𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍 [𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘹 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳]

009

dread and panic form a large looming shadow in your mind as you quickly shimmy your pants up your legs and compose yourself. eren was still holding the ice pack against your side. you let out a deep resigned sigh and start moving to get up. 

"hold on, where do you think you're going?" eren puts a hand out to stop you. 

"um, to audition?" you say, unsure why he's acting oblivious.

"yeah, no you're not," he says with finality and you're offended at the authority he seems to think he has over you, "your hip is too messed up and if you keep forcing yourself to perform it'll just get worse, trust me" he tells you.

"it's just a bruise and i don't need you telling me what i can or can't do with my body," you say irritably. eren rolls his eyes and your annoyance grows. 

"excuse me? what, are you going to stop me?" you say indignantly, irritated at his behavior. just because he was a well-known name in ballet didn't mean he knew what was best for you or your career. 

"i mean i guess i can't stop you," he says and you feel a little relief, "but you can't stop me from telling instructor pyxis," your relief quickly dissipates and is replaced by a dull feeling of betrayal.

"you wouldn't," you say with apprehension. no matter how hard you tried you couldn't get a read on how eren felt about you. one moment he was weirdly caring and the next he was back to being an arrogant prick. he'd flip back and forth seemingly without warning. 

"eren listen, i know it looks bad but this is a big deal and i can't afford to miss this. thank you for not telling the physician about what happened and thank you for the ice pack," you can't dampen the slight blush that floods your cheeks at where exactly that ice pack had lead, "but i will be fine, just let me go do this," you finish, giving him an assertive gaze. 

eren is looking at you like you're a dumb little kid trying to spin an unconvincing lie, an almost disappointed look on his face. 

"listen, i'm not going to stop you, but if anything -- me telling pyxis about your injury would save you from embarrassing yourself," he states like it's a fact and you're surprised by the sharp stab of hurt you feel in your gut. 

while he was likely talking about your limited dancing capabilities, you couldn't help but feel a nagging dark though that he was talking about your ballet performance in general. the first day he'd been here he'd seen you perform to your best ability, at least before reiner dropped you. 

if he told pyxis about your performance then he would definitely pull you from the auditions. they pushed the dancers here hard, but pyxis knew better than anyone how quickly an injury could ruin a dancer's career. but yours was just a bruise, it would likely be healed within the next week.

"listen eren, i don't know why you suddenly care so much about my well-being, but not all of us have a guaranteed role. a little bruise isn't going to stop me and neither are you," you finish pushing past him, wobbling for a quick second on your shaky legs. 

"please, you could barely lift your leg earlier without crying," he says in a cruel voice, and your can feel your cheeks flush in embarrassment despite yourself. 

"yea well, i at least have to try," you say quietly, "so please, just move," defeat laces your voice. you'd already accepted that the audition likely wasn't going to end spectacularly enough to land you a leading role, but you'd come too far and worked too hard to give up now. 

at your dejected tone, eren finally lets you pass. you don't look at his face as you push by and thankfully you don't hear any footsteps following you.