Violet Night

Wake Up

[warning: homophobia, bullying, and violence are going to happen towards the middle of this part]

[also, please forgive my writing. It's been months and things might seem different from the other chapters because I'm trying to get used to this again]

Eren looked down, feeling his heart leap into his throat. The jokes he made about Jean dying tore him to pieces with guilt. Why was he blind to this? Why did he try to pass everything off as a joke? Jean must hate him for being so foolish and ignorant to joke about death when it was certain that's what was coming for him. Eren wasn't sure if he wanted to apologize or punch the other in the arm. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Eren folded his arms, feeling a chill run through him. The taller male scoffed, "why would I? It's not like you'd care, all you've done this whole school year is annoy me." Eren looked to the side, he wasn't sure why he would bother Jean, maybe for his attention? He felt his face heat up, "I would've cared if you told me, you should know I was only messing with you when I act like that." Jean glanced at the dimly lit theater, not far behind them, "you have your own worries. I shouldn't have bothered you with this."

The short brunet sighed, "I wanted to know," he tried to relax, but the distant street lights exposed the worry engraved in his features. Jean bit his lip, narrowing his eyes. The damn brat looked like he was told his puppy ran away, but Jean convinced himself not to fall for it. "This shouldn't affect you, don't look so hurt," he stuffed his hands into the hoodie pockets, a stubborn sigh leaving his lips. Eren's eyes briefly widened before he glanced up at Jean, "why wouldn't it? I joked about you dying. You actually are. This is what I get for opening my mouth, isn't it ironic?" He chuckled, but his face quickly reverted back to a slight frown and half-lidded eyes. The college campus felt particularly cold and dark, the two stood in silence for a moment, Eren refusing to look up.

"You couldn't have know. I don't care if you joke about it even now that you do know, it's my fault I'm like this," Jean finally spoke up, realizing Eren's once folded arms were now wrapped around himself. "Are you cold? I can take you home?" he took a step toward Eren, who inhaled sharply, "why would you do this to yourself? I know you didn't expect this, but even if you didn't get sick, smoking is still destroying you." Jean was close enough to hear Eren's struggled breathing, why was this a disturbance to him? He couldn't possibly understand, it was even less likely Eren truly cared. "I don't know why. I tried it and didn't bother to stop. Doesn't everybody do something awful to themselves for pleasure? Even if it's temporary?" Eren glared daggers at the other, his temper rising, "yeah, and it came around to bite you in the ass didn't it?"

Jean blinked, examining Eren for a moment, "why are you reacting like this? It has nothing to do with you whatsoever." He grumbled, pulling Eren by the arm, "I'm taking you home. Stop being a baby." The other boy remained silent, allowing Jean to pull him toward the near empty parking lot. He finally let go of Eren's arm, fumbling for his car keys, "damn," he hissed as the keys fell out of his hands. "Hey, faggot," Jean heard a deep, unfamiliar voice seemingly directed at Eren. He stood, the keys now in his hands, "can we help you?" Jean sneered, his hand sneaking to his pocket to grab his phone. A large, muscular guy approached. He wasn't taller than Jean, but he was very well built, "It's got nothin' to do with you," he roughly grabbed Eren by the arm, making him nearly stumble. "Kid owes me and a couple of friends. I suggest you stay out of it," he had a cocky smirk, and challenging glare. Jean scanned the guy for a moment, he definitely couldn't fight him, he was probably a football player. "How about I give a helping hand?" He gave a stiff smile, grabbing Eren's hoodie, pulling him towards his chest, "there's no need for names, and it's unnecessary for you to be putting your hands on him." The blond man glared intently at Jean, "the little drama brat has a boyfriend?" he folded his arms, muscles flexing under his shirt. Eren turned to him, red faced and angry, "I told you to fuck off, I don't owe you anything."

"You're all bark and no bite," Jean hissed through his teeth, his brows furrowed in annoyance. "You know your debt," the large male growled, taking a step forward, his eyes fixated on Eren's. In the same moment he did, a harsh and worried voice came from a short distance away, Jean and Eren were unsure of what was said, but could see a tall dark haired boy peaking out from behind a car. The blond guy glanced, sighing, "I don't mean to lose my temper with you. Next time will be different." The blond put his hand out for Jean to shake, and he did so hesitantly. "You should talk to your boyfriend about his debt before you defend him next time," he gave his last cheeky grin before walking towards the boy who was spying on them. Eren growled, furiously cracking his knuckles as he broke from Jean's grasp, "I can take him."

"Get in the car," Jean muttered, grabbing Eren's hood and unlocking the car. Eren hesitantly crawled into the back seat, not wanting to go to the other side to get in the passenger seat. He leaned in between the two front seats, his elbows propping himself up, "I don't want to go home." Jean sighed, starting the car, "I would let you stay over again but I don't want to make you late for class again." The brunet rolled his eyes, "I was barely a minute late. I don't have class tomorrow anyways. I really don't want to go home and have my sister bother me about what happened. She'll pick a fight again." Jean drove off the campus, "how would she know about that guy?" Eren shook his head, "she knows. Maybe I show it in the way I talk but I can't hide anything from her."

Jean sighed, running a hand through his hair, fatigue hitting him like a truck. "Fine. One more night. You put your feet on my furniture again and you'll regret it, I'm warning you now," he parked the car close to his apartment, opening the door for the other boy when he got out. "It's cold," Eren murmured, pulling his hoodie up over his mouth. "Yeah, yeah," Jean's hands were shaking from the cold, making it difficult to find the right key. He finally managed, hurriedly kicking his shoes off with a curse, and then darted to the living room. Eren was left confused by the door, but slowly slid his shoes off and followed the path the other had taken. The sight of Jean with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders, tapping the oven buttons with annoyance brought a laugh to Eren's lips, "what are you trying to do?" Jean whirled around to look at the shorter boy, "...making pizza rolls. Are you hungry?" The brunet took a seat on the couch, "sure," he gave an endearing smile and Jean scowled. "What's with that fucking smirk?" he thought, narrowing his eyes as he fixed the oven. He couldn't figure out why just a look on Eren's face could piss him off. Or did it really piss him off? Did it just bother him that Eren might actually be sincere?

He shook his head, turning his back to Eren as he poured two glasses of water, "you can turn on whatever you want to watch," he said, walking over to hand the other a glass. "Thank god. I was hoping you wouldn't make me watch more super hero B.S," he said jokingly, tapping at the remote, "what was it, Ant Man? No, no, Iron Man." Jean gave a disgusted scoff, "this asshole," he thought, there was no way he could be sincere. "You wouldn't know a good movie if it punched you in the face. Maybe I'll have to do that," he folded his arms, the blanket dragging as he walked, "punch you in the face, that is." He took a seat next to Eren, taking a drink from his water, "superhero B.S is better than cartoons, asswipe," he grinned, digging an elbow into Eren's side. "Hey! I wasn't purposefully watching cartoons. I got lost in your channels," Eren squirmed at the pain, whacking Jean with the remote. "Wow, you hit like a girl," Jean snickered and unwrapped the blanket around him, tossing it over Eren's legs "put on something interesting. I'm bored." Eren sighed and placed the remote on the coffee table in front of them, "hey Jean? Do you like anyone?" the smaller male had positioned himself to face Jean, his hands were tense, folded in his lap, what was he thinking? "Why do you ask?" he looked at Eren, confused. The brunet looked intently, it felt as if his face would burst into flames, "I'm curious, I can't ask a simple question?" he tried to relax, but he seemed far too eager to know the answer. "Okay. Well I do. None of your business though," he grumbled, glancing at the television. Jean immediately felt bad, did he lie to Eren? Or was the possibility of him liking the brat actually becoming bigger? "Is it a girl?" Jean felt the other's interested eyes on him and grumbled, grabbing Eren by the ear, "will you cut it out?" A small whine sounded from the boy, "but I wanna know," he fidgeted, hands desperately trying to get Jean's hands off his ear, "that hurts!" Jean let him go, and Eren spoke up, "I'll get you to tell me," the brunet gave a sweet, yet confident smile. Jean felt weight on his chest and ran a shaky hand through his hair. This was bad.