Circles | Eren x Reader

Chapter 7- Next To You:

Before we climbed back on the bus, Levi addressed the group. "Now, I am not going to tolerate any of this chaos, brats. So pick a partner and sit together in nice rows. No one is to get out of their seats for the rest of the ride. Got it?" We nodded. "Tch, idiots." Levi stepped on the bus.

Everyone got into pairs: Connie and Sasha, Ymir and Historia, Annie and Reiner, Levi and Hanji, Marco and Jean, Mikasa and Armin, and... I didn't have a partner. That didn't make sense though— I was sure we had an even number after Bertholdt left the bus. Then I realized that Eren had never left come out to eat with everyone, so he was still asleep in the back seat.

"Yeager!" Levi jolted him awake. "Where's your partner?" He didn't give him time to answer. "Go sit by (Y/N), brat."

Eren stumbled awake and slouched next to me. "Of all people, I had to be stuck with you."

"Believe me, I'd much rather sit alone." I retorted, "If you cared that much you should have stayed awake and partnered with Mikasa or Armin."

"Hmph," he frowned. There was no arguing with me on that.

Eating all of that chocolate had made me super tired, so once the road straightened out, I leaned my head towards the window to nap. I rested there for about two minutes until the shaking became unbearable. God, buses suck.

I wasn't sure how to stay awake— Eren refused to talk to me and I refused to talk to him, I couldn't eat, and my friends were silent from fear at the front of the bus. For awhile, I just stared ahead at the tiny threads in the fabric that made up the seat in front of me until I dozed off.

Eren's POV:

(Y/N) had fallen asleep beside me, her head hanging towards the floor, her body making sure to keep its distance from me. I couldn't fall asleep for shit. I had already napped the whole first half of the way here. I picked at the seat in front of me while I chewed on the string of my hoodie. Ugh, this girl was so plain.

It didn't matter that she had been kind to me in the infirmary— she didn't even have a choice. Mikasa would have beat her to shreds if she refused to apologize— so, of course she accepted. I wonder if Mikasa had beat her up anyway...

(Y/N) (L/N) didn't have anything that stuck out about her. At least Jean had his signature Horse-Face to make him stand out. But her? All I saw of (Y/N) was her working diligently in the back of the class, or getting super excited about soccer. She was always in the halls having boring conversations with her friends, her eyes lighting up over the most insignificant things. At lunch I'd see her sharing her food with Sasha, or tousling Jean's hair while she laughed with him. Before class her group would all be together, Jean's arm around her shoulder while she flicked his cheek away, or he'd spin her around the room in excitement about any sort of good news while everyone cheered. Typical. She was just so dull. So boring that it irritated me. Mikasa pointed out how much I had been looking at her, seething with rage.

"Eren, do you want me to kick her?" she had asked.

But, if I thought she was dull then, she was even duller now. Her eyes fluttered open every time the bus would hit a bump, and then she'd doze off again. At one point, the bus made a wide turn that pushed her onto my arm. I don't think she noticed. I nudged her head away, but it swung right back to my shoulder.

I grabbed my backpack that was stuffed below my seat and stuck it in between the two of us. The next time she leaned over, her head fell on top of the bag, and she rested there peacefully. I zoned out for the rest of the ride and chewed my hoodie— the bag hadn't left much space between us, and my left arm was crushed uncomfortably beside it. I decided to pull it out and just let it rest on the bag next to her head. I made sure not to touch her hair or face as she breathed softly, lips slightly parted as she napped.

(Y/N)'s POV:

The bus screeched to a stop, flinging my head towards the seat in front of me. Someone grabbed my shirt collar and pulled me back before I made impact. Eren wiped his hand on his pants with a disgusted expression: "Your neck is sweaty."

I didn't know what to say to that. "I'm hot." My cheeks heated up as I replied.

Eren shrugged and got off the bus.

When we arrived on the top of the mountain we checked in to a cabin that a kitchen, two bathrooms, and two rooms upstairs, where boys and girls slept separately.

"Woohoo!" Sasha flung herself on the bed. "This trip is gonna be awesome!!"

Everyone unpacked their stuff and got settled. At some point the boys walked in. Connie held up a bottle of liquor. "Guess what I snuck in?" He smiled and waved it around.

"BEST TRIP EVERRRR!" Sasha squealed.

"Oi—" Captain Levi appeared behind the boys. Connie tried to hide the alcohol behind him, but Levi had already noticed and swiped it out of Connie's hands. "— not tonight. Our first game is tomorrow and I don't want you brats to be on the floor screaming every time the referee blows the whistle."

Hanji popped up, "Oh Levi, don't be such a party-pooper! It's our vacation!!"

"It's also our most important game of the year, shitty glasses."

"Okay, well," Hanji thought for a moment. "If we win tomorrow, we drink!"

"Tch. No."

"What about if we win tomorrow and the next day?" Connie asked.

"No."

"How about if we win the tournament, we drink on the last day? Then we can all fall asleep on the bus afterwards, and nothing is at stake," I suggested.

Levi paused before he replied reluctantly: "... fine. Brats."

The room erupted in cheers, excepting Levi, and, of course, Annie and Mikasa— they never were very expressive.