Disclaimer: I don't own Shingeki No Kyojin, nor the image. They belong to Isayama Hajime.
Author's Note: Hey! Long time no see! Sorry for not posting anything in a while, but I've been busy and completely uninspired, so I haven't been able to write anything. Anyway, this one-shot is my present for meliikasa, for the Secret Santa Eremika Exchange in Tumblr, I really hope you like it, sweetie! Of course, I hope the rest of you enjoy it as well.
Anyways, thank you everyone for reading this fic and reviewing, following and putting this fic in your fvaorites, you guys rock!
I wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa and a Happy New Year!
Title: Hold Me Close (And Never Let Me Go)
Prompt: Eremika Secret Santa Exchange
Summary: One cold day, Eren breaks down and Mikasa comforts him.
It was very cold that day. The previous night it had been snowing rather hard, and by morning all the landscape was covered with snow. Of course, after the snow, came the cold, and, for a group of people who were hiding in an old cabin, that was not good news. Being cold meant that they needed more fire for the chimney, even though making a fire was rather risky since they could be found. It also meant that they needed at least more blankets and warm clothes, such as scarves and gloves. Besides, they also needed to shovel the snow before it piled all over the entrance. Levi, of course, was not very pleased with this turn of events, and so he put all of his squad to work.
Eren was chosen to prepare dinner along with Historia ─Sasha was forbidden to enter the kitchen in fear she would steal food. Meanwhile, Mikasa and Jean had to shovel the snow that had piled in the entrance of the cabin. Connie and Armin went to get more provisions, and Levi and Sasha were chopping wood. Overall, it was an average day for the squad, until thinks started to go wrong. Connie and Armin made it late that day, with only half the provisions they were supposed to bring. Worrying about when they would be able to bring more food, Eren and Historia decided to shorten everybody's food portion, which was scarce as it was. All hell broke loose, however, when Sasha, while carrying the wood back to the cabin, slipped, falling down and spraining her ankle. Jean immediately carried her inside and Eren assessed her injury ─he was a doctor's son after all, and he knew of this things. Connie panicked and had to be restrained by Armin, but when that failed, Mikasa had to grab him and calm him down. Levi only sighed, wondering when the hell things would get better. Eren said that the injury was minor, but that Sasha had to rest for at least a week. Since Sasha couldn't keep chopping and carrying wood, Mikasa volunteered to do it, not taking into account her clothes were already wet due to the snow.
Levi and Mikasa returned to the cabin when it was already dark, and needless to say Mikasa already had a fever and a runny-nose. Levi, miraculously, was as healthy as ever. Eren, upon noticing Mikasa's state, panicked.
"Mikasa, why didn't you change your clothes? You have a fever! You should lie down!" The young man said, repeatedly putting his hand on Mikasa's forehead, oblivious to the fact that said action made the girl blush, making her face even redder.
"For fuck's sake Jaeger, stop pestering Ackerman and let her go change her clothes." Levi interrupted Eren's action. He felt that he was developing a headache already. Damn brats.
"Yes, sir!" Eren exclaimed, saluting at his superior, who just muttered a yeah, yeah. Mikasa went to her room to change, not noticing Eren's worried glance.
By dinner, Mikasa's cold had gotten worse, and she couldn't stop sneezing and coughing, so Levi ended up sending her back to her room. Eren watched her worriedly.
"I'm sure she'll be fine, Eren." Seeing his friend's troubled expression, Armin said, trying to reassure him.
"Yeah, I guess…"
During the night, the cold became almost unbearable. Eren, a person who had generally preferred warm weather, was freezing. It's fucking cold. He thought grimly, as he tried to sleep but failed. He watched the other boys in the room with envy, wondering how the hell they could sleep in such weather. Giving up on sleeping, he got up, and taking his blanket with him, he went downstairs. Eren decided that it was too cold to have no fire, so he lit up a fire in the cabin's fireplace, hoping Levi wouldn't scold him in the morning for wasting wood. Whatever, I'll just chop more tomorrow.
As he sat in the floor, wrapped in his blanket, Eren couldn't help but feel nostalgic. He remembered all the snow days he spent with his parents before the wall was breached, of the food his mother would prepare and the stories his father would tell, later on with the company of Mikasa. Back then he had no idea of the pain he would suffer, of all the comrades he would see dying, of how wrong this world was. Things were much simpler back then. For a moment he wished he could go back in time, and hear the sound of his father's voice again, feel the warm embrace of his mom once more.
His musings were interrupted with the sound of footsteps. Startled, he turned around expecting to find Levi ready to reprimand him, but instead he found Mikasa descending the steps, wrapped in her blanket as well.
"What are you doing up?" Eren asked her once she was sitting next to him.
"Couldn't sleep. Sasha kept talking in her sleep." She answered in the same low voice as him. "You?"
"I was too cold to sleep."
"Oh."
They fell in a comfortable silence, both enjoying each other's company. With all that had happened lately, this was one of the few times they could spend time together. They were sitting so close they were almost touching each other, however Eren did not feel this was weird, it felt just fight. Mikasa, for her part, was blushing at Eren's proximity. She was embarrassed of the thoughts that would plague her mind every time she was near her best friend.
"Do you remember our first snow day together?" Eren suddenly asked Mikasa.
The girl simply nodded, a small smile adorning her face. "Yes, we played in the snow until it was late. Auntie Carla got very mad at us."
Eren laughed. "And we both got so sick we couldn't leave the house for a week!"
"And Armin visited us the first few days, reading us his books or making up stories for us."
"Yeah, until he got sick too!"
They both laughed until Eren abruptly stop. Mikasa stared at him, immediately noticing something was wrong.
"I miss those days." Eren suddenly said, nostalgia lacing his voice. "I miss mom making us hot beverages, helping dad light up the fire, playing in the snow without a care in the world…" His voice broke.
"Eren…" Mikasa said sadly. She hated seeing him like this.
"Sometimes I wonder if we'll actually ever enjoy such carefree days again…if we'll ever be happy."
"Eren, look at me." Mikasa said, holding Eren's face with her hands. "I know things seem hopeless right now, but you have to keep believing that everything will turn out great at the end. You said so yourself, right? If you don't fight, you can't win, so keep fighting. Besides, I have faith in you. I know you will kill all the titans."
"I know, it's just that I get worried that we'll all die before that. Shit, Mikasa, things are getting more fucked up every day. First were the titans, now the government, we have enemies in and outside the walls! I just don't want to keep failing my comrades… I don't want anyone dying for my sake again…" Eren said, taking deep breaths now and then to keep himself from crying.
Mikasa watched him helplessly, and decided the only thing she could do right now was hold him, which she did. The moment Eren felt Mikasa's arms wrapping themselves around him, he started crying. He returned the hug, and buried his head on Mikasa's shoulder, sobbing as quietly as possible.
"I don't wanna lose you either." He confessed once he had calm down a bit.
Mikasa's heart simultaneously warmed and broke at those words, and she too started crying. "I can't promise you that… but I'll always be in your heart, Eren."
"Hold me Mikasa, please, just for tonight." And she did.
It was strange for Mikasa being the one comforting Eren, when she was the one that needed comforting most of the time. Perhaps both did. So she held him and whispered sweet nothings in his ear, hoping that would make him feel better. At one point, Mikasa felt Eren's warm lips on her own, conveying all he was feeling. It wasn't a passionate kiss, if anything it was bittersweet, mixed with the tears they were both shedding, but for Mikasa it was almost perfect.
"I won't ever let you go." Mikasa whispered, kissing him again.
"I won't either."
They lay next to each other, still holding the other, and wrapped the blankets around them.
"Mikasa."
"Mmm." Mikasa murmured, she was almost asleep already.
"When this is over, let's enjoy the cold days together like we used to."
Mikasa turned to look at him with a soft smile in her face. "I'd like that."
Eren beamed at her and watched Mikasa sleep for a while. She looked so peaceful when she was asleep, without a care in the world.
Maybe things will get better in the end… But whatever happens, I'll never let you go, Mikasa.
Kissing her forehead, Eren closed his eyes and fell asleep.
The next morning, the squad found Eren and Mikasa sleeping next to each other, wrapped in both blankets, their hands entwined.
Omake
"Achoo!" Eren sneezed for what felt like the millionth time that day.
"I think you caught a cold, Eren." Armin stated matter-of-factly.
"Yeah, I think so too."
"And I know how he caught it!" Sasha said in a sing-song voice.
"How?" Connie asked, genuinely curious.
Jean, who was sitting next to him, groaned. "Connie, you're an idiot."
"But I was just asking! Perhaps I'll be able to stay healthy if I avoid whatever Eren did to get sick!"
"Believe me, Connie, you won't catch it." Armin said, smirking.
Besides him, Eren blushed while Mikasa kept eating breakfast, sneezing and coughing every once in a while.
They don't pay me enough for this. Levi thought as he drank his tea. Stupid, horny brats.
P. S. Sorry it was kinda angsty, but Christmas tends to put me in a melancholy mood, so sorry about that. Hope the omake made you guys laugh, at least.
