disclaimer: disclaimed
prompts: break-ups and chance meetings
note: consider this part one. and, i suppose this could be my 'holiday' themed piece, but it's hardly even there... haha. oh well.
It's snowing when she sees him again.
She isn't sure if she's really seeing him, or if her eyes are playing tricks on her, and she has to do a double-take before she decides that yes, it's him.
He looks older, Mikasa notices. He's taller, his chest broader, his face more defined as a man's, having long lost the boyish charm she came to recognize so well. His cheeks are flushed from the cold, and a hat is haphazardly placed on his head, causing his slightly-longer hair to stick out in odd places, and Mikasa can't help but think that he looks a bit out of place, if anything.
He hasn't noticed her yet, his eyes glued to the windows of the shops he is passing. She slows down her walk, the crunch of the powder-fresh snow lessening under her boots. She dips her face into her scarf—his scarf—just as she always does when she is nervous and looks away, hoping he takes her for another stranger passerby.
They are approaching each other quickly, and Mikasa's mind starts to go into a frenzy. She knows she should say something, maybe a polite hello, how are you, but her mouth goes dry, and she cannot force the words past her chapped lips.
She was never one for small talk, anyway.
He comes within arm's length of her, and then the moment she's dreaded the moment she laid eyes on him—his eyes flick over to her, and for a moment, the world stops.
They're the same as she remembers— a clear, present green that makes her stomach flutter despite herself, and she bites her lip in a silent curse.
Look away, her mind yells, but she can't pry her eyes off him, and she hates herself for it. She watches his eyes widen as he stops short, and she feels her chest tighten when his mouth opens in surprise.
A surprise that should have never existed.
"Mikasa?"
He breathes out her name in a rush, almost like a gasp, but it sounds awkward on his tongue and out of use. But it's so familiar, and for a moment, she considers stopping and turning to face him for the first time in months. But then, she remembers, and she curses herself for such foolish thoughts.
She walks straight past him, willing one foot in front of the other.
"Mikasa!"
She doesn't look back.
x
It's only five minutes later when she feels her phone buzz.
She knows who it is immediately, but fishes it out of her coat pocket anyway, sighing at the name she sees blinking back at her.
Incoming call: Eren Jaeger.
She can almost hear the apology spilling out of his lips, in that deep, baritone of his voice that makes her knees go weak.
I'm sorry, he'd probably say, I'm a fucking idiot. I shouldn't have let you go.
(then why did you?)
She pushes down on the Ignore button.
Not today, she tells herself. Not today.
x
"He misses you, you know," Armin tells her from across the café booth, in that hesitant tone he always uses when he brings him up.
She doesn't meet his eyes, keeping hers downcast on her coffee.
"I know."
"A lot," he continues.
She closes her eyes. "I know."
"He really loves you."
She takes a deep breath, and sighs. "I know."
x
Missed calls: Eren Jaeger (2). Listen to voicemail?
Deciding against her better judgment, she taps yes.
She curls her toes between her couch cushions, and waits for his voice.
"Mikasa."
He sounds breathless, she thinks.
"Please pick up, Mikasa. I really—I need to talk to you. I know it's been a long time, and I should've called you earlier, and I—I just fucked up, okay? I fucked up so bad, and it's clear you don't want to talk to me"—she winces at this –"but I just fucking miss you. I miss you so fucking much. Just… call me back. Please."
She moves to delete his message, to delete him from her life, but she hesitates; She remembers his chap-lipped smiles and hot temper and passionate mouth that she loved so much, and she soon finds herself dialing the ever-so-familiar ten digits into her phone.
One more time, she thinks, one more chance.
"Hello?"
She takes a shuddering breath, and utters the name that's been on her mind for months.
"Eren."
note2: i'm (not) sorry. ;) also, AUs may become more frequent. my apologies if you are not a fan.