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“Shake it up! Shake up the happiness! Wake it up! Wake up the happiness! Come on, ya’ll,” Zeke spoke-sang along, butchering the notes, “It’s Christmas tiiime.” Christmas Eve was his most productive holiday, mainly due to his insane work hours keeping him too busy to properly decorate the tree until the day before. However, Zeke still enjoyed this pre-Christmas ritual.
“Uuueghhh!” Eren tossed over in his bed, covering his ears with his pillow to shield them from the obnoxious Christmas tunes. He could feel his anger building the more he heard Zeke enjoying a holiday he hated so much. Long ago, things were different, but ever since last Christmas, he swore to never celebrate Christmas again.
Ornaments dangled in each hand as Zeke stopped and let out a sigh with a head shake. “He wasn’t kidding about never celebrating again…” He placed the ornaments haphazardly on the tree and walked into Eren’s room. “You’re not leaving all the decorating up to me, are you? You’re breaking your big brother’s heart,” Zeke said sarcastically.
“Decorate the tree without me. I don’t care…” Eren moped.
“Is this about last Christmas?” Zeke opened Eren’s door without knocking, but Eren was so depressed he hardly noticed. “It’s been over a year, Eren. Don’t you think it’s time to… move on?” Eren lifted his head to glare at Zeke before covering his face again. “I shouldn’t have said that… Look at it this way. Do you really see yourself not celebrating Christmas for the rest of your life? I’ve been heartbroken before, too. You can’t hold onto it forever.” Zeke took his phone out of his back pocket and set it on Eren’s nightstand before taking a seat on his bed.
Eren’s voice muffled under the pillow, “Fine, how about ten years? After ten years, I’ll celebrate Christmas….”
Zeke’s eyes widened as he tried to contain his urge to express how absolutely unreasonable Eren was being. “Look, I know you loved Mikasa, but… you don’t know the future.”
“I don’t know if I should be taking relationship advice from you,” Eren snarked.
Zeke shrugged. “I guess the bloodline really is ending with us, considering our lack of luck in the love department.” Eren couldn’t help but smirk a little at Zeke’s corny phrasing, which didn’t go unnoticed. Maybe he was getting somewhere. “You’re only 20, Eren. You have plenty of time.”
“Yeah, I’d rather not be 30 and single. Good thing I can still make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“You think I’m single because I’m unpopular? I’m enjoying my freedom to focus on my career.”
Just then, Zeke’s phone buzzed on the nightstand. Eren peeked at the screen. “Bumble?”
“Wait, a Bumble notification? Someone messaged me first!?” Eren bitterly watched Zeke grab his phone. His eyes lit up more and more as he read the message. He stopped upon noticing Eren’s glaring. “For you it’s been a year. For me, it’s been many. Anyway, you really want to have your holiday ruined because of something that happened last year?”
“I guess you’re right…”
Zeke put his phone down and tried smiling at Eren, pitying his heartbroken little brother. “We could have some family time. It gets lonely just being us two. On top of that, we’ve hardly had any brotherly bonding time lately.”
“On one condition.”
“Yeah?”
“I choose the music.”
Zeke shrugged. “That works. I’m done with the lights and garland. We just need to finish putting up the ornaments and the angel on top.”
“Since when do the Jaegers put an angel on the Christmas tree?”
“Dad didn’t put an angel on top with you?”
Eren shook his head. “We had a star.”
Zeke sighed and stood up. As he headed for the Christmas tree, he heard knocking on the door. “Hmmm?” ‘Who the hell is that? And on Christmas Eve?’ he thought before he opened the door. Much to his surprise, Armin and Mikasa were standing there bearing gifts. ‘Why is Mikasa here? Eren is going to be distraught seeing her,’ he thought. “Hello, Eren’s friends. Can I help you?” he asked suspiciously. Eren was finally starting to feel a little better, and Zeke worried that all of that coaxing him was for nothing.
“Hi, Zeke! Merry Christmas Eve. We’re here to see Eren,” Armin said enthusiastically.
“Of course,” Zeke said with a snide tone, feeling a bit slighted.
The pair headed to Eren’s room. “Merry Christmas Eve, Eren,” Armin said.
“Hi, Eren…” Mikasa half-whispered.
“Hi…” The tension grew along with the silence in the room.
Armin chuckled nervously. “Eren, we got you something.” Eren stared in confusion. ‘Why would Mikasa get me something with Armin? Why is she even here?’ “Here, open it.”
Eren took the small bag handed to him by Armin. When he peeked inside, he could tell it was something nice. He pulled out the tissue paper and reached in, pulling out a red bag of chocolate truffles with an Xbox gift card. He smirked. “Thanks, Armin.”
“Don’t mention it! I’m going to go help Zeke decorate the tree.” He scurried out of the room to leave the two of them alone.
Mikasa sat down on the bed. Her heart raced thinking of the last time she sat here. “Eren, I-...”
“What?” His expression was cold as he anticipated more heartbreak.
“I… got you this.” She held out a wrapped present. It wasn’t a square, a rectangle, or a circle. What could it be?
Eren cautiously took the abnormally shaped gift and started to unwrap it. His heart raced when he saw what it was. “You’re gifting me… the teddy bear I won for you at the carnival?”
Shaking her head, Mikasa responded, “No, it’s a matching teddy bear I found online. I wanted to… spend Christmas with you this year.”
Her words shocked him. “You want to?”
“Yes… And I want to try again...” She looked away with rosy cheeks. “I… don’t want to be apart anymore.”
"W-Why?" He couldn't believe what was happening.
"I've been full of regret since the end of last year, Eren. I just want to make things right." Mikasa's heart raced as she nervously admitted everything.
"Mikasa..." Eren’s heart pounded in his chest. "I'm... glad I waited for you. I'll be better this time. I'll be what you deserve." He leaned forward abruptly and gently grabbed her chin to pull her in for a kiss. No longer did he dread tomorrow. She blushed and smiled at him with elated eyes. Eren looked at the door and then back at her. He quickly stumbled to the door and locked it.
The decorations were coming along nicely with Armin’s help. He and Zeke took a step back to inspect the results of their collaborative efforts. “Leave it to Eren to ditch another one of my plans. How about we take a break? Care for some eggnog?”