Chapter Text
It started in detention, like some imitation of a John Hughes classic.
Detention was a new development for Reiner. In all his 3 years of high school, the blond had worked hard to play the part of the amicable jock who got along with everyone. He had been playing the part well but Porco had to open his stupid mouth at practice and with his careless but cruel words, he caused a crack in Reiner’s carefully crafted image.
Reiner had slipped up. It was at the tail end of practice. Summer had an unrelenting grip on Shiganshina even though it was well into autumn. The heat was suffocating, so some of Reiner’s teammates had forgone their jerseys and were finishing their drills shirtless.
Despite his best efforts, Reiner’s eyes wondered. He stared a little too long at the line of sweat trailing Jean’s lean chest. It was just a fleeting moment of weakness, but of course the worst possible person had to catch it.
Porco, ever the asshole, nudged Reiner in the shoulder with a taunting smile on his face.
“You like what you see fa- “Reiner didn’t even let him finish. The boy’s words were too close to the truth and Reiner just went into panic mode.
He didn’t remember exactly what happened. All he could recall was primal instincts taking over and that his mind was screaming at him to shut Porco down. Apparently, shutting him down meant Reiner’s fist smashing into the boy’s face.
The next thing he knew, Porco was crumbled on the floor, holding the ruin that was his nose while his blood stained the dead, brown grass.
“Fucking roid-head, can’t you take a fucking joke?”
The entire scene took place under Coach Magath’s eyes. If Reiner was any other student he probably would have been suspended for the attack, but with the football season in full swing the rules were fluid for Shiganshina ’s starting quarterback. A day of detention would have to do.
Room 104 was in the forgotten bowels of Shiganshina High. It was a windowless classroom and with its harsh flickering florescent lights and cloudy chalkboard in leu of the regular smartboards that dominated the school, it looked like it had been ignored since the 80s.
The perfect room to throw away misfits and undesirables.
Mr. Shadis was stationed in the front like a taskmaster.
“You sit and be silent, no talking whatsoever,” he said in greeting.
The order confused Reiner. At first glance, he thought he was the only delinquent doing time. But amongst the rows of empty decrepit desk chairs, off in the corner there was another boy, absentmindedly scratching the wood of the desk with his pencil.
The boy lifted his head at Mr.Shadis’ voice and Reiner was struck by eyes of glimmering blue and green.
Eren Yeager was a notorious figure in their school. His notoriety wasn’t due to talent. Academic wise the boy was painfully average and with his scrawny build, athletics was also out of the question. In fact, the only thing remarkable about the boy was his looks. With big, thick lashed eyes contrasted by deep olive skin and framed by rich brown hair, the boy was objectively pretty, even with a nasty bruise blooming on his high cheekbone, and it was hard not to notice.
Not that the boy seemed to care. His clothes looked like they were picked from the Walmart clearance rack and he walked the halls wound up with a scowl, like an alley cat that had been wronged too many times and was just ready to pounce at the slightest provocation.
He rebuffed the attention of any girl that wasn’t his friend, Mikasa. But, if rumors were true, guys had a much easier time cracking the enigma that was Eren Yeager, at least enough for clandestine meetings behind the bleachers or in the backseat of cars doing things Reiner could only dream of doing.
I didn’t raise a gay son…
Eren had went back to his carving and Reiner took the seat adjacent to him. He had tried to take out his English homework in an attempt to pass the time but was stopped by Mr. Shadis’ booming voice.
“Hey, you sit and do nothing, those are the rules.”
“Cause god forbid you do schoolwork at school,” Eren added.
“Shut it Yeager, unless you want to extend your week sentence.” The grim teacher snapped backed.
It seemed unnecessarily cruel, making them sit for two hours with only their thoughts for company. But Reiner was not one to question the rules, so he did as he was told.
The first hour was painful. He tried to pass the time by counting the dots on the ceiling tiles, the scratching noise from Eren’s impromptu woodwork was so grating that Reiner kept losing count.
A shrill ringtone was his saving grace from the torture
“Shit, it’s my car,” Mr. Shadis said, more to himself as he looked at his phone. He leveled the two with a glare.
“Behave,” he said as he left the room to deal with the call.
“What an asshole,” Eren said after once Mr. Shadis was out of earshot.
“Yeah,” Reiner said with a small breath of a laugh.
An awkward silence took over the two, the kind of silence you get when your trapped in a room with someone you know of but don’t know. Reiner had no idea what to say, but luckily for him Eren was much more socially equipped than the blond gave him credit for.
“So,’ the boy said, regarding Reiner with those huge eyes.
God, he really was pretty.
“What caused Shiganshina ’s resident star to fall from grace?”
“It was just a stupid fight,” Reiner said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I lost my temper, that’s all.”
Eren nodded but didn’t say anything. He was now leaning on the back legs of his chair, the position so precarious one gust of wind would have caused the junior to crash on the harsh white laminate floor.
“How about you?” Wanting to be polite, Reiner carried on the conversation.
“Some assholes ripped Armin’s books, so I jumped them,” he said with a shrug. “I mean who does that anyway? They were library books so now Armin has to pay a fine” an angry pout took over his face.” I swear this school is filled with morons.”
It was quite endearing how Eren seemed more upset about the indignation brought upon his friend than him being punished. At first glance it was hard to believe that quiet and studious Armin was best friend friends with the school’s textbook definition of a problem child, but judging from Eren’s expression, he was a fiercely loyal friend who cared deeply.
“But why are you the only one in detention?”
“Cause Mr. Shadis didn’t believe me. Apparently, my record doesn’t make me a reliable witness,” Eren said the last part with mocking air quotes.
“That’s shitty.” Reiner sucked at comforting people, but it seemed like the right thing to say.
“It is what it is.”
A curt hum tore through air. Eren plotted his chair back on the ground with a thud and pulled out a brick of a vibrating phone from his pocket. The model was ancient and was practically as thick as a puck, but Reiner tried his best not to give a reaction. It was obvious that Eren did not come from money but there was no need to bring attention to that.
Eren looked at the screen and his face dropped. Clearly whatever text he got was bad news.
“Shit,” he said under his breath. He violently shoved his phone back into his raggedy jeans.
“Is everything okay?”
“It’s fine,” Eren said in a curt tone. He placed his head down on the desk and sighed, signaling the end of their conversation.
Mr. Shadis had made his reappearance and the rest of detention passed at a glacial pace. Reiner kept throwing looks at Eren. He didn’t move an inch during the remaining hour, but Reiner could see that he was clasping his fist so tight, his knuckles were practically white against his tan skin.
Freedom came when the clock read 6:30. The setting sun cast the hall in warm glow which was in sharp contrast to Eren’s current demeanor. No one would say that Eren was a cheerful person, but whatever he saw on his phone made him walk the hall like he was carrying the whole world on his back.
“Hey,” Reiner said once they reached the school’s back exit which led to the parking lot and bus stops.
The boy looked up. Their height difference was quite substantial.
“I’m not going to ask what happened, but would you at least like a ride home? You know, save yourself a few bus tickets.”
Reiner wasn’t sure what compelled him to give out the offer, but it was too late to take the words back.
For a second, it looked like Eren would refuse, but then he folded.
“Sure,” he finally said in a quiet voice and the two then made their way to Reiner’s red Camry.
Aside from Eren’s curt directions on where to turn, they rode in relative silence. Shiganshina was a town of extremes and as Reiner drove close and closer to Eren’s their harsh class divide became more apparent. Gone were the cookie cutter single homes Reiner was used to and instead he was passed by decrepit apartment complexes that seemed to be standing by pure spite and desperation.
“It’s right here,” Eren said, pointing at a sad, brown three-story building with railings so devoured by rest the copper ruin was visible from the ground.
They sat in the car for what felt like forever. Then Eren broke eh spell.
“Thanks for the ride,” he paused, hesitating as if he was mentally debating whether or not Reiner deserved his words, but thankfully the boy continued. “And sorry for being such a bummer. I just my job so things are really shitty.”
“You had a job?”
Judging from Eren’s raised brow, that was a dumb thing to say.
“Not all of us are petite bourgeoise so yes I had a job. It was at just at the convenience store on Borst road. It was pretty shitty but it payed the bills.”
“But why would they fire you? They can’t just do that for no reason right?”
Eren started flicking the lock tab on and off. “Detention is not a good reason to miss a shift, so that’s that.” He finished with a shrug.
He turned to Reiner and gave him a smile that made Reiner’s throat go dry.
“Don’t worry about me though I always land on my feet. Plus, they were super annoying they kept scheduling me during school hours, so it was a real hell hole.”
“You know,” Reiner said, tapping the steering wheel with his thick finger to calm his nerves. “My dad is actually looking for part time workers.”
He had mentioned his need for labour during dinner last night.
Klaus Braun lived and breathed for his carpentry business. He usually dominated their family dinners with talk of Braun's Customs highs and lows and priorities of the week. It was painfully boring, hearing about the intricacies of running small business, but that was much better than hearing him spew vitriol about cancel culture, liberals, and the failings of his disappointing wife and closeted gay son.
Eren stopped playing with the tab and looked at Reiner, the suspicion clear on his face.
“It’s bookkeeping work, and it’s on the weekends so detention won’t be an issue unless our school decided to do a Breakfast Club remake,” Reiner said with a small laugh. He didn’t know why he felt complied to convince Eren to take the opportunity. The boy was practically a stranger and yet Reiner was clamouring to help him.
“And you think I’d actually get the job?” Eren said carefully.
“I mean as long as I put in a good word for you, I’m sure you’ll get it. It’s easy work and my dad is just looking for someone who is reliable.”
“And you’d do that for me?”
Reiner shrugged. “You need a job and his needs a worker, there’s nothing complicated to it.”
Eren leaned back in the seat and looked forward in contemplation. It didn’t take long for him to make his decision because in what felt seconds, he turned those beautiful eyes back on Reiner and gave the blond a sweet smile.
“God, I don’t know what to say.”
“It’s no big deal,” Reiner answered, fighting down a blush. Eren’s smile was really something else.
“So,” Eren said. All of a sudden, a blanket of tension covered the air. “What now?”
“What do you mean?” Reiner asked, looking confused.
Eren tilted his head and looked at Reiner like he was a grade-schooler who asked a dumb question.
“Come on, I know you’re not dense Reiner.” Hearing his name out of those lips made the blonde’s heart jump. “You know the stories about me.”
Eren unbuckled his seatbelt and moved towards Reiner. The blond was struck with immobility.
“Now usually guys are pretty lame on their approach.” Eren said as he slid onto Reiner’s lap with unsuspecting grace, “But you were an actual gentleman. Driving me home, helping me find work, best come on by far.”
Reiner couldn’t tell if the boy was being serious or if he was teasing. Maybe it was a bit of both.
“That’s not why-I didn’t do it for- “the words got stuck in Reiner’s throat as Eren leaned back and felt just how much he was lying.
“It’s okay,” Eren said, letting out a charming laugh. “I notice how you looked at me so there’s no need for lies.” His hands were placed on the back of Reiner’s neck and the blond shivered as the boy let his fingers play with the short sandy hair there.
His face was inches away from his. He was so close that Reiner could count the constellation of freckles that dotted the boy’s perfect nose.
Eren dropped his smile as he took on a more serious look. “I don’t want to make assumptions though, so I need to hear this from you.”
His breath on hot on his face, in fact every single part of Reiner’s body felt like it was on fire.
“Do you want me?” Eren said in a small voice that broke ever barrier that Reiner had put up to protect himself form the truth.
He couldn’t speak, but after a moment Reiner nodded his head and placed his large hands on the small of the boy's back.
“Good,” Eren said with a smile. He then dove down and crashed his lips on top of Reiner’s in a searing kiss that was better than anything Reiner's mind could ever imagine.
Little did he know that, like the sword of Damocles, that glorious kiss was the harbinger to Reiner’s demise.