In Another Life (EreJean)

nineteen

Chapter summary: Pixis helps Jean get another chance with Eren.

Jean dusts the dirt from his suit as he jumps to his feet. The tall double doors leading back into the Reiss Estate taunt him with their golden glimmer under the lantern lights. Jean stares it down as if he's crazy enough to force his way back inside, but his recklessness is what landed him in this predicament in the first place. And with Hange and Moblit in charge of guarding the entrance, Jean's desire to kick the doors down drops even lower. There's a chance he can take Moblit physically, Hange definitely, but he respects them too much to try.

They don't look Jean's way. Their gazes are locked straight ahead as they stand on each side of the entrance. They don't speak. They don't even smile, which is unheard of for Hange. That tells Jean how high the Royal Family is regarded in Eldia, and how badly he screwed everything up.

He sighs and retreats into the shadows. The night can't end here. Jean won't allow it. But there's only one way to resolve the situation, and Jean can't do it alone. So he'll wait. His accomplice will show up eventually.

The double doors swing open, and Jean thinks his miracle has arrived. But as the figure grows closer, his face coming into view, Jean swaps relief for shame.

"Oh no."

The moonlight casts a soft glow against Marco's face. He even appears to have more freckles than usual. Such a sweet face, one that can put the angriest of men at ease. Yet right now it's twisted in frustration, reserved strictly for Jean.

Jean sports a scared smile. "I can explain?"

"What the hell was that?" Marco presses.

Jean pinches the air. "A minor miscalculation."

"This isn't funny, Jean. Do you have any idea what you've done?"

Seeing as he's the one that's been kicked out of a ball in which all of Trost was invited, yes, Jean has a decent idea of how catastrophic his actions were. He's not about to tell Marco that since Marco doesn't seem to care for an actual answer, and Jean's answer is bound to piss him off anyway.

Marco takes a heavy breath. "It's a mess in there. Prince Eren is furious. He stormed out of the ballroom and claimed that the ball was canceled. The king and queen went after him. They assured everyone that he'd come back, but I don't know." He shakes his head as he scans Jean's face. "You better hope he does, or you're about to become the most hated person in Trost."

Jean's shoulders drop. Head hanging, he kicks at the nearby rocks. He knew he angered Eren from the look on his face as Jean was being manhandled by Erwin, but hearing it from Marco has him feeling worse than scum. The point of talking to Eren at that very moment was to cheer him up, yet Jean accomplished the exact opposite. If he gets a second chance tonight, he has a lot of ground to make up.

"Was that stuff even true?"

Jean looks up at Marco. "What stuff?"

"About the prince watching the stars? And knowing German? How do you even know all that stuff about him?"

After embarrassing the both of them, Jean would've answered any other question Marco threw at him. Marco can ask to take Jean's place as Vera's only son and leave Jean homeless and parentless and it'll be a done deal. But of course, Marco has to ask about the one thing that Jean can't tell him.

He really should've thought twice before pulling that stunt. It's not just Jean that has to deal with his missteps in these universes. The other Jeans are the ones that will have to clean up his messes after he leaves. Jean's heart hurts for the commoner Jean from Trost that will forever be known as the guy who made an ass out of himself in front of the prince. Not only that, but potentially caused a rift between himself and his best friend.