Chapter 3: Terrified
Disclaimer: Again, I don't own a thing except this story.
And this could be good
It's already better than that
-Terrified, Katharine McPhee feat. Zachary Levi
"Any chance I'm ever seeing you again?" Sasha asked as she dug her fork into her food. Jean's gaze remained steady on her as he answered.
"Probably not, no."
Her eyes meet his for a split second before they drop to look at her plate.
"Oh."
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I should've seen this coming.
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What were the odds of total strangers meeting again anyways?
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Why would he even want to cross paths with an idiot like me?
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"But,"
Her ears perked at the sound of his voice.
"That doesn't mean I don't want to see you again."
Jean took her silence a sign to continue.
"We'll meet again. One way or another. I can assure you that."
And that was when she chose to look up and meet his gaze. Her lips pulled into a smile that mirrored his.
"I'd like that."
She remembered how that conversation played out; how they spent a good few minutes in comfortable silence before she excused herself to go to the restroom. And how the afternoon sun shone through the window and reflected in his eyes. And also how Jean smacked the side of his head after a fly made its way into his ear.
When he said that they would see each other again she expected something along the lines of them passing each other by on the street, just giving each other small glances of recognition before turning back to their own business. Maybe even bump into each other over the holidays in a haze of Christmas Rush and snow. Hell, maybe they've already met before, in some cross-dimensional past life in which they fought fifteen-meter tall humanoid giants with oversized box cutters or something.
But of all the horses of all the county clubs in all the states in all the world he had to train with the ones here.
If fate was a teenage girl writing a story on a laptop to mess with her life, then yes.
Fate is a bitch.
Her breath hitched in her throat when their gazes met.
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She saw his eyes widen for a fraction in recognition.
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Her heart started beating erratically.
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Warmth rushed through her being once more.
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The only person to make me feel this way was Berthold…
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"Jean!"
Eren's voice broke them from a trance neither of them knew they were in.
She could've sworn Jean mouthed a curse before turning his attention to Eren.
Sasha watched as he shuffled from his spot in the front to approach the other brunette. In an attempt to recover her thoughts she recounted what happened before…it happened. Awkward applause. Weird looks and stares. Complaints about the F-ing New Guy. Jean scratching the back of his head then turning it to avoid the scrutinizing gazes of the older employees. His eyes shifting uncomfortably before meeting hers. The weirdest moment of visual contact she's ever experienced.
Well done Sasha. You still have some of your sanity left when you barely had any to begin with.
"You alright Sash?"
She turned to the voice and exhaled uncomfortably. "I'm pretty sure you know who that is, right Con?"
He nodded, albeit a bit sluggish. Probably as worried as I am.
"You freaking out or something? Need to leave?"
Sasha shook her head. "I'm not in a state of panic Con. Okay fine, maybe I am. I'm just…dunno, weirded out I guess. I'm not overwhelmed or anything. But I'm not underwhelmed either. I'm just…whelmed. I mean…he said we'd see each other again but this? Here?" she gestured with her hands to emphasize her point. "This is just way too much of a coincidence to be considered normal, ya know?" she paused upon seeing the blank expression on Connie's face. "Am I making any sense?" her head cocked to the side sheepishly as she asked.
The blank expression stayed on Connie's face as he shook his head. "Nope."
She shot him a look.
He threw his hands up in joking surrender. "Geez I'm messing with you Sasha. Lighten up will you?" he waited until she dropped her glare before continuing.
"I guess it is kinda weird to see him here of all places. But no need to get so worked up." He shrugs as she raises her eyebrows in agreement. "'Sides it's almost dinner time. Might as well talk to him to make sure you're still cool."
Sasha groaned in response. "Fine. You sure you don't have any ulterior motives here?"
Connie all but grinned. "I'm not making any promises." He deliberately ignored the glare she gave him and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Now," he spun her to the direction where Jean and Eren were still in the middle of an argument. "Go. It was about time you talked to your boyfriend." He unceremoniously shoved her forward before she could even reply.
Sasha staggered and regained her footing before glaring at him the third time that evening.
I'll make sure to shoot an arrow between your kneecaps Connie.
She let out a sigh before taking a few steps forward.
Jean ran a hand through his hair.
"You didn't even bother to tell me how to get here from the city you dick!" he said, going full-on Italian with his gestures.
Eren grabbed him by the collar and shook him. Or more accurately, shook his shirt. The height difference made it difficult to pull off a choke hold worthy of Star Wars references. That didn't stop him from amplifying his voice though.
"I told you I forgot! Jesus!"
Jean's hand came into contact with Eren's shirt as well. "I had to hitchhike with some fat lard whose car smelled like a bear took a shit in it you asshole!"
"You wanna go Horse-face?"
"Bring it, dickhead!"
"Boys that's enough." Mikasa smoothly stepped in between them.
Both released the other from their grip and sighed in mutual surrender. As Mikasa dragged Eren to God-knows-where, Jean shifted uncomfortably in his place. That spat didn't exactly leave him with a good first impression.
"When you said you were gonna take some time off and relax, I didn't think that having screaming competitions with Eren in a country club in the middle of nowhere was what you had in mind."
He turned to the voice. A smirk graced his lips before he walked over to stand beside her.
"Well neither did I. But the idiot over there was more than willing to let me get a job before doomsday." He nodded over to where Eren was, said brunette in the middle of a conversation with Armin about God-knows-what.
Sasha giggled. "Good to see ya again too Jean." He watched as she comfortably crossed her arms under her chest and side turned her head to face him. He opted to just look ahead and observe the warm atmosphere that was the lobby of the Sina Country Club. Silence lasted for a few moments until he decided to break it.
"Hey Sasha?"
"Hm?"
"Mind telling me the ropes here?"
She nods with a smile before answering. "Oh yah sure."
She scanned the area for a moment or so before stopping. Her line of sight stopped to a group of people working in the kitchen. She grabs Jean's arm with her left hand while pointing with her right, coaxing him to look the same way.
"So I'm pretty sure you know Levi." She took his nod as a sign to continue. "Head manager, maintains the place and the employees. But I guess you already knew that." He watched as he talked to the lady beside him while playing with the ends of her hair. "The girl with him is Petra, head barista of the café in the main building. The three guys behind him are Auro, Gunther and Erd. They work with Petra at the café. Armin works as a waiter there from time to time." She nudges him again, this time to look at the blonde who was busy on his phone. "Other times he helps with maintenance, but his main job here is recording activities of everyday to send up to HQ for documentation. And I'm assuming you already know about Eren's position at the infirmary as head nurse with Mikasa." He nodded, shifting his vision to the pair beside Armin.
"Umm what else…oh yeah! See the lady over there with the ponytail and glasses?" he craned his neck to the direction she pointed to the said woman.
"That's Hanji, Supervisor. She keeps tabs on everyone and everything and sends Armin's reports back to Director Erwin back to HQ." He keeps nodding, taking in the information that she was giving him. The entire time he's internally amazed at how she knows the names of everyone who worked at the Club, from the maintenance to the instructors. She's probably worked here for a while, he mused.
Maybe he should actually listen to her. And stop enjoying the feel of her hand on his arm.
"The guy with the buzz cut over there is Connie. He teaches taekwondo. Umm...well the place hasn't exactly opened up the rest of its martial arts programs yet. Connie started just last season and we've been planning to add MMA and Krav Maga to the program. Maybe some Mhuay Thai, not sure. Erwin's still straightening out everything before we add anything more." She taps her chin as she surveyed the area once more.
"I guess that was everyone. Well other than that, work starts at nine, breakfast is at seven to eight. The time in between is usually spent for warm ups for instructors or for some last minute cleaning. Lunch is at noon. Time out is at 6, dinner's at 7 and you have free time until lights out. Weekends are free, obviously. Things are usually most busy in the summer for the most apparent reasons. Oh and speaking of cleaning, since you're working at a stable you might as well make sure that the place would be damn near spot less."
"Yeah I'll make sure of that." He gives her a smile before turning back to look at the lobby before him. From the corner of his eye he can see how she side turns her head to look at him. He also noticed how she pursed her lips before asking.
"So…Horse-face?"
He nodded numbly after letting out a groan. "Some stupid nickname Jaeger Bombastic made up in high school. Not sure how he came up with it. Next thing I knew I was branded for life."
The somewhat evil-looking grin on her face indicated mischief and sent his guard up.
"I am gonna get a lot of mileage out of this one."
"Heh. We'll see about that Potato Girl."
The smirk is replaced by an annoyed pout. "What did you just call me?"
"Potato Girl. Your new title after I became witness to the bottomless pit you call a stomach." He smirked. "Think it be perfect for a glutton like you?"
"Yeah and Horse-face is perfect too, for an ass like you." She retorted.
The smirk slid of his face in an instant. "What was that?"
"Dinner! Come on everyone gather up!" A warm voice called out. They both gave each other a glower before huffing indignantly and turning away. As she stalked away obviously as pissed at him as he was at her, he grumbled and followed the direction everyone went.
Stupid Potato Girl. Stupid Jaeger with his stupid nicknames. Stupid horses.
Ymir scoffed at the TV screen as she rolled her eyes at the couple kissing in the rain. "How are they not having pneumonia yet? Seriously."
The blonde looked at her with watery eyes. My god is she seriously crying over this shit? "But Ymir! It's so romantic!"
"Krista she's kissing the guy who killed her father. Why in the bloody hell would you think that's romantic?"
"She's finally come clean with her feelings for him! After hiding it for so long she finally managed to let it all out!"
The freckled woman ignored how her heart pulsated painfully and faked another roll of her eyes. "It seems to me the only thing that's pushing her to do that is how bad she's grieving over her dad's death. She's using it as an excuse to kiss him like that." She watched how Krista played the next episode and deliberately ignored the opening theme. "And I thought you finished this series eons ago. Why are you watching it again?"
She noticed how the other girl flushed a few shades of red. "N-no reason in particular."
"Hey don't lie to me. Don't think I didn't see you look at your phone in between scenes. I can tell you've been texting him."
She laughed as Krista blushed more. "Don't worry about it. I can tell you like him Krista. No need to feel embarrassed." Ymir stood up from the couch and stretched her back before getting her bag. "Anyways it's getting late. I might as well go home now." She patted the smaller girl on the head before going on the door.
With a sigh she navigated through the all-too familiar living room, easily walking around plush sofas and expensive oak desks. She was only a few feet away from the door when a sharp voice stopped her in her tracks.
"Stop right there."
Ymir sighed again and turned around. She was met with the sight of Krista's mother, arms crossed over her chest, blue eyes piercing and full of scrutiny. Helena Lenz was definitely not pleased.
"What is it?"
"Don't play stupid with me."
"Alright fine. Maybe I do think you're a bit of an uptight bitch." The insult was completely casual but the malice was evident. She raised her hand to stop the older woman from snapping back. "But. I'm willing to set that aside for Krista's sake."
She dropped her hand with another exhale. "Are you sure this…arrangement is what's best for her?"
"You think I don't know what's best for my own daughter?"
"Forcing marriage on her isn't exactly the best option for her now is it?"
"We didn't have a choice."
"Yes you did. You could've rejected their offer. It's not like you needed to establish more money anyways."
She noticed how the older woman froze for a split second before glowering.
"What. Happened."
Helena's features hardened. "Let's just say that it won't just be Kirstein Corp. that will be benefitting from this…transaction."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"Investors just love a good show. With their stocks we could increase profit ten-fold. They're just too stupid to actually use their own resources. So while they play along with this little show-"
"You'll be pulling the strings and gaining more output on your end." Ymir finished for her. She scoffed. "Whoring out your own daughter for revenue?" She scoffed again before making her way to the door. "You disgust me."
"Sacrifices have to be made for progress."
"To hell with that. You're a bigger bitch than I thought." The freckled woman slammed the door behind her before making her way out.
Ymir wasn't even ten feet away from the gate when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket.
Make sure to be careful Ymir! The streets are dangerous at this time of night. See ya tomorrow! ;)
A bitter smile tugged at the corners of her lips.
I hope he treats you better than I ever could Krista…
Dinner was by far uncomfortably pleasant. The meal was beyond delicious, easily beating the hard-to-pronounce items on a menu from the fancy restaurants he's been to in the past years.
In the span of time the meal lasted, Jean had learned a lot of things aside from everyone's jobs at the Club as Sasha had told him about just a little while before. Like Levi's extremely vulgar and abrasive yet OCD inhabited personality and how it attracted the likes of someone like Petra who was the complete opposite. And random things about Hanji and her…obsession for anything of the morbid macabre sort, from the Human Centipede to actual centipedes and dissecting innocent animals for science. (This was the part where he shuddered and lost his appetite. His plate was almost empty anyways so he didn't bother finishing.) There was also the nature of Sasha's relationship with Connie. It was there that he learned that they've been best friends since high school and nothing more than that. A relieved sigh escaped his lips when he found out their relationship was purely platonic. He shoved the thought as to why he did so for later.
Conversation was cozy, some snide jokes from Hanji's side of the table, crass comebacks from Levi's even some retorts from Eren and Petra. They bantered and joked around, made fun of each other and talked about their lives outside the club. Even if most of their life was spent in it. It was…pleasant.
The staff seemed less and less like strangers working for some guy in an office halfway across the state and more and more like a family, albeit very dysfunctional but nonetheless caring.
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And he had just come into grips with the fact that now he was part of that family as well.
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And that made him feel…well, happy.
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(The giggles coming from a certain gluttonous brunette wasn't so bad either.)
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He was gonna have to thank Eren for that at some point.
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Not to mention,
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He also owes a certain someone an apology.
Jean surveyed his surroundings. His eyes paused upon seeing a familiar head of brown hair. He strode over to her, being careful to not bump into everyone else in his course. Sasha was in the middle of playing Tekken on a PSP when he spoke.
"Hey."
She hit Pause and looked up. "Oh. Hey."
"Mind if I sit?"
She nodded and scooted over to the left to give him room.
Jean gratefully occupied the seat and turned to her. "About earlier…sorry about that. I can be a bit of a dick sometimes ya know?" he shrugged and awkwardly fiddled his thumbs as his gaze stayed on her.
She nodded again. "I can tell. Don't worry about it. I managed to put up with Levi's shithole for a mouth for the past couple of years. Guess I could put up with yours as well."
He chuckled lightly. "Guess so. No more name calling?"
"I'm not making any promises Jean." She grinned cheekily.
He couldn't help but smirk in return. "Same here." He exhaled a laugh through his nose when they bumped fists and slid into conversation.
Unbeknownst to the pair, a certain buzz-cut was watching them from afar.
You say you've just met him. But it seems like you two have known each other longer than that.
So how's your day going?
It's going just fine. Ymir was here a while ago. I'm watching Kyoukai no Kanata.
Should I spoil it for you? Coz it's very tempting to spoil it for you.
Noooooooo *pouts* you're so mean!
Aww. And to think I was starting to get to know you better.
Hey I'm just kidding!
I knew that.
"I can tell you've been texting her for the entire time Armin."
Said blonde looked up at Mikasa with a look reminiscent to what you'd see on a child with his hand in a cookie jar.
"What? No." he laughed sheepishly until it died into silence. He cleared his throat. "No."
"Armin, no one just randomly looks at their crotch and smiles." her tone was light despite the deadpan in her words.
"Unless they're…ya know, auto-sexual." Eren scratched his chin in thought before adding. "Or a chronic masturbator. But you're neither. Unless of course-"
"No-no-no I'm good." Armin gestured wildly. "I mean-argh. Yes. I've texted her since dinner." He scratched the back of his head before letting out a groan.
"It's fine Armin. You like her. No need to deny it." Mikasa said as she put her hand on his shoulder.
"Yeah. Guess it was too obvious." he felt his phone vibrate in his hand. He couldn't stop the smile that formed on his face as he read her message.
Who knew bumping into a girl while getting coffee could lead me to this?
Guess those terrible romance writers are on to something.
"No Jean, Hawkeye is the most badass of the Avengers."
"Sash you're just being biased 'cause he uses a bow and arrow. Tony Stark deserves that spot, hands down."
"Oh please. There's another billionaire-playboy-philanthropist in the comic book universe. His name is Bruce Wayne. And he's like I don't know, three times the man Tony Stark could ever be. And Batman is, without a doubt, the best comic book superhero out there." She gestured her debate with her hands to emphasize her point.
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because." She looks at him with an unwavering expression. "He's Batman." She said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
They spent a few moments staring at each other in silence before they both burst out into laughter.
Everything was calm for a few moments when the sound of shattering porcelain broke it.
All heads turned to the noise.
Shards of a broken bust lay scattered on the floor, a certain Eren Jaeger standing over it with a sheepish smile.
A shor- I mean vertically challenged man pushed apart the surrounding crowd with minimal force. Mainly because everyone around him was too scared to stay in the same place.
"Alright kiddos. This is the part where you explain exactly what in the hell happened here."
His voice addressed everyone, but his eyes scrutinized only Eren.
Guess somebody's in trouble. Jean mused with a smirk. Karma, you really are on my side.
When no one answered he strode to the mess with narrowed eyes. "Stand up straight Jaeger."
Said boy complied with a flinch.
"What we have here is a replica of our first founder Darius Zackly."
He squeezed his eyes tighter and tighter as Levi walked over closer to him.
"What used to be a century old heirloom of this club is now in pieces scattered on our shitty floor."
Goodbye to this beautiful, cruel world.
"And for that, punishment has to be set out."
He felt the shorter man's hand raise up to the level of his face...
And flick him in the nose.
His eyes flew open in an instant. "What the hell?"
Levi drew back his hand and faced the crowd. "And that," he kicked a stray shard of porcelain under his boot. "Is how you train a dog."
Jean turned to Sasha and flicked her forehead.
"The hell Jean?!"
He drew back his hand with a smirk. "I'm not sure what species can eat as much as you Potato Girl but I guess that'll have to do."
She shot him an annoyed pout for a split second before laughing.
He did nothing to stop himself from laughing with her.
The next morning Sasha found herself at the archery training grounds. She was half way done with her regular warm up when a voice broke in.
"Good morning."
On impulse she drew and pointed her arrow at the source. With a sigh she lowered her bow upon seeing who it was.
"Jean you of all people should know not to sneak up on an armed person."
She suppressed a laugh at the sight of Jean raising his arms in surrender. One hand was empty the other had an apple in it.
He must've grabbed that before heading out here.
"Good morning to you as well."
He folded his arms over his chest and nodded to the object in her hands.
"You good with that bow?"
"Nope. Of course the Club would want untrained amateurs to teach their patrons how to use deadly weapons." Damn. He's really started to rub off on me. She scoffed. "Of course I am."
"Prove it." He tossed the apple in his hand in the air and caught it, repeating the action almost teasingly. As if he was challenging her.
"Before you say anything stupid, no I'm not gonna ask you to balance that apple on your head and stand by that tree and shoot it from here. Levi would have me clean the bathrooms for a month if he caught sight of it. And it's extremely dangerous, no matter how good of an archer you are. You make it sound like you trust me with your life."
"You know, according to Chinese legend, once you save someone's life, you're automatically responsible for it. So yeah, I pretty much do."
She ignored how her heart leaped up to her throat and narrowed her eyes at him. "Not the point. And besides," she shifted her body back to the target board. She raised her bow and drew, taking in a breath as the string tensed against the arrow. "You'd be scared shitless before I could even draw."
She released. Bull's eye.
Sasha sighed. Then suddenly smirked. "But there was something else I had in mind."
"What?"
The apple he was absently tossing back and forth was barely an inch away from his fingers before an arrow pinned it to the tree behind him.
Jean's eyes widened.
'Oh my god.'
He turned to stare at the impaled arrow with the same gaze.
Satisfied, she grinned and stepped up to him.
"How's that?"
"Damn."
She let out a small giggle. "I wasn't State Champion three years in a row for nothing." She added cheekily.
"Hey Sasha?"
She hummed in response.
He turned to her and flicked her forehead. Her hands automatically reached for the same spot.
"Ow! The hell was that for?"
For scaring me shitless.
"For not warning me first."
No man would admit he was scared of death. Especially not to a girl.
She pouted. "Well at least you aren't as scared as you would've been."
He rolled his eyes at her and scoffed. "Oh please. Nothing can scare me as much as when my mom forced me to get married."
"You couldn't have been that scared."
"No shit. I was downright fucking terrified."
They stood there in silence when he nodded at the impaled arrow.
"Want it?"
She smiled and nodded. "Yeah sure."
He returned the nod and walked over to where the arrow pinned the apple to the tree and grabbed it by the shaft. It gnawed against the wood as he tried to rock it out of place.
"Wait Jean-"
She was cut off by the sound of snapping wood.
He smiled sheepishly as he handed her the apple with one hand and held the broken arrow with the other.
She ignored his offer and walked over to the tree. A groan escaped her lips.
"The hell Jean! The tip's still in the bark!"
He moved to stand beside her and observed how her cheeks puffed out in annoyance. "Any chance we can get it out?"
"If you're willing to lend your teeth to pull it out then go ahead, be my guest."
Okay note to self: she can be downright sadistic if she wanted to be.
As he watched her laugh at her own joke, nose crinkling and hair being swayed around by the wind, he couldn't suppress the smile that started to pull at his lips.
But… three months in a country club in the middle of nowhere doesn't seem so bad anymore.
A/N 1: What century is it? Dear god I cannot even excuse how late this is. Chapter 4 is still in the making but not to worry, as I said, I'm not giving up on this story!
A/N 2: Yes, I referenced the first ending of SnK. I had to.
A/N 3: Thank you again to everyone who followed, reviewed and favorited. You're the ones who keep me going with this fic. Along with my brother who forces me to update. Hugs for all of you!
till next time my lovelies!(^o^)V
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