Words Won't Work

[Eren x Deaf!Dancer!Reader]
[modern au]


Eren sighed. He felt like he was about to throw up, his hands were shaking, and he could feel sweat beading down his forehead. He wasn't sure if he should go through with it. Maybe he should just turn around and head home, forget about it, and try to tell her some other time.

'No. I've gotta tell her now. I'm already here, so why not? I'm positive she'll say yes. I can do this,' he thought. And with that, he stepped in, out of the cold streets and into the warm, humid atmosphere of the studio.

There she was, dressed in black leggings and a large sweater that hung off her shoulder, moving precisely to the bass that shook the building. Eren felt his face heat up. He loved seeing her dance.

Standing off to the side, Eren's mind was focused elsewhere while he watched the girl move around the room, replaying the conversation he had with her brother that morning in his head.


"You want to date my sister."

"Yes."

"You want to date my sister."

"Yeah. That's what I said, Jean."

"You, Eren Jaeger, want to date my, Jean Kirchstien's, sister."

"Yes. How many fucking times are you going to repeat it, horseface?"

Jean paused, contemplating Eren's confession, before saying, "[Name]'s at the studio, you know. She's practicing a new routine, so it'll be a while."

"I know. Why do you think I'm here?"

"Well, don't just stand there. Get your ass in. We need to talk."

Eren stepped into his friend's home, kicking off his shoes quickly and flopping onto the couch, Jean taking the chair across from him. It was silent for a while, the kind of uncomfortable silence that happened when something awkward went down, until Jean broke it.

"When did you start caring about her so much?"

Eren sighed. "I don't know. A while ago?"

Jean kept his gaze focused on the ground, obviously thinking hard. "Why?"

"I don't know. She's an incredible dancer, and her eyes are so pretty, and her hair is so soft, and oh man, I wish she could hear her laugh. You're sister is... amazing. And do you know how hard it is to stay mad at her? I don't understand how you two are related."

Jean twitched, and muttered, "She's adopted, remember?"

A few moments of silence, and he said, "Alright. Fine. I'll tell her you have something to say when she gets back," leaving Eren in shock.

"Why are you so... cool about this? Didn't you punch Bertholdt once for staring at her?"

"Well, yeah, but... I've seen the way you look at her. I'll admit, I was mad at first, but hey, if you love her, you love her. That's that. And besides, she always thinks that no one will ever care about her like you do. She thinks being deaf hinders her chances. I hate to say it, but I think you'll be good for her."

Jean chuckled, shaking his head. "She likes you too, y'know."

Eren stared at the other boy, still unable to fathom the conversation. "Why are you telling me this? I thought you kill me if I told you."

Jean shrugged. "No idea, but, I just want [Name] to be happy. And you'd better make her happy."


He decided to go and tell her after that. Even if he knew she possibly felt the same, it didn't stop him from being nervous about telling her.

[Name] had finally noticed him, mid-flip. She jumped into an upright position, her long, [h/c] hair a tangled mess. She ran to shut off the music, then waved and walked up to Eren.

'Hey! What brings you here?' she asked, smiling. Eren's stomach twisted into knots, unbearably tight. How the hell did she do this to him? He'd seen plenty of beautiful girls, some better looking even than her, but they never did this to him.

"Well, I wanted to ask you something."

'What?'

"No, I need to ask you something, [Name]."

'Okay, go ahead.'

With a deep breath, Eren closed his eyes and stuttered out, "Doyouwannagooutwithme?"

'Slow down, I can't read your lips.'

Cue an exasperated sigh.

And now, a moment of silence, as Eren decided to take a different approach, realizing that words won't work. He was too nervous.

"How do you say 'I love you' in sign language?"

Hesitantly, [Name] bit her lip and complied, lifting her hand into a fist and sticking out her thumb, index, and pinkie fingers. Her face was tinged, a soft pink lightly coloring her cheeks.

A deep breath. "[Name]..."

Eren slowly made the same gesture, placing the hand against hers. Without giving her a chance to react, he leaned forward and brought his lips to hers, gently. [Name] reacted hesitantly, lips slowly opening and head tilting. Eren wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer, earning a small noise of surprise from the girl as he broke away.

'Love you, too, Eren.'

"God, that's a relief." He smiled, and leaned in for another kiss.