Pairing: Eren/Mikasa & Breif Armin/Annie

Setting: Modern AU; At a cabin in the mountians the Jaegers own near Christmas

Rating: K+

Words: 4633

Notes: I realized I never really wrote Eren proposing a more traditional way to Mikasa (though still very Eren like haha) so I had this idea in my head for this year's secret santa but I changed it when I saw some other things my secret santa liked. I still wanted to do this one though ^^ So enjoy this story which is basically 10% Armin being fed up with Eren and 90% sappy, mushy fluff. The title is from "Let it Snow".

All the Way Home I'll Be Warm

"Do you think it'll snow again?"

Eren admittedly barely heard her question, but that was what heavy blankets and a warm, crackling fire did to him. "Hmm?" He lifted his head off the back of the couch to look down at Mikasa, whose head was in his lap but the rest of her was cocooned in a thick, wool blanket.

"Go to bed," she said reached up to swat at his chest.

A tempting notion. Since his parents were already sound asleep upstairs in the cabin, the heat would be on up there meaning his room would be as warm as it was down here. Eren leaned down, his own blanket slipping off his shoulders some as he did, until he could press a kiss to her lips. "I'm fine, I can wait," he said as he leaned back against the couch again. "Armin should be here soon, and I gotta tease him about his mystery woman anyway."

Mikasa arched an eyebrow but there was a smile on her face. "In front of his mystery woman?"

"Do you even know how much I had to deal with Armin's teasing when we were growing up? Oh, it's payback."

"That's because you had a ridiculous crush on your neighbor, but you wouldn't actually admit it to anyone let alone yourself."

Eren snorted, reaching up to brush some of her bangs away from her eyes. "Is it my fault I happened to live next door to the prettiest girl I had ever seen?"

"Oh, now you're just laying it on thick," she said with a roll of her eyes.

"Maybe it's because I'm actually charming."

Mikasa laughed so hard he was pretty sure she was gonna start to cry.

"You're horrible, you know that?" He wasn't actually mad, how could he be when he saw her smile like that? It only made him feel the weight of the small box in his pocket even more.

She reached up to wipe her eyes as she caught her breath, patting one hand against his stomach. "Eren, you know I love you, but romance was never exactly your strong point."

"Excuse you, remember that time you had the flu and your parents were away on vacation, so I came over and made you your favorite soup?"

"You burnt the soup. I don't know how but you managed to burn it." She was still smiling, only teasing. Mikasa ate the whole pot, burnt or not.

"You know what," Eren said as he carefully pulled himself out from under her, watching to make sure he didn't actually knock her off the couch. He climbed over her, pinning her legs in between his as he leaned over her bundled body. "I've had about enough of your sass tonight."

Mikasa must've known what was coming because she grabbed the edges of the blanket but it was too late. Eren already grabbed the edges pulling it down until he could reach her waist. She tried to squirm away but he was more than a little used to this game. He caught her and pressed his fingers against her sides in the familiar motion he knew would tickle her the most.

"Eren!" she gasped while still trying to keep her voice hushed as to not wake up his parents. "Stop!"

He pressed his weight against her to keep her from tossing them both off the couch which she probably would've if she could. "What was that, Mik? Did you say you wanted me to stop?"

"Yes," she sputtered out in between laughing.

"Hmm," he hummed, one of his hands reaching a little higher to get another spot he knew always worked. "I dunno if I can comply with that."

Mikasa stopped trying to pry his hands off of her and reached up to grab his face instead. She pulled his head down until she slammed her lips into his. Eren rested his hands on her waist as he kissed her back, loving the way she was nearly breathless already. She dropped her head back against the couch, Eren following her.

"That's something I can comply with," he said as he trailed light kisses against her jaw, her hands reaching up to run through his hair as she sighed; which was probably cause she could actually breathe now but he'd still take it.

He moved to kiss her again, to lean down and wrap his arms around her, but a knock on the door made him look up. Of course, leave it to Armin, who was at least two hours late, to make his grand entrance now. "I think we should let him enjoy the snow a little more," Eren said leaning back down but Mikasa was already detangling herself from his grasp to stand up.

"We're not gonna let him freeze," she said, pulling down her shirt that was most definitely Eren's. "He probably had a rough ride in." Mikasa tilted Eren's chin up with her finger as he begrudgingly sat up, leaving him with a kiss before walking over to the front door.

"Oh God, its freezing out there," she said as she threw open the wooden door.

"Then close it," Eren said, running his hand threw his hair feeling the chill from outside even on the couch by the fire.

"Nice to see you too, buddy." Armin looked more Artic explorer than Eren's best friend but it was a blizzard outside so he supposed he couldn't blame Armin. He dropped his bags by the stairs while another body shuffled in behind him, Mikasa closing the door to get the chill and snow from coming in even more than it did.

Armin pulled back his hood, revealing that head of blond hair and blue eyes behind his glasses Eren had known for just about his whole life.

"I'm glad you guys made it okay," Mikasa said, not bothering to wait for Armin to finish taking off his jacket before hugging him.

"It was rough there a few times," he said hugging her back before slipping off his snow covered jacket.

Mikasa took a few steps back while Eren pushed himself off the couch to walk over. The girl behind Armin was taking off her jacket as well, blonde hair done up in a clip and eyes like Armin's looking for a hanger.

"Right behind you," Armin said gesturing towards the door. She grabbed his from his hands and went to hang them up while Armin, with his typical grin, turned to face them.

"I'm glad you didn't die," Eren said opening his arms towards Armin.

"Funny thing about that, so am I," he laughed giving a hug before turning to see if his girlfriend was ready to say hello.

It was a little unusual for Eren when Armin first said he was seeing someone. He never dated too much even when they were in high school, so Eren assumed if he met someone it would've had to be someone special. Mikasa begged to meet her, but Armin wanted to wait just a little bit. It really was Mikasa's idea to invite both Armin and Annie up to the cabin for Christmas but Eren didn't think the both of them would actually go for it. Granted, he didn't really know how serious Armin was about this girl; he wasn't even one to bring it up even if Eren asked.

"Okay," Armin said, clapping his hands together once Annie turned back around to face them. "This is Annie Leonhart," he said gesturing towards the blonde girl with sharp facial features.

She didn't look too interested at first but gave a small smile. Eren knew that look from Levi well enough, so Eren knew not to take offence. It was probably just how she was. "It's nice to meet you," she said simply, but kindly.

"And this is Eren and…" Armin started but a sudden thought made Eren nearly have a heart attack.

As quickly, and as subtly as he could which he assumed wasn't very subtle, he brought his fingers back and forth across his neck, trying to get Armin to catch on not to say the thing he was probably thinking.

Armin arched an eyebrow at Eren, who quickly dropped his hand when Mikasa looked at him strangely. "And his girlfriend, Mikasa," Armin finished.

"It's so nice to meet you too," Mikasa said extending her hand for Annie to shake. Mikasa also elbowed Eren when he didn't move fast enough.

"Yeah," he said trying to remember how to breathe properly, not that Mikasa elbowing him in the gut helped any. "Glad you could come up."

"Thank you for inviting me," Annie said, tucking some of her hair behind her ear. "I was a little surprised when Armin asked me."

"Nah, don't worry about it," Eren said. "My mom's happier the more people she can cook for. There's more than enough room here, and besides, we wanted to finally meet you."

"Not that we blame him for wanting to give you some time before meeting Eren. They're something else when they're together," Mikasa said.

"That's true, you know I have a special love for my oldest friend."

"Uh-huh," Armin said, a smile on his lips. "If special love means giving me an endless headache then you're right about that."

"What are best friends for?" Everything was easy with Armin. It was like being with Mikasa, simple as breathing. Of course, they did all grow up together so Eren supposed it made sense.

"Okay," Armin laughed. "Hey, Mikasa, would you mind taking Annie up to the room, I have something I need to ask my best friend over here."

There was something in Armin's tone that made Eren swallow hard. This probably wasn't gonna go over too well.

"Oh, of course," Mikasa said with a smile walking over to the stairs. "Need any help, Annie?"

"No, that's okay," she said, grabbing her bags and following Mikasa up the stairs.

Armin waited until the footsteps and Mikasa's voice died away into the distance before stepping into the living room, his back to Eren for a moment. "You know you had a week didn't you," Armin said, turning around to face Eren.

"Well, yeah, I mean that was the plan," he said, shoving his hands in the pockets of his sweatpants.

Armin gestured for Eren to continue.

He groaned in both frustration and defeat. "Okay, look," he said softly, walking over to where Armin was standing just so no one could overhear. "Asking someone to marry you isn't as easy as it seems, alright?"

"Eren, you've known her since you were nine. She should be the easiest person to talk to."

"That's the problem," he said, his hand curling around the ring box he had taken with him everywhere this past week up at the cabin. "Every time I tried I just forget everything I wanted to say and I just…I dunno froze and then my parents got here by the weekend and I just lost it. A whole week gone because I couldn't just say it."

Armin paused for a moment. "Are you afraid she won't say yes?"

"I mean, I guess I could be, but we've been together for almost ten years, pretty sure she would've dumped my ass ages ago if she didn't wanna marry me."

Armin snorted, breaking his serious gaze.

Eren sighed, plopping himself down on the couch, eyes looking up to Armin. "I just want it to be perfect, you know? Everything she ever dreamed of." He reached up and ran a hand through his hair. "She even told me I wasn't so great with the romance elements, but I want to be. I want it to be that moment for her. I want people to ask her what it was like and have her not say 'oh, you know, he could barely even get the words out'."

"Yeah, but her perfect and someone else's perfect are gonna be two completely separate things," Armin said. "And I think you're forgetting this is Mikasa, she's not gonna care about anything but the fact you love her enough to spend the rest of your life with her. She probably wouldn't like a big public display because she's a private person, but if it came down to it and that's how it happened she'd still cherish it, because it was your way of showing you loved her. I just think you're overthinking it, do what feels right."

"Are you ever gonna be wrong? Like just once I'd like you to say something that makes me go, 'wow, Armin, that was shit advice'." Eren already felt a smile pulling at his lips. There was a reason they were still friends after all these years.

"Nope, never gonna happen. Did you at least tell your parents?"

Eren laughed. "Are you kidding me? My mom would've just started crying every time she saw Mikasa and gave it all away."

"Well, I can't deny that." A yawn pulled at Armin's lips reminding Eren just how much Armin probably drove just to get here.

"I'm glad you and Annie made it," Eren said, standing up to clasp a hand on Armin's shoulder. "Glad you finally brought her along."

"I did have to make sure nothing was gonna scare her off."

"You're so lucky I love you like a brother."

Armin was laughing, his eyes bright. Even though Eren loved the time he got alone with Mikasa here, now that Armin was with them it really did feel like everything was complete. Maybe Eren was just waiting till the people he loved most where here to celebrate in the aftermath of his proposal to Mikasa. Or he was just using that as an excuse to make himself feel better. The latter was more likely.

"Eren?"

He looked back over at the stairs, where Mikasa was leaning up against the railing. "Yeah, babe, what's up?"

"I'm gonna go to bed since your mom will probably wake us up at the crack of dawn with some breakfast feast. Are you coming?" She did look tired, though in her defense it was like two in the morning.

"Yeah, I'll be up there in a minute," Eren said.

She nodded and disappeared out of sight up the stairs once more. He must've been staring after her because Armin chuckled.

"Just tell her how you feel," he said, making his way to the staircase himself. "Tell her what you told me. She's always wanted to be with you, nothing's changed, Eren."

Armin was right, like always. It was just so hard to get those words out, to know what Eren wanted to say, but to have his mind and voice choke on him. He followed Armin up the stairs, and waved a good night before slipping into the room that was always his.

There were no lights on, just the moonlight shinning in through the window. Mikasa was already in bed, curled up on his side, which meant he had to practically pick her up to get her to move over so he could even get in the bed. Not that he minded since once his head hit the pillow she was already curled up against him, her warm breath on his chest.

He wrapped his arms around her and closed his eyes. He knew wasn't making a mistake, he knew this was what he wanted. She was always what he wanted.

In Armin's defense it did take him two full days at the cabin before he started giving Eren very pointed looks and motions. He tried hard to ignore Armin.

Eren tried, okay, he really did. After his talk with Armin, right in the morning he got ready and started thinking all the ways he could get Mikasa alone enough to ask her. Of course, Mikasa wanted to spend the morning after breakfast trying to get to know Annie. It was important to Mikasa because Armin was important to her, and Eren obviously didn't mind. If this was the girl Armin liked enough to take on vacation with them, of course, Eren was gonna try and get to know her too. It turned into an all-day affair with everyone trying to make Annie and Armin feel right at home with them and considering Annie smiled more than she did the night before, Eren figured it worked well.

Besides, he liked the way she looked at Armin, and liked the way he looked at her even more. After knowing what it felt like to have the woman he loved by his side, it was more than a little heartwarming to see Armin potentially starting to go through the same thing.

So Eren wrote that day off. He tried again the next day, but Carla wanted to take the girls into town to go shopping and neither one was opposed. With a kiss and a wave Mikasa was gone for a good majority of the day, ruling out any chances Eren had. Then he had no excuses for himself for the rest of the day. He probably had ample opportunity that he didn't take and now he had Armin giving him that look while Eren was trying to finish his waffles.

Not that he blamed Armin for it. Eren knew that if Christmas came and went, if they left the cabin to go home and he still hadn't asked Mikasa to marry him, he'd regret it. This place was always special to them, the summers and holidays they had here. This was where he wanted this next memory to take place. He just had to actually do it.

"Did you have enough to eat, Annie?" Carla asked holding up another plate of waffles.

"Yes, thank you very much," Annie nodded in response.

Eren rolled his eyes only earning a look from his mother.

"Do you have something to say to me, Eren Jaeger?" she said placing a hand on her hip. She wasn't mad; Eren knew the tone she had when she was mad at him.

"Nothing, Ma, just that I mainly think you would've much rather had a daughter."

"Well," she said placing the plate of waffles in front of him. "At least a daughter wouldn't eat me out of house and home like you boys do."

"You love it, Aunt Carla," Armin said, leaning back in his chair, one arm around the back of Annie's.

Carla hummed in response as she turned back to the kitchen making Grisha chuckle in agreement from the head of the table and from behind his newspaper. God, Eren's parents were so cliché sometimes.

"Anything you'd like to do today?" Carla asked, wrapping up the rest of the waffles she made while Eren bite into another one on his plate.

"I was actually gonna go out for a walk if anyone wanted to come with me," Mikasa said as she stood up from the table, bringing her plate and fork over to the sink.

Armin elbowed Eren so hard in the side he choked on his waffle.

"Careful," Carla said. "You still have to breathe when you eat, Eren."

"I'm fine," he coughed, sending a glare towards a rather amused looking Armin but Eren got the message. Loud and clear, even if the thought had all those waffles now turning in his stomach. Yeah, that would be something to remember; that one time he threw up trying to ask his girlfriend to marry him. "I'll go with you, Mik."

"Armin? Annie?" Mikasa asked as she headed over to the back door, pulling her jacket off the rack. "Would you like to come?"

"Nah, I like being in with the fire and not with the snow," Armin said. He turned his head towards Annie. "If you'd like to go you can."

"Maybe another time," she shook her head, but when Eren looked over she had this smile on her lips that looked oh, so familiar. Apparently she picked up a thing or two from Armin, because that knowing look was all him.

Eren resisted rolling his eyes. He walked over to where Mikasa was, reaching out to help her put on her jacket before grabbing her red scarf off the rack to drape around her neck. "Do you guys wanna come at all?" he asked his parents, pulling on his own jacket and slipping into his boots that were left there from the last time he went out.

Carla opened her mouth but Grisha beat her to it. "That's okay, you two go on." There was that dumb look again, now on his dad's face. It was matched with a wink that made Eren pretty convinced his mom and Mikasa were the only ones who didn't know.

"Alright," Eren said. He grabbed a hat and shoved it down on Mikasa's head while she was wrapping her scarf around her neck.

"Gloves?"Mikasa asked holding up his pair.

"That's okay." Eren was pretty sure the nerves that bundled up in the pit of his stomach was enough to keep him warm for years at this rate.

She eyed him but dropped the gloves in favor for putting her own on. Mikasa was typically the one who was always cold, not so much him. Eren gave the room a wave before opening up the back door to let Mikasa go out in front of him. He did shut the door before anyone could actually say anything else to him.

Mikasa was waiting on the path that lead out back, a trail they knew by heart even if it was currently covered in slow. Eren walked over to where she was, taking her gloved hand in his as he started to lead her through the woods. She was quiet as they walked which was normal; she was always quiet if she didn't have anything to say. She just looked around at the snow covered trees, the frozen lake off in the distance, the white capped mountains on the horizon.

Eren took deep breaths of the fresh, cold air, hoping it would help clear his head, help him say all the things he wanted to tell her. He reached the hand that wasn't hold her's into his pocket, the velvet of the ring box brushing over his fingers. He antagonized over picking out a ring for her, dragging Armin to every single jewelry store in the mall and surrounding area until he practically made Eren pick one.

"What's the matter with you?" Mikasa asked jolting him from his thoughts.

"Huh?" Which probably wasn't the smartest response.

She arched an eyebrow. "You've been acting strange this whole trip. Sometimes you're completely fine, and sometimes you get all tense and quiet like you're doing now."

Leave it to Mikasa to see right through him. "Oh, um, it's nothing." He tried to give her a smile to appease but the look on her face didn't change. This was it. If he didn't want to lie to her and risk making her actually angry with him, he'd have to do it right now.

"Okay, um…" Eren glanced behind him to make sure the cabin windows were blocked by trees. That was all he needed, an audience.

Mikasa stopped in the path, turning to face him with her arms across her chest. "Did you not wanna come up for Christmas? Is that what it is?"

"What? No, God, no."Eren shoved his other hand in his pocket as to not make it look too suspicious. "It's nothing like that. The opposite actually." His heart was pounding in his chest when her face softened, his breath hitching in his throat. This was Mikasa, he had this. It was just Mikasa.

"I wanted to come up here because it's special, you know?" he said. "We've been coming up here since we were kids. It's always the best memories I have."

"Then what's the problem?" She took a step forward, brushing some fallen snow out of his hair. She had snow in her hair too, her cheeks and nose red from the cold, her soft skin beautiful against her dark hair even if the hat was holding most of it down.

"I love you," he breathed.

Now she was looking at him funny again. "I love you too. Eren, what's going on?"

He pulled his hands out of his pocket to take hers. "I've been trying so hard all week to tell you how much you mean to me, Mik, but you've been my best friend since we were nine, we've been together since we were fifteen. How could I possibly reduce all those years into a few sentences, you know?"

"You don't have to explain it to me," she said, that warm smile on her lips. "I know."

"No, I do. I, um…" He hesitated. He knew if he didn't say a word she'd still understand, it was how well she knew him. "You know I'm not super great with words, I never have been. I'm pretty sure when I asked you out it was along the lines of me telling you we were going out because I couldn't actually say anything else but you knew. You always do. So…" He pulled the box out of his pocket but still tried to block it from Mikasa's view. "I'll let this one speak for itself too."

He might've thought better about getting down on his knee than in the middle of the snow but the moment he saw the look on her face, the way her hands had covered her mouth, her eyes wide and starting to glistening like the snow around her, nothing else mattered. "I always knew, from the day you wandered into my front lawn that I couldn't imagine a day of my life without you." He put his hand in front of him and popped the top on the box; the ring was small, and simple, just how Mikasa liked it. "So I'm making sure I never have to."

She was crying and it was hard not to feel any else but a happiness that only Mikasa ever could give him.

"Mikasa?"

She gave him some choked noise in response.

"Will you marry me?"

"Yes," she breathed. "Of course, yes."

He wasn't sure when his knee went numb from the cold snow seeping in through his jeans but it still didn't matter. She was looking at him with those adoring eyes, a look he never thought anyone would look at him with, let alone the most amazing person he ever knew. He popped the ring out of the box and took her left hand, gently tugging off her glove until her warm skin was touching his. He delicately slid the ring on her finger and before he could even have a chance to think her arms were thrown around his neck, her face buried in his shoulder.

Eren wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight and barely feeling the biting wind all around them. She was so warm, it was impossible to feel anything but. He felt like a weight was off his shoulders. Sure he always assumed she'd say yes, but now he knew; there was no greater feeling. When she kissed him, it was almost like the first time all over again. This was it. She was gonna marry him. She was gonna be his wife.

She smiled when she pulled away, resting her forehead against his. "Were you planning that all week?"

"Yeah," he laughed, pressing a quick kiss to her lips. "I tried and failed quite a few times."

Her eyes were bright when she looked at him. "I think you did pretty well for yourself."

"What do you say, wanna go make my mom cry?"

She laughed and Eren knew without a doubt he wanted to hear her laugh for the rest of his life.