Nerves {An Ereri Fanfiction} REWRITTEN FROM ORIGINAL

Confusion

          Books, papers, power points, and failed grades. That was all that seemed to take up Eren's time anymore and he hated it. He knew college would be hard before they even left high school, but that doesn't make any of this easier. He tried to read along the pages of his U.S. history textbook, seeing as he had a quiz in two days, but nothing was sticking with him. With a sigh, he closed the book and tossed it on his nightstand, nearly knocking his phone off. Only seconds later, it started ringing. He grabbed it and saw Mikasa was calling him.

Eren reached with as much energy as he could muster and finally snagged it, sliding the answer button open, "Hey Mika, what's up?? You never call."

He wasn't wrong. It took somebody dying or a very, very pretty girl to make her call him. He heard some shuffling from the other side of the line before she finally spoke up, her monotone voice relaxing.

"Did he apologize?" Eren's eyebrows crunched together; did she mean Levi? He unconsciously reached up to touch his bruise cheek; the bruise had darkened over the past day. Flinching, he stopped prodding at it.

Yep, still tender.

"Yeah? How'd you know he was going to?"

Her door closed in the background, so she'd either just gotten to her own dorm or was leaving somewhere. "I told him to. He was an asshole who assumed inappropriate things for no reason."

Eren laughed at that, "Yeah, he told me. Dude, we're both gay as fuck, did he forget or something?"

"Who knows. Come to the lounge? Armin's on his way already since you guys have class over here in an hour."

Hmm, sitting in his dorm for the next hour, or hanging out with the guys for the next hour? "I'll be there in five."

The brunette hung the phone up without waiting and ran to throw his shoes on. As he slipped on the baby blue old skools, he grabbed his bomber and keys and jogged out the door. He hadn't seen Armin since yesterday, the nerdy blonde was almost always studying somewhere. He quickly made his way to the grounds, pulling out a carton of cigarettes as soon as he could. He'd felt the pull for nicotine for over an hour, starting to make him antsy as he sat around in his room.

Yes, he knew smoking was a disgusting habit. Did he care? Not particularly. It was a stress reliever he'd picked up from his dad when he was 17. Mikasa and Armin gave him shit for it every time he did it around him, but he didn't mind. He'd stop when he felt like it. Cupping his hands around the light and end of the stick, he flicked the stone and lit it up, taking a deep breath in as he did. He blew out the smoke and continued on his merry way.

As he drew closer to the student center, he dropped the cancer stick and snuffed it out with the toe of his shoe. Eren made his way inside, making a b-line straight for the lounge. He spotted Mikasa, Armin, and a surprisingly depressed Jean sitting on 2 of the couches talking. He felt his nose twitch in annoyance at the sight of Jean; they weren't exactly the best of friends, per se.

Eren walked over and plopped on the couch beside Armin, spooking the little blonde coconut out of his conversation.

Armin squealed as soon as he felt Eren hit the seat. With a gasp in relief, he turned to the brunette, "Oh, it's just you. Hey Eren, I- OH MY GOD, YOUR FACE!" His eyes grew as round as saucers as soon as he saw the swollen, bruising cheeks Eren had accumulated. Eren cursed and turned away quickly, hand coming up to hide it.

"Armin, it's not as bad as you think. Please don't freak." Eren know it was a bad idea to get Armin wound up over a little bruise; the boy had the heart of a bird and the worry of a first-time mother. He kept trying to pull Eren's hand away from his face so he could check the damage. The poor boy was probably about to have a stroke over this. He reminded Eren a lot of his own mother when he was a kid – scared of everything and anything.