Chapter Text
Saturday.
The best fucking day to exist in all the history of days.
I got up in another uncharacteristically good mood, and hopped into the kitchen where I smelt something sweet already as my mom stood in front of the stove.
"Pancakes? Fuck yes!" I commented happily, that is until my mom's head snapped in my direction, her face sporting a glare. I froze in place, frantically apologizing.
"Sorry ma, but it's a habit! They can't just die in a day y'know..."
She returned her focus back to the stove, flipping a pancake cheerfully.
"Hm, I suppose you're right. But teenaged boys can!" she said in a light tone. Fuck she could be scary, but no one besides me and my dad knew this. I gulped and sat at the island.
"So what time you going to work today? You're off tomorrow right?"
"Mhm. I go in at 11, so we have some time. How's your head, Jeannie?" She patted her hand lightly in my hair, and I bumped her arm with mine.
"I'm fine ma! You don't gotta do all that." I looked to the side, embarrassed, much to her amusement.
"That's great to hear! See, nothing a little soup and rest can't cure. Always remember that."
"Yeah yeah, I know." But she was right. She always said this since I was little, anytime I was hurt or just not feeling well.
"Oh! And lots of fluids." That too.
"Yeah, you're right. I'm practically all better. Actually, I am. My head isn't hurting at all come to think of it."
"Glad to hear it. But don't let that fool you. You need to go easy or it'll just come back. Don't push yourself." She sat a plate down in front of me. I held back a gasp. Banana pancakes. My absolute fucking favorite pancakes.
I nodded quickly to what she was saying and shoved my mouth full with my breakfast.
"Slow down!" she scolded, but laughed endearingly.
After I all but devoured my plate and she was well into her breakfast, we just talked.
"I finished most of my homework yesterday by the way. Don't worry I slept for like a zillion hours before that."
She looked up, shocked, mouth full. After she swallowed she said, "you didn't have to do that Jeanbo. You really need to let your brain rest."
I shrugged.
"Eh, it was easy. And I didn't really push myself, actually I gave up on the hard stuff so."
She nodded and continued to eat.
She suddenly gulped hard, "Oh! I almost forgot! I'm working a bit later tonight because one of my coworkers is leaving for vacation and she typically has a night shift. It won't be all night, but it'll be a bit late until they have someone to come in and replace my shift."
"That's fine ma- Marco was gonna give me a ride anyways." I said casually. Her brows furrowed.
"Where to?" I looked around for a moment.
"Y'know, the party I've brought up all week" I grinned, "Ms. 'I'm not that old yet' " I almost regretted the joke when I saw her brows turn down. But unfortunately that wasn't what upset her.
"Oh, no. No no no mister. That was over with the minute you got into a fight with Eren. There is no way I am letting you leave the house and go to a party when you were just knocked out two days ago!"
I got up from where I sat and threw my arms in the air.
"What do you mean!? You said I could go on Monday and on Wednesday! It's not like I started that dam- dang fight anyways!"
"I don't care. I changed my mind because things changed. There is no way you are going to a party in this condition."
"What condition, I'm fine now! Remember, my headache is completely gone!"
"And what did I say? Remember, don't push it and let it fool you!
"Mom what the hell, I've been wanting to go to this thing since I heard about it, It's what got me through this ass week anyways! If anything I should be rewarded for putting up with it and being knocked out by that damn sociopathic Jaeger!"
"Jean Kirstein!" That's all she had to say in a loud, terse tone, and I knew that there was no arguing with her from that point on. I sat back down, defeated. I exhaled hard through my nose and put my chin in my hand.
After a few moments of silence, my mom began, her tone much more calm, "What kind of mother would I be if I let my son leave the house for a party two days after he could've been concussed?" She looked at me, hand on hip.
I looked to the side stubbornly. I mean I knew she was right, but that didn't change how damn badly I wanted to go. I decided to unleash my begging mode. Sometimes this worked.
"I know ma, you're right. And sorry for yelling. And cussing. It's just, I don't know, I haven't been able to go to a party in forever..." I stopped for a minute, giving her a second so she didn't feel like I was pressuring her.
"It's just that I really have had a hard week, and that fight with Eren just made everything worse and I guess I just..." I shrugged sheepishly for emphasis "assumed I still had that to look forward to." I quickly looked up from my gaze on the table to see if she was faltering. Didn't look like it. I frowned.
Time to bring out the big guns.
"And honestly..." I stretched, nonchalant, half "yawning"-
"...doing things with my friends, like going to parties and all that...and being in sports with all the games and practice… just... distracts me from...well, dad's absence." I saw her posture slump a bit at this.
Hooked.
"I mean I'm glad it's just you and me now, we get by and have tons of fun together, but it's just when I'm here all the time, it's all I can think of. Especially because you work so much. He was a jerk, but honestly…sometimes I miss him."
I looked at her face, she looked at me sympathetically, sighing.
Line.
"It's just...it's a nice way to distract myself, I guess."
She came around the table to where I sat, patting my back. After a few moments of silence, she seemingly caved.
"Alright." She whispered gently, kissing the side of my head.
And sinker.
I struggled to withhold a grin.
"I just worry about you, that's all, but if it's really so important to you..."
I was a terrible son, wasn’t I.
"Yes ma. Yes it is. Very much." Well, I wasn't lying about that.
"But just remember I can't pick you up if something happens."
"I know, but I'll be with Marco. You know we look after each other. He drives well. If anything he’s too cautious" She nodded, agreeing.
"And do not get into any fights. If Eren Jaeger is there I want you to leave right away."
"Relax, he's probably in deep shit with his dad." She looked at me, brow raised. I shrugged. "What? He's strict."
"Language. And promise me you won't push your limits. If your head hurts, you'll have Marco take you home, right?"
I nodded. "Yes, yes. Will do."
This went on for a while until it was time for her to leave for work. We said our goodbyes and I promised a bunch of things, then she left.
I only felt a tad bit guilty about pulling the dad card. He was a genuine fucking asshole, and I didn't miss him in the slightest. When he left my mom to raise me on her own, he was dead to me. What I did miss however, was simply having a dad. So the dad card wasn't completely bogus, at least.
More importantly, I had a date with Historia's party tonight.
It was around 6 o’clock when Marco swung by my house to pick me up. He said we’d leave early because everyone was heading to Mike’s Milkshake Joint. That mans milkshakes were the absolute fucking best. There were rumors that he created his milkshake recipes by simply smelling the ingredients, then throwing everything together.
I honestly figured that was bullshit. That was until he started sniffing everyone and spewing fortune-teller like shit. One time I walked into his joint for a vanilla milkshake after getting my ass kicked in practice, and on top of that having a shit day to begin with because I got into it with Marco on something he was probably right about. As I was waiting for my shake, Mike took an sharp whiff of the air, and simply said, "tough day, huh," before knocking my shake to half price. This kind of thing occurred a few more times before I became completely convinced he had a magical nose. The place should be called Mike's Magical Milkshake Joint.
By the time we got there, I was starving as fuck, as usual. I only snacked a bit after eating the most amazing pancakes earlier that day, so the overwhelming smell of burgers and fries made my heart race a bit as I imagined biting into a giant cheeseburger.
When me and Marco walked through the door, we instantly spotted our crowd. Be it the flying food coming from both Sasha and Connie's seats, to Reiner's deep, loud laugh, our senses were filled with these idiots. I grinned though, because they were fun idiots.
We were waved over by Sasha as soon as she spotted us, and we walked the stretch of the restaurant to meet the booth.
The party consisted of Reiner, Bertolt, Annie, Sasha, Connie, and now Marco and I.
“Where is everyone?” Marco asked no one in particular.
Bert answered, “Well, the birthday girl is getting ready for her party tonight, and Ymir is likely with her.”
“Either that or she forgot to buy her a gift and is tryna take care of that as we speak” Reiner laughed.
Annie side-eyed Reiner “Were we supposed to bring gifts?” She said flatly, “if so, you can tell her how you and Bert dragged me here, therefore impairing my memory to buy her something”
“Nah, you're good Ice Queen. But she might not be so forgiving of her own girlfriend forgetting.” He grinned to himself.
Marco intervened, “I doubt she forgot Reiner. She’s probably with Christa, like Bert said.” Reiner frowned at this.
Marco was right. Ymir was practically in love with Historia. She was her world. She acts all tough, but she thinks about her all the time. It’s obvious.
I butted in, smirking “Oh, get off it Reiner. They’re not gonna break up anytime soon, so you gotta move on dude. Out of everyone they’re most likely to end up married. We all know this.” I patted his back for good measure.
“Yeah, yeah. What happened to guy-code?” he murmured in response.
“Alright!” Marco clapped suddenly. “I’m getting pretty hungry surrounded by all this food. Wanna order Jean?”
“Order the mashed potatoes!” Connie nearly shouted, his eyes focused on Sasha.
Sasha shook her head quickly “No! Don’t do it!”
I squinted at them, “What are you guys on?”
“He’s going to murder them!”
Connie grinned mischievously, then blanked his face when everyone's attention turned towards him “What!? Nah, they’re just good. I had 'em before, trust me.”
“Or maybe you’ve discovered it's a nice, messy food to throw across the room at Sasha.” Annie said coolly. She must’ve been observing them the whole time.
Sasha practically leapt on Annie.
“Don’t let him Annie! I’m dressed all nice for the party and I don't want those innocent potatoes to go to waste!” She wailed.
“Get off me.” Annie nudged her, her face reddening a bit, bashful.
It was only then that I actually noticed what everyone was wearing.
They were dressed nice. I never really got to see everyone all fancy most the time, and neither Sasha or Annie were particularly the aristocratic type. Annie had on a white silk slip dress that went down to her knees, silver heels, and silver earrings. She had on liner and white eyeshadow. She really did look like an ice queen, and she had a small silver tiara head piece to tie it all in. Sasha was wearing a red lace top, and a black mini skirt, with red lipstick and hearts painted on her face.
Shit. I completely forgot to wear something Queen themed.
Annie was an Ice Queen, Sasha was the Queen of Hearts, Reiner was wearing a burger king t-shirt and dress pants (which kind of made me feel better about my outfit), Bert was wearing a simple black button up but had on a burger king crown, and Connie was dressed kind of like a jester. I looked over to Marco. Well, at least I wasn't alone. He was wearing an orange dress shirt and black dress pants. I sighed.
Guess it was mostly for the girls.
After admiring Sasha and Annie's outfits a bit longer, my eyes widened.
“Hey.” Ahem. I tried to act casual. “So is…Mikasa coming tonight?” I raised my brows and scratched my chin, nonchalant.
“BWAHAHA-" Came Reiner's thundering guffaw, the instant after I asked. My face straightened.
"Yet I need to get over Christa.” Reiner continued his bellowed laugh. Loudly. I rolled my eyes.
“Alright Alright!. Just a question, damn” I scoffed, narrowing my eyes at him. "At least I'm hung up on someone who's single." I then grinned, satisfied.
Reiner mirrored my grin, brows raised. "Oh? that's what she is?" He nudged Bert, who was unfortunately sitting right by him. "Did you hear that guys, Mikasa is 'single'"
I looked around to see who was backing him, noting Annie's slight grin as she stared down at the table, then said, brows furrowed, "Wh- hey listen. I'm not even that into her anymore! Y'know she's just...not much my type anymore." I swallowed hard. "Guess I outgrew her." I shrugged.
I smacked my lips as I sat pleased with my reaction. That's right Kirstein, you've grown. I thought it was about time people stopped acting as if my crush on Mikasa was something pathetic.
This is until half the table broke out laughing.
"You outgrew Mikasa?" Connie exaggeratingly asked. I responded with a death stare. Sasha giggled in response, and Annie cleared her throat, holding back a smile.
And Reiner was putting on a fucking show with his laughter.
"Alright! Damn. Whatever, fuck you guys. But she is single." Reiner nodded, wiping tears from his eyes, and everyone finally began to fucking settle down.
But I was right.
She wasn't fucking dating Eren. They never dated. I mean- Yeah, she was with him all the time but they were not boyfriend and girlfriend... or anything like that. So they could laugh all they wanted. I was right. Simple as that. Mikasa was out of Eren's league. He would probably go with Armin before Mikasa anyway, with how they acted around each other.
Nanaba finally came over to the table, one of the waitresses that worked in the diner, wearing a yellow diner dress and an apron.
"Hey! Seems like a lot of commotion going on, busy night?" She was a nice woman. She wasn't like nicey-nice, but she was a nice person. She always had a serious aura to her.
Marco acknowledged her, "Yeah, everyone's excited for this party we're gonna head over to." She raised her head as an 'Oh.'
"Also," he scratched his head sheepishly, "I'm sorry about the mess."
"Oh, don't worry about. You kids have fun. That's what we like to see in this place. Besides, I'm getting paid for it."
That was probably her way of saying she was used to Connie and Sasha acting like clowns anytime they ate here.
"So, were you two gonna order?" She pointed at Marco and I with her pen.
"Oh, yes."
I ordered a fat cheeseburger and Marco ordered chicken tenders, and we shared a basket of fries.
After we ate, and everyone chatted a bunch, the time of the party was getting close so we all decided to head out.