Newer chapters, newer characters. Not gonna lie, it was all thrown together pretty sloppily. I feel like this chapter was a bit rushed and could have been split into two or it could have been a bit longer. Oh well.
Also I decided to have some actual questioning of sexuality in this chapter because almost every fic I read, no one questions it and they just assume that they'll like them back. You have to establish things! You can't just assume some people are gay just like you can't assume that some people are straight.
So enjoy a sexually confused Eren and keep sticking around.
/
"I can't believe I came with you," Eren grumbled as he walked up and down the exhibits of the massive museum with Armin. The two had realized what with all the new friends they were making they barely had enough time to each other, and they were roommates! Eren promised him that he could pick the next place to go and Eren would take him there. Leave it to Armin to pick the most boring place in the planet; a modern museum on books. Literally the two most uninteresting thing combined into one boring place. Eren didn't hate museums or reading, he liked comic books, or fantasy books; none of those books about history or modern science that Armin was into. He's also been to one of those cool space museums that had lot's of interesting exhibits and some were even interactive.
However this, this was just painful. There was nothing to do but look at books in glass cases and Eren wanted to claw his eyes out so badly.
"Eren, it's history, it's interesting," he gleamed as they came across Eren didn't know what, another book he didn't care about.
"Yeah, if you're going to be a history teacher. There was a reason I barely passed that class in high school, it was boring," Armin laughed as he turned to him this time.
"No, that's because you slept everyday and the only reason you barely passed was because you copied my homework. Now if you stop complaining for the next thirty minutes I promise we can go somewhere interesting," Armin exaggerated his air quotes with his fingers when he said interesting. Eren sighed as he pretended to zip his lips and let Armin drool over every book he came into contact with.
He was glad he talked Armin out of inviting Jean with them because he didn't think he could see that face without punching it after his last encounter with him. Eren explained prior to coming to the museum about how big of an ass Jean was being at the ice-skating rink and how Levi pretty much drop kicked him in the gut. He still couldn't figure out what he had meant when he said he didn't do it for "his sake". What other reason was there to beat up a pompous asshole?
Some people had better control over their anger and Eren was not one of those people. If anything he came off a bit hot tempered at times, but he was nowhere near as bad as Jean. Sure he could get arrogant and cocky at times but it wasn't like he was a braggart about it; it was usually all in good fun. Jean on the other hand bragged about things just so he could hear the sound of his own voice.
He had no idea how Armin was able to put up with it; then again Jean was a whole different person around him.
He remembered the first time Armin had told him about his first encounter with Jean. Armin always had a bit of a problem with bullies and unfortunately that problem followed him to his first year of college. Eren wasn't around when Armin was encountered by a bunch of goons with too much time on their hands when Jean stepped into the picture and got Armin out of there safely. It was a bit ironic since Jean himself was a bit of a bully too, however, seeing someone so defenseless as Armin, he figured he probably felt bad seeing him in that situation. Eren still hated his guts nonetheless and he barely even called him a friend.
After a while the two freed themselves of the museum and Eren yawned as they walked down the steps of the museum.
"Oh it wasn't that boring, Eren," Armin chuckled.
"It was, but I'm just tired in general. I've been swimming for the past week and a half and I feel awesome and exhausted at the same time."
It was true that he'd been training for swim season but on top of that, he would watch Levi's practices as well. He'd been hanging out with him a lot over the time being and sometimes Levi came to watch him swim as well. Hanji and Erwin had been at the apartment the last few times he visited and he would always secretly text Hanji for advice.
His breakfast a few days ago with Levi hadn't gone completely amiss. Sure he had gotten jam on the corners of his mouth with out realizing it only to have Levi wipe it off and call him a messy kid, but that was something he didn't mind so much. It was when the waiter mistook them for a couple and Eren only denied it, wondering if that was such a good idea on his part. He was one of those people who laughed and talked too much in awkward situations and had explained how he and Levi were only friends, just friends to the waiter.
Looking back on that he probably shouldn't have said anything in the first place, Levi would've have corrected him eventually anyway so what was the point in Eren talking?
He grumbled as he walked with Armin, mentally kicking himself over nothing. Armin gave him a concerned smile as he chuckled softly.
"What's beating you up?" he asked.
He sighed as they came to a bench and sat down.
"It's nothing, I just. I can't stop thinking about Levi and his stupid jumps and his stupid face and his stupid apartment and god, I hate him."
"You love him," Eren shot him a glare.
"I don't love him. I just like him sort of, like a little bit or a lot who knows, who cares? What about you and Jean anyway huh? You two have been spending a lot of time together too. And isn't he gay? I swear, he's just being a douche bag to hide it from all his hockey friends," Armin put his hands up in defense.
"Trust me, I'm not his type nor is he mine. And no, there's a difference between Jean and I studying at the library like normal friends where as you and Levi hang out every day, every where, any time—not to mention you've slept with him last week already."
"I slept on his couch, not with him! And it's not like I intended on spending the night, I just fell asleep," Armin gave him a wry smile before shaking his head. Eren was too stubborn for his life to admit anything especially when it came to something like love. In the first grade, Eren denied his crush on a girl in his class so hard that he convinced her that he hated her and he never got to talk to her after that. That's not what he wanted to do with Levi, he really did want to get closer, he just didn't know how. Armin had his serious friend advice face on when he turned to him.
"Look, I know you've never been with another man before so all these emotions are so new and so strange to you. But I can tell you right now that it's painfully obvious how much you like this guy, and that time you told me beat up Jean? You do know he did that for you right?" Eren whipped his head up, blood rushing to his cheeks.
"What?"
"That was for you," he smiled reassuringly. "It only makes sense, you said it yourself and Jean said it too. All the times they made fun of him he ignored it, but the one time Jean laid a finger on you and Levi lost his cool?" he shrugged.
"Just makes sense that he only did that to defend you," Eren's jaw was left hanging as he came to the sudden realization that Armin might have been right. Course he was, when was he ever wrong? Armin gave him a pat on the back when their bus arrived. It took Eren a second to compose himself before he got onto the bus only to sit down and think for the trip back home.
/
Eren gasped as he came up from the water and took off his goggles to gape up at Levi who was holding a stopwatch in his hand.
"A minute four seconds," he said plainly. Eren splashed the water in frustration causing Levi to inch back even further away from the pool. For the last few early morning practices, Levi had accompanied Eren to time him for his 200-meter fly that he'd been working on.
"Don't be a brat and splash that dirty public water around," he grimaced from where he sat. Eren leaned against the edge of the pool, head resting on his crossed arms.
"I can't beat my old time," he said in a worried tone. Levi rolled his eyes before scooting forward to poke a finger at his forehead; a smirk dancing across his lips.
"You're such a kid," Eren swatted his hand away in frustration and Levi leaned down to lean on his elbows, a bit too close for comfort on Eren's part but he didn't move.
"Eren, you're just getting back into swimming after a couple months off. Of course you won't be as fast as you were when you were used to swimming every single day—though I don't know how you put up with the smell—"
"Not helping," Eren interjected.
"What I'm saying is, you're one hell of a swimmer from what I've seen already, which means you'll only get better. So calm down a bit and be patient, not a stubborn brat." Eren chuckled as the nicknames came rolling in. This was probably the earliest in the day that he'd kick in with the name calling, a personal best for Levi.
Eren sighed, feeling a bit stupid for overreacting and hoisted himself up and out of the water only to have a towel thrown directly at his head. He turned around to yell something stupid when Levi's phone rang and he dug it out of his pocket and answered it.
"Hey Erwin," he answered. Naturally, Eren couldn't help but feel a bit curious and had no scruples for eavesdropping. He scooted a little closer to see if he could hear anything at the other end of the line, but unfortunately he couldn't hear a thing. Erwin was a nice guy every time Eren went over to his Levi's house, but he couldn't help but wonder what he was to Levi. Hanji kept deeming him gay since he'd shown little to no interest in women whatsoever however it seemed like he showed little to no interest in people in general. The only people he kept up with was Erwin, Hanji, and as of recently, Eren.
He didn't have the nerve to ask Hanji any questions about Erwin and he didn't want to press much on the issue anyway.
As helpful as Hanji was with advice, she was also crazy about making up scenarios to get the two together. One time Eren tried to reason that what he felt for Levi was completely platonic which then lead her to snap some pictures of him changing and eventually sending them to Eren.
Suddenly the word "platonic" had flown right out the window and Eren had accidentally saved the photos. Hanji was a mad genius, she was, but he would never admit it to her or else the pictures wouldn't stop coming. Not that that was particularly a bad thing, but sooner or later she would be found out and that would be more humiliating than Eren confessing to Levi's face.
Levi's phone call had ended long ago when he was nudging Eren on the ground with his foot.
"That floor you're lying on is disgusting and crawling with germs," Eren tightened his mouth and waved a hand of dismissal at him, grunting as he got up. Immediately, Levi pointed to the showers and Eren rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah I know. You don't have to keep reminding me after every practice," Levi scoffed as he sat down on one of the chairs, putting his arms behind his head as he reclined back.
"Don't forget to scrub behind the ears," he called after. Eren chuckled softly as he made his way to the showers.
/
Eren's morning lecture was nothing more than uneventful, however, it did let out earlier than expected and so he figured he had enough time to catch Levi's practice ending. He packed up his things and made his way out the lecture hall when someone bumped into him. He looked up to apologized only to end up grimacing in distaste as he locked eyes with Jean.
"Shit head."
"Horse face," he spat back. Eren didn't so much as look back as he stalked off, only to be followed by him in the process. He grumbled as he turned his direction.
"What do you want?" he asked as he picked up the pace; Jean following close behind. He heard a snicker escape his mouth and it only pissed him off.
"What's got you walking so fast, Jaeger? Off to see your boyfriend?" he laughed.
"If I remember correctly, said boyfriend kicked your butt last time and you had to have your team mates help you up," It took a paragon of kindness not to viciously punch Jean in the face and Eren could feel himself holding back. Just a few more minutes and he'd be at the ice rink. Jean was still following him when Eren piped up again.
"You didn't answer my last question," Jean scoffed as he was now walking side by side with Eren, a smug look slathered all over his face.
"Last time I was wearing all my padding which was holding me back, now I'm good and ready to beat his pansy ass." that actually made Eren laugh because was he serious? That was Levi holding back, did Jean want a broken arm? And nose? And mouth and leg and rib and skull—did he want to die? Eren thought it best to not stop him and have him learn his lesson the hard way; it would be entertaining to watch anyway.
They both reached the ice skating rink when Jean stomped on ahead of him looking for Levi on the ice when he stopped dead in his tracks. Eren furrowed his brows, wondering why he didn't call him out; Eren was looking forward to the beating when he saw someone else on the ice with Levi. Now it was Eren's turn to stare.
It was another guy, probably the same year as both Jean and he; he had short black hair and Eren could spot the freckles scattered around his face. It looked like Levi was giving him instructions as he made spinning motions with his hands. Levi then took to the ice and did a spin in the air as he drew back closer to the boy motioning for him to try it himself. He nodded nervously as he began to skate off and gained some speed, jumping eventually and spinning in the air. The landing was nowhere near as graceful as Levi's but it was a landing nonetheless. A look of achievement set on his face, and Levi pointed to his skates, probably saying something about how to fix the landing. The boy nodded and made his way off the ice, Levi following right behind. He acknowledged Eren as he approached the two and scowled at Jean.
"Hey," Eren greeted and then pointed to the stranger. "And this is?"
"Marco," he chirped cheerfully. Eren shook his hand and smiled back. "Eren, this Jean but no one cares about him." Jean punched him in the arm as Marco let out a laugh and reached his hand out to shake Jean's.
"Nice to meet you Jean that no one cares about," he chuckled. Jean let out a smile of his own. "I'm learning from Levi, usually I practice later in the day after everyone's gone, but I came in early so he could help me with a spin. Do you guys usually come to watch him?" Levi was already taking off his skates at the bench when Eren nodded.
"Well you're learning from the best. I come as often as I can but Jean hates—"
"Missing out on practices! Yeah I'm just so busy with school and stuff that I can't always make it to watch him practice, right Eren?" He nudged him with his arm, almost a pleading look in his eye. Eren wanted to die with happiness because holy shit Jean was asking for a favor from him and of course he was going to do it for him, but not without making him suffer. Eren turned back to Marco, Jean's eyes following him closely.
"Yeah, Jean usually can't make it when he's doing my laundry. He loves helping out so often times he comes over and does my laundry and folds everything neatly that it just takes a lot of his time and he misses out on coming with me to practice. Actually, I have a load that needs to be done right now, glad you're coming over to do it," he threw a cheeky smile at Jean who in returned had a look in his eyes that said, "you're a piece of shit Jaeger if this cutie on duty weren't in front of me I'd ring your neck." Eren smiled smugly as he made his way over to sit next to Levi who was out of ear range from the other two.
Levi nodded his head in their direction a bit confused. "Pony boy over there plays for the other team?" Eren suppressed a laugh before answering.
"Yeah, our group of friends know, but none of his teammates do. Always thought he had a thing for my roommate, to tell you the truth," Levi nodded before taking off his other skate. The whole gay topic was lingering in the air when he opened his mouth to say something.
"How about Marco? Is he in or out of the closet?" Levi shrugged, not really caring.
"Never asked him, don't need to know, but," he looked in the direction of Jean and Marco and he could already tell just by the body language that Marco was definitely interested. "I'm just gonna take a big guess here and say yes," Eren laughed and wondered if he should keep pressing on the topic. It was a stretch, but it was also a fuck it situation and thought he'd never get a chance to ask any questions like this ever again.
"Do you have any gay friends?" he asked plain and simple. He decided not to include any details or else it would be too obvious; just genuine curiosity. Levi was giving him a weird look and Eren could feel beads of sweat forming on the back of his neck but Levi answered anyway.
"Erwin."
"Erwin's gay? He could get any girl he wanted though!" Levi couldn't help but give a small chuckled and Eren was so glad he wasn't too weirded out with their conversation. Though nothing prepared his pulse for what he said next.
"He's my—" he was cut off from his phone ringing and he picked it up. Eren waited so desperately for the call to end and when it did Levi stood up and Eren almost had a heart attack. Should he remind him to finish his sentence? Erwin was his...boyfriend? Fiancé? Not Eren? Maybe he was reading too much into this.
Levi headed toward Marco when he clasped a hand on his shoulder.
"Practice that double axel and remember what I told you about the landing," bag slung over his shoulder, he started walking to the locker room.
"I'll be there in a sec!" Marco called back. Eren made his way to the two standing by the ice when Marco smiled at them both.
"It was nice meeting you two, I'll be practicing again tomorrow with Levi so I'll see you then Eren. Hopefully you'll find time in your schedule to make it too, Jean," he waved as he walked toward the locker room as well. Eren turned to face Jean, an all too pleased look set on his face. He had Jean wrapped around his finger and there was not a damn thing that he could do about it.
"Dirty laundry," Eren reminded him. Jean only rolled his eyes as he complied, knowing there was no out for him. The two took a seat on the bleachers near by and the tension between them for once wasn't so hostile. He tried to get his mind off Levi's confession of Erwin being his something earlier and decided to poke and prod at Jean with questions of his own.
"I always thought you were into Armin to be honest," Jean was almost taken a back when he threw a mixed expression his way.
"Definitely not, he's more like a little brother than anything to me," Eren scoffed.
"Please, he's like my little brother, you met him last year."
Jean chuckled as he rolled his eyes. It was weird when he talked to Jean normally, it wasn't like it never happened, there were rare occasions when they would be buddy buddy and this was just one of them. Levi was the first to walk out of the locker room and a pang of hurt hit him. He didn't exactly want to see his face right now knowing that there was a great possibility that there was someone in his life already. Of course he was still going to be his friend, he wasn't some shitty asshole that was going to completely disregard Levi just because he might be taken, no, that wasn't like Eren. He thought it was stupid to get rejected and not be friends anymore because that was just low. He enjoyed Levi's company and Erwin's too. So what if they were dating? They were both really great guys to be around and eventually Eren would come around to be happy for them. Just not right now when he was staring at his crush square in the face, knowing that he'd probably go back to his apartment to greet Erwin at the door. He was snapped out of his thoughts when Levi was now standing in front of him.
"What?" he asked and Levi rolled his eyes.
"I said are you coming over or not tonight?" Eren flitted his eyes away and shook his head.
"I have homework to do actually, I'll see you tomorrow," he smiled and Levi shrugged, making his way toward the exit. Marco came right after and waved at the two as he left as well. Eren took a deep sigh before leaning onto his knees, earning a laugh from Jean. He leaned on his knees too, looking forward onto the ice.
"You don't swing for girls do you, Jaeger?" he could tell there was a bit of a mocking tone in his voice but he was aware that it was also a genuine question. Eren scrunched up his face because he wasn't sure exactly how to respond. In high school, there was no questioning his sexuality at all. Back then he knew he liked girls, he even had a girlfriend from freshman year to junior year. Senior year he was still looking at girls, guys were never on his mind ever in his life. But all of a sudden in his second year of college he sees some guy skate on the ice and he's head over heals for him? It just, it didn't make sense to him.
"I dunno. I can't tell if I like him or if I just really admire him for his hard work," Jean chuckled and clasped a hand on his shoulder before standing up.
"If you have to ask yourself that, you probably like him. And when you admit that you do, I'm calling you Gayger for life," Eren shook his head as he let out a small laugh. He couldn't believe Jean Kirschtein was consoling him and it was nothing but odd. He ended up standing as well and they both made their way to the exit.
"Let's get off this topic, it's weighing me down. Besides, you have a load of dirty laundry to do anyway," Jean grumbled loudly and they raced back to the dorm.
