Chapter Text
Seattle Washington, 1993, July
The days were just getting hotter as each day went by. It was Eren’s least favorite season. He hated how drastically he had to change his fashion/aesthetic just to try and not die sweltering with this weather.
Eren’s favorite seasons were Autumn and Winter. That time of the year gave him endless possibilities for what he could wear. Usually, his go-to was a pair of ripped jeans, converse, or Vans with a baggy plaid jacket, a band tee, or some baggy beige cardigan. However, in the summers, he had to ditch the jackets, sweaters, and cardigans for something as boring as jeans with just a tee shirt.
He had finished High School three years ago and he was working full-time at a local mechanic shop that he luckily landed due to his Dad's old coworker. His fathers co worker needed a young man who could work efficiently, fast, and had a car of his own to get to and from work. That guy happened to end up being Eren. He learned quickly from the brief training with Kruger, his dad's coworker who owned the shop. Kruger eventually passed the company onto his cousin when he got old enough and didn't have time to keep up with it anymore. So that's how the shop ended up in the hands of a short man who constantly gave Eren shit for the tiniest little mishaps named Levi. Eren usually went about his day-to-day business just greeting Levi quickly when he came in and liked to keep things as casual and low-key as possible. Eren knew how to fix cars, he was a pro at this point, so he spent his shifts just blasting whatever grunge or rock station he could find and would mindlessly tune out while he worked. It was a nice dynamic for Eren and Levi actually, because they didn't need to make small talk and pretend to care about one another's problems all day.
Eren was more of an introvert you see. He had a few close friends, was a mama’s boy, and liked his music and cars. Since he didn't end up going to College after a lot of people did right after High School, he had stayed home and was lonely a lot. Eren didn't care about College because he still didn't know what he wanted to do with his life. He thought the smartest thing to do was work, make money, and figure it out along the way. His parents had given him a lot of shit about it for a while but they ended up reluctantly agreeing with him. It’s not like his family came from a shit load of money anyway, they got by and that was about it. In his eyes, It just seemed like the wiser decision to work, save up money, and not waste theirs on a degree in something where he didn't even know if he wanted. The summers, however, were good for one thing, which was the fact that his friends came back home for the summer from College. The summers usually consisted of parties, skateboarding, drinking too much alcohol, smoking too much weed, random hookups, concerts, and drive-in movies.
It was a Friday night, and Armin had asked Eren if he wanted to come with him to a party. It was hosted at some girl's house that lived in Capitol Hill. She went to their High School but Eren was a loner in High School, so he wouldn't remember anyone unless he was fucking them or had a friendship with them.
Eren ended up finishing his work on the 3 remaining cars for the evening within record time, looking at the analog clock on the wall that said it was already 5 pm. He goes to Levi’s office, offers him a goodnight and says he'll see him Monday morning. Levi just waves him a half ass goodbye. Yeah, Levi wasn't much of a talker at all.
Eren needed to go home to shower and get ready for this party, he already had the directions Armin had given him earlier when they had met up earlier at the mall. Eren walks in through the front door of his house, hearing his mom putz around in the kitchen.
“Hey Mom,” Eren says, kissing her on the cheek from behind her back and going to the cabinet to get a glass of water.
“Hey, baby. How was your day at work?” She asks him as she's washing the dishes from dinner.
“Same as always. I’m exhausted though, I’m going to go up and shower and then go out.” Eren answers by sipping his water and leaning back against the kitchen island.
“Where are you going tonight?” His mom asks inquisitively.
“Just some party at this girl's house that Armin knows. Honestly, I’m just going to see Armin to be honest. He’s only got about 3 weeks left before he has to go back to Maine.” Eren answers with a little bit of disappointment in his voice. He will miss Armin leaving again, they've been best friends since the 5th grade.
“Alright, no problem sweetie. Just please make sure you eat some dinner before you go. I have a plate already ready for you on the table. You may have to just microwave it first to warm it up. Also, please be quiet when you come in, your father needs his sleep.”
“Of course Ma,” Eren says to her again, smiling at her. “And thank you for dinner. I appreciate it.” He grabs his plate, placing it in the microwave and waits for the beep so he can dig into his mom's meatloaf and mashed potatoes.
“I’m heading to bed now. I’m exhausted. I love you, baby.” She says turning off the sink and wiping her hands with the towel at the oven. She goes to kiss Eren on his cheek and turns off the main light, leaving only the light over the table for him.
“Goodnight Ma,” Eren responds back to her retreating figure going up the stairs.
Eren is thankful for his mom. She's the most supportive, loving, nurturing, and kind woman he knows. When he started coming home with piercings and tattoos throughout high school, he thought she would lose her mind, kick him out, call the police to arrest him, or worse, give him the cold shoulder for the rest of his life. However, his mom would just sigh after the first couple and ask him if there was at least meaning behind them. She’d also ask him if they were a statement to insinuate that he didn't think he was attractive enough without them.
‘It’s not about thinking I'm not good enough as I am mom,’ he'd say. ‘I honestly just like the way they look plus, tattoos are sick! Why not treat my body as a canvas?’ he‘d respond and she’d just shrug and say okay, as long as he wasn't hurting anybody, taking hard drugs, or getting girls pregnant then that was fine if that's what he wanted to do.
She eventually gave up on caring about his tattoos, she couldn't keep up with how many he had at this point anyway.
Eren had both his entire arms done, the side of his neck, his ribcage, and his chest with a tattoo lyric from a Nirvana song. He also had one of his eyebrows pierced and his ears with two diamond studs.
Eren eats his food pretty quickly not wanting to waste any more time being at home. When he's done, he puts his dish in the sink, washes it quickly, and then hops into the shower.
When he's done showering he decides on just a pair of ripped blue jeans, his black converse, and a tight fitting black tee shirt. He puts his chain around his neck and ties a black and grey plaid shirt to his waist. Then he ties his hair up in his half up half down style tying it into a messy bun at the back of his head. He sprays on his cologne, puts on deodorant, and shuts the door of his house quietly behind him.
He loves his Toyota Rav even though it's a little banged up from his reckless driving and him driving it around all the time. He had put a bunch of band stickers on the inside of the car and on the glove compartment. He also rigged out some twinkle lights onto the inside of the roof of his car. He would plug them into the cigarette lighter in his car when he was at a drive-in with a girl or if he and his friends were parked up at the beach with his trunk open just drinking, smoking, and hanging out.
He follows the street signs and the piece of paper with directions that Armin had written down for him earlier. He eventually finds the house he was talking about and jesus christ was it a fucking huge house. He can tell it's the house by all the cars parked along the street, the booming music that he can hear from his car, and the whole entire house being lit up.
He parks his car a block over and walks in through the wide open door. Okay then…now where the fuck is he going to find Armin in all of this mess? The house is full of so many young 20-something-year-olds drinking.
He goes throughout the house looking everywhere for his blonde friend, squeezing through person after person mumbling little sorries here and there, some people not paying him any mind and some just looking at him confused.
Finally he finds Armin sitting on one of the couches in what he assumes is this girl's living room. There are a bunch of strobe lights filling the room in hues of blues and purples.
Armin turns his head toward Eren.
“Eren! Hey! You found it okay. Glad to see you again buddy.’” Armin says getting off the couch to bring Eren over to him. “Eren. I want you to meet some of my friends, Jean and Connie. We all go to UMaine together. They are visiting and staying with my parents and I.
“Nice to meet you guys,” Eren says, shaking their hands with a small smile sitting down next to all of them on the couch.
“Nice to meet you…Eren was it?” Jean asks and Eren nods.
“Nice to meet you Eren.” Connie says.
“So how was work Eren?” Armin asks his friend while reaching for an unopened beer bottle on the coffee table in front of them that Armin must have saved for him. He twists off the top and hands it to his green eyed friend.
“Good. Same old shit. At least I got everything done I needed today.” Eren answers by taking a swig of his beer. “So anyway, what was this girl's name again?”
“Historia Reiss. Her mom and dad are both brokers. It seems like they have a lot of money.” Armin chuckles.
“Yeah, no shit. This is the biggest fucking house ive ever seen in my life.” Eren answers him glancing around taking it all in.
“Yeah, you should see the pool. It’s insane!” Armin exclaims and Connie and Jean lean over to engage themselves in the conversation.
“Oh yeah, and a fucking hot tub!” Connie adds on.
“No way! Can we go see it?” Eren asks them incredulously.
“Of course let's go.” Armin says and the four of them stand up as Armin leads them to the back of the house and into the backyard.
The backyard is just as popping as the inside of the house. Seriously? How many fucking people are here? There's got to be way over 100. There's a bunch of guys and girls in the pool. All of them splashing around, some seeming a bit too tipsy to be in the water, and some groups of people playing chicken fight. So many people are also just drinking and hanging around the pool aimlessly chatting, the music being some clubesque music that wasn't really Eren’s taste.
Some girl in a bikini is making out with a girl in the pool and Eren nods approvingly.
“So…where is the girl of the house anyway?” Eren asks them, taking more sips of his beer as he indulges in the sounds of summer. The breeze feels really nice, the trees are putting on a show as they drop their leaves around the yard as some fall into the pool.
“Right over there.” Armin points toward the blonde in the pool that Eren had just seen a few seconds ago making out with another girl.
She's got her arms around the brown-haired girl with freckles. They're laughing and holding drinks while they float on the water. Their hands are all over one another nonstop and they break up their laughs to kiss every few seconds.
“Wow. I wasn't expecting that.” Eren chuckles. “Well, why don't you introduce us, Armin.”
“Sure.” Armin says and they head over to them kneeling down next to them at the side of the pool.
“Hey Historia, this is my good friend Eren Yeager.” Armin shouts out to Historia so she can hear him over the music and sounds of a loud party.
Historia turns her head around still with her arm around the brown haired girl. “Oh, hey Armin! I’m so happy to see you. And hello Eren, it's nice to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you.” Historia says with a smile.
“Nice to meet you as well. Your house is beautiful.” Eren replies.
“Oh thank you. That's what having two broker parents gets you I guess. Anyway, how do you and Armin know one another again?” Historia asks this time, hopping off of the brown-haired girl and pulling on her hand to bring her closer to the edge of the pool near Armin and them.
“Armin and I went to High School together. We’ve been friends since the 5th grade.” Eren responds.
“Aww that's so cute! Armin and I met through a travel abroad program our first year of college.” Historia answers smiling at them all. She’s beautiful for sure, Eren doesn't miss how blue her eyes are and how blonde her hair is. She’s not his type but she's a pretty girl, which anyone would be able to notice.
“Oh yeah, I remember that now,” Eren answers, finishing up his first beer and realizing now that he would like something a little harder.
“Yeah! So where do you go, Eren?” Historia asks him with a sparkle in her eyes. The girl next to her is clearly annoyed that they're taking away Historia’s attention. She's huffing and has her head turned away from them.
“I actually am not in college right now. I’m working full-time as a mechanic.” Eren responds confidently because he likes his job and he takes pride in the work that he does.
“Oh. That's awesome! Good for you for making money.” Historia says politely and he can't tell if she's secretly judging him and acting overly nice or if that's just how she usually is.
“Yeah, it's great. I’m happy.” Eren answers her and he's genuine about loving his job but there's been a huge hole in his heart lately, one that he can't quite figure out what it is that is missing.
“Well. There's spiked punch over on that table over there, and feel free to please make yourselves at home. Enjoy the party!” Historia squeals, waving them goodbye as she turns back to her brown haired girl and wraps her arms around her neck again.
“So….punch?” Connie asks from the side of them as they stand back up and all nod heading to the table.
Armin pours them all a very full glass and they say cheers, sloshing the liquid down their throats.
*
Eren doesn't know how many drinks he's had at this point. He had about two more glasses of punch after the first one, and fuck….whatever this is, its strong as shit because Eren is a bit drunk.
They’re all hitting a joint that Connie had rolled on the front steps of Historia’s house. The party is still bouncing and as loud as ever. It’s about 11:30 PM and the party doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon.
“So like, do you guys like, ever think about the fact that we can't be the only species of human on this planet?” Connie asks as he takes another hit and passes the joint to Eren.
“Like, as in, the existence of aliens?” Eren asks, taking a huff, blowing it out, and handing it back to Armin.
“Yeah I mean, think about it. There has to be other life forms out there. And maybe they're all just watching us up there on this device and they're all just making fun of our sorry asses.” Connie chuckles, his eyes red.
“Oh no I think that's exactly what's happening. We’re just one fucked up episode of SNL for them.” Jean agrees, taking a hit this time and staring off into the distance afterwards
Eren is giddy and feeling good. He enjoys these types of conversations, they stimulate him and he gets really engaged in them but right now, he realizes how much he actually has to take a piss.
“Hey. I’ll be back. I gotta piss bad.” Eren says standing up on wobbly legs with a drunken little smirk as he starts to head back into the house.
“Eren, the bathroom is upstairs down the hall and to the-” Armin starts and Eren cuts him off with just an “Yeah, yeah i'll find it.” And walks into the haze of sweaty people drinking, grinding/dancing on one another, and shouting.
There's a game of beer pong going on in one room, people in a haze of smoke with the smell of weed in another, and just random people scattered in conversations vicariously throughout the rest of the house. Eren starts walking up the long winding staircase as there doesn't seem to be as many people up here as there are throughout the rest of the house. There’s a couple people upstairs, talking more quietly, obviously trying to get some peace of mind from the chaos happening everywhere else.
Eren starts down the hall just like Armin had said and finds himself surrounded by a bunch of doors. He decides to just start opening door after door until he eventually finds a bathroom. One of the rooms was locked and he swears he can hear the sounds of people fucking from the outside. He ignores it and continues down the hall until he finally finds the door he’s been looking for.
Thankfully it is unoccupied at the moment and he goes in and locks it behind him.
He goes to unzip his pants and relieve himself when about only a minute later as he's still going, he hears a loud bang on the door.
“Hello?? Is anyone in there?” It’s a girl's voice and she sounds anxious. “I really need to use the bathroom. If you’re just fucking, please help a girl out. I swear I won't be long.” She says banging on the door repeatedly as she pleads, sounding desperate as hell.
“Yeah I'm almost done, hold on.” Eren answers her as he flushes and pulls up and zips his jeans. He doesn't even care about washing his hands, wanting to give her the bathroom as soon as possible. He goes to the door and unlocks it and there he sees her.
She’s a couple of inches shorter than him. She has black cropped hair, almost in a pixie cut, hair perfectly falling and framing her rounded face. Her skin is the milkiest white, and her eyes are the most beautiful grey he's ever seen. She has these pouty lips and is wearing a little eyeliner and lip gloss. Eren stares at her for a few seconds but she just looks back at him and quickly pushes past him to get into the bathroom.
“Thank you thank you thank you.” She repeats and just slams the door in his face. He hears the click of the lock and he turns to start walking away. However, he's a little worried about her.
Maybe it's just his high and drunken state of mind overthinking this but he doesn't see anyone else around and wonders where this small pretty thing came from. Is she alone? He feels bad leaving her by herself at this huge party with a bunch of drunk people. So he does the respectable thing and waits a bit down the hall for her to come out.
After about 5 minutes she comes out, closing the door behind her with a quiet click. She seems a bit overwhelmed and tired. Eren stops in front of her as she's coming down the hall.
“Hey. Are you okay?” Eren asks her, raising an eyebrow and looking down on her.
She seems shocked that he waited for her and she looks up at him for a second confused.
“Uh yeah…are you okay?” She asks him back skeptically.
“Uh, yeah. You just seemed tense is all. I’m sorry if I bothered you…” Eren goes to turn away and leave her alone because clearly, she thinks he's nuts and he doesn't want to continue freaking her out.
“No it's okay you didn't!” She speaks a bit louder before continuing, “I’ve not been having the best night but I appreciate your concern and getting out of the bathroom for me quickly.” She says and Eren turns back to face her.
“I’m sorry to hear about your night. My name is Eren. Eren Yeager.” He says and holds out his hand to shake hers. She looks down at his hand for a second with hesitation but shakes it quickly with a feather-light touch.
“It’s okay…it is what it is and my name is Mikasa Ackerman.” She responds with a tiny smile.
“That's a very unique name…” he trails off and quickly catches himself, “It's beautiful! I’ve just never heard it before.” Eren stammers nervously. He feels like a fucking idiot.
She smiles brighter, tugging a piece of hair behind her ear. “Thank you. My uncle picked out my name when I was born,” she answers sheepishly.
Eren smiles at her with a little nod. “How do you know, Historia? Or were you dragged here like I was by a mutual friend?”
“Actually Historia and I have been family friends since we were little. I grew up in Washington and then my parents and I moved to Oregon when I was about five. I only moved back here recently to move in with my aunt and uncle.” She answers.
“Oh really? What made you decide to come back here then?” Eren asks her and they’re standing in the middle of the hallway at the upstairs of a party. He should probably be getting back to Armin soon; he doesn't want him to freak out and go out on a search party looking for him.
“Well, my aunt is very sick. She’s….not doing too well. I didn't want my uncle to do it all on his own so I told my parents I was going to move in and help them out and they were okay with it.” She just shrugs but she seems sad about the situation.
“Well, you sound like a really nice person to do that for your aunt and uncle. I’m sure they appreciate you for it but I'm sorry to hear about your aunt.” Eren says with sympathy and not that he's trying to be rude, but he really needs to make a move to get back to his friends. He was not expecting the conversion to be bogged down by something so depressing. It’s like Mikasa realizes and tries to shake off the lower energy that she unintentionally brought to the conversation.
“Anyway, I’m sorry that was a little much-” She goes on but Eren cuts her off,
“It’s really okay. I get it. Family shit is tough. Are you with friends here?” Eren asks her, hoping to get her back into the security of people she trusts.
“Actually, no. I was with someone earlier but he ended up leaving with someone else.” She admits quietly looking away from his searching eyes.
“What the fuck? What a dick.” Eren answers huffing in aggravation crossing his arms.
Mikasa looks up at him interestingly.
“Yeah, what a tool. Anyway, I was just about to head out, I have a bit of a way to walk back and it’s already getting late. Nice meeting you Eren.” Mikasa says with a small smile again.
Eren watches as she brushes by him heading down the stairs and…wait, what did she just say? A pretty girl like her should not be walking by herself back home at 12 AM. Eren felt a strong urge to protect this sweet pixie girl, just for tonight at least
“Wait! Mikasa. I’ll walk you home.” Eren offers catching up to her and reaching out for her shoulder. He’d offer to drive her home, but he was still a little bit tipsy from all the punch he had drunk earlier in the evening. He also considers the fact that this girl would not want to be alone in a cramped space with someone she barely even knows.
Eren might not be an innocent virginal angel, but he knows what would make most women uncomfortable, he's not a completely idiotic dick like most men happen to be these days.
“Thanks Eren, but really I’m okay.” Mikasa responds, still continuing to walk off and out of the house. Connie, Jean, and Armin must have moved somewhere else in the house because they’re no longer sitting on the front steps of Historias house.
“Please Mikasa, I cant under good conscience let you do that. If it makes you feel better, you can hold onto my pocket knife while we walk.” Eren says and he whips his iridescent pocket knife from the front of his jeans lifting a bit of his shirt in the process and exposing some of his skin.
He doesn't miss Mikasa’s eye contact at his chiseled chest and she immediately looks away red in the face.
“Eren, you seem like a nice guy but my uncle will have a field day if he sees a guy with me.”
“So your uncle would rather his niece walk alone home at almost 1 AM because of his own pride?” Eren challenges cutting her off from continuing on.
She sighs looking defeated and accepts his offer asking for the knife just in case.
Eren hands it over to her with a small smile and she holds it against her chest giving him a once over before they start walking in what he only assumes is the direction of her place.
They walk in silence for a bit and yeah, Eren probably should have told her to hang on for a second while he found Armin and told him he was heading out, but he didn't want to risk the possibility of Mikasa just making a run for it when he was distracted.
Finally, Mikasa speaks up first, breaking up the silent but actually comfortable quiet. The sounds of the party fade into the background leaving only the sounds of crickets and the breeze blowing through the trees.
“So, how do you know Historia?” Mikasa asks him as they’re walking pretty close to one another, because their shoulders keep brushing one another's from time to time
“I actually don't know her. I just met her for the first time tonight. My friend Armin does though, through a college program. He just invited me as a kindness.” Eren replies by taking out his pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lighting one up.
Mikasa looks at him with a scowl on her face as he lights one up and inhales and exhales.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Does smoking bother you?” Eren asks her with concern. She smiles back lightly noticing his sweet concern.
“Usually yeah, I just hate the smell of them but honestly, It’s okay…I’m trying to work through my triggers lately instead of letting them eat away at me.” She replies looking off into the distance away from his pretty green eyes.
“Well, if something makes you uncomfortable, you should never blindly accept it.” He answers as he takes one more drag, flicks it on the ground, and stomps it out.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right about that with some things. You really didn't have to stop though on my account.” She replies.
“I’m a gentleman Mikasa. It’s just what I do.” He smiles at her as their eyes catch for a second making Eren feel like he’s on fire. She really has the most beautiful eyes he’s ever seen and he’s always gotten praise his whole life for how beautiful his eyes are but he thinks Mikasa has him beat.
They get quiet again but it's not that awkward quiet…with Mikasa, It feels comforting…
They’ve already been walking for a couple blocks now and he wonders how Mikasa was going to do this by herself in the first place all alone in the dead of night. He remembers what she said before, about some guy she came to the party with that had left her for another girl. It pisses off Eren so much that he doesn't even realize he said something out loud.
“What?” She asks him concern etched on her face.
“Nothing, it's just, I remember what you had said to me before, about that guy you came with and how he ditched you. That fucking pisses me off.” Eren almost growls and she can tell he's angry.
“Yeah, well, maybe I should also mention that he was my boyfriend. We got into a bad fight before the party. He was already not in the greatest mood by the time we got there but, I was going to break up with him soon anyway. He…uh, he wasn't very nice to me.” She replied sadly.
“Your boyfriend?! That's even worse. Who the fuck is this guy seriously I would like to have a few words with him…” Eren starts and she can see he's getting visibly angry. This guy she only met about an hour ago who was already much nicer to her than Reiner ever was. Maybe, though, she thinks to herself, he just wants to get in her pants and that's why he's trying to act all noble. Mikasa doesn't have the greatest awareness when it comes to men. She likes to believe the best in everyone.
“Yeah but let's not worry about it okay? He didn't like that I didn't put out for him easily. We were only dating for three weeks! He was always trying to get me involved in his shitty antics anyway.” She replies angrily as well, matching Eren’s energy.
“Well, he sounds like a douche and you're much better off without him. If I ever saw him and knew It was him, I’ll remember to beat the shit out of him for you.” Eren answers her taking a deep breath to calm himself down she assumes.
“Thanks, Eren. I appreciate it.” Mikasa responds with a shy smile as they make eye contact again as she's coming to a still near what he assumes is her house.
“Well. That one is me, maybe it's best we part here so my uncle doesn't see you and lose his mind.” Mikasa replies a house away from where she points is hers. The main lights in the house are still on indicating that her uncle must be up waiting for her to get home safely. As Eren continues to look over the house, he notices how familiar the house looks. He’s been here before, he's almost a hundred percent sure he has been.
“Um, What's your uncle's name by the way?” Eren asks her maybe a little too casually.
“Levi. Levi Ackerman.” She replies and Eren widens his eyes. So that's how he knew this house. He had to pick up paperwork from Levi’s home about three years ago when he had first started his job.
Eren decides not to say anything to her right now. He doesn't want to spoil and ruin the night which, in his opinion, had gone well.
“Right. Well, Goodnight Mikasa. It was nice meeting you. I’ll be seeing you around.” He says coming out of his stupor as he holds out his hand to shake hers in parting. She looks down at his hand, placing her much smaller one in his for a quick second, and then pulls it back.
“Thanks again Eren. Get home safe as well too, okay?” She replies to him with a small smile as she starts heading to the house.
“Wait. Mikasa. How long are you going to be in town for?” Eren asks her and she turns back to him.
“I don't know. For as long as they need me I guess.” She shrugs.
“I’d like to take you out sometime. If….that's okay with you?” Eren asks her, a cute-as-hell smirk on his face, his hands in his pockets and he's actually nervous for the first time in his life about a beautiful girl's reply. What if she tells him to fuck off and that she never wants to see his face again?
“I’d…love to do that.” She replies shyly.
“Cool. Um…how about Tuesday evening? I get off work at 3 on those days. Will you be home?” He asks her and takes a mental note of her house number and the street name.
“Yes, I will be and my uncle will still be at work so that works out.” She answers and she's blushing a bit. Of course, Eren knows her uncle will still be at work because Levi stays to close shop at 5 PM on Tuesdays.
“Well…then I’ll see you then. Have a good night, Mikasa. Sleep well.” And he watches her nod with a smile and waits until she gets to her door and turns around one more time to glance at him and wave goodbye as she goes in and shuts the door behind her.
Eren exhales realizing he was holding his breath from anxiety and starts walking back toward Historia’s house toward his car to head home. He's already sober after the 20 minutes he gets back to his car, which the walk had helped him with. A small smile etched upon his face as he lights up another cigarette and heads back home to fall into a deep sleep with the picture of Mikasa Ackerman's beautiful and sweet face in his mind.