Polar (Erejean)

Hangover

My body ached as I slowly woke from sleep, my eyes struggling to open. Sunlight glared down at me through the window, doing nothing to ease the fogginess in my mind.

Dragging my fingers through my hair, I shifted to lie on my back, freezing when I noticed Jean's arm hanging over my body. As I shuffled in place, he only moved closer, still completely out of it. Memories of the night before flashed through my mind as I stared down at him, my heart dropping to my stomach when I recalled what he had told me. Most of the details were a total blur, but I definitely hadn't forgotten that - what he said about his mother...

Fuck. I couldn't stand to think of it. The topic was still too raw for me, and thinking about Jean's feelings on top of that only made things worse. Not to mention how I'd told him that he had nothing to worry about in his life only a week ago. I'm surprised he ever even spoke to me again.

Jean wasn't actually a bad person. He could be an ass, sure, but he wasn't a bad person. Really, if I had just seen him out on the street without knowing him at all, I probably would have even been attracted to him. It was almost unfair how good he looked; even now, with his hair disheveled and dark circles under his eyes, he still looked amazing.

Jean jutted awake as loud music started blasting from his bedside table. I shifted away from him, watching as he tiredly fumbled around for the device before switching off what I assumed to be his alarm-

"Fuck," I groaned, slowly sitting up and dragging my fingers through my hair. "I forgot we have school. Christ, I've got Ackerman first lesson too."

"Oh, you've already missed that."

I turned back to look at him, my eyes slightly widened. "What do you mean?"

"It's, like, ten-thirty already."

"Why the hell does your alarm only go off at-" I cut myself off, looking away again as I rubbed my suddenly-aching head. "This sucks."

There was a shift in weight on the bed, and when I looked up a few moments later I saw that Jean had left the room. Slumping back against the headboard, I stared up at the ceiling, trying not to stress too much for missing school. It was mostly just maths that I didn't want to have missed - partly because of the information, but mostly because Ackerman was sure to use it against me in the future.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when I heard footsteps, with Jean entering the room along with them. "Here," he said, his voice surprisingly soothing, as he handed over a glass of water and some pills.

I mumbled a quiet thank you, staring down at the drink for a moment before tentatively drinking some and swallowing a pill along with it. Jean walked over to his wardrobe, searching through his clothes and glancing back at me.

"Do you wanna borrow anything to wear? Your clothes kind of stink of alcohol and sweat."

"Charming," I grumbled, though it wasn't something I could really argue with. "Just chuck me whatever, I guess."

Jean nodded, throwing back a pair of black jeans and a grey sweater a moment later. Mumbling a small thank you, I shifted over to sit on the edge of the bed, lazily pulling off my shirt and jeans. I sneaked a glance back at the other, looking over his bare back before quickly glancing away as Jean turned back around, hoping he hadn't noticed.

He walked back over a few moments later, giving my shoulder a light nudge. "You think you're up for some breakfast?"

I shrugged but stood up anyway. "I guess so."

As it turned out, I definitely was not up for breakfast. The moment the smell of toast hit me, my hand was over my mouth, and I did my best to keep down whatever I had consumed the day before. Jean just chuckled to himself, making a comment about how I couldn't handle my drink.

Coffee ended up being the only thing I thought I could keep down, so Jean made me a cup to drink whilst he ate his breakfast. We sat down at his dining room table - which was ridiculously large given that barely even two people lived here. We didn't talk much at first, which I was highly grateful for. Keeping up with my own thoughts was difficult enough; I wasn't near awake enough to have a full conversation.

Jean went back to the kitchen at some point, leaving me alone with my coffee and my thoughts. I still couldn't help but wonder how often he actually drank, and how often it was when he's alone. It wasn't uncommon for people our age to drink - hell, most of the students in our year could actually do so legally - but it wasn't something that anyone does by themselves. Then again, the rest of the year isn't Jean, and I of all people knew how difficult it was to deal with what he's dealing with...

"Eren."

I looked up from my coffee, finding Jean standing to the side of me with his coat on and his keys in hand. "I've gotta go shopping. You coming with?"

"Sure," I nodded, standing up and going over to find my shoes by his front door.

"Do you want to borrow a coat or something?"

I rolled my eyes. "Jean, I think I can handle a little cold."

"Yeah, well, that's what you thought last night and I ended up having to give you my coat on the walk back here," he said, and I raised my brows slightly. The memory of that happening was just barely there in the back of my mind, and I couldn't help but feel a little bad for taking Jean's coat away.

He just sighed, walking off to a small cupboard before returning a few moments later with a scarf in hand. "Here, at least wear this," he said, looping the warm fabric around my neck before I had time to protest.

"Thank you," I mumbled, too tired to act like I didn't need it. He gave a small nod, before going over to open the door, waiting for me to follow him out. I couldn't help but glance in the mirror as I did, noticing just how messed up I looked, and how bad it was in contrast to the nice clothes I had borrowed from Jean.

I was a little surprised when we walked all the way down the driveway. "Not taking the car?" For some reason, I'd expected him to be the type of person to just drive everywhere.

He shrugged. "It's only like a twenty-minute walk from here."

"Fair enough," I said, nodding a little along with my words. We were quiet for another few minutes before I spoke again. "So... You're always the one doing all the housework and stuff?"

"Well, yeah, there's not really anyone else to do it," he said simply. "You're the same, though, aren't you?"

I looked up in thought. "I mean, yeah, but... Mikasa helps a lot too. It's usually only because I get in states where I just won't end up cleaning, and she just gets too annoyed coming over to see my place be such a mess but... She still helps."

"She sounds nice."

"She is," I nodded. "Don't any of your friends ever help out or anything, then?"

"Eren, most of my friends haven't even been to my house - and the ones that have were only there for a few minutes if I needed to get something. I mean, I don't even really hang out with people outside of school, usually."

"Oh," I said slowly, furrowing my brows slightly as I stared down at my feet in thought. "Can I ask, then - why were you so open to hanging out with me? I mean, you could have just kicked me out as soon as I was done tutoring you each time."

"I don't know," he said slowly, before sighing softly a few moments later and speaking once more. "No, that's a lie. To be honest, it was because I knew about your mum and I just- Well, I just thought that you'd get it, y'know?"

I looked up to meet his gaze, my chest tightening a little at the mention of my mother. I gave a slow nod, a little surprised by what he had said - not because of what he felt, just because he had actually said it. "Yeah, I get what you mean," I said, feeling a little weird after the words left my mouth.

I never would've guessed that out of anyone, Jean Kirstein would be the person that I could relate to most.