Roman Holiday

Not Today (Imagine Dragons)

Reiner was sat at a table in the school library, a book laid open in front of him, and a determined expression on his face as his eyes scanned the words on the pages. The spine was worn and the book as a whole smelled like someone dipped it in dirty dishwater that had been sitting, forgotten, in the sink for a few weeks. He wasn't the biggest fan of whatever it was that he was reading about, but it had to be done in order for him to feel not so shitty. Of course, he wouldn't even hesitate to say that he didn't really give a damn about school as a whole but he would at least put in some effort.

The only reason that he was still there was because no one else was and he knew that he could get away with sitting there for a while because, really, who went to the library anymore anyway? Exactly, no one. No one, except for one of course.

"Reiner? What are you doing in the library? And reading?" Bertolt asked as he sat down across from the blonde. Maybe Bertolt was stalking him, and maybe Bertolt really had to come to the library for something. Reiner really wanted to be irritated, but he simply put the book away so Bertolt wouldn't see what it was that he was reading. "Didn't take you for one to like reading."

"Not everyone is so open, Bertl. Anyway, what are you doing here is my question. Shouldn't you be out gallivanting around with your friends and being a teenager?" Reiner asked and Bertolt raised an eyebrow at that.

"Shouldn't you be doing stuff like that? I don't hang out with my friends much, I'm more of a turtle." he admitted honestly. Reiner bit back a laugh at that. Bertl the turtle suited him.

"You just called yourself a turtle?" Reiner asked, and Bertolt blushed lightly at the realization that he called himself a turtle. The blonde shook his head, his amusement was clear on his face for once. Bertolt couldn't help but nearly stare at him. He wasn't used to seeing this side of Reiner because he was always so grumpy. "Anyway, I don't really have friends so I don't do much. I just go home and lay around, be lazy." he said after a moment and Bertolt felt a pang in his chest when Reiner said he didn't have friends really. He was actually hoping that Reiner was coming around after they had gone and walked the plaza until the sun set and their ice cream was all gone and there were lights shining in the night sky, hindering them from seeing the stars until they reached the park once more on their way back. Bertolt remembered seeing Reiner looking at the sky, noticing how intrigued he had seemed to be by them, but Bertolt for some reason couldn't find it in him to look away from his face long enough to see the stars.

"Yeah, I guess you really don't have many friends, do you?" he added quietly, not wanting to show just how disappointed that he was that they weren't officially friends yet. Bertolt still wasn't sure why he was so drawn to this boy, this mean, grumpy, monotonous, sarcastic boy that no one dared to approach. But Bertolt could see passed that facade, seeing that the whole bad boy thing was just a cover up to hide that he was just a broken person, someone that needed people that would be there for him no matter what, someone to cry on even though he swore up and down that he would never cry in front of someone, a human. Reiner Braun, to Bertolt, was a human.

"Well, I guess I've always got you." Reiner smirked, obviously using a teasing manner there for Bertolt. That made the brunet narrow his eyes in a playful manner and lean over the table.

"Is that a challenge, Mr. Braun?" he asked after a moment, his tone as teasing as Reiner's was just a moment ago. Reiner didn't drop his smirk, and he almost seemed like his mean mood was gone for only just a minute, and he replied.

"If you're up for it."

But during the time of Bertolt and Reiner bonding, Jean felt his phone vibrating on his bed. While on his side, he threw his arm over and felt for the small handheld device before finally grabbing it and seeing that Ymir was calling. He slid the green arrow over and put it to his ear.

"How is he?" he asked quietly, his voice hoarse still from crying and his head pounding as well. He was never really one to cry, so this was not a pleasant thing for him. Ymir was sitting in a rolling desk chair in her room, spinning slightly to see her brother curled up on her bed with tear stained cheeks and Jean's sweatshirt wrapped around his body and a pained expression on his face. Ymir looked at him with pity.

"I finally got him to get some sleep, but he's been crying since we got home. He was exhausted." she said through her phone, careful to not be too loud. She knew that Jean was as tore up as Marco was. "Jean, he's a mess."

"I'm not much better." he laughed quietly, but it wasn't a happy laugh. "You should have seen the way he looked at me when I told him. God, he looked so disgusted with me. I really just want to crawl into a hole and never be heard from again." Jean ran a hand down his face.

"I don't think he was disgusted, really." Ymir tested, not sure if this was a safe thing to say.

"Are you kidding? He couldn't even look me in the eye. He was so disgusted he just froze." Jean laughed bitterly this time at himself.

"Actually, Jean, I think that he was just shocked." she knew she would have been. Jean scoffed. "Honestly, put yourself in his shoes. Your best friend of twelve years, the one that you shared a bed with for years, the one that you grew up with, the one that you told all of your secrets too, the one you told who your crush was no matter how weird it was, and he tells you that he for one isn't as straight as you thought he was and he feels more than just friendship for you. Tell me, how would you feel? Not to mention that he would completely cut you off for a week and you think that you pushed him away because you weren't good enough. Tell me how you would feel about that?" she waited for an answer but Jean just groaned and flopped back further onto the bed. "He's a surprisingly sensitive person, Jean."

"Yes, but God, do I love him." he said without a second's hesitation. Ymir sat there for a moment, she stopped nonchalantly twisting her chair and looked up from her shoes propped up on the desk in front of her.

"Huh." she said. "So, you love him, then?" Ymir asked and Jean felt himself freeze once again. He really wanted to get a better filter for himself.

"With all my heart." he said after a breath, his voice small and his eyes pricking with tears again when he thought about all of the things he had done with that beautiful person. Most of his fondest memories consisted of him and the things he did.

"Jean, if there was going to be anyone that fell in love with my brother, I'm glad it was you." she said sincerely, a soft smile gracing her features as she remembered how the two always acted together. "You may be an asshole, but you treat him good. He may be the only person you're nice too, but you make him happy. You give him your complete undivided attention, you respect him, and you never fail to keep a smile on his face. He deserves everything to be happy at all times, and I say that if you're it, then you're it."

"I'm going to miss him." he said, his eyes threatening him to spill over again. "Because I don't believe that you can fall in love twice."

"You won't have too. If there's one thing that I know about my brother, it's that he doesn't give a damn about sexuality. He just wants to be there for everyone he can. Even if he didn't feel the same way about you, he would always be your friend." she told him.

"Yeah, well what about your dad?" Jean then asked, he knew that there wasn't any hope for him but it was a question that he never knew the answer too.

"Marco also doesn't give two shits about what dad thinks. I think he's a secret rebel, but I don't know. He doesn't care that I'm gay. Maybe I can introduce you to my girlfriend one day." she said, still smiling fondly at all of the good possibilities of that.

"You have a girlfriend?"

"Yes sir." Ymir said proudly, and he chuckled quietly. "But I'm being honest. I wouldn't want anyone else to love my brother than you because I know that you would never mistreat him or hurt him. It's all in the way you looked at him back in ninth grade."

"I wasn't gay in ninth grade, Ymir." Jean rolled his eyes.

"You have always been gay, but you're just now growing into it. And, you're not really gay, just Marco-sexual." she joked and he laughed some. "Get some rest, I'll text you when he wakes up."

"Okay." was all Jean said, but he added on a moment after. "Hey, Ymir?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you." with a smile, Ymir said goodbye and set the phone down.

"You're welcome."