Dreaming of You (Ereri)

Ch. 1

"Eren, I love you."

"I love you, too, Le-"

I shot up in bed, gasping. My head throbbed painfully, and the forever annoying sound of my alarm clock didn't help. Wiping sweat off my forehead, I slapped a shaking hand over the snooze button and pressed the switch to turn the alarm off. The clock read 6:43 AM.

It'd been going off for thirteen minutes.

"How the hell did I sleep through that?" I muttered, throwing my legs over the side of the bed. After rubbing sleep out of my eyes, I rose and started getting ready for school, trying to push the dream from my head.

It was the third time that month I'd had that dream. A short man with raven hair, styled into an undercut and bangs that parted down the middle, and narrow, grey eyes would stand in front of me, smirking. He'd ruffle my hair and call me "brat" over and over again. Sometimes, in the dream, we'd kiss. However, it always ended with me trying to tell him I love him, and then not being able to. I'd always wake up - sometimes in tears - before I could.

I sighed as I brushed my teeth and set the toothbrush down, then rinsed it off and spit into the sink. Back in my room, I dressed myself in a long-sleeved, black t-shirt and black skinny jeans, then pulled on my converses, grabbed my backpack, and left. My parents were always asleep when I left, so I never bothered saying goodbye to them.

My house was close enough to the school that I could walk and not be late, although it did mean that I had to skip breakfast. I'd tried for years to convince my mom and dad to get me a bike, but they didn't see the point in it. "What's wrong with walking?" they always said. "You hardly ever eat breakfast anyways."

They had a point there.

At school, I located my two best friends, Armin and Mikasa, sitting side-by-side in homeroom. They greeted me like always, and I took a seat beside them just as the tardy bell rang.

The teacher stood up to the small podium at the front of the room and cleared his throat. Slowly, the chatter in the class died down, and the teacher began speaking. "We have a new student today," he announced, his face nonchalant, much like the rest of the students. "He won't be joining us until after lunch, but I just wanted you to be aware of this. His name is Levi Ackerman. Please treat him nicely. Now, for this morning, I'd like you to-"

I tuned him out, my eyes widening. Le...vi? I thought. Levi... Levi... Levi... I racked my brain, trying desperately to figure out where I'd heard that name, but I couldn't come up with anything. Mikasa glanced back at me and gave me a worried look. I shot her an assuring smile and focused my gaze on the board, trying to tune myself back in to whatever the teacher was saying.

***

Lunch was the worst.

I was a nervous wreck, wondering if this 'Levi' person was the same guy I'd been dreaming about. A small part of me hoped not, because then I'd probably wind up admitting it to them...

"Hey how are ya? Guess what? I've been dreaming about you for quite some time now. Oh, yeah, and you know what else? In my dream we make out and announce our unconditional love for each other."

Not creepy at all.

I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. Armin gripped my shoulder and gave me the same worried look Mikasa had given me earlier. "Are you ok?" he asked, squeezing my shoulder. I nodded, causing Mikasa to glare at me. "You're lying, Eren," she noted. "Congratulations. You're being perceptive," I muttered, stabbing my fork into some beans on my plate. Mikasa glared harder and looked away, while Armin continued to stare at me. "You've been like this all day, Eren," he said, glancing over at Mikasa every now and then. "We're just worried, that's all." I set down my fork and sat up straight, smiling at Armin. I shuffled out of his grasp. "I'm fine," I assured, standing and grabbing all three of our plates. Armin watched as I walked away towards the trash cans, where I threw away our plates. However, instead of returning to the table like I usually did, I kept walking until I reached the bathrooms. I locked myself in a stall and leaned against the wall. "Dammit," I muttered. I hated my anger issues. I hated how they got worried so easily. I hated how I was so nervous about meeting someone who probably wasn't even the 'someone' I was hoping they were. I hated how the bathroom smelled.

I hated everything.

"You get like that a lot," I recalled Mom telling me one time, about a year ago. "When you get angry, even if it's just a little bit, you start to act like you hate everything and that your whole world just...well, sucks." She'd laughed then. "It's annoying, to be honest, but it's how you are." I smiled at the memory and allowed it to help calm me down.

After a while, I made my way back to the lunchroom, but neither Armin nor Mikasa were anywhere to be found. Behind me, one of my other friends, Sasha, clapped her hands together excitedly. It was then that I noticed a hoard of students gathered in the far left corner of the cafeteria. "What's going on?" I asked Sasha. She shook her head. "No idea," she laughed. "I think it might be that new guy, but all I care about is the potatoes they're serving today!" Laughing and drooling, she walked off towards the empty lunch line, most likely unaware that the lunch ladies were no longer serving food this late.

The new guy... So Levi was there? I wasn't sure, but for some reason I found myself turning around and leaving.

Ugh, idk if that was a good ending... That's gonna bother me, but oh well. Hope you enjoyed it!!!! >~<