"You've been acting weird all evening" Eren glanced up from his crossed legs and reached for a chip ignoring the dark-haired girl speaking to his ear. Armin was engaged in a conversation with Annie and her two friends listened carefully nodding along. Ymir whispered something in Reiner's ear that may have been offensive for he cursed at her as she hid behind Historia's small frame laughing exaggeratedly. Connie was lying on the ground with his palm covering his head "We had the same amount of alcohol" exclaimed Sasha incredulous seeing her friend in that state.

"How much did you drink?" Marco asked confused and concerned.

"One beer." The freckled boy burst out laughing and it took another look at Connie for the brunette girl to cackle as well. Jean took from the tote bag he had thrown onto the center of the circle a pile of shot-sized cups and the rest of the drinks they had bought.

Eren knew Mikasa was still expecting an explanation, but he couldn't bring himself to even think of one.

"Let's play a game!" Jean stood up on his feet at once and began handing out the small cups that would later be filled with cheap alcoholic drinks "It's called 'Drink or Dare'" Mikasa faced the dirty blond as he explained the rules of the game allowing Eren to dodge her attention. "I'll start." Jean announced, sitting down on the grass again. They had managed to enter the rugby court, for the gate was unlocked. The lights remained on for the late-night joggers. The beautiful colors of the sky had been replaced by a dark blue and the warmth of the sun by a cool breeze. "Eren," Jean yelled with a crooked smile planted on his long face. The brown-haired boy stared at him with dead eyes, after all he wasn't surprised, Jean took every opportunity to mess with him. "admit I'm taller, smarter and better looking than you-"

"I'll admit you're taller" he rolled his eyes

"Admit all three or-"

"I'll drink."

"-or do four shots" the dark blond smoothed his hair and leaned back supporting his weight with his arms with a victorious grin on his lips. He noticed Eren in conflict with himself, but it came to a halt. He reached for the bottle of transparent liquor and poured some into his red plastic cup. He locked eyes with Jean raising the liquid as if to say 'cheers' and gulped it down. He repeated the process three more times. It took only a minute for him to start feeling the effects of the alcohol in his bloodstream; he didn't mind though, he realized he could use some forgetting. "Since you are a chicken, it's my turn again" announced the taller boy, he had clearly been drinking before the game had started. "Sasha," she looked up at him smiling sweetly as she munched on a chip "kiss one of the girls", but as soon as he finished the demand everyone booed him "Hey! Hate the game not the player."

Sasha looked around at her female friends. If she hadn't regretted having a few drinks before, she definitely regretted it in that moment. She had barely talked to Annie and Ymir scared her; she wanted to ask Historia who seemed more approachable, but Ymir shot her a petrifying glare. "Mikasa… I don't want to drink…"

Eren chortled, "Mikasa's not go-" but before he could finish, the raven girl crawled toward Sasha drawing her hand to the other's cheek and placed a peck on her plump lips. "Thank you" the brunette mouthed and Mikasa nodded in response. "Are you happy, you perv?".

Sasha dared Reiner to make out with Ymir, which got him five shots drunker. The game continued and by the end everyone had taken shots at least three times, between the casual sips of beer. Sasha fell asleep on Connie's belly whilst he laid nostalgic staring at the moving clouds; Historia and Ymir ended up going to their dorm room earlier; the remaining people were laughing hysterically at everything and anything. They ended up learning a lot about each other, the question was how much of it they would remember the next morning. "It's getting cold" Mikasa murmured, snuggled up in Armin's arms "we should go." As soon as she spoke a noise was heard from behind the bleachers. It could have been a wild animal like a fox, or even the security guard patrolling the area, yet they thought of serial killers first. In a rush, they got up and ran heading the dormitory building, laughing and stumbling – not as quietly as they should be when fleeing from a murderer. Eren looked back to see what they were trying to escape from, but he couldn't spot anyone or hear any sound but the sound of his alcoholized friends. Then he saw him. Through blurry vision that made the trees move and the ground melt under his feet he saw a familiar frame jogging near the court. "I- I think were running away from a- from a hare" Eren lied trying to form a coherent sentence. More laughter. "I'm going to see if- if- if it got stuck s- somewhere" the speech was slower than it should have been, but his friends continued. "Text me when you get to your dorm!" Mikasa did her best to be heard.

Eren recognized the undercut hairstyle that bounced up and down as he moved forward. He wore black shorts and a petroleum blue shirt. He stopped. A slight wave of panic travelled through the boy's body. The man put his hand on his knees and took a few deep breaths before coming near a drinking fountain and wetting his face and head. Eren was close, but it was dark, and the bushes and the trees camouflaged him. It wasn't clear to him why he had stayed behind or why he was hidden; was he going to say something to the runner? Well, he couldn't just return now, the man would know he had been spying on him. He lifted his shirt to wipe his face showing his athletic torso underneath. He pulled his black drenched hair away from his flushed face and jumped in place preparing to resume his workout, but he didn't take the first step. He turned his face in Eren's direction as a response to a crackling noise he'd heard. The boy's heart stopped, and his stomach rose to his throat when he realized he'd leaned forward and his right foot had followed, stepping on a twig. "Fuck" he muttered.

"You're going to come out from behind that bush," the man said in an indifferent tone "before I get you out myself" Eren felt dizzier and more light-headed than moments ago. He tried to give in to the threat, but somehow the floor fled from below him and he fell hands first on Levi's feet. "Eren?" The boy, realizing how ridiculous he must be looking, rolled on the ground to be facing up. The older one seemed concerned, but all the boy could do was laugh at furrowed eyebrows and preoccupied eyes. He closed his eyes and brought his hand to his forehead, though he quickly regretted it; he felt like he was on a boat during a storm, the whole world was rocking. "You're really pale" Levi stated. Eren knew. He was either going to pass out or throw up. "You've been drinking" The man extended his hand to catch Eren's and pulled him up on his feet, but once in a vertical position Eren turned around and emptied his stomach. He felt a soft hand on his back and light warm fingers on his forehead. He was so focused on how terrible he felt that he didn't even feel embarrassed. "What were you doing hiding there?"

"I- I- I was…" he tried to come up with a plausible excuse, but his brain had shut down and his whole body shivered "wondering why you don't listen to music when you work out"

The man rolled his eyes incredulous "To be aware of creeps like you" He smiled, "come on" he slid under Eren's arm and clenched his waist.

"My dorm is- is that way…" Semi-closed green eyes stared vaguely at the trees

"You're not going to your dorm."