𝙿𝚞𝚣𝚣𝚕𝚎𝚜

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟷

Eren could still remember the first time that he learned of you. The first day that he learned of your very existence, your name, and that unshakable desire that you effortlessly brought out in others.

* * *

"Sasha said she's going to be there, right?" Connie looked to Jean for confirmation as he spoke out your name. He excitedly wagged his eyebrows at his friend, pushing onto Jean's upper arm. "Now's your chance, man."

Eren's eyes peered up from his phone when he heard your unfamiliar name. He lounged on the couch, attempting to tune out his friends' banter. It was a difficult task since they were just feet away. They talked on and on while they got themselves ready to leave for the party.

Jean sorted through his shirts before finally selecting one from the pile. He slid it over his head and then loosely fixed his ash-brown hair in the nearest mirror. He looked at Connie in the reflection, a modest smile appearing on his face.

"Yeah, yeah. We'll see. I mean, there are plenty of girls that I want to talk to tonight. Gotta keep my options open, you know?"

Eren rolled his eyes. He didn't have to eavesdrop, but the thought of Jean making a fool of himself in front of some girl that night did sound interesting.

Jean wasn't nearly as slick as he believed himself to be. His shaky attempts at playing cool certainly weren't new. Eren and the rest of Jean's friends had grown accustomed to his behavior with every one of his schoolboy crushes. It was blatantly obvious that Jean had a thing for you, whoever you were.

Armin cringed listening to Jean talk, his ocean-blue eyes crinkling at the corners. Jean made it rather easy to poke fun at him. "Yeah, but you haven't been able to shut up about her for weeks."

Jean waved off Armin's comment with a scowl. "Let's keep that to ourselves tonight, Arlert."

"It's understandable, though. She is pretty cute."

"Pretty cute? She's an absolute smoke show!" Jean's voice was unnaturally loud for the situation. It was almost like he was offended by what Armin had said.

Connie and Armin continued to rile up Jean, further persuading him to finally make his move. Connie rattled off just about every pick-up line that popped into his big head. Each sounded more absurd than the last.

"Ooh, you could say, 'you're so hot, my zipper is falling for you,'" Connie barked out, clearly pleased with his ingenuity.

Armin smacked his forehead at the ridiculous suggestion. "Please don't say that."

At that point, Eren couldn't resist joining the conversation. Yes, it wasn't uncommon for Jean to work himself up over some girl but hearing the excitement in all of their voices only piqued Eren's curiosity. He pushed himself off the couch where he had been planted for the last thirty minutes or so.

"Alright, alright," Eren said. He walked over to his friends. The four of them formed a small circle in the center of the room. "Who are you guys talking about?"

The three of them shut up at once and looked at Eren. Armin stated your name before elaborating further. "She's one of Sasha's childhood friends. She just moved here a month or so ago." He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. He doubtfully asked, "You really haven't met her yet?"

Eren failing to meet a girl, especially one of your caliber, did not seem to compute in Armin's little, blonde head. Eren had some sort of sixth sense for beautiful women. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say that beautiful women had a sixth sense for Eren. Every one of his friends was well aware of it. Like flies to a sugary honeytrap, girls seemed to always find their way to Eren's side.