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latching your foot onto the handle of the drawer, you pull it open, squatting down and balancing on your heels to inspect what was in there. with it currently being january, as well as a tuesday, it was to no surprise that the shop was literally empty, and you didn’t even need both hands to count the amount of people that had come in that morning.
eyes scanning over the products, you eventually find the moisturiser that you had sold a singular one of earlier in the day, and trying to find literally anything for you to do, you decide to just fill the gap on the shelf.
standing back up, you instinctively flinch as your arm brushes against the fabric of someone else’s shirt. almost forgetting about the bottle in your hand, you quickly place it down on the shelf, before whipping around to see who was invading your personal space
although, it wasn’t that hard to guess.
the overwhelming scent of that familiar cologne was not hard to miss at all, even when practically every perfume that you had in stock had been spritzed, his always seemed to overpower the rest. averting your gaze upwards, your eyes meet eren’s as he glances down at you, eyebrow slightly raised, he eventually takes a step back after what feels like a lifetime. your attention diverts down to his hand, flickering between his face and the small wad of cash in his hand.
“is that my christmas bonus?” tilting your head to the side, you quickly count the amount, “didn’t realise we were getting them early, or in cash. surely that’s not enough though-”
“ha ha, very funny.” he cuts you off, and you catch his gaze again, noticing the corner of his lips threatening to curl into a smile.
since the.. incident at christmas, you’d been trying to avoid him whenever possible, and he’d surprisingly also gone along with it. you’d honestly expected him to annoy you as much as he possibly could and follow you around like some sort of lost puppy, but he didn’t. and to be honest, the lack of interaction between the two of you impacted you way more than you thought it would.
“no, i ordered some cakes and stuff from the bakery down the road for everyone, i need you to go pay for it, and pick it up.” he outstretches his hand to you, urging you to take the cash.
crossing your arms across your chest, you keep your head tilted, “why can’t you do it?” you mirror his expression, raising an eyebrow at him, noticing a strand of hair falling over his face. you were surprised that he had his hair down today, as whenever your manager, levi was in, he practically forced him to tie it up when he was on the floor.
a frown taints his lips at your questioning, and he sighs dramatically, “because levi’s still pissed at me, and i think he’ll have a fit if i leave the shop.” he pauses, and you can practically see him bracing himself for your response, “please, doll? for me?”
with a stifled laugh, you pretend to ponder for a moment, just as he would do to you if the roles were reversed. after an almost agonising minute to him of you acting as if you were calculating the costs and benefits, you eventually grab the cash from his hand, “fine. i’ll do it.” you state, putting up a hand to stop him from speaking as he opens his mouth. “but. if i get in shit for this, you’re getting the blame, this is all on you. deal?”
he stares at you silently for a few moments, contemplating whether it was worth it or not, before inhaling through his nose, “fine.. thank you.” he parrots, the typical teasing lilt in his tone not evidently present, eyes drifting down to the cash you’d practically snatched from him. ignoring his lack of enthusiasm, you try to shake off the slight unease you felt, trying to uphold your new year’s resolution of not constantly overthinking things.
“saying thank you? might be the nicest you’ve ever been to me.” you attempt to brush off the awkwardness in the atmosphere by acting exactly as he would in that situation. to your dismay, you had unconsciously begun to mirror small aspects of his mannerisms, and everytime you realised you were doing it, it caused you to internally cringe - and you desperately hoped that nobody else had clocked onto it.
he scoffs in feigned offense, finally brushing his hair from his face, a few invisible loose strands basically taunting him as they still linger against his skin. “bullshit, i’m always nice to you.” a faint smile traces his lips as he mirrors your previous action of crossing your arms across your chest.
”uh huh, whatever you say.” you retort, waving him off as you turn away from him, shivering again as you step into the cold january air as you exit the shop. even with the drought of customers in the shop, you were still surprised to see the streets so empty. it was almost eerie.
with the emptiness of the streets, it meant you couldn’t just completely zone out and people-watch as you walked, forcing you to focus on just how cold you actually were. thankfully, the bakery was only a few doors down.
eventually reaching it, the bright red paint of the door immediately catches your attention, faded painted strawberries and small cupcake designs littering the corners where the paint had begun to peel. peering inside through the window, to nobody’s surprise, it was completely empty inside, with only a single girl around your age behind the counter, enamoured by something on her phone.
you push down on the cold metal of the door handle, and the cheerful ring of the bell above the door fills your ears. the soft scent of flour mixed in with other baked goods immediately clouds your senses, which you welcome, being nice that you could actually smell something, considering you had gone completely noseblind to all of the scents at work. it was also really warm in there, like they actually had the heating on. glossing over the contents of the glass cabinet in front of you, you understood why eren regularly brought from here, yet you had never actually been in yourself.
”did you come in here for something?” a voice brings you back to reality, the bluntness of it catching you off guard as it completely contrasted the atmosphere. your gaze falls to the girl behind the counter, and you watch as she looks you up and down, before leaning against the counter. “i haven’t seen you here before.” she remarks, raising an eyebrow at you. as much as you tried to give her the benefit of the doubt, she unsettled you, her eyes glaring into you in judgement not helping.
“oh, i work at the uh, perfume shop a couple of doors down.” you gesture in the direction with your hand with a wry smile, trying to mask your unease. yet, this just earns you a scoff from her, and a mutter of ‘i didn’t ask that’ that you scarcely heard. after a moment of thought, she briskly points a finger at you, the sharpness of her almost claw-like acrylic catching your eye. were you even allowed nails like that in hospitality?
“you’re (y/n) then?”
hesitantly you nod, unsure if you should even disclose who you were to her, like it’s something that’ll come back to bite you later on.
“guessing you’re probably here to pick up eren’s order, right? getting you to run his errands, huh? he’d never make me do that.” she tuts at your nod, shaking her head with a shrug as she turns her back to you, causing you to miss the growing grin on her lips.
”..yeah. something like that, i guess.” answering sheepishly, you attempt to maintain the wry smile on your lips. but, he words gnaw at you immensely, what did she mean by that? had he mentioned you to her before? what were they- “so, you know eren?” you practically blurt out, cutting off the overbearing thoughts as quickly as you could.
were you jealous?
you had no reason to be, you’d only kissed once, right? he wasn’t just flirty with you, he was with everyone, right? why were you reacting like this? she’d literally only implied that she knew him, it’s not as if she’d said she was fucking him.
blinking yourself back into reality and internally sighing, you watch as she boredly scans over the boxes on the counter behind her, “yeah, me and him go way back, we went to the same high school, dated a few times and stuff. still actually hook up regularly, though.” she shrugs with feigned nonchalance, yet there’s an underlying bitterness in her tone.
nevermind.
she eventually picks up a specific white box, almost harshly placing it in front of you, through the translucent plastic on the top, you can scarcely make out the silhouettes of a few cupcakes and brownies, similar to the ones in the glass cabinet. you quietly stare at it, vision momentarily blurring in and out of focus. was it getting warmer in there?
awkwardly clearing your throat, you shift on your heels as you redirect your gaze back to the box, “oh, right. and, how much does this come to?”
a smirk graces her lips at your visible discomfort, “15, and make sure you tell my eren that i put in a few extras just for him as usual.” she winks cheekily at you, the exaggerated sweetness in her tone almost making you feel sick, your throat restricting.
her eren.
who knew a singular word could have such an impact, almost causing you to choke on your words, blood running cold with the way it rolled so easily off of her tongue - like he really was hers.
but he wasn’t yours either. and you knew that.
wordlessly, you place the notes in your hand on the counter next to her hand, eventually noticing the way you were subconsciously clenching your fist, causing them to bunch up under your grip. with a silent exhale to steady yourself, you grab hold of the box, avoiding her gaze entirely. “yeah, thanks. have a good day.” speaking quickly, you practically stumble out of the door, and if she responded with another snarky remark, you didn’t hear it.
now outside, you exhale heavily, finally being able to breathe again now that you were outside of the suffocating atmosphere. for once, you were thankful for the cold, as it immediately brought you back to your senses.
“what the fuck was that?” you mutter to yourself, a defeated sigh escaping your lips as you notice the obnoxiously large red heart drawn in sharpie on the top of the box that was definitely not there before. on your way back to the shop, you practically end up in autopilot, a million different possibilities completely overcrowding your thoughts.
was he leading you on, or was he leading her on? was there a secret third one that neither of you knew about?
how did she know your name? had he told her about you? what had he told her?
you didn’t get her name.
with a silent groan of realisation as you reach the entrance of the shop, you register the fact that you hadn’t asked for, neither had she given you her name. probably a smart choice on her behalf - you’re now definitely wishing that you didn’t tell her yours.
stepping back into the building that you usually felt a strange sense of comfort from now felt like your worst nightmare.
shouldering yourself through the half-opened door, your eyes immediately meet sasha’s, who practically springs up like a meerkat at the prospect of there being food in the box.
“what is that?” she immediately gawps as she approaches you, and you have to lift the box above your head, and out of her reach to allow yourself to even get a word in. “ah-ah, they’re for everyone.”
she playfully huffs at your response, and you cautiously bring the box back down as she takes a step out of your personal space. noticing the heart practically scrawled onto the box, she raises an eyebrow at you, and all you can do is shrug.
“you met rose?” she inquires, following behind you as you begin to make your way to the back, the rest of the shop completely empty, except for levi who was mindlessly counting the cash in the till.
“who?” you respond, knowing that your suspicions were probably right, and it was exactly who you were thinking about, yet you just wanted the actual confirmation from sasha.
“blonde, bit shorter than you, probably glared daggers at you because you’re ‘competition’?”
humming in response with a nod, you eventually fully process what she said, stopping in your tracks, “what’s that meant to mean??” you blink at her incredulously.
a flash of surprise flickers through her gaze, and before she can open her mouth to answer, levi’s monotonous tone crackles through your headset, “sasha, come here a sec.” great timing.
the aforementioned groans, before sighing dramatically, “i’ll tell you after, we need a good gossip.” she points at you as she walks off, redirecting it to the box, “save me one!”
you raise an eyebrow at her response, so there really was something going on with that rose girl?
watching as she hesitantly makes her way over to levi, you turn on your heels, suddenly realising that if eren wasn’t on the floor, then he was most certainly in the back. great.
practically barging the door to the back open with your shoulder, you grimace as you realise you should’ve been quieter. if you could just quietly put the box in the break room without him noticing you were there, you-
“hey, doll. did you get them?”
fuck.
slightly turning your head to the side, you catch a glimpse of eren out of the corner of your eye, grin on his face growing as he notices the box in your hands, “thank you, thank you!” he sighs in relief, stepping forward to pull you into his side, “god, i could kiss y-” his expression quickly drops as he notices your tense stature, and the complete lack of response to his presence. even when you’d been ignoring him for the past few weeks, he noticed that you still acknowledged him, even if only slightly.
“wait, wait. what’s going on? what happened?” he quickly asks, expression filtering to concern as you completely turn away from him, the only indication that you heard him being the unamused hum under your breath, “doll, please don’t turn away from me. talk to me.”
you had no idea why, but just seeing him in that moment just made you feel worse. she clearly knew about you, so why didn’t you know about her? you hated the fact that he was clearly hiding something from you, and sasha’s reaction only managed to make it worse.
entering the break room with him not far behind, the worry he was experiencing clearly evident on his face, you set the box on the table, before quickly turning on your heels to leave. yet, he blocks your path, completely stopping you from getting within range of the door. you notice his gaze flickering between yours and the box, and if you weren’t watching him closely, you wouldn’t have noticed the way his face immediately dropped further.
“did you.. meet rose?” he asks hesitantly, eyes desperately searching yours for a response, any sort of indication that you were going to answer him.
scoffing under your breath, your eyebrows furrow at him, “why? you gonna talk to her about me later? considering you’re hers?” you attempt to pry his arm from the doorframe, yet he gently grabs your shoulder instead. looking down at you, he frowns softly, trying to decipher what you were thinking, with the sudden change in your body language freaking him out.
practically doing a double take, his lips part momentarily, before pressing into a thin line, “are you.. jealous?” he whispers under his breath, almost entirely inaudible.
gaze threatening to soften at the gentleness of his grip, you shake yourself out of it, keeping your eyebrows furrowed. “we’re not a thing, why would i need to be jealous?” trying to hide the uncertainty you were experiencing, you attempt to mask it with frustration.
“do you want us to be a thing?”
silence.
with your lack of response, and the subtle way you tense beneath his palm, his eyes immediately widen. “wait, what?”
eyes widening slightly as you realise what you’ve just implied, your eyes immediately fall to the floor, avoiding his gaze entirely. “eren, let me out.”
“not until you talk to me. please.” he practically begs, and his thumb begins to brush against your shoulder in an attempt to coax your gaze back to his.
“i don’t have time for this, i need to actually do my fucking job.” you mutter under your breath, taking a step back, forcing him to loosen his grip on your arm.
the loss of contact allows you to take another step back, and eren almost has to physically restrain himself from reaching out to you again. “can you just tell me why you’re upset with me? i hate it when you’re mad at me.” his voice is slightly quieter than usual, a softer tone barely audible.
“well, you should’ve thought about that before you led me on, then went behind my back to fuck some other girl at the same time.” you retort, the frustration you were feeling clear to him.
yet, his eyes widen in shock and confusion at your accusation, “what are you talking about?”
“don’t start acting clueless.”
“baby, no i’m not. what did she say to you?” the concern in his tone grows, and you almost tense up again at the ease in which the endearment rolls off his tongue.
“just stop it, eren. don’t fucking call me that.” you sigh in frustration, a slight shake evident in your breath. was he actually genuinely clueless? or was he just messing with you? “how come that rose girl knew who i was, yet i had no idea who she was, huh?”
“stop it, no.” he whispers, shaking his head, “i’m not fucking her, neither am i talking to her about you. i wouldn’t do that to you.”
“then how did she know who i am?” you press further, growing slightly more frustrated.
“she’s one of zeke’s girlfriend’s friends or… something. i don’t know, okay? she’s always been madly in love with me, but i’ve never reciprocated it. i never directly told her about you, because i knew she’d pull something like this.” he sighs, once again desperately trying to meet your gaze, “i’m guessing one of them accidentally slipped up in front of her and mentioned you.”
“why are you talking to your brother about me?” you’re still not totally sure if you believe him, the furrow remaining in your brows.
now it’s his turn to realise what he’s just implied, freezing in place as he stares at you like a deer in headlights. with a groan, he buries his face into his palms, “this is my worst nightmare.” he mumbles, voice muffled by his hands.
before you can respond, he brings his hands away from his face, catching your gaze once more, “because i’m in love with you, okay?” he blurts out, taking a step forward to allow his hands to gently hover over your arms.
“i’m a coward. i didn’t know how to manage my feelings, or what to do, so i told zeke. i didn’t want it to come out like this, i was gonna take you out somewhere, somewhere nice. then i was gonna tell you, i promise.” his voice has completely lost its typical confident edge, replaced with a more timid one. “i didn’t think she knew who you were. that’s why i sent you to go, if she saw that i’d sent you, then i thought that maybe she’d realise there wasn’t anything going on between me and her. i’m sorry.”
unable to say anything for a few moments, you stare at him in shock, mouth agape. “..what..?” you eventually whisper under your breath, the only word you can muster as you feel the slight tremble in his hands.
“i’m in love with you.” he repeats with no hesitation, his gaze anxiously watching over you, looking at you as if you were the only thing that mattered to him in that moment - which you were.
“eren.”
“i’m serious.” he whispers to cut you off, hands cautiously moving to cup your face, just as they had done a few weeks prior. yet, this time they were even more tender, like he was terrified to lose you if he was to let go. “you can hate me all you want, i know i fucked up. it’s just- it’s been killing me.” his thumbs softly brush against your cheeks, as if committing the feeling of your skin against his to memory.
staring at him silently, you’re struggling to come up with a coherent response at his sudden confession. as he searches your face intently, he notices the ever so slight softening of your features, and he almost lets the hope he’s experiencing filter through onto his expression.
with a sigh, your gaze quickly diverts to the wall, unable to meet his gaze as you feel as if you could burst into tears at the gentleness of his expression. “why did you keep it from me?” you eventually muster, sensing the way his shoulders slump in response.
“because i was scared. i never loved her, doll- i promise.” his voice is barely above a whisper, and he leans closer to you, testing the waters as he rests his forehead against yours. “only you. i only love you.”
“i’m sorry.”
he quickly shakes his head at your sudden apology, grip slightly tightening on your face to pull you closer to him, “no.” he dismisses you entirely, one hand remaining on your face as he moves the others to card his fingers through your hair in an attempt to soothe the both of you, “i should’ve said something sooner.”
eyes fluttering closed for a moment, you sigh once more, reopening them to meekly meet his gaze, “were you serious about taking me out somewhere?”
a flicker of surprise and relief passes over his features as he feels your shoulders relax. with a quiet chuckle under his breath, he nods. “whatever you want, wherever you wanna go.”
hesitating for a moment, he sheepishly holds your gaze, momentarily flickering it down to your lips, before returning to yours - as if asking for permission. registering the slight nod of your head against his, he sighs in relief, before closing the miniscule gap between you both.
the kiss is less desperate than last time, instead harbouring the tender apologies he was unable to vocalise. his hand in your hair instinctively moves to cradle the back of your head gently, pulling you impossibly closer. his nose brushes against yours, causing your breath to stutter against his lips.
eventually pulling away, he keeps his forehead resting against yours, listening to the slight breathlessness in your breathing as you attempt to recover from the kiss.
“i love you.”