Roman Holiday

The First Time I Ever Met You

"Hey guys, did you see the new guy?" Eren asked as he sat down next to Mikasa. Sat at a table in the school cafeteria was Eren, Mikasa, Bertolt, Marco, Jean, Armin, Conny, Sasha, and Ymir. The group took up most of the one row of tables as they normally did. Marco glanced over to the boy sitting by himself with his arms crossed and an angry look on his face.

"I guess we should welcome him then." he said as he started to get up. Jean caught his arm and looked from the boy and back up to Marco with pleading eyes. "What is it, Jean?"

"Don't go over there. He looks like trouble and I don't want you getting into that. He's a bad influence." Jean reasoned and Marco sighed, his face sympathetic as he thought about what Jean said.

"He's right, as much as it pains me to admit, but that guy is trouble. He got kicked out of his last school for violence, and he has been arrested for drugs and aggravated assault." Eren explained with a bored expression.

"Gosh, Eren, what did you do? Research the damn kid?" Ymir said with a smile while Eren glared in her direction. Marco slapped his sister on the shoulder lightly. "Dude, what?"

"Don't curse. Bertolt, shall we?" Marco asked. Ah yes, Bertolt. He was the quiet one of the group, but one of the nicest, second to Marco of course. Jean violently pushed away from the table and walked off with his books, leaving a concerned Marco. The tan boy simply nodded before pushing up from his seat and walking with the dark brown haired teen. Bertolt had been staring at the blonde man ever since Eren pointed him out. Bertolt was intrigued by him but also thoroughly frightened.

"Why do we have to do this? Welcome all the new students?" he asked his friend as they made their way across the large room that was quickly filling up with other students. Bertolt always got nervous when meeting new people, but this time something was getting his heart beating quicker and he was starting to sweat more than normal.

"Because we're essentially the nicest people in school and the principle asked us to give a warm welcome to them so they didn't feel so out of place." Marco explained simply, as if he had said it many times before. The tall boy knew that, he just didn't understand why he agreed to do something like that. When they arrived to the table that the boy was sitting at, they stood there awkwardly for a moment seeing as how he didn't notice them. "Hi, I'm Marco and this is-"

"I don't give a fuck who you are. Now get away from me." the boy snapped at them, making Bertolt flinch a bit and Marco's smile faltered a little. Bertolt was finally able to get a better look at the man sitting there now looking at them with an annoyed expression. Blonde hair, honey gold eyes, bags under them, incredibly defined muscles underneath his spring clothing that would put most jocks to shame.

"I-I'm Bertolt." he stuttered out, his heart pounding in his chest. The man's eyes widened for a slight second as the boy still introduced himself even after his rude comment. "We're h-here to welcome you to-"

"I don't give two shits about what you're here to do." he snapped once more, making Bertolt's eyes widen and him to flinch away again. The blonde raised an eyebrow at the jumpy teen. "Now, fuck off."

"We can show you around the school, and to your classes if you'd-"

"I don't need someone to show me around this damned place. Why are you guys even still here? Get away from me you shits." he all but yelled this time, leaving Bertolt shaking.

"Come on Bertolt, he clearly doesn't want to be bothered." Marco said to his friend with a frown which was very uncharacteristic of him. The new man clicked his tongue and crossed his arms. The two friends walked back to their table where the rest of their group was conversing amongst themselves. Bertolt grabbed his books, causing the rest of his friends to go quiet. He was still shaken up from that encounter.

"Bert, where are you going?" Eren asked him with concern lacing his words towards his adoptive brother.

"I'm going to class." he said curtly before swiftly walking to class. He didn't want to be around anyone at that time because he knew he would probably burst into tears if he did. Bertolt wasn't the best when it came to people being rude. Every time people would make fun of him in elementary school for being so tall he would run to the bathroom to cry. It didn't happen as often once he reached high school even though he was possibly still the tallest one there.

Bertolt entered his first period class, history, and set his books down on an empty desk. Ms. Ral smiled at him. "You're here early. Do you mind helping me out a bit?" she asked him kindly. He nodded with a smile because he couldn't stay upset over something like that. He told himself that the boy might have just been having a bad day.

And so, Bertolt began writing that day's notes on the chalk board because she couldn't reach it. He couldn't help but giggle when she told him that, but she knew he didn't mean it bad. It was a peaceful quiet, save for the sound of the chalk gently moving across the surface, as the two worked. The door opened, catching the attention of the teacher and Bertolt.

Bertolt immediately looked away and began working again so he wouldn't have to encounter the boy again.

"Ah, you must be Reiner, yes?" Ms. Ral asked the boy. He gave a curt nod and she smiled. "Take a seat anywhere you'd like. Not many people sit in the back so if you would like to be more alone you can sit there." she told him kindly. He walked to the back of the room. "Bertolt, do you mind getting him a notebook from the shelf? I can't reach it." she blushed. Bertolt sighed and set the chalk down along with the book of notes.

He walked to the back of the room as well, standing next to the desk Reiner was sat in to grab a notebook from the top shelf without any problem at all. Bertolt handed Reiner the book while looking down at him. The boy took it.

"You're a real goody two shoes aren't ya?" Reiner said with a taunting smirk. "Honestly, you're so far up the teachers ass I'm surprised she hasn't choked on you yet."

"And you must be a slacker that doesn't care about school, or anyone else, yes?" Bertolt responded while leaning against the wall.

"Wow, I guess you've figured me out then. Wonder how long it took you to make that assumption." Reiner said sarcastically. "I bet you even finish all of your homework the night it's given even when you have weeks to do it, don't you?"

"Well at least I do my work." he responded. Reiner narrowed his eyes. "And I don't curse every other breath and treat others like crap."

"Ah, you must be one of those Christians too. You're like the poster child, huh? A child of God, teacher's pet, nice to everyone, and I bet you run track too." Reiner stated triumohantly.

"Cross country, actually." Bertolt corrected with his eyes slightly narrowed. Even he was getting slightly irritated by his behavior. Reiner snorted.

"Do you ever run into doors with that giraffe neck of yours?" Bertolt's eyes widened at the comment and Reiner could see he had crossed the line then. It was awkwardly silent for a few minutes before Bertolt cleared his throat.

"If you ever miss a day, I'll loan you my notes so you can copy them, if you even care to pass." Bertolt said before walking to his desk.

"Why are you offering me notes when I've been so fucking rude to you? What the fuck is wrong with you?" Reiner asked as he was walking. Bertolt sighed.

"It's my responsibility at this school, given to me by the principle, to help out those who need it. Just because you're rather neglecting of peoples feelings, it doesn't mean that you should fail a class. If you need anything, help or just a piece of paper, just ask." Bertolt informed and sat down, ending the conversation rather quickly. Reiner wasn't sure about this kid, but he knew that getting rid of him wasn't going to be as easy as usual.