Off Record [Ereri/Riren] ✓

50 ⚕︎Communication ✍︎

Off Record
Chapter 50
⚕︎Communication ✍︎
Eren

com·mu·ni·ca·tion

/kəˌmyo͞onəˈkāSH(ə)n/

noun

the imparting or exchanging of information or news

"No." Lynne snaps the second Ryder and I step into the gym the next morning.

"No?" Ryder repeats, confused.

"No." Lynne nods and shoves the two of us out the door. She checks the halls before dragging both Ryder and me back to my room. Once inside she locks the doors and leans against the wall sighing deeply. "I have the worst hangover," she groans. "So we are not working out today. We're going to chill in here and no one is telling Levi." She points aggressively at Ryder. "Got it?"

Ryder gulps. "Got it."

"I mean it, ya fuckin' lap dog." Lynne affirms.

"Oh, I'm the lap dog?" Ryder glances at me and laughs, clearly indicating that if anyone was Levi's lap dog, it would be me which I can't exactly argue with. "That's hilarious."

"I don't see how." Lynne huffs.

I chuckle, picking up the ball from my bed and throwing it against the wall. "So how'd you get so fucked up last night?"

Lynne smiles pulling two pills from her pocket and popping them in her mouth, swallowing them dry. "Date with Mel." She closes her eyes. "Best night of my life. We ran around town, bar hopping, jumping in fountains, invading empty playgrounds, even got tattoos. It was wild."

"Please tell me you didn't get each other's names tattooed or something stupid like that." Ryder rubs his temples.

Lynne scoffs. "'Course not. Learned that lesson when I was in high school." She holds up her foot, showing us the name 'Ashley' tattooed above her ankle.

Ryder shakes his head. "Wow."

"I was sixteen." Lynne huffs. "It's whatever, she was my first love so I don't mind it. It's good to remember her sometimes."

"How'd you break up?" I ask curiously.

Lynne glares at the wall. "We didn't." she sighs, pulling out her phone. "She died."

I stop throwing my ball. "Oh. I'm sorry."

Lynne waves me off, scrolling through her phone. "It's cool, Jaeger. I've gotten past it."

"I've never lost someone before." Ryder says, lying down on the floor with his hands behind his head.

I close my eyes, images of my mother flying through my head and I fall back against the bed.

"Eren?" Ryder sits up, concerned.

"It's fine. I'm fine. I just... had a moment." I assure him and open my eyes. I see my mother standing in the corner of the room and sigh, sitting down on the bed. "What tattoo did you get with Melanie?" I ask. She lets me call her 'Mel' but I still feel uncomfortable saying it.

Lynne pushes off the wall and walks over and lifts her shirt so I can see a small shark drawn across her ribcage. "People usually get dumb quotes or cute little girly tattoos here." She smirks. "I've always wanted this little guy," she pets the shark. "And I thought she'd look nice here."

I smile, looking over Lynne's other tattoos. She's not the type of person to get some intense, meaningful ink. Most of her tattoos are silly and fun, done simply because they're representing something she likes, like her tattoo of the four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on her arm. Her body looks like a jumbled mess of art but she somehow makes it work.