Chapter Text
With an unfortunate twist of fate, you curse Shiganshina University for randomizing dorm assignments for first-year students. Just your luck, you were stuck with a red-haired girl named Nifa, who was so forgetful you think she’d forget her head if it wasn’t attached to her.
What did she forget this time? To tell you that she was rooming with Nanaba for the next year, leaving you out of housing for the summer and the following year. You groan, snapping the pencil clasped in your fingers at the thought of seeing her when you return to your dorm later today.
“What gives?”
You turn to find your coworker, Armin, staring at the broken pieces of pencil discarded on your desk. You groan in response, resting the top of your head against the desk.
“My roommate. She didn’t tell me she didn’t want to room with me next year and she was the one who reserved housing for the both of us. I didn’t reserve on my own, and now all of the rooms are full.”
He looks over at you, silently handing you a pack of the sour gummy worms he kept in the bottom desk of his drawer. While he usually kept them for the students he was tutoring, he figured the situation called for it. You knew he was awkward and you warm at the thought of this being his way of trying to comfort you.
“I hope you figure it out, Y/N.”
-
You shoved the broken remnants of the pencil you just snapped into the trashcan near your desk, collecting your thoughts.
“No room?” asks Armin, peering across to your cubicle.
“Nope. I’m going to be homeless this time tomorrow.”
Finding a roommate turned out to be harder than you thought it would be. Since everyone already had to reserve the rooms a while back, no one was really looking for extra roommates anymore. You tried your luck on renting a room in the houses and apartments nearby.
They were all too weird to live with. They were too loud, super messy, rent cost too much, they wanted you to sleep in a bathtub, and the list went on. You weirdly found out that your Political Science professor Erwin was dating your Physics professor Levi when they were selling the apartment they shared to get a house.
“I’d take you in if I could, but my girlfriend Annie lives in the spare room in Jean, and I’s apartment,” says Armin, shooting you a sorrowful look.
You nod in acknowledgment, shooting him a smile for trying to help in whatever way he could.
“You can sleep at my place till you figure something out, okay?”
You nod, turning back to making the assignment sheets for your session later today. You shoot your lab partner a text in the meantime, asking her if you can sleep at her place the day after tomorrow, not wanting to overstay your time at Armin’s.
-
Armin, Annie, and Jean are more than accommodating, which leads you to cry puddles over their kitchen sink. The stress of the situation catches up to you, realizing you had nowhere to live indefinitely.
Jean offers you a plate of warm food, saying you can sleep in his bed as long as you need to. Armin and Annie tend to help you set up your stuff, making sure you have towels, face wash, a toothbrush for the few days you would be staying with them.
After calming down and taking a shower, you dress yourself into your most comfortable pajamas and meet the three of them in the common room. They decide to run a few errands, grabbing snacks for you all to eat over the course of the weekend. You decide to watch Mulan on Armin’s Disney Plus account while you wait.
You hear Armin’s bathroom door close and jump at the sight of a tall, brown-haired boy padding out to sit on the couch next to you.
“Who are you?” he asks, not looking up from the Wordscape he was playing on his phone.
“Y/N. I work with Armin. I’m going to be staying here tonight. Who are you?”
“Eren.”
You nod, turning back to watch the movie. He grabs the top of your head, twisting your head so you’re looking right at him.
“Five letter word. Letters are O, E, R, V, and L.”
You grab the phone from his hand, staring at the crossword ahead of you.
“Did you try ROLE?”
“First word I picked. And it’s five letters, silly girl.”
“Oh! That’s easy. The word is Lover.” you respond, sliding the letters on the screen, the screen covering with confetti. He turns to you, giving you a halfhearted smile in response to passing the level.
Armin, Jean, and Annie return thirty minutes later, double checking you were comfortable with sleeping in Jean’s bed and that you had every need. You thank them for their kindness, heading to bed for the day.
As you lie in his bed, your heart heavies at the thought of where you’re going to sleep tomorrow. And the day after that.
-
You return to Armin’s apartment after six days, having exhausted all options of people to stay with. You stayed with Armin and Annie, Daz and Samuel, Marco (big mistake, he’s a sleepwalker), and even your Physics professor Levi and his partner Erwin you had met while house hunting, who you accidentally ended up sobbing to during a problem-solving session.
You’re settled on their couch again, the four of you watching Get Out. Halfway through the movie, Eren nearly scares the shit out of all of you, your heart pounding as he creeps in through the door.
“You’re back, silly girl. What gives?” he asks, opening one of Armin’s cans of Celcius.
“Still didn’t find a place to live,” you respond, scratching at the back of your neck.
You see a confused look of plaster on his face, as he darts his eyes to Armin looking for an explanation.
“Housing problems, her old roommate kind of sucked. She’s been out of a place for a week now, hopping from place to place every night.” he responds.
He looks back at you, his green eyes flashing a look you had never seen before. Granted, you had only met him once before this but it was enough to warrant a weird feeling from you.
“Speed round. Answer whatever I say silly girl, okay?”
“What?”
“Favorite color?”
“Green.”
“Stable income?”
“Two jobs. And a decent savings account.”
“Attention to detail?”
“You wouldn’t believe it.”
“Boyfriend?”
“Not currently.”
“Loud friends who overstay their visit?”
“I think I’m the friend who is currently overstaying her visit.”
“Raging partier?”
“Homebody ‘till I die. ”
“Loud?”
“So quiet my professor forgot I was in the room with him.”
He stops, the gears in his head moving. Jean and Armin share a confused glance, Annie having given up on trying to understand Eren years ago.
“I have an extra room at my place. My old roommate just graduated, and I need someone to fill the spot. If you can pay the rent by next week, it’s yours.”
You swear you could kiss him on the spot. He’s offering you a place to live. You reach over the couch, wrapping your arms around his neck.
“Thank you, Eren. Really.”
You break apart from the hug, your noses a few feet apart. You smile at him, your eyes darting between his green eyes. You tense at the contact, suddenly realizing how close the two of you are standing. You let go abruptly, and he scratches the back of his head, instructing you to pack your things so you can settle into the room now.
-
“Ann’, hundred bucks they start dating by the end of next year.”
“Raise it to a hundred and to the end of next semester. You’re on, Kirschtein.”
“Should we really be profiting off of our friends' love lives?”
“Shut up, Armin.”