Shingeki no Kyojin/進撃の巨人 1. Waking Up

Well, to say this morning wasn't the best morning for me is a complete understatement. I woke up as I normally did; not ready for school and too tired to even stand. I guess that was why I didn't notice it at first. The bumps on my chest, I mean. Also the curve of my hips, and my long, soft hair. It wasn't until I got into the bathroom and looked in the big mirror that I had realized what had happened to me.

'Oh shit' could not even come close to covering what I felt.

I remember grabbing at my boobs just to see if they were real, and prayed that I was just having a strange dream. Unfortunately, my hopes were crushed by reality kicking me in the face when my mom frantically knocked on the door to tell me to hurry up because breakfast was getting cold.

That was my second 'oh shit.'

Mom and dad had _no_ idea that I was a girl, and I was 99% sure they would start to think weird things when I walked out of that bathroom in my tight fitting shirt. So, I did what any normal person would do in a situation like this.

I panicked and tried to fake sick.

Of course, mom, being a mom, didn't believe a word of it. "You're just using that higher pitched voice on purpose!" is what she said to me. And right at that moment I knew that I was screwed. I had barely anytime to even deal with this whole new development in my life because I was running late. What even was this? If I couldn't explain it, then I couldn't tell my parents about my, er, "condition," and now the entire school would find out about it too.

Mornings suck. But that one is by far the worst I've ever had.

By the time I got to school, it only got worse. My parents were already suspicious of me skipping breakfast and hurrying out the door, but to top it off, I ended up borrowing one of my dad's hoodies, since he's significantly larger than me (waist and chest wise at least). All the while, thoughts were running rapidly in my head.

_I hope to god no one notices._

_This hoodie is way too suspicious, isn't it?_

_How long will this last?_

_Will I be stuck like this forever?_

That last thought stopped me in my tracks. No. I _cannot_ be stuck like this forever. Please don't let that happen. I decided to quicken my pace past Connie and Marco, who usually wait for me in the mornings. I prayed they wouldn't notice that it was me, but as luck would have it, they did.

"Jean? Is that you?" Connie called out.

Shit.

"Where are you going in such a rush? And why are you wearing a giant hoodie? You know Mr. Zacharius doesn't like it when kids leave their hoods up in class." Marco added. I nearly stopped in my tracks. Oh yeah. I almost forgot about him. Some of the teachers here are borderline batshit crazy, and Mr. Zacharius is one of them. Do you know what he did to us on the first day of school?

He _sniffed_ us.

I wish I was lying, but it's true. And the reason why is because he wanted to track which of us would be "troublemakers" which makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Hell, sometimes I think I can still feel his nose on my neck. But anyway, I knew I couldn't keep my hood up forever, but I also couldn't skip class because the office would alert my parents as soon as I got home. Plus Connie and Marco were now more worried than ever, and I could hear them start walking toward me. I sighed as I accepted my fate. I can't avoid people forever anyway, so I guess there was no point in keeping it a secret. I quickly turned around and tried to put on a smile while casually removing my hood.

"Sorry, I'm a little sick." I tried to say in the manliest voice I could. However, sounding manly was obviously not the issue for Marco and Connie, because right away they gasped at my appearance, and I knew I was screwed.

"Jean? What the hell happened? Did you suddenly get into cosplay? Or is it... something personal?" Connie tried to sputter out. I nearly groaned in frustration, but mostly because I was still nervous.

"No Connie, I am not planning on changing genders. In fact I'd say I'm way ahead of that already," Connie and Marco looked like they wanted to say something, but I quickly cut them off. "Listen, before you say anything, no, I have no clue how I changed into a girl. So please, let's try to keep this on the down-low, got it?" However, it seemed Connie didn't get it, for he just burst into laughter.

"Wow Jean, you almost had me there for a second! I thought you were completely serious! Who're you pranking? Is it Eren? Oh man, I bet his reaction would be priceless!" he yelled, still laughing. Marco was beginning to crack a smile too, and I was getting more and more paranoid. So, I did the only thing I could think of at the time.

I shoved my chest in his face.

It wasn't really that hard considering he was already at my chest level anyway, but oh god was it embarrassing. I had to say something to explain my actions.

"Connie! Feel them! They are real I swear!"

Looking back, that was possibly the most idiotic thing I have ever said in my life. However, it did justify my actions, and Connie, hearing the urgency in my voice, obliged. It was awkward, to say the least. He cupped them and felt around a bit, and even now it's embarrassing for me to admit that it actually didn't feel too bad. Luckily, the plan seemed to work. I could tell because of Connie's shocked surprised expression.

"Holy shit, these are real!"

"Jean, how did you change so fast?" Marco asked in disbelief.

"Like I told you, I don't know. It just happened over night!" The bell then suddenly rang out; our five minute warning. "Listen, Connie, I'll see you later. Marco, come to the bathroom with me before class. I need to do something before I go in."

"Uh, okay..." he said, then turned to Connie. "I guess I'll see you later." But all Connie could respond with was a dazed shrug and a wave. With that out of the way, I quickly pulled Marco down the hallway into the bathroom, and prayed that nobody was there. Luckily, nobody was there. I quickly grabbed out a pair of scissors (thank you Hanji for making us bring scissors on today out of all days) and handed them to Marco.

"Okay, make it quick!" I said, grabbing a handful of my hair and shoving it toward him. I needed to at least look normal for class, so everyone wasn't too suspicious. But Marco seemed horrified.

"Wh- hey wait a minute Jean! I can't do this! Even if I cut it short, it won't look close to your normal cut unless I use a razor, which we don't have!"

Oh yeah. I forgot about that. I heard the bell above us go off once again, signaling that we were now late for class. I sighed.

"Sorry for making you late Marco. Let's go." I guess Marco saw that I felt bad, because he tried to comfort me.

"It's fine Jean. Besides, your hair looks really nice anyway, and it'd be a shame to cut it." I stared at him for a bit, then laughed, causing him to laugh too. Man, he always knew how to cheer me up with his weird thoughts. But I knew that I wouldn't be cheered up for long, because my next challenge was coming: revealing myself to the rest of the school.

* * *

><p>Sorry if the chapters turn out a bit short. I try my best :p Also, it's my first time writing in first person, so hopefully it doesn't suck too bad.<p> 


	2. Reactions Galore

The worst part of walking into class late is knowing that everyone will stare at you as if you just killed someone. Staring was the exact opposite of what I wanted, so thank god I had Marco to cover for me. Luckily my boobs weren't too big, so I could squish the History book against my chest and look somewhat normal, aside from my chest length hair.

"Sorry we were late Mr. Zacharius. Jean's feeling a bit sick today." Marco said calmly as we tried to shuffle our way toward our seats. Mr. Zacharius suddenly sniffed the air, and I resisted the urge to groan.

"I don't think you're telling the truth Mr. Bodt. Why don't you let Jean explain for himself why you two were late." Marco and I froze.

_Shit shit shit. Damn him and his damn nose_. I cleared my throat and tried to speak as quietly as possible.

"Sorry, my throat is kinda scratchy right-" I stopped. Oh god. Oh god no. My voice had just cracked in the middle of 'right.' _My fucking voice just cracked_. Everyone stared at me in complete horror. Even Mr. Zacharius was in complete shock.

"Jean, are you feeling-"

"Hey look! Jean's hair is really long for some reason!" some kid pointed out. I swore I could feel my face heat up as the whispers circulated around the room. I panicked for what seemed like the billionth time that day and quickly pulled up my hoodie over my head. Jean Kirschstein would never, ever get flustered this badly. But the new me, whoever that was, suddenly felt weird and out of place. Is this what girls felt often? Well, whatever, there was no time to dwell on it now. Besides, I had a feeling I wouldn't be Jean Kirschtein for a long time.

The next several minutes of class were painfully awkward. People kept throwing glances back and whispering. It made me want to crawl in a hole and never come out, but I tried to ignore it and pay attention to Mr. Zacharius' lesson. But even he soon grew tired of no one paying attention, and he set down his book and sighed.

"Alright Jean, you're going to have to explain what's going on, because even I am stumped. As your teacher, it's my job to report all unusual behaviors of students, mostly for the sake of others." he explained with just a hint of irritation. I sighed. I guess I could understand where he was coming from. But it still didn't make it any less awkward.

"Well, to be honest, I have no idea where this came from. I just woke up, and there it was." I know I probably sounded like the dumbest person alive with that stupid explanation, but I guess it wasn't so bad considering the whispers were gone. Although, now they were replaced with looks of confusion, and a couple "okay this dude is weird" expressions. It was like no matter how hard I tried I would not be able to get away from the stares and whispers among people. I guess I must've looked pretty distressed, because Marco decided to speak up.

"You guys, just leave him alone. He's going to have to deal with this shit all day." To be honest, I was surprised Marco cursed like that. Usually, he was pretty good with keeping his tongue under control (unlike Connie and I). I was also pretty grateful for his help, and I was about to let him know when one of the assholes of the class decided to comment.

"Don't you mean _she's_ going to have to deal with this? Look Jean, I don't care if you're going through some weird phase, just don't bother me with it." he said, and the others nodded in agreement. Well. That was a little less aggressive than I thought coming from some tough guy who makes fun of pretty much everyone including the teacher. It still pissed me off just a little bit that everyone thought I was crazy, but at least they weren't too malicious about it. I wondered if it was because I was a girl now. Probably not, but a man, er, a woman can dream, can't she?

Lunch time rolled around faster than I expected. I was still pretty nervous to confront my friends, even though they probably already knew by now that I was a girl. Gossip in my school spreads faster than wildfire and can leave the victim with scars worse than burns, so I could only imagine what kind of nasty assumptions had been made about me. When I sat down at my usual table, I got what I expected: shocked expressions.

"Uh, wow. Okay, so remind me, how exactly did this happen?" one of my friends, Reiner asked. I gave an exasperated sigh for the the billionth time. I knew he wasn't trying to be mean about it, but I was getting a little tired of being asked the same thing all day. Hell, I could easily be compared to a broken record with how many times I had answered the same thing. It was strange to really think about it too. Like, I thought this kind of stuff only happened in the movies. But here I am, suddenly the opposite gender. It sort of hurt to think about for some reason, and it got worse when people commented on it.

"Jean, what happened? I keep hearing that you got your breasts enlarged to make your parents love you or something." Eren said as soon as he reached the table. Well that was just fan-fucking-tastic. Of course Eren would bring something like that up now.

"Not now Eren, I'm busy thinking." I tried to say in a warning tone, letting him know that I really didn't want to be questioned more. Eren and I have never really gotten along that well before, so it was better not to get him too involved especially since I couldn't really handle all this questioning. Eren didn't ask anymore, to which I was grateful. But it sure didn't stop the others from questioning.

"Connie said that his boobs were real, but Mina said that he's a liar. So which is it?"

"Are you okay right now Jean? I'm always here to talk if you need me to."

"How did your hair get so long so fast? Did you use extensions?"

There were so many questions flying at me all at once that I could hardly concentrate on anything, and I was starting to get a headache. I didn't know what to do, and it was frustrating nobody believed me. Luckily, Connie walked in on the conversation and saved my ass, with Marco as an alibi.

"Guys, I know they are real! And Marco knows too," Marco nodded to confirm. "He, or uh, she has already said that she doesn't know what's going on. That's all I can think of to say, okay?" The rest of the group quieted down, but I could tell they wanted to ask more questions. Hell, I want to know more myself. Aside from all of that, I'm sure it'd take a long time before my friends looked at me the same way, or at least in a normal way.

After lunch, Marco and I went to our last class of the day, which generally put me in a good mood because it meant I could slack off and not do much. It was even better because it was Friday. But because of all the negative attention I got all throughout the day, I wasn't as excited as usual. Once again, Marco tried to cheer me up.

"Hey Jean. Actually, I should probably call you something different now." I honestly wanted to get mad at him for continuing to bring up my situation, but he had a point. It would be awkward for me to have be called a boy's name when I clearly wasn't a boy. Plus, I don't actually think it's possible to get mad at Marco with how sweet he was.

_Hold on, did I just think of him as sweet? _I tried to change 'sweet' to 'nice,' but it still sounded weird coming from a girl. Dammit, this is way too weird.

"Hmm, how about Jean? It's just your name but the girl version."

"That won't work. I've gotten enough shit from people accidentally mispronouncing my name a billion times, and I am not about to bring that back again." Marco only rolled his eyes.

"Well okay, how about Joan?"

"Nah, I don't really like the flow of it."

"Jane then?"

"Are you kidding? Jane is from like the 50s!"

"Well then you come up with something." Marco clearly didn't understand that coming up with girls names was hard for me because I didn't have any siblings. But he has two sisters that name every stuffed animal and doll they have, so it was easy for him. I sighed.

"I guess Jane will suffice." Marco smiled.

"Good choice, Jane."

Later that evening, when I came home to mom and dad, they were already aware that I was now a girl. Like I said before, gossip in our school spreads faster than wild fire, and it wasn't long before the principal caught wind of what was being said. And since he's a nice guy and all, he needed to tell my parents. Just fucking great. More people to look at me like I'm some freak. I mean, they weren't too bad about it, but sometimes I caught them staring and it got really awkward. I decided I would go to bed early, since I just needed a break from the world for awhile.

What an absolutely shitty day.


	3. Marco and Clothes

No matter how bad my days can get, I always thank the one friend who's been by my side since forever: Marco. He's helped me through almost everything, like when my parents got divorced and my mom had to go through a lot of guys (some of them rude and stupid) before she found the right one. And there was those times I got in a fight and almost got suspended. And finally, the time that we were at a party and someone spiked the punch I had drank. Now, he's helping me through this ordeal, and I really owe him big time.

But the thing was, I didn't understand why I was suddenly thinking about him like this. I mean, he's a great guy to have as a friend, but then suddenly I started to think of him as my knight in shining armor or something. Is this what girls do when they hang out with guys for awhile? Ugh, what a terrible feeling. The feeling is kind of like, as Vice Principal Levi would say, "trying to take a shit, but the shit won't come out." And the worst part is, I _still_ continued to think about him throughout the day.

It started when he invited me over to his house like he usually did. His mom was surprised to say the least, but his sisters were thrilled. They wanted to put bows in my hair and even brought out one of Marco's mom's Sunday dresses. Needless to say, we were both really embarrassed. But I couldn't also help but think, from that incident, that I did need some temporary clothes since there was no way in hell that I'd wear what my mom was wearing (even I had the common sense to dress like a teen). I decided I'd go after visiting Marco for awhile, and possibly maybe bring him with me.

...

Wait, just what am I even thinking? Marco was not my boyfriend that I dragged along to go shopping with. He wasn't and never will be. I just needed him to come with me since I'm not 100% comfortable shopping in the girls department. I mean, since he had sisters, he should know what stuff they like to wear right? I stared at Marco, who was about to pop in Left 4 Dead, when he caught me staring out of the corner of his eyes. He gave me a questioning look.

"What's up Jane? Need something?" I almost cringed when he called me Jane because I wasn't used to it.

"Uh, nothin'. I was just going to ask... you know what? Nevermind, it's stupid." This was stupid. Why am I doing this. And of course Marco, being Marco, just had to keep pushing it.

"No way! You have to tell me now!"

"No."

"Teeelll me."

"Hell no, you'll think it's ridiculous."

"Coome ooooooooooooooon. Pleeease." His voice was so obnoxiously annoying that I finally snapped. Damn Marco for making me tell him everything.

"Okay fine. But, you have to swear not to laugh, okay?" I asked, sounding a little bit immature. He nodded vigorously and leaned closer. It was weird, but my heart suddenly skipped a best when he did that. "Marco, will, will you go clothes shopping with me? I need better fitting clothes." I said firmly, trying to cover up the embarrassment I felt. Surprisingly, he only looked at me for a moment before smiling and giving a response.

"Of course I'll go shopping with you. You could've asked earlier you know. Friends do things for friends, right?" God I was so happy when he said that. Marco was like a saint for always being this nice. Maybe I'd start calling him Freckled Jesus from now on.

"Thank god! Let's go after we slaughter those Boomers!" I said as we started playing the game. Marco laughed.

"I don't think I've ever heard a girl say that in my life."

Our gaming session ended quicker than I would've liked, and now it was off to the store. Once we got in, we headed straight for the girl's department. Spaghetti strap tank tops, colorful skinny jeans, and ruffl-y blouses were what mainly lined this department. And of course, who could forget the lingerie section? I shuddered at the thought.

"Alright Jane, what're you looking for?" Marco asked, rummaging around the jeans. I thought for a moment.

"I don't want to be a super girly chick, but I don't want to be one of those weird scene girls either," Marco nodded. "Oh, also, make sure my pants have plenty of hip space. And also make sure my shirts don't say yolo!" Marco laughed at this.

"Aw man, I just found the perfect shirt for that too!" he said, holding up a shirt that said in bright, pink letters, 'you only live once.' My expression must've been priceless to Marco, who was now doubled over in laughter.

"Marco, what do you think of this one?" I shouted, holding up a blue and red stripped shirt. It had been about a half an hour, and so far all I found was a stripped shirt, two solid colored ones, and one with an owl on it. I'm not really sure why I liked it, I just did. Marco had helped me along the way, pointing out the ones that fit the best. He nodded his approval and I fist pumped.

"Yes! Score four for Jane!" Marco laughed and came over with jeans he found in the aisle over.

"The lady said these were the best for curvy-ish girls, so I'm going to trust her." he said. I shrugged. It didn't matter that much to- wait a minute. I looked at the jeans closer.

"The fuck is this shit?" I reached for the pocket and tried to stick my hand in. But I couldn't stick my hand in. At all. The pocket was sewn shut.

What the actual fuck. _What the actual fuck_.

"Wha- why?! What's the point of having a god damn pocket when it's sewn shut?! Put those back Marco, I don't want to see that useless piece of shit ever again in my life!" I could tell Marco was trying not to lose his shit, but I didn't care. Jeans aren't real jeans if there's no pockets. I then inspected the others, to make sure they weren't... defective like that one. Thankfully, none of them were. However, the pockets were still super small. I couldn't even fit my hand all the way in for gods sakes! I sighed. It would just have to do for now. So, now that I had my shirts and pants, next was the... underwear. I quickly looked over to Marco, and seriously considered just telling him to look somewhere else while I found my necessities.

_Come on, is it really that hard to say?_ I mentally scolded myself. _You can say panties. I know you can. You've said boobs and panties and bras a million times so just do it now_. But for some reason, when it was Marco, I got all flustered. _Not_ that I like him or anything, but, he was like, the greatest friend I've ever had. Plus, I was an awkward girl now, doing girl things in front of a boy who just happened to remember me as another boy. Okay, now I was just stalling. I swallowed and walked straight up to him, showing no awkwardness whatsoever (or at least I thought).

"Marco, I'm gonna look in the lingerie section now." I told him. He seemed to get the message, for he blushed a little bit and told me he'd wait by the dressing rooms. Thank god that wasn't as painful as I thought it was going to be. That was, until the lady had to measure me for my bra size. I did not know that it was so violating to be measured.

"Marco, can you grab me a size up in these?" I shouted over the stall as I lifted the jeans up and over for him to grab. So far all the shirts I had fit perfectly, but the jeans were either too small or too loose around my waist. Man, I didn't realize a lot of work went into building girl's clothes until I got hips. Marco came back quicker than I expected and handed me the last pair of pants I had told him to get me. Huh. Maybe I should step out and make sure I don't have a cameltoe, because these were kind of tight around the crotch area. The mirror in there was broken, which was really annoying because now I had to step outside and hope some asshole didn't take my stall. I stepped out for a moment, and turned to see one of the strangest sights of my life. It was Marco, just staring in awe. It was almost as if he suddenly saw God or some shit.

"What?" I asked, putting my hands on my hips. He just shook his head.

"It's nothing. You just look really pretty, is all. _Not_ saying that to be weird though!" If I had to be honest with myself, I'd say that I was pretty flattered with that for some reason. I started to blush, and headed back to the dressing room.

What was happening to me? Was it girly hormones? Or something more? Either way, it couldn't be that bad. I'll get over it soon, I just know it.


	4. Mother Nature's Bloody Waterfall

Just out of curiosity, who is going to or planning to go to Kumoricon? If I go I would love to meet some people there :P (I'll be in Vocaloid Kaito and/or Drifloon Gijinka cosplay) Also, I'd appreciate some reviews :)

* * *

><p>Today I woke up feeling absolutely 100% shitty. My sides and lower back hurt like a bitch; walking was pretty much a no-go. When I <em>did<em> manage to crawl my way to the bathroom, I looked in the mirror. Everything seemed fine, except holy shit did I get fatter? And why did my boobs hurt so much? What the hell was going on?

And then... I saw it.

Right as I peeled off my all my clothes including my underwear, I saw blood. A lot of it too. My worst nightmare had come true. I bet somewhere down in Hell, Satan was laughing his ass off at my misfortune.

"Mom! Can I not go to school today?" I shouted from the bathroom, praying she'd understand if I explained.

"Why? What's wrong Jane? Are you feeling sick?"

"Yes. Very sick. My lower back and thighs hurt so bad and I can't walk at all. Also my head hurts and I think I have a fever."

"Are you sure you're not just on your period? Is there any blood?"

Shit. How did she guess? I needed to save myself fast.

"Uh, no. It just really, really hurts and I have no idea why!" God mom, why can't you just get the message? But my final attempts were sadly drowned out by her snickering.

"Oh come on, it's just a period! Girls do it every month, so man up!" I sighed. I had been defeated. I guess it was time to deal with the pain like every other female on the planet: dying on the inside, stoic on the outside. I heard my mom sigh too.

"Well, I'll tell you what. You can bring some Advil to school and I'll pack a few pads in your bag, since I don't think you'll be comfortable putting tampons up there." I then heard her footsteps disappear down the hall as she went to get said items, and she muttered a 'I never thought I'd ever have to do this'. I sighed for the second time that morning. Girls are a lot more complicated than I thought.

It was really awkward heading to school. How do girls even walk with pads in between their legs? You know that thing that cowboys do when they spread their legs out and walk to look tough? Yeah, that's what I did, except I didn't feel tough at all. I took the two Advil just like mom said, but it barely calmed the pain down. Is this seriously what girls go through once a month for an entire week? No wonder they get so crabby. I slowly made my way over to where Connie and Marco were waiting, and gave a half-hearted wave.

"Hey, Jane! You don't really look so good." Marco said. I attempted to smile. Such a nice guy. If he ran to the store and bought me chocolates and a coffee, he'd be boyfriend material. I'm kidding of course.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just... cramps." I said, trying to be a subtle as possible. Connie winced immediately, and Marco shook his head in sympathy.

"That sounds like it sucks. I would say that I know how you feel, except I don't. So sorry, Jane." was what Connie said. Gee, thanks Connie. That makes me feel a whole lot better. I groaned in frustration as another wave of pain hit me. Oh god, I couldn't believe I could _feel_ the blood moving out of me. I nearly shuddered.

"Jane, are you sure okay?" Marco asked. He looked genuinely concerned, which I would find sweet if I wasn't so disgusted with myself right at that moment.

"Yep. Just super Marco. Just fuckin' super." Marco sighed. I felt kind of bad for getting cranky with him and Connie, but I couldn't really help it. It felt weird and not right, but I guess it had something to do with hormones (I never really paid attention in health). A few seconds later, Annie, Sasha, Reiner, and Bertholdt made their way down the hall and greeted us.

"So Jane, how are you adjusting to being a girl?" Sasha asked. I almost winced at her question. This really was not the time to ask me. But Marco, being Freckled Jesus and all, stepped in just in time.

"She's doing okay. But not at this moment, and probably not for the rest of the week, if you catch my drift." Sasha gave an understanding 'ohhhh' and Annie actually looked sort of surprised, and sort of sympathetic. Sasha then placed a hand on my shoulder.

"It's fine Jane! I'll give you some tips on how to deal with it! First, you get a-"

"Not right now Sasha." Connie said, awkwardly scratching the back of his head. To be honest, I wouldn't have minded those tips right about then, but I guess that could wait. And besides, the warning bell had just sounded, signaling that we had better get our asses to class. I waved goodbye to everyone except Annie, who shared my first period class on every other day. Walking next to her was always kind of awkward because she never looked at me and was always quiet. But today was actually kind of different.

"I have some extra pads if you want." was all she said before she entered the class ahead of me.

Gym time came, and I internally cried. First, there was actually going into the locker rooms themselves. This was my first time (not including the time stupid Eren dared me to go in) actually being in there. I know it sounds stupid, but I was actually afraid that I'd look at all the half naked girls and get turned on. Surprisingly, that didn't happen. They just looked like normal girls. Still, changing while trying not to see my bloody pad was going to be difficult.

_What even is my sexuality?_ I wondered as I tried to squeeze my way through to the corner. Lots of girls gave me strange and even disgusted looks. I sighed for what seemed like the billionth time that day. Some people _still_ claimed that I was "faking" my gender change, and I still got some dirty looks around the school. I'm just thankful the media hasn't caught on yet. A couple people tried to tell them, but luckily they didn't believe them at all. It certainly is a struggle, that is one thing that's for sure in this whole shitstorm.

After a painful gym session, I had to endure one more class before lunch. Walking around the hallway, it suddenly occurred to me that I had no idea when I had to change my pad. Does it smell? Does it change color? Can other people smell me right now?

_Calm down Jane, get your shit together. Let's just ask someone_.

Yeah fucking right. There was no way I was asking anyone.

_But look, Mikasa is right there_.

Oh god. No way. ANY OTHER GIRL is a better person to ask than Mikasa. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with her. In fact, that's actually the problem. I had gotten a crush on her freshman year, and I always tried to impress her. Sometimes I bet I made her feel a little awkward. But every single time I tried, Eren would get in my way. It was obvious she wanted to take care of him instead of paying attention to me, so last year I ended up giving up. But that still doesn't mean I don't get a little sad when she passes by. Thank god I had Armin and Marco by my side when I felt shitty. But at this point, I'm just distracting myself from the issue at hand. The past was the past, and the present is an emergency.

"Uh, Mikasa!" I called out. She stopped to face me, and I felt myself get nervous.

"Can... can you come here for second? I, uh, have a question for you." She got a suspicious look on her face, but came over anyway.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Well, I was just wondering- er, I need to know- When do you change a pad?" There. I got it out. Mikasa's eyes widened in surprise, but then she smiled a little.

"Oh, that's what you're worried about? Don't worry too much." She then started to explain to me bleeding a little and bleeding a lot, and when was a good time depending on that, and I don't really want to get into too much detail. All I wanted to do was go home and pretend none of this was real. But, if there was one thing gained from this terrible experience, it was that I finally got to have a somewhat normal conversation with Mikasa.

I think I'm over her now, and all it took was a little pain and a lot of courage.


	5. Getting Harassed

Small Warning: this chapter does contain sexual harassment, but not too much so you should be fine.

* * *

><p>I never knew how much of an asshole a guy could be to a girl until today. I mean, I already knew that there were bad people out there, but I didn't expect anything to happen to me. In fact, nobody had ever actually attempted to mess with me until today to be honest. I guess now that everyone was more or less comfortable with my "condition", they could talk to me like I was a regular human being. That wasn't that hard anyway considering Reiner and Bertl gave dirty looks to whoever looked at me funny, but even without that, I was feeling better about adjusting. However, now that I was considered a girl, it would seem that I was going to get the full package. So far, that package came with periods, terrible jeans with fake pockets, and now: sexual harassment.<p>

It happened after school, when the teachers abandoned the building to get away from us. But unfortunately for Mr. Schultz and I, my test score in math made it so we both had to stay back as I tried to fix it before the next unit. Once I was done, I headed on out to meet Marco so he could drive me home. I almost made it through the front doors and pulled out my phone to call him, when some of the football players came out from around the corner. I didn't really pay much attention since I was in the middle of calling Marco, but I soon found out that that had been my first mistake. The biggest douchebag of the group walked up to me, grabbed my phone, and stole it. I attempted to get it back, but he was tall and I was about one and a half feet shorter than he was. It continued on like that until I really started getting pissed off.

"Hey asshat, the fuck is your problem?" I asked him as he continued to wave the phone around. His idiotic friends just laughed with him and made fun of me.

"Oh nothing really, just having a little fun with the school's reject." Oh my god, you've _got_ to be kidding me. Out of all the things he could be making fun of me for, _this_ is what he thought would emotionally damage me forever? He had never even messed with me before, so why now?

"You're kidding, right? Are you seriously that much of an idiot? Heh, I guess the phrase "dumb jock" really does apply to you." I sneered. I made sure to mentally apologize to Reiner, because not only did he have to play with these dumbasses, but he also did not like football players to be referred to as dumb jocks. However, the reaction I got was satisfying enough. You could see him trying to process how to respond to my comment, and I chose that moment to kick him in the balls. He dropped the phone and gave a stupid sounding yelp. His three other idiots just stood around like they had no idea what to do. I felt pretty empowered. However, the pain he had didn't last for long, and my victory was short lived. He and his buddies all surrounded me, closing in the space as they continued to get closer. Suddenly, I was surrounded, and I couldn't take all four of them at a time. Normally if I was a guy I'd have better muscles, and I could beat all of them up. But because apparently whichever spirit existed hated me, I was a girl with medium sized muscles, good for taking on two men at a time. I tried though, believe me. I kicked and punched in every direction, landing a few hits here and there. Still, in the end, they over powered me. One of them hoisted me up, and I swear I could feel my heart pound out of my chest when one of the others began to lift my shirt up.

"How about we see if those breasts you got are actually real..." I kicked and screamed as hard as I could, but it seemed all hope was lost. He started to pinch and feel under my bra, while another one was tugging down my pants and underwear. I was losing faith in anyone ever finding me at all. I closed my eyes, bracing for what was going to come...

But nothing ever came. Instead, there was a loud cracking sound, and when I opened my eyes, the guy who was right in front of me was suddenly on the ground, blood dripping out of his nose. Then, the guy to my captor's right was taken out, and one by one they all ended up on the ground. My brain could hardly process who my savior was, until I got a better look. Standing there, breathing heavily with the angriest expression I had ever seen on him before was none other than Marco Bodt.

"Marco?" He didn't say anything, he just grabbed my hand and ran outside. It sort of hurt to keep up with him because my legs had been kicked at so many times. But it turns out that his car wasn't that far away, so I didn't have to be in pain as much as I thought. When we got there, he finally let go of my hand. He still looked _really_ mad though. He quietly told me to get in, and I didn't hesitate to do so.

Once we were in, he was quiet for a few moments. I hate to admit it, but I was actually kind of uncomfortable. I had never seen my best friend this angry in my life, and I didn't like it at all.

"Marco?"

"Where did they touch you?" It was a simple question, but it had a lot of meaning behind it.

"J-just my breasts," His eyes went wide. I had to fix this quick. "Marco, don't worry. It's no big deal-"

"No big deal? You could've gotten raped! What if you had gotten raped?" Ok now, this was getting ridiculous.

"I'd suck it up and live my life like normal." This only made him more angry.

"No! Nobody ever returns to normal after rape! And you could've gotten an STD, or pregnant, or-"

"Stop it!" This had gone way too far. Marco froze in mid sentence, then took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry. I just... I just couldn't bear it if something happened to you..." And suddenly, my face felt hotter than the sun and my heartbeat sped up. Dammit Jane this is not the time to be thinking that Marco is hot.

"No, I'm sorry Marco. You were just looking out for me like you usually do." I didn't mean for that to come out as sad, but I couldn't help it. He'd helped me through so much shit, but I hardly ever returned the favor. He looked back up and smiled a small smile.

"It's fine. Just... have someone you trust stay after school with you from now on, okay?" I nodded. Thank god he was here for me.

The next day, we told everyone what happened. Reiner of course was pissed off, so much that Bertholdt had to hold him back from running over to their table and punching their heads in. For some reason Eren had a dark look on his face too. I was about to tell him not to be a a reckless idiot and try and beat them up, when he got up and left without a word. I honestly had no idea how to react to that.

Later at lunch, Mikasa, Annie, Christa, and Sasha came up to me at lunch to talk.

"Soo, what are you all here for?" I started out. Sasha smirked.

"We just wanted to tell you that we took care of those boys for you!" I nearly choked on my bread. What the hell were they thinking? Don't they know that the more someone gets involved, the worse it gets?

Oh wait. They had Annie and Mikasa with them. Knowing the history with those two, I doubt that those boys would touch me ever again. I just gave a quiet thanks. I was stoic on the outside, but secretly I was really happy that I had people who cared enough to look after me. Not everyone is as lucky as I am, after all.


	6. Gossiping Girls

Okay, I have a confession to make: I've been sucked into the world of gossiping. I was never the type of guy who gossiped because I never really cared. Now I know that three cheerleaders may be pregnant all from the same guy, Ymir might have killed a student that has been absent for three days, and apparently Eren and I (when I was a boy) had a thing for each other. First of all, that's disgusting (the last one, I mean). Second of all, now I want to know what else they've said about me. But at the same time, I don't want it to get all awkward. I've just started to get to know all of these girls, and they don't think I'm as much of an asshole as they used to. What's up with that anyway? The only time I was ever an asshole was when I tried to hit on Mikasa and get into fights with Eren.

Which happened a few times...

But that's beside the point. Look at me, I'm getting all worked up over some stupid rumors. Is this why girls are so stressed out during school? Man, I don't think I'll ever understand anything.

The newest gossip session started this afternoon, at the second table across from ours at lunch. The lunch room is always noisy, but I can somehow hear just fine what those girls are saying. Sasha, being the charismatic person she is, starts the conversation while I subtly listen.

"Okay guys, I've got an update on the Connie situation," she starts out, catching everyone's attention. Something that involved Connie? I hadn't heard about that.

"Well, I-"

"If you say 'almost' again I swear to god I will not share any of my meat with you for a month. You really just need to tell him already." Sasha gave a small yelp of embarrassment, and the rest of the girls just giggled. Wait, what did I miss?_ "You really just need to tell him already?" _What the hell was that-

Oh. Ohhh wait.

They were talking about love. The one thing that I avoided at any and all costs. Crushes and relationships always seemed kinda foreign to me. I've had a couple girlfriends, but it never felt right. Like what do you even do? You go out on dates, and maybe kiss, and hold hands, and then later, when things get really hot-

Stop it Jane. Stop. I tried to focus back in on what they were saying.

"So what were you going to say about Eren last week, Mikasa?" Christa asked.

"Oh, well I thought it was nothing. But I actually maybe think he's not as straight as I thought." It was quiet for a brief moment. The looks in the girl's eyes told Mikasa to keep going. She sighed. "I was coming to pick him up from Armin's house since our mom had to work late, and when I picked him up, his hair and Armin's hair was messy. Like, they just... you know. And I swear I saw something on both of their necks. But, I don't think it's what I think it is," she said even though she looked unsure of what she said. I swear those girls looked like hungry dogs with all the information Mikasa was feeding them. Hell, I was just as into it as they were. Jaeger, being gay? That's news to me. Of course, it was only a rumor, but it is pretty weird that Armin practically clings to him like a needy child. Maybe there's another reason behind that. Oh my god, why am I analyzing Eren's love life? I was so busy with my own little train of thought that I didn't notice that the girls were talking about me until I heard my name.

"...not surprised at all. I thought he was after Jean," Sasha said, making almost every girl nod in agreement. Um, excuse you all. I never _once_ thought that Eren out of all people was attractive. The only person I've ever thought was attractive was Mikasa.

But suddenly, my mind immediately contradicted itself by thinking of Marco. I thought back to two days ago, when he saved me from those guys, and a couple weeks ago when he went clothes shopping with me. And when we played video games and watched TV. But it's because I'm a girl right? Yeah, I'm only paying attention to him because I'm a girl who is desperate for love.

"Well it's obvious now that Eren isn't after Jean. That means Marco still has a shot!" Christa said, making everyone smile and nod in agreement. I nearly choked on my sandwich. What.

"Yeah! the way he kept an eye on her yesterday, and when they were both boys they always looked after each other, just like a married couple. Aw, I wish I had someone like that," Sasha said, getting a dreamy look in her eyes. This was so wrong on so many levels! Sure maybe I was just a tiny bit gay, and he did look sort of attractive, but that doesn't mean anything.

Does it?

Suddenly, everything got super confusing. My mind had never felt this lost before. I needed to get to a bathroom. But when I tried to stand up, my mind told me to stay, to wait to hear more. Luckily, they moved onto a different topic, and that was my chance to run.

Call me crazy, but whenever I have a lot to think about, the bathroom stall at school always seems like the best place to do it, even if you aren't doing your business. Unfortunately, as soon as I got in there, the warning bell sounded, and I needed way more than three minutes to process my ephianies. Plus Marco was in my next class, and boy was I screwed now. I just know that I'd look at him and think, _what does he think of me?_ And he'd stare right back with his bright, brown eyes, and smile that gorgeous smile that made any girl's heart melt. And we'd talk for the entire period, and he probably would make me laugh with his odd sense of humor. It happened that way everyday, and that's how I prefer it. I wouldn't have it any other way, and if I could just be with him and his dorky self forever, well, that wouldn't be so bad I guess. If it means spending time on the weekends watching movies and playing video games like I usually do, then, that wouldn't be so bad. I hear the late bell sound, and I slowly stand up.

Did I really just admit my crush on my friend? Yes, yes I did. But I think it's okay.

God I'm such a dork.

When I open the door to go to class, I see Marco sitting there. He looks pretty worried until he turns and sees that I've walked in. He gives me a smile and I walk over to sit down. The teacher continues to blab on and on, so I take the opportunity to tell Marco where I was.

"Sorry, I just got held up at the bathroom." I know it sounded half assed, but I've just had a giant realization and holy fuck he's sitting right there in front of me. His face is scrunched up in concern, and oh my god those adorable freckles make themselves noticeable.

"Is it cramps?"

"No, I'm done with that. For now at least. The girls line was just really long and slow. Nothing new." I thanked my past self for complaining to him about the long ass lines with the chatty girls, because now there was a 95% chance of him believing in me. It seemed to work, because he dropped the subject and went straight back to work. Was Marco always this concerned for my well being? I guess I had never noticed before. The only problem was if he liked me back in the way I liked him. I didn't want to push it though. I've decided to wait until the time is right to ask. I don't know when that will be, but I just know it'll happen eventually. Call it women's intuition, if you will.


	7. Dammit Hanji

I really don't want anyone shitting on this chapter because of the recent war on Hanji's gender, so I'm gonna play it safe and call Hanji by them/they pronouns.

* * *

><p>Hanji is an... interesting type of person, if you're sugar coating it. She's not a her, but not a guy either, so we have to call Hanji Hanji (or theythem if you really have to). Not Mr./Mrs./Teacher, just Hanji. That's the first thing that's off-putting about Hanji (not that there's anything wrong with having an unspecified gender, seeing how my gender is a mystery right now). The second thing is just how weird they are. Like, Hanji is a teacher at our school, and yet they do the weirdest shit. Naming household plants, having a billion mice as class pets, and just being an over all batshit insane teacher are just a few examples I can think of. But, the good thing about Hanji is that they are undeniably smart, and nobody messes with them. I heard a rumor last year that someone tried to set one of the mice on fire, and Hanji figured it out. Then, Hanji poured some sort of hot chemical down their pants and they had to stay out of school for two whole days. But anyway, that's beside the point. The point is that I'm going in after school (with Marco and Connie since they still don't trust me alone with anyone else yet) and going to see Hanji. Apparently, they have a "surprise" for me. You know what, on second thought, maybe Marco and Connie don't trust Hanji and their "surprise" in general, not just me being alone. When I got to the lab, Hanji ran up to me with that weird grin they always have, and handed me an energy drink.

"I think I may have found a solution to your girly problem!" Hanji said, over enthusiastic as usual. I turned to Marco and Connie for reassurance, but their blank faces of confusion provided nothing helpful. I sighed, prayed, and swallowed. I waited for the effects to take place, but nothing happened. To be honest, I was a little relieved and disappointed that nothing had happened. Hanji however, was just plain disappointed. It felt really awkward just leaving them there to wallow in sadness (Hanji did have good intentions after all) so I said a quick thank you and got right on out of there with Marco and Connie right on my trail. Finally, I was free to do whatever I wanted!

...Right after I got off the toilet. When I finally had made it home, my stomach started hurting so badly I thought my intestines were going implode on me. I thought it was another period because it was the start of a new month, but it was just really, really bad stomach cramps. I had a bunch of gas come out, but I didn't feel any better no matter how much time I spent on the toilet. I still stayed though, just in case something _did_ come out. At this point, I had almost been numb to all of the pain and I just wished it would end already. So, out of complete desperation, I did the only thing I could think of: I texted Marco.

'Hey Marco'

'Hi Jane! Whats up?'

'Nothin much. Jst takin it easy at home. Hbu?'

'Yea same. Its kinda boring. Hey wait! Can I come over to your house?'

I froze. Nope, not an option.

'Oh actually moms not gonna be back for a long time. So sorry, cant come over :/'

There was a brief pause.

'Hey, whats the matter?'

Shit. That's gotta be his personal record for the time it took figuring out something wasn't right with me. But before I had time to react, another wave of pain hit me, and my phone vibrated.

'Im calling you'

My eyes widened. No no no no bad idea Marco! Abort mission! But it was too late, for my phone started to play my ringtone. At this point, I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. If I answered, he'd be able to hear the gas in the background (lord kill me if he ever heard). But if I didn't answer, he'd get worried. Oh well, maybe if I was lucky and didn't answer, he wouldn't take matters into his own hands. My phone went to voicemail, and I waited for his message.

'I'm coming over right now.' was all he said. Of course. I sighed. Dammit Marco, why do you have to be such a nice guy that I like? But wait! I still have one more shot at saving myself from a lifetime of embarrassment.

'Marco could you bring me over some pepto? My stomachs not feelin 2 hot thats why I didnt want you to come over bfor'

'Oh. Ok yea I can do that'

Oh thank god. I knew if I told him I had stomach pain he'd come over anyway, so why not just buy some time. I was feeling pretty proud for my second chance at life, until my five billionth wave of pain hit me, reminding me of why Marco was coming over in the first place.

_You're such a good boyfriend and you don't even know it._

A few minutes later, the gas stopped coming. This would've been good if not for the fact that my stomach was still churning. I washed my hands, stumbled over to the door to unlock it, and then crawled my way to the couch to lay down. My head hurt and I felt dizzy now. I didn't even care if the gas acted up while he was here anymore. I just needed my Pepto. Thankfully, I heard a knock on the door.

"It's open!" I called. He stepped in and found me sprawled all over the couch. Man, I must've looked _real_ attractive with my long, messy hair sticking to my face and said face paler than a vampire's.

"Heeey Marco. Thanks for the Pepto." I said, with my stomach growling right on cue. He just shook his head and smiled.

"What am I gonna do with you? You just can't seem to keep yourself out of trouble, can you?" I laughed. Yep, that was one thing for certain.

A movie and a half later, the medicine finally kicked in, and my head wasn't as fuzzy as it was before. In fact, it was almost completely normal. However, there was one thing that kept it from functioning properly: the fact that said head was currently resting on Marco's thigh.

Yeah. Don't even get me started on how _that_ happened. The short version of it is that he felt the need to be there until I got completely better, with a huge argument about why he didn't actually need to be there. I think I'll just fall asleep to avoid anymore arguments...

Looking back, falling asleep was probably not one of my best choices.

When I woke up I was feeling better, but I was also embarrassed because platonic friends do not fall asleep on each other's thighs even if one of them doesn't really mind. It was late at night, but he had already left. I was thankful because there was school tomorrow and I didn't want to make him suffer because of me, but at the same time I felt just a tiny bit disappointed that he was gone.

The next day in science, Hanji approached me with a timid smile.

"Uhh, yeah, about that stuff that I gave you yesterday. I accidentally carbonated it more than I thought, and that mixed with the chemicals I put in there... well, you probably figured it out." Wait. So Hanji knew the _entire time_ what was going to happen, and they didn't warn me. I guess Hanji saw the anger in my eyes, because they immediately called for class to get started. I sighed and sat down.

Dammit Hanji.


	8. Special: Valentine's Day

(Whoops this is 2 days late)

Technically I don't consider this a real chapter since it kind of falls out of line with the plot, so think of it as more of a side story (plus I couldn't resist not writing jeanmarco valentines)

* * *

><p>Valentine's day. The one day of the year where it's 100% acceptable for gross, hormonal teens make out and have sex with other gross, hormonal teens. I could tell this day was going to be just <em>fantastic<em> already. Every single year I'm forced to stare at other kids be all over each other in the hallway because our school doesn't give a shit about PDA rules. It sickens me in every way, especially because I'm sure with what I heard Sasha saying the other day, Connie would soon be joining the majority. Plus, with my newly realized crush on Marco, it'd be even harder to ignore the fact that I wasn't sharing this day with him. I sighed as I got my shoes on.

Today was going to be a long day.

Later when I arrived at school, my mood continued to be sour. Even Marco's cute freckled face couldn't lift my spirits.

"Hey Jane! Happy Valentine's day!" he greeted with a wide grin.

...

Scratch that, my day was better already.

"Hi Marco. Happy Valentine's Day," I greeted casually. I sort of wanted him to comment on who he'd pick for a Valentine, but that didn't end up happening. I could hear Sasha and Connie snicker behind me, and when I turned around, Connie was staring straight at me, smirking and making rude gestures with his hands. I was about ready to go over and punch them both in the face. Unfortunately, the warning bell sounded before I could even take a step, and the two idiots ran off giggling. I sighed.

"Guess it's time to go down the land of horny teenagers." Marco laughed a little and followed me down to our first class. But we barely took five steps before Marco suddenly stopped.

"That's right! I gotta stop at my locker first. I left my book in there." I rolled my eyes.

"Is it really that important? How do you even know we're going to be using it today?"

"Because Mr. Zacharius said we'd be using it today, remember?" Oh yeah. Well at least I actually had my book with me for once.

When we arrived at his locker, I noticed that there was something stuck to mine. Marco looked surprised too.

"I wonder who that's from?" he asked as I ripped off the envelope from my locker. Inside held a letter and a paper heart with a lollipop.

_Dear Jane,_

_This is not your secret admirer. This is Reiner telling you to give this to Marco because watching you two be around each other and not dating is killing us all._

_Love, Reiner_

_PS- Here's a thing that might help you later tonight_.

Wait, what thing was Reiner talking about? I reached into the envelope again, this time feeling something... latex and long. Without even pulling it out I knew what it was.

I don't think I've ever been more ready to murder someone in my life.

"Uhh, Jane? You okay there? The bell's about to go off you know," Marco reminded me. But suddenly, I had an idea, and I told Marco to go to class without me.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Positive. Just tell Mr. Zacharius I got held up in te bathroom or some shit." And with that, he left, leaving me to my revenge.

A few minutes after I had received Reiner's "gift," I decided he deserved a little response.

_Dear Reiner,_

_Go fuck yourself._

_Love, Jane_

_PS- You and Bertl are gonna need this more than I will, trust me._

I smiled as I slipped the letter back into the envelope, then stuck the condom on the outside of his locker. Reiner had brought this onto himself, and he was paying for it in the best of ways.

Later came lunch, and so far my day was as boring as hell, besides the fact that Reiner later confronted me, and I had to keep a straight face when he yelled at me about how much trouble we both could've been in (but mostly him). Well Reiner, maybe if you had kept the condom in it's package it would've worked out better.

"Jane! Come over here!" a farmilar voice called, pulling me out of my thoughts. Marco was right by the entrance of the school. I wondered why he was all the way over there instead of in the cafeteria. By the time I got there, he suddenly looked nervous.

"Do you wanna go somewhere for lunch?" he asked in a shy tone. Marco was confusing me.

"Uh, why not right here?" I honestly had no idea what he meant by "somewhere."

"No, I mean off campus. Where do you wanna go?" Wait, was I hearing this correctly? Marco Bodt, straight A-teacher's pet Marco Bodt, wanting to go _off_ campus, which is against the rules?

"Uh Marco, just what are you on? You do realize we could get in huge trouble if we go off, right?" Not that I really cared, but it was for Marco's sake. However, he just laughed.

"We won't get caught if we go now," he said, flashing me a small smirk which made my heart skip a beat.

"I like the way you think Mr. Bodt."

A few minutes later, we ended up at Subway. Marco knew Subway was my favorite, and if that plus everything else he does doesn't make him boyfriend material then I don't know what does. I was still curious as to why he chose today out of all days to break the rules, so I asked him about it when we sat down. He blushed a little before answering,

"Well, it is Valentine's day, and you're really important to me. You always have been, you know? So I thought we could eat lunch, just the two of us."

God damn Marco, you sure are one smooth motherfucker.

By this point I was probably blushing so hard I looked like a tomato, but he only awkwardly laughed.

"I was going to get you something, but I didn't know what, so I thought Subway would work. Sorry if you thought it was creepy or-"

"No no! It's not creepy at all. Thanks Marco," I said, almost adding "thanks for being absolutely perfect." Once we were done, he suggested going over to his place after school to play video games, to which I said hell yes.

Surprisingly, we didn't get caught at all, and I spent the rest of the day practically floating down the halls (oh god, I'm starting to sound like a romance novel).

When I finally got to Marco's house, I noticed a box of chocolates sitting on the table.

"Who're these for?" I asked, causing him to blush a little.

"My mom gave them to me, but you can have them if you want." Marco truly is a saint in disguise I swear to god.

We spent a lot of time playing Left 4 Dead (as per tradition). But I soon found myself growing bored of getting attacked by hunters over and over again, so I requested we play a round of Mario Kart. Marco looked at me like I was insane.

"Do you not remember what happened last time we played that game?" he asked. Uh, no I don't actually...

Oh wait. It's coming back to me.

_"I'm the best at Mario Kart!" I shouted._

_"Ok Jean, we'll see about that," Marco said as he rolled his eyes." A few minutes of gameplay had passed, and I had lost the first round and was quickly losing the second. I was so determined to win that round that when I jumped and tried to do the mid air speed boost, I ended up flinging the Wii remote backwards and into his window. I left a two foot crack in his window._

Yeah. That wasn't one of my best moments.

"I'll be careful this time, I _promise._" I practically beg. He sighs.

"Alright," he gave in. "But you have to pay if you break anything again." I rolled my eyes. Seriously, a person breaks a window once and suddenly they can't be trusted again.

"I'm gonna do it Marco! I'm in first place and you're in third! Your ass is dead!"

"We'll see about that, Ms. Kirstchein..." he murmured almost evilly. It was the last lap of the final race, and we were already half way through the course. He had won one race, and I had won one, so this race would determine the champion. Victory was practically in my reach.

Until he moved up to second that is.

But it's okay because I was almost there. _Just gotta keep going. Let nothing distract me._

"Hey Jane."

"Not now Marco, I'm trying to not let anything di-"

And suddenly, Marco leaned over and kissed me on the cheek.

I was frozen in place. My hands didn't move, my eyes were as wide as plates, and Marco had cheered when he got first place.

Wait a minute.

"YOU CHEATER!" I full on screamed as Marco laughed his ass off.

"Hey, I did win fair and square!" he defended when he finally stopped laughing.

"Fair and square my ass! You're really dead now!" I dropped the controller and tickled him until he couldn't breathe. His face was red from laughing so hard. I couldn't help but laugh too, and soon I was too tired to even try anymore. In fact, it was pretty late anyway.

"What time even is it?" I asked. He checked the TV clock.

"8:34. You stayed quite awhile."

"I know. Guess I should be getting home, huh." I really didn't want to leave. Being right here with Marco and forgetting all about the time was one of my favorite things to do.

"You don't have to go you know. There's no school tomorrow, and you haven't stayed over since... Well, you know," he trailed off awkwardly. I only smiled.

"Sounds fun. But one thing," Marco looked concerned for a second. "You can't cheat anymore." He smiled again.

"Well I don't know about that..."

"I'll leave right now."

"Just kidding. Geeze, you grumpy girl," he laughed, messing with my hair.

For the rest of the night, we played video games and had a giant pillow fight that resulted in a spilled cup of Coke. By the end, we were exhausted. By the time we were ready to sleep, he insisted I take the bed while he take the couch.

"No Marco, I can't let you sleep on the couch in your own home. We'll both take your bed. And don't you even worry about me. Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I'll get uncomfortable with you." He looked like he wanted to protest, but I cut him off, and he gave up. Of course, he had no idea that I lied about being uncomfortable (I mean he's the person I like so why would I not be uncomfortable and oh god what have I done maybe this was a bad idea). But I also knew Marco was a good guy, and he'd never do anything to me.

After a few minutes of getting ready, we were finally resting comfortably. Well, I wasn't actually. Marco's house was damn cold, and the sheets weren't very thick (God Marco how do you not freeze).

"Hey, are you shivering? Do you want me to warm up the house?"

"Nah, it's fine. I'll just take this extra blanket," I said as I reached over to grab an extra he had on the ground. Marco just shrugged beside me.

"Alright then. Goodnight Jane. I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight Marco." I almost added "I love you" onto the end of that, but didn't. He'd given me the best Valentine's day I'd ever had, and that was enough for me.

* * *

><p>Ah yes, doesn't it just bother you that Marco and Jane <em>still<em> aren't together? :,D Man does it bother me! Oh also, bonus Marco POV:

I honestly did not mean to kiss her during Mario Kart. I mean, I wanted to win, sure, but I wasn't even willing to go that far. I'm just thankful she thought I was trying to cheat instead of what actually came over me.

See, I've had a crush on this girl ever since she was a guy. I won't lie about that. Her, er, his facial expression when he was passionate about anything was the cutest thing I'd ever seen. My favorite times were spent with him playing video games, or even just being dorky in general. However, I'm 99% sure that Jean was straight. He just didn't seem like the type of guy to be gay, or even bi. I was selfish for wishing he only liked me and I knew it. So when he became a she, I thought of it as a golden opportunity. But she was more stressed out with being the opposite gender than I thought she'd be, and I don't want to confuse her more. Plus I'm sure she still wanted someone else besides me anyway. So now, I keep my feelings hidden, and only do subtle things, just to make her happy.

Tonight it was harder to conceal my feelings. I was sure I screwed it up when I kissed her, but she didn't even notice. And now here she was. In my bed. Which makes me uncomfortable. Which is why I wanted to sleep on the couch. At least she was completely asleep. Now maybe I could- oh god why was she scooting closer? The closer she got, the more I could feel her cold skin against my own, and I understood why she felt the need to get close. I can't even believe after I offered to warm up the house she still does _this_. I sighed and wrapped my arms around her, pressing her up against me for warmth. She nuzzled into me and I sighed again.

"You're really gonna be the death of me, you know that?" I whispered. Then, with some hesitation, I kissed her head.

"I love you, Jane."


	9. The Announcement

The first thing I noticed when I got into my last period class was one of the staff members that patrol the school for people who ditch was standing next to the teacher. He had a manilla envelope in his hands, and at first I couldn't understand why he was here.

"Hey Armin. Why is that guy here?" I whispered, pointing to the man. Armin shrugged.

"I don't know. The only time they ever come here with those envelopes is when we have to vote for a dance."

And then it hit me.

Prom. Prom was coming up. It was a little weird considering no other school has prom in February or March, but then again, our school wasn't exactly what anyone considered "normal." I had never been into school dances, but everyone (even _Annie_ out of all people) convinced me that this was the year to go. The girls were especially excited that they could go shopping with me for dresses, which made me realize that this would be my first (but thank god not the last) Prom I'd spend in a dress. A goddamn dress. What even.

But that wasn't my only concern. It was a week away, and I had no dress, no shoes, no make up skills, and no date. The first three could be fixed easily (mom was practically had a seizure when I told her that I had to go dress shopping). But as for the last one... well, it was obvious who I wanted. But I couldn't even bring myself to hint at asking or anything. My last option was just to wait and see if he'd ask me first.

Unfortunately, the subject was not dropped by the end of the day like I hoped it would be, and I had my friends and mom to thank for that.

"Jane! Who're you hoping will ask you? Franz just asked me in the sweetest way!" Hannah had said, then rambled on about flowers. She somehow attracted a large crowd of girls, who bombarded me with questions.

"Who do you think will ask you?"

"What's the color of your dress?"

"Do you need me to do your make up?"

"Can I do your hair?"

_Enough. Enough with all the questions._

"I really don't know if I want to go anymore," I stated, silencing all talk around me. Everyone stared in shock.

"Well, why not?" I gave a sigh. The crowd seemed to get more and more cramped the more I talked.

"I just... I don't know. I don't really want to think about spending my first prom in a dress instead of a tux." Ah, shit. That's not really what I wanted to say, I just can't concentrate right now. Everyone's eyes widened in surprise, then lowered in sadness. But suddenly, another voice spoke up.

"Well, then let's get you a tux!" Everyone turned to face the voice- who happened to be Ymir- in shock. Even my mouth was hanging open just a little bit.

"Uh, what exactly do you mean?" someone asked.

"I mean, it's obviously uncomfortable for Jane to be doing a bunch of girly stuff. I feel where she's coming from; I hate that chick stuff too. So, let's let her get a cute little tux for the lucky guy." I could not believe what I was hearing right now. NO GUY, and I repeat, NO GUY is going to want to dance with a girl in tuxedo. Girls who are lesbians do that shit, not me. But my jaw dropped even lower when every girl seemed on board with the idea.

"Are you all fucking insane? No guy is going to want to dance with a girl who looks like a man!" I shouted, but it was to no avail. Everyone was too excited about planning the "most gorgeous tuxedo any girl has ever worn."

God I hated everything. But thankfully, my luck changed in a matter of hours.

Later that night, my mom had somehow caught wind of the girl's plan to get me a tux. She seemed a little disappointed that I wouldn't be getting a dress, but I tried explaining that none of the girls ever listen when I tell them that I was okay being in one.

"Well, then how about you and I go shopping tonight, just the two of us, and get you a dress?" I smiled. It wasn't the best thing ever, but it was better than being in a tuxedo.

"Thanks mom."

When we arrived at the store, there were all kinds of styles. High-lows, flapper girl dresses, sequin tops (it honestly kind of concerns me that I knew the names of these before I was a girl). I didn't want a big, flashy dress, so I settled on a simple red dress that went just past my knees. It had a couple sequins at the top, which my mom was super happy about.

The next step was to get shoes. I was definitely NOT walking in high heels for the entire night, so I settled on some red flats, which once again, had a scatter of sequins. And with that, the outfit was done, excluding the make up of course.

The next day, I had to break it to the girls that I wasn't wearing a tux to prom (a lot of them, especially Ymir, were disappointed). But they barely had any time to be sad when I announced that I would be wearing a dress instead, which prompted the girls to ask if they could do my make up and hair. Eventually it would happen, but for right now, I'd have to wait and see if I even had a date.

With only a week left to go until the event, I started to get pretty nervous on what I'd do date wise. I had seen Marco every day, and it was getting harder and harder to keep my cool around him. There was one time I specifically remember where he asked me what the homework for biology was, and I ended up saying "black tuxedo" because I was imagining him in his suit.

God I am such a loser sometimes.

Finally, it was time to go home. The last class had been _so_ incredibly boring, and hard to concentrate on since I was sort of dreading having my mom experiment with her make up on me tonight. But luckily, Marco stepped in just in time to save me.

"Jane, it's been awhile since you've been over at my house. You wanna come over again so we could play some Left 4 Dead?" I nodded enthusiastically. I loved playing video games at Marco's. It was always an intense competition, and I love competition. He smiled one of his heart melting smiles.

"Great! See you at around 5 then." he said, as he walked out the doors to his car. Well, it certainly wasn't asking me to prom, but it was something pretty much equally as cool. I suppose I could live with it for now.


	10. Surprise

Five o' clock rolled around pretty fast, and I headed over to Marco's house, ready to murder virtual zombies. But when I got there, the kitchen light wasn't on as it normally was. The porch lights were on, and the entrance light was on, but not the kitchen. I tried to think nothing of it since maybe Marco forgot. But it still nagged at me in the back of my mind as I approached the front door and knocked. A muffled shout of "it's open!" was heard from inside. Okay. This was _really_ starting to get weird. Why wasn't Marco coming to the door? I mean, he _sounded_ okay. But what if that was just an act? What if he was being held captive..?

Okay, slow down. Deep breaths. Marco isn't dying.

I opened the door and noticed that at least some of the lights were on inside. That was a good sign, right? Then, I noticed a candle lit on a table.

_Why would Marco light a candle?_ I wondered as I got closer. I then discovered a note to the right of the candle. It said, 'Dear Jane,'

What.

At this point, I wondered if Marco was high off his ass, and these candles were secretly weed scented or something. But, if this note had started out like that, then there must be more around. Whatever Marco's drug-addled brain was doing, I'd figure it out (and get him sober. And question why he was drunk or high in the first place). I started to search around for more of the candles, and found one in the kitchen. It read, 'you're beautiful.' I felt my heart stop then and there. He must _really_ be high if he wrote that. Well, whatever the meaning was, I stuffed it in my pocket, and continued to search.

Ten minutes later after searching the entire bottom floor, I had found six notes. I also discovered that they had numbers on the back. The numbers were counters that told me how many notes I had found. It turns out that there were eight notes in all. Finding the last two would be no problem since they were obviously on the second floor. But that didn't matter, for I had a different problem right now. In order, all the notes read:

Dear Jane,

You're beautiful

We've been friends for a long time,

And I've always thought that you were perfect,

No matter how many things you did to get in trouble, you big dork

You've always made me smile. So...

God Marco, why do you have to be SO INCREDIBLY cheesy? Especially with me! I figured he'd have a million other people to chose from, but out of all of them, he chose me to leave sticky notes. What was the purpose of all of this anyway? I decided I'd find out once I headed up those stairs.

Once I got up, I noticed a candle on the office table. The note beside it said, 'Will you'

Will I? Will I what? I turned it over for more context, and noticed another message.

'The last note is in my room'

God Marco, you really put a lot of time and effort into this didn't you? I guess being intoxicated really does make you do stupid things. I quickly ran next door to Marco's room. He nearly gave me a heart attack when he surprised me by sitting right in front of me. I was about to question him, but he cut me off.

"I'm not good with saying words out loud, so I wrote my feelings down on sticky notes. But I do mean what I say. I've been your friend for so long, and I honestly couldn't imagine that you would turn into a girl. I was really shocked, but you're a good person, even if you do fight with Eren sometimes, and get worked up over nothing a lot," I rolled my eyes, causing him to laugh. "But back to the point. I really enjoy being with you all the time. So..." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the last sticky note. I grabbed it with my heart pounding.

'Will you go to prom with me?'

I swear I almost fainted on the spot. I had no idea whether I wanted to smile or cry, so I ended up laughing instead. All this time I thought Marco was high, and it turns out he just wanted to ask me out? I ended up collapsing from laughing so hard. Marco almost looked confused, then panicked.

"Jane? Are you-"

"No, it's fine, I'm okay," I calmed myself down before continuing to speak. "I just thought that you were high when you wrote all these. Hell, I thought you were being held captive because the lights were out! You scared the shit outta me Marco. And all you wanted to do was ask me out to prom." Marco looked completely shocked at what I was saying. Then, his face broke into a smile, and he started laughing too.

"Oh my god, that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard in my life." He ended up collapsing on the ground with me, and we laughed until our stomachs hurt. For awhile, we just laid there like the dorks we were, talking and staring up at Marco's ceiling. We let our thoughts run wild, causing me to think about prom once again. There was still a couple things that I had to ask Marco about.

"Hey Marco?"

"Hmm?"

"Why me?"

"What do you mean?" I bit my lip. On one hand, I was grateful that Marco had picked me to go to prom. But on the other, I just couldn't help but feel like there was some bigger reason behind all this.

"I mean, why'd you pick me to go to prom? You have people like Mina and plenty of other girls, and you picked me. Who would you have taken if I was still a guy?" I knew I was being selfish and ruining such a beautiful moment, but I really had to know.

"Well, maybe I'd ask Mina if I really needed to. But if niether of us had a date, I... I wouldn't mind taking you. I mean, if that was okay with you," I felt my cheeks heat up in embarrassment. "Besides, now that you're a girl, I don't have to worry about getting stuck with someone I don't like. I nodded and hummed to show I was paying attention. But there was still one more thing that weighed heavily on my mind.

"If I wasn't a girl, would you still call me beautiful? Have you really always thought that way?" He chuckled a bit. I know, sometimes my questions were awkward.

"Yeah. But I guess 'beautiful' would be the wrong word. More like, 'strong' or something. I've always admired you for that. Spending time with you has been fun, and you're one of the few people who makes sure I'm okay. So who better to take to prom then my best friend?" I smiled wide.

"I thought you said you were bad with spoken words." He laughed in response.

"Yeah. I guess I lied about that."

We ended up playing video games until nine, which was when I had to leave. It sounds pretty corny, but on the way home when I looked out to see the stars, I swore they twinkled brighter than they normally did. My thoughts were filled with prom, and boys, and how I truly felt about all this. Despite having a not-so-great time being a girl so far, there were some perks to this whole ordeal. Figuring out your love life is one of them, since now I seemed to care about that more than anything. I smiled as I continued to walk. The night was even more pleasant now that I had everything in my head sorted out. I couldn't wait to go home and dream about prom.

Wow Jane, you sure are just the cheesiest person alive thinking about that kind of stuff.

I sighed to myself. What a fantastic night this turned out to be.


	11. The Big Night pt 1 of 3

Even though the girls were still disappointed that they couldn't pick out my outfit, they didn't hesitate when it came to my hair and make up. They showed up at my door at exactly 6:30 at night. My poor mom probably had a heart attack with how many girls were standing there with make up kits, curling irons, and brushes. They were like fashion zombies, ready to feast on whatever unfortunate victim got caught in their hands. But mom was excited for them once she saw what was going on, so she let them on through. For the second time that week I internally cried as they dragged me away to the bathroom.

"No Sasha! That's not the right lipstick she needs!" I heard Christa yell.

"It's okay Chirsta. I'll put on some eyeliner to compliment it." Mikasa said as she pinched at my eye. For a girl who rarely wore any make up, Mikasa was pretty damn good. And thank GOD Ymir wasn't there, or I don't know if my face would look presentable. However, Hannah was there, and she was a huge stickler with foundation. My face was practically burning from how much she rubbed off the damn stuff every time she messed up. I was hoping that Mina would step in soon because she seemed to be doing it right before Mikasa called her over for liquid eyeliner help. They also got into fights a lot (like right now) when one of them "messed up" (I don't really know what counts as messing up, so I'd use air quotes). This experience made me pray even more that I would turn back soon, because I didn't want to have to deal with this shit.

But now that I think about it... It'd been weeks since this whole thing has happened. I should've changed back by now. That's how it works in the movies right? I started to think that I really would be stuck like this forever. I could feel my stomach clench the more I thought about it. I'd have to live on and accept that I was now a girl for the rest of my life. I'd have to accept that people would look at me like I was a freak. The doctors would take one look at my birth certificate and sigh and think of how unnatural I was. I may even end up in the news, and God knows what the media does to freaks like me. All these things I'd have to think about, and I guess I never realized how nervous I was until now. I guess it showed on my face, because I just noticed the girls trying to get my attention.

"Jane, you okay?" Hannah asked. I nodded.

"Yeah. Just a little tired." I lied. Sasha grinned.

"Now's not the time to be tired! You've got a date with Marco! How could you be tired when you've got him for the entire night?" she asked enthusiastically, making all the other girls nod with her. Sometimes I wish Sasha wasn't so damn charismatic.

"I know I do, but it still feels _so... I dunno,_ gay. Like, even if I'm a girl, when I change back it'll be weird to think that Marco took me to prom." Mikasa just rolled her eyes while Sasha giggled.

"Wow Jane, you and him are so incredibly dense when it comes to this stuff," Christa said, giggling a little bit. Seriously, what was going on here? Was everyone in on a secret that I wasn't in on?

"Marco obviously likes you. He'd do anything for you." Mina commented without looking up from her eyeliner.

"Huh? But why me?" Everyone shrugged.

"We wondered the same thing." Sasha said, trying to hide her smirk as I rolled my eyes.

"I get it, I'm an asshole, laugh it up. But I guess it's fine that Marco picked me. I'm happy." The girls turned to me with smiles that a parent would give their kid on their first day of college.

"Awwwww you're such a little cutie," Mina gushed, almost pinching my cheeks before she realized she was still working on them. I rolled my eyes again. I swear to god there were so many things wrong with these people.

An hour later, they were _finally_ finished with my make up, which just left my hair. I nearly cringed at the thought of them getting in a fight about my hair. They'd probably yank at it like it was a game of tug of war. I knew asking them beforehand not to pull too hard was pretty much useless since I asked them before to hurry up with make up, and look how that turned out.

"I think we should put her hair in a pretty braid!" Christa said. Surprisingly, all the others agreed instantly. However, that didn't mean the process was over yet.

"You should put a cute little flower clip in your hair!" Sasha practically begged.

"Hell no. You guys already did my make up, I'm not going that far." This was starting to get ridiculous. But before I could protest again, Christa whipped out a small, red clip that had a flower right on it. She quickly placed it on my head before I had a chance to react, and she looked pretty damn satisfied with herself as the other girls cooed over my new flower.

"Okay, go look in the mirror now!" Sasha shouted. Yeah, I knew that I was going to look in the mirror already. I don't think I was prepared for what I was going to see though, considering I had barely ever looked in the mirror in the time that I had been a girl. When I got to my bathroom mirror, it was like all time had stopped, and I was frozen in place.

This girl was not the Jane Kirchstein I had come to know.

This girl was ten times more attractive. This girl sparkled under the light with the small touches of make up here and there.

This girl made me realize just how further I had slipped into becoming the opposite gender. But you what? I don't care. I was starting to accept the fact that I might not be normal ever again. Sure it was hard to believe at first, but now I guess my body was stuck in the routine. I smiled and walked out of the bathroom with a new sense of confidence.

A few minutes after the girls had left to go to the school, I heard a knock at the door. I took a deep breath, then opened it to reveal Marco. I swear my breath hitched in my throat and I almost choked on my own air. He was so incredibly _gorgeous_. His suit fit him perfectly, and he seemed to had messed with his hair a little bit. He also seemed stunned upon seeing me, which I took as a compliment.

"Wow... You look... _Wow,_" I giggled at his stumbling. Maybe he really was bad with words like he said. Oh well, it made him cute all the same.

"Let's go before you stutter yourself out, huh?" A small blush appeared on his many freckles before he nodded.

By the time we had arrived at school, the party had pretty much started. I could also tell because there were people acting pretty wasted. I'm not sure if it was because someone spiked the punch or they just wanted to impress others, but either way I knew I wouldn't be drinking any liquids that didn't come from an already sealed can/bottle. I was still pretty paranoid from what happened last time.

"We should go find everyone." Marco said, and I agreed. It wasn't that hard though, since Christa and Ymir were already on the dance floor, and Reiner and Bertl were by the snacks. There was also Franz and Hannah, and it appeared that Franz and Reiner were having a corn dog eating contest while their dates looked like they wanted to barf from how much food they were stuffing their faces with.

"Uh, it kinda looks like they're busy right now, don't you think?" Marco asked me. I took the hint. He didn't want to be around those two as much as I didn't, so I nodded.

"Let's go find Eren, Armin, and Mikasa." I suggested. Marco seemed grateful for my suggestion.

Eren, Armin, and Mikasa all turned out to be by the photo booth, where Sasha and Connie were being complete dorks at the booth. I shook my head; I was embarrassed _for_ them. I could already tell this night would be one of the weirdest nights I would ever have. But compared to all this time I've experienced being the opposite gender, I somehow doubted I'd really mind.


	12. The Big Night pt 2 of 3

So far, prom had turned out to be really average and not that great. Aside from the inside jokes Marco and I shared, nothing worth mentioning had happened yet, the keyword being _yet_. But I knew that would be changing soon, since nothing ever seems to stay constant in the world of Jane/Jean Kirschstein.

And what do you know, this was the perfect moment for something strange to happen.

As soon as the song ended, another one went on, and it sort of sounded eerie, which had everyone confused. It sounded like a Halloween song, but after a few seconds of listening, I finally recognized the tune.

Someone had requested for the Ghostbusters' theme song to come on.

Fucking hell.

One by one, other people began to recognize the tune, and some snickered while others were just annoyed. Some were even demanding to know who even requested that song. I had a pretty good idea of who did it though, but I wasn't 100% sure. All I knew is that this had Sasha and Connie written all over it. Marco didn't seem to mind though, he just laughed his adorable little laugh, and we both waited for the song to end. Once it did end, a slow song (much to everyone's relief) came on, and my eyes slowly made their way toward Marco. He shyly made his way over to me, then clutched my hand. It looked like he was having a hard time forming words, and honestly, I couldn't blame him.

"W-we should dance, yeah?" I giggled a little bit and nodded. But at the same time fuck this guy for making me lose my cool and giggle like a school girl. But not _literally_ unless he wanted to of course... and I need to shut the fuck up.

The song had a slow rhythm, and the atmosphere was dreamlike, like none of this was even real, and I was just having a vision. But it was real, I reminded myself. Marco held me really close and we slow danced along with all the other couples. But with the slow, soft music and the dreamy atmosphere, I couldn't help but feel like we were the only ones there. As we were dancing, he leaned in really close to my ear.

"You look beautiful," he whispered. My face heated up and my heart went faster. And for the first time since I had been turned into a girl, I truly began to believe that I may have a chance at making Marco mine. It certainly couldn't hurt to try, right?

Well, here goes nothing.

I swallowed before I spoke. "Marco, I... There's something I want to tell you." He gave me his full attention.

"I really have liked you for a long t-time." Oh fuck, my voice just cracked. Shit shit shit abort mission. "Wow, uh, sorry for the weird voice cr-"

And suddenly, time seemed to slow down as he leaned down and kissed me. His lips were soft and he was gentle. I soon found myself kissing back with equal passion. The air seemed to grow warmer. Soon, he pulled away, gazing into my eyes with a dazzling smile. I was smiling as well.

"I know what you wanted to say. I've been waiting a long time too. I love you," was the last thing he said as the song ended. I felt like I had gone to Heaven and back. When we made our way back to the group, I saw Connie give Marco a thumbs up and a smirk, which I didn't even have to think about to guess what he was implying. All the girls that weren't talking with their boyfriends (or girlfriends) were squealing with joy. Reiner also gave me a thumbs up. Marco just laughed awkwardly while I sighed. Sometimes I think I needed new friends.

An hour later, it was around 8:00, and the party was beginning to heat up even more as the DJ brought out the extra disco lights, and- unsurprisingly- someone had spiked the punch. Now there was games of beer pong and other alcohol related activities going on. Vice Principle Levi looked like he was about ready to explode with all the shit he had to deal with. Thankfully for him, it was only another hour before the kids finally left. I was about ready to suggest to Marco that we go home and play video games (and maybe even make out a little, wink wink nudge nudge). But I barely got to take two steps before Reiner tapped me on the shoulder.

"Uh, do you know that guy?" he asked, motioning toward the doorway. I looked in his direction, noticing a tall man standing right by the door. I shrugged.

"No. But he's probably a chaperone or some shit. Why do you ask?" Reiner's facial expression turned slightly concerned.

"Uh, yeah, he only just showed up now. Like, I just saw him walk in the door. He's been staring at us for the past five minutes." Oh my god. Reiner was seriously starting to creep me out. No Jane, just calm down. This was obviously one of Reiner's lame pranks he had planned with Connie or Eren or some shit.

"Heh, that's real funny Reiner. You almost had me going for a sec." I said, unsure of my own words. But his face showed no sign of change. I swallowed. Usually Reiner was the first one to laugh in a prank, but this time he looked serious. "Seriously Reiner, you can stop now. This isn't funny anymore." Reiner shook his head.

"We gotta tell Levi." I had never heard someone more serious in my life, and I began to get scared. It made matters even worse when the group approached us.

"Hey Jane, you don't really look so good," Armin commented. The rest of them were concerned too. I decided to break the news as gently as possible.

"I don't really want to alarm you guys or anything but there's a guy over there who's been staring at us for the past five minutes," Some of them gasped in horror, and I tried to calm them down. "Hey, it's fine! He's probably just a late chaperone. If we're overreacting then we overreact. Better safe than sorry."

And no sooner had I spoke those words than I heard a shot ring out in the gym.

Everyone jumped in surprise, and some even screamed. I looked to where the man was standing, only to see that he had had a shotgun this entire time.

"Get down on the floor now!" he yelled. A couple people yelped and did as they were told immediately. My heart raced as I scanned the scene. Sasha looked like she was about to cry while Connie held her close. Bertholdt curled himself up in small ball and Reiner sat right in front of him, as if he was trying to shield him. I suddenly felt someone's body shielding mine and I almost yelped myself until I realized it was Marco.

"What are you doing?" I hissed. "You're going to get yourself killed!"

"Shhh!" I was about to protest again, when the guy with the gun shouted an announcement.

"You are all to remain silent and on the ground while I search around the place. If I come back to find one of you had moved, everyone gets shot, got it?" I hear Christa let out a soft whimper somewhere from behind me, and even Ymir's whispers of reassurance don't help the situation.

Then suddenly, without warning, the man turned around fast. He marched right up to Christa, pulled her up by her arm, and aimed the gun to her head.

_Oh shit._

* * *

><p>I'm so sorry<p> 


	13. The Big Night pt 3 of 3

"What did I say about _not_ talking?" the man whispered dangerously to Christa. The poor blonde looked like she was about ready to cry, especially when he put his finger to the trigger. Ymir fumed and looked about ready to punch him in the face. Everyone was so scared. This was so wrong. Everything was wrong. This wasn't how prom was supposed to go at all. And me, having the shitiest luck in the world, was tired of everything going wrong. Being turned into a girl was terrible enough. But this? This was bullshit.

And then something sparked within me.

I wasn't scared anymore. Now I was just angry. And when Jane Kirchstein gets angry, she tends to act without thinking. Which is exactly what I intended to do.

"Hey, asshole! Leave her the fuck alone!" I called to him. Everyone gasped at the sudden outburst, and Marco tensed up, trying desperately to cover my mouth. But it was too late. The guy dropped Christa and angrily made his way over to me. He then jerked me up by the wrist and pointed the gun to my head. I started to panic just a little bit, but it was too late to back out of what shitstorm I had gotten myself into.

"You better have a damn good reason you just spoke without permission." I could practically see the rage in his eyes as he spoke.

"I do actually. I was going to say if you're going to shoot anyone, shoot me!" Everyone gasped even louder. I chanced a glance back at Marco, who had a mix of terror and hurt on his face. I winced slightly.

_Jane what the fuck are you doing stop it right now before you get yourself killed you idiot_.

"And why should I shoot you?" he asked almost mockingly. I almost froze. I didn't have an answer. I didn't actually know why I said that in the first place. But before I could even think of something good, I suddenly saw something just below my peripheral vision. Something, no, someone was silently crawling along the ground. I nearly gasped in surprise as I realized that it was Vice Principal Levi who was crawling. And in that moment, I knew exactly what to do.

See, here's the thing about Levi: he may be short, but he was without a doubt one of the best fighters I had ever seen. Whenever there's a fight in the hallway, Levi nearly knocks out the teeth out of whoever started it, or both if he has to. One time I saw Eren come back to class with bruises all over his face, a bloody nose, and both black eyes. He told everyone not to ever be rude to Levi when he tells you to stop fighting, and since then, hasn't got into anymore fist fights. So right away, when I see him sneaking up on the dude, I know his plan. I resisted the urge not to smile, and kept talking to distract him.

"Why? Because my life is absolute _shit_. Ever since about a month ago, God or whoever the fuck runs fate has been shitting on me for no goddamn reason. I got people hating me for something I can't control, hell, I was almost _raped_," Everyone around me looks terrified at this point, and some even a little sad. Of course everyone also knew what I was actually referring to, unlike the man who was currently about to murder me. Luckily, Levi had just reached us, and he was just beginning to stand. Some of the other students noticed too. I figured this was my last chance to figure out how to convince this guy I was fine with getting shot. "So, how about it, huh? Do you wanna have a go at me or what?" The man looked like he was seriously contemplating his options. Levi was now fully in attack position. I smiled.

"Time's up."

It was at that moment that Levi sprang up from his position and tackled him forward. I used that time to yank my hand out of his grasp before he fell to the floor. A shot rang out in the gym when he hit the floor, making everyone scream. While Levi was beating the guy up, the other students took the chance and ran for the exits. I looked back at Levi who seemed to give me a "you better go, I don't need help" look as he beat the guy unconscious. I silently thanked him in my head, then turned to look for Marco. In the chaos, I managed to find him laying on the ground still.

"Marco! Marco get up we gotta go!" I yelled as I made my way over to him. It was then that I noticed that he was clutching his arm in agony. I froze.

No. No way. This could not be happening.

Blood pooled around his arm, and I quickly realized that _he_ was the one who had gotten shot. And once again, I had gone into panic mode.

"Marco! Oh my god Marco it's alright! Please stay with me we're going to get you to a doctor." I ran over and lifted him up bridal style.

"Jane, no. You gotta get outta he-"

"No Marco! I'm not leaving you behind!" With all the adrenaline in my body, I managed to power through the crowd and to the outside where police cars were already lined up and waiting. I spotted an ambulance from three spots away, and I almost cheered. The paramedics stationed by it are already rushing to me.

"Please help him! He got shot in the arm!" I tell them. They take him from my arms and I'm so exhausted from the adrenaline that I collapse on the ground. The last thing I see before my world goes black is the paramedics rushing toward me.

_From what I can tell, I'm out in the middle of a dusty street. It's hot, and I'm wearing something around my mouth to keep the smell of death out of my lungs. Why does it smell like this anyway? I glance around to see the dead bodies lined up and down the street and suppress the urge to vomit. Now I understand why. But these people, hell, this place was unlike any I had ever seen. Yet, somehow I thought I knew all of this. And right now, my task was to identify dead bodies. I still didn't know why, but I knew I had to._

_As I keep walking, I realize that I know none of these people. I'm about ready to give up when I spot one more body among them all. The body is deathly pale, one of it's sides is missing completely, with it's ribs sticking out. But the worst part is, I recognize the body._

_"Marco? Is that you?" I can feel my heart beginning to race as my head spins._

_This can't be happening. This can't be-"_

"Marco!" I call out as I jolt awake. Looking around, I notice I'm in the hospital, and all the events come rushing back at once. Well, it wasn't much better than being in my dream, but at least I knew we were safe. And that Marco wasn't dead.

Unless...

Oh hell no, I'm not thinking about that. I look over my hospital bed and find that he's sleeping in the bad beside mine, to which I am relieved. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding, and I guess he hears it, because he stirs beside me. Then, he sits up, blinks a couple times, and gives me a smile. God he's too cute.

"Hey Jane. How're you-" He can't even get that out before I get up and nearly crush him (I can't really crush him because of the whole bullet-in-the-arm thing) with a hug. He hugs me back gently, and rubs circles into my back.

"I was really worried about you," I whisper. I know I sound helpless and stupid, but I just really am glad he's alive. He presses a kiss to my head.

"Yeah, but I'm better now, so you don't have to worry," He then gets a serious look on his face and stares straight at me. "But you had me worried too!"

"Hah?"

He almost looks like he's going to explode. "First you called him an asshole, which would've gotten you killed by the way! Then he stuck a gun to your head, then you kept talking about wanting to die and now I'm confused. You gotta explain this to me, because fuck it I'm done trying to understand you without an explanation!" I just blinked. This was the first time I'd ever heard him say 'fuck.' Plus, Marco sounded so exasperated that I couldn't help but snort with laughter. I ended up laughing so hard that my stomach hurt, and even he couldn't help but crack a smile. Once I calmed down, I figured I owed him an explanation.

"I called him an asshole to distract him from shooting Christa. I didn't know if he'd shoot me, but I took my chances. And it looks like I did pretty well if I do say so myself, which I do," I smirked at him, but he wasn't amused by my impressive feat in the least. Psh, whatever. "Anyway, when I talked about dying, I didn't really mean what I said. Sure I thought my life was pretty shitty, but not shitty enough to want to die. P-plus, if I had to die, I wouldn't be able to see you anymore." His eyes widened upon hearing my embarrassing last sentence. Dammit emotions, why can't you just let me think straight for one second? He didn't seem to mind though, and he closes the space in between us, bringing his lips to mine.

We spent the rest of the night together, and it's simultaneously one of the best and worst nights of my life.


	14. End

Morning came faster than I would've liked, and the first thing I discovered when I woke up was that my and Marco's parents were here to see us. In fact, they had been here since around midnight, but were told that we were resting, and that they could see us in the morning, when we could be released.

But, uh, we weren't _really_ "resting" per se.

See, things started to get pretty heated after the second kiss, and long story short... well, let's just say neither of us have our v-cards anymore.

Yeeahh.

Cue nervous laughter.

But all that aside, it was nice, and I'm kinda glad that my first time was with him and not some random girl or guy in someone else's house. But, I figured I probably should get dressed because the doctors might be coming soon. I looked around for my dress, which I assumed was on the round, when I noticed that something felt off. My chest didn't feel as heavy as it usually did, and neither did my hair. I ran a hand down my hair line to discover that it was short once again. I looked down at my chest only to discover that my boobs weren't there anymore.

_****I just have a normal chest. My hair isn't long_.

It took a while for that to sink in, but when it did, I almost screamed. Instead I let out a loud gasp and flipped out of the bed.

Not the best reaction on my part.

"Jane what was that? Are you okay?" I heard Marco's slightly sleepy but panicked voice call out. I had never smiled so hard in my life.

"Not Jane anymore," I called out in my normal, deep voice. Man did that feel good!

"Wait wait wait!" Marco quickly looked over the edge and gasped loudly too. Then he smiled so hard I thought his face was going to break.

"Jean! You're back!"

"Hell yeah I am! And thank God, being a girl is _definitely_ not my thing. 0/10 would not recommend." Marco laughed and hopped down to where I was as I stood up.

"Yeah I'm glad too. I always preferred your muscles over your girly arms."

"Uh, okay. Marco I know you're not trying to be creepy and I'm glad you like them, but that was kind of creepy." Marco frowned and punched me in the arm.

"Shut up. You know I'm not good with words." I couldn't help but smile at him.

"So what are we gonna do now anyway? My parents and your parents are standing out there waiting for us," I was about to ask him what he thought, when I realized something else embarrassing. "Aaand I'm still in a dress." I sighed and rubbed my temples.

"At least your parents know and will be happy that you've turned back," Marco tried to offer. Yeah, he was right on that one thing. Still, I didn't want to leave the hospital wearing a dress.

"You're just gonna have to put up with it," Marco said as he helped me up and guided me toward the door.

When he opened the door, we saw our parents' slightly panicked yet very relieved faces. They ran up to us and hugged us until we couldn't breathe.

"Jean! You're back to normal!" my mom nearly yelled in excitement.

"Yeah but I'm in a dress." She just rolled her eyes and squeezed me more. Meanwhile, Marco's mom was doing some babying of her own, and I couldn't help but smirk at Marco's pain.

"Oh Marco, I thought you were dead! I'm so glad he only got you in the arm but oh I just feel so bad. Are you still in pain? Do you-?"

"No mom, I'm fine. But I'm not going to be fine if you hug me any tighter," he said in exasperation, and I could tell he wanted to groan. Mrs. Bodt let go of him, giving a sheepish smile. They talked with the doctors, got Marco medication, and sent us on our way home. I could tell that I was going to have a hard time adjusting back to normal, but it was certainly a wild ride, that was for damn sure.

-Two years later-

"Jean you better hurry up! We're going to be late for Christa's party!"

"Yeah, yeah just let me find my shirt." Marco was currently in the bathroom in our dorm, the one we shared now that we were in college. Two years we had been dating, and right now we had been invited to a little get together, to make up for the prom that didn't go so well. Also, I guess it was Christa and Ymir's way of thanking me for almost getting myself killed two years ago. Now I just needed a shirt, because hey, I'm still pretty lazy when it comes to getting dressed. But at the same time, I felt like something else was missing. Like I could've sworn that there was something I was supposed to find. I decided to rummage around my drawers, hoping that whatever I thought it was would suddenly pop out at me. I was so concentrated on trying to find the item that I almost didn't hear Marco come out of the bathroom.

"What are you even searching for? All you need is a shirt right?" he asked as he grabbed the keys and his hoodie.

"Yeah I know. I was just trying to find my..." I froze. Oh my god. It occurred to me just now that the item I was trying to find was a bra. My bra.

I just fucking forgot that I wasn't a girl anymore.

I slammed my head against the drawer and groaned loudly. I was so done with everything already.

"Jean! Hey are you okay?" Marco asked in a slight panic.

"Yeah I'm fine. Just... just let me get a shirt."

"What were you even trying to find?"

"Nothing!" I nearly squeaked out as I quickly slipped my shirt on. Marco looked like he didn't believe me, but decided not to question it. Instead, he laced his fingers into mine and hummed a little.

"You know what I just realized?" he suddenly asked.

"What?"

"After tonight, it'll have been two years since we started dating."

"You just now realized that?" He punched me in the arm, and I had to stifle a laugh (which didn't turn out well).

"Shut up. I'm surprised you even remembered considering you forget to do over half the essays that are assigned to you."

Now it was my turn to punch him in the arm. "Whatever, I remember the important stuff!" I said proudly. He stopped, turned to me, and gave me a quick kiss.

"That you do," he whispered as he leaned in for another kiss. When we pulled away, I smiled.

"I love you, Marco."

"I love you too, Jean."

* * *

><p>(sorry for the extremely late update!) Wow what a wild ride! Thank you to everyone who read this, I hope you enjoyed it! Remember that reviews are always appreciated, and feel free to also talk to me on Tumblr if you want :P (my URL is lemonkiwii).<p> 


End file.

Shingeki no Kyojin/進撃の巨人, Humor, Romance