Circles | Eren x Reader

Chapter 38- Bad Plan:

Eren left me alone in his room, taking his phone off of the bed with him. I sat on the floor and observed my surroundings. His room was painted a light tan color; there were no photos or posters on the wall. His furniture was similar in color to the floor: everything was a deep brown color. The room was lit by a tall lamp in the corner that gave everything a warm and comforting glow. There was a striking contrast between the bright white light streaming into the room from the crack under the bathroom door. There was an old maroon rug by one side of his bed and a laundry hamper by the other. If I could describe his bedroom in one word... it'd be plain. Much different than I expected from an animated and overly-emotional person like Eren.

I tried to make myself comfortable. I spread out the food on the floor evenly as Eren had done once for me, and clutched the letter I had written firmly in my hand. I tried to relax and slow down my heartbeat. It didn't work. What was my plan? To read him this letter out loud? To hand it to him while we ate? To give it to him before I left? I had no idea what I was going to do. So, while I heard the water stream down from the shower, I prayed.

Unfortunately, my thoughts kept drifting from my prayer to imagining Eren in the shower. Watching the water trace his athletic frame as it hit him, or seeing his head tilted back as he washed the shampoo out of his hair. Or, how his shoulder and arm muscles would flex and relax as he rubbed soap over his body... I choked— Stop it! Just stop! You can't go back and forth between whichever guy you want!

I argued back with myself, But, it's been a month since Jean and I were together! I mean, were we even together? We never put a label on it...

I switched sides again: It doesn't matter! It's too soon! Don't—

I heard the bathroom door open and immediately lost my train of thought. Thankfully, Eren came out dressed, so I didn't have to worry about having any more intrusive thoughts about him. He was wearing his navy blue AOT Soccer sweatshirt again. At this point, it was hard to believe he owned anything else.

"Hi again," I waved awkwardly. Dude, seriously. Get it together.

Eren looked down at the food I had prepared and bit his lip. "Looks good." He sat across from me. "Although, I'd consider this plagiarism... Surprise Tupperware dinners are sort of my thing," he smirked.

"Fine. If I ever write an essay about it, I'll make sure to cite you as my source," I replied, opening the lids that contained the different foods I had prepared. "However, unlike you, I brought plates."

He smiled to himself as I handed him a plastic plate. Both of us started picking at random pieces of food. Not once did Eren question my choice of meals. We ate in silence, but it wasn't awkward. In fact, the silence was less awkward than the talking. I almost preferred it this way.

Finally, once we had finished dinner, Eren broke the silence. He stared at the empty plate in his lap. "You know," he said, "You didn't have to come here just to apologize. Your text was enough."

"No," I argued, "I don't think it was... And neither is this, really— it'll take months to repair the damage that I've done— but," I sighed, "I figured this would be a good place to start." Eren opened his mouth to speak but I cut him off: "If you think I'm only doing this because I feel bad about your father leaving— you're wrong."

He ran his fingers through his dark hair and sighed. "Okay. Then, what's your reasoning? It's awfully convenient that you chose to apologize when I'm feeling my worst."

I took a deep breath before speaking. "It's because... I finally read your letter." Eren's eyes widened in surprise. I pulled out the bag of Madeleines from my backpack. "Here's my proof. I haven't tried them yet, but I followed the recipe you gave me."