Archive of Our Own

"You won't believe what happened today!" Eren tears open the door to the Arlerts' shared study and bursts into the room, almost stumbling over the edge of the carpet in his haste.

Armin is sitting in front of the family computer and winces at his friend's sudden entrance, then mutters a few curses under his breath as his eyes flit over the screen. "I just accidentally deleted several rows of code," he grouses, his fingers already flying over the keyboard to retype everything.

Eren ducks his head and carefully closes the door behind him. As quietly as possible, he moves the pile of books resting on the chair aside and pulls it next to Armin's. He watches the rows of code grow longer and longer on the screen as he waits, his foot tapping against the soft carpet while he arrenges the words in his mind.

Soon, his friend is done typing and closes whatever programme he uses for his coding projects before shutting down the computer. When he turns to Eren, his eyes sparkle with curiosity.

"Now I'm all ears. What happened today that you're so excited? Did you finally nail that skateboard trick you've been practising lately?"

"No, it's not that. It's something so much better!" Eren takes a deep breath, his heartbeat picking up as he remembers the absolutely wonderful afternoon he's just had. "Mikasa came up to me today at the skatepark and asked me if I could teach her how to skate!"

"What?" Armin's brows shoot up to his hairline, his surprise unmistakable as he stares at Eren for a few moments. "You mean the Mikasa you've been pining after for years now? Who you've been too scared to talk to because you were afraid she'd think you're weird? Who you thought had started sitting by the skatepark because she was interested in one of the other guys?"

"Yeah, yeah. Of course it's that Mikasa," Eren says, feeling his ears heat up. "And I wasn't scared to talk to her. I was just… hesitant."

"Sure, sure," Armin says with a grin, prompting his friend to roll his eyes. "So you two just spent the entire afternoon together? Or what exactly happened?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Eren replies, scratching the back of his neck. The smile on his lips grows wider and wider as he recounts the past three hours, which still feel so unreal to him. He watches Armin's face cycle through several expressions, all mirroring the same excitement Eren is feeling.

"I also asked for her phone number when she asked for my help picking out a skateboard, after I mentioned she should get one as well," Eren finishes his recount, finally pausing to catch his breath. "She's going to be amazing if she keeps at it, I can feel it."

"You have her number? Oh, that's awesome!" Armin exclaimed, giving his friend a nudge against the arm. "You're definitely on the right track, this is the progress you've been hoping for for ages!"

"I can't know for sure she's actually going to reach out, though," Eren says, leaning back in his chair. He's been thinking about that ever since he and Mikasa parted ways in front of her house. "What if she doesn't really like me? What if this was just meant to be a… you know, a one-time-thing."

"I wouldn't give my phone number to anyone I didn't like," Armin says, tilting his head. "But of course, we have to keep in mind that Mikasa might've been too polite to say no." Eren feels his stomach drop, the hopes he's been building up in his heart bursting like a soap bubble.

"Though I don't think that's the case with her," Armin hurries to add, noticing the way his friend's spirits are sinking. "I was just speaking hypothetically."

"Guess we'll just have to wait and see," Eren sighs, rubbing his forehead. It seems that getting closer to someone brought a new bunch of problems with it, ones he hadn't anticipated.

As if on cue, Eren's phone buzzes in his jeans pocket, and he winces in surprise. Exchanging a hopeful glance with Armin, he fishes it out, his fingers trembling slightly as he hesitates to flip it open.

"It's probably just my mum, letting me we're about to have dinner," he says, so as not to get his hopes up too high. Though he's pretty sure his mother would've called instead of texted, not patient enough to use the number pad to type out words, quickly getting annoyed with the small buttons.

Armin nods wordlessly, his eyes fixed on the phone in Eren's hand, as though he's able to read the message if he concentrates hard enough. Finally, Eren flips it open, his heartbeat picking up when his eyes fall on the little 1 next to the envelope icon.

"It's from Mikasa!" Eren gasps when he clicks on the icon and her name pops up on top of the list.

"Ohh, what does it say?" Armin says, leaning forward to peek at the tiny screen. He looks as excited as if his own crush had just texted him, and Eren feels lucky to have someone like him to talk to.

"She's asking me if I'm going to be at the skatepark tomorrow," Eren replies, rereading the message again, then once more, to make sure he's understood the words correctly.

"Tell her you will!" Armin grabs Eren's arm and squeezes it. "Cause you will, right?"

"Yeah, of course I will." Eren's heartbeat picks up as his fingers hover over the buttons. "Do I just tell her that? 'Yes, I will'?"

"Gosh, no, that's not what she wants to hear from you." Armin shakes his head. "She already knows you will—she's seen you there every weekend over the past month, after all." He leans forward, as though he's about to share a secret with Eren. "She's giving you the opportunity to invite her. I think that's what she wants."

"Oh," Eren says, scratching the back of his neck. "That… that makes sense. Yeah." He pauses, his eyes widening. "But how do I do that?"

"I don't know. I'm not exactly an expert when it comes to things like that," Armin says, adjusting his glasses, like he always does when he's trying to figure something out.

"You have to know more than I do. You've got a girlfriend, after all," Eren says.

"And I don't even know how that happened," Armin says with an apologetic smile. "Let's try and approach this from a logical standpoint. If you ask Mikasa if she's going to be there too, she'll reply with 'yes', and you'll be in the same situation as before. Or she might think you're not interested because you aren't picking up on the underlying question. Annie says girls leave sublte hints and pay attention to the ones they get back, and that's what encourages them. Being too overeager can be off-putting, though."

"Hm, that sounds sensible," Eren nods enthusiastically, hanging on Armin's every word and amazed by all the knowledge his friend has to share. "So I gotta make it clear I'm interested without making it over-the- top. … and how do I do that?"

"I don't know," Armin shrugs, resting his elbow on the desk as he braces his chin atop his hand. "I can call Annie and ask her, if you'd like. Maybe she can help?"

"No! Please don't." Eren's eyes widen at his friend's suggestion, and he frantically waves his hands. "She's only going to laugh at me and rub it in my face for the rest of my life."

Pulling up one of his legs, he props his arm on his knee, staring at Mikasa's text message again before placing the phone on the desk, a little frustrated. He needs to reply soon, or otherwise his silence will make her think he doesn't want to see her again.

"Maybe… I could offer to teach her some more skateboarding tomorrow?" Eren says slowly, a hesitant idea forming in his mind. "What if I write something like, 'Yes, I will. Want me to help you with skateboarding again?'"

"Sounds perfect to me," Armin says, grabbing Eren's phone and pushing it back into his friend's hands. "Write exactly that. It's good."

Five excruciatingly long minutes pass after the message is sent, during which the two boys make idle conversation to distract themselves from their excitement. The moment Eren's phone vibrates, their topic of conversation is already long forgotten as their eyes snap to the device lying on the desk.

Eren hesitates a few seconds until Armin nudges him with his elbow. Only then does he pick up the phone and flip it open, a smile spreading across his lips as he reads the message.

"She said yes!" he says with a relieved sigh, reading the message out loud. "'I'd like to, yeah. But only if you don't mind.'"

Armin patiently waits while Eren writes and deletes, retypes and deletes his message again, until he finally settles on an answer he's satisfied with.

'not at all, I had fun! i'll probably at the skatepark from 2 pm on, just stop by whenever you're free.'

When Mikasa replies with, "see you tomorrow, then," Armin is as excited as Eren, patting his friend's back and repeating over and over again just how happy he is for him.

Then, Eren's phone starts ringing, and almost instantly, he's on the verge of panic—what if it's Mikasa, what if she's calling him? And what is he supposed to say? He doesn't want to answer the phone, so he hands it over to Armin who almost drops it but grows relaxed as soon as he peeks at the screen. The call turns out to be from his mother, wondering where he is because they're about to eat, and Eren is almost a little embarrassed for having freaked out.

"You'll have to keep me updated about any progress," Armin says when they're standing in the entranceway a few moments later, waiting for Eren to put on his sneakers. "I want to know about any detail, no matter how small."

"I will, I will," Eren says with a dutiful nod, grabbing his skateboard from the floor and checking his hair in the small mirror. "Thanks, man. I really appreciate your help."

As Eren rides home, he feels unusually light and giddy, and he can't help but smile against the wind blowing across his face. The sun is dipping towards the horizon behind him, and he chases his long shadow along the street, already looking forward to the next day when he'll be seeing Mikasa again.

His day had already been perfect—never in his life had he expected that his crush of two years would walk up to him and ask him to teach her how to skateboard, one of his favourite things in the world. Now it has only gotten better, knowing she seems to be at least a little interested in spending some time with him. She reached out to him on her own, after all. That has to mean something.

He'd been convinced she was interested in one of the other skaters when she'd been showing up at the skatepark all those weeks, and jealousy had been gnawing at him whenever his eyes had drifted towards her. But then she'd come up to him, not to someone else, to him, asking him to teach her how to skate. His heart had leapt in his chest, and he's sure he must've stared at her like an idiot for at least a whole minute. Then he'd sent a quick prayer to whatever god was responsible for this and jumped at the huge chance he'd been given.

Mikasa had looked like she'd had fun, and Eren had been proud of how quickly she learned (very flustered because of their closeness, but also very proud). Of course she'd be amazing, though, given how athletic she was. He'd stared at her long enough from afar in the past to have noticed. And who knows, if she continues showing up at the skatepark and gets her own skateboard—for he had meant his compliment, she was talented, and he was sure she would nail any kind of trick if she kept practising—they might be seeing each other regularly from now on.

Yes, his afternoons at the skatepark had just gained a brand-new allure, and Eren speeds up on his skateboard, hoping he isn't going to ruin the bond that's slowly starting to form between the two of them.

From that day on, Eren's skateboarding weekends turn into skateboarding weekends together with Mikasa.

They spend entire afternoons skating together, briefly paying a visit to the nearby kiosk to buy something to drink and some snacks, or sharing whatever they've brought along between them when it's closed. Two weeks after the day Mikasa walked up to him for the first time, she texts him on a weekday evening, asking if he wants to accompany her to the skate shop the following day, for she has decided she wants to get her own skateboard.

Eren immediately agrees, maybe adding a few too many exclamation marks to his message, but it's hard for him to contain his excitement. Twenty-four hours later, they're skating together again, breaking in Mikasa's newest acquisition as they ride along the street. The underside of the skateboard is black, decorated with red roses surrounded by green leaves, and Eren can't help but feel a small sense of pride in his chest that he'd been the one to find it among the displayed boards.

"See you next tomorrow, then," Eren says as they part ways in front of her house. He hasn't dared say those words out loud before—what if she changed her mind, what if this was just a temporary thing? He hadn't wanted to put pressure on her.

But her nod, paired with the smile that appears on her lips as she steps on the tail of her new board and it flips into her hand, immediately reassures him again.

"You don't mind having me around, do you?" Mikasa suddenly asks, tilting her head as she looks at him. "I've always seen you skate by yourself. Maybe that's the way you enjoy it the most. If that's the case, I don't want to be a bother."

"You're not a bother, not at all!" Eren exclaims, shaking his head. "It's fun having you around, I don't mind." Gathering all his courage—for he doesn't want her to ever have second thoughts about whether he enjoys her company—he meets her eyes, blood rushing in his ears as he adds, "I really like it when you're there."

"Oh. That's… nice," Mikasa replies, a faint blush colouring her cheeks as she holds his gaze for a few more seconds before averting her eyes. "I'm glad. Then we'll be seeing each other tomorrow."

"Definitely," Eren says, doing his best to put as much determination into his voice as possible.

She's already become an irreplaceable part of his weekends, and he isn't sure if he'd ever be able to spend them without her.

The first time Eren dares to invite Mikasa to his home, he has to thank the rainy weather for it—the same one he'd grumbled about and cursed the week before.

He hadn't been able to meet her when incessant rainfall had made the ramps too slippery to go skating, and the entire weekend he'd sulked at home instead. A week later, the weather seems much better again, but half an hour into their Saturday meet-up, it suddenly starts pouring out of the blue.

"Not again," Eren sighs, his mood instantly dropping as there's nothing else for them to do but grab their things and hurry home. They speed through the streets, water spraying away from their boards' wheels as they roll through puddles forming on the asphalt, and far too soon, they're already at Mikasa's front door.

She's already come to a stop, hand moving to grab her skateboard when Eren speaks up, his mouth acting quicker than his brain in an attempt to prolong their meeting. He really doesn't want to spend yet another weekend without her company.

"Do you want to come over to my place?" he blurts out, wet strands of hair clinging to his face and likely making the offer a lot less enticing. "We, uh, could hang out there instead. Only if you'd like."

Mikasa looks at him for a moment, surprised, but not in a negative way. Her eyes light up ever so slightly when she nods, and the answer takes a weight off Eren's shoulder as he smiles in relief. She's by his side in a second, and together they skate along the street, going further and further until they reach the very end, where his house is.

They look like two soaked dogs when they finally make it onto the front porch. The initial euphoria Eren had felt is now joined by a jittery feeling as he fumbles through his backpack for his keys and drops them as soon as he has pulled them out, his wet fingers slipping off the metal. Mikasa bends down to pick them up, her fingertips brushing against his hand in the process, and his heart instantly turns into a fluttery mess.

His mother's eyes turn wide when she peeks into the hallway to greet her son and finds that he has brought a girl along with him. Eren knows he's going to be answering a whole lot of curious questions once Mikasa was gone—the smile she gives them says it all—and he quickly explains the situation and why Mikasa was with him.

"Nice to meet you, ma'am," Mikasa says, shyly shaking his mother's hand who is practically glowing as she greets the girl.

"I'll make you something warm to drink. You two must be freezing," Carla says with a smile, gesturing behind her at the kitchen. "Eren, go get her some dry clothes and some thick socks, will you? We don't want you both to catch a cold."

Eren takes Mikasa upstairs, rummaging through his closet for a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie while she stands by the door, her eyes curiously sliding across his room. Suddenly, he's very glad his mother made him tidy up on Friday afternoon; otherwise Mikasa would've been met with the usual chaos that resides both on his bed and desk.

He hands her a fresh towel and shows her the bathroom, returning to his own bedroom to get changed as well. He leaves the door open once he's done, settling on his desk chair while he waits. Nothing could've prepared him for the moment she would return.

There's a shy expression in her eyes when Mikasa slips into his room, her soaked clothes in hand. She asks something about where she should place them, but the words reach Eren slightly muffled, his heartbeat thrumming in his ears as he takes her in.

He'd heard guys talk about how wonderful it was to see their girlfriends wearing their clothes and what it did to them, and even though technically Mikasa wasn't exactly his girlfriend, he understands what they'd meant nontheless. His hoodie is too big for her, the sleeves rolled up so half of her hands are peeking out, just like the pants legs, and it's exactly that that makes her look absolutely gorgeous.

Her hair is slightly frizzy, a black curtain falling gently over her shoulder and brushing against his clothes, and he wants nothing more than to reach out and run his fingers through her strands. She has taken off her smeared makeup, her previously red lips now a gentle pink, and her eyes looked different too, though they are no less beautiful. She's still looking at him, waiting for an answer to the question he hadn't heard, while he still tries to deal with his emotions.

"Hm?" Eren says, a high-pitched tone to his voice as he curls his toes into the carpet to ground himself. Don't act like a creep, he chides himself, or Mikasa will never want to hang out with you again.

"I look stupid, I know," she says, awkwardly brushing a hand over her hair. "I was just asking where I could put these clothes."

"I'll hang them up in the bathroom," Eren says, jumping up from his chair and taking the clothes from her. "And you don't look stupid," he adds over his shoulder, already halfway across the corridor. "Don't think you ever could."

He doesn't wait to watch her reaction and hurries into the bathroom, carefully hanging up her shirt, cardigan, and leggings on the towel rack, briefly wondering whether skirts needed special treatment or not.

Downstairs, two mugs of tea are already waiting for them, and Eren suggest one of the safest pastimes that almost everyone usually agrees to: playing video games. They settle on the couch and switch on the console, picking out a platformer game that Mikasa is surprisingly good at. Half an hour later, his mother shows up with some freshly baked muffins—Eren wishes the ground would open and swallow him whole at the to him far too obvious gesture—and they pause their game to eat and finish their tea.

Some time later, his older brother Zeke comes home, visiting over the weekend now that his college exams are over. He blatantly stares at the girl next to Eren on the couch, who returns his gaze with an indifferent expression on her face. Eventually, though, she starts fiddling with the hem of Eren's hoodie as if Zeke's attention has suddenly made her self-conscious, and Eren snaps at Zeke to get lost when he snatches one of the muffins from their plate.

"You know, me being here is almost like I'm entering enemy territory," Mikasa says once Zeke is gone, her attention shifting back to Eren. When he frowns, she adds, "Your brother and my cousin are practically enemies."

"Ohh, right." Eren laughs, remembering the fist fight he witnessed a few weeks into sixth grade, after he and his family had moved towns. Zeke had been in year ten back then and had instantly made himself popular by picking on one of his classmates, who turned out to be Levi, Mikasa's older cousin. The enmity lasted throughout the rest of high school and still continues on, for the two had ended up going to the same university.

"Well, guess it's time to make new traditions," Eren says with a grin, popping the last bite of muffin into his mouth. "It'll be us who bring our families together and burry a years-long feud."

"Kind of like Romeo and Juliet," Mikasa mumbles, staring down at her feet, hidden inside Eren's orange plush socks. Then her eyes widen, and she blushes deeply as she quickly adds, "As friends, though, of course."

"Sure," Eren says, feeling heat rise in own face as he grabs the controller and starts fiddling with the buttons, even if the game is currently paused.

For now, at least, he adds in his mind, watching Mikasa bite her lip from the corner of his eyes, before she takes a gulp of her tea, not daring to look his way. Just for now.

As spring goes by and summer begins, Eren and Mikasa start spending almost all their free afternoons at each other's places.

They walk home from school together every day now, doing their homework or simply hanging out. They play video games, listen to music and discover they have similar taste, head to the nearby ice cream shop and settle on the garden swing in Eren's garden as they talk. She falls asleep on his living room couch after a particularly stressful week at school, the second episode of a show she's been wanting to show him playing quietly on the TV after he turns down the volume. His hand lingers above her head, wanting to touch but afraid to overstep a boundary. He reaches for a fleece blanket and drapes it over her instead.

When Eren is at her place, they go through Mikasa's CDs and horror books, and he finds out she collects minerals and crystals. She has them neatly arranged on a single shelf attached to the wall right above her desk. She also has the cosiest couch sitting in the corner of her bedroom, with surprisingly colourful cushions and a huge fleece blanket folded neatly atop it. It stands in such a contrast to the rest of her room, which seems rather dark and gloomy, with skull, raven, and bat decorations scattered all around, that it makes him smile the first time he gets to see it.

Eren had always assumed Mikasa was more of a quiet girl, preferring to speak only when necessary to get her point across. But as day after day goes by and he hears everything about the latest movie she has watched or the gothic short story collection she discovered at the second-hand bookshop, he discovers that his impression had been wrong. She seems at ease whenever he's around, her hands gesturing animatedly as she talks, her red lips moving unceasingly until she runs out of breath and has to pause.

He really doesn't want to presume too much, but he's seen her talk to his own friends during lunch break or when they all go to the mall together. He's seen how she acts in their presence. The Mikasa he gets to see when it's just the two of them is different, and he loves that he's one of the lucky ones who get to see that side of her.

Of course, their new closeness doesn't remain undiscovered by their classmates. By June, theories about whether they're dating are already going around, making Eren suddenly hyper-aware of the eyes lingering on them as he and Mikasa walk down the corridor together. He's pretty sure she has heard the rumours too—when one is going around, everyone knows about it; there's no escaping it—but she hasn't mentioned anything to him, and he figures she's simply choosing not to let it bother her.

But does this mean she doesn't want to be that to him, if she doesn't care about what people say? That she isn't interested? The thought occupies his mind often, and he stares at his bedroom wall as he recalls their interactions, trying to spot a sign he might've missed, one that might shed some light on the matter.

Just like every July, the town's summer festival is happening a week into the school's summer break. The small fair is a must-attend event for every high schooler who hasn't left for vacation, and you can be sure you'll be meeting at least half of your classmates during your visit.

Eren always goes together with Armin, mostly because of the absolutely delicious crêpes they sell at a particular booth, and because he wants another chance to beat his duck fishing record from the year before. This time, however, Armin will be accompanied by Annie, which convinces Eren to ask Mikasa if she'd like to come along as well.

"It'll be fun," he says after he's stuttered his way through his suggestion, his ears aflame. He and Mikasa have settled on the empty ramp at the skatepark, legs dangling over the edge. "We didn't have a fair like that in my old city, and it's a nice chance to, you know. Hang out."

Mikasa nods eagerly, a smile lighting up her face. "Yeah, I'd love to go. At what time should we meet?"

"Armin is coming to pick me up at five. We could stop by your house and pick you up as well." Something in Mikasa's expression shifts, the glimmer in her eyes less enthusiastic than before. "Annie is coming along too," he quickly adds, because maybe she's feeling uncomfortable being the only girl on their outing. "You can bring along someone too, if you'd like."

"Oh. Yeah, um, I might." Mikasa averts her eyes for a moment, her eyes scanning the park instead. "I usually go to the fair with Sasha—I'm sure she'd be happy to come along if I ask her."

"Perfect, that sounds great—then it's settled!" Eren says, shooting her a smile that she doesn't quite reciprocate. Not as much as usual, at least. Had he said something wrong?

"You're such an idiot," Annie says when he's at Armin's place the next day, asking his friend for his opinion after mulling over the issue for half the night. She had heard everything from where she had settled on the bed, reading a book, which she now flips shut as she sits up. "God, I can't believe you're that dense."

"What are you talking about?" Eren says, frowning at her. "What did I do?"

"You've acted like a dumbass, that's what you did," Annie said with a shake of her head, climbing out of bed and settling on the carpet next to Armin. "The way you said it, Mikasa thought you were asking her out, that it would be just the two of you. Then you mention Armin and me coming along as well, and that she could bring along a friend. Of course she'd be acting weird afterwards."

"Shit," Eren gasps, bringing a hand to his forehead. "I didn't realise. Wait, but that means… that she had basically agreed to a date with me?"

"Looks like it," Annie sighs, and even though her gaze is anything but approving, Eren's heart kicks up in his chest. "Can't believe you didn't think of it."

"Don't worry, nothing is ruined," Armin chimes in, sneaking a pointed glance at Annie. "We'll just split up after a while. Annie and I can come up with an excuse to leave, and I'm sure we'll pick up a few other friends on the fair who can take Sasha with them, if she ends up coming along. That way, you two can have your," he makes air quotes with his fingers, "date."

"Why are you so invested in his nonexistent love life?" Annie grumbles, pressing her toes against Armin's side and making him squirm. "I'm not very close with Mikasa, but I think she deserves someone less dense."

Thankfully, Eren's mind is already too far away to hear any following jabs directed at him or how Armin defends him, occupied with the pictures of a potential date his imagination is coming up with. Of him and Mikasa strolling through the summer festival, their hands linked as fireworks errupt above them, eyes growing gentle as they lock gazes.

A week later, it's finally time.

The main street is closed off for the afternoon and evening on the second Saturday in July, and booth after booth are lined up on the curb instead as the summer festival begins. Colourful tents compete to shine brightest in the sun, and the smell of fried food, pancakes, and roasted nuts drifts through the air before you even enter the street.

From eleven o'clock on, the fair is already busy with visitors, people strolling from one display to the next or gathering in little groups to chat for a while, disrupting the flow of people. Some of the shops situated on the main street have set up little stands where they advertise their products, organise raffles, or set up a wheel of fortune, which attracts many children who want to have a go and end up winning sweets or a ballpoint pen with the shop's name on it.

As agreed, Eren, Armin, and Annie show up at Mikasa's front door at five. Sasha is already there too, and together they walk the few minutes to the fair, the sun hot against their skins.

It's difficult for Eren to find a moment to talk to Mikasa alone. Sasha is persistently clinging to her friend's side, and not even when they come across Connie, Jean, and Krista, who end up tagging along, he can't get her all to himself. It's his own fault, though, for asking Mikasa to bring along a friend, and for inviting her to join him and his friends instead of just going the two of them. So he presses his lips together and watches her from afar, trying to will anyone standing next to her away.

When they're standing at the food stand two hours later, he finally manages to sneak his way next to Mikasa, but any attempts at a one-on-one talk are prevented by Jean drawing her into conversation after conversation, not giving Eren any chance to speak up.

"What's wrong him him? Why is he so persistent?" Eren mumbles to Armin when he's finally had enough, turning around to his friend in frustration. "Doesn't he realise he's interrupting?"

"You're the one who doesn't realise he's got a crush on her," Annie replies, gesturing with her head towards Jean, then towards Mikasa. "I've seen him ogle her for hours in the classes we have together. I don't think he's very keen on sharing."

"He has what?" Eren exclaims, his eyes widening as he turns around, watching Jean give Mikasa his most charming smile. His stomach instantly churns. "No way. That's awful!"

"Thought you knew," Annie shrugs, taking a sip from the soda she and Armin were sharing. "He tried kissing her on the mouth when they were in first grade, and she punched him hard for it. He's been smitten with her ever since. Thought it was obvious."

"Well, not to me," Eren grumbles, throwing another unhappy glance at the two behind them. For a brief second, Mikasa looks up at him, but the connection is too short for him to read it properly. Then Jean is already tapping her shoulder and showing her his phone's screen, and Mikasa's attention drifts away from Eren again.

"We're the next ones in line anyway," Armin says, gesturing towards the couple standing in front of them, a hopeful tone to his voice. "I'm sure you'll get your chance now."

His friend ends up being right. Choosing what they want to eat interrupts the unwanted conversation, and Eren quickly waves at Mikasa as she steps back from the display, a silent invitation for her to join him. For the first time in what feels like ages, they have a chance to talk just the two of them, and the fact that Jean's expression turns sour when he realises what is happening immediately lifts Eren's mood again.

Once their food is prepared and handed out, Eren holds out his wooden skewer to Mikasa, and they end up sharing what they got between them. She gets to try the curry sausage he bought, and in return, she hands him her burger, laughing when some of the sauce ends up on his chin. Reaching out, she wipes it away with her thumb, then cleans her thumb on a napkin.

Eren's smile is definitely dopey, but he simply can't help it. He really missed her, which is stupid because they had been skating together the day before, but it's probably the fact that their outing at the fair isn't a date—even though he could've had her all to himself if he'd been smarter—that makes him act like a fool. The butterflies in his stomach instantly vanish, though, when he glances past Mikasa and sees all of their friends watching them, silently but with rapt attention as they munch on their food.

Both he and Mikasa blush bright red at the same time and quickly exchange their food back before rejoining the others.

Around nine o'clock, after the fireworks have ended, the group finally splits up. Annie and Armin head home, and Berthold and Reiner, whom they had met in front of the stage where live music was playing, take Jean and Krista with them. Connie and Sasha want to check out some of the last food stands that still have open, and since Eren and Mikasa both aren't feeling hungry, they're the last ones left behind.

Mikasa doesn't seem keen on leaving yet, remaining by Eren's side as he ties his shoes to stall for time. So he gathers his courage and asks whether she wanted to walk another round through the fair with him. She immediately agrees, fishing out her phone to call her parents, letting them know she's going to come home later and promising that she isn't alone.

"I'll walk you home, of course," Eren says as they enter the fair again. The booths are now illuminated by sparkling chains of lights that glow in the night, and above them, lanterns guide the way the way along the street.

"You don't have to," Mikasa says, sidestepping a group of teens and shifting closer to Eren. "It's okay, I can walk home alone, and I don't want to be a bother." When he turns towards to her, her eyes catch the gentle light of their surroundings, and it momentarily takes his breath away.

"It's not a bother," he replies with a shake of his head, his skin prickling when her expression softens. "And I wanna make sure you get home safe." Her eyes grow a little warmer as she nods, and he quickly tears his gaze away from her.

As they walk on and the fair grows slightly more crowded again, Eren feels something warm brush against his skin. A hand tentatively slips between his side and his arm, and then Mikasa's fingers wrap around his elbow. He doesn't dare look back at her, for he's sure his body is going to betray him as soon as he lays eyes on her. His heart is racing in his chest nonetheless as a warm, fuzzy feeling spreads across his entire body, and he's sure he's just grown a whole five centimetres as he slowly guides Mikasa around a cluster of people and back on the street again.

After having a go at both tin-can throwing and duck fishing, Mikasa insists on taking a ride on the small Ferris wheel again, an activity Eren had managed to avoid when they had still been with their friends. He doesn't have the guts to tell her that he hates heights, though, not when her eyes take on an almost childlike excitement as she grabs him by the elbow and pulls him towards the ticket booth.

He has to admit that the little colourful gondolas have something almost romantic about them, with the Ferris wheel's structure illuminated in golden light, and a string of light wrapped around the edge of each gondola. Once they step into one, however, his heart instantly sinks, and he digs his fingers into the seat, desperately holding onto something when the wheel starts turning, the tiny space making everything feel even more constricting.

"Are you afraid of heights?" Mikasa asks when they're halfway up, leaning forward to scrutinise his probably ashen face.

"I'm not afraid," Eren quickly protests, and Mikasa quirks an eyebrow at him. "I just don't feel exactly at ease when the ground is so far away."

"You should've said something. Why did you let me drag you here?" Mikasa shakes her head. She grabs the bag resting on her lap and shifts so she's sitting at the very edge of her seat, her knees bumping against his.

"Whoa, don't move! We're going to fall and die!" Eren exclaims, the swaying gondola making his stomach twist and turn. His fingers grip the rim so tightly that his knuckles start to ache, and his breathing quickens.

"We're not going to die. We'll be fine," Mikasa says softly, peeling one of his hands away from the rim and threading her fingers through his. "Just don't look down, okay? Look at me, or at the sky. The moon's pretty tonight, don't you think?"

Eren slowly lifts his gaze to the crescent moon hanging above them; he hadn't even noticed it had already risen. The feeling of Mikasa's hand in his instantly grounds him, and some of the panic disappears. He drops his gaze to where their hands rest atop her bare knees, her skin warm against his clammy fingers, and the knot in his stomach unfurls further.

Mikasa keeps talking to him when they're stuck at the very top for a while, as new visitors climb into the gondolas and others get out again. Eren focuses on the tone of her voice, gentle and comforting, showing him there's nothing to worry about, and on the little circles her thumb is tracing on the back of his hand. He watches her face—her red lips moving as she talks, her dark eyelashes, and the little black lines at the corners of her eyes he has learned are called winged eyeliner. He's seen her draw them on once already.

There's so much to take in, and now that there's an excuse for him to stare at her as much as he wants, he makes the most of it. Before he knows it, they're at the bottom again, and the wheel comes to a halt with a jerk. He's the first one to climb out, relief washing over him as he feels solid ground beneath his feet. He turns around to help Mikasa out, who seems amused about the unmistakable relief on his face, and he quickly apologises for ruining the ride.

"You didn't ruin anything," Mikasa says, adjusting the sleeves of the plaid shirt she had tied around her waist. "I had fun nonetheless. I'm sorry it wasn't much fun for you."

You just held my hands. You don't know how much I liked that, Eren thinks, his skin prickling at the memory. Since he can't tell her that, he simply shakes his head and points at one of the last food stands that are still open, insisting that he invite her to some churros.

They spend quite some time sifting through the display of a booth selling handmade jewellery. Mikasa wants to get a keepsake from that year's fair but hasn't had the time to search for something yet. Eren helps as best as he can, even though he doesn't know anything about jewellery or what might be to her taste. But he doesn't want to hurry her by standing idly around, so he pulls out items he thinks she might like and shows them to her.

He can't believe his eyes when she ends up choosing a pair of earrings he had picked out—two silver studs shaped like curled leaves, each with a little red stone dangling from it. As soon as she buys them, he has him hold her purchase for her while she takes out her current earrings and replaces them with her new pair.

"They look good on you," Eren says shyly when she's done, reaching out to touch them but letting his hand hover beside her face instead, unsure whether he's allowed to do so.

"Thank you for finding them," Mikasa says with a content smile. "You can touch them, I don't mind."

Eren brushes her hair to the side and gently taps his finger against the silver leaf, the hanging stone dangling back and forth softly. He lets his eyes wander along the two other earrings lining her earlobe until he spots a small ring higher up her ear that he hasn't seen before.

"Is that a new earring?"

Mikasa nods. "I just got it pierced last week. It still hurts a bit, but it's healing well. I have to leave the ring in for at least eight months, though."

"I think I'd pass out if someone pierced my ears with a needle," Eren jokes, readjusting her hair so it falls over her shoulder again. "I don't know how you've survived it so many time already."

"I was a baby when I got my first ones, so I don't remember them" Mikasa says as they continue their walk, the fair now getting emptier and emptier. "Then I asked for a second pair when I was fourteen, and the third one on my right lobe came a year later. And, well, now I was finally allowed to get a helix. That one was quite painful, but it was over pretty quickly."

"On a scale from one to ten, how painful was it?"

This is exactly what Eren had been yearning for the entire afternoon and evening: that kind of easy conversation he only experiences with her. She makes mundane things feel special, maybe because she seems to blossom when they talk about something she enjoys, or maybe it's simply because she's special to him, so anything she says or does becomes special too. Whatever it is, it makes him hang on her every word, his eyes not leaving her face so he doesn't miss a second of it, even if it means he almost stumbles over the curb.

"A four maybe? Though my cousin is convinced I have a particularly high pain tolerance." Mikasa chuckles, and the prettiest laugh lines appear around her eyes. "I don't remember it well, but when I was six, Levi and I often went rollerblading together. I fell and broke my arm in such a way they had to set the bone. But since I was scared of the mask they used for sedation, I asked them to do it without. Apparently, I didn't cry once."

Eren laughs, for that sounds exactly like the Mikasa he knows—strong, both physically and mentally, and determined to do whatever she set her mind to. He keeps asking her about her childhood, about her relationship with her cousin, about the things she used to like as a kid, absorbing every little detail she shares and promising himself he's going to remember them forever.

When they reach the end of the fair, most of the booths have already closed for the night, and the remaining visitors have either left or gathered by the barriers, waiting to be picked up or saying goodbye to their friends. Mikasa pulls out her small digital camera and tells Eren to stand beneath the flower-covered, iluminated arch with a welcome sign hanging from it, wanting to take a few pictures to remember the day.

Eren immediately stiffens, convinced he's going to look absolutely terrible on the pictures. But he makes an effort to look happy when Mikasa gets into position, and the thought of his picture ending up on her pinboard brings a genuine smile to his lips. He insists on taking a few of her as well, almost forgetting to press the shutter as he gets lost in the sight of her.

Before she can move away, and since the area was currently pretty much empty of people, he coaxes her to stand in front of one of the pillars. "We have to take a picture together as well," he says, not quite sure where he's taking the courage from, wrapping an arm around her waist as he stretches out his arm holding the camera.

They need a few attempts to get the position right—Eren is holding the camera either to high or too low, and they break out into laughter when they're met with a picture of the tops of their heads or their legs. Eventually, though, he figures out the right height, and they smile in sync as he presses the shutter.

"I'll print these out and hang them on my wall, and I'll mail you the pictures too," Mikasa says, smiling as they look through the shots that turned out surpringly good (though Eren knows that's only because of her; he's just benefiting from her radiance.)

It's already past eleven p.m. when they're finally done, and he's already come to terms with the fact that the night is now about to end. They're already turning onto the small alley that will lead them to the street they both lived on when Mikasa tugs at the edge of his shirt, causing him to stop.

Gesturing at one of the benches standing at the edge of a small park, she asks, "Wanna sit and talk for a while? My curfew is midnight during summer break, so we still got some time left."

Of course, Eren isn't going to pass up on such an opportunity, and he immediately nods, following her across the street as his heart beats wildly.

They settle on the backrest of the bench, knees brushing as Mikasa hands him one of the earphones, just like they've done many times during their skating weekends. She shows him a bunch of new songs she recently copied onto her MP3 player. Once they're through those, they return to their usual favourites, a mix of Green Day, The Cure, and Avril Lavigne sounding in their ears and blending with the loud chirping of the cicadas. Whenever they pick a new song, they hand the black device back and forth, fingers brushing every single time.

When a faint drizzle stars, Eren squints up at the sky, unhappy about the inconvenience Mother Nature is inflicting on them. They ignore it for a while, but eventually, the rain grows too strong for them to remain seated, and the sensible voice in his head urges him it's now truly time to leave.

"It's okay, we would've had to leave anyway," Mikasa reassures him, seeing from his expression just how disappointed he was. Grabbing his hand, she turns his wrist so he can look at his watch. As always, she's right, and he briefly grabs her hand to give her fingers a squeeze, watching her avert her eyes as she smiles.

The cool night air feels fresh as they stroll home, no longer caring about their clothes getting wet now that they know they'll be inside soon. They reach Mikasa's front porch at exactly midnight, relieved that the overhang keeps them dry as they get ready to say their goodbyes.

"Well, that's it, then," Eren says, scratching the back of his head. There's so many things he'd like to say—how much he enjoyed her company that day, most of all the time they got to spend just the two of them. He wants to tell her that she looks beautiful, that her smile is the only thing that can instantly put him at ease, that he can't imagine not seeing her in school and on their shared weekends.

But he's at a loss for words, especially when she gives him that little smile that always makes his knees go weak, and he barely manages a crooked one of his own as she thanks him for walking her home and for inviting her to the summer festival in the first place.

"Text me when you're home, okay?" she says, shifting from one foot to the other. "I… I need to know that you got home safe too."

"Sure, of course. I'll text you," Eren nods, and his stomach tingles. She cares about him, just the way he cares about her. "Sleep well, Mikasa."

He steps forward, and before he can think twice about it, he pulls her into a hug. It's meant to last only a second, and he's more than ready to withdraw again, half expecting her to awkwardly wriggle herself out of his arms. Instead, after barely a few seconds, she leans into him, her own arms wrapping around his waist.

Something strong and overwhelming breaks free in Eren's chest, a sensation he hasn't felt before, at least not to that extent. He wonders whether she can hear his frantic heartbeat, for it's the only thing he can hear in that moment, his pulse thrumming in his ears as he wonders whether he is about to combust from just how wonderful this feels.

They remain in that embrace for a little while, her face buried in his shoulder, and his hand gently stroking her back. Mikasa is the first one to pull away, her flushed cheeks rosy in the porch light, a golden glow cast against her pale skin.

"I don't think I've ever told you, but I'm really glad we got to know each other," she says, her fingers lingering on his arm, like she doesn't want to break the contact between them. Her words are soft, barely more than a whisper, telling him a secret that is very dear to her. "And… I hope it'll stay this way for a long, long time."

"I'm not going anywhere," Eren replied, one of his hands moving to lay atop hers. "I wouldn't dare go away, because… I really like you."

Mikasa's lips part in surprise. Of course she can see right through his vague confession, of course she picks up on the hidden meaning behind his words. Then, her expression is replaced by one of affection, and she smiles as she leans forward slightly and whispers, "I really like you too."

Something soft and warm brushes against his face, tickling his skin, and Eren realises she has just pressed a kiss to his cheek. It's only a brief touch, very gentle, and her breath that fans over his skin is a little shaky. But it's enough to set his skin on fire, even after her lips are already gone again.

"Don't forget to text me," Mikasa says, taking a step back, her keys already in her hand. Her face is flushed a beautiful red as she turns around, and Eren nods, too stunned to speak and probably just as red, still trying to process the past ten seconds.

"Sleep well," Eren says when life has finally returned to him, and he lifts a hand in goodbye as he keeps his eyes locked on her. He smiles when she returns the gesture, already standing in the hallway of her home. Then, the door slowly closes, and he's alone with his racing thoughts and swirling emotions.

There's a dopey smile plastered on his lips as he slowly hops down the stairs of the front porch, the haze in his mind slowly lifting as he realises what just happened, that Mikasa had just kissed him on the cheek. He presses a fist to his lips, trying to hold back the words of excitement that are already on the tip of his tongue—he knows he can't be yelling around the neighbourhood at midnight, people are going to think he's lost his mind. But it's very, very hard for him to contain his emotions, and a muffled high-pitched screech escapes him instead.

This is the moment he's going to tell his futue children about, when they ask him about the day he knew Mikasa was the one for him. "That was the day I knew I was going to marry your mother, no matter what. I realised I was never going to love anyone as much as I love her, because she's one of a kind." Those are the words he's going to tell them, and he'll also tell Mikasa over and over again, making sure she knows just how much he cares about her.

"I'll ask you on a date soon. On a proper one," Eren promises, turning around to take one last look at her house before it disappears from his sight. "And you're the witness. You're going to hold me accountable for what I just said," he adds, tilting his head up to the moon just peeking out from behind the clouds.

He doesn't care that he's getting rain in his face or that his clothes are slowly but surely getting soaked. He's far too happy to care about such trifles, and after blinking against the bright moonlight for a few moments longer, he starts walking again, his heart leaping with every step he takes.

He's going to make sure she is always happy.