italics is a flashback/memory recall
~~~
~~~
The party ended but the yelling didn't stop. It had been about an hour since everyone left and about three since Eren saw Jean last. You were picking up a mess in the kitchen with Eren when he slammed his hands on the counter.
You jumped up and your eyes snapped towards him. His head was lowered and his breathing was ragged.
"Eren?" You made your way to his side of the room and placed a gentle hand on his arm. He turned to face you.
"Sorry." He wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you in for a hug. Your hands around his shoulders while his head rested in the crook of your neck. "When will they stop?" His voice was muffled against your skin.
You sighed, "I don't know. I hope soon or before Armin gets home at least." Your right hand carefully made its way into his gnarled hair.
He let out a huff against your shoulder. "Let's try to get some sleep, Eren. We can stay in the basement tonight, yeah?" You whispered. He nodded and pulled back.
The yelling coming from Mikasa's room grew louder as you passed the stairs. You opened the basement door and followed Eren down the stairs.
"You can take the bed." You offered and slumped on the couch. Eren nodded and waved sleepily while heading to the basement bedroom.
The next morning Armin had woken you up in a panic. "Y/n! Y/n, wake up!"
"What? What's going on?" You sat up, alert now.
"Mikasa's gone! Jean said she only left a letter. What the hell happened last night?" Armin's eyes were wide and he was visibly stressed.
"Mikasa's what? What do you mean she's gone? She can't be gone. Where's the letter? Did you read it?" You stood and gripped Armin's shoulders.
"Jean has the letter. She wasn't here when I came home and he was sitting on the stairs with it in his hand."
"When did you get home?"
"Maybe fifteen minutes ago."
You let go of Armin and scrambled up the stairs as fast as you could. Your eyes darted around for Jean when you saw he wasn't on the stairs like Armin had left him.
"Jean? Jean where the hell are you?" You were panicked.
The air started to feel stale as you racked your mind for an answer. Where was Jean? Where was Mikasa? Why did she leave so suddenly? What was in the letter? Would you get to find out? When will she come back? Why didn't she say goodbye?
You walked fast-paced through your house, searching for Jean. When you got to the kitchen, you noticed a stray piece of paper on the counter. You picked it up and realized it was what you thought it was.
Mikasa's tear-stained letter was in your hands.
"Dear friends, I'm leaving. Expect not to see me for a long time. I have a lot to think about. I can't be in the band right now. Not like this. Jean- I don't want to see you. Eren- I hope you'll forgive me. Armin- Go see the sea. Y/n- If only you knew. With love, Mikasa."
Your hand had come up to your mouth while processing her letter. Tears spilled down your cheeks as the realization sunk in. She was really gone and you had no idea when you'd get to see her again.
"Y/n, wake up. You fell asleep. We're at your house." Sasha nudged you and you were brought back to reality. Somewhere along the road, you and her switched spots so now you were on the passenger side.
"Ah, my neck hurts." You said bitterly while rubbing the spot your neck was previously, and unfortunately, resting on the door.
"Yeah, that's what happens when you fall asleep in a car," Connie spoke as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. You flicked his forehead. "Hey, what'd you do that for?" He clawed at his head.
You said your goodbyes to the two and entered your house. It was now late afternoon, and Eren was back home.
"Where the hell have you been, tootsie? You look awful." He pointed his spoonful of Nutella at me in disgust.
"Thanks, Eren. You're a real charmer." You gave a sarcastic smile before grabbing a spoon and joining him on the counter. "I've been out with Sasha and Connie. Where have you been all day?"
"Mind your business, L/n."
You scoffed as he shoved the Nutella into your arms. "The hypocrisy." You muttered.
"Why isn't this house clean?" He looked at the living room and raised his hands in mock outrage.
"I'm not a cleaning lady! If you want it cleaned so badly, do it yourself!" You twisted the Nutella cap back on the container and tossed your spoon into the sink.
"But whenever I do it, you say it's wrong!" He whined.
"Eren, the dryer sheets go over the dryer and the detergent goes over the washing machine! What is so hard to grasp about that? That's how it's always been! But you probably wouldn't know, since you never do your own laundry." You clutched the counter in annoyance.
"They're both on the same shelf! What's the issue?" He said, exasperated.
"What are you two on about?" Armin sauntered into the room and sat on a kitchen stool.
"Eren can't clean for shit."
"Hey!" He glared. You stuck your tongue out in his direction.
Armin laughed lowly. "You guys bicker like an old married couple."'
"How dare you say that! I would never marry him! Gross!" You made vomiting motions and fake retched.
Eren smirked. "Well, if things don't work out between you and Mikasa, I'm always around." He tittered.
"Eren, I'm literally gay." You deadpanned.
Armin let out a hearty laugh. "She's got you there." They grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and bit into it.
Before Eren could respond, the kitchen door opened to reveal Jean out of breath in the doorway. "Good evening fellow friends!"
"What's your deal?" Eren raised an eyebrow, referring to Jean's drenched form.
"It started raining. Pretty harshly." Jean wrung out his coat over the stairs.
"Sucks to suck!" Eren's hand slammed on the counter while the other was pointed at Jean.
"Any news on Mikasa?" You asked gingerly.
"Not anything new. As far as I'm concerned, I'm still picking her up at the airport tomorrow," Jean reassured.
"Should we throw her a welcoming party or something?" Eren suggested. Everyone looked at him like he was a moron. His eyes narrowed. "Why are you staring at me like that?"
"Are you crazy? She left because of what happened at a party! Why would she want one now? Do you want to drive her away again? Mikasa has never been the party type, anyways." You exclaimed while crossing your arms in front of your chest.
Eren put his hands up in defense. "Sheesh, it was just an idea."
"Yeah, a real dumbass idea." Jean seethed.
To prevent a fight, you interjected, "We have this whole house to clean. If you want a good welcoming gift, you'll help me clean it." You gestured to the several messes in your line of sight.
Eren shifted his glare to you. "Where do I start, then?" He gritted his teeth.
"You can start with your filthy room, and then the basement since you're down there the most." You smiled sweetly and quickly spoke up again before he could protest. "Jean, you can do your room and the rooms on this floor, not mine though. Armin, you already keep the waterfront looking great, but if you could do a sweep-through of the deck that'd be awesome. Also, can you do the office upstairs? I can do everything else."
Everyone nodded and started to clean their designated areas. You went upstairs to finish Mikasa's room and then start on the others. You had already finished with your room. You stopped in front of her door and took a deep breath. Here goes nothing.
Several hours later, the four of you were slouched on the couch, mindlessly staring at a random movie on tv. Jean had tried his best to get comfortable but just ended up upside down. Eren was lying down with his head in your lap and his legs sprawled over Jean, much to his dismay. Armin had a blanket around himself and was leaning on you whilst trying his best to stay awake.
It was close to midnight and you all had a big day ahead of you. "I'm exhausted." Eren groaned from your lap.
"I second that." Jean lazily raised his hand in the air.
"Me too. I'm headed up to bed. Goodnight everyone." Armin yawned and made his way up the stairs, occasionally tripping on their blanket.
"So am I. Eren get your scrawny legs off me!" Jean hurriedly tried to shimmy off the couch.
"Shut up, horse face! Don't tell me what to do." Eren grumbled while lifting his head off of you. You stood up after him. He sure was a pain when he was tired.
"Goodnight to you losers. Sleep well." He said groggily while going to the basement instead of his actual room. You stretched and headed to your room.
"Aren't you going to get up, Jean?" You rubbed your eyes sleepily.
"Yeah, you go on to bed." He waved you off while struggling to get off the floor. You chuckled softly.
After you got changed into your pajamas, you collapsed on your bed with a heavy sigh, taking a look through your old texts with Mikasa one last time.
''''''
𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 𝟏,𝟔𝟎𝟗