A/N: Hello, everyone! Long time, no see! Sorry for not updating sooner. To be honest, I lost the desire to even write for a long time because college is draining. Oh, it's like riding a bike though. Except the bike is on fire and you're on a tight rope 1,000 feet in the air and did I mention you're in hell? Ugh...So speech is over with. I HATED that class, mainly because my teacher always singled me out...but I still passed his class, hopefully with an A. I gotta go back for summer though...*sigh*
I'm sorry to have just bored you all to death with meaningless bullshit. I'll shut up. XD Enjoy the chapter!
Thanks to Dr. Archangel for another chapter!
"Eren! Mikasa!"
Mikasa turned around to the sound of her name, Eren also alerted at the mention of his. The voice belonged to a girl with brunette hair tied back in a pony tail. They both recognized her as Sasha, a girl who regularly came into the coffee shop and also the one who invited them to this party. She was running toward them, a bright grin on her face. "You guys came! I'm so happy!"
Sasha was the one who had organized this entire event. Though Eren barely knew her, Mikasa had quickly found Sasha to be a good friend. At times, she seemeda little eccentric and silly. But overall, Sasha proved herself to be a reliable and trustworthy person.
Their hostess stopped in front of them briefly. "Hope you enjoy yourselves. I worked really hard to do something for Valentine's."
"I'm sure you did great." Mikasa told her. "I bet it'll be lots of fun. We really appreciate the invite."
Eren smiled. "Yeah. Though I'm surprised you invited us."
The brunette with the ponytail just gave a grin as she replied. "Well, you guys at the cafe have always been nice. And I wanted to see you all outside your work for a change."
"Sasha! Hurry up!" A male voice called out to her, sounding a little annoyed.
"Sorry to leave you here, but Connie's calling me! Anyway, see you later!" she dashed off ahead of them toward the house.
Eren looked down at his date as they began walking toward the house again. "Well...she's hyper, isn't she?"
Mikasa just laughed. "I don't know how she doesn't bounce off the walls after drinking her coffee in the morning. With all the caffeine and sugar in it..."
Once inside, the couple saw all sorts of decorations that adorned the walls and doorways...even the railings of the steps. There were many people inside; some faces were recognized as classmates or regular customers. There was music, with a few people dancing while others were chatting throughout the house. Some food and drinks were on the bar and island in the kitchen. Overall, it was a rather lively scene, though it wasn't TOO wild.
Eren and Mikasa walked around for a while, talking to others there. They occasionally laughed whenever Sasha stopped to chat; she seemed to be busy and just the hurried klutziness she exhibited was funny. Behind her, a bald headed guy from his voice, they assumed this was the guy, Connie, that Sasha had mentioned earlier. After hanging out for a while, Mikasa noticed someone particularly familiar arrive.
"Hey, there's Armin." Mikasa told Eren, pointing toward where she had seen him. "And...he's got a girl with him."
Eren followed Mikasa's finger to see Armin standing in front of the door, with a short blonde haired girl beside him. They were holding hands which surprised him, but what was even more unexpected was who the girl was.
"That's..." Eren mumbled quietly as he watched the two blondes approach them. "Annie..."
Mikasa looked up at him, in curiosity. "Do you know her?"
"Yeah...she's a regular at the cafe. Orders a cappuccino every morning." He answered, looking down to meet her eyes. Then he started to give a nervous laugh. "We also have a couple of classes together."
Armin, with Annie beside him, came to a stop in front of the couple. "Hey, you two."
"Hey, Armin." Eren said before his attention drifted to the girl beside him. "Hey, Annie. Haven't seen you in a while."
The blonde haired girl shrugged her shoulders. "I've been really busy. The professors just drown the students with work."
"That's why I'm only taking part time. I told you it was suicidal to take on as many as you did."
"Shut up."
Eren just laughed in response. Annie acted perpetually annoyed at him, but that was just how she treated him. She probably still harbored a grudge from when he'd accidentally spilled milk all over her book a long time ago. If that was the case, then she certainly didn't get over things fast. While Eren was pondering all of this, Mikasa spoke to Annie. "How are you liking the party?"
"It's alright. I only came because Armin invited me." There was actually a slight hint of pink on her cheeks.
Her words led to Eren's wide eyes turning toward the blonde haired boy. He was well aware of Armin's crush on Annie; he'd known for a LONG time. But Armin was really shy in front of girls he liked. To hear that he actually invited her was a bit surprising. Armin's face was red at the attention. "Y-yeah...It...t-took a lot of nerve...to ask her...but she said yes, to my surprise..."
Mikasa gave a small smile at Armin and Annie. She honestly wanted to laugh at their blushing faces, not out of meanness but because they just seemedso awkward.
'I wonder if that's what Eren and I looked like when we first met each other.'
"D-Did you hear that?" Armin suddenly said, making everyone frown in confusion. They all waited a few moments, trying to figure out what he was talking about. All that they heard was the music and some small chatter of the other guests.
Eren spoke up. "I don't hear any-"
"I hear someone calling!" Armin immediately interrupted him, face still bright red. "I'm sorry, you guys! I gotta go! Talk to you later! Come on, Annie."
Annie, who was just as confused as Eren and Mikasa, suddenly nodded with understanding in her expression. Eren watched after them as they quickly hurried out of sight before he busted out laughing. "Oh, Armin!"
Mikasa joined in with him, giggling hard at the two people that had just fled. "I want to say I feel bad for him...but that was too funny."
"I know! As soon as I realized that he was lying, I knew what he was doing. He gets embarrassed so easily around a girl he really likes. Once when we were in middle school, he got really nervous as he was walking with his crush. So nervous that he didn't notice the giant puddle of water thathad leaked from the boys' bathroom or the wet floor sign in the hallway."
"Oh my gosh. Poor Armin." Mikasa repeated.
Eren finally calmed down from laughing. "He actually captures the girl's heart by being nervous. They find it cute. But this is the first time he's asked a girl out."
Mikasa gave another giggle as she looked around the surrounding room. It was then that she noticed another familiar person, though she was hardly excited to see him. In fact, she hoped that he wouldn't even see her at all.
"Jean..." Mikasa said in dread. Eren, having heard her, immediately scanned the area to see her ex-boyfriend start to walk over to them...with a petite blonde girl at his side. Mikasa immediately recognized the girl as her friend Krista. He didn't appear to be drunk like he did during their last encounter, but neither Eren nor Mikasa were going to let their guard down. Because they were at a party and Jean wasn't being provocative, Eren tried his best to be civil when Jean and Krista stopped in front of them. "Good evening, Jean."
It took all his willpower to just sound polite.
"G-good evening..." Jean replied, sounding nervous.
The blonde girl at his side gave a bright smile as she greeted her friend. "Hey, Mikasa! Nice to see you here, too!"
Mikasa felt somewhat concerned for her friend, hoping that Jean wasn't treating Krista the way he'd treated her. She wanted to say something and tell her how he was, but decided to keep silent. At least until it was time to leave. And not in front of Jean either, in case he went off. Instead of being hostile, she decided to make small talk with Krista.
"Hey, Krista. This is my boyfriend, Eren." She gestured to Eren by putting a hand on his shoulder. A cautious look passed between them, and didn't occur unnoticed. Jean cleared his throat, not impolite-like, but just trying to get their attention.
"I...umm...want to tell you two...something." Jean stated in an almost nervous voice that caught Eren and Mikasa off guard.
He looked down at Krista, who gave a nod of encouragement to him. Giving her a small grin, Jean continued. "I...I want to apologize...for what I did..."
Eren showed no emotion,understanding that this was a conversation between him and Mikasa alone. However, Mikasa's usually stoic face revealed a hint of complete shock. Never during their entire relationship had she ever heard Jean apologize. Not to ANYONE. Yet...here he was, apologizing to her.
"Not only for the other night...but for everything else..." he continued slowly and nervously, though there was sincerity in his words. "And you don't have to worry about that happening ever again, by the way. I've moved on."
Once more, Jean looked down at Krista, a very peaceful and calm smile on his face as he met her eyes. Mikasa seemed somewhat unsure of his words still, Eren noticed. But he knew that this wasn't any of his business and kept silent.
"That night...when I was drunk and attacked you...Well, after you kicked my ass...it made me realize that...it's a lost cause for me to go after you. And besides...I've fallen for Krista. She's helped me a lot...She's even helped me stop drinking..."
'This is a different Jean than the one I used to know...' Mikasa thought as she watched the two of them smile at each other. The look on his face reminded Mikasa of how Jean used to be, back when they first got together. Though after everything she'd seen, she was surprised that anyone could pull Jean from that dark place he'd been in. But as she watched them, she felt very happy for them, happy that Krista had helped Jean as well as happy that she was being treated right. So far.
Feeling a gaze on her, Mikasa turned to find Eren looking at her intently, seemingly worried. He was very calm though, a bit unexpected of him. Mikasa gave him a loving smile before addressing the other man in front of her. "Jean."
He looked at her with questioning...and fear.
"I forgive you. And I hope you two will always be happy together. I wish for the best for you two. But..." her tone, which had been friendly and sincere before, suddenly turned menacingly dark. "If you make the same mistakes and if you EVER hurt her, you'll regret the day you ever knew me. She's my friend and I'll murder you if you hurt her. Understand?"
Jean immediately nodded his head, fearful of the raven haired girl before him. Eren bit on his tongue to keep from laughing, and Krista just seemed uncertain of what to say or do momentarily. Fortunately,the air was no longer hostile or awkward as they all began to talk with each other.
After a good time with friends, the Valentine's party finally came to an end. Sasha cheerfully farwelled all of her guests as they left.
Back at the small apartment, Eren and Mikasa were finally able to fully relax. The party had been enjoyable, but they preferred spending their time together alone. Mikasa was standing at the small bookshelf, looking through Eren's DVDs. She wasn't exactly sure what to pick out, since she'd never really seen any of them. So she just asked Eren what they were about as she named titles.
"Hey, Mikasa?" Eren said to her. In the next instant, Mikasa felt his arms wrap around her, hugging her from behind. She initially jumped, startled because she hadn't heard him, but she relaxed quickly at his touch.
"Hmmm?" The girl asked, partially distracted as she continued her search. "You scared me a little. I didn't hear you come up behind me."
"Sorry...But hey, I was wondering...about your opinion on something..." Eren asked, sounding calm yet hesitant at the same time. This unusual tone caught Mikasa's attention, and she turned to look at him.
"What on?"
The young man finally released his grip, allowing her to turn toward him. His green eyes looked into hers as he finally asked. "Why don't we get a house?"
The raven haired girl was a bit surprised at his words. "A...a house?"
"Yeah. I mean, I don't think it'd be a bad idea. What do you think?"
"I...I'm not so sure..." she said, letting her uncertainty vocalize itself in her tone. "I mean...well, that takes a lot of money and well, you know...other things...What made you ask about that all of a sudden?"
"I've been thinking about it for a while...actually..." Eren told her in response, sounding a little embarrassed. "I finally just decided to ask you...We could do it, you know. I'm sure we could. Heck, if we absolutely had to, I know my dad would help. But that's cool if you're not sure. Just wanted to run the idea by you."
"Hmmm, I'll think on it..." she replied, turning attention back to her search for a movie. She finally found a movie that seemed interesting. The name of it was Spirited Away. Mikasa took the movie and put it in the DVD player. The two of them headed to the couch, curling up beside each other as the opening to the movie began.
A/N: I'm REALLY sorry about that long wait for you all. This was LOOOOOONNNNNGGGGG over do. There's just been too much shit going on here...I would love a semester off, but that's impossible right now...I'll try harder though to keep this updated more often. :D
BTW thanks to everyone who reviewed! This story currently has 99 reviews!
Hope you enjoyed it! See you next time!