11. Finally Together

"So she got really mad?" Eren asked worriedly, he had treated you to lunch after finding out that you had to sleep at Historia's place. It was nice of him to try and comfort you when you knew that he was probably stressed already because of his job being on the line. "I thought she would've helped you, you guys are always together and seem so close."

It was weird enough to talk about your best friend with your boyfriend, how could you have that conversation later with Mikasa? "Yeah, it's not that easy." You muttered as you played with your food. "You see... she's against it, like a lot."

He frowned. "Even if you're friends?"

"Yeah, it's a difficult conversation."

"Why? It's not like we're breaking the law or something, we're both consenting adults so what's her problem? I can understand Jean having a problem with me, but Mikasa? She's also one of my best students." He commented and you could understand his confusion, he didn't know what you knew. "If you want, I could talk to her."

"No!" You immediately replied startling him a bit, his emerald eyes studied your figure for a few moments, not knowing how to respond. "I mean, there's no need." You tried to calm down, your heart was beating way too fast at the idea of him talking to her alone about you.

Eren put down his fork and grabbed your hand, he had this worried look that made you want to tear up. "Are you sure everything's ok?" Even his voice made your heart melt, how could you keep things to yourself when he talked to you that way?

"If I have to be honest with you... you see... Mikasa doesn't approve of us because she kind of had a crush on you?" You said and he widened his eyes in surprise. "More like a big crush... she was in love with you." You confessed and scoffed. "It was actually creepy to hear her talking about you like that, she hates every man beside you and could only talk about how smart, kind and attractive you are." You rolled your eyes and the man chuckled a little. "What?" You asked harshly.

He shook his head amused. "I don't know what's funnier, the fact that a student has a crush on me or the fact that you're jealous."

You raised an eyebrow. "Me? Jealous? Absolutely not." You folded your arms.

"You are and you look so cute." He smiled and grabbed your hand. "But you don't have to worry about it, I only have eyes for you." He kissed the back of your hand, that gesture melted you instantly. "But I understand that it could be complicated, I didn't expect this from Mikasa. So did you guys argue because of me?" You nodded looking away. "I'm so sorry, you can stay at my place until you sort things out, if you want."

"Historia and Ymir offered me the same thing, but I'm not sure. I can't let her have the whole apartment just because we argued, it's not fair." You could understand that she was upset and both of you didn't really want to see each other, but you were friends and roommates, it was only fair that you could stay at your own apartment as well. "But I don't know what this will mean for you, what if Jean of Mikasa tells people about us? You will be fired."

The risk was obvious, you knew about it ever since you started that relationship, but now it felt real. Eren hummed, his eyes fixated on your interlocked hands. "I was thinking, maybe I should just leave and find another college, after all, I never thought I was going to teach here for the rest of my life."

You thought about it carefully, his idea wasn't wrong but at the same time it didn't feel right. Why did he have to leave? Maybe you could've talked to your friends and convince them to keep quiet. "You told me it was your dream to teach here, I don't want you to renounce because of this, I will deal with it."

"I'm serious, it's not a problem. If you think about it, it's the best solution, you can finish your studies without any worry and I will work without this anxiety."

You sighed sadly, was that the only solution? You hated it. If only you could go back in time... no, you wouldn't trade your relationship for anything else, you were so in love with him that it hurt just thinking about not having him with you. "Just let me talk to them first we'll see what we can do."

He looked at you reluctantly but nodded in the end. "Fine but don't worry about it too much, we'll find a way."

**

When you entered the apartment that afternoon, you felt very uneasy, which was weird considering that it was your house also. "Hello?" You said out loud to make sure you were alone.

"Bedroom." Mikasa's voice made you sigh almost immediately, you wanted to wait a little bit before having a confrontation but that wasn't possible anymore. You walked into your shared room and looked at the girl who was reading on her bed. "You're back." She stated with a firm voice.

"I live here." You replied sitting on your bed as well, the tension inside that room was suffocating. "Listen, we need to talk."

Your friend closed her book and turned to look at you. "Talk then."

It was frustrating, you had never seen her being so petty. "I know you're mad at me and I get it. I fucked up, I did something that hurt you and I'm sorry for that. I didn't mean to, I know I'm in the wrong but I also know that I care about you and our friendship and I want us to be like before." What else could you say about it? You just wanted to keep both your friend and your relationship under control.

She tilted her head. "Ok, then break up with him."

"What?"

"I know I can't have him, I'm not stupid, but that doesn't mean that what you're doing is right. If you really care about our friendship and your future, break up with him and go back to your life." She explained, it made you feel like a small kid being nagged by their parent. "Y/n, I know you, sometimes you get lost and do risky stuff, but now is not the right time for that."

"Wait, wait." You stopped her. "Mikasa, I might be reckless sometimes but this is not one of those moments. I love Eren and he loves me, we work together and I'm happy so I don't want to break up with him even if that hurts you." You shook your head. "I've never felt this happy, please don't make this harder than it already is."

The girl stood there in silence and stared at you. "I don't think I can forgive you, I've kept thinking about it all night because you are my best friend, but I just can't. You hurt me so much, not only you got into a relationship with the man I liked but you hid it from me for so long." Her voice was shaky and that's when you understood just how much you fucked up. "And I'm sorry for you, this won't end well."

"It will if you and Jean keep quiet about it."

She looked at you the same way you looked at Jean whenever he told you some bullshit. "I won't say anything but I can't promise anything for Jean. Also, how long do you think it will take for another student to walk on you two being intimate?"

Your cheeks burned up at that comment. "We'll be careful and stop any kind of contact in school."

"Right, because that worked so well for you, didn't it?"

She was right, it was almost impossible to pretend like nothing was going on between you and Eren. "We'll take care of it." You said exhausted, that conversation felt so tiring for some reason. "I get it, we won't be as friends as before and that's ok, I just don't want you to hate me."

"I don't hate you." She confirmed. "But I can't live in the same apartment with you."

You nodded. "I guessed as much." One of you had to move but it was too early to decide who, you could've ignored each other until you found a better solution. It hurt a lot, but again, there wasn't much you could do about it. "I'm sorry." You murmured and walked to the bathroom, you needed to take a shower and relax a bit.

But before you could strip off your clothes, your phone started ringing. "Hello?" You didn't know the number and you didn't exactly want to talk to people either.

"Hey, it's Ymir." Said the voice on the other end.

You stopped surprised. "Oh, hi. Did I forget something at your place?"

"No. I'm calling because I talked to the chief of our marketing team and he's willing to interview you, he's in need of someone urgently. Bring some of your work and try to be as nice as possible, that guy is a fan of professionalism." That was good news, the first you had had in the last few days.

Suddenly, an idea popped right into your brain, maybe you could solve all your problems once and for all. "Thank you so much! I'll make sure to give the best impression."

"Great, I'll send you the address and the date, be on time and let me know how it goes."

"Sure, thank you again."

"No worries, Historia says hi." She didn't even wait for your answer and ended the call, she really was a woman of few words.

Oh well, better that way.

You hummed happily as you started to take off your clothes. Maybe all that was happening was for a good reason, it was a way to start a new chapter of your life, you just had to make sure not to fuck it up.

**

It had been a week since all that chaos went down, life had been very boring and monotonous, the only change was the fact that Mikasa barely talked to you if it wasn't for important stuff like grocery shopping.

Usually speaking, you would've simply given up and got into a depressive state hoping that everything could be resolved by simply ignoring it.

But not this time.

You had everything planned out, you just needed to tell Eren and decide your next step together.

Till that moment no one else had found out about your relationship, which meant that you had enough time to prevent any rumor from spreading.

Once all classes were done for the day, you made your way to the parking lot and waited for Eren next to his car. Your heart was beating so fast, seeing him still gave you that effect, it was a mix of excitement and anxiety.

When he finally arrived, you both got in the car and quickly drove away before anyone could see you. "How was today?" You asked leaning against the seat and looking at his face as he was focused on the road.

"Tiring." He sighed. "I'm so happy we're getting dinner together, it's been a while since the last time we did that."

You nodded in agreement. "True, I've been really busy these days."

"Doing what?" He asked curiously.

"Ehe, that's a surprise for later." You winked and he smiled confused. "But really, living with Mikasa is impossible, even dinner with her is depressing." You complained. Eating together was hell, the silence made your hunger disappear and suddenly your stomach could barely digest a quarter of your food. So, long story short, she made you lose your appetite.

The man grabbed your hand and squeezed it gently. "I'm still very sorry, I thought you guys had talked it out."

"We did, she can't forgive me and I don't want to break up with you and become my miserable self again, so we're parting ways." You shrugged, to be fair you weren't totally ok with it and you had tried to change Mikasa's mind many times but she wouldn't budge, so there was nothing you could do about it. "But really, you don't have to worry about it, I've got everything under control."

There was an awkward silence for a few minutes in which both of you were lost in your thoughts, very different yet focused on the same problem. "I'm just confused, you seemed so close."

"Yeah, that's what I thought as well." You muttered. Your small pout quickly disappeared as soon as you reached his house, that was the perfect chance to talk to him about the future and your plans. "But that's what I get for lying to my friend, it's the consequences of my own actions."

"Yeah well..." he didn't finish his sentence but it was obvious that he didn't really agree with you. "Let's focus on our dinner tonight, we'll order some takeaway and watch a movie." He parked his car in the garage and turned towards you. "Just a fun night together." He pecked at your lips and you smiled.

Once you got in the house, you almost immediately jumped on the couch. Sometimes his place felt more comfortable than yours and at that point, you weren't even awkward staying there, you treated it as if you lived there.

While Eren was ordering some Chinese food, you were looking for a movie to watch together, it was always hard to find something both of you liked but thank god he was always open to trying new genres that you adored.

"The food should be here in about half an hour." Your boyfriend let you know as he sat next to you on the couch. "What are you doing?" He asked then wrapping his arms around you and pulling you towards him.

You giggled as he started to pepper-kiss your cheek. "I'm trying to find something to watch." You kept laughing as he placed his forehead on your shoulder and snuggled like a big cat.

"What if I want to look only at you." He murmured tiredly.

"You're a dork." You commented as he slowly pushed you down until you were lying on the sofa with him on top of you. "What is up with you?" His face was hidden in the crook of your neck but you could feel his heavy breath.

Eren hummed but didn't answer at first, he was tired and you could tell but nevertheless, you needed to have that conversation as soon as possible. "You're so tensed, did you know that?" He touched your belly and you let out a big sigh. "What's wrong?"

"Listen, we need to talk." You sat up slightly, he looked at you in confusion.

"Oh no." He whispered. "Is it that talk?"

"Which one?"

"The one where you break up with me because you feel bad for being with a professor and all that stuff." He shook his head. "Don't. I know it's been hard on you but we can work through it together." He hugged you and kissed your forehead. "I told you, I will find another job and everything will change, we'll be able to do whatever we want without the constant fear of people seeing us together and-"

You placed your hands on his cheeks and stopped him before he could keep on ranting. "I was not going to break up with you, that's for sure." You kissed his lips trying to comfort him. "So stop overthinking and let me speak." You ruffled his hair and he nodded. "I wanted to talk to you about your plan... I don't want you to look for another job because I found one." You smiled.

"You... found a job for me?"

"No silly, for me."

He tilted his head. "What are we talking about?"

You snorted. "Long story short, my friend got me an interview at this company she works at, so yesterday I went there and they said they like me and I can start next week." You shrugged and he simply looked at you speechless. "I spent the last few months thinking about what I want to do with my life and I think I've finally come up with an answer. I hate studying, I hate college life and I hate the fact that you need to give up your dream for me, so let me do the right thing. I will drop out and start working and see how things go from there."

Eren tried to get everything you had just said in, but somehow he couldn't believe it. "Sounds... uncertain?"

"I know." You sighed. "But I'd rather do what I like, get money and start a career. If this job isn't the right one I will simply find another, no biggie. I talked to my parents about it, they don't really like my choice but they said they'll accept whatever I decide and that I should follow my instinct."

He raised his hand and caressed your cheek tenderly. "Are you sure about this?"

"I've already filled in all the documents necessary to drop out, I just have to go to Professor Ackerman and it'll be done." You kissed him again. "Done. No more hiding, we'll be able to be a normal couple."

The man smiled at that thought. "Then let me ask you something."

"Yes, I am sure."

"No, not that. You're a big girl, you can make your own decisions and deal with the consequences and I trust your instinct. What I wanted to ask you is something different. Since you won't be studying anymore, I don't see why you need to keep sharing your apartment with Mikasa, I mean that's a student renting house, isn't it?" You nodded not really understanding his point. "So, why don't you just move in with me?"

Your jaw almost dropped at those words. "Move in?"

"Yeah, you spend a lot of time here anyway and I'd love to have you around all the time." His eyes were sparkling and that view alone made you melt inside. "I know we've been together for just a few months, so there's no rush if you don't want to, I just thought it would've been a better idea than having you share your personal space with the friend you argued with."

"Your reasoning makes sense." You hadn't thought about that, but living with Mikasa had become hell, you couldn't keep doing that for another year or so even if you weren't studying anymore. But living with Eren? That was a big responsibility as well, you were still getting to know each other and you didn't want to rush everything like that. "What if we don't work out?"

Your boyfriend looked at you with an amused expression, then he carefully moved a strand of your hair behind your ear. "That's something we can't know, only the future will tell. We can try together or we can wait, I'm okay with it either way."

It was hard to dislike him, it really was. It didn't matter what he said or did, sometimes you just wanted to hug him and keep him as close to you as you could, "Ugh, you're so sweet." You leaned against him and he welcomed you against his chest. "Ok, let's do it, we don't have much to lose anyway." You snuggled against him. "But we're getting ahead of ourselves, first I need to drop out and start working."

The atmosphere was so relaxed and warm, you felt as if you had just found your happy place. You both remained in silence, hugging each other. This time you both were lost in your thoughts, this time you were both imagining your life together and it felt fantastic.

At that moment you realized that that could lead to the start of a new chapter of your life just like you wanted and it made you so happy to know that you had Eren right next to you to support you through everything. And even if it didn't work out the way you wanted, it was worth a try if it made you happy.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. "The food must be here." Eren got up and left another kiss on your forehead. "I'll be right back."

You sighed leaning against the couch as you watched the man you love walk out of the room. "I'll stay right here."

THE END