The next morning, Eren is not feeling much better. At all. In fact, he would say he's feeling even worse thanks to the forty-five minutes of sleep he had gotten. Somehow, he manages to hide from Mikasa the fact that Armin is staying in their apartment, and he's relieved when she finally heads out the door to meet with some of her colleagues.
Armin sleeps well into the afternoon, and while Eren is sure that rest will only help Armin's body heal itself, the hours drag by painfully, forcing him to replay Jean's crafty words over and over in his brain. He tries to shake it off, to reject Jean's obvious emotional manipulation.
Not my fault. Not my fault. Not my fault.
The words become a mantra for him, a kind of prayer that he reverts to whenever he starts speculating on what part he might have played in what happened to Armin last night.
When Armin finally does wake up, Eren springs into action, thankful for something to do. He heats up some chicken broth on the stove and gets more ice from the freezer for Armin's bruises.
"I need to ask you some questions, Armin," he starts, anxious for whatever answers await him. Armin looks up from his mostly finished bowl with a questioning expression, nodding for Eren to continue.
"Are you on any anxiety medication?"
Eren's stomach drops when he sees the deer-in-the-headlights expression on Armin's face. He gets a slow nod in response to his question.
"Did you leave it behind before you came here?"
Another slow nod, and now Eren can see the dawning realization on Armin's face. The horrifying understanding that Jean had come to the apartment and had managed to make contact with Eren while Armin had slept.
Before Eren can ask his next question though, Armin is setting aside his bowl and rifling through the knapsack he'd brought with him. Eren watches curiously as Armin takes out his phone, and he panics for a moment thinking that Armin might be about to contact Jean. It's quiet as Armin types something into his phone, and after a few minutes Eren hears the distinct ping of a new message. Armin's eyes scan the screen and he lets out a small sigh of relief. Wordlessly, he hands Eren the phone so he can read it.
Armin—I can have an emergency prescription sent to your pharmacy. Please be more careful in the future so as not to lose your medication again. Regards, Dr. Stillion.
It feels as though a heavy weight is being lifted off of Eren's chest. He silently praises Armin's brilliant mind and ability to stay calm and calculated even in the most stressful situations.
"I can go pick this up for you. Are you going to be alright by yourself here?" Eren asks as he hands the phone back. A fond smile graces Armin's features as he nods in assurance.
Eren lets out his own relieved sigh. He doesn't have to see Jean. And that's all that matters.
Eren is feeling calm and relaxed as he leaves the pharmacy, Armin's medication in hand. He had also grabbed some extra first aid supplies to help speed up Armin's recovery process.
It's when he's walking out the door that he sees it.
A far-too-familiar looking pickup truck. Jet black and modified beyond belief, the beast sits in the parking lot—menacing even when stationary.
Eyes lock through the glass of the windshield, and Eren sees the smirk as Jean opens the door and exits the vehicle.
No no no!
This isn't supposed to happen. Jean is supposed to be at his own apartment, waiting for Eren to come knocking to beg for Armin's medication. How did Jean even know that Eren would be here?
"Eren? Is that you?"
Jean stops in his tracks and Eren turns to see Hanji standing there, looking at him with her slightly maniacal smile. Eren grabs onto the small salvation. As scary as Hanji is, he would much rather engage with her than with Jean.
"Hi Hanji." The smile on Eren's face isn't even fake and he sighs in relief when he catches sight of Jean's retreating form out of the corner of his eye.
"I thought that was you!" she laughs, completely oblivious to the nightmare she has just prevented.
Outside of her Ludus get-up, Hanji actually looks fairly normal—all creepy grinning aside. Sporting simple jeans and a t-shirt, she isn't nearly as intimidating as she was the night before.
Eren hears the obnoxious revving of a truck and the tires squealing as it peals out of the parking lot. But he can't assume that he's out of the woods yet. That kind of thinking is exactly how you fall into Jean's traps. Eren had already somehow fell into one of them just by coming to the pharmacy. Step one is always false sense of security.
"Would you like to join me and Petra for lunch?" Hanji's voice breaks through Eren's muddled thoughts.
"Absolutely!" The reply is perhaps a bit too enthusiastic, but compared to Hanji's personality in general it's still pretty tame.
It's not until Eren is sitting across the table from Petra and Hanji that he realizes how little he thought this through. Individually, the two girls are overwhelming enough. But together, it's like a barrage of excitement and interest. And interest is the last thing Eren wants while trying to hide the fact that his ex is essentially hunting him.
Thankfully, they don't assault him with questions about his (not quite yet) sex life with Erwin and Levi. Apparently that kind of talk is reserved for Ludus when all parties being discussed are present.
"So you're a writer?" Petra asks before taking a vicious bite from her sandwich. Watching this girl eat is both a terrifying and fascinating experience.
"Uh, yeah. Well, most of my work consist of freelance jobs online."
"Do you have a genre that you prefer over others?"
"I'd like to write more fiction but most of the jobs I receive are for research articles and things like that. I am working on a novel currently but it's no where near finished."
This feels a lot like a job interview of sorts, and Eren wonders if perhaps it is. The way that Petra and Hanji are looking at him makes him feel like he's under some kind of spotlight. He knows from their discussion last night that both girls have known Levi and Erwin for years, and Eren can't help but sense that he's being assessed and scrutinized to determine whether or not he's a good fit for the two older men.
A flash of movement outside the café window makes Eren startle a bit, and his eyes frantically scour the parking lot for any sign of Jean's monster of a truck.
"Everything okay?" Hanji asks, looking at him shrewdly. It reminds Eren of the way that Mikasa looks at him whenever she suspects he's keeping something important from her.
"Yeah, I'm great!
And wow, even Eren knows that his words sound far from convincing.
He's saved from having to explain himself when his cell phone alerts him to a new text message. It's from Armin.
I think Jean came by. I don't know for certain, but there was a lot of yelling and banging on the door so I can only assume. Whoever it was just left. Are you coming back soon?
It feels like a block of ice has settled into his stomach. For one thing, Jean is now officially stalking him; for another, it's clear that Armin is scared. Terrified even.
"Sorry. Something's just come up," Eren babbles, hand fishing into his pocket for his wallet. "I'll see you guys soon, yeah?" Without waiting for a response, Eren slaps down some money on the table and is out the door before either girl could say a thing.
Eren has smoked marijuana before, and the paranoia that had accompanied the high had driven him crazy. But that was nothing compared to how he feels now as he pulls into his apartment complex. There's a very good chance that Jean is here somewhere, just waiting for the opportune moment to pounce.
He's jumpy and skittish as he walks up the stairs to his floor, head constantly swiveling for any sign of Jean.
It's not until he's inside the apartment with the door locked behind him that Eren allows himself a deep sigh of relief, feeling relatively safe for now.
"Armin! I'm back. I'll make you some more soup so you don't take these pills on an empty stomach."
Eren doesn't wait for an answer because he knows that Armin's vocal chords are likely still healing. But his heart nearly leaps out of his chest when he turns from the bubbling pot on the stove to see Mikasa standing in the kitchen doorway. She doesn't look very impressed.
"You're home," Eren says stupidly.
"Yes, imagine my surprise when I came home for lunch to find that we have ourselves a house guest."
Armin emerges from behind her with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders and an apologetic look on his face, as if it's his fault Eren hadn't told Mikasa that he was staying here.
Despite the fact that Armin is on the mend, there is still very obvious evidence of the abuse he's suffered. The bruises on his neck stand out in stark contrast to his pale skin.
"I have an explanation," Eren tries to assure Mikasa, although internally, he is panicking.
"Armin already told me the whole story, Eren."
That surprises him. Even after three years of not living under Jean's rule, Eren has still not told her the particulars of their relationship. A swell of pride starts to form in his chest.
"I can't believe people are still gay-bashing in this town. I thought we had a more accepting community than that," Mikasa says off-handedly, approaching the counter and starting to ladle some soup into a bowl for Armin.
Wait, what?
Suddenly any pride he might have felt only moments ago deflates, leaving Eren feeling hollow and defeated. Because immediately, he realizes that he and Armin are in trouble. Trapped. Trapped with this horrible secret that, in their opinion, no one must know. Sure, he had told Erwin and Levi, but that had been a discussion of the past—a past that Eren had believed would stay very much in the past. And it had been doing a great job of that. That is until it came banging on his door in the middle of the night and demanding entry.
"Um…" is his intelligent response. Mikasa doesn't seem to notice; too busy rifling through the drawers for a soupspoon.
Eren and Armin stare at each other, both realizing how much trouble they are in.
Levi doesn't usually care for what Erwin likes to call lazy days: days spent lying in bed well into the early afternoon, alternating between talking, kissing, and napping. However, today is an exception. Levi is feeling particularly happy, and despite the regularly positive influence Erwin has on his life, Levi is rarely in any mood better than mildly annoyed outside of a scene.
Last night had been something out of a dream. It was like the picture that Erwin has been painting for years finally came to life. Having Eren under his feet had been thrilling, and he knows that the boy had felt the intense connection between the three of them as he sat at their feet.
So instead of grumbling something about needing to spend the day more productively, Levi turns over to face Erwin's sleeping form and snuggles into his arms.
"Mmm…" Erwin mumbles with a small smile while he wakes, having only been dozing. His arms tighten around Levi's waist, holding him close. Levi revels in the shared contentment that seems to have settled in and around them.
So of course, the moment is interrupted by the jarring sound of Levi's ringtone.
"Uggghhh," he groans, reaching over to snatch up the phone from the nightstand. He sees Hanji's name on the caller I.D. and decides that she can wait and he will call her back later. He silences the phone, tosses it onto the nightstand, and goes back to snuggling Erwin.
Levi's ready to put Hanji's head through a wall when Erwin's phone starts blaring moments later. This time he does grumble, something about "intrusive idiots" as Erwin retrieves his cell phone from the other nightstand. Levi wants to tell him to ignore the call, but Erwin never ignores calls.
"Hello Hanji. How are you?"
"Is Levi with you?" Hanji's voice is uncharacteristically serious, and Erwin frowns, turning to look at Levi.
"Hold on a sec." Erwin presses the speakerphone button. "You've got both of us. What's going on?" He now looks thoroughly concerned.
"Have you spoken to Eren since last night?"
"No, why? Is something wrong?"
"I ran into him earlier today and invited him to lunch with me and Petra. But the whole time he was jittery and constantly looking over his shoulder. And then he suddenly jumped up and ran out of the café. We tried to go after him but by the time we got out to the parking lot he was gone. I think he's in trouble."
Erwin turns to Levi and doesn't even need to speak. Levi is already scrolling through his phone for Eren's number. He immediately puts the phone on speaker, and the three of them all listen as it rings once, twice—
"Hi, this is Eren Jaeger. I can't answer the phone right now…"
Levi hangs up before the voicemail message even finishes. Eren rejected his call. It's moments like this when Levi needs Erwin. Complex human interaction for him is generally all or nothing, and Erwin is better at dealing with more nuanced and complicated situations.
"What do you think is wrong?" Levi asks, because he needs some theory to grab onto in order to calm down his now racing mind. The bottom of his stomach drops out when Erwin's face darkens.
"I don't know what. But I have a feeling that I know who."