As you returned back to HQ in Trost you were asked to help Eren and Mikasa load boxes onto a wagon. You were absolutely starving and really wanted to say no, but it wasn't really in your place to refuse an order from a higher-up. The others went on to start eating without you.
"Damn, these crates are heavy!", Eren exclaimed, struggling to even lift one up.
You and Mikasa eyed him, each of you carrying three crates each, stacked on top of each other.
"Here, let me help", Mikasa offered, planning on adding his crate to her stack.
"No, I can do it myself!", Eren said flustered as he noticed both you and Mikasa carrying yours with ease.
Someone poked you on the shoulder as you loaded the wagon. You turned around to meet the face of a middle-aged woman.
"Umm, Is Jean-bo.. UH! I mean Jean Kirstein around here?", she asked in a careful manner.
'Jean-bo? Oh! This must be his mother! How nice of her to come visit!'
"Yes he is! You must be his mother, Mrs. Kirstein?", you asked politely.
"Yes, yes I am dear", she answered you with a smile. It looked like your nice attitude relaxed her.
"I'm one of his friends, Y/N L/N. I'm sure he'll be delighted to see you again!", you said happily.
'She seems like the sweetest person; Jean will be happy to meet her again'
"Follow me, Mrs Kirstein!", you said and motioned with your hand for her to follow.
Entering the mess hall, you spotted the three of them sitting on a table close to the entrance.
"Hey Jean!", you yelled out excited.
Jean got up from his seat and walked towards you.
"Your mom came to see you!", you revealed with a closed-eyed smile, happy to help this little family reunite.
"Jean-bo!", you heard his mom say from behind you.
"Wha-", Jean almost whispered in shock. You watched as the scene played out.
"Why didn't you come home, Jean-bo?", she said sad as she placed her hand on his collar jacket. "Even Thomas from the Wagner family made sure to visit!" "You're such a problem child", she added with a little sigh. She looked down, making you do the same. Looks like Jean spilled some water on his thigh.
"Did you spill soup or something on yourself? You're hopeless..", she said, reaching to wipe it away with a handkerchief. You noticed the entire hall was watching them in complete silence.
'Oh no, Jean does not look happy'
"Stop that!", Jean yelled, and his mom looked up at him shocked.
"But Jean-"
"Just go home already!", he stopped her, pushing her away from him harshly.
"Jean!", you said firmly. His mom looked to you with a smile, brushing it off as nothing just happened. She reached into the basket she was holding and started pulling out apples, one after the other.
"These are for everyone", she said.
"We don't need them!", Jean yelled again, swiping the apples off the table with one arm.
"Jean!", you said again, this time angry. You hated seeing anyone treat their family with such disrespect. You bent down, starting picking up the apples.
"Jean-bo!", his mom exclaimed surprised. She then turned around looking at the cadets watching intently. "Everyone! He's a little rough around the edges, but please be nice to him!". Jean didn't reply to this, he just looked done with this conversation.
"That reminds me Jean, I brought your favourite-", she started saying, pulling out a steaming packed of some sort, probably a warm dish.
"Just freaking go home!", he yelled, his face wild of anger. The next thing you knew, he smacked the door shut in her face, keeping her out.
'.......'
Not a single sound was to be heard as the cadet's watched Jean in shock.
"You should be nice to your mom, Jean", you simply stated, breaking the silence. "Cherish her while you can. It's not like everyone has that privilege...", you walked off, handing the bundle of apples resting in your arms to Armin, who was standing closest to you.
*3rd person POV*
Jean opened his fist, revealing a key placed on the palm of his hand. Jean, Armin and Marco were standing in a corridor, away from all the noise coming from mess hall. Armin looked up at him in shock.
"Are you serious Jean?", he said frightened.
"I hear they've got beef in the officer's store room", Jean informed them smugly. "I'll make use of that!".
"No way! I can't steal!", Amrin exclaimed disturbed. "I've always been clumsy. I always placed last in races!", He continued with a wild expression on his face. "Even when we played hide-and-seek, I couldn't hold my laughter in!".
"Armin..", the others said, worried, but Armin just kept talking.
"-And you expect me to steal?", he started shaking. "I can't do it!", he yelled as he ran in the other direction.
"Hey, where are you going?", Jean shouted and reach his hand out, but Armin was already on his merry way, running up the stairs. Not even one second later he tripped and smashed both his legs on the stairs, hard. He cried out in pain.
~
*Back to normal POV*
You leaned against the doorframe as you took in the scene before you. Armin was laying on a bed, both his legs wrapped in casts. Marco and Jean sat on a bench beside him.
"Do you break everything you touch Jean?", you asked sarcastically, making your way towards Armin. Jean just looked down.
"I'm sorry Jean. I don't think I can help you with my body in this state", Armin apologised, staring dramatically towards the ceiling.
"Help with what?", you questioned Jean, raising your brow.
"Just forget it", Jean huffed, making his way past you. You sat down besides Marco.
After a while you started to feel bad about how things were standing between you and Jean. Yes, he absolutely disrespected his mom in front of everyone and you didn't like it one bit. However, you imagined there was a reason for it no one else but him knew.
'Crap Y/N, what have you gotten yourself into. He is a good guy; you all know it. You better go and at least try to talk to him'.
You stayed with Marco and Armin for about ten minutes more, before leaving to find Jean.
~
You spotted him sitting on a bench outside of HQ. He was staring at a note, deep in thought.
"Hey...", you said carefully, eyeing him to try and predict his reaction to seeing you. "I'm sorry for barging in with your mom like that. I was way out of line and should have talked to you first", you started, figuring your apology should be said before explaining the reasoning for you actions. "I Just love seeing families together. It's like watching the last puzzle piece being placed down, connecting everything- making something make sense", you said, inching closer, to the point where you sat down on the bench with him.
"I understand Y/N. You meant well; you always do. I was just in the moment. It was hard for me to see her again. She is a part of my past that I'm trying to leave behind, not her specifically but the boy I used to be", he confessed, still looking at the note.
"I used to be a coward, not good for anything. My mom babying me all my life didn't help me toughen up either. Once I decided to take a stand to change myself for the better, she never did. She continued as she always did- as she still does! It's not necessarily her fault, she never needed things to change, I understand now she just does it because she loves me no matter who I choose to be. Her way of showing it is just the way she knows best", he continued, and you managed to sneak a peak at what the note said:
Dear Jean-bo,
Eat this and keep working hard. Don't cause too much trouble for everyone, okay?
Love, mom.
The steaming package his mom tried to give him earlier laid opened on his lap and you could now see what the package contained. It was a rice omelette. He noticed you staring at it.
"Mom left it for me after I pushed her out..", he said quiet. "This was my favourite food growing up, and my mom always used to make this at times I needed comfort. She still does apparently", he added, a little smile formed on his lips. He paused for a bit. "Hey, Y/N, maybe I should go visit my mom tomorrow before we head back to boot camp", he said with a content tone. "Maybe you guys want to join too? We could all make some omelettes, afterall, I think we need all the comfort we can get this far into training", he added with a laugh.
"I think that sounds like a wonderful idea Jean", you answered him happily.
Suddenly his face changed. He looked like he just realized something.
"I know what to serve Pixis tonight!", he said confidently.
~Timeskip to the contest~
You all stood at a big stage; the audience filled to the brim with cadets as well as Garrison soldiers. Jean's team on the left side, Sasha's team in the right, Pixis dividing the two sides by sitting in the middle by a table. Your team had worked your asses off in the kitchen ever since Jean came up with the idea for the dish you were to prepare.
Sasha had just served her dish- cooked boar meat. You heard the audience wow in amazement. Meat was hard to come by and would always receive an admirational reaction from anyone. Anyone except for the ones living in the interior that is. Their greedy asses are too used to it.
Pixis took a bite of his food and froze completely. His expression was unreadable.
'I wonder what is going on inside his head...' (*Wink wink, cue the OVA scene*)
"Look at that! He's in a peace of mind state!", Connie exclaimed, their team looking like they've already been told they won.
After what seemed like ages, he finally came to his senses. He was still not moving, however.
Jean silently brought your dish to the table. It was a simple rice omelette.
Pixis looked puzzled.
"Oh, this is pretty cute", he stated.
"Please sir, try it", Jean said plainly.
Pixis dug into it. After a while he patted his mouth with his handkerchief. You hadn't received any reaction even close to match his amazed expression tasting Sasha's dish. This made you nervous.
Pixis stood up formally.
"I will now announce the winner of this challenge!", he said. You grabbed Marco's hand nervously without thinking, and he gave it a little squeeze.
"The winner is... JEAN KIRSTEIN!", he roared. The audience screamed and cheered in support. Jean looked taken aback. You laughed cheerfully and flung your hands around Marco's neck. He spun you around one time, before putting you down. His cheeks flushed pink, and his hand went straight to scratch his neck. You saw Armin walk over to Jean, placing his hand on his shoulder. He then proceeded to give him a thumb's up with a proud expression.
It turned out Armin didn't really break his legs, he was just a drama queen who bumped his legs a little, but you won't talk about that.
Sasha ran in front of Pixis, refusing to accept that meat lost to an omelette. Pixis then informed her that meat is meat. Nothing more. It's not a dish in itself, it's just cooked meat.
'Wtf?'
Tears started streaming down her face as she made sense of his words. She fell down to her knees.
"I'm so embarrassed! I completely forgot about the potatoes and carrots I had until now and tried to win with just cooking meat!", she cried as Pixis walked off.
Jean walked up to her and you got scared thinking of what he was going to do next. Seems like you had nothing to worry about. Jean reached out his hand for her.
"You don't need to be embarrassed. You're not the only one who did nothing but roast..", you heard him tell her.
"I'm sorry Jean", she said as she took his hand.
You were happy as you watched the two of them moving past whatever this weird feud was, growing even closer friends than they were before. You could finally go back to being together, all of you.
_______________________________________________
A/N:
Finally, that wrap's up the parts for this chapter. I hope you found it enjoyable and that the part's differentiated enough from each other that they kept your interest reading through them.
I had a lot of fun writing these part's, making them my own, adapting it to fit my spin at the Attack on titan story:)
Hope to see you for the next chapter, and as always:
Have a wonderful day!<3
~Jen