"Jesus Jean!" Marco exclaimed, reaching a hand out to his friend. "He fucked you up..."
"Thanks..." Jean said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. The two were currently in the bathroom of a grocery store, Jean with his pants pulled down far enough to show Marco the bruise on his thigh. Marco bit his lip, staring at his friend's well toned, and now dark purple thigh. Jean huffed as he pulled his pants back up. "I'm so sick of this shit, man!"
Marco shook his head, his eyes now on Jean's face, staring at the healing black eye that he was given a while ago. His heart twisted as he stared at him. "Ahh.. This is happening more frequently now.."
"I know, and it's over the stupidest shit too!" Jean nodded his head towards the door. "Let's get out of here though, smells like piss..." Marco agreed, and the two headed out towards the door.
Marco's throat felt extremely dry all of a sudden and his palms began to sweat. He was nervous, but he wanted to help Jean. "Jean...Are you two.. I-I mean, do you guys still enjoy being around each other?"
"Tsk," Jean stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets and headed off towards the cafe area of the super market. "I don't know about hard ass, but I still do.. I mean.. Why wouldn't I?"
"Because you come out with a new bruise every time...?" Marco suggested. He felt so bad at helping Jean with these things because every time he said something, he felt as though Jean would think he was trying to get them to break up and- even if he really did want that to happen- he didn't want Jean to be hurt. Marco had his wishes, and fantasies, but he wasn't going to put his feelings over his friend when he needed him. Sometimes when he wanted to give advice, he couldn't even tell if he was saying it because that's what he really felt, or if it's what he wanted to happen.
"Eh..." Jean sighed. "Eren's been acting like a royal bitch lately...And then when I try to talk to Armin about it, he gets pissed at me and tells me to stop getting mad. How the fuck am I supposed to just stop being mad at Eren when all this bullshit starts?"
"Well...Maybe he didn't mean for you to just stop feeling angry, but to stop instigating?"
"Inst-" Jean stopped in his tracks, and turned towards his freckled friend. "Instigating?! "
Marco just shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, I don't have a clue how your fights start, but if you could let things slide, maybe the wouldn't happen as frequently."
Jean rolled his eyes, the two walking up towards the cafe area and picking a table to sit at. Jean kicked a chair back and sat down, slouching in his chair and groaning. "I'm so sick of this relationship sometimes. It just keeps getting worse and worse and it just feels like we're only hanging out to still be able to say we're dating." He pulled himself up in his chair and then leaned on the table. "Like, I don't know, I still like him and stuff, but..I sorta feel like he hates me."
"..." Marco twiddled his thumbs, he didn't really know what to say.. "Like...?"
"Well, yeah I mean I hope he doesn't actually hate me."
"No, you said you still like him.." Marco pointed out. "When did it stop being love...?"
"I..." Jean stared at his friend, completely stumped. "...I don't know..."
The two sat in silence for a moment, Marco uncomfortable and nervous, while Jean was in deep thought.
"Maybe...Maybe I should..." Marco's ears perked up to the words, his heart started to pound and he felt his face getting hot. Should what? Break up with him? Give me a chance?
He mentally slapped himself for the thoughts that crossed his mind. He was being selfish, he had to think about Jean here, not his feelings.
"Maybe I should go see him.. Try to talk about this or something..." Jean breathed out.
Marco felt his heart drop. "Ah... That might be for the best. Ignoring and fighting about nothing isn't going to fix anything."
Jean leaned forward nodding his head. "Yeah, you're right.. Like always." He stood up, surprising his freckled friend.
"W-wait, you're going to talk to him right now?" Marco asked, his body barely able to allow himself to stand as he felt himself get desperate to keep Jean here.
"Yeah, I want to sort this out." He stuffed his hands into his pockets as he nodded towards the exit. "I was thinking maybe you should tag along though. I know it's not the best way to hang out, but you always have a way of keeping me calm, and I feel like I need it."
Great.
Just...Great.
Marco's throat closed up for a moment, taking his eyes off of his friend and thinking. He would either have to let himself get ditched again, or to be a third wheel and still hang out with Jean. He didn't know which one would be worse. He supposed that once Jean and Eren got over their damn bickering, he would leave before the two were all over each other. He let out a sigh and then nodded. "Alright, fine.."
Jean smiled, his face looking as pleasant as it possibly could for a split second. It made Marco's heart jump. The two turned and walked towards Jean's car, heading off towards Eren's dorm room. To say the least, Marco had a bad feeling in his gut about how it was going to go down.
"What're you doing here...?" Eren groaned in his doorway, his eyes glaring at his boyfriend in front of him.
"We need to talk." Jean stated, hands in his pocket.
"What's he doing here?" Eren snapped, nodding towards Marco. Marco gave a sheepish wave, an awkward chuckle barely audible as he tried to play it off like there wasn't just a shit ton of tension in the air at the moment.
"I asked him to come along, don't worry about it." Jean looked past Eren. "Now are we allowed in, or what?"
Eren rolled his eyes and then stepped aside to let the men in. He shut the door and then walked past them, not exchanging any words as he plopped himself down on the couch. Jean looked around the dorm room, it was set up similar to his, the living room was off to the right, and there was a kitchen on the left, a dinning area just at the entrance of the kitchen. In the middle of the two sides, there was a hallway that lead towards the rooms and bathroom in the back.
Eren was sitting on the couch that was pushed up against the wall, next to the hallway entrance. There was a long coffee table in front that he usually put his feet against. Currently there were homework assignments sprawled across it, a couple of pens and pencils lying on top of some of the work. Across from the couch and table, there was a TV stand set up with a simple 32 inch TV set there. A couple of games and movies were sprawled along the TV stand, a digital receiver sitting next to the tv.
Marco hadn't ever been inside of Eren's dorm before, he really had no reason to. Jean had his own car, so it's not like he'd ever pick him up from here. He actually had no idea who Eren's room mate was either. He never heard about him or saw him ever so it was a complete mystery.
"You and I both know you've been acting differently lately." Jean's voice cut into Marco's thoughts. He turned towards his crush, his face showing worry at how this conversation would go.
"Eh." Eren responded, not really acknowledging Jean's serious tone. Jean felt his blood boil for a split second. He was trying to be concerned for his ass, and he was just gonna play it off like nothing.
"Eren." Jean growled, taking in a breath to calm his nerves. "I just want to know what's going with you."
"Did freckled fuck tell you say that?" Eren hissed. Marco blinked, taken aback by the insult. What did he do? He literally was just standing there, how did that piss him off?
"Leave Marco out of it, ass." Jean responded, looking more angry than he did a moment ago. Marco could sense the air getting bad, and was sure a fight was about to break out. "I honestly want to know what's wrong with you, alright? Is that so hard to believe?"
"Why does something have to be wrong with me?" Eren snapped, standing up from the couch. "Why is it always that I do something wrong? Has the possibility of you fucking up ever crossed your mind?"
"Well if I did, fucking tell me!" Jean fumed.
Eren rolled his eyes. "You mean your bitch over there couldn't have told you already, hn?" Marco made a confused face. He wasn't even insulted, he was just honestly confused. What would Eren have said if he wasn't standing there, he wondered.
Jean gripped onto Eren's collar pulling him towards him. "Say one more bad thing about Marco, I swear to god, Eren."
"Of course, he's just fucking perfect, isn't he?" Jean bawled his fist up, ready to slam it into Eren's face when Marco jumped in. He grabbed onto Jean's hand and pulled it off of Eren.
"Stop it!" He yelled, pushing the two away from each other. He turned to Eren, looking almost angry at him. "You can insult me all you want to if that helps with your ego problem." Eren opened his mouth to retort, but Marco cut him off. "Stop dodging the god damn bullet and answer his fucking question. You're dating him, you owe him that much."
Jean looked surprised by the words that came out of his mouth, and Eren just looked even angrier. "Don't act like you know everything that happens between us. Or what a relationship's even like." Eren retorted. "You always try to play high and mighty but you don't have a clue what you're talking about, Our problems are between us, I didn't know having someone here to defend him was necessary."
"I don't care!" Marco exclaimed. "You would do the exact same thing for Armin, so don't even try it."
Jean brushed Marco off and then turned to Eren. "Are you really that upset I brought Marco along? What, are you jealous, or something?" Eren looked away from him, staring at the ground. Jean let out a sigh. "You wanna know why I brought him? So I wouldn't get mad. So that I wouldn't start yelling at you again, and I'd actually be able to figure out what's wrong with you lately."
Eren looked up at him, almost like he was trying to figure out if it was bullshit or not. Jean didn't give him the chance to figure it out and kept talking. "It's pretty clear that you don't want to talk about it.. Or you don't know yourself, so I guess I'll just leave it alone until you're ready to talk.." He mumbled. Eren eyed Marco, his blood still boiling over his words before he turned to Jean. Jean was getting ready to leave, but Eren grabbed a hold of his hand. The anger that was visible on his face seemed to dissolve as he pulled Jean closer.
"Jean, wait..." He paused, placing his hand around his neck and pulling him down into a kiss. Marco turned away, his stomach twisting into knots at how horrible it felt to look at that. Jean kissed him back, pulling away with a smile on his face. Eren sighed and looked to the ground. "I...I don't know."
"That's alright." Jean breathed, pulling his hand away from his neck and lacing their fingers together. "Just, talk to me when you're ready, alright?" Eren nodded. Jean turned and headed towards the door, Marco holding his breath as he tried to block out the images that were burning in his mind right now. He turned to follow Jean when he heard a laugh emit from the brunette behind him. Jean had already made his way out the door as Marco turned to face Eren.
"You're really obvious." Eren commented.
Marco stared at the smirk on Eren's lips, his body not able to understand how to handle all of the anger that was rising in him. He couldn't even form words at the moment.
"Even if we do break up, Jean's not ever going to fall for you, you know." Eren stepped closer to the freckled man, crossing his arms like he just beat him. "You know how much shit he's said about you? All the things he's complained about that you've done? If Jean ever da-" Eren was caught off by the force of a fist slamming into his cheek. The punch was so strong that it knocked Eren backward, and on the ground completely unconscious. Marco held his fist in the air for a moment, the anger that went through him only feeling slightly released.
He wasn't stupid, he knew what Eren was trying to do, and he'd be damned if he let that asshole use him like that. He stood there for a moment, dropping his hand to his side and letting out a deep breath, calming his nerves. He had never lost his temper like that before, and he didn't even regret it at the moment. Eren really was something else. Who was he trying to fool? He called him obvious? Marco stared down at the brunette he just knocked out and rolled his eyes. He couldn't just leave him like that.
Even though he didn't really want to, Marco picked Eren up and laid him across the couch so that he at least didn't seem out of the ordinary to his roommate. As far as anyone was concerned, Eren just passed out while studying. Marco looked at the paper sprawled out and decided to leave Eren a message. He picked up one of the pencils sprawled about and scribbled something down. He then quickly went out after Jean, hoping that he didn't make him wait long enough to feel the need to come back in here. He had no idea how he would explain this to him.
Marco came home, still in a pretty bad mood over the whole thing that happened. He had Jean just take him home after the whole ordeal, his head kept going back to all the shit that Eren had said and his anger would stir up again, only for Marco to try and shove it to the back of his mind.
He didn't think to look around and check for Bertholdt, he just went straight for the bathroom, really needing to pee. The thought that Bertholdt might've been in there didn't even cross his mind, but his stomach dropped as soon as his hand went to turn the knob, only to stay in place. "Not now..." Marco breathed, really not sure if he had the energy to deal with this today. "Bertholdt...?" He called out. There wasn't much noise for a moment, but the handle jiggled for a second before the taller man pulled the door open.
He was just brushing his teeth.
Marco smiled at him. "Hah, sorry, I just have to pee real quick."
"O-Oh-" Bertholdt breathed, looking flustered as he wasn't sure whether to take the tooth brush with him or not. Deciding to, Bertholdt turned the water off from the sink and stepped out side, holding his tooth brush in his hand as he let Marco past him. He stood next to the door, staring at his toothbrush and trying to keep himself from swallowing all of the toothpaste in his mouth.
It felt like forever before a flush was heard and a moment later Marco stepped out. "Sorry, Are you getting ready for something?" He questioned, noticing that Bertholdt had just gotten out of the shower not too long ago, from his damp looking hair.
"Ah, Maybe, I'm not sure yet." Bertholdt said, his mouth full of toothpaste. He walked to the sink to spit the foam out, then rinsed his mouth out. "Reiner said him and some friends were gonna go out but..."
Marco raised his eyebrows up, trying to get him to say more. Bertholdt's face dropped and he sighed. "I-I don't know, I don't really know everyone that well and I always feel like they hate me when I'm around them, and that they're making fun of me when I'm not paying attention.."
The shorter of the two gave a sheep shrug. "Well...Normally I would try to convince you to go out but... You think we could talk for a bit...?"
Bertholdt's face looked surprised, putting his toothbrush down and staring at his friend. "Y-yeah of course, what's wrong..? Did something happen?"
"Besides knocking Eren unconscious? Nah"
"You what?" Bertholdt exclaimed. He looked shocked and like he might have been blown over if there was a gust of wind blowing through right then. "I- What?!"
Marco waved a hand in the air, trying to dismiss the drama that was attached to his statement. "Ah, it was just between me and him, but.. I've got a bad feeling about them now."
The taller of the two looked around before glancing at his room. "Did you want to sit and talk?" Marco nodded in agreement and they headed towards his room. For the most part, they usually always talked about things in Marco's room, so it was weird actually being in his roommate's for a change.
There were sketchbook and art utensils sprawled out all over the place, his desk covered in paper. Bertholdt has his bed tucked away in the corner, an eisel in the center of the room. He had a tv in here, but Marco was pretty sure he hardly ever used it. The most he saw Bertholdt use was his radio and speakers to listen to music when he drew things. Bertholdt plopped onto his bed and watched as Marco took a seat next to him.
"What made you punch Eren...?" He asked, curious. Marco had to of been mad enough to do something like that and he was pretty sure that he'd never seen his friend really that mad at anything.
"Ah, I'll explain it. But really, I feel like Eren's trying to do something really stupid.. I mean.. He just played off Jean like it was nothing when I was there. Like, he couldn't care less how Jean felt." Marco let out a sigh and decided to explain the whole story to his friend.
"So yeah.. Then I punched him and left with Jean..."
"...Wow..." Bertholdt breathed, completely fascinated by the story. "He really said that to you?"
"Well, something like that.. But my point is, I think he acted that way with Jean to spite me though.."
"But what reason would he have to do something like that? Besides being.. You know.. An ass..." Bertholdt started to twiddle his thumbs, worrying for his friend. In a way, he felt like Marco might have been over exaggerating, but he had no reason to disbelieve him. Besides, Eren was always over reacting to everything anyway.
"Because.." Marco puffed out his cheeks thinking. "I just.. I think he wants me to tell Jean about it.." Bertholdt raised an eyebrow, not following his friend's train of thought. "Like.. I get this feeling that Eren.. He's trying to break up with Jean, but he doesn't know how.. So he's just pissing him off until he does.."
"Hm..." Bertholdt hummed. His thoughts were cut off by the buzzing of his phone. He jumped for it, knowing right away it was Reiner. Marco smiled, letting out a sigh. "H-Hello?" Bertholdt answered right away, immediately chewing his nails, extremely flustered. "Ah- Y-Yeah I know.. Oh.. Yeah? Why?.. Alright... Okay...Ahh...O-One second..." Bertholdt pulled the phone towards his chest and turned towards Marco. His eyes looked desperate. "Everyone else canceled, he wants me to go over to his dorm!" He breathed.
"Get it in." Marco joked, causing Bertholdt's face to burn red as he slapped a hand on his face and pulled the phone back to his ear.
"Ah! Yes! I-I mean yeah, that's fine." Bertholdt shook his head regretting the way he answered. There was a silence and then Bertholdt said bye and hung up his phone. He let out a breath and then turned to Marco. "Why did you say that?! "
Marco started laughing and put his hand in the air. "Don't hit me, I'm sorry" He chuckled pretending to be completely defenseless. Bertholdt pulled his collar up wanting to die from embarrassment.
"Ahh! I'm sorry Marco, he's gonna be here soon and we were talking-"
"No, no, it's fine. One of us needs to get laid around here." Marco smirked. Bertholdt shot him a look as he ran around his room, frantically trying to get ready to hang out with Reiner. He looked towards his friend and then sat down again with him.
"Alright.. We can at least talk until he gets here then..?" Marco shook his head.
"Nah, he'll be here soon, but..." Marco trailed off , extending his hand out towards his friend, his pinky the only finger pointed towards him. "Can you promise me something?" Bertholdt looked down at his pinky, his face dropping. "Will you promise not to puke again?"
