hopeless | jean kirstein

21 | date

Jean began pacing around the room, terribly out of his element. "How did you even...this isn't real..."

Now looking at the boy nervously running in circles, Taryn furrowed her brows. Not that it offended her, but she'd expected him to be a little more on the happier side instead of being afraid. "I thought you liked her?"

"Yes, b-but—I just—" He began grabbing at his hair, further ruining his already messy locks from rolling right out of bed. "Did she even agree to this?!"

"Uh, yes? Did you think I'd blackmail her?" She stood up and grabbed a spare comb from her pocket, using both hands to steady him before moving to fix his hair. She shrugged her shoulders. "Well, me, Connie and Sasha had to get down on our knees and beg last night for her to say yes, but that's not the point."

"So that's where he went," He mumbled, closing his eyes as Taryn began stroking through his hair, her fingers arranging the messy strands. This feels nice. But his eyelids flew open as soon as he remembered the situation he was in, the panic in his heart rising. "But still, I—I can't—"

"Why?" He heard her sigh in exasperation, disappointment pooling in his chest once she took a step back and walked towards the exit. She glanced back at him, gesturing for him to change already before disappearing into the hallway, shutting the door.

On the other side, Taryn leaned her back against the wooden surface, listening as he began to rant from inside the room. She checked the clock on the wall up ahead, frowning once she found that they were twenty minutes behind schedule. Mikasa's going to kill the three of us, for sure.

She heard a crash from behind the door—probably a vase breaking, her eyes widening as she wondered what the hell was going on with him. "It's gonna be so awkward!" She heard him yell, the anxiousness in his voice obvious. "What would I do? I don't even know what to say—!"

She rolled her eyes, her gaze traveling to her boots. "Just talk to her?" She quirked up a brow. "Talk to her like you talk to me. Full of nonsense and shit."

He scoffed, and Taryn could already see him rolling his eyes at her as he replied. "It's different."

"How so?"

"She's not you."

She couldn't ignore the way her heart skipped a beat, nor the lingering jealousy that never seemed to go away, no matter how much she convinced herself. She won't deny that this whole fiasco hurt her feelings, yet she had no other choice but to just smile and nod. It's not like I can do anything about it.

And now here she was, organizing the date of her crush and his crush. Even after three years, it was the one part of her that hadn't changed. Cupid himself is probably shitting his pants laughing at me right now.

Detaching herself from the door, she rubbed her eyes in exhaustion. It was only nine o'clock in the morning, but it felt like she'd lived through a hundred years already. "She's Mikasa Ackerman, the girl you've liked ever since you were twelve," She replied, making her voice loud enough for him to hear. "You better not screw this up, Jean."

After a few more complaints and whining done by the boy, Jean finally opened the door, revealing himself looking like...well, normal, if not more fidgety and nervous than before. As her gaze landed on his head, Taryn couldn't help but burst into laughter at his adorable attempt at styling his hair into some kind of slicked back hairdo, making him look utterly ridiculous. He scowled at her immediately, blushing in embarrassment before ruffling his hair back to normal.

Calming down, she grabbed his arm, and the two started to make their way outside, with the girl yelling at him every now and then, reminding him that they were terribly late. Sprinting through the grassy hills, they finally reached the foot of the forest where they could see a group of three people waiting for them, donning impatient looks on their faces.