Ties That Bind

Growing Closer

Chapter III

"Let's go to our home, it's mine and yours for tonight."

Those words echoed in her head as they were going to Eren's apartment.

On their way there, none of them have said a single word to each other yet. Eren was determined to give the girl he just met a home, a shelter, and Mikasa was just stuck in her thoughts.

She kept thinking to herself, 'Why is he doing this? Why is he being so nice to me? Does he want something from me?' and more importantly, Why does he make her feel this really foreign feeling, a feeling that she has never ever felt before.

Mikasa thought maybe it's just the cold weather getting to her head.

Eren was really determined to help this girl. He was still holding her by the sleeve on their way to his apartment, and then his inner thoughts starts to form, 'Should i stop holding her? Is she uncomfortable with me doing this?' He then took a glance at her.

He can see that she's too busy thinking about something right now, but then he noticed that she was holding up the scarf with her other hand to cover up half of her face.

"It's warm right?" He asked.

"Hm?" It seems that his words broke her out of her deep thought.

"The scarf. It's warm right?" He repeated.

"Y-yeah." but then she noticed that Eren had given her everything that was supposed to keep him warm. his jacket and his scarf was on her, and all he was left with was his gray t-shirt, jeans, and black shoes.

"Oh!" She realized, "I'm so sorry! here--" Eren had stopped her when she tried taking off her jacket or rather his.

"No!! It's fine!!" Eren knew that he was fine. He thought about how the girl he just met earlier gave him all the warmth he could've ever asked for, just by her mere presence.

"B-but.. Aren't you cold Eren?" She asked with a worried tone.

"I'm fine, I don't need a jacket to keep me warm. You've already given me all the warmth i need" He said.

She felt her heart flutter when she heard his word. 'All the warmth you need?' She thought.

But then suddenly she stopped thinking about what he said when she felt heat rising to her cheeks.

Her skin was super pale, so even the tiniest blush was really obvious.

Eren took a glance at her. noticing that she was turning red, Eren smiled.

She knew that he was looking at her, So she quickly tried to pull up her scarf to cover her blushing red cheeks.

The rest of the way back was fairly quiet.

When they got to the apartment complex, they were greeted by a cheerful blonde old man.

"Oi Eren!!" The man greeted.

"Hannes-san!" Eren cheerfully responded.

"Where have you been kid? You're usually back earlier than now." The man asked curiously, with a little worried tone in his voice.

"Oh. well.. i left my scarf at work. so i went back, and then i met her, and we talked over some coffee and brownies at the café."

The man hadn't noticed her until now, he was really fixated on asking Eren where he was, because ever since Carla and Grisha died, he had treated Eren like he was his own.

"So she's staying at your place, right kid?" Hannes asked.

"Yeah of course." Eren quickly spoke.

"Okay then kids, have fun. just don't sleep on the same bed while you're at it, okay?" Hannes jokingly said, and then he gave Mikasa a friendly wink.

Hearing those words from an adult made both of the teenagers blush in embarassment . Mikasa just pulled up her scarf, while Eren was getting a bit flustered.

"O-okay, Hannes-san! Gotta go!" Eren hastily took Mikasa's hand and pulled her onwards.

Both of the teenagers left as they head for Eren's apartment door and quickly entering it.

Hannes was then left alone all by himself, He chuckled, and spoke to himself. "I'm proud of him, Seems like he grew up to be an independent man, I wish you two were here to see him." He sighed, "Well, time to get hammered."

As they both entered the apartment Mikasa quickly observed her surroundings. The beige walls and the dark wooden floor gave his home a unique feeling, a homey feeling.

She noticed that he was still holding her hand, his grip on her was tight like he didn't want to let her go anytime soon and his hands were rough but his touch was really gentle and soft.

She didn't know whether it was out of instinct or what, but she returned his tight grip.

Eren felt her soft and smooth hand hold onto his rough skin, and it sent a jolt of electricity up his spine.

He didn't understand or even know what this feeling was, but it felt great.

Eren then looked at his hand that's holding her's and then took a glance to see her face.

As both pairs of eyes meet and their gaze locked onto each other. Eren felt another jolt go up his spine and she felt the same thing.

They locked their gaze for about a minute straight, Until Eren decided to tear away his gaze because he felt himself getting more red by the second.

Mikasa, who was looking very deep into his eyes, noticed the unique color that it had, It was a mixture of blue, green, and gold.

She didn't know why but she had never felt more alive in her entire life until this very moment. She felt herself blush again, but didn't even bother to even cover it up anymore.

After Eren tore away his gaze, he took a deep breath in order to regain his confidence.

"Come on." He began, "The room is this way."

Mikasa nodded.

Eren then pulled her towards the room.

It seems like her grip on his hand has fully sank into him, since he forgot that he was holding her hand in the first place. For some reason, It felt natural for him to be holding her hand.

As both parties entered the room, Eren turned on the light.

She saw a really comfortable looking bed with night stands by each side, a walk-in closet in the left side of the wall, and a door on the right, which she assumed, was a bathroom.

Eren gave her a few seconds to take in all of the environment before finally speaking, "So.. You like it?"

"I love it." She smiled, "Thank you, Eren. For everything."

"You're welcome." He grinned, "By the way, do you have any clothes to sleep in?"

"Not really." She said.

"Okay, then. You wait here, I'll grab a clean shirt and a pair of shorts for you." He then left the room.

After a few minutes, he finally returned with a white t-shirt and a pair of black shorts.

"Here." He handed over the clothes. "You can change in the bathroom, it's the door on the right."

She nodded and preceded to enter the bathroom.

Not to long after, she was finally done changing and came out of the bathroom.

His clothes actually fit her suprisingly well.

Eren was shocked at the sight of her womanly figure.

A string of words started to form within his head, like, 'If i was a girl, I'd turn lesbian at the sight of you.'

But Eren knew to keep his manners to make sure she felt comfortable, and he said in awe, "You look like an angel right now."

Hearing his words made her blush and in turn seeing her blush made him blush as well.

Eren got a bit flustered after what happened and just said, "W-well, G-good night!!" and left the room.

"Good night." She said under her breath.

The next morning..

Eren slept really well that night. Maybe because he knew he wasn't alone in his apartment like usual.

He quickly hopped out of bed and went to the bathroom to wash his face and tidy up his hair, because he always get serious bed hair.

As Eren went out of his room, he noticed that nothing had changed and the door was still locked from the inside, which means she was still here.

Eren smiled at the thought of the girl he met last night and laughed silently at the awkward moments they shared that night.

Eren look at the palm of his hand that was holding her hand last night.

He then remembered what her hand felt like within his grip. to be honest, he really enjoyed holding her hand, she gave him hope, something that he had lost a long time ago.

It was as if god had given him a new leg to replace the old one that he had lost.

And then he remembered the awkward stare the shared together.

Her piercing dark grey eyes were staring into his. He didn't know what he was feeling as they stared deeply into each other. It felt like he had butterflies in his stomach and he didn't really know why he felt like that. but then he started remembering her blushing face, it was the most adorable thing to him, and thinking about it started to make his face turn red as well.

So he pushed those thoughts to the side and started to think what to make for breakfast, knowing that she was going to wake up soon. So he decided to make something he knew best, Scrambled Eggs.

Mikasa woke up by the sound of the racket outside of her door.

She woke up staring at the ceiling and quickly realized that it wasn't her ceiling.

But then she heard a voice yelling from outside the door, "Ah shit!! My foot!!"

And then she remembered the events that occured last night with him, with Eren.

How he gave her his scarf to keep her out of the cold, how he fed her brownies and gave her coffee, how he gave her shelter in his home.

She then got up and opened the door, her room was right across from the kitchen so she instantly saw his effort at trying to cook.

It seems he was too focused and determined at cooking the eggs to even notice that she had already woken up.

Mikasa walked into the kitchen and took a seat at one of the stools.

Eren finally noticed that she was already awake and he quickly greeted her.

"Hey there sleepyhead!"

"Hi." she yawned, she still felt sleepy because it was the first good night's rest that she had in a really long time.

"I made some hot chocolate for you. It's over there." He pointed.

"Thank you." She quietly said.

"You're welcome. By the way, are you in any way alergic to eggs?" He asked.

"Not at all, Why?"

He let out his breath, Thank god, he thought.

"I made you some scrambled eggs for breakfast."

She then took a sip of the hot chocolate, and it tasted really good.

"Why are you doing this, Eren?" Mikasa curiously asked.

"What do you mean?" Eren hastily asked her.

"I mean, why are you doing all of these nice things to me? We've only met last night and you've already done more than enough to help me."

Eren shrugged, "I don't know. seems like the right thing to do, i guess."

That wasn't really an answer but she nodded anyway.

"Here." He then set down her plate of scrambled eggs. "I hope you like it."

She then took a small piece with her fork and tasted it.

Eren was worried that she didn't like it, because to him, his cooking was never good enough.

Mikasa's eyes grew wider as she tasted the food that the boy made for her. It was the next best thing that she had ever tasted besides her mother's cooking.

Eren felt joyful as he saw her expression, and so he asked.

"You like it?"

"It tastes.. amazing, Eren."

"Well, I'm glad." Eren tried to conceal his super excited and happy expression. She was the first person besides himself who has ever tasted his cooking, and he was relieved that it didn't taste like crap.

Both of them sat quietly across from each other as they finish their breakfast.

"So.." He started, "I'm going out for a walk today, do you want to join me?"

She was a bit startled by his sudden words that broke the quiet atmosphere.

She remembered that today she had to move her stuff out of her old apartment and try to find a new place.

"I can't." she said. "I need to move my stuff out of my old apartment and find a new one to stay in."

"Oh that's right." He remembered. Eren for some reason didn't want to part from the girl he just met last night, because she made him able to feel feelings again apart from sadness and loneliness.

"Why not come live with me instead? You know very well that i only live by myself, and your company would be nice."

She was again, suprised by his offer. She kept wondering just why in the world would he offer something like this to a person he had only met the night before.

"But why Eren?" She asked.

"Why what?"

"Why are you offering me something like this? We barely know each other and we literally met last night. I thought last night you said, for tonight"

"It was that for last night, but now it can be from now and forever." He said.

'Forever?' She thought. 'What does he mean by that? Does he like me or something?'

'No, It can't be that.' She said to herself. 'How could you be interested in someone by just taking care of them for an entire night?'

It seems that his words really made her go into really deep thinking, so he gave her a few minutes to think about it.

After a while, he spoke, "So, what do you think?"

She didn't hear his words and kept staring blankly at the table while still thinking.

He spoke again, "Um.. Mikasa? What do you think?"

"O-okay, sure." She responded.

"Yeah?" He asked again, just to make sure.

She let out her breath, "Yes, Eren. I'll live with you."

Her answer made him really happy, really happy. Eren was really excited to finally have someone live with him, The last person he lived with was Mr. Hannes and that was about a few years ago.

Eren stood up, and said, "Alright then. Let's go sleepyhead!"

"Go where, Eren?" She asked with a suprised tone.

"Get your stuff, duh." Eren gave her a smile.

"Oh--" Her words were then interrupted by the sudden knock on the door.

"Hold that thought." He said. "I'll check it out."

Eren then took a look through the small peep hole of the door and saw that the one knocking was Armin, So he opened the door.

"Hey Armin!" Eren greeted. "What's up?"

Mikasa was curious as to who Eren was talking to, so she stood a few meters behind him to see.

"Hey Eren, I wanted to ask--" Armin stopped in the middle of his speech when he noticed the girl behind his friend.

"Oh! Sorry, i didn't know i was interrupting something. I'll come back later." Armin said.

Eren was confused for a second and asked, "What do you mean Armin?"

"You know, the girl."

Realizing that Mikasa was standing behind him, Eren quickly introduced her to Armin.

"Oh yeah. Mikasa this is Armin, He's my childhood friend. Armin this is Mikasa, She's my.." Eren stopped talking when he realized he didn't know what she was to him.

But something in his mind made him slipped his tongue and made him say "..girl.."

Eren felt embarrased by his mistake but then he noticed he wasn't the only one turning red.

"I mean--" Eren quickly tried to fix his mistake but Armin had already interrupted him.

"Hi there! It's nice to meet you!" Armin cheerfully greeted.

Mikasa gave him a small wave, while simultaneously trying to cover her beet red face with the shirt she was wearing.

Armin continued, "I didn't know Eren had a girlfriend until now. You guys weren't sleeping together were you?"

Eren quickly denied his friend's question. "No, Armin!! We weren't!! And for the record she's my.."

Eren had quickly thought of the word roommate but then the first words that came to mind slipped out of his tongue, making him say "girl.." and "..friend" altogether.

"That's what i said wasn't it?" Armin asked while giving a smirk, he knew his friend better than anybody and he definitely knew that he messes up his words whenever he's flustered.

Eren was trying to fix his mistakes again until Mikasa grabbed his hand and said, "We're.. roommates.."

"Oh.. I see" Armin said, "So why are you two holding hands?" He asked in a teasing way.

"Oi Armin!! Stopped being so nosy will you!!" Eren shouted. "Just tell me why you're even here!!"

Armin smiled, He's happy seeing his friend finally showing more emotion like back when they were kids, back when he still had loving and caring parents.

"Nevermind, maybe next week. I'll let you spend this day with your girlfriend." He teased. "See ya!!" Armin then ran away from Eren's apartment.

"Sorry about that." Eren apologized, He took a glance at her and noticed that her face was really really red.

He tighten his grip on her hands and asked, "Mikasa, are you okay? You're not cold are you? You're face is beet red right now."

Realizing that she was blushing way harder that she initally thought. She responded nerveously, "N-n-no, Eren. It's-- I mean, I'm--" Embarrased by the fact that she blundered all of her words, She quietly said "L-let's just change f-first, after t-that we'll go get my s-stuff."

Eren nodded, He grabbed her other hand and leaned his head closer to hers. With a worried tone in his voice, He said, "If you're not feeling okay, you can just tell me and I'll go get your stuff for you myself, okay?"

Their heads were literally touching each other, Eren was worried about his new roommate but didn't seem to even notice that she felt really embarrased by his action.

They were holding each others hands and their faces were merely inches from each other.

Since Mikasa have seen a lot of couples around her, she knew that this was an intimate thing that couples do, but Eren on the other hand, was completly oblivious about his own action.

After a while, Mikasa finally gathered her courage and spoke, "I-I'm fine, Eren."

He then released one of his hands and brushed her cheek, "Well, I'm glad you're okay." He whispered to her.

As their eyes finally lock onto each other, Eren felt a jolt of electricity go up his spine. He felt himself turn red after he'd just realized what he did.

He nearly choked, "Oh! I'm-- I-- I didn't-- I wasn't--" Eren didn't seem to know what he wanted to say or how to even say it.

Seeing him like this made her giggle since he's really cute when he's flustered.

She retook his hand that previously let go of hers.

"Eren." She called his name.

As Eren looked into her eyes, She gave him a smile and said, "It's fine." Before releasing her grip on both of his hands.

"Right. Sorry. Let's just get ready." He said.

She nodded, and entered the room she stayed in to get changed.

She leaned her back against the door.

She could feel her heart beating really fast, She didn't know what she was feeling, and how he managed to make her feel like that.

She thought to herself, 'Maybe he doesn't like me, Maybe i like him. What else other than that could explain how i feel right now.'

She felt herself smile before setting away those thoughts and getting ready.

As Eren entered his room, he shut the door immediately and went to the bathroom.

He looked at his own reflection in the mirror and saw how his face was really red. So he took a bit of water and splashed it onto his face to calm himself down.

He started thinking, 'What the hell is going on with me right now? Why do i feel so weird and nerveous? I don't like her like that do i? No, I don't.'

Eren took another look at his reflection and saw that his ears were red. He didn't know what to think except 'Oh.'

He felt that he was taking way too long thinking about what just happened. So he just decided to discard those thoughts and get ready.

Mikasa waited outside of her door for Eren. She wore everything that she wore last night before she met Eren, But she didn't wear his scarf or jacket again since she thought that she would just give it back to him.

Eren finally came out wearing a simple white t-shirt, jeans, and a brown leather jacket.

He noticed that she wasn't wearing anything to protect her from the cold weather outside. So he told her. "You can wear the jacket, Mikasa." he paused, "And the scarf too."

"But, Eren--" She said before being interrupted.

"No more buts, Just wear it."

She nodded and continued to wear the pair of clothing that he had lent her.

They walked beside each other in relative silence for most of the way to her old place.

It didn't take too long for them to get her stuff and go back, since she only had about two boxes worth of stuff.

As they were making their way back to Eren's apartment, That's now their apartment. They encountered Mr. Hannes.

"Hey kids! The old man greeted.

"Hey Hannes-san!" He greeted back.

While Mikasa just nodded at him.

"So, What are you doing with the boxes?" The old blonde curiously asked.

"She's moving in with me, Hannes-san."

"Oh?" He questioned while rising an eyebrow.

"That's right, Eren said that i could move in with him." She said.

"Oh, well okay then. Have fun kids!" He cheerfully said.

"Will do, Hannes-san!"

"Just, don't go too far. Okay kids? You're still fifteen after all." He chuckled.

"Wha-- What are you talking about, Hannes-san?" Eren asked.

Mikasa felt a bit embarrased and blushed because she know fully well what the adult meant.

"L-let's go, Eren." She said.

"Oh right, See you later, Hannes-san!" Eren said his goodbye.

"See ya, kids!

The two teenagers quickly entered their apartment and set down the boxes in her new room.

Eren helped her unpack all of her things and it didn't take too long to tidy up all of it.

Both of them sat down on the living room couch to rest after moving her in.

Eren looked over at Mikasa who was seemingly very lost in her thoughts.

He smiled, "You wanna have lunch? It's already time anyway."

His words startled her a bit because shewas very lost in her thoughts, She responded "Are you cooking?"

"If you want, sure." He happily said.

"Then yes." She smiled.

He then cooked for the both of them with a bit of her help along the way.

And they spend the entire rest of the day getting to know each other.

It's weird how fate always seems to work like that, you think something happened out of random chance, but it's never like that. every small step that you take will always lead to something bigger.

Like how he met her just last night, how he took a small step foward to help her and how it'll affect his own world in the future.

It seems like they really enjoyed each others company to even notice that time had move foward without them knowing.

"We should probably head to bed right about now. It's pretty late." He suggested.

She yawned, "Mmm-kay."

He smiled, "Good night, Mikasa."

She returned his smile, "Good night, Eren."