Pairing: Eren/Mikasa

Setting: Post Chapter 60 because I need Eren to come back; this was also written before Chapter 61 was released. Companion piece to This Could Be the End of Everything.

Rating: K

Words: 4223

Notes: A request from Lastchaos Darknoman who asked for Eren trying to show affection to Mikasa because he has no idea how to tell her how he feels and Armin having to intervene because Mikasa just doesn't understand why he's acting that way. Because I write so many stories in that damn cabin I decided to make this a companion piece to the previous chapter. I apologize if chapter 61 also makes this whole chapter irrelevant. I was just too impatient to wait the week for it to come out. The title is from "Make You Feel My Love" by Adele; a song I've used before but it fits them pretty damn well.

I Could Offer You a Warm Embrace

Peace wasn't something that would ever last long in this world, but for now Mikasa was okay with the quiet building they had chosen to hide in; they wouldn't be in hiding for much longer so she might as well make the most of it. Mikasa found a seat on one of the old couches in the front room of the house they had found abandoned in the woods. She used the term house lightly, this place was more like a mansion than anything; she didn't think she ever saw a home so big. It only reminded her how close they were getting to their destination: the inner most wall.

It also meant Levi insisted on cleaning every inch of it. Mikasa was pretty sure even training didn't make her as exhausted as scrubbing down what seemed like endless floors. Keeping a cabin up to his standards was bad enough let alone a place that could fit two of those cabins. She sunk down a little bit more in the couch trying to find a comfortable position for her aching body; at least they managed to get him happy, as happy as Levi can get, in one day so he wouldn't make them do this all again tomorrow. So she hoped at least. Hanji came in a few hours ago and Mikasa hadn't seen her or Levi since; she figured they had a lot of planning to do for the next steps.

She opened up one of the windows letting the cool night air blow through the room. Everyone else found rooms and passed out from exhaustion already but Mikasa couldn't rest her mind; there was too much going on. They had barely made it out alive from the last mission, and she wasn't sure what was gonna become of any of them once they hit Wall Sina. She reached up to rub her eyes; she was exhausted but only dreams of failure filled her mind. It was hard to sleep when you kept watching the people you love die in front of your eyes. Her first instinct when she woke up was to go find Eren, like she did countless times but they only just got Historia and Eren back from the Military Police and then they had to run until they reached a safe place and then Levi made them clean all day long. Eren was probably more exhausted then all of them; she didn't want to bother him.

The moonlight spilled out onto the wooden floors, illuminating the otherwise darkened room. It was part of the truth at least. It wasn't like Eren had never been taken from her before, it wasn't like he never ran off before but this time it was different. She wanted to go to him, and even found herself outside his door but what if something had changed? What if he really didn't want her around again? She was pretty sure after all they went through together that Eren wouldn't treat her like that, especially not after the way he had been treating her since they joined Levi's squad but it didn't stop the fear the filled her body as she held on to the doorknob to his room. For the first time, she had no idea how to act around him.

She sighed and shook her head, trying to shake those thoughts from her mind. They were running around and fighting for so long now without a break, it was surreal for her to just sit down and not have to worry about being killed at any second; for tonight at least. Mikasa sighed as she propped her head up the arm rest of the couch, her eyes watching the trees outside blowing in the wind. Maybe she should just try to go back to sleep, there were enough rooms in this place that she even got a room by herself for once but it still didn't make her want to go back to sleep; she wasn't sure there was much that would.

"Hey, what're you doing awake?"

Mikasa jumped at the sudden voice, turning her head around to the staircase behind it. It wasn't really the fact someone was there that made her jump, it was who was there. She easily saw Eren making his way across the floor, his bare feet making soft sounds against the wood as he did. He didn't look much better than her, tired eyes that wouldn't get any rest no matter how hard they tried.

"Just…couldn't sleep," she said, moving her feet over on the couch as he took a seat next to her.

"Yeah, me too," he said as his eyes met hers.

Mikasa couldn't even remember the last time she was just with him, long before Levi's plan, long before it went wrong. Despite what she knew was coming for all of them, she couldn't stop her heart from skipping a beat; she missed him so much.

"Was it nightmares?" Eren asked.

Mikasa nodded, feeling like it was something that didn't need to be said. They only grew when he wasn't there, they only got worse but she couldn't tell him that. Eren already bore too much guilt for things that were not his fault.

His forehead furrowed. "Why didn't you come get me then?"

She stared at him for a moment, a bit unsure what to say. She always went to him when she couldn't sleep, but it wasn't something they ever really talked about. They would fall asleep and Mikasa would wake up and leave before the other boys woke up, or worse Levi woke up. For as long as Mikasa could remember though, it was just something that happened, something they were used to but not something they talked about.

"I didn't want to wake you up when you were already exhausted." It was the truth after all.

Eren shrugged. "I was but it didn't help me sleep at all." A smile pulled at his lips. "Don't tell me just cause I've been gone for a little bit you've gotten shy around me."

Mikasa tried to make sure he didn't hear her breath hitching in her throat. It was what she was feeling; something very unknown to her when it came to the boy she knew since she was nine years old. "No," she lied. "I just wanted you to be able to sleep."

"Well, I'm not asleep so c'mere." Eren opened one of his arms out towards her gesturing for her to come closer.

She eyed him at first; even the way Eren was acting after he was kidnapped by Reiner and Bertholdt wasn't quite like this. Still, it was clear from the look on his face he wasn't letting it go until she moved across the couch towards him. She pushed herself off the armrest and slowly moved across the couch till she was on the cushion next to his.

Which apparently wasn't what he had wanted. Eren reached his already open arm around her back, his hand gripping onto her waist; the other arm dipped under her legs, pulling him onto his lap in one swift movement. Mikasa felt the heat rushing to her face as she felt his warm body all around her, one hand staying on her waist and the other draping over the thin material of her sleeping pants on her legs. She couldn't even meet his eyes if she wanted to, not with the way she knew her face was probably as red as the scarf around her neck, the way her heart was pounding in her chest. She tried to open her mouth to say something but nothing would come out.

Eren didn't seem to notice the way her body had tensed up or if he did he didn't say anything. He just placed his chin over her head, pushing gently until Mikasa was resting her head against his shoulder; even through her pulse racing in her ears she heard Eren's own increased heart rate pounding against his chest.

"I was worried about you, you know," Eren said in a tone lower than his own natural tone, his voice breathy.

"Why me," she said trying to keep an even voice, though she heard herself wavering.

Eren chuckled causing vibrations from his chest to send chills down Mikasa's spine. "Why not you? You always worry about me, what makes you think I never worry about you?"

Mikasa shrugged, unsure that if she spoke if anything would come out.

He leaned his head down, placing it against hers as he inhaled with a shaky breath. "I missed you."

Mikasa had to swallow the lump in her throat to be able to speak again, her eyes closing to try and stop her heart from feeling like it was gonna pound out of her chest. "I missed you too."

He didn't say anything else and Mikasa wasn't even sure what else to say to him. Instead she just kept her eyes closed; one hand tentatively reaching up to his chest where his heart was still racing under her touch. A warmth spread through her body, one she hadn't felt since the moment he left her sight. He smelt like Eren, like comfort, like home and her heart started to slow down, her breath started to get even. The world was a little less bleak again, Eren was back with her.

She wasn't even sure when she fell asleep in his arms but when her eyes fluttered open from the bright light on her face she wasn't on the couch anymore. Mikasa sat up in the bed, trying to block her eyes from the sunlight falling in from the nearby window. It didn't look like the room she was staying in. She rubbed her eyes and tried to look around again, but it was still unfamiliar.

It wasn't until her mind rushed back to the previous night that her hands flew over her mouth. It was Eren's room not hers. She glanced back down to the bed but she was alone, still in her sleeping clothes from the night. She almost wondered if it was a dream, the way he talked to her, the way he held onto her but then she wasn't quite sure why she was here and not her own room.

Mikasa threw her legs over the side of the bed and walked towards the door. She carefully opened it as if not to make any noise and slipped out into the hallway; she heard talking downstairs but not upstairs. She walked the short distance to her own room to change into her shirt and skirt, Levi hated sleeping clothes being worn anywhere but to bed, before she carefully started back downstairs.

Would Eren even remember what he said to her, the way he had to have known he made her feel? Was it just another case of finding comfort for the nightmares and back to everything as normal during the morning? Her heart was already racing just from walking down the stairs and into the large kitchen off to the side of the main room where she heard everyone talking. How was she supposed to act when she saw him?

She pushed open the door and saw her comrades, save for Levi and Hanji, sitting around the table eating whatever little food had been prepared. No one seemed to notice her as she slipped in the room, everyone too busy talking or eating. Eren was sitting next to Armin, talking to him about something but she couldn't hear over Connie and Sasha. Mikasa felt her cheeks getting hot just looking at him and she tried to just clear her mind and try to get a hold of herself before anyone noticed her.

Eren looked up from his plate and right up at her. A wide grin pulled at his lips as he caught her eyes and it was nearly impossible not to smile back; he had always been infectious. "Good morning," he said, nodding over to the empty seat next to him.

The others looked up to watch her take the short walk from the kitchen door to the table but Mikasa tried not to pay them any mind for fear of losing the composure she was trying desperately to keep. It was getting more and more difficult with the way Eren was still looking at her. She pulled the seat out to sit down.

"Good morning, Mikasa," Armin waved, leaning slightly around Eren to see her better.

"Did you sleep okay?" Eren moved to block her view of Armin only causing the blond boy to laugh but still hit Eren on the shoulder.

"Ah, yeah," she said, reaching up to anxiously brush some hair from her face as Eren's gaze refused to leave her.

"Is everything okay? You slept in a lot later than normal."

Mikasa turned her head to see Jean sitting a few seats down, eyeing her slightly. "Yeah, everything is fine. I was just tired."

"You're just normally the first one up, not the last one up." Jean clearly wasn't giving up on the subject, a mix of concern and suspicion on his face.

"It's just been a long few weeks. It was nice to sleep in without worrying," she said hoping he would stop pressing the subject; last night was not something she wanted to talk about with them in general let alone the breakfast table.

"Sorry I didn't wake you up earlier," Eren said, bringing her attention back to him. "You were just still out cold when I woke up so I figured since Hanji came in last night, her and Levi would still be talking or working things out or whatever." He rolled his eyes as he passed her a loaf of bread. "That it would be okay for you to get more sleep."

"Why is it your decision if she wakes up or not?" Jean's voice had some bite to it, clearly directed at Eren. Mikasa wasn't even sure if this was about her, or that Jean was trying to catch up on arguing with Eren.

The rest of the table was quiet; Historia didn't seem to be paying attention but Connie and Sasha were staring directly at them, Armin watching from his own spot.

Eren shrugged. "It's not." His voice was nonchalant about the whole thing, not getting bothered by Jean's tone at all which was something that was new to Mikasa at least. "I was just with her so I was letting her know why I left without waking her up too."

Mikasa broke her loaf of bread in half as she stared up at Eren with wide eyes. What the hell was going on with him? He barely ever talked to her about their nights together, let alone to everyone at the table. Between last night and this morning, for the first time since she knew him she had no idea what was going on in his head.

Someone choked down near the end of the table, presumably Jean, where Sasha couldn't cover her gasp fast enough with her hands.

Eren still didn't seem bothered but Mikasa saw splotches of red showing up on his cheeks. "What are you all making a big deal about? We've done it since we were kids, it's nothing new."

"Are you kidding me?" Connie said. "How do you get away with that?"

"We aren't sleeping together, you moron." Eren threw some of his bread across the table at him, though his voice was starting to waver. "It's comfort. You all should know what nightmares feel like." He glanced over at Armin who was trying to look anywhere else, his teeth trying to bite away his smile. "A little help here."

Armin looked over to him, arching an eyebrow. "Don't drag me into the hole you're digging for yourself."

"I don't think…" Historia started, causing Mikasa nearly to jump out of her seat. She couldn't even believe this was going on around her; her face felt like it was on fire and all she wanted to do was sink under the table or run away, but she couldn't even more. "It's not the action they are surprised about, but the people involved."

"Why," Eren snorted. "It's just me and Mikasa, we've always been close."

"It's just that," Sasha spoke, her hands moving from over her mouth. "We always knew Mikasa's feelings for you, Eren, its…ah…a little hard not to see but we never really knew about you…"

"About me? What are you…" Realization seemed to dawn on his face as he turned from confused to flustered. "Oh, I…uh…me? You mean like….I…um…"

Mikasa slid her chair against the wooden floor as she pushed herself to her feet. She didn't even turn around as she left the kitchen; she couldn't take it anymore and she didn't want to hear it. She headed out the front door and down the steps to the yard that lead to the vast woods around them. She had no idea where she was going but she couldn't be in there anymore.

She sank down to her knees under the shade of a nearby tree. All of them, they always knew about her. Mikasa supposed she wasn't really all that subtle when it came to Eren but she didn't think everyone knew how she felt about him. Then the way he could just talk about something that was so special to her, her time she got with him when no one else was awake to know, just made her feel all the more stupid when the tears started to sting her eyes.

She couldn't bear to sit there and listen to his response when he found out that she had feelings for him. She didn't even get to tell him herself, Sasha did. Mikasa wiped her eyes trying to get the tears to stop but she just felt so stupid, just a dumb little girl who had been in love with her best friend for far too long. To hear him say he didn't feel the same way…she knew she wouldn't be able to take it. It was enough to know he didn't, let alone to hear it confirmed.

"This is what happens when we spend too much time with the same people."

Mikasa tried to laugh as she looked over at Armin who had sat down next to her; it didn't work.

Armin placed his hand on her back, rubbing it as he looked over to her. "Sometimes we deal so much with the wars going on around us, we forget how it feels to actually act our age. Don't feel embarrassed over how you acted; I'm pretty sure anyone would have in your position."

"I just don't understand," she said, using the sleeve of her shirt to wipe her eyes.

"How everyone knew how you felt about Eren? No offense, Mikasa, but you were never really that good at hiding it. Everyone was always just too afraid to ask you about it in case you threw them into a wall or something."

Mikasa reached out to hit him in the stomach but she could feel a small smile pulling at her lips. "No, I understand that, okay. I just meant with Eren, he's been acting so strange since he came back. I don't know what's going on with him. At all."

"People always think they know Eren," Armin said, looking back over the forest. "They think they understand what makes him tick, what motivates him. We know a little better, but I don't even think Eren knows what goes on with him most all the time. This time however, I think he's very aware."

"What do you mean?"

Armin smiled as he looked back over to her. "It must be hard for you to see, with the way Eren's treated you in the past. He changed the last time he was taken, and he changed this time too. I bet you didn't even notice yesterday when he went out of his way to make sure he was always assigned cleaning somewhere near you, the way he refused to take his eyes off you all day. He missed you, more than he ever has before I'd bet."

Mikasa's forehead was furrowed as she listened to him. No…she would have noticed that…he wouldn't have…

"You did see it this morning though. He only had eyes for you. Just like he always has, but I think he finally realized it."

Mikasa could feel her cheeks heating up at Armin's words; but that's all they were just his words. "I appreciate it Armin, but you heard him in there when Sasha basically asked him how he felt about me."

"Yes, you're right I did but I don't think you did. What I heard was Eren trying to get him out of the situation because much like you, I don't think that's how he wanted you to find out."

Mikasa opened her mouth to disagree but Armin held his finger up.

"And, you ran out, which again I don't blame you for, but because you ran out, you didn't see him running after you."

"Then where is he now." Mikasa didn't mean to get snippy with Armin but he was being ridiculous; he should know better than anyone how Eren felt about her was not how she felt about him.

Armin turned his head, pointing back towards the house. "Right there."

Mikasa turned around to see Eren sitting on the steps of the house. He wasn't looking over at them, just down at the ground. Her breath hitched in her throat.

Armin pushed himself up to his feet. "I had to get him to stay there so I could come talk some sense into you first." He looked back down at her, his warm smile on his lips. "Just because you've convinced yourself of something for so long, Mikasa, doesn't mean it's true."

She watched him walk away, back towards the house. Eren must've seen him coming because he jumped up to his feet. Mikasa looked back towards the woods, her heart already racing in her chest just knowing he was coming over to her. She couldn't even look at him when she felt him sit down next to her; she could see him looking at her out of the corner of her eyes though.

"We've all been put in life threatening situations for years now," Eren said, his eyes looking out towards the woods. "Though it seems I end up in them more often. This past time was different though."

Mikasa looked over at him causing him to glance at her before looking ahead again.

"I wasn't in immediate danger for the most part but I knew it very well could be coming at any moment. It gave me time to think, and…and all I could think about was you. How worried I was about you, how much I missed you just being there with me, how much I just wanted to see your face, how much I would regret never letting you know how important you are to me. How much…" He turned to look at her. "How much I just love you. I couldn't leave you without you know how much you mean to me, because…" He hesitated, like he was having trouble finding the right words. Eren reached up to brush some of her hair out of her face. "You of all people deserve to know how much you are loved."

Mikasa stared at him unsure of what to say or what to do. She never thought…she never even imagined… "Is that why you've been acting so strange?"

"Strange?" Eren snorted, a smile pulling at his lips. "I was trying to show you how much I cared about you, how happy I was to be back with you, but I guess that didn't really work did it?"

She tried to cover her mouth to hide her laugh but judging by the way Eren was laughing too she didn't succeed. "You don't have to act any different," Mikasa said, slapping her hand against his arm. "I love you the way you are." She realized what she had said too late.

Eren didn't seem to mind though; he took a hold of her hand that was still lingering on his arm. His other hand reached up to the back of her neck pulling her closer to him. Mikasa barely heard anything aside from the pulse beating in her ears, but when his lips met hers she couldn't think of anything else but the heat that filled her stomach, the way her hands reached up around his neck to pull herself closer, his hand reaching around her waist, his mouth moving with hers.

Eren pulled away from her, just enough to see her face; his cheeks were red, his breath panting slightly but Mikasa knew she probably looked the same. He didn't say anything and neither did she, nothing needed to be said that hadn't been already. Tomorrow they'd be leaving for the innermost gate, into the belly of the beast so to speak, but right now, all that mattered was today and she knew Eren felt the same.

She leaned in to press her lips against his again, her grip on him tightening as he kissed her back.