Chapter Text
Historia gazes at the sea coast that lays outside through her kitchen window, with her checks resting on her hands. Leaning towards the kitchen counter, she lets out a loud and deep sigh while her lips form a bigger frown. Sundays were always slow and lazy for her, and today even the sight in front of her couldn’t bring up her spirits.
Today was a slow day because the flower shop she worked at was closed on the weekends and there wasn’t a lot she did in her free time.
She finished gardening (which was one of her only hobbies) and made breakfast that consisted of the normal peanut-butter sandwich with fruits. Now that she thinks about it, it wasn’t really a good combination. Also, earlier today she turned on the TV and by the first 10 minutes she was already dozing off. She was about to give up and call it a day, thinking of heading up to her bedroom when her phone which was charging in the in the next room buzzed, notifying her that she got a message. She heads inside the room and picks it up.
7:15
Huh. She could swear that it was much later than that.
Well there is still the book I checked out last week from the library. I could read that. Plus, the return date is coming up. She thinks. It was a book of poets that she found after lazely strolling through the halls of the library. She’d always had a soft spot for poets ever since she was a kid and her older sister would read it to her. She would read her stories and urge her to write her own. The thought of the old days brought a smile to her face as she glanced down at her phone.
She unlocks it and sees a message from Armin, one of her close friends. She has a small group of friends that were with her ever since elementary school. Some of them went out of town to continue their studies while most of them stayed here to continue family business or just studied at the local college that was in the town over. With how rural her town and the surrounding area was, it was surprising to hear that there was a college so close by.
Armin: Hey, are you coming over to the diner? Marco invited me and said to bring you along. I'm just leaving the lab, but I'll be there in 20-30 minutes.
Her friend worked at a research lab for some science wildlife research group. His grandpa would always be nagging him to be a doctor and make a decent amount of pay but in high school, he heard of this camp that would let him study more about the marine and the habitat while working alongside actual certified scientists. He took it in the beginning because he was genuinely interested in it. But what he didn’t know was that the camp was working with this university that was trying to scout young kids that were interested in working in that field.
Now 7 year later, he was an actual marine biologist. Actually, ever since they were kids, he always did have a thing for the ocean. Historia can recall when they were kids and he would go on rambling about marine life and the oceanic habitat. They would spend hours on end on the beach with Armin picking up shells and turning over rocks, while everyone else would kick at the water and the small ponds. Every time they would do that, Armin would scold them, talking about how vulnerable and replaceable organisms made a living out of them.
Jean and Eren would make fun of him every time his ramble would go on too long, and Sasha would agree with how precious they were, but for the wrong reasons. Unlike Armin, Sasha would lick her lips everytime the sea creatures were talked about, thinking about how good of a dinner they would be. Yet, every one knew that all of their brain cells combined wouldn't even match a quarter of Armin's. So they left him alone.
Well… most of the time they did.
Getting her bag off the floor, she grabs her coat that was hanging on a rack by the door and heads out. They lived in a small town so the diner wasn't that far away, and if she rode her bike there, it would take only 15 minutes. She did have her small old red truck (it was so worn out that you couldn’t even notice it was red but a brownish-burgundy type of color) but she barely used it. She hops on the bike that was leaning against the house and starts peddling on the road. The warm spring air gushes by her as she keeps on riding on.
It was spring, heading into summer in a couple of weeks. Personally, she was glad that it was almost summer, for there was this meet-up she did with most of her friends after being away for most of the year. It was an idea suggested after they went their separate ways after high school.
She keeps on pedaling towards the diner for the next following minutes as she takes in the scenery before her. It truly was a sight to see, with the flowers blooming and the land covered in healthy green. She could hear birds chirping in the distance, and the small chatter of the crowd as she headed into town.
After a couple of blocks, she was greeted with the flashing LED lights of 'Paradise Diner.' She halted to a stop in front of the building and parked her bike on the bicycle parking rake. Noticing that her shirt was a little wrinkled, she ran her hands over it to smooth it out. She starts walking towards the building, noticing the OPEN sign hanging in front of the window.
Opening the doors to the diner, she heard a "JEAN GET YOUR ASS IN HERE AND WASH THE DAMN DISHES. IF I HAVE TO TELL YOU THIS ONE MORE TIME, I SWEAR ON SWEET JESUS THAT-"
"Jeez, Marco I get it." Grumbled a worn out Jean. Marco tossed him a glare as he went through the back doors. Presumably to wash the dishes. Historia widens her eyes at the choice of words used by Marco. He wasn’t usually like this and something very bad must have happened to make him act like this.
Marco grumbles a couple of curses under his breath and looks up to see Historia standing by the doorway. His face lightens up and a smile makes its way across his way. “Historia! Armin said that you may be coming, I just didn’t expect you to come this early.”
“Yeah, I didn't have anything else to do.” As she said that, Marco let out a small pout. Before he could say something about her non-existence love life, she tries to steer the conversation somewhere else. This wasn’t the first time someone tried to talk to her about it, and wasn’t the first time she tried to stop it from advancing.
“What happened with you and Jean? You were screaming at him when I came.”
That immediately took his mind out of his earlier thoughts. He placed his hands on his hips and rolled his eyes as he told her about how Jean left most of the dishes on the sink and how he barely did anything today. Again, this wasn’t how he usually acted so it still stunned Historia a little. It’s not like Marco to get all hot headed about some unwashed dishes. But she decided to not question him about it.
“It’s kind of like taking care of a child. But instead…” Even though he was saying how annoyed with him he was, she knew that deep down he cared for him more than anything in the world.
He ushers her towards one of the tables and she takes a seat in front of him. His rant continued for about the next 10 minutes or so. In the middle of him talking, the bell connected to the door let out a ding, notifying us that someone has just entered. Armin stood in the doorway, with his hood over his head, covering his golden looks and the upper part of his face. It was a little over-sized for him, for he told them it belonged to his late grandfather. It was kind of concerning that he barely took it off, wearing it almost everywhere and everyday ever since they were young. Heck, he even wore it to prom when they were in highschool! Well, above his suit of course, but his outfit looked even worse.
He shed the hood of his hoodie as he started coming towards them and sat next to Historia. “Sorry I’m late. The traffic in the city was rough today. Well, it was a Friday after all so it was my fault actually for not predicting it. I really am sorry and I’m sorry if I kept you waiting-”
“Hey, it’s alright. You’re only a few minutes late, so don’t be too hard on yourself.” Marco stops him in the middle of his rant with a heart-warming smile and Armin lets out a small hesitant nod. How he was talking to Armin was a contrast to his earlier actions.
“Armew, zat youw?” Said Sasha from the doorway leading to the kitchen. Her face was stuffed with bread and she took another bite, even though her mouth was already full. She didn’t take off her oven mitts and apron that was covered in dough, indicating that she just finished baking.
Marco lets out a sigh as he scolds her for talking with her mouth full. Sasha lets out a few nods but still kept on stuffing her mouth. She comes towards the table and sits by Marco. “And you still didn’t take off your mittens?” He says with annoyance laced on his words as he points to her kitten covered mittens. “Oops, sorry.” She says as she goes back through the doors.
Marco’s never in a bad mood like this. He’s actually one of the more calm and nicer people in the group, so it surprised both Historia and Armin of his abnormal behavior he showed today. Boldly, Armin decided to ask him about it to try and find out the reason.
Marco opens his mouth to talk back to Armin, but again, Sasha emerges out of the kitchen (this time without the apron and mittens) and answers for him.
“Hehe, Marco was talking about this museum for months and he finally got a chance to go tomorrow. And of course, he asked Jean but horseface rejected him.”
“I HAVE TO GO TO A WEDDING. IT WAS MOM’S FRIEND’S WEDDING AND SHE'S BEEN NAGGING ME FOR WEEKS.” Said Jean coming out of the kitchen.
“Or you could just say that you don’t want to come.” Marco mumbled, but it was loud enough for Jean to hear. Even though Marco rolled his eyes in a dismissing way, by the softense of his voice you could tell just how hurt he was.
Jean’s eyes softened when he noticed and his demeanor changed. “Marco…”
“Oh boy. Not this again.” Sasha commented. It wasn’t unusual for Marco and Jean to get sappy and emotional towards each other. Actually, it happens on a daily basis. Ever since highschool when those two started dating, they’ve never gotten over the honeymoon phase. In the beginning, it was kind of a relief for the group when Jean got over Mikasa and his 4-year crush on her. He first met Marco when he had been assigned partners with him in the 10th grade when Marco first came into Paradis Village.
No one would have betted that he would have gotten over Mikasa that fast and that easily. But he fell for him. Hard. Like, head over heels hard. He would come to lunch with his face as red as a tomato and clutching at his chest with a dazed mind and glossy eyes. Sasha, Connie, and Eren would tease him endlessly about it, begging to see the person who got Jean all over his feelings.
Over the years, those two continued to be lovey-dovey, but would have a petty fight here or there. But it was still much less than the average couple. Mostly, it would just be Marco getting annoyed by Jean and Jean at the end saying a million sorrys and buying him a whole bouquet of flowers. Every. Single. Time.
Historia kind of envied the type of love that they had. She would find herself some days lonelier than she should have been, longing for someone she could come home to after a long stressful day in the shop. Of course, she’s been in a couple relationships, but each one didn’t feel…
She couldn’t explain it. She kept on telling herself that she didn’t actually need someone. She knew a lot of people that did just fine without a partner. Plus, she had her friends, and her shop, and…
Historia brought herself back to the present and decided to watch the show in front of her in amusement. Jean was currently giving Marco a hug from the side, on his knees, while giving him tiny pecks of kisses all over freckle-dotted face. Marco still had his arms crossed, but Historia was sure that after a couple of minutes, he would crack under the affection.
Armin was letting out a laugh as Sasha made a joke about how desperate Jean was or something like that. Historia just heard the “...stupid horseface” part of her sentence.
Jean gave her a glare and he got up from the floor, taking a seat next to Marco. “Anyways I have two tickets for the museum. I’ll just save them for the next time you are free.” Marco said to Jean.
Jean was about to nod in agreement when he let out a surprised look with his mouth agape and his eyes wide. That soon turned into a sly grin as he whispered something into Marco’s ears. Marco’s face soon turned into one like Jean’s as he turned towards Historia. Uh oh. Historia thought.
“Hey Historia… Do you want to come with me to the museum.”