to love a liar

to you

🧪 this chapter has a bunch of skipping around in timelines and info dump (possibly more than the previous chapter).
🧪 CW: Violence, death, drug use

Eren marched up to the room, swiping the key card and pushing the door open, "Y/n! Listen, I'm so—"

He froze once he realized you weren't there anymore. The blanket ruffled from your activities earlier and an empty space where you had been. A heart wrenching guilt stabbed through him, he fumbled for his phone.

He hit your contact, eyes lingering on the photo of you with the headphones he'd gotten you. Shakily, he brought the phone to his ear. The bell rang, two, four, six times. No answer. He tried again. No answer.

It was expected. Of course, you were too upset to talk to him. The entire day had been nothing short of a mess and Eren's behavior hadn't made it any better. He kept praying you were with Sasha, that you weren't alone somewhere thinking about how awful his actions were.

He rushed back out into the hall, out of breath as he made his way back to the elevators. His eyes were dilated and cold sweat clung to his skin.

When he dialed again, he waited and waited . . . "Hello?"

Ten years ago: Shiganshina

"Boys, breakfast is ready!"

Mind still groggy from the long night of videogames, Eren trudged down the stairs of the Jaeger villa in Shiganshina. He kicked at Zeke's door, his movements sluggish and sloppy. The door opened to reveal his older brother, a disappointed look on his face.

"Mom's calling us for breakfast," Eren informed.

"Can't you just knock like a normal person?" Zeke sheepishly blinked at his little brother.

"My arms are tired," Eren yawned. "I can't feel my thumbs."

"Well, fix them. If Dad or Carla find out we were up all night, I'm going to get in trouble," Zeke walked past him to the bathroom.

Eren, the ever annoying nine-year-old he was, followed his older brother right into the bathroom. He grabbed his toothbrush with a loud groan, as if his body was incapable of doing much at all.

"Eren! Get out! I have to shit!" Zeke snapped.

"I'm not stopping you. Just put the toothpaste on my brush, I can't do it," Eren pointed his brush at him.

"Fine," Zeke grumbled, doing what Eren asked and squirting the minty paste on his toothbrush. When his little brother let out a slight chuckle, Zeke quizzed, "What?"

"You're like my bitch," Eren replied.

Zeke narrowed his eyes, handing the brush back, "Get out before I kick your ass."

"I'll just kick yours right back," Eren mumbled, shoving his brush in his mouth and beginning to clean his teeth. "You're the one that's got to shit."

"Can't believe you walk around saying stuff like that and Dad somehow likes you more than me," Zeke grabbed his own brush.

Eren didn't respond, he just brushed his teeth next to his older brother before gracefully being kicked out of the bathroom. He stretched his limbs while stepping down the steps to the first floor.

His family villa in Shiganshina was one of his favorite places in the world. He loved every bit of it. The infinite sunlight, sight of wood everywhere, and the rustic light fixtures. What it really was, was a lodge. A fancified version of a cabin. A cabin turned into a grandiose family vacation house for the Jaeger family.