Eren was sitting in class, ears totally focused on the sound of the door opening. He hadn't heard a single thing Shadis had said. He glanced backwards for the 12th time. He was watching the door, too.

After about 10 minutes it swung open and the weird guy slid in silently. Eren took him in. Yep, still handsome as fuck, still dressed in black. The man sat down and quietly took out his book and his notebook and a pencil. He must not own a laptop or tablet.

What was his deal? If he was so poor how did he pay for school? Obviously he worked but doing what?

The guy opened his book and, for a second his gaze swept the room.

Eren turned quickly back around and pretended to take notes.

He snuck glances at the man the entire class period.

The next day Eren took every opportunity to stare at the weird guy from class. He even planned on following him after but the guy had slipped quickly out before him and was gone. He had just stepped into the quad, looking around, hoping to spot him, when he heard a raised voice.

"For god's sake, just leave me alone!"

Eren turned at the girl's irate voice. It was Sasha, one of the girls from class, her hands clenched into fists. "Floch, I already told you 'no'! No means no!"

Floch was not in their class but Eren had seen him around, a scrawny, nondescript boy with his blond hair styled in an elaborate fall over his forehead.

"You foid sluts are all the same!" Floch snapped, jabbing a finger at Sasha. Eren frowned and stepped forward.

Someone brushed past Eren then, nudging him hard enough to push him slightly off balance. To his profound shock, Eren realized it was the weird guy. The man stepped between Sasha and Floch and regarded Floch narrowly. Eren gaped.

"She said to leave her alone," the guy said in a low growl, hands flexing at his side. Hot damn. Even his voice was sexy; low and deep.

Floch tossed his ridiculous hair out of his eyes and laughed. "Fuck off runt, I'm speaking to the lady."

"No … you're not."

And then he was on him. He seemed to move at superhuman speed, just a blur of black as he barrelled into Floch, catching him mid sternum with his shoulder like an offensive tackle. Floch, caught off guard, went down in a breathless, flailing, tangle of limbs and then the guy was on top of him. Floch had no way to defend himself, his arms were pinned by the guy's knees. The guy punched him several times in the face and the blood flew. Floch, much taller than him, squirmed and tried desperately to throw him off. The guy lost his balance and fell, then rolled clear, gracefully springing back up onto his feet. He assumed a practiced and relaxed defensive position, fists held in front of his face.

Floch scrambled up, holding his bleeding mouth with one hand and his bruised sternum with the other. "You fucking asshole! I'll report this!"

"Run and cry little baby," the guy said, bouncing on his toes.

Floch did just that.

"Fucking incel trash!" The guy yelled. "Don't ever let me see you talking shit to a girl again!"

Eren was blown away. Both by his fighting skills and his vehemence. The other girls had crowded around Sasha.

The weird guy brushed dirt carefully off of his jeans and turned to her. "Are you OK?"

She nodded. "Thank you. You didn't have to do that."

The guy inspected a spot of blood—Floch's blood—on his scrub top and shrugged. "I know, but he pissed me off." He walked past Eren and retrieved his backpack off of the grass. Before Eren could recover from his stupor, the guy had walked off.

The girls were whispering about him.

"I always thought he was so weird and creepy."

"He's so short but he took that asshole down in a second!"

"Why would he do that? He's never talked to any of us in class."

"Why does he dress all in black? Do you think he's in a gang?"

"It was like he'd gone crazy!"

"Did you see all that blood?"

After a moment of indecision, Eren jogged after him.

"Hey … uh!"

The guy paused and turned, staring flatly. His eyes were so pretty, a pale, almost silvery grey.

He resumed walking and Eren fell in beside him.

"That was … well, that was awesome."

The guy didn't reply. He hunched down into his coat more and continued walking.

"Where did you learn how to fight like that?"

"Here and there."

"Well, it was awesome."

The guy shot a glance at him then quickly averted his eyes. "You said that already."

They continued to walk in silence. Jeez, the guy walked fast for a dude with such short legs. Eren shot little admiring glances at him. Fuck, he was so hot.

"So … uh … what are you doing now?"

The guy stopped so abruptly that Eren actually walked several more steps and had to slide to a halt and turn.

"Listen, Kid, I've got to be somewhere." He plucked at his shirt. "I've also got to soak this bloodstain before it sets. What do you need?"

You, Eren thought.

He shoved his hands deep into his jeans pocket. "I just thought maybe … I mean … Would you … uh, like to … y'know, hang out sometime?"

The guy looked genuinely startled and a funny look crossed his face. He immediately shook his head. "Sorry, I can't."

Eren wasn't accepting that. "Can't or won't?"

The guy leveled a look at him. "What do you want here, Kid?"

Eren was losing control of the situation. Maybe the guy actually didn't have the money to go out. "I can pay!" Eren blurted.

The man didn't reply.

"C'mon, it'll be fun."

The guy stared at him and hitched his backpack up higher. "Wait … do you mean hang out or go out?"

Eren blushed fiercely and looked at the tips of the guy's toes. His Cons, though old, were the cleanest he'd ever seen. He shrugged. "Both, maybe?"

"So you're gay."

Eren's bright turquoise gaze met the man's grey one. The funny look was back. What was that? He seemed almost … sad.

"Yeah. You?"

The guy scratched his cheek. "Bi."

Eren grinned. "Then come have a drink with me!"

"How old are you, Kid?"

"21."

"Well, I'm 26. We have completely different life experiences. That's too big a gap." He started to turn away.

Eren sprang forward. "It's not! It's only five years! C'mon, man."

The guy glanced over his shoulder back at him. "I said 'no', kid. No means no."

He walked away into the chilly afternoon, his feet crunching over the frozen grass.

Eren watched him go. Watched as he got to the sidewalk and turned right, toward the poorer part of town. Eren was frustrated and angry. OK, maybe the weird guy had shot him down. Maybe he was not attracted to Eren. Maybe he thought he was too immature.

"I'm not immature!" Eren yelled suddenly, kicking a nearby trash can. The distant man, back to him, didn't react. Eren groaned and held his abused toes, wincing.

OK, that was the opposite of mature.

"Fuck!"

Eren had never even asked the guy his name.

Lunch was the next period and Eren and Jean were grabbing their food in the college cafeteria. They sat and Jean began rambling on, like he did. Eren, ignoring his tray of food, was lost in thought. He was going over the fight and walking with the weird guy. Cringing over how he'd been turned down. He wondered what the guy was doing right th—

"Bruh, you OK? Have you heard a word I've said?"

Eren snapped back to attention. "What? Oh, sorry." He rubbed his forehead distractedly. "Just thinking."

"About what?"

Eren was hesitant.

"What is it, fuckface? You've been broody and quiet since we got here." Jean snagged a few fries off of Eren's tray and mashed them into his open mouth.

Eren Shrugged. He was strangely reluctant to tell Jean. Finally he decided to just bite the bullet. "There's this guy in my Child Development class …"

Jean reacted weirdly. He frowned and stopped eating. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. He's really fucking hot."

"Oh … is he gay?"

"Bi."

"Hmm." Jean got up suddenly. "I gotta get to class."

Eren didn't notice his mood and went back to thinking.