A/N: This was originally supposed to be chapter 9.5, a small insert, but I got carried away and it turned into a full chapter. Next chapter is officially the last chapter, though!
It took Eren Jaeger about 15 minutes and 23 seconds before he tuned his professor out, letting his mind wander as his eyes glazed over with boredom.
No one mentioned culinary college would involve listening to someone talk for hours. All the brochures showed were smiling students actually cooking. He jiggled his leg in an attempt to stay conscious, feeling his phone shift around in his pocket. He was going to pass out if he didn't have something to grab his attention. Who the fuck was the genius who came up with 7AM classes, anyway?
His hand twitched toward his pocket as he kept his eyes glued on the professor, aware that he was in a room with about 200 other people and the man probably couldn't care less. Stealthily, he pulled out his phone and slid his thumb across the smooth screen to unlock it.
... Who was he even going to text?
Mikasa was out, she'd lecture him on not paying attention. Armin wouldn't text back if he was in the middle of class. Rivaille...
Would probably yell at him about wasting his money, if he wasn't in a meeting. It still seemed odd to Eren, that he didn't have Rivaille's schedule memorized anymore. Not that long ago, that was his job. He frowned a little bit, suddenly feeling out of the loop. Numbly fingering the silver ring on his other hand, he wondered what Rivaille was up to.
Letting his curiosity get the better of him, Eren opened up Snapchat and hit the photo button. (ignoring the 15 unopened Snaps from Hanji. Sometimes he thought she missed him more than his boyfriend did.).
Rivaille was just going to love his appearance. He had just dragged himself out of bed, with his messy mop-hair and wrinkled "it smells clean so it must be clean" shirt. He smiled softly at the thought of Rivaille crinkling up his nose in disgust, holding out his phone in front of him. With one hand he pulled his nose up pig-style, went cross-eyed and mustered up the dopiest grin his mouth would let him. With the other he held the phone steady, pressing the capture button and praying that it was centered.
He blinked a few times at the image as he pulled the phone back down into his lap, biting the side of his cheek to keep from laughing out loud. What a masterpiece. Stifling a snicker, he sent the image to Rivaille and waited.
It wasn't even a few minutes later that Eren received the reply. Excited, he snatched up his phone again and grinned when he saw the response.
It was so typical of Rivaille, a seemingly deadpan face to anyone who didn't know his little nuances, couldn't point out the slightly amused glimmer in that always-straight face of his. "Attractive" was written across the center, and Eren only had 5 seconds to admire the rare picture of his lover before it disappeared again.
He frowned, realizing he probably should have taken a screenshot before it expired. It wasn't very often that Rivaille sent Eren pictures of himself. (although he got plenty of River. As cute as the cat was, that wasn't really what he was looking for when he Snapchatted Rivaille.) Closing out of the app, he pulled up his texts and tapped Rivaille's name.
"Eren Jaeger
7:32 AM
wait can you send me another pic pleaaase"
He received another message back almost instantly.
"Rivaille
7:32 AM
No."
Eren furrowed his brows at the reply. He should have known better, but still...
"Eren Jaeger
7:34 AM
please? i miss you. a lot. i havent seen you since x-mas break."
He pressed the button on top of his phone, feeling a little triumphant. Rivaille's weak-spots were so easy to pinpoint.
Smirking when his phone buzzed shortly after, the cheeky grin was wiped off of his face as quickly as he had plastered it on there. A picture of Levi, sure-with half of his scowling face covered by his middle finger. Eren frowned, but took a snapshot of it anyway. Something was better than nothing.
He slipped his phone back into his pocket, not bothering to send a reply. That'd probably get the message across that he wasn't very amused by Levi's antics. Class was about to end anyway. Eren eyed the clock, tapping his foot restlessly. Just a few more minutes...
... And then he would get to see his roommate. Jean. The thought almost made Eren groan out loud. The insufferable prick Eren had the misfortune to attend high school with. He'd almost choked when he saw Jean unpacking in their shared room. Granted, he had matured a lot over the two years they'd been in college together.
He was still an asshat though. Just a little mellowed.
Eren was snapped back to the present by the shuffling of chairs around him, indicating that class was dismissed. Thank God. Grabbing his bag, he threw the strap over his shoulder and headed for the door.
x
"'Sup." Jean greeted as Eren entered the dorm, noticeably shirtless (displaying those telltale scratches from his shoulders down his back). Eren resisted the urge to gag, opting to throw his bag on the floor and grab a Mountain Dew from the mini-fridge over responding to the other college student. Jean's eyes narrowed as he tossed a pillow in Eren's direction.
"Hey, dickweed, I was talking to you. Stop acting uppity, I have a question to ask."
Eren turned to him, raising an eyebrow. "Is it about my sister?"
"No-well, yes-but not in the way that you think. Hey, toss that pillow back to me?"
Eren picked the pillow up from the ground and threw it back to him, rolling his eyes. "She's not going to date you. Give it up."
Catching the pillow deftly, Jean tucked it behind his head and propped himself up against the wall. "Whatever! I'm over that anyway-" he took a pause for dramatic effect, wiggling his eyebrows at Eren. "As you know."
If he was referring to the incident Eren thought he was referring to, (that involved Eren coming home rather late to find Jean's tongue down some freckled boy's throat) then unfortunately enough, he did. Eren didn't bother hiding the gagging noises this time.
"Oh, whatever, Sir "Riiiiivaaaille I miss you sooooo much!"." Eren ground his teeth together at the impersonation as Jean smirked. "Gonna give me another bloody nose, Eren Jaeger?"
"Nah, you're not worth it." he sneered, annoyance bubbling in the pit of his gut. "Hurry up and ask your damn question"
"Right. Yeah." Jean paused again, tilting his head just slightly. "How long has your sister been a lesbian?"
Eren blinked.
"You know," Jean stressed, "Girls, that like girls?" earning another dirty look from Eren.
"I know what a lesbian is, Jean, I just-"
Honestly, Eren had never really given much thought to his sister's sexuality at all. Why would he? She'd always been intelligent past her years and independent, he'd always figured that she'd choose a good partner if she wanted one.
"Well," Jean leaned forward, off of the pillows on his bed, staring seriously at Eren. "I always kind of figured that she and Armin would get together. But according to Marco-" dreamy sigh"-who, by the way, goes to school with them, she's dating some short blonde. Anna, or Annie or something."
"... Oh."
Jean smirked, the gloating clear in his voice. "Yeah. Don't believe me? Why not call her up and ask?"
Eren shrugged, flinging the empty bottle in the bin with a loud clatter. "It's none of my business who Mikasa dates, as long as she's happy." He sauntered over to his bed, flopping down on it and staring up at the ceiling. Jean snorted.
"It bothers you."
Eren rolled his eyes. "It does not. I don't give a shit whether or not my adopted sister is gay."
"Not that. The fact that you just got bumped to number 2 from Mikasa's priority list"
Eren shot up to properly glare at his roommate, something bitter boiling in him, working something awful. That Mountain Dew was a mistake. "What the fuck are you-"
"Hmm." Jean raised an eyebrow, nonchalantly flopping down on the mattress again. "Ignorance doesn't fit you. Let's be honest now, what's the real reason you hated me all through high school? Couldn't stand the thought of your precious little sister taking her attention off of you?"
"That's bullshit." His wavering voice shattered his false resolve. "Bullshit! I hated you because you were, and you still are, a fucking douchebag!"
"Poor little Eren." Jean continued, ignoring the threatening glare Eren was sending him. "His sister's decided to move on and stop doting on him-"
Jean's sentence was cut off by Eren's fist connecting with his jaw.
x
"You broke your roommate's nose?" Rivaille's anger radiated through the phone. Eren looked down and shifted uncomfortably.
"Yeah, but he got a swing in too and gave me a black eye so he's not going to report it. I won't get in any trouble."
He heard Rivaille sigh over the line, before his voice cut in again. "Did he deserve it though?"
"Hell yes."
Rivaille clicked his tongue. "Since you aren't volunteering to tell me, I won't ask. Don't go around picking fights, and stay in school, brat."
Eren relaxed. "I will. He had it coming anyway." And before Rivaille could respond, "By the way, have you talked to my sister lately?"
"... No."
Eren paused, furrowing his eyebrows together, eyes widening in disbelief. Did Rivaille just…
"... Are you lying to me?"
"Possibly."
He gaped blankly, fumbling as his phone slipped from his hand. Rivaille had to keep secrets all his life, be it switching topics or withholding information, but...
"You're a surprisingly bad liar. Why were you talking to my sister?"
"I didn't say I was."
"Rivaille"
A tch was heard from the receiver, just before Rivaille spoke again. "Two months until graduation. Goodluckbye."
His phone beeped twice and Eren slumped into his bed.
x
When they say distance makes the heart fonder, they aren't fucking kidding.
(They also omit the parts where distance makes the heart angrier and more paranoid and grumpier, but that doesn't sound quite as poetic.)
They also say that time heals everything, though Rivaille strongly disagrees. The first few months were easy, at least compared to what it was like after Eren came back for summer break and left again in the fall. It was almost getting harder to let go each time he came back. The longer the break was, the worse it felt letting him go back to his education.
He felt like a selfish child
Especially now, as he stared at his phone and rubbed his forehead. Eren was a good kid, a little impulsive and a lot stupid, sure, but he wasn't supposed to be getting into fights. He complained about his roommate all the time, but Rivaille never thought it would escalate into anything physical. It would be so easy to convince Eren to come back early and finish the few credits he needed to graduate at another time-
But that would also effectively ruin his own plan, one that he had put months of work into, one that was finally coming together. He couldn't risk that.
Rivaille leaned back in his chair and stretched, ignoring the annoyed look River shot him from his spot on Rivaille's lap. Brushing him off as he stood up from the chair, he snickered at the way the cat puffed up on the floor.
"Yeah, you little shit, be pissy. But guess who's getting only dry food this week?"
River promptly turned around and padded off into another room.
Rolling his eyes, Rivaille grabbed his phone from the table and walked toward the kitchen, sending a short text to Mikasa.
"Call your brother. I think he's mad at me."
The response came less than 2 minutes later, just as Rivaille was working on popping a frozen dinner into the microwave.
"He's not mad, he's confused. And interrogating me. I didn't tell him anything. He's saying weird things though, I think he knows about Annie. Did you tell him?"
Rivaille smirked at the text. He figured it would have only been a matter of time before he found out anyway. Then again, him finding out about Annie would prompt questions about how they met-which would inevitably lead to him finding out that the petite blonde was Rivaille's new assistant. It wasn't supposed to be a secret, but Eren had never asked about it before and Rivaille had never mentioned it. Still, telling him now probably wouldn't be the best idea.
He typed back a quick response before setting the microwave timer.
"I didn't say anything about that to him. Don't mention she's my assistant."
Rivaille's phone buzzed yet again a few minutes later, with another message from Mikasa. The microwave beeped behind him as he read the message.
"He doesn't know? You know he's gonna find out sooner or later?"
"And he would have found out about your little affair sooner or later, too, so I don't want to hear it."
The message was sent as Rivaille pulled the tray out of the microwave. Just the smell of it made him miss Eren's cooking. But, if everything worked out as planned, that wouldn't even be a problem anymore.
If there was one good thing he could say about Annie, it was that she had become a valuable bargaining tool. At first, Mikasa hadn't been very apt to cooperate with him-even if it was for Eren. But after a few happy accidents and introductions, Levi had that one little piece hanging above Mikasa's head. She owed him for setting them up.
(Even if it was accidental.)
That wasn't all the convincing it took, but he was sure that was a good majority of it. He didn't even have to say it to her, because Mikasa was nothing if not good at repaying what she felt she owed someone.
Eren didn't know it know, but this would all be worth it when he got to see the surprise.
Shoveling the last of the TV dinner into his mouth, he dumped the black tray into the trash and pulled up Skype on his phone. With a sigh, he called Eren into a video chat, knowing better than to let their last conversation sit and marinate with the temperamental teen.
He answered after only a few seconds, his pouty face showing up on the screen as it loaded. Rivaille had to stop himself from rolling his eyes at the childish sight. He'd seen that face half an hour ago on their hissy cat.
"What, are you mad?" he raised an eyebrow to further get his point across that he didn't think this was cute. Eren shook his head.
"M'just tired." he responded, and Rivaille noted that he was in his pajamas in bed. "And confused. Plus, you never call me first, so I'm nervous."
Rivaille sighed. "You make it sound like I neglect you or something, you brat. Are you still worried about the Mikasa thing?"
Shrug. Rivaille clicked his tongue.
"I'm not having an affair with her, nor am I planning on killing anyone with her, so with those two things out of the way: don't fucking worry about it." He tapped his fingers on the table in front of him at Eren's unconvinced face,. "Do you trust me?"
"... Yeah."
"Then don't worry about it. Besides, you're being a little hypocrite, worrying about me after knocking some kid's face in."
Eren actually looking guilty at that one, dipping his head down. "Yeah, I guess you're right." he brought his head back up, a small smile playing on his lips. "Promise you're not getting into any trouble?"
"I swear at the risk of going bald like Connie."
Rivaille got a full grin this time. "Now you really better not be getting into any trouble."
"How superficial of you. What, don't think I could pull off the waxed look?"
Eren scrunched up his nose at him, shaking his head. "If I wanted to be dating someone who looked like a bald 12 year old, I'd date Connie." he shuddered.
Rivaille snickered. "I think you just insulted me. I'm hanging up."
"Wait!" Eren shook the camera in an attempt to catch Rivaille's attention, frowning. "Just... Swear you're not doing anything stupid?"
Levi rolled his eyes. "I already swore on my hair, what else do you want? Focus on finishing school and not killing your roommate."
"Alright, alright." Eren grinned again, mustering up the cheesiest smile he could manage. "I love you."
"I love you too. Goodnight."
"'Night."
A/N: Long time no see!
I had no idea I was going to get this busy throughout the last month or so, and I apologize for that. Senior year has been crazy. (And I was promised it's supposed to be the easiest year!) But now that I'm done applying to colleges and everything, I should be back in swing.
Although, there's only one chapter left. Next is the final chapter! Aw man, this might make me be a little sad.
As always, thank you guys for reading and thank my beta teajing for beta-ing! (And tolerating me and my huge hiatus there.)
EDIT: someone reminded me to do this. IF you guys are interested in seeing fanart that's been drawn for this/my other stories, or interested in seeing updates/stuff like that, I have a writing blog on tumblr (freshia-na) where I reblog and post things related to my fics. A lot of it is me just being chatty and answering questions, though, sorry! There's a link on my profile, too, if you want.