don't forget me ❜ E. Jaeger K. Shinjo

50 | Birthday Planning.

Eren's POV:

After that day at the cafe with Levi, Kiaran had become more distant. She has said she needed time to herself because it scared her of what might happen if Levi didn't come to terms with everything. That was back in February.

It was now nearing the end of March—the exams were starting before spring break and our birthdays. His being on the thirtieth and hers on April tenth. It wouldn't make sense to have two separate parties when all our friends could join us. So, once again, it was time for a plan.

Walking out of class that afternoon with Armin, Eren was scrolling through a page on TikTok for birthday ideas. He couldn't do the hotel room again because he did that for New Year's, perhaps a nice dinner date? No—to basic. Lost in thought, he felt Armin nudge at his shoulder before returning to reality. "Huh—? What is it?" Eren asked.

"I said what do you plan on doing for your birthday? It's coming up this week," Armin asked.

Eren scratched the back of his head as his big twenty-two didn't matter that much to him since, well—he didn't do anything when he turned twenty-one. But since Kiaran was a year younger than him, he wanted to make sure her birthday would be special. "Uh—I don't really care about my birthday, you know that. But maybe a vacation would be nice. I'm tired of Sina City, honestly," he sighed deeply.

Armin smiled as they were approaching their house. "Well, spring break would be a great time to travel. Besides—Kiaran might want to celebrate," he said optimistically.

"Yeah, but she already does so much for me—do you know how much my new guitar cost?" Eren said. "She paid about three thousand for that thing—I feel guilty because I can't buy her anything over the top. Including since most of that money will be for my future with her."

Armin slapped him across the chest. "Oh, stop it—you still get money from your record deal, right? Spend a bit of money on her for her birthday. I'm sure you won't have a big Kim K wedding," he joked.

Eren coughed a bit before smirking. "Never would I spend that much money on my own wedding. But maybe you're right. She deserves a nice birthday after the shit she's been through with Levi last month," he said, climbing the stairs to the front porch.

Going to open the door to the house, they both headed inside, but upon pausing in the doorway, he spotted some mail that was addressed to him. It was from his father—opening the envelope, dropped out a piece of paper and two smaller pieces. Opening the letter first, he skimmed over it to read:

"Dear Eren, I figured with you turning twenty-two this year, you would do something, but knowing you, you're too stingy to do anything. Me and your mother had some extra cash left over from our recent vacation, so—I booked you a flight for an all-around ticket for anywhere you might like to travel to for spring break. I also bought one for Kiaran—treat her to something nice, son. Happy Birthday - Love, Grisha, and Carla."

Well—that took care of his situation of spending money. He would have to make sure to pay his parents back just like all the other times he had before. Smiling at the gift, he soon looked at the tickets as they were all doing trip tickets for any destination.

He had never flown before, and all he knew was Paradis, so—where would he even take her? There were so many cool places he saw in Tiktok. Maybe someplace with a beach? Rainforests? The whole idea excited him as he would only have a few weeks to plan this out, but surely he would find a good place to take her. Stepping into the house, he set his things down and started looking for ideas of where to go.

Going ahead on his laptop, Eren looked at different places that sounded like the perfect getaway for spring break, as everything really sounded good at this point. Mexico, Florida, Brazil... romantic spots that were a bit too expensive for him, but in the end—his parents had told him to treat her to something nice, which he wanted to follow through.