Hate Me | Eren Yeager

24. Do You Hate Me?

You find yourself standing outside of a modest hotel, looking up and scanning the windows to see if you could possibly spot Eren's room, but all the lights are off.

You bury your hands in your pockets, "I hope you're not up to something shady Eren..."

Why is he staying in a hotel? A hundred possibilities run through your mind, most having to do with Zeke or drug dealing, but there's others suggesting it's got something to do with Pieck.

You walk through the lobby, the receptionist not even glancing at you as she types away on her personal laptop, presumably for some college homework.

Security doesn't seem to be the tightest...

Your stomach tightens the closer you get to his room on one of the middle floors, the dim hallway lights illuminating the door numbers.

E23

"Hhh..." you inhale deeply before giving the door a gentle rap.

In a few seconds, the door opens slowly, chest swimming with mixed feelings as a solemn-looking Eren meets your eyes.

"H... hey. What's up?"

He doesn't say anything as he opens the door wider and steps to the side, inviting you in. You give him another glance as you step in and inspect the dark apartment.

Past the bathroom is a white queen bed, the crumpled sheets suggesting he's been laying down on it. You look around some more and notice takeaway boxes and a bottle of whiskey nearby, not yet completely empty.

The bed is soft and plush as you sit on the edge, looking back up to Eren who's standing a little too far away from you.

"So-"

"Can you stay with me until the morning?"

His voice doesn't suggest anything sexual, or even romantic. He sounds lonely, empty, in crippling need of familiar company.

A weight sinks in your belly at the melancholy darkness in his eyes. He looks hesitant to get too close to you, scared to breakdown, afraid of being turned down emotional comfort.

What happened?

"Yeah."

There's a moment of silence, where the distance between you two now seems unnecessary. Eren closes the gap and comes to kneel before you, hanging his head in your lap and wrapping his arms around your torso. Admittedly there hasn't been many times where he's used you as a pillow, but it feels nice.

"... Pieck broke up with me."

Ah...

It's hard to know if they broke up because it was inevitable or because of his affair.

This was your fault, surely it had to be. While a part of you is grateful he's not in a meaningless relationship anymore, there's another part that wants to bang your head against a wall in shame of possibly being the cause of his sadness.

"But... I wish I could have been the one to end it. She didn't make me feel like I was cared about, she never gave me attention or affection, not like you did."

There it goes - the familiar inkling of a reunion between you to, one inkling branching from the many that came before it.

Your hand softly strokes his hair, nurturing and gentle yet somewhat distant.

"Eren... this has to be last time. We can't keep holding on to each other and running back, bad things happen whenever we're together."

"Maybe those things were meant to happen. I'm not meant to be with Pieck, and you were never meant to be with Reiner."