Hate's a Type Of Love (Jean X Reader)

1. Cocky Bastard

104th Cadet Corps, 847

Reader POV

I tried to duck and avoid a punch to the face from the stupid horse face that picked a fight with me over his best friend Marco. I liked the freckled sweetheart and apparently, according to Jean, I wasn't good enough for him. Luckily, Marco was back in the boys' dorm and not here to witness this stupid fight. My movement was too slow and his fist caught the left side of my face. It rattled my brain and I stumbled, trying not to fall over. I caught myself on one of the tables in the mess hall and lunged at Jean with an animalistic growl, attempting to tackle him but he was faster and moved out of my way before I collided into him. He grabbed my wrist and flipped me, I managed to kick his legs out from under him after I landed on my back, getting all the air knocked out of me. He was quick to get back to his feet as was I. I went to punch the left side of his face but left my side wide open and he gave me a harsh kick to the ribs, knocking me to the floor once again. He grabbed me by the hair and yanked my head up, ready to punch me again but his grip suddenly loosened and he was pulled off of me by Commander Shadis.

I sat there on the floor of the mess hall panting and bruised from the fight that Shadis had just broken up. We were both given stable duty and twenty extra laps in the morning along with no breakfast but Jean also got an extra lecture right there in front of everyone. Armin and Eren came over to my side to help me up and fret over me while Jean left to go back to his dorm and brood over the whole thing. I thanked my two friends and sat down with them to finish my meal. Well, try to finish it anyway. I ended up giving most of it to Sasha before heading back to my own dorm to get some sleep before what I predicted would be a shitty morning for sure. I didn't want anything to do with that stupid horse face but I had no choice since Shadis had assigned both of us to stable duty. That meant I'd have to work with that stupid ass.

I arrived at the stables before Jean did, grabbing a bale of hay and beginning to feed the horses their breakfast. I actually didn't mind stable duty. I loved horses and these ones were all quite friendly so it was nice to be around them even if by the end of it I would smell like actual horse crap. It was worth it to spend time with the quiet, majestic animals. I was already mucking out some of the stalls when Jean finally showed up to do his share. He grabbed a pitchfork and went to the stall next to mine to begin cleaning it out. I didn't greet him, just glared at him with my swollen and bruised left eye and my perfectly fine right one. He met my gaze for a short second then looked away. He looked a little regretful but maybe he was just tired. I couldn't tell. But it didn't matter. I hated his stupid ass.

As we ran laps, Jean, of course, had to try and show off how much faster he was than me but he got winded and slowed down by the fourth lap while I paced myself for my laps. "I thought horses were supposed to have endurance. Guess not." I insulted as I passed him, one lap ahead of him. He shouted at me and tried to catch up but he was already exhausted from running his first few laps too quickly.

We were both out of breath and sweaty by the time we finished all twenty laps. I stood bent over with my hands on my knees, panting and trying to catch my breath as Jean stopped his final lap nearby and did the same and I glared over at him. "This is all your fault. What the hell is so bad about me having a crush on Marco? It's not like it involves you so why don't you just butt out?" Jean scoffed but was too busy trying to regain a steady pace of breathing to respond so I continued with newfound anger over the whole thing from yesterday. "Or maybe the reason you're so upset about me liking Marco is that you want him all to yourself." I laughed bitterly at my own taunt and stood up straight, walking over to him to get in his face, probably not my smartest idea when we'd just gotten punished for fighting less than twelve hours ago. "Is the stupid horse gay? That's fucking precious!" He growled and whipped his head forward to slam his forehead against mine.

I grunted at the sharp pain of the impact and stumbled backward a step or two, bringing a hand up to rub my forehead. "What the fuck was that for you stupid horse?" "I'm not gay and I'm not a horse! This is exactly why you shouldn't be around Marco. You're nothing but a mean bitch." I huffed at the insult and lunged myself at him. "Say that again you bastard!" He stepped to the side to avoid my charge and stuck his foot out, effectively tripping me so I fell right on my face in the dirt with a heavy thud.

He reached down and grabbed the back of my shirt to pull me up but we both froze in our tracks when Instructor Shadis cleared his throat behind us. Jean dropped me back onto the ground in an instant and I quickly pushed myself to my feet so we could both salute him. He crossed his arms and tapped his foot, glaring at both of us. "Both of you, shower and go clean the bathrooms. Kirschtein, the boys' and (Name), the girls'. Move it before I can come up with something worse." I nodded and hurried off toward the girls' showers.

That had been the first two times we'd truly fought but it certainly wouldn't be the last. I really hated that cocky bastard thinking his friend was too good for me. I mean, sure, Marco totally was way out of my league, but that was exactly why I liked him. He was a natural leader. He was compassionate and so sweet you could get cavities just from looking at him. But he could also be straightforward and brutally honest when he needed to be to bring people to their senses. He could also be so dense sometimes and I found it absolutely adorable. I knew he wouldn't go for someone like me but a girl could hope, right? I mean, what harm was there in having a hopeless crush on someone? It wasn't like it was hurting anyone... Well, no one but myself, but that was only because Jean somehow found out about the crush. Stupid horseface.