Chapter Text
Eren had always hated the rain.
He hated the way it could turn a perfectly nice day into a wet “fuck you.” And completely put a damper (no pun intended) on his day.
He hated that rainy days were always associated with staying inside doing absolutely nothing all day long, which he was perfectly happy doing on normal days, but only when he also had the option of doing stuff, mind you.
And he really hated that rain always seemed to come at the perfect time to ruin his day.
Eren stood at a bus stop covered by a small awning, tapping his foot impatiently in time with the rain hitting the ground and the roof above him. He had been walking on his way back to his apartment from his assistant job at Rose inc. at the moment with Mother Nature decided to screw him over and cause it to start pouring. He would've just tried to run back home, had home not been about three miles away when the storm started. Eren sighed deeply, if only he had lended Armin his car some other day. He sat down on the bench and watched as the cars went by on the damp road, not paying much mind to the storm at all, more focused on getting to wherever they were headed.
But one asshole in particular certainly wasn't paying attention to the storm, because he made a sudden stop at a red light and caused the water under his tires to spray everywhere, aka all over Eren.
"What the fuck?" Eren groaned as he walked out from under the awning and tapped on the window of the car, the driver cocked an eyebrow at him but lowered it slightly.
"I'm not giving you any money, sorry dude." The man replied, his eyebrows pressed together in a clearly annoyed expression. His face was tawny and his features sharp, even his mouth seemed sharp as he pursed his lips, adding to his angry façade. Eren would think he was scary looking if not for how dumb he thought his hair looked, it was a two toned undercut with the top looking like he had just glued it onto his head, although, he thought, he probably shouldn’t insult undercuts as the majority of people who he worked for had them, and he wouldn’t want to say anything about them around Levi unless he had a death wish, now there was someone scary. This horse-faced guy just didn’t cut it.
"What? I don't want money. I want you to apologize for getting me soaking wet." Eren replied, gesturing to his clothes that were somehow more wet than before, not to mention that now there was mud mixed in with the water from the combination of dirty tires on even dirtier asphalt all day long.
"Uh, you're the one who walked out into the rain?"
"Because you slammed on your breaks and made it fucking splash mountain!"
"Dude, calm down, it's just a little water, you'll live."
Eren groaned and stomped on the ground in response, causing even more water to splash on him.
The other man chuckled and Eren glared daggers at him, scrunching his face together to try and look as intimidating as possible, but in reality he probably looked like he had just eaten a lemon instead. "What's so funny?"
He laughed again. "The fact that you're acting like a child and it's only getting you more wet, not to mention that you're standing out in the rain to yell at me about getting you wet while you're just making it worse."
Eren looked down, embarrassed, as much as he hated to admit it this asshole was right, his clothes were now so wet they were heavy and they were sticking to his skin as if they were trying to pull him down along with them. He looked back up when he heard a sigh from the driver. "Do you want a ride home or something? I don't want you to be sitting out here screaming at people all day."
Eren considered his offer, on one hand, this guy was a grade A asshole with dumb hair, he had gotten him wet, and Eren's mother had always told him not to get into cars with strangers. On the other hand, Eren was cold and wet, and getting a ride home did sound really nice right now...
"Fine." He agreed. "Just don't try to kill me or anything."
The other boy rolled his eyes and unlocked the doors. Eren opened the passenger door and climbed in. The car was warm and dry and Eren felt pretty content, considering who was driving.
"You're getting my seat wet." The other boy mumbled, beginning to drive.
"Your fault." Eren reminded him, rolling his eyes.
"So what's your name anyway?"
"Why do you want to know?"
"So I don't feel like you're just some hitchhiker that I'm giving a ride to, because I don't do that."
"It's Eren, and may I ask yours so I don't keep referring to you in my mind as 'pompous asshole'?"
He turned to glare at him. "It's Jean."
"Okay, pompous asshole John." Eren replied, purposefully pronouncing it wrong.
"Not John, Jean." Jean responded, clearly more irked by Eren messing up his name more than being called a pompous asshole again.
Eren laughed at the annoyance in Jean's voice. "Now I see why everyone says French people are rude."
"Now I see why I don't give random assholes rides home." Jean retorted, not missing a beat.
Eren felt a laugh escape him at Jean's comment despite himself. "You know, you're not half bad /Jean/." He put extra emphasis on the fact that he was saying his name correctly.
"Gee thanks, that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside." Jean droned sarcastically, but Eren still saw a smile creeping onto his lips.
They spent the rest of the drive with Eren yelling out directions and only telling Jean to turn at the last second at every turn. Jean mumbled a complaint every time Eren almost caused them to run right into a fire hydrant and Eren would come back at him with some witty comment about Jean's driving skills. Once they arrived at Eren's apartment Eren was actually a bit disappointed, it was kinda nice to have someone that he could have banter with, although Eren didn't think Jean was quite as witty as him, but that was okay, it was more fun to win. He climbed out of the car and turned around to look at Jean.
"Thanks for the ride, sorry about your seat getting wet."
Jean shrugged. "It's sorta my fault, sorry for getting you wet."
Eren gasped jokingly. "Was that an actually apology? I'm floored."
Jean scoffed. "I take it back, I'm glad I got you soaked."
"Well in that case I'm glad your seats faced the same fate as me."
"Whatever, don't you have somewhere to be?"
"Yep, and I'm already here, yet you're still hanging around. Is it because I'm so charming?" Eren joked, fluttering his eyelashes.
"You wish." Jean scoffed. "Stay dry, asshole."
"Same to you, horse face." Eren said, beginning to walk away.
"Horse face?" Jean questioned, cocking an eyebrow.
"Yep, it's pretty self explanatory. You have a face; it looks like a horse, hence: horse face." Eren replied, giving Jean a small wave over his shoulder.
Jean simply rolled his eyes and drove away.
Once Eren got inside and up to his apartment he peeled his damp clothes off his body and threw them to the ground, he walked to the bathroom and into the shower. Once he turned it on he was greeted by the warmth of the water hitting his bare skin and saving him from the cold previously there. Once he was finished he toweled off and went to his room to put on some dry clothes. Since it was late he figured sweats and a t-shirt would be fine as he was only lounging around the house. After he was dressed he sat down on the couch and turned on the tv. But he only got to sit there for about a minute before his phone went off with a text from Armin.
Armin: So I have a little problem.
Eren: what is it?
Armin: Well you see, I was shopping today and I saw a pet store and I may or may not have bought a cat.
Eren: kay so whats the problem?
Armin: Well I just got here, and when I went to get her out of the car and she looked really sad in her crate so I let her out to pet her but now she's running around outside the apartment complex and I need help!
Eren sighed and got up.
Eren: be out in a sec
Armin: Hurry!!
As soon as Eren opened the front door to the building he saw Armin sprinting past in a blur of blonde.
"Eren!" He called out, pointing ahead of him. "I saw her go this way!"
Eren ran the opposite way of Armin, hoping to corner the cat; he turned the corner and saw a blur of gray, everything seemed to be in blurs today, heading in his direction. He ran faster and dived for it, but instead of grabbing a cat, he instead grabbed air and was met with concrete to his face. He pushed himself back up onto his feet and noticed blood dripping from his nose and onto the ground, that was it, he decided, this cat would pay. He scanned the area but it was nowhere to be seen, until he saw a bush to his left rustle.
"Aha!" He yelled, running for the bush.
"Did you find it?" Armin yelled.
"Yeah!" Eren yelled back, shoving his hands into the bush and searching for fur. He felt a bite of his hand and yelped. "What was that for?" He complained. As the cat walked out of the bush he swore he could see it laughing at him. Quickly as he could be scooped up the cat in his arms. He began to walk back over to Armin but before he could he saw a familiar car pull up in the parking lot. He walked towards it and Jean rolled down his window.
"Uh, you left your backpack in my car." He told him, handing it over through his window pane. Eren shifted the cat into his left arm and grabbed the backpack with the other.
"Thanks." He replied, giving him a grateful smile and slinging the backpack over his shoulder.
"Uh, are you alright?" Jean asked, his expression looking a mix of confusion and concern.
"Yeah." Eren responded, confused.
"Because no offense but it looks like you just got your ass handed to you in a fight."
Eren suddenly became hyper aware that he was dressed in worn down baggy clothes with a red face and a bloody nose from falling. "Ohhh, no, I was just you know, chasing cats and all that." He told him, laughing to try and lighten the embarrassment he was feeling.
"Oh, well that cat really did a deal on you." Jean said, laughing along with Eren.
Eren heard footsteps behind him and soon Armin was at his side, when he saw the cat in Eren's arms his eyes lit up. "Ah! You found Molly!"
"You named it Molly?"
"Mhm." Armin replied, nodding and taking the cat from Eren’s arms. He then focused his attention on Jean. "Hello, I'm Armin, are you a friend of Eren's?"
"Oh, no, I just gave him a ride home so he'd stop yelling." He teased. "And I was coming to return his backpack."
"Eren you rode home with a stranger?" Armin scolded him. "No offense." He added, turning back to Jean.
"None taken."
"It was pouring, you had my car, and he sprayed water all over me, the least I could get out of that was a ride home." Eren said defensively.
Armin simply sighed then turned back to Jean. "Well then the least we can do for you is invite to stay for dinner, would you care to join us?"
"Sure." Jean shrugged. "That sounds nice, thanks Armin." He hopped out of his car and walked up to them. He snickered when he saw Eren.
"What's so funny?" He demanded.
"I don't realize how short you were earlier."
"I'm only a few inches shorter than you, asshole!"
"Now now, there's no need to fight." Armin said calmly, standing between them.
“There’s always a need to fight.” Eren insisted.
“Eren,” Armin said as strictly as he could. “He’s our guest and we will treat him as such.”
Eren rolled his eyes. “Okay, thanks mom.” Armin shot him a glare and Eren held his arms up in defense. “What? I just thought, with Mikasa on vacation for once I’d be mom free for the week, but it looks like you guys are multiplying.”
“You can never have too many moms.” Armin stated matter-of-factly.
Eren brushed off his comment with a wave of his hand. “Yeah, yeah.”
Armin turned back to Jean. “So, food, yeah?”
Jean and Eren both nodded in agreement. “Yeah.” They replied in unison, and the three began to walk back inside, Armin leading and Jean and Eren trailing behind.
“Jinx, you owe me a soda.” Eren whispered.
Jean threw his hands up. “Are you in the third grade? I’m not buying you shit.”
“But you have to! I said jinx!” Eren insisted, scrunching up his face once more.
“I refuse.”
“That’s not how it works!”
“Yes it is!”
“No it’s not!”
“I gave you a ride home, that’s payment enough.”
“A soda is payment enough.” Eren grumbled.
They were so busy bickering they hadn’t realized they’d walked all the way up to the apartment door until Armin turned around to tell them that they were having spaghetti for dinner.
“Fucking A!” Eren cheered, pumping his fist up into the air.
“Calm down there Judd Nelson.” Jean laughed, walking around him and into the apartment.
Eren followed behind and sat down at the kitchen table across from Jean, they continued their argument about the rules of jinx as Armin cooked the pasta until Jean finally caved in and decided he’d buy him a soda if Eren shut up about jinx technicalities. Once Armin was finished with the pasta he put down the plates for everyone in their respective spots and sat down between the two hot heads.
“Thanks Armin!” Eren said cheerfully as he began to dig in.
“Yeah, thanks dude.” Jean added. “I bet it tastes hella.”
As Eren engulfed his food he noticed Jean eating at a similar pace. “You trying to one up me?”
“I’m just eating asshole.” He mumbled his mouth too full of food to speak coherently.
“Yeah, eating faster than me.” Eren accused.
“So?”
“So you trying to make this a challenge?”
“Guys please don’t-“ Armin started but was cut off by Jean.
“Hell yeah, I’ll kick your ass.” Jean declared, beginning to shovel spaghetti into his mouth once more.
“I really don’t think-“ Armin tried to start again but he just gave up with a sigh when he realized they were probably too far gone now in their little contest to pay regards to his words.
Eren ate quickly, almost choking a few times, but no way was he going to let Jean see that. He continued to inhale his pasta as quickly as he could but before he could finish he heard a plate slam against the wooden table and he looked up to see Jean triumphantly smiling, marinara sauce smeared all over his face causing Eren to burst into a fit of laughter.
“What?” Jean demanded, narrowing his amber eyes at Eren.
“You look like a child!” Eren howled, doubling over in his seat.
“Well you act like one!” Jean retorted, standing up.
“Eren, apologize.” Armin told him sternly, crossing his arms.
Eren sighed. “Sorry for thinking that the way you ate like a five year old was funny.”
Armin glared at Eren disapprovingly.
“Sorry for laughing at you, Jean.” Eren corrected himself.
Armin nodded happily, pleased with Eren’s apology. “Now why don’t you see our guest out?”
Eren stood up and looked at Jean. “May I escort you out, sir?” He deadpanned.
“Yes you may.” Jean replied smugly, walking up to the door. Eren gave him a questioning look as he was just standing there. “Well aren’t you going to open it?”
Eren sighed and gave Armin a look over his shoulder that said ‘Are you seriously making me do this?’ And Armin simply giggled and nodded, giving him a little wave of the hand to urge him to open the door for Jean. He sighed again and reluctantly walked over to the door, opening it for Jean.
“Why thank you.” Jean crooned jokingly, he walked through the doorway then turned back to look at Armin. “And thank you for dinner, it was great.”
“It was no problem” Armin smiled. “Thank you for joining us.”
Jean gave him a smile back before turning forward again and continuing to walk as Eren closed the door behind him. He looked up at Jean and realized that he would look a lot better if he smiled more. It softened his features in a way that made him look way less angry all the time and made him look a lot less sharp.
“He really is like your mom.” Jean told Eren.
“Yeah, yeah.” Eren replied.
Jean tilted his head and narrowed his eyes at Eren. “Too bad you don’t take after him more.”
Eren held his hands up in defense. “Hey, if I did I probably wouldn’t have yelled at you and then you wouldn’t have been here to make that remark.” He pointed out.”
“Yeah yeah.” He mimicked Eren. “Weren’t you supposed to see me out?”
“Lead the way.” Eren replied, gesturing with his arm to the hallway in front of them.
Once they got outside Jean climbed back into his car and Eren stood a few paces away from his window. “Catch ya later, asshole.” He said, giving him a small wave.
Jean chuckled as he started his car. “Same to you.”
“Don’t miss me too much.”
“Don’t worry, I don’t think that will be a problem.”
“Don’t forget, you still owe me that soda.”
“I won’t.”
Before Eren could turn back around it began to rain. “Really, again?” He complained to the sky.
“Oh, come on, the rain isn’t that bad, maybe you’ll learn to like it.” Jean insisted.
“Yeah right.” Eren scoffed.
“Well if you’re wrong then you owe me a soda.” Jean told him.
“Not gonna happen.” He replied.
“You never know.” Jean continued. “Maybe someday you’ll actually learn to like the rain.”
“Not with people like you using it to get me soaked.”
Jean snickered. “Whatever, see ya.”
“Yeah, see ya.” Eren repeated as Jean drove away. And once again Eren and his clothes were both soaking wet because of this asshole, but somewhere in the back of his mind Eren didn’t think he was all that bad.
And maybe he could learn that the rain wasn’t either.