Levi's words made Eren's knees go weak. So they were dating. A light blush crept onto his face.

"You okay, Eren? You look a little... bashful" Armin teased.

Eren grinned and jumped off his bed and landed on the ground with a thump. "Is that so?"

Armin gave him a knowing look. "Yeah. I can't help but wonder if…?"

Eren blushed with more intensity than before."Whatever, drop it." He rolled his eyes and turned to the other boy in the room, who was sitting on the couch and who he and Armin had momentarily forgotten about. They were enemies during their freshman and sophomore years, then they had matured and put whatever they had against each other behind them, but they weren't exactly friends.

"Ok."Armin directed his attention to him as well. "Sorry about keeping you waiting, Jean. You said you wanted to talk to both of us...so I had to get Eren off the phone."

Jean raised an eyebrow."Who was it?"

"Nobody important, really." Eren hastily replied.

The other boy looked unconvinced, but he didn't press the subject. "Fine then."

There was a lull.

"So… uh. Jean! What did you say you needed to tell us?"

Jean's expression was one that made Eren uneasy. Something wasn't right. For some reason, he knew Jean wasn't here for a reunion of any sort. He was here because of something important. Eren swallowed a lump in his throat and felt his palms become sweaty for no apparent reason. "I don't want you to get caught up in your emotions when I say this ok? Get a hold of yourself."

Armin's expression turned serious, and Eren tried to mimic the attitudes of the two boys.

"Ok." They both said.

Eren's stomach was in knots even before he said it.

"Marco's dead." Jean looked the two solemnly

The warm feeling Eren had leftover from his phone call with Levi evaporated, and was replaced with something that felt like a cold, slimy liquid that filled him head to toe with dread. A silent cry was threatening to leave his mouth, but he did as instructed. Get a hold of yourself, Eren. Breathe in, breathe out.

Armin was in denial "W-what? How could you say that so calmly?!"

Jean's expression hardened. "Pull yourself together! There is still more I need to tell you."

Eren and Armin exchanged confused glances. What could he possibly mean?

He leaned breathed in deeply and leaned in closer to them both and whispered, "Marco was driving with someone at the time he died. It was a car accident. Apparently. But it isn't possible, given the circumstances. "

Eren furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, and his stomach churned. "I don't understand what you mean. Ar-are you saying he was murdered?!"

"That's exactly what he's saying. " Armin answered, looking at the ground. Eren couldn't help but notice he looked a little nauseous. He himself was starting to feel the same. Anger started to pulse within him at the thought of Jean's hypothesis being true.

"Marco was with someone that night...and they went for a drive.I know there was something fishy going on, I'll explain ." Jean looked out the window, then back. "I need somebody to help me figure out who did it."

"Why us?"

"Well, Armin did graduate as class valedictorian. And you are…persistent… I admire that. Maybe that could help later on."

"Of course, we'll help, Jean. But- I'm sorry about it all…" Armin responded ruefully.

Jean didn't respond, instead, he looked out the window. "It's not your fault... It couldn't be."

Armin nodded, and there was yet another silence, nobody wanting to talk after the grim conversation.

Jean stood up."I'll get going, I rented a hotel room nearby. When should we meet up?"

"Seven. Seven is good. And it doesn't seem to interfere with any of our classes-wait… Jean?"

"Yeah?"

"What about your school?" Eren asked.

"...Oh… I think finding out who is guilty of this crime and putting them behind bars is more important than a piece of paper, don't you think?"

His words hit Eren like a brick. And then he knew.

Finding out who murdered his friend was more important.