing signs of softening anytime soon. His hands were dug into the pockets of his hoodie, and he was slouched over, making him look almost childishly pouty at that moment. Armin was relieved to note that over all though, Eren was feeling much calmer then he was when they left school.

Armin found himself feeling much calmer in that moment too. There was something serene about just being alone in a comfortable silence with the two of them, watching the rain fall softly around them, especially after the rather crazy day they had at school. He was tempted to take a glance and hear what they were feeling at the moment, but he figured they'd much rather be alone with their own thoughts. He had the power to be as invasive as he wanted to, and they wouldn't even know, but he knew better, and he knew when it was an appropriate thing to do or not.

He remembered the first day he started hearing other people's thoughts. How strange it was for everyone in class to be talking at once, so loudly and so clearly, in the middle of such an important test. Armin also remembered how strange it was to look up and see that, in fact, no one's mouths were moving at all. He remembered the head ache he had gotten, and the awful nauseous feeling as people's thoughts grew louder and louder, until he had to excuse himself and lock himself in the bathroom until lunchtime. Fourth grade would prove to be a strange year. He controlled it much better after that year though, and even slowly discovered all the other things he could do, all without getting a head ache like that again.

The thought of headaches caused a light bulb to switch on for him in that moment. He turned to look at Eren, and noticed that the bottom left rim of the beanie he was wearing had an obvious scorch mark from when Jean hit him.

"Eren," He said questioningly, "You didn't, uhm, you didn't get that pain in your head at any point during that fight today, did you?" Armin made a tapping motion on his temple with his finger. Mikasa perked her head up at the question, the same thought probably running through her mind. "I just, you know, want to make sure things weren't as bad as they could have gotten."

Eren took his hands out of his pockets and rubbed his eyes, leaning back. "No," He answered with a disgruntled sigh. He had a feeling he'd get this question eventually, but he certainly wasn't looking forward to it. Eren was honestly always reluctant to discuss his other abilities, if he could call them that. To him, abilities implied that he at least should have some shred of control over them. "And I'm not lying, I know you'd be able to tell so what would even be the point?"

"Be grateful that it's only your healing factor people found out about." Mikasa chimed in, digging her face further into her scarf.

"Tch, don't you think I know that?" He snapped back, shoving his hands back into his hoodie pocket. Eren thought that if he had to listen to another lecture on how he should learn to 'control his emotions' or that he should 'not let his anger get the better of him' from either of them, he probablywould snap.

"…I'm just happy you're okay is all." She replied back, with a slightly apologetic tone.

…as much as he hated the lectures and the, as he saw it, babying, he did know that they only had his best interest in mind. He did have a tendency to be short with them, especially Mikasa. Eren couldn't blame them for it, what with the things that would happen if his anger got the better of him.

"We should get going!" Armin said, after a moment of tension. He jumped up from his spot and motioned for the other two to follow. "It's getting kind of late…" He checked his watch. 4:30 PM, with the skies getting darker by the minute due to cloud cover. "And we still have a bit of homework to do."

"Yeah, yeah I know." Eren got up from his spot on the bench and cracked his knuckles. Mikasa soon followed, and the three were on their way. They walked down the surprisingly quiet Brooklyn street, a few cars zooming along the way. Rain had begun to fall even harder, and it would soon be hard to see if they didn't make it home in time. Along the way, several homes were lit up with Christmas lights that hadn't been taken down since December, and a few budding flowers in window boxes. Armin thought it made the gloom of the rainy April evening just a little more bearable. After everything they'd been through over the past few months, he thought, the warm spring atmosphere might be exactly what they needed.


Marco leaned back against the headboard of Jean's bed, taking a careful sip of his hot chocolate. He looked out the window at the darkening cloudy sky, and then to the clock on Jean's night stand. 5:45 PM, he'd been there for almost three hours and hadn't even noticed. It didn't take long for Jean to want to get off the subject of that day's events, and Marco had given up trying to force it. After that they began talking about more mundane things like homework, and how ridiculously cold it still was that week, whether or not Marco was at risk of ever falling through the Earth's crust accidentally (he was not), or if Jean could hold his hand on a hot stove top and be totally unaffected (he could). All in all, the evening had turned peaceful and comfortable. Marco figured he would have to head home eventually, leaving Jean to wallow in his own thoughts again. He realized he hadn't even told his mom he'd be leaving; hopefully it would be easy to figure out where he had gone off to.

Oh yeah, moms.

"So what are you going to tell your mom?" Marco asked, placing his mug on Jeans night stand.

"What? Not anytime soon, if that's what you mean!" Jean's tone got defensive, and Marco chuckled.

"I don't mean about that, of course not! I'm talking about that lovely black eye you're wearing."

Jeans hand quickly moved to his right eye. He ran over to the mirror and examined the bruise, which over the three hours Marco was there he had almost forgotten he'd even had. Damn that Eren and his killer left hook, he thought.

"She hasn't called to yell at me, so maybe the school hasn't called her…" Jean thought about his options for a second. Tell the truth and deal with a lecture only a mother can give, consisting of such phrases as 'I'm very disappointed in you', accompanied by a slap upside the head? Hell no. Hmmmm…

"Maybe she won't notice?"

"Really, Jean? She won't notice?"

Well okay, that's an obvious no go. After examining himself in the mirror again for a few seconds, Jean turned around and flopped on his bed face first next to Marco, who gave him several pats on the head before reaching for his hot chocolate again. Jean grumbled something loudly, but given his current position it came out more like a garbled mess of muffled curses. This was probably exactly what it was. Mug in one hand, Marco tried to roll him over and sit him up, but Jean wouldn't have it, slapping his hand away.

"Well I guess I can't stop you if you really want to just lay there in defeat." Marco let out a sigh and slumped down closer to him.

"You know Marco, this blows. This truly fucking blows." Jean rolled onto his back and stared at his ceiling in resignation. "Yup, might as well stay out of school for the rest of the year. Good bye top ten status, you were nice while you lasted!"

"…Sorry for bringing it up again."

"Tch, don't be. It's not like this situation is your fault. And…," Jean looked over to him and gave him a small, yet warm smile, "thanks for being here for me."

Marco returned his smile twice over. "Always! But ah, Jean, please don't skip out on school for the rest of the year. I will come in here and drag your butt out of bed every morning if I have to."

"HA! I'd like to see you try!"

"I'm serious, Jean!" Marco's tone became less casual and Jean winced at how serious he actually got, true to his words. "What would be the point of just giving up everything you've worked for, every success you've had? You're better than that!" Jean finally sat up against the headboard next to Marco, noting the disappointment in his voice.

"Am I really though? Stop saying that, you think too highly of me." Jean turned his eyes downward, avoiding eye contact.

"You absolutely are!" Marco's tone once again returned to sympathetic. He paused for a bit, thinking of what to say. He put a hand on Jean's shoulder and continued, "You know, you're a bit of a coward sometimes," Jean shot him a look and raised an eyebrow, "-hey, hear me out on this! You're a bit of a coward sometimes, and given the choice and circumstance I'm sure you'd take the easy way out each time," He paused for a second again, "but, you know, you're not clueless. I mean, you've always been good at reading people and your surroundings, and sometimes I think that's why you're not exactly great at the whole friendship thing Mr. Brutal Honesty…," he chuckled, and looked over at Jean, surprised to see he wasn't glaring at him for his remarks. Instead his features were softer, and there were hints of a smile. He looked genuinely interested.

"But that also means that you have this certain sense of understanding that other people lack and, well, you see where I'm going with this?" Jean turned his eyes down again in thought.

"You're saying I should know better, and that locking myself in my room will solve jack shit."

"You see, now you're getting it! Jean, you're a smart guy! And sure I just called you a coward, but you're pretty brave when the time calls for it!" Marco gave him a nudge and attempted to make eye contact.

"I just… I don't know. Give me a bit to think about it. Yeah, I know going into school tomorrow with my head held high would be the noble thing to do, but is it exactly the smart thing? Honor before reasons never really been my thing you know."

"Oh, trust me, I know," Marco gave him a smirk that Jean reluctantly found himself returning. "I trust you to make the right decision on your own then." And with that, Marco drank the last of his hot chocolate and got up.

"What, you're leaving already?"

"I have to! I still have homework to do, and it's almost 6:30. Plus I didn't exactly tell my mom I'd be here so…"

"Yeah, yeah, I understand, go away then, leave me alone to deal with my own mom, I see how it is!" Jean said with a mocking tone, throwing a pillow at his best friend. "I guess I may or may not see you tomorrow then!"

"I'm hoping on the former! Oh, and Jean, try to play nice with Eren from now on. You know, shake hands, don't provoke each other…"

"…Okay, now you're asking for a bit much. Tell that to him, it's his fault we're in this mess!"

"If I recall, you opened your mouth first." Marco raised an eyebrow at Jean and had his hands on his hips.

"Yeah?! Well-!" Okay, Jean couldn't deny that. He did throw the first comment. "Well, Eren continued running his mouth after so… and he did throw the first punch."

"Not the point! Like I said, you're not clueless Jean."

Jean let out a sigh and reluctantly nodded his head in agreement. It would be better for all of them if Eren and he attempted to get along better. There group was all they had after all. At school, counting him and Marco, there were about nine, now twelve, mutants in their grade, and they all knew each other. Who better to hang out with then people who understand your struggles? Even with the circumstances, Jean was glad that for the first time in his life, he had a large, supportive group of friends. Begrudgingly, he included Eren in that thought now as well.

"The attempt has to be mutual though." Marco agreed on this condition, and gave his friend a smile.

"I'm glad! Now if you'll excuse me, I do actually have to go now. Text me or something if you decide to go to school, okay? We can just walk to the bus together as usual!" Marco chatted on a bit as he made his way to the wall Jean presumed he climbed out of.

Jean, smirking, nodded his head and waved him off. He looked down, contemplating all they had discussed and what he was to do. No matter what way he looked at it, and no matter what way he could choose to handle it, he concluded it was going to suck. He looked up to where Marco had just been standing, but found that his friend was already gone.


Friday April. 18 th , 6:30 A.M.

No New Messages.

Marco let out a sigh and slipped his phone back into the pocket of his pullover hoodie. Standing at the bus stop, he couldn't tell what was more disappointing; Jean not texting him or the failure of their school to close like everyone had started to anticipate due to rumored freezing rain. While the slightly chilly air and lightly falling rain weren't making the already dreary morning any better (Marco was often told before he moved down there that city schools closed almost at the very mention of snow fall or sleet. Now there was a disappointment.), the notion that Jean had decided to skip out on school and his responsibilities was a far greater let down. He truly thought he got through to him during their talk last night, but there he was, standing unexpectedly alone. He took his iPod out of his pocket and slipped his ear buds in, cranking his music just high enough so that he could get lost in different thoughts, and still not get a headache.

Marco was never ashamed of who he was. He was a mutant, and that was a fact that was never going to change, no matter how many fake-cures were supposedly made. He knew full well that people feared him, or looked down on him, or simply saw him as, well, not exactly human. But he never felt any shame. In fact, he was almost grateful for it. He would be lying if he said being able to phase through solid objects wasn't incredibly useful or fun every now and then. Hell, the first time he discovered his mutation was when half of him involuntarily phased through a car. A speeding car. As it sped toward him with no signs of stopping.

He was ten at the time, and scared out of his mind. There was about a five minute time span when he thought he really died, until he looked and saw there was no body on the ground and he was still in one piece. The next thing he knew he was sprinting towards his house and passed right through the front door, again without even meaning to. He was grateful his parents were upstairs, or else he would have run into some major trouble. Unfortunately, the trouble he was worried about would prove to be a problem several years later when his dad found out and was, to say the least, not happy.

Marco's mind quickly snapped back to the present when the bus came to a halt in front of him. He stepped on, taking the empty seat closest to the front as usual, one other empty seat next to him. The bus ride from Brooklyn to Manhattan was always tedious and boring, though more comfortable to him then taking the train every day, but having Jean there made it actually fun. He changed the song on his iPod and leaned his head against the window, watching the buildings pass by. Jean… after everything they'd discussed last night, why would he stay home? He realized that the disappointment was less targeted at Jean and more at himself for being unable to help like he should be. Jean was the person he was closest to, who he trusted more than anyone, and yet during his time of need he couldn't even-

There was a buzz from his phone. He opened the lock screen and saw one singular message.

From: Jean

TELL THE BUS DRIVER TO FUCKING STOP!

Uh.

To: Jean

What?

He felt a banging on the side, and peaked over the window to see what all the commotion was. Lo and behold, he'd recognize that two toned hair anywhere, even at the odd angle he was peaking down on. Right there, running frantically and banging on the side of the bus in a desperate attempt to stop it, was none other the Jean Kirstein.

A big stupid grin spread across Marco's face, and he turned and waved at Jean, who sarcastically waved back before mouthing something that Marco couldn't quite make out, though it was probably something obscene. He quickly took his ear buds out and walked up towards the bus driver.

"S-stop the bus please!" After three years, he knew this particular bus driver well, and hoped he would sympathize with him in that moment. "You forgot someone!"

"What?" The driver, looking a little dumbfounded, glanced over slightly and saw Jean's form sprinting closer to the door. Marco almost forgot how fast he could be. To their luck for once, the driver was about to hit a red light and came to a halt. The door was quickly opened, and Jean, breathing heavily and red in the face, stepped on.

"Jean, you… you came! You actually got up and came!" Marco sat him down in the empty seat next to him, taking his water out of his back pack for Jean to have.

"Heh, yeah no shit…" He slumped back in his seat, pressing the cold water bottle against his forehead before opening up and taking a large gulp. "I forgot to set my alarm clock last night and woke up a little late, so… I was planning on coming the whole time! Okay? Wipe that grin off your face; it's not that big a deal!" Jean felt a little insulted that Marco would have such little faith in him.

Marco, however, felt nothing but total faith in his best friend. Okay, sure there was a surge of doubt when Jean didn't show up at the bus stop but that's totally natural, right? It was whatever. He was there, he took responsibility and that's what mattered to him in that moment. He wore that grin for the rest of the bus ride, leaning his head on the window as the buildings and river passed. Jean was napping soundly beside him for most of it. Marco concluded that he mustn't have had a lot of sleep the previous night, telling by the bags under his eyes and the deep nap that would be a pain in the ass to wake him up from. Jean was by no means a morning person, but he was usually awake enough by this time to be conversational.

He couldn't blame him. Marco could only imagine the thoughts running through Jean's head as he tried to drift away to sleep. A lot of uncertainty came with the new day, and Jean was absolutely right in saying it wouldn't be pleasant dealing with the people who knew. Oh well, one step at a time. That's how we have to take it, he thought.

The rain picked up slightly as they reached their midtown Manhattan bus stop, just around three blocks away from their high school. Marco lightly nudged Jean awake and helped him up. Jean took a deep breath as he stumbled out into the chilly, yet warming city air, stopping in his tracks as they started to make their way over. It took Marco a few steps to realize he wasn't following him.

"Jean? What's wrong?" He didn't answer. Jean's eyes were downcast and his hands were lodged into his jacket pockets. "Don't tell me you're backing out on me now."

Jean took another deep breath and took his hands out of his pockets, attempting to rub both the tired and the worry out of his eyes. "No, sorry I was just...thinking about things I guess."

"Like what?"

"Like what the hell I'm supposed to say to Eren," Jean quickly caught up with Marco and the two made their way down the busy side walk. "and what the hell I'm supposed to do if there are wondering eyes."

"You keep your head up and walk. What's that old British proverb... 'keep calm and carry on?' Yeah, do that."

Jean let out a snort and crossed his arms. "Easier said then done."

"It's okay, I believe in you," Marco gave him two pats on the shoulder, "and I'm with you every step of the way!"

The two walked in a comfortable silence as they made their way down the last few blocks, which were still relatively empty by city standards. The stairs leading up to the school entrance seemed higher and longer then usual to Jean when they reached them, though he shrugged it off as 't you even think about backing out now.

Marco held the door open for him, and he quickly stepped into the lobby. As usual, it was filled with groups of teenagers chatting away and ignoring teachers yelling at them to get to homeroom. Jean slung his backpack onto one shoulder and grabbed Marco's arm, dragging him around the enormous group of students and staff in the most inconspicuous way he could, making an effort not to meet anyone's eyes.


"What are you looking at?" Eren snapped, the other students quickly averting their eyes and turning to walk in the opposite direction. "Can't even open my goddamn locker..."

"Well, half our grade did see your face melt off yesterday. If you're not expecting people to stare-"

"Thanks Armin, I get it." He slumped against his locker, running his fingers through his hair. He expected the stares alright, what he didn't expect was that he would actually be effected by them.

The moment Him, Armin, and Mikasa walked into school it started to weigh on him. A kid literally stopped at the door just to gawk, and it took Mikasa grabbing Eren by the collar and dragging him to stop him from socking the kid in the face. That wasn't even close to the end of it. When they stopped at the cafeteria to grab coffee, a freshmen walked up behind him and poked his cheek multiple times, as if checking to see if it was even real. Eren gave him a death glare that could cut glass, easily scaring him away. Goddamn it, why couldn't this have just kept with the kids at lunch.

"You know how fast things spread around high schools. Thinking it would stay with just the kids in our grade is just wishful thinking."

"...Armin I hate it when you do that."

"Sorry, sometimes I just sort of slip. You know I wouldn't do that without your permission on purpose." a small, apologetic smile crept up on his face.

"Yeah, I know, it's just frustrating. Everything is frustrating." His lock clicked open, and he tossed his unneeded books into his messy locker. "Where the hell did Mikasa go, anyway?" Eren slammed the door shut before him and Armin started down the hallway.

"She was called down to the gym last period, I guess she's not out yet."

"Why'd she get called down to the gym?"

"I'm not sure, but she seemed a little confused by it herself. Just send her a text or something, ask her when she'll be out."

"Right..." He took a deep breath and slid his phone out of his pocket, carefully guarded from the view of teachers, and shot Mikasa a quick text. The two continued down the hallway, with Eren avoiding eye contact as much as possible.

He was, however, abruptly stopped by a rough hand on his shoulder.

"We need to talk, Jaeger." Jean's voice was surprisingly calm. Standing next to him, Marco gave Eren a look reading something a long the lines of"Please listen to him. Trust me."

"...If you want to melt the rest of my face off, at least go outside first."

"No you asshole, I genuinely want- ugh, whatever, just come with me..." Jean grabbed a struggling and confused Eren by the wrist, yanking him down the hall toward an adjacent hall appropriately labeled 'Music Wing.' Armin gave Marco a slightly confused look, which Marco simply smiled and shrugged at in response. The two quickly followed Jean's trail.

Jean shoved Eren into an unlocked practice room and quickly closed the door behind them, watching for any wondering eyes in the process. Turning around, he just barely dodged Eren's fist as it came flying towards him. "WHOA dude what hell, I just want to talk!"

"That involved kidnapping me and shoving me in a fucking closet?!"

"First off it's a band practice room, idiot. Second this isn't exactly something I want to discuss out in the open."

"What is there to discuss-" Eren cut himself off when he noticed Marco effortlessly come into the room through the wall, completely ignoring the perfectly unlocked door. The absurdity of what he just witnessed caused him to lose track of his own thoughts. "...Marco, uh-"

"Oh! I'm sorry Eren, that must have been a little weird. Sometimes I forget I should use the doors at school. Wouldn't want to completely freak people out, you know?" Marco gave Eren a warm smile before taking a seat near Jean, who was currently biting back a laugh at Eren's expense. "Yeah, your friends and Jean aren't exactly the only mutants at this school you know."

"Y-yeah I can see that." Eren followed Marco's example and pulled up a chair, taking a deep breath and diverting his attention back to Jean. "...is that what you wanted to talk to me about? I think I can figure shit like that out on my own, and I don't exactly see how that has anything to do with-"

"I wanted to apologize."

"Excuse me?" The two locked eyes for a second. Eren's were wide, while Jean's were down cast. He rubbed the back of his neck, an obviously defeated blush creeping up on his face. "...You dragged me down the hall, shoved me in a practice room, and made me late for lunch just so you could say sorry?" Eren would have been fuming if it wasn't for the fact that he was so damn amused.

"No! Well, yeah but...it's not as petty as it sounds, okay?" Jean took in a deep breath and let out a sharp exhale. "I can apologize in front of others, I'm not as big an asshole as you think you know."

"Well Marco seems to like you, but the whole melting my face of thing makes me question."

"You know Eren, this would be a lot easier if you just let me talk." Jean glanced over at Marco for reassurance, or perhaps as a plea for him to do the talking. "The thing is, me and you have a lot more things to worry about then our stupid...rivalry? I don't even know what we are, to tell you the truth. I'm sorry for being a dick yesterday and opening my mouth. I'm sorry for burning your face. I'm sorry for exposing the both of us, yadda yadda you get the point."

Eren raised an eyebrow, but was clearly interested. He too looked over at Marco for some kind of reassurance that this wasn't a practical joke. Marco smiled at him and nodded his head towards Jean to keep listening. Jean had a hand out to him as a sort of peace offering.

"We're not best friends obviously, but maybe we should try to be civil for everyone else. We're all going through the same shit, after all." Jean kept his hand out, waiting for Eren to take it. When he did, he gave it a reluctant yet firm shake. "Just...you're not alone here. I think that's what I'm supposed to say, right Marco?" Marco gave him an eye roll and a thumbs up.

"...Okay." Eren swallowed the lump in his throat and let go of Jean's hand. He looked around the room for a moment, and noticed they were missing someone. "Marco, where did Armin go? He was following us to, wasn't he?"

"He got a text and said he had to go to the locker room really quick. I think he's meeting someone?"

Eren couldn't help but huff at both his best friend's abilities to disappear on him like that. He wondered if perhaps they were meeting each other, since Mikasa was apparently still at the gym. "Did he give any indication at all?"

"Not really, but he got a little red and sounded urgent. He rushed off before I could even ask. I just figured it wasn't my business to follow him." Marco shrugged, giving him an apologetic smile.

"Who the hell could he be meeting that it would be so urgent?" The irritation in Eren's voice was very apparent, which Marco and Jean both got a good chuckle out of. "and why the hell would he turn red- you know what, never mind. I'll bug him about it later." He tucked his hands in the front pocket of his hoodie and slouched back in his chair, his eye brows furrowed from a pout. "So who else is there, anyway? Is there some club I'm not aware of?"

"Funny you should ask that, Jaeger." Jean moved from his spot against the wall and scooted into the seat closest to Marco. "That's the other thing I wanted to talk to you about. And yes, that is why I shoved you into this practice room. Congratulations on guessing right."

Eren gave him a brief scowl. "You're not serious about the club thing, right? No offense, but that's a little cheesy."

"What? No! We meet up sometimes and hang out after school in the band room, but we're not a club of any sort."

"That's kind of what a club is."

"Yeah, but we don't do fundraisers." and in a moment out of a sit com, the three of them shared a small laugh. Marco felt even more optimistic about their situation.

Eren cleared his throat before speaking again. "So who else do I want to avoid getting into fights with?"


A/N: I have no clue how the mechanics of this website works holy shit.

Any way! I posted this on AO3 a while ago and then I remembered, oh wait, I have an account. I should probably use that.

So I hope you guys enjoy my lame as heck yet hella fun to write, currently ongoing Marvel AU!

Should I make the ships in this one more obvious. This websites tagging is so weird. But this will feature AruAni, EreMika, JeanMarco, Yumikuri, and some background Reibert. In case any of you guys are worried about that, hehe.

Any way, thank you for reading! Review and all that jazz.