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A Lightray out on the Water [ErenxReader] CH 2

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Chapter 2: Hectic Days

“What do you want?”


The pine door was almost slammed in his face for the third time this week. Once again, Eren had been at your door, asking the same questions. And once again, you were kind enough to let him speak. Let’s be real: you would feel too guilty if you left him waiting outside your door, because you know that he would wait there for ages. He knew you stayed in there almost twenty-four seven by this point.


“How are you, [f/n]? Do you need anything?” His voice was quiet, but sounded like a scream in the silent hotel hallway. The way his shining sea green eyes connected with your tired ones was a tad too intense, so you focused on the cream hall walls behind him, thinking. Against your better judgement, you shut your door to unlock the ball-chain. After opening it wider, you slipped out slightly, pulling your elbow above your head to rest your arm against the doorframe. The grip you had on the door handle stayed firm, though.


“Look, Eren, I don’t know why you keep coming back here, but I really need you to stop. I’m fine. This is fine. Do I look not fine? Why wouldn’t I be fine? Leave.” You stepped back, leaving your adamant voice to ring in his ears.


His hands ran through his brunette tresses before he spoke, “I think we both know that anyone who was in an eleva—”


Don’t, please. I’m fine. Bye.”


Before he had the chance to stop you, the door had already been shut. Of course, you had done it at exactly the same point in conversation as the prior two times. And, just like after the previous two times, he simply pulled a slip of paper out from his pocket and slid it beneath your door. He knew you’d take it; you couldn’t ignore it because you were still locking up your door.


“This is my number. If you need anything, please call me. Take care of yourself.”


It took everything in your power not to scoff when picking up the crumpled slip. Just who did he think you were? If you needed help, you’d find help for yourself. It’s not like you enjoyed bothering people about your issues anyway. Your demons were just that, your demons. Still, you picked up the slip of paper, flipping it over and smoothing it out several times. It was notebook paper, wide-ruled. The edges were frayed— he probably didn’t fold it before tearing.


The sounds from his footsteps faded away as your eyes studied the crooked, chicken-scratch numbers on the scrap. Okay, they weren’t that bad, but in comparison to the two previous notes, it looked the most rushed. Graphite numbers that were usually confined between baby blue lines were now slanted across them. You found yourself wandering over to the nightstand, where the other strips lay waiting. A quick glance over told you that they were all torn from the same piece of paper. An idea sprouted in your mind, and you figured that Eren’s visits could prove to be more entertaining. You set off to find the clear tape.


—————————————————————————————


After his shift, Eren found himself making the usual journey up to your floor, since the four prior trips didn’t bear any fruit. He couldn’t even make it through the lobby, as he was stopped by Connie’s shout.


“Eren! She checked out today.” The man from the front desk beckoned him over, only to see his face contort into a look of pure frustration. “Sorry, she left while you were working. You should’ve seen her though: it took her several trips just to get all of her stuffed animals out! Do you know how many that girl has? Jesus.” Connie’s voice was laced with laughter as he continued, “She even took the stairs! She was up on the fifth floor. Why not take the elevato—”


Don’t, please. I’m assuming she didn’t tell you.”


“Tell me what?”


“Nothing. Nevermind that. Do know which airport she went to?”


This time Connie did laugh, though his cackles didn’t mean any harm. He spoke before Eren had the chance to yell at him. “Dude, you have some high hopes for that girl, don’t you? She only lives, like, what— twenty minutes from here maybe? Thirty if there’s traffic.”


“Where does she live?” Connie clammed up though, remembering the violent threats you gave him after the poolside incident. But, one look at Eren told him that he wouldn’t accept silence for an answer, so he decided to use a loophole.


I can’t tell you, but I bet that Sasha can. Bribe her. She should be cleaning up [f/n]’s room by now, or at least be on her floor.”


A playful smirk made its way onto Eren’s face. He muttered thanks before rushing away.


—————————————


Eren let himself into the room this time, seeing that it wasn’t yours anymore. Making sure that the door was completely closed behind him, he called out.


“Sasha?”


“Eren?” Before he had a chance to peek around the room’s entrance hall, she bounced over, brown hair swaying with each step. “Did you bring me something to eat?”


“No. Look, do you have [f/n]’s address?”


She started to nod, but stopped herself and shook her head instead. “I can’t give it to you. Nope. I pinkie swore. Promised I wouldn’t tell you.”


The dark-haired male feigned disappointment and started to plead. “Please Sasha, Connie already told me she lived close. I just need to know where exactly.”


“Sorry, but I can’t.”


Eren didn’t want to have to do this, but she left him no choice. In a flash, he whipped out his wallet, and out of his wallet he pulled a gift card. The name printed on it was enough for Sasha to go doe-eyed. As if he was playing with a cat and a laser pointer, Eren moved the card from side to side; Sasha’s gaze intensified and followed it. Her hands were clasped together, and he could see her squeezing them.


“Can you tell me if I give you this? Twenty-five dollars only meant for Panera. All yours if you tell me her address.”


She couldn’t mask her conflicted expression: Saucer eyes were framed with wrinkled brows, and she was biting at her lips. He could feel the pain in her voice as she spoke, “I-I can’t. I promised her I wouldn’t tell, even for Panera. Sorry.”


Having predicted this, Eren countered. With a shift of his thumb, he produced a second, identical card from behind the first. “How about fifty bucks? Exclusively for Panera.” She broke.


“What information do you want?” Sasha had pulled out her phone and took a screenshot of your contact info. “You know what, just take all of it. Just, please don’t tell her I told you!”


When the phone in his back pocket vibrated, he took it out to check over the information. The family name seemed familiar, and he made a mental note to check it over as he handed over the cards. “It was a pleasure doing business with you.” His voice came out a little distracted, but Sasha didn’t respond, she only looked at the cards like she had been handed ten thousand dollars. Eren took this as a cue to slip back out into the hall.


—————————————————————————————


Your place was silent and dark, as always. The door creaks and jingling of keys resounded throughout the house, as if calling out to warn someone of an entrance. Too bad there was no one there to be alerted. You set down the pet carriers and released your cats. One wobbled off is soon as you opened the cage, and the other hung around in the foyer until you tapped the powdery snow off your boots. You’d been inside so long that you’d nearly forgotten that it was still winter outside.


It took five trips to carry all of your things in, three of which were specifically for your stuffed animals. The other two were for your clothing, which actually never made it back into your room. A heavy green backpack filled with them landed on the living room floor with a thud after being hauled up the stairs. Dull pain crawled around your lower back, forcing you to stand up straight and stretch, only to have the subtly strong stench of cat waft up your nose. Yep, home sweet home.


Your house was pretty spacious with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, dining room, kitchen, family room, laundry room, and two car garage. The foyer happened to be in between floors, with one stairway leading to the second floor and the other leading down to the first floor or family room area. Your room happened to be at the end of the hall on the second floor. Several of your many large plushies obscured your view as you lifted them, starting your long list of unpacking tasks.


Plushies and stuffed animals were to be put in your bedroom, on the bed specifically. Dirty clothes went downstairs in the laundry room to be washed... whenever you got around to washing clothes. Toiletries went in your bathroom, so they stayed upstairs. You spent a good half hour running around the house, doing chores like these.


The dishes you’d left were getting a pretty firm scrub down when the doorbell rang. Thinking it was the mailman delivering another one of your packages, you almost tripped on your way down the stairs. Drying off your hands didn’t cross your mind, which meant opening the door felt like trying to catch an eel with bare hands— it took a lot of slipping. The sight that awaited when you successfully opened the door both surprised and disappointed you. It was Eren.


Seeing that your face was twisted into an expression of severe confusion, he did his best to defuse the verbal bomb he expected to come from you, “[f/n]? [f/n] [l/n]? I’m sorry for showing up out of the blue, but- but have you always lived here?” Had you been listening, you would’ve noticed the more serious tone in his voice, but you were only hearing, if anything. And nothing could hold back the unholy statements you had for him.


“What the hell are you doing here? Where and why did you get my address? Did I not make it fucking clear to you for the past— what— five days— that I didn’t want you prying around in my life? You know what? Fine— yes, I was in the elevator that killed Marco Bott. Yes, I puked on your shoes when I came out, and yes, I end up passing out in that pile of my own vomit on your shoes. I’m sorry, I might have been fucked up back then, but now I am fine. It happened 7 months ago and I am completely, totally, and utterly, fine. Happy? Now, if you don’t fucking mind, will stop digging up my traumatizing and mildly publicized past? Thanks.”


You left him no room to argue. Just as quickly as you appeared, you had disappeared, replaced with the yellowy-white hue of the door. The jingling of keys piqued his interest, however, and when he heard your angry stomps away from the door, he opened up your storm door to reveal your keys, hanging from the lock. You’d just resumed wiping down your countertops when you heard the door squeal. Whipping around, you were met with an embarrassing view in your foyer.


There Eren stood, dark-copper toned hair dusted with snow, and the most smug look plastered— no, sculpted onto his face. You were wondering why until you spotted your keys, held up in front of him, dangling from his hand like he was taunting a dog with a treat. “Next time,” his voice was firm, confident, “if you want to lock me out, don’t forget your keys in the door.” You were frozen on the spot, running over how fucking stupid you were over and over in your head, so naturally you could only watch him climb the stairs.


He pulled your wet hand over to him and dropped your keys in them, before closing your fingers around them. They were cold to the touch— the keys and his hand. He hadn’t been wearing gloves and your keys had been outside for a while. Your train of thought crashed when Eren continued.


“I didn’t come here to talk about that accident. I came here to talk about the details surrounding the murder of you mom.”


You slammed the keys down so hard on the counter that you thought you broke it.


“Get out. Now.”


He obeyed, but only after placing another folded note by your keys.


“Think about it. If you change your mind, call me. Take care of yourself.”


[e/c] was reflected in sea green as he locked gazes with you. It lasted moments, but felt like hours, then he finally turned and walked away.


—————————————————————————————


You cracked your knuckles, back, and anything else that needed to be cracked. Now, having liberated yourself from the dirty dishes, you curled up around your laptop in the small section of your twin bed that wasn’t covered with clothes and crap. It was only about a foot and a half by three feet, but you made it work. Stuffed animals and pillows had been piled up over boxes next to your bed, where the nightstand should be, giving you an extra foot of space. On the other side, more boxes lined your bed, only stacked a bit taller. If you wanted to stretch you could just prop your feet up on them. Essentially, you lied down and slept perpendicular to the position on your bed you should be sleeping in. Not ideal, but it worked.


A few quick strokes on the keyboard logged you in and you were bombarded with a wall of Skype messages from the other root of your problems: Sasha Blouse. Great.


[8:29:24 PM] Big Bread Titties: [F/N]

[8:29:26 PM] Big Bread Titties: IM SORRY

[8:29:27 PM] Big Bread Titties: I FUCKED UP

[8:29:28 PM] Big Bread Titties: I DUN gOOFED

[8:29:31 PM] Big Bread Titties: PLEASE FORGIVE ME YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND

[8:29:47 PM] Big Bread Titties: HE OFFERED $50 @ PANERA YOU KNOW I CANT CONTROL MYSELF WHEN PANERA IS INVOLVED

[8:29:52 PM] Big Bread Titties: I LOVE YOU PLEASE DONT BE MAD @ ME ILL BUY YOU ANGELIC PRETTY TO MAKE UP FOR IT

[8:30:01 PM] Big Bread Titties: NOT EVEN SECONDHAND AP IM TALKING FRESH FROM THE JAPANESE SITE


It didn’t take you long to know how to reply. You were about to rip Sasha a new asshole.


[9:42:13 PM] Kinky Princess: Sasha.

[9:42:40 PM] Big Bread Titties: IM SORRY

[9:42:44 PM] Kinky Princess: Do you have any fucking idea what you did????

[9:42:49 PM] Big Bread Titties: YES IM SORRY

[9:42:54 PM] Kinky Princess: NO YOUF UCKING DONT

[9:43:12 PM] Kinky Princess: YOU LITERALLY JUST GAVE MY PERSONAL INFORMATION TO A STRANGER

[9:43:13 PM] Kinky Princess: he CAME TO MY HOUSE TODAY

[9:43:14 PM] Kinky Princess: he KNEW my LAST NAME

[9:43:18 PM] Kinky Princess: HE ASKED ABOUT MY MOM DO YOU KNOW HOW BIG OF A FUCKING CAN OF WORMS YOU JUST OPENED

[9:43:24 PM] Kinky Princess: WHY DO YOU AND CONNIE HAVE TO FUCK EVERYTHING UP OH MY GOD IT CATN BE THAT HARD TO KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT ITS NOT EVEN YOUR INFORMATION TO GIVE OUT I FUCKING TRUSTED YOU

[9:43:30 PM] Big Bread Titties: okay wHOA WHOA I DIDNT THINK HEd SHOW UP TODAY IM SORRY

[9:43:33 PM] Kinky Princess: THATS EXACTLY RIGHT

[9:43:34 PM] Kinky Princess: YOU DIDNT THINK

[9:43:39 PM] Kinky Princess: AND NOW I HAVE TO DEAL WITH HIS PRYING ASS

[9:43:41 PM] Kinky Princess: IM SORRY BUT U REALLY FUCKED ME OVER

[9:43:42 PM] Kinky Princess: THANKS FAM


Relaxation was your goal, and you aimed to complete it by ignoring the rest of Sasha’s messages. The wave of guilt from snapping at not one, but two people would crash over you in the morning, but for now, you decided to put on your cute playlist and browse the internet. Maybe catching up on all the drama on cgl or something would help you ignore your own problems. You turned on your TV, logged into the Netflix app, and put on a cheesy rom-com. As if on cue, your cat, Diesel, jumped up on your bed and laid herself down along the length of your shin. Absentmindedly, your fingers found their way to your chapped lip and started picking. You stayed in this position for hours.


With Netflix filling the silence in your room, a cat curled up against your legs and a laptop tiring your burning eyes, you drifted off to sleep.

                                                                                                                                         


Finally done with this one! I struggled and wrestled with it, so hopefully it's up to par!
© 2016 - 2024 Sincerely-Tori
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Chanson-de-sirene's avatar
Finally got the chance to read this and the suspend is too good! Can't wait for more!