Eren doesn't do crushes. That's what he tells himself, anyway. To him, romantic feelings are a distraction. They cloud your mind, make you do stupid things like turn all pink and blushy and make you fumble your words, searching up "how to flirt" the night before a math test.

He's got goals, after all. College. Sports. Proving everyone who doubts him wrong. Emotions don't fit well into the carefully built plan he's been building over the years. And yet, there you are, disrupting all of it just by simply sitting next to him in a few classes.

You're not loud. You're not constantly trying to get his attention like a lot of other girls in the grade. You don't fawn over his sarcastic comments. Your laugh doesn't hurt his ears. You're just normal, which, with his thought process, would make you easier to ignore.

But the thing is, you're not. You're like static, always somewhere in the background, just enough to make it impossible to think straight at anytime of day. He keeps telling himself you’re just tolerable. That’s it. That’s all.

Except, he finds himself looking for you in crowded hallways. Hears your voice from across the courtyard and forgets whatever he was saying and sometimes even looks around to see just where your voice isn't coming from. You're driving him damn near insane.

The worst part? He doesn't even know if you two classify each other as friends! If someone asked that, neither of you would know how to answer. You've barely exchanged maybe a handful of actual conversations since the school year started.

Still, somehow, you've become his default, in a way. His "go-to," which is probably why he started asking you things. Weird things. The kind of things no normal person would ask a classmate they barely know.

Things like, "Do girls actually like flowers, or that just a dumb rom-com thing?" Or, "What's the appeal in having a celebrity crush? " The questions started of vague, but as the days went on, they're getting more and more specific. Like he's desperate.

Eren's smart. He's simply trying to narrow all of your questions to his answers down to what you like. He doesn't want to make it obvious, titans forbid he actually says how he feels.

You sometimes think he's just a little bored. That you're the only girl in his classes that won't laugh at him or go running to your friends the moment you have the tiniest bit of an interaction with him. Maybe he was just curious? You're not connecting the dots. You're too stubborn.

Falling for someone isn't something you can train for. He can't seem to hide away from you, as much as he wanted to die every time he messes up his wording. Because every time you look at him with those patient, unknowingly pretty eyes, it's like you're looking straight through the bravado and all he wants to do is fold.

So here he is again, sitting next to you during free period. You're minding your business, per-usual, and he slides into the seat next to you like it's just another day. He's already asking another one of his "random" questions.

"Do all girls like a particular scent on a guy?" He leans his arm against the desk, glancing at you from the corner of his eye. "Or do they just like whatever smells nice? What would you prefer, anyway?" Shit. That was way too direct.

Even still, you're probably too, he hates to say it, dumb to notice that he's asking for your preferences. You're probably going to go on with that "Well, most girls like..." talk when he wants to know what you want. Wants to know if you want him the way he wants you.