A/N-I guess I should mention that there are spoilers for episodes 21-22 if you haven't watched. I know that probably sounds weird since this is an AU.
Seven Minutes in Heaven Part 9
"Eren, why don't you spin one more time?" Hanji kicked the bottle closer to the brunet- who reluctantly moved the bottle in front of him before giving it a small spin, silently praying it would land on anyone but…
"Dammit! No!" Eren lifted his hand and smacked the bottle, sending it across the room. "I refuse!" Crossing his arms, he turned to glare at Hanji.
While Eren was puffing his lips out into the biggest pout he could manage, Hanji was grabbing at her sides as her entire body shook with laughter. "Well, what are the odds of that?!" She lifted her glasses off of her face to wipe at the tears streaming down her cheeks. "This is just perfect!" With much effort, the brunette managed to lift her hand, pointing directly at Jean. "What do you say, Jean?" She asked between laughs.
"No." Jean huffed before crossing his arms and turning to glare at the brunette. "Can we just call it a night?"
"Why?" Hanji whined, pulling the corners of her lips into a frown.
"Are you really asking that..?" Jean groaned, pressing both palms against his eyes.
"Do it." Levi spoke suddenly, causing every person in the room to turn towards the dark-haired boy and gasp in unison.
"What?!" Jean and Eren shouted- voices tinged with fear and disbelief.
"You heard me." Levi responded flatly, ignoring the tugging on his arm from Eren.
"I don't understand, Levi…" Eren let his hand fall to the floor. Looking down, he began to carefully ponder why Levi would suggest he go in the closet with Jean. Growing frustrated, he ran his fingers through his brown locks before curling his hand into a fist and slamming it down on the carpet in defeat. "Fine," he mumbled under his breath, breaking the silence.
"Huh?" Jean's eyes widened as he tilted his head. "I know I did not just here you agree to this, Eren." His jaw dropped as he watched Eren slowly stand up and walk towards the closet. "Eren, what the hell?!"
"Let's go," Eren muttered before entering the dark, paint-covered closet.
"Why?!" Jean glanced around at everyone in the room except for Armin-he could feel the blond's eyes watching him closely. After a few moments of silence, he threw his hands up and grumbled "Fine," before standing up and walking towards the closet. Stepping halfway inside, he spun around, finally making eye contact with Armin- who was offering an encouraging smile- before reluctantly pulling the door closed, covering himself as well as Eren in utter darkness.
"Um, Levi?" Connie turned to face the dark-haired boy lounging on the carpet. "Why did you agree to this?"
"It would be beneficial for them," Armin answered for Levi. "You want them to settle their differences, right?"
"Yes." Levi tilted his head to get a better view of the blond. "Exactly." He cast Armin one of his rare smiles before clasping his hands behind his head and falling back against the carpet. "Lock the door, Hanji." He rolled his head to the side to see the brunette already making her way to the closet door.
"How long should we leave them in there?" She questioned as she twisted the lock, ignoring the curses that erupted from the two boys upon hearing the lock click.
"However long you want," Levi said. "It's your game after all."
"I think twenty or maybe thirty minutes should do the trick." Hanji glanced at her clock. "Hey, want to watch some TV while we wait?"
"Oh!" Connie hopped up and dived for the remote. "That titan show is about to come on!"
"Hey, you're right!" Hanji motioned for everyone to move closer to her TV before making her way to Levi, extending her hand to pull him to his feet. "I know you secretly love this show."
Levi sighed before grabbing Hanji's hand. "Maybe a little," he mumbled as the brunette pulled him up. "The main guy kind of reminds me of Eren."
"You know," Hanji began as she and Levi made their way to her bed-which faced her TV. "I was just thinking the same thing." Stopping in front of her bare bed, Hanji gasped and turned to race upstairs. "Let me go grab some blankets! Go ahead and get settled everyone!"
Connie was the first to hop onto the bed, pulling Sasha along with him. Sasha pressed herself closer to Connie-unaware of the blush forming on said boy's face- to make room for Mikasa to sit beside her. The three occupied the top, right corner of the bed.
Ymir threw her arms in the air and let out a loud yawn before crawling onto the bed, shuffling around until she found a comfortable spot-much to Connie's dismay. She was lying on her stomach directly in front of Connie, facing the end of the bed. Given her height, she was forced- at least that's what she told the angered boy- to rest one foot in Connie's lap and the other foot on his shoulder.
"Seriously, Ymir?" Connie attempted to shrug the large foot off his shoulder but was greeted with a sharp pain in his shoulder from the brunette pressing her foot down.
"Deal with it," Ymir griped before turning all of her attention to Christa. "There's a spot right here for you," she called out to the blonde as she rubbed her hand on the empty space beside her while fluttering her eyelashes.
Christa carefully climbed onto the bed and made her way to the empty spot beside her friend. She rolled onto her stomach, mimicking Ymir's position. "Is this bothering you," she asked, peering over her shoulder at Mikasa.
"No." Mikasa offered Christa a light, reassuring smile as she pulled her knees up to her chest. Sensing someone watching her, the ravenette glanced over at Sasha- said girl was casting a huge smile towards her. "What?"
"You are so nice, Mikasa!" Sasha threw her arm around the ravenette's shoulders and gave her a tight squeeze before pulling her arm away. She let a light squeal escape her lips as she watched Mikasa's face soften.
Reiner and Bertholdt fell onto the floor, pressing their backs against the front of the bed. They were both aware that they were too big to fit on the bed with the others. But, that didn't stop Reiner from turning around to flick Ymir and laugh at Connie, ignoring Bertholdt's whispered protests. After a few moments, the blond finally stopped and turned around to face the TV, casually- or so he liked to believe- draping his arm across Bertholdt's shoulders.
Armin was next to climb onto the bed, crawling towards the empty space on the other side of Mikasa. He too drew his knees to his chest and rested his head on his arms as he patiently waited for everyone to situate themselves. The blond wasn't one to watch television on a daily basis, but he always made an exception for this show. He was intrigued by the mystery behind the titans and often found himself wondering what he would do if he were in the show. It helped the blond, too, that he always watched the show with Eren- who was very into the show. His brunet friend would always shout 'Kill all the titans!' as soon as the protagonist appeared on the screen.
Armin let out a hushed laugh at the thought of Eren shouting words of encouragement to the characters-unaware that Levi had climbed onto the bed and planted himself firmly beside the blond.
"Why are you laughing?" Levi cocked his eyebrow.
"I was just thinking about how Eren gets really into this show," Armin answered, allowing his eyes to shift quickly to the closet door before making their way back to Levi. "Do you think they will be okay?"
Levi rested his elbow atop his bent knee. He glanced up at the closet door and carefully thought up different scenarios that may occur between the two boys in the closet- all resulting in the two boys coming out with fresh bruises and bloodied lips. Sighing, he peered up at the blond and shrugged. "I don't know. But, I have a feeling that Eren caught on. That's why he agreed."
Armin nodded before recalling Jean's reaction. "I'm not too sure if Jean understood why. And," the blond paused to sigh. "He's a bit hot-headed."
"So is Eren," Levi responded. "The two are very much alike."
"Can I ask you something?" Armin's voice grew soft as he glanced over at Levi.
"Sure."
"You and Eren weren't really that close before today. And, I'm aware that you two had," Armin stopped, carefully deciding his next words, "a romantic interaction while in the closet."
"Continue." Levi nodded.
"Well, I was wondering. It's only been a few hours and yet you seem to really care for Eren… Why?" Armin quickly dropped his gaze to his hands, mentally asking himself why he even bothered bringing this up.
Levi remained silent. He thought back to his time with Eren in the closet, remembering every detail of their shared kisses. He thought about how quickly Eren gave into the kiss, and soon after, he returned the kiss with an overwhelming amount of passion. Levi remembered how this passion caught him off guard, but he refused to let that show. Maybe, he wondered to himself. The reason why he has grown to care for the brat so much is that everything is so unexpected when he's around- always has been. It just took a kiss from the brunet for Levi to truly understand how spontaneous he is.
"Eren's fun." Levi finally answered, waving away the confused look Armin was giving him. "I never know what is going to happen next when he's around. And, that annoys me, but it also intrigues me."
Armin's eyes lit up as the realization washed over him. "I get it. He's like a change of pace."
"Yes, and he's also incredibly attractive, if you can look past the fact that he's a shitty brat."
Armin giggled into his hand, shaking his head at Levi's comment.
"Who's a shitty brat?" Hanji appeared beside the bed with a pile of blankets resting in her arms. She began to toss them amongst the group, throwing the last one on top of Levi before climbing onto the small spot remaining beside him. She turned and motioned for Petra to hop on, pointing towards the empty space in front of her. "You can lie in front of me. I don't mind your feet touching me."
"Are you sure?" Petra questioned, nervously glancing at the last unoccupied spot.
"Of course I'm sure!" Hanji smiled as Petra climbed onto the bed, falling onto her stomach and resting her feet in the brunette's lap.
"Is this okay?" Petra called over her shoulder.
"Yep!" Hanji patted Petra's foot before turning her attention to Levi. "Now, who is the shitty brat?"
"Eren," Levi answered before spreading the blanket to share with Hanji, Petra, and Armin.
"Of course," Hanji laughed before leaning forward to glare at Connie. "Are you gonna turn the TV on?" She did not want to miss a single moment of her favorite show.
Connie shuddered at the piercing stare from Hanji before punching the On button, watching the TV come to life.
As soon as the picture showed up, the group was greeted with the theme song for the show. Connie, Sasha, and Hanji desperately tried to keep up with the lyrics-often stopping to gasp through laughing fits.
Once the theme song finished and the show started, the room grew silent- every person focused on the TV.
"Fuck!" Eren slammed his fists against the door as soon as he heard the theme song end. "I can't believe Armin would watch without me!" He pressed his head against the wooden door, mindful of the paint splatters, and let out a loud groan. "Hey, Jean?" He mumbled against the door after a few silent moments.
"What?" Until now, Jean had remained silent, choosing to lean against the wall with one foot propped up and his arms crossed-what he thought was an attempt to appear calm, cool and collected. As much as he wanted to beat against the door in anger beside the shorter boy, he felt it wouldn't do them any good. He didn't understand why Eren was so mad anyway. The idiot agreed to this after all.
"You know why we are in here, don't you?" Eren turned his head to look back at Jean- the mere sight of the taller boy putting him on edge.
"I figured you did since you agreed to it." Jean griped before pushing himself off of the wall and marching towards the shorter boy. He slapped his hand down on Eren's shoulder and jerked him away from the door. "What is it, Eren?" Squeezing his fingers into Eren's shoulder, Jean moved his face just inches away from said boy's. "Why are we in here?"
"This is why!" Eren knocked Jean's hand away then proceeded to smooth out his now wrinkled shirt- something he found himself doing more and more when Levi was around. "The fighting! Don't you get it?!"
Jean dropped his gaze to the floor, allowing his mind to wonder back to all of the fights he and Eren have had in this single night. One in particular standing out more than the others- Eren was charging towards him with his fist raised, but Armin stepped in front of him, fully aware that Eren was too mad to realize that he was about to punch his best friend and not his enemy.
Jean shuddered at the thought. It was his antagonizing that pissed off Eren in the first place, and Armin almost paid the price for it. "I get it…" He finally answered in a low whisper.
Eren, who had been watching Jean the entire time, crossed his arms and fell back against the wall opposite said boy. "We've really been kinda stupid tonight, haven't we?" He too thought back to all of the times he allowed Jean's dumb comments get to him. And, he ran his hands through his dark locks as he recalled almost punching his best friend not that long ago.
"Yea," Jean responded through a light laugh. "What the hell were we thinking?"
"We were thinking that we fucking hated each other for whatever reason and that we needed to beat each other up any chance we got." Eren huffed and shifted his eyes to the ceiling, watching a single drop of red paint fall to the floor.
"So, is this the part where we like apologize then hug it out or whatever?" Jean cocked his eyebrow as he watched Eren, noting how the boy seemed more focused on anything but him.
"I'm not hugging you." Eren answered suddenly, bringing his eyes to meet Jean's. "But, I guess I'm sorry."
"Same here," Jean mumbled, kicking his foot backward and forward as he rubbed the back of his neck. "So, we're cool?"
"Yea, sure." Eren shifted his gaze back to the paint on the ceiling, closely watching as another drop formed. "Hey, Jean?"
"What do you want now?" Jean sighed as he too moved his eyes to watch the drop of paint getting ready to fall.
"Armin told me that he cares about you," Eren noticed Jean clenching his hands into fists out of the corner of his eye. "Why does he care about you?"
Jean closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. He knew that this was going to happen at some point, especially with the way his feelings for Armin have only grown throughout the night, but he just wasn't up to dealing with this right now- not when he and Eren have just exchanged apologies. Sighing, he opened his eyes and looked at Eren- a light gasp escaping his lips as he saw the shorter boy watching him intently. "Because he's nice?" Jean shouted every curse word he could think of in his mind soon after realizing how uncertain his answer sounded.
"Jean," Eren growled, watching the taller boy's every move. "What happened between you two?"
Jean was planning on asking Armin over to his house next weekend- where he planned to teach him poker and then maybe they could watch a movie together. He could even cook for the blond. But, he was aware that none of this would ever happen unless he told Eren the truth- the small yet huge detail that was left out of all of the explanations. "We…" He rubbed the back of his neck as he mentally asked himself if he really wanted to do this. "Just fucking say it already!" "We kissed."
The silence that followed put Jean on edge. He studied Eren, noting how his head hung low and his bangs covered his eyes.
After a few minutes, Eren finally looked up, glaring at Jean. "Define we."
"What?" Jean's brows furrowed at the question. Define what? We? He tossed the question around in his head before he finally realized. "I didn't take advantage of him if that's what you are thinking!"
"You didn't?" Eren could feel his blood boiling and he had to keep reminding himself to take deep breaths before he exploded.
"Of course not! Dammit, Eren…" Jean moved towards the shorter boy, much to said boy's dismay. "Listen, whether you believe me or not, I would never, ever do anything to hurt Armin."
Eren's eyes widened at the sincerity in Jean's words. He wasn't used to this kind of behavior from the taller boy, and frankly, he found that it didn't really suit him. But, he was genuinely shocked that Jean was willing to show this side of himself. "You really like him?"
Jean locked his eyes on the ground, refusing to meet Eren's turquoise one's as he muttered "Yes" under his breath. Truly, he was still a bit confused about his feelings towards the blond, but he often found himself creating scenarios in his head of the two being together- as in a relationship.
"I will only give you this warning once," Eren began only to be cut off by Jean raising his hand.
"You don't have to tell me, Eren. I promise I won't ever hurt Armin." Jean moved back to lean against the wall opposite the shorter boy.
"Good." Eren abandoned the wall he was leaning against to move beside Jean, falling back against the wall right next to said boy. "So, how was the kiss anyway? Like, are you even good at kissing?"
Jean turned his head to look down at the shorter boy. "Of course I'm good! What about you? You and Levi seemed to be getting hot and heavy in here."
"Well," Eren let his mind drift back to the kiss. "It was weird at first. I mean, Levi slammed me against the wall then kneed me in the leg just to kiss me. And, I was shocked, but then he pulled away and asked if it was bad. I tried to answer but then he kissed me again, and after that, it felt like my body was moving on its own. It was like my body craved his touch." Eren smiled sheepishly and looked down, running his fingers through his dark locks. "You probably didn't want to know all of that."
"Damn," Jean whispered. "What happened after that?"
"Why the hell do you want to know?" Eren questioned sternly. "You aren't planning on doing this with Armin are you?"
"N-No!" Jean waved his hands in front of his face. "I just, well…" He sighed as he tried to think of what to say without sounding like a freak. "I want to know how to kiss Armin with the kind of passion Levi had when he kissed you… No, that's not right. I want…" Jean groaned, desperately trying to spit out the right words. "I want Armin to crave my touch like you craved Levi's." He let his head fall into his cupped hands to hide the blush creeping up his cheeks.
Eren's jaw dropped as soon as the words left Jean's mouth. His first instinct was to punch the boy for thinking such vulgar thoughts about his best friend, but he countered that thought by replaying Jean's promise over and over in his head. If Armin and Jean were going to be together, then he would have to learn how to trust Jean. "I guess I could demonstrate what Levi and I did." Eren regretted uttering those words as soon as he watched Jean's head jerk up.
"Seriously?" Jean could not believe what Eren had suggested. It wasn't like he wanted to be close to the shorter boy or anything. It was just that he really wanted to learn for- hopefully for- future experiences with Armin.
Eren pushed himself off the wall and moved to stand in front of Jean. Reluctantly, he grabbed Jean's wrists, pinning his long arms against the wall above his head. "He did this, but then I jerked my head away because I didn't want to kiss him, so…" Eren kneed Jean in the leg, doing his best to mimic Levi's previous actions.
Jean cursed under his breath as he jerked his head down from the pain shooting down his leg, gasping as he felt Eren's breath on his cheek.
"He kneed me like I just kneed you and then he kissed me." Eren moved his head back some, not really feeling comfortable with how close he was to Jean.
"Was the kiss like forceful, or..?" Jean lifted his head to stare at Eren with his brows raised.
"I guess?" Eren felt this nagging fear building up inside of him at where this whole situation was headed.
"Show me."
"What?!" Eren let go of Jean's wrists and stumbled backwards. "You can't be serious right now?!"
"I don't want to screw up with Armin," Jean mumbled under his breath as he looked to the floor.
Eren could hear the slight desperation in the taller boy's voice. And, he didn't want to have to deal with Armin ranting to him about how Jean was a horrible kisser in the future. "Fuck," he cursed before making his way back to Jean, again gripping his wrists and shoving his arms against the wall. "You better not say a word about this." Once he watched Jean nod, he closed his eyes, recalling his first kiss with Levi.
Once he was sure he remembered the feel of it, Eren planted his warm lips firmly against Jean's lips.
"I can't believe this is happening," Sasha whimpered as she buried her face into Connie's neck while blindly moving her hand to grab Mikasa's hand.
Connie tightened his arm around Sasha's shoulders as he stared at the TV with a blank expression. "His entire squad is dead…"
Armin could not stop the tears streaming down his cheeks. It was episodes like these that he asked himself why anyone would watch this for enjoyment. But, he also applauded the show for causing such an emotional outburst from its audience. He peered over at Levi to see said boy's eyes focused on the screen. The blond noticed how Levi wore a gloomy expression and how he refused to look anywhere but at the TV.
Armin sighed and wiped at his tear-stricken cheeks before returning his focus back to the show.
"Oh no, not her dad!" Reiner threw his hands up in the air in frustration. "This is awful! Imagine being in the Corporal's position right now…" He began rubbing small circles on Bertholdt's back as soon as he realized the boy was silently crying beside him.
"I can't even begin to imagine what the Corporal is feeling... The Commander too…" Christa moved closer to Ymir, curling up against her side.
"I hate this show," Petra choked back a sob and threw the blanket over her head. "Tell me when it's over."
"Fuck, Eren!" Jean jerked his head away and pressed his palm against his now bleeding lip. "You bit me!"
"It was your stupid fault!" Eren shouted back at the taller boy, tugging at his brown locks. "Is that how you kissed Armin?! That was awful!"
"What?! Armin and I were in like perfect harmony or whatever!" Jean yelled before collapsing against the wall, pushing pressure against his lip to control the bleeding.
"Then, why the fuck are you so worried about kissing him?!" Eren sighed nosily before moving to lean against the opposite wall.
"I'm just nervous…" Jean moved his hand up in front of his face to examine the blood.
"Well, if you say that you guys are in 'perfect harmony' then don't worry about it." Eren pressed his palms against his eyes and let out a loud groan. "When the hell are they going to let us out?" He whined.
As if on cue, the two boys heard the lock click and watched as the door was pulled slowly open. They cautiously made their way out of the closet, stopping to see Hanji wiping away at the tears rolling down her cheeks.
"What the hell?" Eren mumbled as he turned his attention to the mass of people on and around Hanji's bed.
Jean too turned his attention to the group surrounding the TV, eyes zeroing in on Armin. He felt his brows furrowing as he witnessed the blond rubbing his red, watery eyes. "What happened?" He asked as he and Eren approached the bed.
"They are all dead!" Sasha cried out against Connie's neck.
"What?!" Jean and Eren yelled in unison. "The entire squad?"
"Yep," Reiner answered.
"Well, shit…" Jean huffed and turned to Armin- who had climbed off the bed and walked up to him. "Are you okay?"
"What happened to you lip?" Armin asked, ignoring Jean's question. He raised his eyebrows as he stood up on his toes to get a better view of Jean's bloodied and bruising bottom lip. "Did you and Eren fight?!"
"No," Levi answered for the two boys as he approached Jean. He wrapped his fingers around Jean's chin, jerking his face down so he could examine the wound on his lip. "What exactly did you two do?" Levi released his grip on Jean's face and turned to face Eren.
"Um, haha." Eren pushed his fingers through his brown locks. "Can we talk about that later?"
Levi sighed before giving one slight nod. He glanced back at Hanji-who was still visibly upset by the episode. "Time to call it a night?"
Hanji sniffled before moving to a different spot where everyone could see her. "Same time next Saturday?" She was greeted with a chorus of groans followed by reluctant agreements. "Great! I will be sure to keep the bottle safe until then!"
A/N- Okay so I tried really hard with the twister chapter, but it just proved to be beyond my writing capabilities. I've only been writing for like 4 months, so I'm still fairly new to this. But, I decided that after I write the conclusion chapter, I'm going to do 2 or 3 bonus chapters. I will for sure being typing a Jean/Marco chapter as well as an Armin/Annie chapter.
Man, I feel like I'm forgetting something important that I was supposed to mention... (Oh well, I will just add it later if I remember)
Okay well anyway, thanks for all the reviews, favorites and follows, and sorry in advance for possible grammar errors!
And, I hope everyone enjoys!