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Word Count: 2545

"The horse face
and the one who
had his hair styled
like a bird nest in
high school."

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IT WAS MONDAY AGAIN which meant the weekend was over and another dreadful week of learning was waiting for you. You had decided that it'd be best if you left Yuki at a neighbors apartment since obviously the dog couldn't be trusted to be left alone for more than a couple of hours. The weather had drastically dropped and it was slightly drizzling outside.

"Right?" Jean shook his head with disappointment as he continued on his story. "So then I rejected the girl since I wasn't interested in her, you know? Then she started bawling her eyes out making me look like a villain! It was embarrassing because it was also at a fancy restaurant."

Right now you all were supposed to be reading in groups. Coincidentally you, Jean, and Marco were put in the same group. Along with this girl named Mina Carolina. She had dark hair and large gray eyes.

Mina sighed, tapping her pen on the table impatiently. She folded the corners of the page in and out as she waited patiently for Jean to be done with his story.

You jutted your elbow out to hit him and looked up at him with annoyance. "I'm sure Marco is tired of hearing your stories. So get on with it and read your paragraph."

"We're never going to get past this chapter if Jean doesn't hurry up." She frowned.

"I'll make sure he does." You narrowed your eyes at the ash-brown haired boy. He exchanged glances with you for a moment before clearing his throat.

Jean placed his finger over the paragraph and brought his face closer to the book. He began reading the eight sentence paragraph, a long pause for every moment he lost his spot on the page. Every time that happened Marco would direct his friends attention back to the spot.

You and Mina met each other's eyes wearing the same expression on your faces. Both of you found it funny on how Jean could get lost so easily even when his finger was following along the lines he was reading.

━━━━

That same day after class you had received a text message from that same tousled red head. His texts had gradually increased ever since the day he met you. Even before school started you had already known Floch but you doubt he remembered. The Forster family wasn't anonymous to the L/N's. In fact, you had known Floch ever since you were little. He had come to visit Japan with his family once and asked if you wanted to learn about a game.

There in his hands he held a game boy device. He was playing a game called Pokémon. The main objective of the game was to "catch them all" you recalled hearing Floch say. It was quite the popular show in Japan so only to you did it sound foreign since growing up you weren't exposed to shows like that.

Your older brother wasn't into video games or anime's either. He was more into complex detective novels and shows. Such as Sherlock Holmes. His ability to read english exceeded yours so you were unable to keep up with whatever he was reading.

Sent at 2:56 PM
Floch: Hey Y/N! It's me again.
Your favorite red head. Want to
grab a bite after class? There's
been something I've been
wanting to tell you.

You pressed the screen of your phone against your forehead, releasing a heavy sigh. Jean and Marco looked at one-another before turning their attention to you.

"Y/N the day's finally over. Why the sigh?" Jean zipped up his bag shooting you a look of concern. He picked up his water bottle, twisting the cap open, and then bringing it up to his mouth.

You began stuffing all your belongings into your bag. "A friend is asking if I want to go somewhere with them after class.. I'm not really up to it since I'm so exhausted. My legs are also killing me." You rubbed your hand against the back of your thigh.

"Then don't go?" He laughed giving you a light slap on your back. "Who is this friend anyways? Is it a guy? And how come you've never mentioned him to us?"

"Oh well I just never found the time to tell you guys about him." You admitted, rubbing at the back of your head. You shook your head and sighed again. "His name is Floch. I met him way before I met the rest of you."

"Forster?" Marco chimed into the conversation with an intrigued look. "The red head right? He attended the same high school as us. Paradis High!"

Jean's face fell to slight disgust at the sound of his name. "That guy? He's a total loser, was always trying to pick on Armin for some reason." He rolled his eyes and adjusted his leather jacket.

"Jean! He's apologized for that already. Armin even forgave him, he's good friends with Eren now."

You turned on your phone and skimmed your eyes over the message Floch had sent you. Since you were a little hungry you thought that going out to eat with Floch wouldn't be so bad. You hovered your thumbs over the letters and began typing away.

Y/N:
Are you going to pay
for my meal? I kid. I kid.
But sure! But why can't
you just text me what you
want to say?

Floch:
A gentleman would pay
for his ladies meal right?
Hehe. But I want to tell
you this in person because
it's very important to me.

Anyways I'll be waiting
for you at the parking
lot! ❤️

Weird. That was the first time he'd sent you a heart emoji.

"Alright you two! I'll get going now. Floch is going to be waiting for me at the parking lot. Don't drive so recklessly on your way home Jean! Marco please remind him before he takes off on that motorcycle again." Was all you said before bolting out the door. You ran through the hallways hugging your bag against your chest. Recently your back had been hurting too since that bed of yours wasn't really suited to your comfort.

Jean gathered his belongings as well, lifting his foot preparing to go after you. Marco grabbed onto his shoulder and pulled him back, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth.

"Why are you going after her? She's going to meet with a friend." He sighed.

Jean's face lit up a rose hue. Jealousy could be easily seen in his brown eyes. "You're not the slightest bit concerned?" He narrowed his eyes at the dark haired boy.

"Why would I?" Marco asked a little lost with his question. "She's only meeting with Floch and he's nice."

Jean brushed his hand off his shoulders and covered his face with the palm of his hand. He chuckled to himself. "I don't know Marco, I just don't feel okay with her going off like that with another dude." He muttered softly.

The freckled-boy stared at Jean for a moment before breaking out into soft laughter. He patted the boys back in a comforting way and nodded. "So you like her then? You're jealous."

He chewed on the flesh inside he cheek, avoiding Marco's gaze. Anyone could've easily guessed how he was feeling by just looking at his face. His cheeks were painted with a light blush and he had his cheeks puffed out.

"Jealous? Who's jealous?" He mumbled.

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Floch took you to a small French cafe to eat some pastries. Your meal didn't seem to last very long as the two of you were so immersed into your own conversation that you didn't even realize the food you had ordered was completely gone, only leaving little crumbs on the plate. Floch was a very easy-going guy and he always knew how to start up a conversation again when it got silent between the two of you.

After finishing up at the cafe he offered to drive you home. Since you couldn't get a car for another month you gladly accepted his offer. The car ride had a different atmosphere compared to the cafes. The air felt thin and you couldn't get yourself to breathe properly. The words that Floch said to you at the cafe still left you in astonishment:

"I like you. It's taken me a lot of courage to finally say this to you, but I really do like you"

A green light had quickly turned to red causing the vehicle to come to a halt. Your body jerked forward slightly at the sudden stop causing you to snap away from your thoughts. Floch turned to you with a worried look on his face.

"I'm so sorry." He said with his hands hovering towards you. "You're not hurt are you? Sorry. I'm not the best driver in the world." Floch released an apologetic sigh before bringing his hands back to the steering wheel.

You stared at him with you E/C hues reflecting underneath the moonlight. "Did you really mean what you said at the cafe?" You finally did it. You asked the question that had been dwelling in your mind for the past thirty minutes.

The brown-eyed boy felt a drop of sweat trickle down  his temple. He tapped his index finger on the wheel once or twice recollecting his thoughts before speaking. "Every word." He glanced at you with a small smile before turning his attention back on the road, slowly pushing his foot down on the accelerator.

With that, another wave of silence took over. The atmosphere in the vehicle didn't get any better. You and Floch didn't make a sound for the rest of the car ride. Occasionally you'd hear the ticking of the signals whenever he'd make a turn.

The entire time you hung your head low. Once again, you were at a loss for words. It was hard to even get a word out in this atmosphere. Even for Floch, and that meant something because he usually would've popped in with a conversation by now.

"We're here." He announced softly to grab your attention.

You flicked your eyes up to meet the brown-eyed boys gaze. He flinched at your sudden movement and drew himself back. "Oh right!" You looked at the dashboard for a moment. Eight Forty-Five PM. You twisted and turned in each direction trying to find your phone.

Floch quickly caught onto your actions and started helping you. He used his phone as a flashlight. Finally he had found the small cellular device when he shined the light between his seat and the central console compartment. He reached his hand, fishing out the device. He used his sleeve to wipe off all the dust before handing it off to you.

"Here."

You exhaled with relief. "You're a life saver Floch! My eyes are terrible in the dark." You picked up your phone and immediately inserted it into your pocket.

He gave you a soft chuckle "That's not good. It's good that I had my phone on me because my vision also tends to waver when it gets dark." You shot him a look of concern, creasing your eyebrows. He blinked his eyes before grinning. "I can drive in the dark with contact lens."

You felt your shoulders relax at his reply. You grabbed the handle of your backpack and placed your hand on the door handle, slightly turning it. Before you could push it open you felt a warm pair of hands wrap around your arm.

"Wait." Floch's voice quietly called out to you making you turn your head. "Do you think we could go out like this again? A date?"

You stared at him with a blank expression. "Date?" You stammered feeling your cheeks grow warmer.

No one had ever asked you to go on a date so naturally you felt flustered. You never saw Floch as anything else other than just a good friend so it came as a shock to you that he had a different view. It was probably because you were oblivious to all the hints he was trying to drop. Starting with the excessive text messages, which you just found annoying.

"Um—"

"There you are you cheeky girl!" The passenger door flung open bringing a cool breeze into the car. You and Floch both followed the source of the voice. You physically wanted to scream. You wanted to hit him so badly. Floch was unamused. "Forster... didn't see you there!"

"Oh cut the bullshit." Floch flashed the boy an annoyed look, gritting his teeth together. "What are you doing in front of Y/N's place anyways? You a stalker? That's pretty low even for you Jean."

You mentally palmed yourself in the face. Just as the day was about to end you just had to be stuck in a situation like this. "What are you doing in front of my apartment building?"

"Don't you remember Y/N? We have that partner biology project to work on!" He pouted, taking your bag from your arms.

You raised your eyebrow not following with what he was saying. "I don't remember?" You stepped out of the vehicle snatching your bag back.

"Of course you don't, Jean is making that shit up." Floch sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He opened the door and walked around the vehicle to close the door behind you.

"I'm not surprised." With slight irritation you dragged your body away from the two boys, not even sparing a glance. You put your hand up in the air and moved it from side to side to dismiss Floch. "I'll text you later Floch. My head hurts and I still need to collect my dog from the neighbors."

Jean and Floch watched your figure disappear into the doorway before staring each other down again. They stood a good distance away from each other, exchanging piercing glares and scowls.

"Dude," Floch spoke quietly at first with his voice gradually getting louder. "What's up with you? Are you Y/N's body guard or something? I ask this again. Are you stalking her?" He narrowed his eyes at the other boy.

Jean laughed with sarcasm lacing his voice. He balled his fingers into a fist. "The audacity you have to call me a stalker! That's just priceless coming from a dude who used to press his feelings onto a girl until she had to move schools because you wouldn't leave her alone. Hell, I even heard you nearly sexually harassed the girl. Are you really that starved?"

"What?" His jaw locked in place. The veins in his arms became more prominent as anger surged through him. "Jean quit being an ass. That was years ago so drop it. Calling me starved? You literally did everything you could to gain attention! Nothing was ever enough for you. You used to pester that Ackerman girl with your stupid nonsense."

"Why do you even feel the need to put yourself between me and Y/N?"

"Why?" Jean crossed his arms over his chest. "Because I've come to realize that I actually have feelings for her. I like her and I'm not gonna let some weirdo like you have a chance at her."

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authors note;
the romance between y/n
and jean will begin to pick
up here! it's been a long
four chapters hasn't it?
i wanted to try a slow-burn
but ehh..