FRIENDS ➳ jean kirstein

003. HALLOWEEN

Eren - October 31, 2020
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"You guys do know this is a costume party, right?"

Connie Springer was standing before Charlie and Eren, holding a half-empty glass of alcohol in his hand, staring at them with a judgementally raised eyebrow. He himself was dressed in the cheapest rendition of a Jedi costume that Eren had ever seen.

"We are in costume," Charlie told him, leaning back against Eren, who had his palms resting on the smooth kitchen countertop.

"Right," Connie drawled. "And what are you supposed to be?"

Charlie and Eren exchanged a glance, smiles playing at both of their mouths.

"Isn't it obvious?" Eren said, eyes dancing between both Charlie and Connie. "We're each other."

With this newfound information, Springer furrowed his eyebrows, really drinking in the sight of the pair that he was standing in front of. Eren gave him the benefit of the doubt; he and Charlie did have very similar senses of style, after all. They were both wearing patched and baggy black jeans, but Eren's Charlie costume consisted of a large green jacket, while Charlie's Eren costume was made up of a white tank top and a ridiculously large hoodie.

Without her facial piercings, Charlie said she felt naked. Thankfully, she had convinced Eren to pierce his ears in sophomore year, so she could leave her earrings in. And to fully play the part of Charlie, she insisted that Eren buy a magnetised septum piercing.

"I thought the septum ring would've been a dead giveaway," Eren added.

"Right, because I spend so much time staring at Charlie's nose," Connie drawled, then he rounded on Mikasa. "What about you?"

"I'm Black Widow," she told him.

Connie frowned. "But you're not a redhead."

"Last time I checked, Obi-Wan Kenobi wasn't bald," she retorted.

At a loss for a comeback, Connie drifted away from Charlie, Eren and Mikasa and joined Sasha, who wore a Princess Leia costume that looked much more convincing than Springer's. Eren would have gladly stood in the kitchen with his friends all night, but Charlie and Mikasa decided they actually wanted to join the party. They did stay in the kitchen to dance and drink, which Eren was grateful for, but that was until the shots were lined up on the kitchen aisle.

Listen, Eren (platonically) loved Charlie, or whatever. Yeah, that's right, you heard it here first. He'd never dare admit it aloud or tell her to her face, because God forbid they ever showed one another true affection. They were best friends, sure, but they weren't that kind of best friends. Ever since they met, it seemed to just be an unspoken mutual agreement that they would never utter a single sappy word regarding the appreciation they had for each other. They were both pretty okay with it.

So yeah, Eren loved Charlie, but sometimes she made it really fucking easy to hate her too. Eren sat back with Mikasa, cigarette hanging lazily from his mouth, and watched as Charlie downed an entire row of shots and sighed to himself, knowing that he would have to deal with the consequences of her actions more than she would. He'd be the one who'd have to somehow find a way to drag a drunken Charlie back to his house when he couldn't drive because he had had a few drinks himself. He'd be the one who held her hair back as she puked her guts up into the toilet. Honestly, it was a miracle that he had lasted all those years without murdering Charlie. It certainly would have saved him a lot of trouble.

Eren was beginning to ponder seizing Charlie by the arm and leading her out of the house before she got too out of hand when Connie ran up to him, grabbing his forearm and hauling him off the kitchen stool.