Poison [[Eren x Reader]]

Chapter 21

a/n: as promised i'm uploading two chapters today so here! i love you guys and thank you for supporting my work.

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"Merry Christmas, baby."

I lift my eyes up from my phone as Eren walks in through the front door, holding a huge box in Christmas wrapping paper with a red ribbon tied around it, topping it off with a white bow. He sets the box down on the rug underneath the tree decorated in gold lights and an abundance of ornaments. He sits down on the floor next to me as I adjust some of the decorations on the tree, making sure that everything looks nice for when our friends arrive later.

Even though Christmas is supposed to be about family, I never really celebrated it, so my parents decided to take a trip somewhere that I don't care to remember. It doesn't really bother me because I have the house all to myself and I'll be spending today with friends.

"Merry Christmas, love," I say while fixing one last gift underneath the tree. Eren loves Christmas, and I think it's his favorite holiday by the look of excitement on his face just from decorating and the idea of spending time with his friends.

He hasn't brought up his dad since the incident, and I'm hopeful that today is a distraction from all of that. The crinkles in the corner of his eyes every time he smiles definitely prove to me that he's happy. Unfortunately, his dad is staying at his house, so Eren's been living here for the past couple of days. I'm just glad that he feels safe with me because the last thing I'd want is for him to pick up bad habits. I appreciate that he was able to tell me everything, and I've never felt closer to him than I do now.

It's around 3:00pm, too early for any of our guests to arrive, but it gives us some alone time before my house is filled with people more than likely getting drunk. I push myself up off the ground, reaching my hand down for Eren to hold onto. I'm really not doing much, especially because of how built he is, but he happily takes my hand anyway to pull himself up off of the floor. The both of us head over to the couch and take a seat in our usual positions, with his arm always wrapped around my shoulders.

"Is this what it's gonna be like if we move in together?" He asks.

I'm taken aback by that statement, tilting my head to the side to look at him. That question came out of nowhere, but it doesn't bother me at all. "Where'd that come from?"

"I don't know," he gestures to the fully decorated living room in front of us, "no one else is here except for us, and we decorated an entire house together." his eyes meet mine with a sheepish smile on his lips.

I don't want to answer his question because we won't ever get the chance to live together. I just nod my head before resting it back against his shoulder. He takes my silence as an answer as he glances away from me and sinks deeper into the cushions behind him with a barely noticeable frown on his face. I hate making him feel like this. My fingertips gently press underneath his chin to carefully turn his head to face me. "You know, I love you," I say and tilt my head up to place a gentle kiss against his lips.

He gives me the same silent treatment by nodding his head and staying quiet as he leans away from my kiss, looking back at the decorated tree across the living room. I sigh while glancing down at my socks, too nervous to say anything else to him. Living with him would be a dream come true, but it's just not possible.

It's still nice being here, though. Looking at our accomplishments and doing every single thing together. He's just an innocent boy underneath all of his façade of having thick skin, and I'm just lucky enough to be able to experience that with him.

I have no idea what Eren got me as a gift, but I bought him a blue record player and a record of his favorite R&B album. He loves music, and I thought it'd be cute to get him a physical copy of something he can't live without. "You're gonna love your gift," I cheer, hoping to get some sort of reaction out of him.