Work Text:
you were quiet. too quiet.
eren had noticed it when he’d spontaneously picked you up from your shift about a few minutes ago. granted, you had been on a close with one of the other supervisors, floch, which was enough to put anyone in a bad mood. but, this was different.
sure, you were glad to see him, thankful that you didn’t need to get the bus home in the dark, but even in the darkness of the night as the two of you walked to his car, he could sense there was something bugging you.
with a frown, he glances over in your direction as you walk silently beside him, arm occasionally brushing against his, enough for him to notice, but not enough for him to recognise it as intentional.
from what he could see, the mascara under your left eye is ever so slightly smudged, there was a hint of tiredness in your gaze that definitely wasn’t there when he’d seen you last night and your whole body was practically rigid at this point. however, you completely avoid his gaze, directing your attention to the path beneath you, only occasionally looking up if you needed to swerve past a lamppost that was in your way.
he’s hesitant to voice his concern, knowing you well enough to practically know for certain that you’d deflect the question, blaming it on you being ‘tired’ or something to do with work.
“you okay, baby?” he eventually musters, barely registering the words until he’d spoken them aloud. the lack of teasing in his tone and the genuine term of endearment was his way of practically begging you to be vulnerable with him, to let him in. not immediately answering, you briefly glance at him out of the corner of your eye, and it’s the first time you’ve met his eyes all day.
with a dismissive hum under your breath, you dart your gaze away almost too quick for his liking. “s’fine, tired.” you predictably respond almost bluntly with a slight shrug, stopping as you reach his car, still not fully meeting his eyes.
he lets out an inaudible sigh. he’d never known himself to be so.. dependent on eye contact until he met you. he remembered in passing how you’d briefly ranted about your distaste for it, so whenever your eyes did meet, he felt like the luckiest man in the world because you trusted him enough to let him see you in such a vulnerable state.
unlocking the car, the light from his headlights signaling that he’d done so, he moves to step beside you, hand hovering over the passenger door handle as he once again looks down at you.
“you realise you can tell me anything, right?” he asks, tone evidently softening as he practically stares at you with concern, hoping that if you sensed his gaze, you’d finally look at him.
“…i just…. don’t feel the best today. floch didn’t help either.” you eventually mutter, resisting the urge to anxiously pick at your nails, as it was something he always scolded you for, instead choosing to cross your arms over your chest.
“that’s okay.” he responds carefully, leaning down to brush a small strand of hair from your eyes that had been disturbed by the slight wind, the ever so slight sensation of his skin against yours causing you to finally meet his gaze, his heart practically skipping a beat. “you don’t have to feel okay all the time.”
“i’m just annoyed.” you sigh, flickering your gaze away once more, and he watches your eyebrows furrow, nails slightly digging into your arms, “i don’t know why i’m upset.”
he frowns again at your lack of reciprocated eye contact, “you don’t have to know, it’s okay.” he assures gently, staying silent, before softly speaking your name in an attempt to catch your attention.
before he can process what he was doing, he’s moving his hand away from the door handle, gently cupping your cheek, thumb softly brushing against your skin as he holds you in his palm like you’d shatter at any moment if he applied even the slightest pressure.
your eyes quickly widen at the unexpected contact, the slight coldness from the metal of one of his rings causing you to shudder. “eren.” you whisper, barely audible, and the evident vulnerability in his voice that he rarely ever heard was enough for him.
his other arm carefully encircles your waist, the palm of his hand slightly squeezing, before he urges you closer to him, coaxing you to lean against his chest. the scent of him immediately flooding your senses as you give in to his coaxing - and you notice he’s changed his cologne, and then you notice his warmth.
since the incident a few months back that practically led you to both confess to each other, you’d spent the majority of your time outside of work. you expected to be used to him hugging you - you’d even slept in the same bed multiple times - but this was evidently different.
you didn’t know what it was. maybe it was the fact you were finally opening up to him. or maybe it was simply the fact that it was slightly cold inside. but you felt whole in his arms.
you felt right.
he allows a breath he didn’t even know he was holding to fall from his lips as he feels you practically melt into his touch, chest pressing against his like you were trying to merge with him. your arms reach up to loosely drape around his neck to pull him closer, which he allows without protest.
the two of you stay like that for a few minutes in the empty car park. his lips occasionally brushing against your temple, breath fanning against your skin. his hand not wrapped around your waist begins to thread its fingers through your hair, causing you to sigh with a sense of relief.
“do you wanna stay at mine tonight?” he’s the first to break the silence as you expected, words a gentle whisper against your skin so as to not scare you off. he definitely didn’t want to force you if you didn’t want to, but he knew that he couldn’t leave you on your own tonight in good conscience.
“i’d like that.” you whisper back, feeling his lips upturn in a grateful grin against your skin, before he presses his face into the curve of your neck.
“whatever you want, baby.”