For You | Eren x Reader

Chapter 1- Stained:

"Hey, Eren," I said, pulling up a seat across from the dark-haired boy.

His green eyes were glued to the table, the strands of hair that had come loose from his bun dangling over his face. Like always, Eren had his jacket hoodie pulled up over his head and dark circles under his eyes. He spun his silver ring around his middle finger absentmindedly.

"Brooding again, I see," I commented, pulling out my clay pot. The corners of his lips stayed downturned.

It was my first afternoon class of the day, ceramics, second semester. I had been seated across from Eren for the entire time, but the boy had hardly ever uttered a word to me. Despite all my efforts, I was never able to get past an acquaintanceship with him. It was unfortunate— I had taken a liking to him quickly. Not crush like, per say, but a liking. There was something about him that just drew me in. Maybe it was the brooding. Maybe it was the obvious toxicity. Who knew? Not me.

I watched him chew his lip and scratch at his wrists through his long-sleeve. He's been doing that a lot lately, I thought.

Like every day in ceramics class, I worked on my project diligently, shaping and molding and dripping slip everywhere; while Eren, on the other hand, slouched in his chair and did nothing. When our instructor, Professor Hanji, came over to talk to him about his missing assignments, Eren just nodded along, mumbling that he'd get them done soon, before going back to his routine sulking.

I sighed, scrapping off pieces of dry clay, spreading dust everywhere. I saw it beginning to pile up on Eren's forearms, but he didn't move. I pursed my lips and continued working, knowing that if he really wanted to, he could brush the dust off himself.

I dipped my hand into the bowl of slip and started flicking it onto my clay. Unfortunately, I couldn't control where the bits of wet clay landed— and some of it splattered on the sleeves of Eren's jacket. I saw his green eyes widen in surprise behind his curtain of dark hair.

"Shit, Eren, I'm sorry," I said quickly. "I can clean that up for you—"

"It's fine," he interrupted flatly, lifting his head just enough so that he could look me in the eye. "I'll get it later."

"But, it'll stain—" I pleaded. That was Eren's favorite jacket. He wore it everywhere, all the time. I didn't want to be the one responsible for ruining it. I grabbed a paper towel secretly and quickly snatched his forearm, a bit more roughly than I intended, and aggressively tried to scrub the clay off.

"Shit, agh, ow—!" Eren winced and pulled away, eyes burning into me with the look of utter betrayal. He stared at me, a hurt expression plastered onto his face, as he rubbed his arm. "Why...? I told you not to..." he trailed off, picking up his backpack from the floor and standing up.

"Wait, Eren—!" I called, reaching my arm out to him.

He ignored me, leaving me alone at my table and walking towards the exit door. Eren pulled it open angrily and stepped through, abandoning class for the day.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled defeatedly, staring heavily at the floor as the door slammed close behind him.

———

"So... wait— I'm confused," Sasha started, pulling her brunette hair back before munching on her lunch. "You got clay on him, tried to scrub it off, and then he left?"

I nodded.

"Maybe he was mad at you for staining his jacket?" Connie suggested unsurely, scratching his shaved head.

"Sure, that's what I thought, too," I agreed. "But, he only bothered to look upset after I had tried to clean it."

"Maybe that's because you have no regard for personal space," Jean butted in rudely, enunciating the last phrase.

"Oh, please, Jean," I scowled and slapped him across the shoulder.

"See?" Jean pointed at me, "This is what I'm talking about."

I pushed his head down towards his lunch, his light brown hair inches from the table.

"Alright, alright! I tap out," he conceded. I let him go with a smirk.

"Anyway," Sasha brought us back on topic, "I'm not really sure what it could be, (Y/N). But, I wouldn't take it too personally. Eren's been acting like this since we first started college. Once we all graduated and Mikasa and Armin left for top-tier schools..."

"I think he just misses them. Even though it's been awhile, it's hard to be apart from people you've known for so long," Connie said knowingly.

"True, but he also could've made more of an effort to hang out with other people," Jean said, nodding in towards Eren, who was sitting alone in the corner of the cafeteria, chewing his food like it tasted like cardboard. Jean continued, "We invited him to sit with us every day for two-weeks straight, and every time, he declined," Jean scowled.

"Jean, you can't control what other people do," Connie commented, stealing a piece of Sasha's lunch when she looked away. When she noticed, she screamed. "We did our best— Sasha, stop screaming, I ate it, it's gone— and there's nothing more to say."

I fiddled with my hair and observed Eren. He seemed so... distant. He always had a faraway look in his eyes, like his mind was somewhere else.

What is going on inside his head?