A/N: I'm such a bad person… Are you ready for my excuses; my computer broke, so I couldn't write for like a week, and I've had crapload of exams for the past three weeks, and serious writer's block. I also got roped into doing an art piece for a friend that had to be done before she went away, and a relentless amount of homework. So, yeah, sorry it's taking a while. I also didn't actually intend for this to be a chaptered fic, but oh well!
Also, sorry for the ridiculous amount of character name dropping in this part, but, of course, this is a 'Nobody Dies AU', sorry everyone is still alive, which makes me happy.
Two hours later, Eren wandered upstairs, searching for Armin in the hopes that he could leave the party and go home, but Armin was nowhere to be found. Instead, Eren almost collided into a very drunk Hanji on the stairs, pulling the surly-faced boy behind her.
"Eren!" she shouted, letting go of the other boy to wrap her arms around Eren in a tight hug.
"H-hey, Hanji," Eren replied, surprised, because he'd never really spoken to her properly before, and she was two years older than him.
"Don't go back down there, it's sooo boring! Stay up here with us!" She flashed him a smile and grabbed his arm with her free hand, pulling both the boys to a shut door that Eren had ignored when circling through the house. She opened the door and strode into the dimly-lit room, followed by the other boy, leaving Eren stood awkwardly outside, peering into the room. He recognised many of the people in there as older students from his school. Suddenly, Hanji's head appeared in the doorway again, grinning at his awkwardness, before grabbing his hand and yanking him inside the room, shutting the door behind him.
"Guys, Eren, Eren, these are officially all the coolest people you will ever meet in your life!" She then turned and semi-whispered "Except Ymir, who's only here because it's her party… and Christa wanted her to be here too." Hanji gave Eren a meaningful look before glancing over at the corner where Eren spotted two bodies curled up together in a way that Eren thought could not possibly be comfortable. "So, over there, you've got Bertolt and Reiner," she said, pointing to two boys sat away from the rest of the group, murmuring quietly to each other. "And behind them is Annie, but I wouldn't talk to her if I were you, unless you wanna get your ass kicked." The blonde girl looked up at the sound of her name, shooting Eren a dirty look before turning back to eavesdropping on Bertolt and Reiner's conversation. Seeing her grumpy expression reminded Eren of the boy who Hanji had brought along with her. Scanning the room, he spotted the boy surrounded by a group of people, all chattering among themselves, but even then, the boy still had the pissed off look on his face.
"What about that guy?" Eren pointed over at the boy, hoping Hanji wouldn't read into his interest too much.
"Who? Oh, Levi? He transferred here a while ago, but you've been away haven't you? He's gorgeous, isn't he?" Eren blushed at the last comment, trying to avoid Hanji's gaze, and cleared his throat.
"Well, I...uh, hadn't really noticed to be honest…" he mumbled back.
"Eren, you're too cute," she smirked at him, before grabbing his arm again and pulling him over to the group of people around Levi. "Okay, that's Petra there," she pointed at a small girl with short strawberry blonde hair, who smiled and waved at Eren, then moved to make space for him to sit on the floor next to her, "those two are Gunther and Olou, but you should probably stay away from them. Oh, and then, of course, there's Levi, who I'm sure you've noticed. Levi, this is the boy I've been telling you about, Eren." Levi looked up at Eren, and the younger boy noticed the peculiar grey colour of Levi's eyes, and the way they fixed on Eren in a piercing glare. Eren's heart fluttered pathetically in his chest, and he tried to convince himself that it was due to the intimidation he felt emanating from Levi, but in reality, he knew it was something more.
Petra interrupted his train of thought by clearing her throat. She held up a bottle of vodka, and blinked passively at Eren a few times before speaking. "Did you want some? I imagine the stuff they have downstairs isn't very good!" She smiled and handed him the bottle, before turning away to say something to Levi. Noticing that the buzz he had felt from the first lot of alcohol had finally faded, Eren unscrewed the top of the bottle, and was about to take a sip when he noticed that Levi was still staring at him. Petra seemed to have noticed as well, and looked like she was trying her best to get his attention again. Eren looked away and took a massive gulp of the vodka, unable to help the grimace that crossed his face. He looked back at Levi and Petra, just in time to catch what looked like a smirk from Levi, and he finally turned to Petra to listen to what she was saying to him.
Hanji appeared at Eren's side after a few minutes, cleaning her glasses on the bottom of her shirt. "Eavesdropping, Eren? I didn't think you were that kinda guy." She smirked at Eren for what felt like the hundredth time, then put back on her glasses and watched Levi and Petra.
Eren shrugged back. "I'm not sure what I'm supposedly 'eavesdropping' on; they don't really seem to be saying much. At least, Levi isn't. Would it hurt him to pay even a little bit of attention to her? I mean, she's clearly into him, isn't she?" Hanji giggled, which seemed very uncharacteristic to Eren, then lent to whisper in his ear.
"She is. It's just, she's not really his type, you see."
Eren looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean?" Hanji shrugged and got up from the floor, and disappeared from view again.
He turned back to look and Levi, thinking about what Hanji could possibly have meant about Petra not being his type, when he caught Levi staring at him again. His gaze seemed judgemental, as if he was sizing Eren up from where he sat. Eren blushed, hoping once again that the semi-darkness of the room would hide the redness spreading across his cheeks.
A/N: I'm sorry that nothing really happened during this chapter, but at least Eren finally knows who the mysterious surly boy is. I promise to update sooner this time, because I've finished my exams for a while now… Except I am visiting Oxford University on Friday, so it might not be until next week.
Anyway, R/R as you see fit, and I love you all.
