WE LEFT THE CAMARO ON THE ROAD LEAVING SINA
written by A. E. Stover
this version is self-edited
.
[01] we're just a little buzzed, is all
.
.
.
"The fuck do you mean you lost the keys?"
Eren scowled, ripping his jacket off and making a show of searching through it. "What do you think it means?"
Jean squeezed his eyes shut and pressed cold fingers to the sides of his head just as Eren began flapping his jacket in the night air. "This isn't happening right now. This is not happening. I knew I shouldn't have taken you. I knew something like this would happen."
"Quit bitching and help me look."
"Look where? Last time I checked, you shoved your keys into your pants. Wanna spread 'em so I can pat you down?"
"Fuck you." Eren tossed his jacket onto the hood of a bright yellow Camaro and shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants for the third time since they left the diner. Eren came to a slow pause as the wheels churned inside his head. "Maybe they fell out while we were leaving," he said as he looked at Jean. "We should go back."
"Yeah, sure, let's just go back in and get them. Oh, wait a minute! We can't. Because we fucking ditched the bill and squeezed our asses out the bathroom window 'cause somebody left their wallet in the car."
Eren's face scrunched up. "Well, why can't you pay?"
Jean's fist pitched forward before he knew it was moving. Eren quickly side-stepped out of the way like the little shit he was, so Jean's fist ended up cracking into metal. Jean retracted his hand immediately as the Camaro's headlights flashed. He glared at the large dent he'd made and cursed through gritted teeth because Eren-fucking-Jeager's relationship with his car was stronger than the force that kept them all grounded.
"My car!" the little shit cried, as if Jean had just punched his mom. "You dented my car! I can't believe you—"
"I'm about to dent your face if you don't shut up—"
BANG BANG BANG
Loud thuds thundered from the trunk. The Camaro rocked, squeaking uncertainly in the dead of night. Its headlights flickered again. Eren flew away from his beloved car and was standing behind Jean in a heartbeat. In one of his wiser moments, Jean decided not to comment on it.
Eren was frantic. "Shit, he's still alive! Jean, what do we do? What if he gets out of there? Do we… You know — do the thing? What if someone sees? Do we still—"
Jean pinched the bridge of his nose. "Jesus Christ, Eren, I don't know. Just — shut up, okay? Just shut up."
Eren narrowed his eyes. "Sorry for keeping our safety in mind, horse shit. I'm just trying to help. I'm not even the one who fucked this all up in the first place. I'm just trying to do you a favor and—"
Jean whirled around with a hiss. "For the love of god, can you just shut up for one second in your life!? It's like you can't—" Eren's hand was suddenly pushing into Jean's face, smooshing his lips mid-sentence.
"Shhh!" Eren even had the audacity to command.
Anger had never dropped by to say hello so fast. Jean slapped Eren's hand off his face. He had half a mind to throw the kid into the trunk, and the only thing stopping him was the fact that that could endanger them all. And the fact that Eren wasn't looking at Jean. The so-called high school "genius" was just… staring. Off to the side, somewhere down the road, something had fully grasped the attention of Eren Jaeger; enough to make the fidgety teen stand stock-still, as if someone had jammed metal rods up his limbs and through his spine. It was rare for Eren to get like this. Incredibly rare, because Eren was usually late to get off whatever had him hyped off long enough to sense that something was off. And when he finally got to that point, it was usually too late.
Jean turned around. Flashing lights shone in the distance. Jean could already make out the faces of the people inside the approaching cop car.
Ho-oh, yeah. It was definitely too late.
Jean turned back to Eren, ready to propose that they finally switch on the auto of the Camaro, when he saw Eren with his hand leveled to his mouth. The flashing lights pitched an eerie glow on Eren's face; green eyes glinted sharply against the bright lights, and Jean saw Eren's lips part.
Then, Eren closed his teeth around his hand.
Adrenaline rushed through his blood; Jean grabbed Eren's wrist and twisted his arm back. He shoved Eren against the car, ignoring both Eren's wide-eyed stare and the Camaro's alarmed chirping.
Eren flailed like a fox caught in a trap. "H-Hey!Watch it, you asshole! Watch the goddamn car!"
Jean leaned sharply back to avoid being hit in the face. Jean used his own free hand to pin Eren's flailing arm to his side.
"Jean, you fucking—! Wh-What are you doing?"
Jean finally snapped. "Are you fucking kidding me right now? What am I doing? Are you really that fucking dense? What the hell are you doing, you suicidal piece of shit!?"
"You came at me first! And I don't know what the fuck you're even going on about!"
Jean yanked one of Eren's arms up by the wrist and flopped Eren's hand between their faces. "This! I'm talking about this! What you were just about to do with this!"
"Well, excuse me for trying to save your ass! And stop—! Just let go of me already! Will you stop it!? I said to let go!"
Jean released Eren. But he didn't move away. Instead, and probably against his better judgment, Jean took a step closer so that Eren was physically sandwiched between himself and the Camaro. He bent his neck down so his forehead was almost touching Eren's as he looked down. A chill shocked his spine as their eyes met; Eren's green eyes were alight with a murderous glare, and Jean almost backed off. But he didn't. "Did you really think doing that will get us out of trouble?" He spoke lowly, and continued only when he saw the slightest glimmer of confusion flash across Eren's face like lightning. "Think hard about where we are. We're right outside Sina. Think about what could happen if you did that."
Eren snarled and forced himself out of Jean's hold. Jean let the teen shove him away and gladly took the few steps back to put some much-needed space between them. He eased up, but kept his eyes on Eren; the kid was still fuming, but the way his face pinched together like he'd just swallowed something sour let Jean know he'd gotten some sense knocked into him. Jean waited until the fury in Eren's eyes died out a bit — until the glint in those green eyes mellowed out to a low-burning flare.
Illuminated by flashing lights, Jean watched Eren's face slowly unfold from rage until Eren was just glaring at his own feet in silence.
Jean heaved a sigh and ran a hand through his hair. "Look — the last thing we need is for you to lose your shit where people are still around. Take a deep breath and chill out. Leave this to me and just — just trust me, okay?"
There was, surprisingly, an awkward and brittle silence after Jean finished speaking. Jean watched the anger on Eren's face unhook and drop into exhaustion as the lights flashed around them in the dark.
Sulking in silence, Eren finally nodded his head.
Jean turned toward the blinding lights and squinted just as the cop car came to a slow stop about 3 feet away from them. Someone cut the lights and cool darkness fell upon them.
The door opened.