Chapter Text
“Wake-up call!”
You groaned as your roommate switched on the overhead lights in your bedroom. Tugging a blanket over your head, you silently cursed yourself for not locking your door before collapsing into bed after class. Upon hearing the sound of pens and books clattering to the ground and a sharp inhale from your intruder, you lugged yourself up, blanket pooling at your hips.
“Sash, what are you looking for?” You croaked out, eyes narrowing from the sudden flood of light and voice still groggy from sleep.
She giggled and held up a remote to the ancient strip lights you brought to college, flicking on the flash function. As the lights flashed red, green, and blue in quick succession, you heard house music start to blare from Sasha’s phone speaker.
“You're going out tonight!” She declared, shoulders moving to the beat of the song. Frowning, you clambered out of bed, snatching the remote and turning the impromptu light show off.
“I’m not really feeling that tonight. Midterms are next week, and can’t you just ask one of the girls to go?” You said with a sigh, plopping down on the edge of your bed.
You and Sasha rented a house right off campus with your mutual friend Mikasa and two girls they had met freshman year. In the back of your head, you knew they were all probably planning to go out already. It had just been weeks since you’d joined them as well, but you had your reasons.
“You can’t study for midterms on a Friday night. You’re not Armin,”
As you moved to protest, she held up a hand and continued.
“And. You haven’t even gotten a real, decent party experience here. Not since, y’know,” She said, rubbing her neck and taking a spot next to you on the bed.
‘Y’know’ was a succinct way to say ‘transferring to a big school where my boyfriend and friends from my hometown go and discovering that he’s cheating on me at a party the week before my sophomore year starts’.
“It’s been over two months, and I know that’s not a lot of time, but I want you to have fun. Fuck Eren. He’s the one that did terrible shit and deserves to stay home, not you. You have so much more to add to our friend group than his brooding anyways.”
You bit your lip, mulling over what she had said. You still hadn’t met all of Sasha’s friends – just the two that lived with you. And even then, you barely interacted with them, seeing them in passing as you trudged from class to your bed. However, you had to admit, it was time to start functioning normally again, even if you weren’t completely over what happened. Moreover, you were feeling a bit better recently.
“Alright, alright. I’ll go out.”
Sasha’s face split into a grin, and she squeezed your hand gently before rushing over to your closet.
“You won’t regret this, I swear. Now, go shower and get ready. I’m picking out the hottest outfit I can find.”
***
A few hours (and a few shots) later, you found yourself treading behind your roommates as the five of you made your way out.
Historia paused, slowing the other three girls down with her. She turned and beamed at you.
“Are you okay? I just noticed you weren’t right next to us anymore.” She said, taking a few steps toward you. You noticed Ymir and Mikasa glancing at you uneasily, and suddenly felt hyper-aware of the situation.
Knowing Sasha, she had probably mentioned to your roommates that you were particularly sensitive these past few weeks because of what happened. And while that wasn’t entirely inaccurate, you didn’t need to be babied the whole night. You had already felt like a porcelain doll when Sasha fussed over your hair and makeup, fitting you into a tight miniskirt and puny top. Although this was the hottest you’ve looked in weeks, you were not a doll, and you weren’t going to fall apart at the first sign of unease tonight. Even if you saw Eren – which was likely because you insisted that your mutual friends not hate him – you were going to have fun. And probably (definitely) get fucked up.
“I’m fine!” You quickly assured her, taking a few hurried steps up to the group. “The drinks are just starting to hit. And I haven’t broken these shoes in yet.”
You motioned at your new sneakers and Historia let out a satisfied sound, turning back to Sasha and continuing your jaunt forward.
After a beat of silence, Ymir leaned over to you.
“You should have worn the shittiest pair of shoes you have. Frat houses are fucking dirty.”
Grimacing, you looked over at Sasha.
“Sasha, I thought we were going to your friend's house, not to a frat party?”
“Technically, it is Connie’s house. And Jean’s. And Reiner and Bertholdt. And about 30 other guys.”
***
After meeting Connie (who enveloped you in a stifling hug upon meeting you) and Bertholdt (much more subdued) by the doorway, you made a beeline to the kitchen with Sasha, needing a drink – or five – immediately.
“Okay, there’s a bottle stashed under the sink. Reiner put it there to keep drunk girls from stealing it.” She said, digging in the lower cabinets.
“Aren’t we drunk girls stealing right now?” You asked loudly, raising your voice a bit so Sasha could hear you over the booming music and throngs of people dancing and drinking all around the house.
She waved the question away, taking a swig of the bottle and handing it to you.
“Triple-shot or nothing. You still have to meet Jean and Reiner, and you’re going to need it.”
Wincing, you grabbed the bottle and brought it to your lips. Taking a deep breath, you gulped down the liquor to Sasha’s cheers, throat burning with every sip of cheap vodka you took.
Sputtering, you handed the bottle back to Sasha and were immediately met by more cheers.
“Holy shit! Pretty gnarly to chug that much.”
You recognized the excitable cheerleader as Connie and smiled, shrugging your shoulders.
“I was told I needed to get fucked up before meeting the rest of you.”
Connie and Sasha laughed, sharing a knowing look.
“Let's go see if we can run into them while we dance.” Sasha nudged both you and Connie forward and you obliged, excited to have fun.
***
Two songs later and you were feeling appropriately drunk, having met up with your roommates on the dance floor. As Sasha and Connie shouted over the noise about breakfast tomorrow, you swayed your hips to the music, feeling genuinely carefree for the first time in a while. You felt a hand grasp your bare waist and turned around, ready to curse out a handsy frat boy, but were met with Ymir’s freckled face. She grinned at you brashly and you grinned back, turning your back to her. As you backed up against her, grinding softly, you exclaimed over your shoulder.
“We’re grinding as friends, you know.”
Ymir chuckled, squeezing your hip gently.
“Duh. I know you need to let loose, dude. Especially since your shitty ex is crawling around here.”
You tensed for a second but kept moving your hips anyways. Sasha was right. Fuck Eren. You were here to have fun and meet new, better people.
As the songs wore on and Connie brought back more and more drinks for the group, you grew curious about the rest of Sasha’s friends. You leaned over Historia’s shoulder and poked Sasha, who was animatedly talking with a quiet Mikasa and a rather drunk Connie.
“Hey. Where are the rest of your friends? I want to meet them!” You exclaimed, taking a long sip of your drink.
Sasha snatched the cup from your hands and you let her, knowing if she wanted to finish your drink, she would. She burped after a long chug and forced the empty cup into Connie’s hands, who took it with a grumble.
“They’re pro-hb,” She paused to hiccup.
“Probably in the basement with the rest of the team. We should totally go down there, right guys?” She asked, looking around at the five of you.
She was met with a chorus of agreement and nods and you followed the group as they headed off to the basement, lumbering down the stairs as a rowdy, drunken unit.
As the pop music and boisterous roar from the crowd melted away with each step, you were met with the very distinct smell of weed smoke and the sound of slightly quieter music.
Connie pressed Historia and Ymir forward once the six of you got to the bottom of the steps, with Mikasa behind them. Sasha paused for a moment and tugged on your wrist.
“Hey.”
You turned to her, noticing that the basement was darker and slightly dingier, but still rather well-kept for a frat basement. A violet glow radiated from where your friends had gone, and you titled your head with a smile.
“What? Are you okay?” You probed, slightly amused at her hesitancy.
“I’m like, 1000% okay. I’m better than okay. I’m so, so glad you’re here and you met Connie and you’re gonna meet the team—”
“Team? What team? You said that earlier.”
“—the hockey team. I should have mentioned that some of the brothers are also hockey players. Connie, Reiner, Jean, Bertholdt…”
“Eren.” You finished with a groan, running a hand through your hair. It was fine if he wanted to exist in the same space as you, but you really didn’t want to talk to him or even see his face.
“So, if you want to go upstairs, like, let’s go back and dance! But if not, I told Connie to just keep him away from you. Because screw him, for the hundredth time.”
You shook your head immediately.
“Let’s go in. I’m basically over him, Sash. And… I know Connie has more drinks down here.”
Sasha laughed and gave your hand another squeeze before leading you into the basement, which was just the slightest bit hazy. You noted that there were about thirty people in the room, some smoking, some playing beer pong, and others just chatting and nodding along to the music. Somehow you were able to make out Historia perched on Ymir’s lap in the dim, neon purple lighting. You made your way over to them, Sasha taking the lead.
“You’ve met everyone over in the corner but Reiner. Also, usually, Armin hangs out with us but he’s working tonight. And be cool, but Eren is playing beer pong. But, he’s hidden behind that ginger weirdo and I think he just noticed you but he won’t come over because he’s a pussy. Also, his man-bun looks awful today.” She blurted out.
You shrugged, too drunk to care.
“I hope your new friends are hot.”
Sasha shushed you as you got closer to the group, introducing you to Reiner before plopping down on the floor next to Connie, who was playing Kings with Mikasa and Bert.
You hoped your cheeks weren’t flushing as the rather big, hot blonde sitting on the loveseat reached out for a handshake, biceps struggling against his t-shirt. Your eyes remained on his muscles for a little too long, and you hoped he didn’t notice as he shuffled to his right, gesturing for you to sit on the couch. Very polite, you noted, beaming at him. Tugging your skimpy skirt down, you took a seat next to him, not failing to notice that his arm remained draped over the top of the small loveseat.
“Do you want a beer?” He offered, smiling as he looked down at you. You gaped for a little, noticing the faintest bit of stubble on his defined jaw.
You blinked, nodding quickly.
“Y-yeah. Sorry. I drank your under-the-sink vodka already though.” You offered, grinning slyly.
He let out a throaty chuckle, eyes glinting. As he leaned towards you, your breath hitched slightly, eyes quickly dropping to his well-defined chest.
You let out a near-silent breath as you realized he was just reaching for the iced six-pack by your feet. He handed you the chilled can, fingers brushing for just a second too long. You felt like you were burning up. You were rather drunk, having fun for the first time in months, and next to the hottest guy you’d seen in a very long time. Cracking the can open, you downed the drink as slowly as you could, needing to cool down but not wanting to be crass.
“Eager, are we?” Reiner said, clicking his tongue before taking a long sip of his beer.
You frowned, rolling your eyes.
“It’s just fucking hot down here. And I was dancing on Ymir for like, forty minutes. You wouldn’t know.” You teased, setting the empty can at your feet.
“You should show me then.” He offered, arm drifting back over the loveseat and dangerously close to your shoulder.
You were about to retort when someone cleared their throat, glaring down at you and clearly annoyed.
“I was sitting there.”