"Let's have lunch in the canteen today," Jean said while throwing his laptop and notebooks into his bag, and slamming it on his desk.
"Sure," Eren answered, and looked up to Mikasa's desk, trying to signal for her to join them. "How's it going with you and Mikasa, by the way?" he asked lowly, while the girl backed her belongings.
"I don't think she hates me any more," Jean smiled awkwardly while speaking, making it quite obvious to Eren that his friends mission wasn't really going as planned. At first Eren had thought Jean just wanted to get into her pants, but it actually looked like his feelings were genuine. He really tried hard to make the raven-haired girl forget about his pathetic attempt to woo her at Hanji's get-together a couple of weeks ago, and now he tried to win her over by showing her he was actually a good guy.
"Wow, that's pathetic!" Reiner, who had heard their conversation, laughed and smacked Jean on the shoulder with a big hand, "You gotta step up your game. She's actually a pretty girl, if you ignore her expressionless face and the fact that she's a total striver."
Jean looked up at the tall blonde with an annoyed expression and grit his teeth. Eren's eyes followed Jeans and even though he didn't plan on picking a fight, he couldn't hide how much he disliked Reiner.
"That's none of your business, leave me alone!" Jean yelled with a flustered voice, pushing Reiner's hand off of his shoulder. The blonde sent him a smug smile before walking up to Mikasa and striking up a conversation with her. The two guys couldn't hear what they talked about. Mikasa looked at Reiner while he spoke, nodding from time to time and giving short answers. Reiner sent Jean another smug smirk, before handing the raven-haired girl a piece of paper and walking out of the class-room.
Eren looked back at Jean, who's face was completely red from anger and his fists clenched. Mikasa gathered the rest of her belongings and looked back up at her two friends, signalling that she was ready to leave for the canteen.
"What an asshole..." Jean finally said, turning his back to Mikasa to hide his anger from her.
"Just forget about him," Eren said, patting his friends shoulder and sending Mikasa a gentle smile, "I don't think he's her type anyway."
"I don't care! Sometimes people just fall for people who aren't their type," Jean growled frustrated, and picked up his bag. They went up to the door, where Mikasa waited for them, and they all walked towards the canteen.
"Is Armin gonna join us?" Eren asked Mikasa, while Jean still looked affected by Reiner's words.
"Yeah, he's meeting us down there," Mikasa answered, and sent Jean a puzzled look while he just looked away, refusing to let their eyes meet. None of them said another word until they met Armin by the entrance to the canteen.
Eren looked inside and saw Hanji surrounded by her many friends in the opposite end of the canteen. Without saying a word, he let his friends to a corner of the canteen, trying as always not to be seen by the brown-haired girl. Mikasa, Armin and Jean followed him through the canteen, and placed their bags by an empty table. Eren looked up at Hanji again to see if she had noticed them, but she was laughing and chatting with Petra and Mike. Eren spotted Levi next to her, and their eyes met. Levi sent him a friendly smile and lifted his hand to wave at the brunette, but Eren broke the eye-contact and sat down by the table, trying to make himself invisible. He didn't dare to look back up at the raven-haired, but he felt bad about ignoring him like that, especially after Levi had taken him to that chocolate-making class last Saturday.
Jean refused to say much during their lunch-break, and his mood set an awkward atmosphere, making the other three stay quiet most of the time as well.
After eating, they left the table and walked back towards the entrance to the canteen. Mikasa notices she had left her phone at the table, and went back to get it. Eren, Jean and Armin waited for her at the entrance, when Eren suddenly notices Levi walking towards him. The raven-haired looked down at his phone, but there was no way he couldn't have noticed Eren standing there.
Eren looked around, but there was really no way out of this without attracting too much attention. He took a step back when Levi was right in front of him, Jean and Armin not noticing anything. Eren took a deep breath and could feel a thin layer of cold sweat on his neck. But Levi looked right pass him and walked by as if the brunette wasn't there. Eren looked after him with a puzzled look.
"Eren!" a happy and loud voice yelled, making half of the canteen turn their heads, "Where have you been? I've been looking for you everywhere!"
"Sorry, I've been kinda busy lately," Eren lied as Hanji walked towards him, pushing Armin aside to talk to the brunette.
"That's not fair, you have to take time to hang out with me as well," she said with a wide smile, apparently happy that she finally found him.
Eren laughed nervously as the rest of the canteen turned their attention from him again.
"I know just how you can make it up to me," she said with a teasing tone, winking at Eren.
"O-oh?" Eren asked, a bit worried about where she was going.
"There's a festival down at the harbour this Friday," Hanji beamed, "Go with me, it'll be fun!"
"Can I bring my friends?" Eren asked nervously, and nodded towards Armin, Jean and Mikasa who had returned with her phone.
"Sure, the more the merrier!"
"Do you want to?" Eren asked, looking at his three friends.
"No, I don't feel like doing anything this weekend," Jean mumbled, apparently still in a bad mood after Reiner's act. Eren sent him an annoyed glare.
"Guys?" The brunette looked at Mikasa and Armin for support.
"Sorry, Eren, I'm going to the movies this Friday," Mikasa answered, offering him a gentle smile.
"What? With who?" Jean yelled, attracting attention again.
Mikasa looked at him with a distrustful look.
"That's none of your business!" she answered, raising her voice slightly as she didn't appreciate Jean yelling at her. Jean sent her a smouldering glance and stormed out of the canteen.
"Jean, wait!" Armin yelled and ran after him, leaving Mikasa and Eren alone with Hanji - and the attention of most of the students in the canteen. Eren began to feel even more uncomfortable and could feel another layer of cold sweat across his neck. Mikasa waited for him, but refused to look at him.
"That's okay, Eren," Hanji said in a comforting voice, patting his shoulder, "It'll just be the two of us then, it'll be nice."
"Y-yeah..." Eren stuttered, and tried to send her a smile. He just wanted to get out now, and away from all those starring eyes. "I'll catch you later, 'kay?"
He pulled Mikasa with him outside the university without saying a word. He needed fresh air, he needed to breath. He was shaking and it felt like being 6 years old again, standing in the school-yard, all eyes on him.
He dumped down in a corner, his back against the wall, and took deep breaths to calm himself. Mikasa watched him, studying every move.
"What's going on, Eren?" she asked, worried.
"I just..." Eren started, but then he bit his lip. He was not going to tell her about what happened and why he acted like this. No one knew about his past, and he had spend months on planning the perfect act before attending university. He was not going to spill it all now. He laughed nervously to cover up his act and continued: "It was just really hot in there. I thought I was gonna pass out."
Mikasa sent him a piercing look, obviously not believing him, but she didn't say anything. She dug into her bag to pull out a bottle of water, which she handed over to the brunette, who gratefully took it and gulped down the entire bottle before getting up, and they walked back into the university to attend their last lecture that day.
Eren and Hanji met outside the university Friday afternoon. Eren had tried to talk Jean into going with them to the festival, but his mood hadn't changed for the last couple of days, and he still refused. Hanji had planned for the two of them to grab a bite after their last lecture, and then take a bus to the harbour. Hanji grew up in the town and knew all the good places, and had insisted on showing Eren the best burger-bar in town. Hanji really knew what she was talking about and Eren had had the best burger in his life, and accompanied with Hanji's always great mood, he had soon forgot about the awkward situation in the canteen the other day. Jean was still angry and had refused to talk to Mikasa, who had gotten equally mad at him for acting like that. Eren had tried to talk them into making up, but it was no use and he had spent the last couple of days dealing with awkward silence and death-glares from one of them as soon as he talked to the other, and he was exhausted. But Hanji's company really made him forget about it and just enjoy that it was finally weekend again and they were about to have a great time together.
Hanji had told him about how she had started hanging around in the workshop where they had met Erwin and Erd, and how they always seemed to have a party down there. She entertained Eren with how the two blondes always laughed at her when she teased Levi, and how she one time had managed to make Levi loose his calm and accidentally spill a cup of coffee on his work, making him so furious, he had just left without his belongings. Kind as she was, she had bought him a cup of Starbucks on their way to the university the next day, but she told Eren that it was worth it to see how cute Levi looked when he got angry.
Eren was happy to hang out with the brown-haired girl again. She was so easy to get along with, she was always in a great mood and she always spoke her mind. Somewhere in the back of his mind, though, he was glad that the festival was held in the other end of the town, and even though Hanji's appearance didn't attract attention, he hoped that they wouldn't meet anyone he knew.
Down at the harbour, Eren was overwhelmed by how big the festival was. He had never been to that part of the town before, but he didn't expect the area around the harbour to be that big; colourful tents has placed everywhere, making it look like a carnival, filled with food-stands, games and booths filled with sweets, souvenirs and everything in between.
"This is huge!" Eren exclaimed as he looked around.
"It's the Summer Festival," Hanji beamed at his reaction, "It's the largest festival all year. Come on, lets get a program, I wanna see who's performing at the stage this year!"
Eren tacked along as his friend strolled through the tents to find a program. They had arrived early and there wasn't a lot of people at the harbour yet, but judging from the size of the festival, Eren thought that would change later in the night. He looked at all the bright-coloured stands, decorated with flowers and lightning-bulbs in all imaginable colours. The few people that were already there, was smiling and acting friendly as the two brunettes stormed in and out of the tents to catch a program.
As Hanji finally managed to get a hold on a brochure about what was going to happen, when and where, her eyes started shining behind her glasses as she read through the piece of paper.
"My old friend from high-school is gonna perform at 10!" she cheered, "He's in this awesome underground rock-band, and they finally managed to get a gig at the Summer Festival! We're so gonna go see them, their music is so awesome!"
"Cool," Eren said, thinking it had been way too long since the last time he was at a concert. He had a feeling it was going to be a good night.
"We have a few hours before they go on stage. Let's go grab a beer and look around," Hanji said and placed the program in her bag.
They found a beer-stall and enjoyed the cold booze in the hot summer-sun. The beer was cheep and the mood was high, so after their first beer, they brought another as they walked around between the booths. Hanji insisted on Eren trying to win something for her at a fishpond-game, but all he could manage to catch, was a small and cheep-looking keychain with an ugly teddiebear. She got surprisingly happy and attached it to her bag, naming it Eren and laughed as she stated that now she always knew where he was, even if she couldn't find him at the university again. After that, they grabbed another beer.
They made their way to a booth selling little tree-figurines, panpipes and other Native American-looking stuff. Starting to get a bit drunk, Hanji squealed by the sight of the booth and dragged Eren closer. She insisted on buying them matching flower-crowns, which made Eren laugh but not protest as he could feel the booze in his body as well. The brown-haired girl also bought a blue dream-catcher, looking suspiciously alike the one on Erd's arm, and a few bracelets.
After buying another round of beers, Hanji insisted on Eren trying his luck in another game. He told her that he wanted to pick a game himself and that she had to play too then. He settled for a shooting gallery and they emptied their bottles before approaching the tent. Eren had a little trouble focussing on the target, especially with Hanji laughing next to him every time she missed.
"Well, you're never gonna make a living of that!"
Eren turned his head to see Levi next to him, grey eyes focused on his own target in the back of the tent.
"Levi!" Eren yelled surprised, and Hanji looked over the brunette's shoulder and yelled out happily at the sight of the raven-haired man.
Levi hit the centre of the target, and tuned to send Eren a smug smirk as he received his prize.
"I'll buy you a beer, if you can do that," the raven-haired smirked, while Hanji hugged him as greeting, and turned her attention towards the brunette.
Eren tried to focus on the target once again, but couldn't manage to pull off a bullseye like Levi. Admitting defeat, Eren offered to buy the raven-haired male a beer instead.
"Are you here alone?" Hanji asked, as they walked towards the beer-stall.
"No, Erd and Erwin is here somewhere," Levi answered and looked around before waving at his two blonde friends, signalling for them to join the three of them.
"Erd!" Hanji yelled and threw her arms around the blonde, who had let his long hair hang loose today. She turned to hug Erwin as well, before looking at Erd again, "I bought something for you." she beamed and pulled out the dream-catcher.
"Nice flowers," Levi smirked at Eren while Eren paid for their booze.
"Wha - oh! Thanks!" Eren laughed, as he remembered the flower-crown on top of his head, "Hanji bought it for me."
"It suits you," Levi laughed and took a sip of his beer. Eren was glad to see that the raven-haired wasn't mad at him for his behaviour in the canteen the other day.
"Do you wanna go watch the concert with us?" Hanji asked the three men, "My old friend's band is performing in 30 minutes."
"Sure!" Erd answered before the others managed to say anything, and the five of them started walking towards the stage at the other end of the festival.
"How's your work going?" Eren asked Levi as they walked behind Hanji with a blonde in each arm, enjoying being the only girl among the four men.
"Good!" Levi answered, "I've really improved on drawing background. It was a great idea to go to that park."
Eren sent him a bright smile, feeling happy to be able to help his friend.
They arrived at the stage, where a lot of people already was gathered, ready for the concert to begin. Hanji tried to get further ahead, wanting to get in front of the stage to cheer on her old friend, but it was no use, as no one was willing to give up their spots.
Admitting defeat, she settled on a spot in the middle of the space in front of the stage, where the five of them gathered to share the rest of their beers. More people gathered as the concert started, and Hanji yelled to catch her friends attention, but she was to far away for him to see her.
Hanji was right, the band was really great. People was cheering and yelling as they performed their songs under the slowly darkening sky and stars started appearing. Erwin had gone to the beer-stall to get them a round of beers, and after 20 minutes he finally managed to find them again, handing over the bottles.
"There's like a million people here!" Erwin yelled to overshout the music.
"Just follow Hanji's screaming next time!" Levi yelled back and took his beer from Erwin's hand.
"I'm not going out there again! Go get your own beer next time!" Erwin shouted back and moved forward a bit to hand Hanji and Erd their beers.
"Fuck, I can't open it!" Eren yelled, as the bottlecap refused to move no matter what he tried.
"Here, let me!" Levi shouted and took the beer from the brunette's hand. Eren leaned in to see how Levi opened it with his keys, before handing it back to his friend.
"Cool," Eren said, and looked up again, only to realize that their friends wasn't anywhere to be seen. "Fuck, where did they go?" he yelled, making Levi look up as well. They looked around them, but couldn't spot any of the three. They tried to push their way further ahead, thinking that Hanji had managed to get them closer to the stage, but it was no use.
"Fuck this shit!" Levi yelled, and grabbed onto Eren's t-shirt to make sure they didn't get separated as well. "Hey, let's move back! If they ditch us like that, at least I wanna be closer to the beer-stall!"
The two of them enjoyed the rest of the concert from the back and managed to drink quite a few beers. Eren, who was already starting to feel drunk by the time they met Levi, Erwin and Erd, began to feel his head getting lighter and knew he would get a hangover the next day. Levi seemed to be there too, looking happy and relaxed, moving to the music.
After the concert, everybody moved back to the festival, making it impossible for Eren and Levi to spot their three friends. They grabbed onto each others arms to make sure they weren't pushed away from each other by the overwhelming amount of people suddenly passing them.
"Come on, let's find another place to wait for them," Eren said and pulled the raven-haired with him away from the masses.
Walking past the beer-stall once again, they decided to buy a few bottles of beer and go to the dock, where they would text Hanji and the others to meet them there.
The dock was rather remote from the festival, and as the lights from the booths couldn't reach it, it was only illuminated by the stars and moonlight. No one else was down there, as people wanted to enjoy the festival as much as possible before closing-time.
Eren and Levi sat down at the edge of the dock, letting their legs hang over the dark water. The brunette pulled out his cellphone to text Hanji and tell her where they were.
"I can't remember when was the last time I was at a concert," Eren sighed and took a large sip of his beer.
"Really? I do that quite often," Levi said while looking out over the ocean, "There's nothing like live rock-music."
"There's nothing like rock-music in general," Eren submitted, thinking back at his childhood, where he used to dance around in the living-room with his mother while listening to old rock-music.
"You really like rock-music?" Levi asked, sending the brunette a bright smile, "You look more like a pop-guy."
"Yeah, it's the flower-crown," Eren said sarcastically, "I always get mistaken for a pop-guy while wearing it. Look-" he removed the flower-crown from his head and placed it on Levis soft black locks, "- now you look like a pop-guy as well!"
Levi laughed loudly, obviously drunk, but Eren thought he had a cute laugh and it suited him to laugh uncontrollably. As the raven-haired emptied his beer, his hair fell back a bit and revealed his pierced ear. Eren noticed he was sitting at the other side of Levi from where he sat that afternoon at the raven-haired's room, and remembered how he had started counting his piercings. Counting the piercings in his ear, Eren added seven to the twelve piercings in his other ear and the one in his eyebrow.
They heard a loud bang and looked up, where fireworks lit up on the dark sky. Levi looked at the colourful lights' reflection in the water as the fireworks kept painting the night in beautiful colours. Eren turned his attention towards Levi again, who studied the fireworks.
"You're counting my piercings again, aren't you?" Levi asked and turned his head towards Eren.
"Kinda..." Eren said, too drunk to come up with a lie.
"So how many have you counted so far?"
Eren spend a moment adding the numbers and answered: "Twenty."
"You're missing one then," Levi smirked and opened another beer with his keys. Looking back at Eren's puzzled face, the brunette obviously counting his piercings over and over again, Levi smiled and stuck out his tongue to reveal a shining gold-piercing. Eren looked at the shining metal for a moment before Levi hid it in his mouth again.
"Nope," he giggled, "You never showed me that one."
"Well, I don't have it for show," Levi smirked teasingly, his grey eyes shining in the moon-light. As Eren looked at Levi, he suddenly noticed how handsome the raven-haired man actually was. Eren wasn't stupid, he could see that Levi was handsome from the moment they met, but it was different now. The way his eyes shined in the moon-light and his black locks reflected the light from the festival behind them.
Eren looked at the thin lips, where the tongue-piercing was hidden and noticed how pretty Levi's lips actually were. As Eren kept looking from Levis eyes to his lips and back again, the raven-haired man's smirk slowly faded and was replaced with a piercing but gentle look. He looked at the drunken green eyes as they kept staring at his lips.
Eren moved a bit closer subconsciously, and slowly leaned in, making the gab between them smaller. He didn't really know why, but he just had to know if Levi's lips were as soft as they looked. Looking up at Levi's grey orbs again, he locked eyes with the raven-haired, who didn't move a single inch.
"I found you!" Hanji beamed, just before Eren's lips touched those attractive soft-looking lips, and both of them jerked back by the sudden loud noise from their friend. "Erd! Erwin! I found them!"
Eren and Levi got on their feet, both blushing slightly by the thought of what Hanji had almost been witness to. It seemed like she was too drunk to have noticed anything though.
"You two shorties are just way to hard to find in a place like this!" Hanji laughed and took Levi's beer from his hand, taking a large sip.
As it dawned on Eren what had almost happened, he decided to follow her example and emptied his almost full beer. Not wanting to be able to remember what had just happened, he opened up another beer, and while the five of them walked back towards the festival, he drank till he was absolutely sure he wouldn't be able to remember anything in the morning, even if it meant he would be hangover until Monday.
A/N: I must say, I really adore this story myself. I love writing it, and I keep coming up with new ideas. I'm not sure how long the story will be yet, but there's enough story for many chapters!
So, thank you for reading! I hope you enjoy it just as much as I do, and please leave a review if you like it. Or if you hate it. Reviews are my best motivation, even though this story almost writes itself. And thanks for all the reviews, favourites and follows so far! I hope you're not disappointed in the story. I am doing my very best here.
Oh, and somehow I made accidental ships in this chapter! I never thought of shipping Hanji and Erd before writing this chapter, but now I kinda dig it. Whoopsie!
Thank you again for reading, you guys are the best!