Chapter Text
It wasn’t exactly unusual for me to be attending a party uninvited.
I just kind of maybe have happened to overhear Eren talking about it with Connie last Sunday- and hey, if Connie was going, I was technically a plus one, right? There was no way Eren was going to ever directly invite me and it wasn’t as if this was the first time I had showed up to one of his little shindigs without an invitation either.
And so forth, as far as house parties go, his were admittedly some of the best. The atmosphere was always pretty relaxed and I recognized most of the people there, all of them really lame, which was a good thing at least.
The initial plan was to get in, get hammered, snoop around a little bit, and get out. But after being forced into the position of “designated driver” I wasn’t really worried about blending in or anything like that anymore, though my plans of getting smashed were out the window - it just meant I didn’t have to follow Connie and Sasha around all night like a drunk loser and stick to wandering around a single room like last time.
And besides, the place was packed and the music was so loud out it drowned out most of the voices coming from around the house, there was no way in hell Eren would find me when he was up to his ass in drinks and his so called “social etiquette.” Not to mention the fact that it was crowded as fuck - the usually earthy smell of the Jaeger household was almost unrecognizable, tainted with the stench of cheap booze and cigarettes.
“Gross.”
“Hey, man,” Connie said, nudging my arm as we pushed through a group of people and made our way into the kitchen, “Don’t zone out too much, the party hasn’t even started yet.”
“There are too many lights in here,” Sasha added from beside him, “And I know it’s nearly Christmas but I’m pretty sure I tripped over several cords on the way in.”
I hummed in agreement and leaned back against the counter as Connie cracked open a beer, offering me another. I shook my head.
“Driving, remember?” I sighed, “You said you needed a ride.”
“And you said you needed a way in,” Sasha sniped back, “Regretting your decision to come with us already?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that the only reason you wanted to crash this party was to ditch us and get blisteringly drunk.”
“Woah now,” Connie grinned, slipping between the two of us and turning his drink over in his hand, “I thought we all agreed to get equally intoxicated as each other. It’s no biggie, lets just chillax.”
“Then I guess I filled up that water tank for nothing,” she huffed, bending down to rummage through the fridge, “I just wanted to pull a couple of pranks and kick back, ya’ know? Like we did in the good old days before Jean developed an ego.”
“Whatever you say, Sash,” I mumbled back, turning to stare at the bright lights decorating the bars along the ceiling, “I guess everything’s just been kinda shitty lately with the whole moving situation, and the Marco situation and the employment situation, and-”
“Dude, we get it,” Connie interrupted with a loud sigh, wiping the dirt from his shoes against the counter, “There is a lot of shit going on, that’s why we brought you here, well, besides from needing a ride.”
“Yeah,” Sasha added, taking a bite out of a piece of cake she found once she had pulled Eren’s fridge apart, “Maybe just enjoy tonight. We haven’t seen Eren yet either, so things are going in your favour so far-”
“And maybe you’ll meet someone!”
“And fall in love.”
“And have three kids.”
“Only three?”
“Only three!?” I spluttered, “Why do you guys wanna marry me off so badly?”
“We didn’t say anything about marriage, Jean,” Sasha rolled her eyes, tacky braces sparkling under the cheap red and green string of lights, “We are just suggesting…”
“…That maybe you should make a real commitment for once,” Connie continued, sipping his beer gingerly, “You’re a grouch, man we get it-!”
I scowled in response, picking up the beer he had offered to me before cracking it open and downing some of the contents. It was disgusting, fuck it. I dunno what else I’d expected.
“It’s just, you know… Maybe we’re getting a teensy bit tired of being your back up plan for nights out.”
“And maybe you could…you know, socialize a little this time,” Sasha added.
“I’d rather talk to a dead fish than make any form of verbal communication with these losers,” I griped, turning over my can similarly to the way Connie had before. Man, this stuff was vile. Now we are going to have to sleep in the car overnight or some shit.
Sasha sighed for what was probably the twentieth time since we left my flat and looked off towards the doorway. She was wearing the same expression she always did when she was ticked off about something, unsurprisingly. It was only after another ten seconds of tense silence that I felt relieved (yes, relieved) to see a mop of messy brown hair emerging through the crowd of people standing around in the living room.
“Thanks for the pep talk, guys,” I said quickly, jumping down from my position on the counter top, “but I’m pretty sure that’s Eren over there and I think he is heading right this way so, uh - stall for me.”
Connie raised his eyebrows but said nothing, though Sasha was still completely vacant, swinging her legs back and forth from where she sat on the kitchen table. Fucking Eren, the dopey shit still hadn’t seen me yet.
I nudged a startled looking Sasha out of the way and hopped over a chair placed hazardously in the walkway, rushing into the room next door.
A sigh of relief slipped through my lips as I squeezed through the crowd of people blocking the exit and circled my way out into the hallway. It was emptier than I’d thought it would be with everyone crowded in the living room and luckily I had gotten used to the layout of Eren’s house after an uneasy seven years of part aggressive/part friendly rivalry between us - I guess it did come with some perks after all.
I made my way towards a more secluded lounge area, located at the very back of the two storey house, and was relieved to find it moderately quieter without the bass of the music thumping in the background. Though with the loud chattering of other occupants scattered around the doorway, it was still enough to keep me hidden on my mission of seeking out a good hiding place.
The only piece of furniture that deemed large enough to hide behind was a long grey couch lined up across the far end of the room and I was able to slip behind it easily after pushing past the drab curtains blocking the window and into the space between the couch and wall.
The only thing I didn’t really count on was crashing into someone else on the way in.
“Ow--!”
“Shit!” I hissed, clambering off of said occupant before shooting them a harsh glare, “What the hell are you doing back here!?”
“I could be asking you the same question,” he retorted calmly back, brushing his blonde bangs out of his eyes before peering up at me suspiciously. Geez, it’s not like I hit him deliberately or anything.
“I asked you first.”
“Well I was here first,” his lips curving upwards a little as I groaned and rest the back of my head against the couch. Man, I’m sure I’ve seen his face somewhere before.
“I’m hiding.”
“From who?” he piqued, curiosity masking his features pleasantly while I stared back unphased, my eyes narrowing in thought until I felt something click.
“Hey, I know you!” I half whispered, half yelled outright and his eyes widened in what I suspected was disbelief.
“You do?”
“Yeah, you’re Aaron, right? We’ve met before, somewhere…And I think I’ve seen you on Facebook - Wait, no that sounds really creepy. It’s not like I stalk your page or anything like that I just-”
“It’s Armin, actually,” he replied, eyebrows still raised when I turned away from him to stare at the white wall in front of us, “and you’re John, right?”
“It’s Jean, actually,” I bit back.
He made a small noise in what I could only assume was amusement and I sighed, relaxing back against the couch a bit while he played with his fingers. I could feel the silence becoming awkward after what was probably about thirty seconds of not saying anything and I felt slightly relieved when he started speaking again, cerulean eyes tracing the outline of my face.
“Well, Jean. You still haven’t answered my question.”
“And what was your question again?”
“Who are you hiding from?”
I paused. Internally debating whether or not I should answer him.
I didn’t really know who he was besides his name and the fact that I had seen him somewhere before this whole shindy. But whatever the case, he didn’t look like much of a threat in those hand-me-down jeans and that too-large sweater combo (in actual fact he looked like more of a loser than I was). We were both taking refuge behind a sofa for fucks sake.
“It’s kind of a funny situation,” I sighed, avoiding his eyes when this only seemed to inflame the intensity of his gaze.
“I’m listening.”
“Well, I’m not really supposed to be here, if you really want to know that badly.”
His eyes narrowed, “Right…”
“And showing up uninvited to a party isn’t really the best way to make amends with its host so…”
“I’m hiding from Eren too,” the blonde grinned, resting both elbows on his knees and tucking his hands underneath his chin to stare up at me angelically, “I can’t dance for shit.”
“Gotcha.”
“So about the Facebook thing-”
“Oh my god, please don‘t.”
“Okay, okay,” he said, holding his hands up as a sign of surrender before peeking over the top of the couch and settling back down, “New topic. If we’ve met, why don’t I remember you? I mean, if I had seen that ridiculous haircut once, I don‘t think it‘s something I would have forgotten about.”
I scoffed and rubbed my undercut self consciously, “Hey, hey, this shit is pretty popular with the ladies, alright? And you remembered my name, kind of…” I trailed off, fingers curling around a receipt I found in my pocket as I buried my hands in my jacket for warmth, “That’s something.”
“I guess it is,” he replied, running his hand through his hair from the front, mussing up his fringe and causing strands of wispy, light blonde hair to brush against his cheeks, “What?”
“Nothing,” I answered quickly, already feeling my face start to heat up from being caught staring. I sighed and stretched my legs out. Well, tried at least, it was getting kind of cramped, “You’re kind of odd.”
“Says the guy hiding behind a sofa.”
“You’re hiding too!”
“Yeah, but at least my reason is actually a good one,” he chuckled, rolling his eyes undoubtedly at my slack-jawed expression, “I can’t believe you showed up to a party you weren’t invited to just to sneak around behind pieces of furniture the whole time.”
“Well excuse me from trying to avoid a death sentence,” I replied humorously, “Eren isn’t exactly a passive guy.”
“Pfft, you’re telling me,” Armin sighed, furrowing his thick eyebrows in thought, “I mean, Eren’s my best friend and all, but I was pretty much dragged here against my will. Mikasa tried to put a stop to it all but alas, it was too late.”
It was my turn to look curious now, “You know Mikasa too?”
“Am I the only one in my group of friends that hasn’t been introduced to you yet?” he grinned, tapping his fingers on the carpet before glancing down again, “Like geez, you showed up out of nowhere, huh.”
“I actually met Eren and Mikasa a long time ago,” I said, drawling out the last part as his eyes flashed enquiringly towards my face once again, “It’s kind of a funny story actually…”
“Do tell.”
“So…you know Annie right? Annie Leonhardt?”
He nodded.
“Well, to set the scene for you, we all met at her thirteenth birthday party and things got kind of messy.”
“Messy how?” he asked, eyebrows raised in confusion.
“Messy as in Eren dumped a whole cake over my head.”
I scowled when I heard him stifle a laugh, “I’m sorry,” he snorted from underneath the hand that was now covering his mouth, “Did I hear you correctly when you said that Eren dumped an entire cake over your head?”
“It wasn’t funny at the time, okay!” I shook my head, tone lighthearted as I tried to conceal my own smile, “We were both twelve and that shit was pretty traumatic!”
“Okay, okay,” he giggled, resting his head back against the couch to match mine, “So how did this whole thing escalate to get to that point?”
“Well, I was just hanging around, minding my own business like a good kid does ya’ know?” he shook his head in disbelief, “and then suddenly I see this smoking hot chick like woah, man this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, go get her! Is what I tell myself in my head-”
He chuckled, eyes fixated on my over the top hand gestures, “Go on…”
“So I go up to her, and this little twerp who looked about a foot shorter than me and had the bushiest eyebrows I’ve ever seen in my life- jumps me! Just as I’m about to lay down my best pick up line. Then he says something like hey don’t go macking on her with your dirty animal germs, creepazoid, you hear me!”
“Yup, that sounds about right.”
“So we get into this ridiculous fight and things got pretty intense and soon we were over by the buffet table…BOOM, all I can see is a whole lot of pink frosting and Annie fuming across the yard.”
“Oh my god, that sounds like a disaster,” Armin cringed, covering his face with his hands in what was obviously secondhand embarrassment, “and this smoking hot chick just happened to be Mikasa, right?”
“Oh yeah, definitely,” I grinned, turning my head to properly face him, “and thus, a legacy was born! Emerging from behind the frosting like a brave hero should- IT IS I, JEAN KIRSCHSTEIN!”
“Nooo. Shut up you are making me even more embarrassed for you,” he whined, removing hands to reveal his flushed cheeks. Oh man, he’s actually pretty cute.
I sighed, trying to dispel the thoughts of my gangly twelve year old self, “Yeah, I was kind of a loser.”
“No it’s not that,” he replied, face still slightly pink, “You guys wrecked a birthday party fighting over a girl!”
“And?”
“Well, based on my first impression of you alone, I didn’t really gather that you were the type to get involved in petty fights like that.”
“W-what!? But he started it!”
“Well, yeah but from the way Eren used to speak about you…” he trailed off, blue eyes knowing as he waited for me to react.
“Eren told you about me!?”
“Well it was more like John said this, John did that-”
“It’s Jean! And I thought you said you didn‘t remember me!”
“Oh no, it‘s all coming back now… I just couldn‘t put the name to a face,” he hummed, pink lips still curved upwards in a way I could only really describe as mischievous, “You‘re the boy I thought he had a crush on.”
“What!?” I exclaimed. Jaeger? Seriously? “Nah…really!?”
“Yeah, I guess,” Armin’s smile was soft this time. He shuffled sideways and stood up from his position on the carpet, nudging me with his shoe, “Well, thought. Past tense. You know, I better get going. And it’s probably kind of late for this but…”
“But…?”
“Well, if you wanna ever hang out sometime or whatever,” he mumbled, swaying bashfully as he tried to think of what to say next, “you can ask Eren or Mikasa for my number and send me a text or something…”
He climbed over the couch, perching on the other side for a second to await my reply, “Okay?”
“Yeah, yeah that would be cool- like to hang out, I mean,” I answered back, stumbling over my words when his ocean coloured irises met my dull brown ones.
“Awesome,” he breathed, eyes flickering over my face for a second before rising again to meet my gaze.
“Awesome,” I affirmed.
“Hey, Armin! What the heck are you doing back here?”
I groaned sinking lower in my position behind the couch. What impeccable timing. Of course that fuckwit Jaeger just had to show up.
“Oh, I was just getting acquainted with your friend Jean over here,” I heard Armin reply, tone laced with innocence, “You know, the one you never introduced me to.”
I jumped as the couch shifted suddenly, making me fall back onto my elbows as I proceeded to stare death in the face. Well, if death was sent to me in the form of an angry, eyeliner-wearing, nineteen year old, that is.
“Get the fuck out of my house.”
“Aww man,” I whined, feeling the corners of my lips pull into a smirk as Eren grew more and more agitated, “I was just starting to get comfortable.”
“Well go get comfortable somewhere else!” he snarled back, nails digging into the fabric of his vomit green hoodie in order to maintain that gloriously thought out “social etiquette” of his.
I sighed and reluctantly stood up, not being able to stop myself from raising an eyebrow at how small Armin was in comparison to the both of us. He also looked relatively cleaner, not that I was a total slob but Eren on the other hand, yikes.
“Thanks.”
“For what?” Armin asked seriously.
“Uh, for ratting me out?” I answered, or rather, questioned, “Kind of thought you were on my side.”
“Well,” he replied, lips upturning slightly when he spoke, “I’m sorry to be a disappointment.”
I stared at him for a couple of seconds longer, unsure about whether he was joking or not. He was seriously pretty for a dude, not that I hadn’t noticed beforehand but, damn…
“Nah,” Eren interrupted after a few seconds of silence, “this guy is just a huge jerk.”
“I know you are but what am I?”
“Wow, congratulations. You are an actual seven year old.”
“Eren,” Armin sighed, “I know this sounds stupid but it’s probably getting late and I’m really tired so I’m just gonna head home.”
“What-! No, no, Armin!” Eren, replied, grabbing his shoulders to hold him in place, “The party is just getting started!”
Armin frowned and shuffled his feet apologetically, “Yeah, but I’ve still got a project I haven’t finished yet and you know this isn’t really my scene so…”
Eren stood in place for a couple of seconds longer before sighing in defeat. He let go of Armin who immediately perked up and walked off towards the door, “I’ll see you later, okay?” he said, before slipping out into the hallway.
Eren nodded reluctantly and turned to face me again.
I heard a faint “Goodbye Jean,” but that still didn’t exactly quell my annoyance of being found out. Eren was still staring at me, not saying anything.
“So…”
“Ugh, shut it, horseface,” he groaned, rubbing his eyes before spreading his fingers apart to peek out at me from behind his hands, “You staying or what?”
“Yeah, I could use some alcohol,” I replied, stuffing my hands into my pockets and glancing around the now very empty room, “Is Mikasa here?”
Eren huffed in annoyance, “Why do you wanna know?”
“She is a good drinking buddy.”
He rolled his eyes and pushed me towards the door, “You are a real ass you know that, right?”
“Yeah but you still love me.”
“Nope.”
“Yesss, you do,” I sang, turning my head to face him, only to see that his slightly pissed off expression had yet to wear off.
“I’m aro, remember,” he snorted, letting go of me once we had both entered the kitchen, “Besides, the only person who could love a face like yours is your mother.”
I waggled my tongue at him in response and went back to lean beside the counter, finding the spot where I had been previously when Connie and Sasha were around. Speaking of which, where the hell were those two dickbags, it should be in the bro code to stall the host when a fellow bro shows up to a party uninvited. That shit should be law even!
“And hey,” Eren continued, opening the cupboards lining the room in search for something edible, “Now that you’ve met Armin, don’t go macking on him either, you hear me?”
“Don’t waste your time, you know I’m not into guys,” I replied, deserting my spot on the counter to look through the fridge, finding a beer and cracking it open before settling back again.
“I don’t care what you’re into,” he said bluntly, his heavily lined, green eyes narrowing as he pulled a bag of crisps down from the shelf above his head, “You even look at him funny…”
He made a couple of chopping motions with his hands and I raised an eyebrow.
“What the hell is that supposed to be?”
“That’s me!” he spluttered, “Kicking your ass!”
I choked on my drink before breaking into bouts of laughter, ignoring Eren’s protests, even when he tried stepping on my shoes. I was only interrupted however, by the sound of cheering coming from the living room next door. We both turned and tried to peer through the door frame at the same time, only to knock our heads together accidentally in the process.
Eren was the first one to recover and start pushing through the crowd while I followed behind him in confusion, trying to mind my own business (but you know, not really because I‘m nosey as hell).
“What the fuck is going on!?”
“Oh man,” I snickered, patting Eren on the shoulder, “You guys did have my back after all!”
“What do you think I filled the water tank up for, dumbass?” Sasha grinned before slipping in the large puddle of water on the grand marble flooring.
I shrugged.
There were empty plastic cups placed throughout the hallway, taking up any available space and filled to the brim with water. Furniture like the TV and stereo (still on full blast) were placed somewhere high up and the rest of the tank had been more or less spilled all over the living room floor, resulting in many people laughing and sliding across the room on their asses like a makeshift slip-n-slide.
“Mikasa!” Eren yelled, trying to maintain his balance as he stepped past masses of people splashing around along the ground, “I thought you were monitoring everyone!”
“I was but this is really fun, sorry,” the raven-haired girl replied, sliding backwards on her hands before launching herself forward through the crowd.
People cheered again and Eren groaned.
“Guys, you kind of left me hanging there,” I said, fist bumping both Connie and Sasha as they stood up off of the ground while Eren skidded across the room, hanging onto any piece of furniture that had been strewn across the living room, “What took you so long?”
“Yeah well, it was kind of hard blocking off the hallway and herding everyone in here for the main event,” Connie replied, “Mikasa and Annie were stubborn as hell.”
“I think everyone is having fun now though,” Sasha added, putting her hands on her hips as she surveyed the room, “This was a pretty good idea.”
Well I couldn’t disagree with that.
“Yeah, so come on, Jeannyboy!” Connie grinned, tugging me towards the hard floor with Sasha in tow, “Let’s race.”
I reluctantly sat down. Ugh, man these jeans were expensive as hell, when I decided to come out tonight I didn’t think I’d be leaving with wet stains on my ass.
“Hey,” I called to them over the shrieking in background, “You guys know someone called Armin? Blonde, kind of small but ehh, not smaller than Connie-”
“Hey-!”
“Uh, I don’t think so,” Sasha answered thoughtfully before knocking my side playfully, “Why, did she reject your ass too?”
“Armin’s a dude, okay,” I sniped back lightheartedly, “and I was just wondering since we had a bunch of mutual friends so…”
“So you did take our advice after all,” Connie grinned, sliding back and forth along the ground.
I mumbled a quick “whatever,” in response as we all slid back to sit against the wall. How did I became friends with these assholes in the first place? They didn’t even give me a heads up about the stupid water tank shit until I drove them here, geez.
On the count of three, we all launched ourselves off across the room. I could still feel the water soaking through my jeans but I put up with it for the cause. It didn’t exactly take long for us to skid in the wrong direction and Sasha grabbed onto both of our wrists from either side, squealing loudly as she collided into the couch, with Connie and I in tow.
“Fucking- ow,” I groaned rubbing my forehead, shit, “Everything is spinning.”
“Ow yourself,” Sasha replied, wearily, “I got the brunt of that, you asshat.”
“It’s not my fault you grabbed onto us with your bloody wench claws!”
Sasha whined and stood up, using my shoulder for leverage when she stumbled the first few times. Connie on the other hand, pulled himself up using the couch, offering out his hand out to me when I made no move to get up. I brushed him off and tried to push myself off of the ground, only to slip and fall onto my back, and fuck did that hurt.
I groaned, trying to shut out the screaming and thumping of the bass in the background. Ugh, if I thought I was dizzy before, this was equivalent to freaking children’s merry-go-round level.
“Oh my god, are you okay?”
Fuck. Why universe, why!? I could feel my face burn in embarrassment as I looked up and was met with Armin’s concerned gaze.
“What are you doing back here?”
“I uh, left my bag…um…” he said, lips thinning in obvious thought before he offered out his hand, “here.”
I took it and let him help me up, ignoring Connie’s loud scoff from his seat on the couch. I could practically feel Sasha’s laughter inside my head before I heard it, I immediately turned to stare her down but it did nothing if not fuel her into further hysterics.
“O-oh my g-g-od!” she snickered into her hand, “Man, you sure are a pretty little thing aren’t you!? I’m sure Jean would just eat you u-up! Hahaha-”
“Shut up!”
“I-its okay,” Armin said, ducking his head away from us and fiddling with his fingers, “I was just on my way back out and I wanted to see what the commotion was about.”
“N-no!” I responded hastily, “Uh, we didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable we are just playing around. She‘s drunk as fuck!”
“Yeah,” Sasha added, finally cooling off as she fanned her hand against her face to ward off the redness in her cheeks, “Sorry.”
Connie finally looked up, taking in Armin’s appearance for a second before glancing up at me with a smug look on his face. Asshole.
“We were thinking of heading down to McDonalds later,” he said, green eyes darting back towards the blond, “Wanna come?”
“That sounds fun but I can’t,” Armin sighed, “I’ve got a history project I’m working on tomorrow so I gotta go home and catch up on sleep while I still can.”
“Right- oh wait, didn’t catch your name.”
“It’s Armin.”
“Cute.”
“Agh, yeah we get it guys! Armin is adorable,” I interrupted, narrowing my eyes at Connie as a warning, “But yeah, it’s getting kind of late so maybe you should start heading home.”
“Yeah…” he smiled, the corners of his lips upturning as he pulled on the strap of his satchel, “I’ll see you, maybe.”
He made his way towards the doorway slowly, clutching random pieces of furniture the whole time to avoid slipping over unlike my stupid ass.
It was actually kind of dorky.
He waved to us before he left and we all returned it, Sasha more enthusiastically than Connie and I but nether the less, it was still appreciated. I pulled at my bottom lip with my fingers for a few seconds after he left, shaming myself internally for feeling the urge to smile. When the hell did I start getting so sappy? I was supposed to be the grouch.
“Hey Jean?” Sasha squeaked from beside me, clutching onto my arm as she peered back out towards the now empty hallway.
“What, Sash?”
“I know this is kinda off topic but if you’re still up for having three kids, there is always adoption.”