Pairing: Eren/Mikasa

Setting: Modern AU, at a college party

Words: 4794

Rating: T (for drinking and language)

Notes: A request from an anon for drunk!Eren. They thought he would be a handful drunk and that he would be. Good thing at least Mikasa can put up with his shenanigans. Also the title is the title of a fabulous Flogging Molly song.

Drunken Lullabies

Mikasa liked to spend her nights making sure she got all her reading done, working on her essays, maybe getting a head in her other homework to save herself later. What she didn't like was having to keep pushing Eren's face out of hers every six seconds.

"Oh, come on, Mikasa, please come with us."

There was her hand against his cheek one more time, pushing him out of her face. "Eren, I have homework to do. I'm not going out in the middle of the week for a party."

"It's not just any day. It's St. Patrick's Day." There he was leaning back into her. She reached to push him once more, but he caught her wrist in his hand. "I'm not letting you sit up here alone in your room."

"You say that like she doesn't want to sit up in her room." Armin was leaning up against the wall, looking amused like always and very green in his T-shirt.

Eren was also wearing his green shirt, it had some saying on it but Mikasa could only notice how it made his eyes glisten even more than normal. He didn't let go of her, his lower lip popping out just a little bit. "Please, it'll be no fun without you."

He knew she couldn't say no to him, even if she did multiple times already; she always gave in and he knew it.

"Fine," Mikasa sighed, pulling her hand away from him causing Eren to raise his arms in victory. "But," she slapped him in the chest. "If you think I'm dragging your drunk ass back to your dorm again, you have another thing coming."

Eren didn't seem to care, he was all smiles. He grabbed her face with both his hands and leaned in to press his lips against her forehead. "You're the best, Mikasa." He got up from his seat, thankfully, before he saw the way she knew her cheeks flushed. She could still feel the warm hands she knew so well on her face, the way his lips lingered on her skin.

"We'll wait outside, go put on something green!" Eren opened the door and stepped outside, still with that boyish grin he's had for as long as she's known him.

She rolled her eyes looking over at Armin who was still standing there.

"You could've said no, you know," he said.

Mikasa shrugged. "Yeah but if I don't go whose gonna drag him home. You know what a lightweight he is."

"Those pretty eyes help don't they." Armin leaned forward and batted his eyes. Mikasa reached back onto her bed to grab the first thing, which happened to be a pillow, and tossed it at his head.

Armin ducked but the pillow still caught him in the chest. "Don't worry," he chuckled. "I'm pretty sure Eren's too dense to even notice how much you blush around him."

Mikasa paused, looking back over at her computer screen.

"Why do you put yourself through this? You know how he gets when he's drunk."

"Armin. Please don't."

She heard him sigh. It was a conversation they had more than once; more like every time they went out.

"You know I just worry about you. About the both of you for that matter. I'll be outside with that goon." He opened the door giving her a smile. "Take your time. I'll try to make sure he doesn't pound on your door impatiently."

Mikasa ran her fingers through her hair before turning to her closet. Green, green. What did she have that was green? She tried to focus on just finding something in her closet but it wasn't any good. She knew Armin was right, he always was. She knew how Eren got when he drank all too well; it always went the same way. Eren got drunk and suddenly Mikasa was the only girl in the room. All he wanted to do was be with her, hug her, dance with her, touch her face, her hair, her back. He never tried anything inappropriate with her; he just seemed to want to be with her. Not that he didn't already spend every day with her to begin with but this was different, this was like…

She swallowed as she pulled out a green dress to look at.

It was almost like he felt the same way that she felt about him.

Mikasa pulled out a pair of leggings since March wasn't exactly the warmest month and started to get changed.

Every morning was still the same. She'd bring him back to his dorm room that he shared with Armin, get him in bed, and then he'd beg her to stay with him. She always did. She'd nurse his hangover in the morning (which generally involved quite a bit of rubbing his back as he hurled up the contents of his stomach from the past few days) and he'd mumble his thanks over and over, how much he was glad she was here. When it was over, it was back to Mikasa the girl he grew up with, the girl next door, his best friend, nothing more.

Mikasa rubbed out some of the wrinkles on her dress before walking out of the room. She wasn't too surprised to see Eren having Armin in a headlock rubbing his hair fiercely. "Whose ready for green beer?" she asked rather unenthusiastically but it got their attention well enough.

Both the boys looked up at her, Armin letting out a low whistle when he got out of Eren's grip. "Look at you."

Eren reached up and shoved the back of Armin's head causing him to move forward down the hall and out the door. They were laughing clearly ready for the fun of the party, but Mikasa wasn't really paying too much attention to what they were saying as they left the building. She'd glance over at them but Eren wasn't looking much over at her. She wondered if Armin was right. If all this was only making it harder to move on from the boy she'd loved for much longer than she should but she couldn't bear to let him go. She started to hear the loud music from up the street, the bass pounding, people laughing, talking, shrieking with drunken joy; she couldn't hear the boys talking anymore it had gotten so loud.

She couldn't let him get hurt, do something stupid. She needed to be here to keep him safe and she couldn't bear the thought of him acting the way he did with any given girl.

Judging by the people all over the porch, and in the front yard, and in the back yard this was the place.

"Hey! You guys made it!" Reiner's booming voice was the only thing that was ever loud enough to cut through the party atmosphere. He was walking down the front steps, drink in hand.

This was his place wasn't it. Well, the one he shared with Bertholdt, Annie and a few others who were never around except for the parties. Mikasa didn't recognize it with all the people hanging all over it.

"C'mon, get inside and get some drinks!" he gestured eagerly for them.

Eren didn't need to be told twice. He draped his arms around both Mikasa and Armin. "I believe that's my cue." He gave them a squeeze before heading up the stairs with Reiner and disappearing into the house.

"I'm pretty sure even I could use a drink after that history exam I had to take this morning." Armin was already starting up the stairs, looking back at her.

Mikasa sighed but followed him anyway. This wasn't exactly her scene, drunk people bumping into her as she tried to get in the house, the loud music, people yelling over it to talk, people everywhere for that matter. She lost Armin rather quickly as she tried to maneuver to a place that was a little less crowded. There, the back porch didn't look so bad.

She saw Annie sitting on the kitchen counter as she walked by, Bertholdt standing next to her as they talked. He waved to Mikasa as she reached in to grab a beer off the counter and she waved back before moving out the open back door. She liked them of course, but even she'd need something to drink if she was gonna talk to everyone tonight.

It was cooler outside, even after just a few minutes inside with all those bodies if was nice to be able to breathe again. She popped the top on the can and took a sip of the stale flavored drink as she leaned over on the balcony.

"Well, hello, sunshine, isn't it nice to see your face around here."

Mikasa looked up to see Ymir leaned backwards against the railing looking down at her. Historia was next to her holding her drink with both hands.

"That's me," Mikasa straightened herself up. "About as sunny as you are."

"So what's new aside from standing here alone waiting for Jaeger to so drunk that he can't walk and then taking him home because really that's not new at all."

Mikasa shrugged, taking another sip from her drink. "Just waiting for the first beer to spill on me actually. I'm betting its Reiner this time, he already looked mighty drunk to me."

Historia rolled her eyes with a small smile, her body leaning into Ymir as they stood on the porch. "Or Jean. You know how fumbly he gets around you. It's a wonder he plays football."

"Nope. I'm betting on Eren. He's always the first one. Oh, speak of the devil and he shall appear." Ymir raised her cup with a slight tilt.

Mikasa turned her head to see Eren standing behind her. He had a cup in his hand but he seemed to be okay, goofy smile none goofier than normal.

"You would know wouldn't you." Eren brought the cup to his lips, drinking down a good amount of what was in there and Mikasa knew exactly what was in there. She wasn't even sure he could take a few beers let alone the whiskey and coke he insisted on drinking.

Ymir lifted her wrist to look at a watch that wasn't there. "Huh, here for five minutes? Shouldn't you be completely wasted right now?"

Mikasa rolled her eyes as she leaned up against the railing again but she couldn't hold back an amused laugh. It was very typical of Eren and Ymir's relationship, especially when drinking was involved. Mikasa was pretty sure they could just go back and forth until Ymir got the last say like she always did. Mikasa took another sip of her drink as she watched them. Histora met her eyes, trying to bite back a laugh as well.

"You're a lucky lady, Ymir." Eren gestured to Historia with his cup, some liquid splashing out. "I don't know how Historia puts up with your mouth."

"I don't know how Mikasa puts up with any part of you and she doesn't even get the benefits of being your girlfriend."

Mikasa choked on her drink as she felt heat rushing to her face. Did Ymir really have to say it like that? Mikasa was nowhere near drunk enough for this.

Ymir's lips pulled into a smirk. Mikasa knew that look, here came the final words. "All she gets is making sure you don't choke on your own vomit in the night. Wonder how much longer she's gonna put up with your dumbass. If I was her-"

Mikasa practically had to drop her drink to grab onto Eren's arm to hold him back as he moved towards Ymir, not looking to please at all with her words and her smug grin. "Okay it hasn't even been an hour. Let's not start a fight just yet."

Ymir must have taken that as her cue to leave for when Mikasa looked back to them both her and Historia were walking away. She placed her hand on Eren's chest to make sure he wasn't about to jerk out of her grip and go after them. His face was still angry, staring at them as they disappeared into the party but his cheeks were red now. Guess that whiskey was getting to him.

Eren tipped the cup to his lips, drinking whatever was left. "I'm going for more," he grunted before walking away, without a glance towards her.

Mikasa watched him until she couldn't see his head any more through the crowd. With a sigh she turned back to the railing, leaning over before drinking down the rest of her beer and placing the can on the rail. Ymir wasn't wrong; she always took care of him like a girlfriend would with nothing in return. Well, that wasn't always true, seeing Eren smile was always worth it.

She propped her hand up on her chin as she looked out over the backyard. She recognized a few people from classes, from other parties. She spotted Armin drinking a beer and talking to Connie and Sasha. Armin used to be the quiet one, always sticking by her or Eren through middle school and high school, but Armin could hold his own just fine now which was more than she could say for herself.

She looked back towards the house and there was no sign of Eren coming back out. He probably was downing his drink somewhere in there which meant he was about to become his silly, sloppy, tipsy self. She shook her head with a small laugh. He was always so high strung growing up, she liked to see him so relaxed; as long as she was there to make sure he didn't get into any trouble of course and she was always there.

"I think you need another drink."

Mikasa looked up to see Jean holding out a wine cooler for her. He was holding one of his own, smiling over at her. "When don't I at parties?" She took the drink from his hands and twisted the cap off. "Thanks."

Jean waved her off, leaning against the railing with her. "How's the party going for you?"

She knew he was just trying to make small talk but she couldn't help but just give him a look as she took a sip from her drink.

He shook his head. "So the usual then, waiting for that dumb ass to make a scene and taking him home. Don't you think you'd like to have a little bit of fun every now and then instead of playing baby sitter?" His tone was lighthearted, but she knew that face he was making at her; she saw it one too many times and not just from him. It had been how long now and she already had her friends ragging on her over how she chose to spend her parties. Did anyone know how to mind their own business?

"Hey now, who says I don't enjoy dragging drunk boys back to bed isn't a good time?"

Jean snorted, sipping down some more of his drink. "I do, because no one should get treated the way he treats you."

Mikasa looked down at the bushes in front of her. Granted not minding their own business generally meant they were right. "Jean, do-"

He didn't look like he was backing down this time. "No, don't tell me that it's not like that, that it's fine, that if you don't know one will, that he needs you, because all that is bull. You deserve better than that. Better than being his tag along when he's too drunk to think for himself." Jean sighed, looking away from her. "He's a big boy. He needs to learn to get out his own messes."

It wasn't that easy, she wanted to tell him but two hands fell firmly on her hips, pulling her up from the railing. If the hands hadn't been so familiar, the body she was being pulled into so warm she would have hit the owner over the head with her bottle.

"Meeeekasa," Eren drawled, his warm breath hitting her ear and her nose for that matter. He must've had more than just one more drink. His arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her in even close. "Meeekasa. Mimi." He snorted with laughter. "Mimi."

She slapped the back of her hand against his shoulder at that nickname he insisted she have when he couldn't think straight. "Hello, Eren. I take it your partying is going well?"

He nodded, rubbing his face against her hair, his own hair tickling her neck. She tried to bite back a laugh, to not encourage him but it was almost impossible not to when he was like this. She felt Jean's eyes staring at them. Eren rubbed his nose in her hair now trying to tickle her apparently. It was working, as well as sending chills down her spine.

He pulled his arms around her more in what she thought was maybe him trying to give her a hug but she couldn't exactly be sure with him. "Hey, Mika?" Eren was still nudging her with his head.

"Okay, okay what is it?" Mikasa tried to turn around to look at him, but he was holding onto her too tight. She knew she shouldn't let him act this way with her; they were friends since they were nine years old, some boundaries had to stay intact, but she couldn't bring herself to do it; she could never resist him. She at least managed to turn her head to look at him.

It wasn't the best idea.

His eyes were locked on hers, his warm, though alcohol tinted, breath on her face. Mikasa was finding it hard to breath herself. Eren's eyes looked over at Jean, as if he was just now seeing the guy standing across from them, and then back to Mikasa. "Is this guy bothering you? Cause ya know…" he scrunched up his fingers on her stomach causing ticklish sensations to flood her body; Mikasa couldn't hold back her laughter now as she tried to pry his hands away. "I could get 'im outta here for you."

She knew what was coming next. Eren was not only silly and touchy when he was drunk, he was also overly confident and that generally led to at least one black eye or bloody nose. When he picked fights with Jean it was normally a little more than one wound and the way she could see tension snapping through Jean's body, it was likely that would happen and quickly if Eren didn't run his wasted mouth.

"I think you should stick to one drink before you start picking fights with sober people."

Eren reached up to stroke his chin in thought, his eyes drifting up. "Nah, that's no fun."

"Actually I think it's you that's bothering her." Jean's drink lay on the railing as he crossed his arms against his chest. "So why don't you take your own advice and get outta here."

"Well, I actually like it here. Mika's my favorite, don't you know that?" His arm was back around her shoulders, keeping her close to his warm body. She knew he was drunk and was just spouting words, but she couldn't stop her heart from skipping a beat at them. "Of course ya do. She's always with me right?"

Mikasa thought she saw a vein pop somewhere on Jean's forehead. As if sober Eren didn't know how to piss off Jean enough, let alone when he was drunk. "Okay, Eren. I think it's time to go somewhere else." She turned to face him, pressing her hands against his chest to get him to move but he wasn't budging.

Eren didn't bother to look down at her, he just kept staring at Jean with that shit eating grin of his. "Nah, I. Like it. Right. Here."

That was all it took. Jean started to lunge across the porch for Eren but two hands stopped him before he could get close enough.

"Armin!" Eren cheered, clapping his hands over Mikasa's head. "Howya doin', buddy!"

Armin said something to Jean, but Mikasa wasn't entirely sure what it was. He still didn't look very happy but he stopped coming at them. Armin turned around with a grin. "Hey! Look at you already getting into fights. How many have you had?"

Eren looked thoughtful again. "Possibly three. Probably four."

"That sounds about right." Armin shook his head but Mikasa could tell he was still amused; it was hard not to be when Eren had that big goofy smile on. "But how about not antagonizing your friends."

Eren lifted his finger, and Mikasa knew what was gonna come out of his mouth before he even said it. "But he started it."

There went Jean's vein popping again. "Are you fucking kidding me? I wasn't doing anything but having a drink and nice conversation and just like always you have to shove your way into everything but it doesn't matter cause you're wasted and you get to run your hands all over her and call her your little drunk pet names. God knows how she puts up with being treated like she's only worth a damn to you when you're drunk but I'm tired of seeing it."

Something flashed in Eren's eyes, his jaw clenching. He stepped in front of Mikasa so he was in arm's reach of Jean. "And just what do ya plan on doing about it? Huh? Cause far as I know, I came here with her, and I'll still be leavin' here with her."

She couldn't have stopped it even if she had tried; even Armin who was closer couldn't jump in before Jean's fist came in contact with Eren's jaw. The hit almost knocked him over, making him stagger backwards; Mikasa could see the blood dripping from his newly split lip. Eren didn't hesitate though, he raised his arm back with every intention to hit Jean in the face but Mikasa grabbed a hold of his arm instead.

"Enough, Eren."

His eyes were still staring at Jean. "Mikasa."

"Enough. We're leaving."

She kept a hold on him, though a bit gentler this time to calm him down. She waited for him to turn around, letting her know he calmed down a little. He still looked angry when he did; pursed lips replacing the smile from earlier, blood dripping down onto his shirt. Mikasa gave a short wave to Armin who was still standing by Jean, not exactly looking surprised. Eren grumbled something but Mikasa couldn't hear him, she was already trying to get through the crowds of people who had come to stare. She felt him staggering as she pulled him through the house, her name being called loosely on his lips but all she wanted to do was leave. By the time she hit fresh air again on the front steps, Eren was still by her side.

He didn't say anything as they made the short walk back up to campus and she didn't offer any words. She hated when he got like that. She hated herself for letting him act like that in the first place but most of all, she hated that Jean was right. She only let him act like that with her because it was the only time she felt like Eren felt the same way she did about him. She kept her hand on his arm to make sure he didn't trip as they walked. He seemed to be walking okay; at least she didn't have to carry him this time.

No one was in the lobby when she opened the door to their dorm building, thankfully since she could see Eren still dripping blood, his hand trying to cover some of it up. By the time they reached his dorm room, he had both hands covering his mouth and Mikasa could see a bruise starting to form on his jaw. She pulled out the keycard to their room and ushered him inside.

"Get over the bathroom sink," she ordered, pulling out the first aid kit from under his bed. Eren did as he was told without a word. Mikasa followed in and ran a small towel under the water before carefully cleaning the blood off his face. Mikasa could feel his eyes watching her as she did, wincing slightly if she got to close to his cuts. It looked like its stopped bleeding for now at least.

"Wash your hands and come sit down, okay?" She noticed her voice got softer again, less irritated and angry. It was hard to stay mad at him.

She moved back to Armin's small fridge and pulled out the tray of ice. She dumped some in another towel she had grabbed from the bathroom and made a little ice pack. When she turned around Eren was sitting on his bed; he shed his blood splattered shirt and was rubbing his bruised jaw, a nice deep purple mark already starting to set in. She sat down next to him and gently hit his hand away; she didn't miss the hiss from his mouth as she placed the ice back on him.

"Why do you do this to yourself?" she kept it on his face, applying just a little bit of pressure.

Eren snorted. "If you recall, I didn't punch myself in the face."

"That's not what I meant and you know it." She rolled her eyes, lifting his hand up to hold onto the ice as she went to check on his mouth. Her eyes flickered up. "I mean let yourself get so drunk that you act the way you do. You know your limit and you never listen to it."

He looked away from her, his cheeks turning red. "You mean the way I act towards you?"

Mikasa froze. She was always under the impression he never remembered how he acted with her. She could feel her cheeks heating up; which probably meant he remembered how she would go along with it.

Eren sighed, his shoulders sagging. "I didn't mean to when we first started going to parties. I had no idea I could barely handle a drink, ironically enough given my name but then I liked it, you know, the way you took care of me after. I never wanted you to leave." He rubbed his hand against his forehead.

Mikasa could see him swaying in his spot, clearly still a little tipsy from all that whiskey. She reached her arms around his shoulders to keep him steady, his head rolling into hers.

"And I realized I could act the way I wanted to with you, just being around you, have your soft hands on mine, while I was drinking and you'd think…" His voice changed to a slightly higher pitch. "'Oh, that, Eren's he's just drunk again' cause I was afraid you wouldn't want me around you like that every day."

Mikasa watched his eyes. His words were slurring together a little bit, but she knew that look; he was being honest with her.

"I always meant what I said, how I acted. I just wish I was brave enough to tell you that I loved you when I wasn't drunk."

His head was starting to fall against hers, his eyes drooping but Mikasa couldn't help the warmth that spread through her body. "Eren?"

"Hmm?" his eyes snapped open to look at her.

"Why don't you try and hold back the alcohol at parties and just tell me how you really feel? Because chances are I'd tell you I love you too."

She saw his face flush, a smile pulling at his lips as his head fell onto hers. "I'd like that."

Mikasa leaned forward to press her lips against his forehead. Eren always was a handful, but she'd never have him any other way. "Go on get into bed. I'll grab you some water so you don't have a colossal hangover in the morning."

He nodded against her before carefully crawling backwards into his bed. He laid his head on his pillow, his ice pack still against his cheek. Despite his longer hair, his more developed arms and chest, he still looked like that nine year old sick in bed.

She headed towards the bathroom her eyes on the floor trying to see if she could find some of the boy's pajamas she could wear. Ah, there were some pants; the way they were crumpled up probably Eren's.

"Mimi?"

Mikasa turned her head back to the bed, seeing that shit eating grin back on his face, his eyes half lidded but full of amusement. "Yes?"

"You aren't gonna leave are you?"

She shook her head. "Never."