After begging Taryn for the whole day to tell him whatever the hell she was planning, Jean retired to his bed, yawning as he collapsed unto the stiff mattress. Eren's snores echoed around the room, paired with Armin's soft sighs, the combination being quite interesting. Connie was nowhere to be found, which he thought was quite unusual since he always seemed to be the first one to head to bed out of the four of them.
Staring up at the ceiling, he thought of all sorts of things, just to help him calm down a bit. It wasn't long until his consciousness started fading away and he fell into a deep slumber, his mind fortunately not being plagued with nightmares for once. He had a nice, dreamless sleep, and he supposed that was better than having such grotesque images playing again and again, forced to live through the horrors once more.
And because of that rare peace, he got a bit carried away, forgetting about his agreement with the girl to wake up early. Soon enough, the night broke into dawn and the dawn turned into morning, the shining sun glittering above them, its rays of sunlight peeking through the gaps of the curtains and into their room.
Jean was half-awake now, and he could hear the others get up and leave, but he didn't mind, wanting to stay in bed for a little while longer. Then someone barged into the room, the boy unaware of the pair of eyes burning holes into his back, glaring at his sleeping figure as if he was the most irritating thing to ever grace the earth.
"Rise and shine, you lazy shit!"
A cheery voice cut through the air, with his mind thinking that it was probably Connie. Mumbling unintelligible words, he turned to face the other way, ignoring whoever chose to disturb his sleep. As soon as he did so, however, he heard the sound of curtains opening and the blaring sunlight greeted his eyes, the sudden brightness almost blinding him. He immediately brought a hand to his face, shielding his eyes from the light but still having no plan to wake up.
The other person in the room scoffed and he then felt a hand enclose around his ankle, pulling him out from the comforts of his bed. He fell to the floor with a thud, hissing in pain as he began to peel open his eyes, finding Taryn looking down on him with narrowed eyes. "I told you to wake up early, didn't I?"
"Taryn? What are you..." He mumbled out, his eyes still adjusting to the brightness of the room. "Oh, sorry. I forgot."
"Of course you did," She sighed, making her way over to his assigned closet, opening the doors before she began rummaging through his stuff. "But never mind about that. You need to hurry up and get dressed."
"What? Why?" He stood up, walking over to her. The girl started to pull out some of his shirts, holding them up in front of her as if choosing which one was better. After a while of contemplating, she tossed one towards him and returned the other to his closet, now looking through his collection of pants. He furrowed his brows. "What are you doing?"
"Making sure you look your best, obviously," She gave him some pants to pair with his outfit, before closing the door and turning to him with a raise of her brow. "You don't want to look like a rag on your first date, do you?"
He paused, his brain failing to process her statement. "Huh?"
Her lips curved into a smug smile, holding up a hand. "I scored you a date with Mikasa. No need to thank me."
His eyes widened almost as soon as the words left her lips, his breath getting stuck in his throat. "W-What?" He managed to stammer out in his state of panic, his pale face draining of what little color it had left. "What?! Taryn—y-you've got to be joking."
"I'm not." She replied in a calm voice, now crouching down to pick out a nice pair of socks. He was unnerved by the way she seemed so unbothered about it while his heart was beating erratically in his chest, and he didn't know whether it had been from excitement or dread.
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.
Taryn let out a nervous laugh, tugging at Jean's arm aggressively, earning a yelp of pain from the boy. "Hello everyone! Sorry for the delay, someone over here took a bit too long to wake up," She said in her cheery voice, coming to a halt and turning to the shorter male in front of her. "Connie, is the canoe set up?"
He saluted, smirking. "Yes ma'am. Along with everything else you ordered me to do." He told her, making her nod in approval. Connie had offered to assist her with the preparations, as a token of his apology from the horrid dare he let her do. With his help combined with Sasha's, they were able to come up with something simple yet charming.
Jean whipped his head to face him, his voice growing quiet with alarm. "What canoe?"
"Oh, you'll see." Sasha snickered, pushing him towards Mikasa, who looked like she wanted nothing more than to die at the moment. Given that she had only agreed with the guarantee that it would make Eren fuming—though they planned on keeping him distracted for the entire duration of the date— they didn't blame her, only sending the girl apologetic glances.
Linking arms with Taryn and Connie, Sasha smiled back at them, and the three began to scurry away from the area. "Well, we won't keep you two any longer. Mikasa has a map of all the delightful activities we prepared! Have fun—"
They were interrupted by someone yelling in the distance, their heads immediately turning towards the source of the disturbance. "Oi, Jean!" The voice came again, revealing Eren running towards them with Armin in tow, the sight making them sigh in disappointment. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"
As Sasha's grip on her loosened, Taryn rushed over to meet the blond, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Armin, what happened to restraining Eren?"
He smiled at her apologetically, scratching his head. "Sorry. He caught wind of what was happening far sooner than I expected."
Returning the smile, she patted his back in comfort. "It's okay, you tried your best." She knew this might happen, but she didn't expect Eren to arrive this early into their plans.
He grabbed Jean's collar, causing the latter to roll his eyes. "Oh, what now?"
"I've had enough of your shit!" He yelled back. "Who said you could go mess around with Mikasa, huh?"
Jean exhale loudly, expressing his annoyance. "Why, do you own her? She's not your little lapdog, just so you know!"
"Now look who's talking. Why don't you go take a good look at yourself in the mirror?"
"Believe me, I do. And what I see is someone far stronger and more handsome than you, Eren—"
He was cut off when a fist came in contact with his cheek, his eyes widening. Getting provoked as well, Jean began to return the punches, and the two then proceeded to have a full-on fist fight, so early in the morning and in the middle of everyone. Taryn pinched the bridge of her nose in distress, Sasha and Connie facepalmed, while Armin had his arms crossed in disappointment.
Mikasa sighed, not even bothering to make an effort to stop them. "This is getting out of hand. Will you please stop that?"
But of course, they didn't listen, her words only fueling their desire to take the other one down. After taking a few more blows, Jean shoved him away, Eren's body slamming right into Mikasa's from the force of it. He scowled at him. "Fine! Have her all to yourself then! I don't give a shit!"
He turned away, turning to Taryn positioned right behind him before grabbing her arm and dragging her along with him. Her eyes widened, letting out a yelp of surprise from the sudden contact. "Where are you—let me go!"
Eren's face twisted into one of anger, moving to run after the boy again. "Come back here, horseface! We're not done yet—ow, Mikasa!" He felt Mikasa nudge him harshly in the head, stopping him with his yelling immediately. "That hurt."
"That's enough. Remember what Sasha said, if you two fight again, you're sleeping outside," She scolded, while her fingers smoothened out his rumpled shirt, messy and wrinkled from the recent fight. "And you still have the plumbing to fix. The water we gathered is running out, we should finish it."
"Fine, fine," He sulked, rubbing the spot she nudged him to soothe the pain. "But did you really have to hit me that hard?"
"Someone had to finish what you started."
"You're so harsh."
"Let's go now, Eren."
Bickering for a little while, the two then started to make their way towards the cottage, their backs getting smaller and smaller with each step they take. Connie, Sasha and Armin surveyed the scene with satisfied smiles on their faces, pleased that their plan had worked, and with the right timing too.
"Good job, Armin," Connie began to say, his eyes trailing Jean and Taryn now running into the woods. He let out an exhale of relief, stretching his arms. "Now everything's back to where they belong."
"Yup! At least Mikasa doesn't look like she wants to throw herself off of a cliff now," Sasha added, before her lips curved down into a teasing grin, clasping her hands together. "And Taryn deserves some time with her prince."
Connie let out a snort, shaking his head. "Nah, she's the prince for sure. Who's the one always saving Jean's ass?" He then scoffed, rolling his eyes, earning a chortle from Armin beside him. "He acts like a fucking princess."
Sasha laughed. "You're absolutely right."
"But, should we clean too?" Armin told them, the two turning their heads to face him as he spoke. "The cottage isn't completely cleaned in some areas, and Captain Levi said he wants the place to be spotless..."
Connie wrapped an arm around the boy's shoulder, ruffling his hair aggressively. "Oh, come on, Armin. Relax, let your hair down!" He snickered. "Well, your hair is already down. But don't worry! We've got a lot of time to clean later."
Sasha groaned, moving to walk away already. "Make it tomorrow. I'm drained from dragging that stupid canoe all the way to the river."
Armin felt a feeling of dread rise in his chest, a frown making its way to his lips. "Guys, I really think we should..."
"Later."
"Tomorrow."
...
Running into the woods, it seemed like Jean had no intention of letting go of Taryn's arm, his grip on her tight even as he stumbled over small rocks and tripped over the branches scattered all over. The girl was having a hard time keeping up with him, trying her hardest to pry off his hand that had been dragging her along with him.
"Hey, hey—let me go!" She yelled. "Stop running—"
He came to a halt, stopping right in front of her without warning, causing her to crash into his back, the sudden impact making her lose balance. Scowling, she fell to the ground and Jean immediately turned to her in worry, outstretching a hand.
He helped her up to her feet, his face regretful. "Oh, sorry."
She sighed, steadying herself and noticing a big tear in her dress, probably from the pointy branches poking out as they ran through the woods. She glanced up and was about to complain to Jean about the ruined material, but stopped short once she saw blood drip from his nose, most likely from the fight that had occurred earlier.
Her face contorting in worry, she took out a handkerchief from her pocket and began wiping off the droplets of blood, dabbing on his skin gently. "Your nose is bleeding..."
Biting her lip in concentration, she focused on cleaning up his face, the red liquid staining the white cloth in her hand. Jean felt his breath hitch as he started at her, his cheeks heating up at their unusually close proximity. He then coughed awkwardly, swatting her hand away. "Never mind my nose. It looks perfect either way."
Taryn scoffed at his arrogance, before moving to sit on a rock nearby. Recalling the already-disastrous start to their day, she huffed in disappointment, burying her face in her palms. "Why'd you run away..."
Facing her, Jean furrowed his brows. "I was getting beaten up there! Of course I would run away."
"That's not what I meant," She muttered out, garnering the courage to glare at him in the eyes. "Mikasa. You've been bugging me about her for as long as I can remember, and then when you finally get the chance you've been waiting for, you run away!" She exclaimed, pointing her finger towards him accusingly. "And to think you always got me in trouble just because you wanted to talk to her before."
Jean felt a pang of guilt as he heard her, remembering the things that he did, chewing on his lip nervously. Realizing he never apologized for it before, he inched closer to her, the words forming in his throat with much effort. "I'm...sorry about that. I really am."
"It's fine, it's in the past," She mumbled, narrowing her eyes at him as the boy came to sit next to her. She rolled her eyes again. "I'm just pissed."
"Sorry about that too," He muttered sheepishly, before turning to her with a smile. "But hey, it's not the first time I screwed up my chances."
"True," She said, sighing, her face contorting into an irritated look. "But now all my hard work has gone to waste. It wasn't easy transporting the canoe, you know."
He answered with a chuckle, still wondering what in the world was up with that damn canoe they kept on mentioning. Silence enveloped them, the two of them sneaking glances at each other from time to time. Jean wanted the say something, but couldn't come up with anything good enough to say, so he racked his brain for a plan when a sudden idea came to light, making his face brighten.
He turned to her, clearing his throat. "Who said it's gone to waste?"
His voice caught her attention, and the girl faced him with a puzzled look, brows knit together in confusion. "Huh?"
He stood up, glancing over his shoulder to flash her an encouraging smile. "Come on. Let's go and see that canoe you keep talking about. And those damn activities."
She froze, visibly processing his words. "What?"
Mustering up the confidence, his smile morphed into a smirk, the boy outstretching his arm and offering his hand to her. "Let's go on a date."
He watched as her eyes immediately widened, her skin turning into a vibrant shade of red that spread all over her face. "Huh? But—we're not—I'm not—" She sputtered out, her flustered state only making him chuckle.
"Friends can go on dates too, Taryn," He shrugged, his voice nonchalant. "It's not a big deal. Just think of it as a way to cope with our unrequited crushes."
Taryn stared at him as if he was insane and had grown two heads, her eyes darting from his waiting hand to his expectant face. She gulped, and he could see the gears in her brain working, probably debating whether or not this was a good idea. And the longer she stayed silent, the more Jean grew embarrassed, until he was cursing at himself and his mind was having another round of figuring out why the fuck did I say that.
But his pride didn't allow him to back down, so he decided to play it off, groaning in feigned impatience. "Hurry up, my hand is getting tired," He began to say, causing Taryn to look up at him once more. Finally, she stood up and sheepishly grabbed the sleeve of his shirt, completely ignoring his hand, making Jean laugh at her cuteness. Oh well, that seemed like a yes to me. "Fine."
They began to head their way further down the woods, with Taryn leading the way, dragging him along by tugging on his sleeve. The place was beginning to get unfamiliar to him, so he looked at her in question, uttering his next words in a singsong voice. "So, where are we headed to, Mudface?"
"Don't call me that." She muttered out.
He laughed. "Of course, Mudface."
"Well, Jeanboy," She rolled her eyes, picking up her pace. "To the river. To see that stupid canoe."
Making their to the river bank, they passed through the various trees, skipping over the poking out branches and jumping over bothersome rocks located in their way. The sun was shining brightly above them, and the day's temperature wasn't too hot nor too cold. Birds chirped melodically in the background and the leaves swayed with the winds, the atmosphere serene. Perfect for a date, Taryn thought with a blush, but she dismissed the thought almost as quickly as it entered her mind.
"Tada." She said in what she hoped to be a monotone voice as they stopped in front of a large, wooden canoe that was parked just right beside the crystal clear, with nothing but a single oar loaded inside.
"Holy shit," Jean's eyes widened, surveying the thing as he walked around it. "Where in the world did you even get this thing?"
"We did some digging in the backrooms, found it sitting around in a corner," She shrugged. "And yes, we spent the whole night dragging this giant thing from the cottage to the river."
His jaw dropped slightly in surprise, before crouching down to inspect the thing even further. Placing both his palms on the wooden surface, he tried to push it towards the water, only to fail. He frowned. "This looks heavy. Are you sure it won't sink?"
Taryn nodded, sitting down on one of the rocks nearby. "We tested it. Almost drowned doing that too."
"Then let's test it again. Help me push," He looked towards her with a pleading look. "Please?"
But Taryn only stared at him a ghost of a teasing smirk playing at her lips. With a relaxed face she sat down on one of the rocks, smoothing out the wrinkles from her dress, taunting him. "No, I think I'll just watch."
He scowled at her, turning back to the canoe. "You're so mean."
After a while of pushing and pulling on the canoe, with the girl laughing at him every now and then, Jean finally managed to let the thing float on the river, stepping into the inside with an exhale of relief. She followed suit, carefully placing a foot on the wooden surface, albeit wobbling a bit from the water moving underneath them.
The inside was a bit damp and slippery, and Jean made sure to keep a careful eye on Taryn as she boarded. So when she had a misstep and almost slipped, he was at the ready, immediately wrapping a hand around her waist to steady her, saving the girl from potentially hitting her head on the boat's edge.
Their eyes met, and the two instantly felt a blush creep up their faces, letting go of each other in no time. Jean stumbled back a step as he turned around, a hand over his chest as an attempt to calm his heart beating erratically inside.
Clearing his throat, he forced himself to just do something, his eyes darting around their surroundings distractedly. Spotting the oar in the corner, he picked it up, twirling the thing around in his hands. "There's only one oar," He began to say, handing it over to her. "Here."
As Taryn looked at his outstretched hand holding the oar, her brows knit together, her mouth hanging open in disbelief. "You're letting me row the boat?" She looked up at him, shaking her head lightly. "What a fine gentleman you are."
He groaned in response, tossing the oar to the side and laying down on one of the canoe's seats, closing his eyes. "I'm tired! Like you said, that thing's heavy."
"And it was your idea to go on a boat ride. So either you get up and row, or the both of us just stay here and get lost in the process," She crossed her arms, kicking the oar towards him before mirroring his actions and sitting down on the seat across him, plastering on a smile. "It's up to you, really."
They stared at each other, shooting daggers with their glares before Jean finally gave in with another groan, standing up from his seat and picking up the oar. Taryn's smile grew wider, a pleased look on her face as she turned away from him and moved to look over the edge, watching the scenery.
He began to row with much effort, the combination of their weights along with the heaviness of the canoe making rowing a very difficult job. It was even worse when they encountered rocks, as he had to maneuver their way around it, adding to the amount of energy he had to exert. And while Taryn was relaxing in the back, little gasps of amazement escaping her lips whenever she saw something she deemed interesting, he was panting and sweating furiously, almost screaming in frustration once he saw another cluster of rocks up ahead.
"Wait, wait, slow down! I saw a pretty fish!" He heard her say, the excitement in her voice clear as day.
He sighed loudly, exerting strength as he pulled on the handle. "How the fuck can I slow down?"
She then whirled around to face him, a frown etched unto her features. "You missed it!"
Rolling his eyes, he paid no mind to the daggers she was currently shooting at him, only focusing his attention on rowing the boat. "Duh? Fish can swim away, Taryn. Especially from ugly faces."
With a sigh, she ignored him and continued on watching the water. Her eyes lit up once she caught sight of the strange fish again, calling out to the boy for another time. "Jean, I see it again. It has pretty blue scales," She faced him with a pleading look. "Can you please stop?"
"No. What are you even gonna do with it? You can't catch it with your bare hands."
This boy. Pursing her lips, Taryn rolled her eyes, slumping over the edge once again and giving up on ever trying to convince him. "Whatever."
They moved slowly, passing under the tree branches whose leaves cast patterned shadows over the glittering water, little groups of fish rising to the surface from time to time. The air was filled with Jean's endless rambling, with Taryn biting back a few retorts, the two bickering for the entire time and completely forgetting about what should've been a relaxing boat ride.
But he didn't mind. Though he liked to complain a lot, he preferred this rather than the awkward and tense silence he'd surely have to endure, had his date with Mikasa continued. He knew he'd be such a stuttering and flustered mess, trying so hard to impress, that he was glad it was Taryn here with him and he could actually be himself around her.
In a way, he was grateful to Eren for interrupting them. Maybe he'd thank him later, or not, depending on his mood.
As he thought of the girl, his gaze wandered over to Taryn, whose eyes scanned the water with her undivided attention, probably looking for fish again or some interesting rocks. He recalled her having always been like that and he never quite understood her fascination with such small, insignificant things, but he chose to just leave her alone for the time being, admittedly liking how peaceful she looked just staring out the edge.
But a few moments later, she sat upright from her spot, squinting her eyes at something she spotted in the river.
"Wait, is that a head I see under those rocks?" She began to say, faintly making out a white object covered in
moss that heavily resembled a human head.
Her heart dropped at the possibility of it being a skull of a human corpse, but that fear was replaced with excitement once she recognized its face, a face she knew all too well from staring at her school's history textbooks for long periods of time.
She gasped, leaning forward to take a better look at the strange object. "Heavens, it's a statue of the first King Fritz—"
Jean perked up at this, his eyes widening immediately. He didn't care about colorful fishes or weirdly shaped rocks, but if they happened to an antique statue sitting in the bottom of a river, then it was their lucky day. Not to mention its value—with the money they'd get for selling an artifact like that, they could buy all the things they wanted and still have a huge fortune left in their pockets
Dropping the oar, he ran to her side in a hurry, poking his head out of the canoe to catch a glimpse of it. "What? Where?"
He was bending over the edge, moving too much and even almost falling out, making the panic rise inside Taryn as she realized the uneven distribution of their weight with the two of them perched on one side. It didn't help that the boat slowly began to tip over, only adding to her fears.
"Wait—get back to the other side!" She yelled at him in alarm, trying to push him back to his previous spot. "The boat's going to topple over, you idiot—"
But her warning came a second too late, and the two of them could only scream from the top of their lungs as the canoe gave in, sinking into the water and throwing them both into the river.
...
Taryn glared at the boy in front of her as they both shivered from the chilly breeze, cold and damp from literally almost drowning in the river. Her clothes stuck to her body like a second layer of skin, the feeling uncomfortable and making it quite hard for her to move.
And probably the worst feeling of them all was the feeling of her damp socks and wet boots, the water inside sloshing around noisily. Aside from stupid Titans, the sensation was one of things she hated to experience the most.
Feeling her intense eyes on him, Jean chuckled nervously, in the process of drying his shirt. "Whoops," He began, his voice sheepish. "Sorry."
She could only roll her eyes at him, her gaze traveling to her poor, ruined dress. The tear she got earlier only grew in size from the recent incident, the rip in the white fabric almost reaching to above her knee. She frowned, sulking. This had been my favorite. "You're buying me a new dress..."
Jean only sighed in response, not saying yes, but also not saying no. He then looked at the canoe in front of them, positioned upside down and mindlessly floating around in the water, the two of them not bothering to get it back and retrieve it. "The canoe," He asked, growing a bit concerned for the object. "Are we just going to let it float away?"
"Oh, leave it. I hated that thing anyway," She told him angrily, making him burst out in laughter at her distaste for object. "Hopefully someone finds it." She then added after a while, as if to compensate for her harshness towards the poor, faultless canoe.
He laughed again, his gaze traveling to the woods before darting towards Taryn, raising a brow at her. "What's next?"
She blinked at him, and he could see her features expressing faint surprise. "You still want to go?"
"Of course. It's still...eleven o'clock, I think?" He said, studying the sun's position in the sky. He felt his stomach growl in hunger, as he still hadn't had any breakfast ever since waking up this morning. "I'm starving though, did you guys prepare any food?"
The girl hummed in response, gesturing to a path he hadn't had the chance to notice before. "Right this way."
She turned and started walking down the path, taking a few detours and navigating her way around the forest. Jean trailed after her silently, trying his best to keep up with her fast pace and growing amazed at how well she knew the place, almost as if she could prance around the whole area with her eyes closed.
"How come you know your way around? I thought Mikasa had the map." He asked, dodging a pointy branch that had been sticking out in the way.
"Somebody had to be the one to mark the place," She told him, before turning to him with a sarcastic smile. "Which is why I'm such an amazing friend."
He chuckled, catching up to the girl and lifting up a hand to ruffle her hair. "Yeah, yeah, you're the best."
With a final turn, they found themselves in a nice, secluded spot where a picnic blanket was laid out in front of them, presenting various assortments of bread and fruit dishes. "Tada. Some food," Taryn announced, gesturing with her arms dramatically. "All thanks to Sasha."
"I can already smell the potatoes," He scoffed, before sitting down on the soft blanket, allowing his eyes to scan the place. His brows furrowed in confusion once he caught sight of multiple archery targets positioned in different corners, all a few meters away from each other.
He turned to face Taryn, a questioning look on his face. "Why are there targets all around?"
She smiled, taking a spot next to him and grabbing an apple from one of the baskets. "Oh, that's the next activity," She informed him, before biting down on the red fruit. "Archery."
He hummed, expressing his approval, picking up a strawberry and popping it into his mouth. He then stood up and walked over to the targets, craning his neck to search for the missing equipment. "Nice. Where are the bows and arrows?"
Taryn furrowed her brows at him. "Do you even know how to do it?"
His lips twitched into a smug smile, sauntering over to the area where he found the bows and arrows lying on the ground. "Yeah, Sasha taught me years ago, when we had free time and the rest of you didn't," He told her, a smirk on his face, turning to the girl with arrogance dripping from his voice. "How about you? Do you know?"
She grimaced, casting her gaze down to the ground. "Maybe. Maybe not."
He let out a laugh, before walking over to her spot, grabbing her arm and pulling her up, dragging her along with him. "I'll teach you." He told her as they stopped a good distance away from a target. Not too far, not too near, perfect for practice.
He handed her his bow and arrows, to which she received the things with curious eyes. With a nod of encouragement from him, the girl raised her arms and began to pull the arrow back, pointing to the target in front of them.
Jean inched closer to her, whispering a few pointers to help. "Fix your stance, keep your back straight." He began to say, remembering the things Sasha told him when she first taught him how to do it. His hand travelled to the small of her back, straightening her posture.
Taryn felt her breath hitch at the action, and her heart was hammering wildly inside her chest, her hands beginning to get shaky. Jean noticed, immediately moving to fix the problem. "And don't hold your bow like that, just like this." He instructed in a soft voice, resting his other hand on top of hers as if to guide to her.
She was sweating now, trying her hardest to ignore the tingling feeling his touch left on her skin, ignored the way their close proximity made it easier for her to get lost in his lavender scent. She tried to focus on the target, but even doing that was difficult as her brain felt fuzzy and everything he was doing was just making her go crazy.
"Good," He complimented, snapping her out of her stupor, yet his hand never left hers, and he continued to keep her arm steady, now resting his chin on her shoulder. "Now keep steady, and shoot."
Immediately at his signal, she let go of the string, letting the arrow fly towards the target. It hit the surface with resonating sound, and the both of them squinted their eyes to see where it landed, all the while hoping for it to be a bullseye. But their hopes were shattered once they saw that she had missed, the arrow landing several inches away from the red circle. Taryn chewed on her lip, still trying to calm her racing heart, while Jean only patted her back in consolation.
He walked over to the blanket, laying down. "Practice more," He said, grabbing another one of the strawberries from the basket. "I'll just sit down and eat all of these myself."
"Don't you dare..." She muttered, avoiding his eyes, still a bit flustered from their recent encounter.
Ignoring him, she pulled out another arrow and got into position again, keeping in mind the things he told her to do. Keeping her back straight, and holding up the bow correctly. She kept a keen eye on the target, before letting the arrow shoot again, sighing dejectedly once she saw that she still didn't hit the center.
She tried again, repeating the process multiple times yet still yielding the same results. Jean was sat on the blanket, watching her intently as he munched on the food, quickly filling up his hunger. He let out a chuckle once he heard the girl groan in frustration at what seemed to be her twentieth try at shooting the arrow, but still not scoring the target.
His lips pulled back into a teasing smile, leaning his back against the tree behind him. "Idiot. Why did you include archery if you don't even know how to do it?"
She turned to scowl at him, pulling out yet another arrow from her quiver. "I think you're forgetting—that I'm wasn't the one you were supposed to—ow!"
Her sentence was interrupted as she yelped in pain, her reaction caused by the girl accidentally shooting herself. Distracted by the boy talking so loudly, her fingers had slipped, letting go of the arrow that had been momentarily pointed towards her foot. Thankfully, she wasn't bleeding, but her foot still hurt like hell.
Jean burst out into laughter, almost choking on the loaf of bread he had been chewing on. "You—you hit yourself with the arrow?" He managed to ask, forming words in between his laughs.
"I was distracted," She frowned at him, her face flushing in embarrassment. "Stop laughing at me!"
He continued laughing at her, clutching his stomach from how hard he was laughing, while she tried to drown out the sound, growing even more irritated by the second. It didn't help that after he'd calmed down from his amusement, he went back to nagging at her every move, teasing her every now and then.
"Taryn, your stance is wrong," He told her in a singsong voice, causing the girl to turn to him with a glare. "And don't put your feet together like that," His lips curved into a smug smirk, resting his hands behind his head, closing his eyes in relaxation. "Well, you have all day. Obviously, not everyone can do it on the first try like I did—"
He didn't get to finish his sentence as he felt an arrow landing dangerously close to him, piercing the spot just mere inches below from his crotch. His eyes flew open wide, jaw dropping open and his breath felt stuck in his throat out for fear for the girl who almost just shot him in the you-know-what. And it looked like she did it on purpose, too.
"Damn it," He heard her say without any hint remorse in her voice, a subtle smirk on her lips as she pulled out yet another arrow from her quiver, moving to shoot again. "I missed."
Managing a nervous laugh, he stood up immediately, clapping his hands as he moved to run towards her. "Good job! Good job! Spectacular, you're an expert already." He snatched the bow and arrows from her hands, to which Taryn surrendered without any resistance, a pleased smile resting on her face. She began to make her way to the blanket, a skip in her step as if she didn't almost try to hurt him physically.
His face paled, deeply unsettled. "That's enough for today, alright? Sasha will be upset if you get better at her thing than she is."
"Yeah, yeah, I won't shoot those arrows anymore," She hummed in response, looking up at him tauntingly. "Archery's hard."
Gulping hard, he moved to sit back down on the blanket, but making sure to keep a good distance between them, the action making her laugh at him for the next couple of minutes. Scowling, he distracted himself with eating from the fruit basket, the thing growing emptier with each edible he pulled out.
They talked for a while, mostly consisting of insults and jabs at each other, but it was calming nonetheless. Jean reached out to get another strawberry from the pile, only to frown in disappointment once his hand came back empty. The basket had run out of food.
Sighing, he laid back on the blanket, looking up at the blue sky above them. "Okay, I'm stuffed," He mumbled out, craning his head to face Taryn beside him, looking up at her in question. "What's next?"
...
"Scavenger hunt."
The two stood side by side, gazing at the endless row of trees presented in front of them, their tall statures towering over them and causing them to feel like tiny insects. Jean's jaw went slack at her words, in shock at the next activity. Considering the sheer size of this forest, locating even just a couple of hidden things would prove to be a quite difficult task.
"What? In a forest?" He marveled, shaking his head. "That's impossible."
Taryn smiled up at him, patting his back in encouragement. "We only have to find one thing though. Whoever sees it first, wins."
Looking down at her, he couldn't say no. He then sighed, waving up a hand in agreement. "Alright. What's the thing, then?"
"A really, shiny crystal rock. We found it in the river while we were test driving the canoe last night."
Now he was beginning to get a bit curious about the mysterious river, what with all the weird things they've found in there. "I wonder what else is in there," He mumbled, before his eyed widened, remembering something that he deemed was crucial. "What's the prize for winning?"
Taryn pursed her lips, already expecting the question. "No chores for the rest of the day, and tomorrow." She told him, watching as his face lit up in delight at the prospect of having nothing to do for the remaining day of their stay.
"Fair enough," He smirked, cracking his knuckles in preparation. "Do we start now?"
She nodded, crossing her arms. "Yeah. Go on."
"Okay, see you later."
With a wave, they went their separate ways, with Jean walking over to the left while Taryn headed towards the right. Her feet trudging through ground, the crunching of dried leaves sounding out every time she took a step. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw the boy's figure getting smaller and smaller, until he disappeared into the woods and was nowhere in sight.
Her lips twitched into a smug smile. Being the one that hid it, she already knew where the crystal rock was. She could go to its hiding place right at this moment and be declared winner without even breaking a sweat. Plus, seeing Jean suffer and be annoyed was just an added bonus.
So she was going to do just that. Whistling a happy tune, she began to make her way to the crystal's location, already having memorized the paths and sharp turns she had to take to get there. After about a few minutes of walking, she found the cave she placed it in yesterday, concealed under a bunch of leaves and vines.
Retrieving the shiny rock, it gleamed in her hand under the sun, reflecting beams of light in all directions. She stared at in awe, still a bit amazed that they managed to find something like that just lying around. She thought back to Jean's words, also making her wonder what else was in that mysterious river.
And speaking of the boy, she began to wonder where he was, or what he was doing. It didn't take too long for her to find out, as a frightened scream echoed from a distance, the voice sounding extremely similar to his. Her eyebrows furrowed together in worry, her heartbeat picking up as she felt herself getting concerned for whatever was it that caused him to scream like a teenaged girl.
"Jean?" She called out, heading back to where they were stood at earlier. Another round of screams mixed with countless profanities reached her ears, pointing her in the right direction. Following the sound, she rushed towards the source of all the noise, revealing the boy perched up on a tree, hanging unto a branch for his life.
His face paled when he saw her, while Taryn could only resist the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose in distress. "Oh my goodness, you're going to fall!" She shouted at him. "What are you doing? Get down from that tree!"
"Hell no! There's a fucking—snake down there!" He yelled back, stuttering from the fear. Looking at her, he had on a pleading look. "Taryn!"
Glancing up at him, she then sighed in exasperation, hopping on a smooth rock nearby as her eyes started searching for a weapon of some kind. "I'll get rid of it."
His eyes widened, almost slipping down from his spot as his grip on the branch loosened. "No, you'll die! It might be poisonous!"
"I'm quite aware of that," She muttered, avoiding the ground as much as possible and jumping over to another rock that was positioned a few feet away from the tree he was in. She spotted the snake he was so afraid about, the innocent creature just twirling around on the forest floor. "Let me just—can you give me a branch?" She looked up at him, outstretching her hand, to which Jean responded with tossing her a stick he broke off from the branch he was holding unto.
Muttering a quick thanks, she began to slide it under the unsuspecting snake, lifting the thing up to inspect it. She chuckled once she surveyed it's appearance, her gaze returning to the boy above her who was watching the whole ordeal in silence. "Oh, silly. It's not poisonous."
"How do you know? You cant be sure—oh fuck you, get it away!" He shouted at her as Taryn raised the stick towards him, the snake hissing and almost touching his face. She burst into giggles as he struggled to climb up the tree even further, almost even falling to the ground.
Snickering, she threw the stick far away from their spot, finally getting rid of the damned snake. "Relax. Check the head. If it's rounded, you're safe." She told him, a wicked smile still on her face.
He gritted his teeth at her, carefully letting go of the branch he was clinging on to. "Let's get out of here, quick."
Hopping down from the tree, he landed on the ground with a thud, fortunately not tripping over thanks to his swift reflexes. He immediately grabbed Taryn's arm and began to run away from the area, now approaching the forest's clearing. Once they were finally out of the words, he breathed out an exhale of relief, leaning against a nearby tree as he tried to catch his breath.
Taryn only stared at him, seemingly not breaking a sweat, that same wicked grin still present on her face. She hummed tauntingly, approaching him with a mischievous glint in her eyes."If only everyone saw how scared you were—"
He whirled around to face her, immediately sending her a glare. "Shut up! Don't say a word!"
She laughed in response, going silent for a moment, before bringing both of her hands to her mouth and yelling from the top of her lungs. "Jean Kirstein's deathly afraid of snakes! If any of you hear me, put a snake in his bed—"
He instantly stepped away from the tree he was against and clamped a hand over her mouth, keeping her quiet. He narrowed his eyes at her playfully, leaning forward ever so slightly that their noses were almost touching. "Shut up or I'll kiss you."
She immediately took a step back, scurrying away from him, her eyes widening as his words rendered her speechless. Jean laughed out loud, amused at the way her face turned a bright red in a matter of seconds. He was joking, obviously, but that didn't stop his heart from skipping a beat, his cheeks also growing hot from the mere implication of it.
He dismissed the thought almost immediately, convincing himself that he, in no way, ever wanted to kiss her. I was just joking. I would never do that. I, Jean Kirstein, do not have feelings for Taryn, who is only my best friend, which is why I would never kiss her. Never. Yes, that's right.
Lost inside his mind, he snapped out of his trance, not noticing that the girl had already started to make her way back to the cottage. With a deep breath, he stopped thinking about those things, jogging up to catch up with her. "That's what I thought."
...
"Are we gonna eat again?" Jean wondered out loud as they entered the cottage, making their way over to the dining room. The place was fairly empty, the whereabouts of everyone still a mystery to him. Sunlight peeked out of the windows, casting a deep orange glow to the inside.
Taryn shook her head, taking a seat down at the table. "No, of course not," She gestured over to a bunch of pencils and papers stacked in the corner, before leaning over to pull out one item from each. "To finish off the day, we're going to draw."
He nodded, also sitting down and reaching over to take a piece of paper and a pen. Placing them in front him neatly, he hummed in thought, racking his brain for any object of particular interest. "What do we draw?"
She shrugged her shoulders, her eyes darting around their surroundings. "Anything. The scenery, that fruit bowl over there," Looking back at him, her lips curved into a smile. "Horse shit."
He rolled his eyes, picking up his pen. "Funny," He began to think about anything interesting to draw, before an idea flew into his head, his face lighting up at the thought. "Why don't we draw each other?"
"Horse shit it is, then."
He didn't hesitate to throw a pencil at her, a round of giggles escaping her lips once he missed. Scowling, he reached over for another pen and went back to his paper, beginning to draw.
But Taryn seemed keen on interrupting him every minute, throwing pointless questions at him that she refused to shut up about until he answered. Just like now, when she was tugging at his sleeve, making him scribble a line that he never intended to draw.
"Jean, how do you draw your mouth?" She asked, eyebrows furrowed in concentration on her drawing.
He sighed, reaching for the eraser. "Just put a straight line."
"Jean, how do you draw your eyes?" She asked again after a moment, causing him to sigh in annoyance.
"Just draw two circles with dots." He told her, attention focused solely on his drawing.
"How do you draw your nose?"
"Taryn, just draw what a nose looks like—" He started to say, sighing once again in exasperation as he glanced up from his drawing to look at her, but felt his voice cut off, the words getting stuck in his throat as he met Taryn's bright eyes.
It wasn't as if she was sat especially close to him or anything, as she was just sat across the table like she always did whenever they ate together, but the way the pale, orange sunlight lit up her face, and gave more light to her pretty brown eyes—he was caught off guard, and Jean found himself being at a loss for words. Her brown locks looked soft and it effortlessly complimented her eyes, framing her face flawlessly.
Just when had she become so beautiful?
He could still remember what she looked like when they first met—a small little girl with messy hair, sleeves far too long for her frame and a mouth that seemed to be set in a permanent frown, a face that sometimes lit up when he talked to her. But now? She'd matured, and she'd grown taller too. Though I'm still taller than her, he thought with a subtle smugness.
Her face had lost its childlike cuteness and had instead gained a new kind of beauty to it. They've been friends for quite a while now, yet he never actually bothered to notice how much she's grown over the years. Not until now, when he had the chance to properly look at her. There was a strange feeling in his chest along with a slight feeling of awe, and it was as if he was seeing Taryn in a different light than usually did.
"Hello?" Came her voice, speaking to him slowly and snapping him out of dazed state. Taryn furrowed her brows in confusion and lifted up a hand to her face consciously. "Is there something on my face?"
"H-Huh?" He uncharacteristically stuttered his words out, his cheeks going noticeably red.
"You were talking then you just stopped to stare at me," She began to say. "Do I have dirt on my nose or something?"
"I w-wasn't staring at you! And you look fine—you look beautiful—argh!" He grabbed at his hair in frustration, before resolving to just turn the opposite way, his back facing her, hiding his face that was burning from what he convinced himself to be embarrassment. "Just shut up and don't disturb me!"
Taryn watched him, her features contorting into an expression of confusion. Rolling her eyes, she went back to her drawing. "Asshole. Don't sulk if this comes out ugly."
She started to draw again, but felt lost now that she didn't have any reference, what with the boy facing the opposite way, completely blocking out her view of his face. "Can you at least turn around? I can't draw you if I can't see you."
Jean scoffed at her, still not turning around. "Y-You've seen me everyday ever since you were a child, how the hell have you not memorized my features already?"
"You're so annoying."
"Well, so are you."
They quieted down after that, focusing on their sketches, with Taryn having no idea how to draw certain features of his face. She finished early, looking up to see Jean still working on his, so she took the time to study her drawing and maybe fix a few mistakes she was sure she'd done.
Studying the little lines and circles that formed together to form what she deemed to be a person, her face scrunched up in distaste. Her drawing was hideous. It didn't even resemble a human being and looked nothing the boy sitting in front of her.
She grimaced, a bit embarrassed by how bad she did. Drawing had never been her strong suit, but she should've at least been able to sketch sometime decent.
"Okay, I'm done." Jean said suddenly, diverting her attention. Reluctantly, she exchanged papers with him, taking the piece he was holding in his hand. And as soon as her eyes landed on his drawing, her jaw dropped in shock. To say that she was amazed was an understatement.
His drawing had perfectly captured every detail of her face, and it almost looked like he took her whole head and printed it on the paper. And to think he did this all without even glancing up to look at me. Her eyes widened a fraction, blinking repeatedly at the masterpiece as if to convince herself that it was indeed real.
"Wow," She complimented, lifting up the paper carefully. "This is beautiful! Now I'm ashamed..."
A laugh sounded out from in front of her, and she looked to see the boy clutching her paper, obviously amused at her drawing, his face turning red from how hard he was trying to hold back his chortles. She blushed in embarrassment. "Oh, come on."
He burst out into laughter, tears forming in his eyes. "My hair—isn't—triangles—clumped up together—" He breathed out in between giggles, sneaking glances every now and then at drawing she made. "Ha—holy shit—why are my eyes—like that—"
She crossed her arms, sinking further down into her chair. "Yes, I know it's ugly," He laughed again, causing her to narrow her eyes. "Oh, haha, very funny."
"No, no, it's adorable," He reassured her, waving up a hand. "Like a child's drawing. Well, maybe not, a five year old can draw better than this—"
A pencil hit his arm all of a sudden, the sharp tip poking into his skin making him cry out in pain. With a glare, he picked up another pencil and threw it back at her, leading them to have a fight, the things they were throwing ranging from pens to papers to even the wooden chairs.
After a long time of fighting, the two slumped against the table, exhausted from the day. Taryn, still annoyed with him, picked up one last pencil from beside her and tossed it towards Jean, aiming for his face.
It hit his forehead, the boy sitting upright immediately to hiss at her. "Stop throwing pencils at me!"
...
Her eyes fluttering open, Taryn woke up from her slumber, finding her head laying against the table's hard surface. At some point while drawing other stuff and doodling a bit more, she and Jean had fallen asleep—which led to the moment right now, the two of them slumped against the wooden table with charcoal smeared across their faces and crumpled up papers scattered all over the floor. Her vision blurry, she was still in that dream-like state where everything felt surreal and whimsical, the feeling addicting.
Blinking a few times, her gaze landed on the boy beside her, still deep asleep with his face squished up against the surface. He was snoring lightly, his hair falling like a curtain over his eyes. She always thpought he looked so peaceful when he was sleeping, his face free from the creases brought by worrying, his mouth forming into a small pout instead of the cruel smirk he liked to wear when he was awake.
As she studied him, she recalled the day, along with all the ups and downs she felt while on their little date. Being with Jean always felt like a rollercoatser of emotions—she could be feeling annoyed and irritated in one moment, then be a blushing and flustered mess in the next.
Yet she still had a wonderful time. The day had been chaotic, yes, and it might have been far from what others would be perceive as a perfect date, but it was everything she could've ever wished for. For her, it had been perfect, even though they really just went as friends.
She thought about his behavior for the past few days, noticing that he was beginning to act a bit different. She notice how he always tried to help her, even though he was still lazy and complacent for most of the time. The way he would always get jealous of Eren, and on top of that, how he acted while they were together.
All the things he did were sending her mixed signals, and as much as she tried to push it down, to dismiss it, there was still a tiny part of her that hoped and considered, that maybe her feelings were being reciprocated.
But as soon as she allowed herself to think that, the boy shifted in his sleep, probably still dreaming, mumbling out a few things that she wished she didn't get a chance to hear.
"You're...so pretty...M...M..."
Mikasa.
She didn't know what she expected, but it still felt like a huge slap to the face. Of course, she had to remind herself, that the whole thing was supposed to be a date for Mikasa and him. Had Eren not interrupted, maybe they would've gone together after all. And she was just the replacement.
Chewing on her bottom lip, she lifted her head from the table, sitting upright. Reality came crashing down on her, reminding her of the things she still needed to do. The sun was setting and soon it was going to be nighttime, the rest of the group was nowhere to be found and dinner still wasn't ready.
She stood up from the table and began to make her way to the kitchen, already thinking of a dish to cook for everyone. Sparing one last glance at the sleeping boy, she let a silent sigh escape her lips, before shutting the door. There was a pang in her heart that refused to go away, but she ignored it, focusing on the chores. That's what I get for letting my hopes up.
Unbeknownst to her however, Jean hadn't been dreaming of Mikasa. No, he had been dreaming about the clumsy girl with messy brown hair, whose eyes he could get lost into if he stared into them for a second too long.
And had she stayed a little bit longer, she might've heard the very words that her little heart was yearning to hear.
"You're so pretty, Mudface."
...