WOOOOOOO HAPPY NEW YEAR! as i'm publishing this, it's currently 2021, but i'm so excited to release this since i've been on hiatus for a bit! i just want to say im really humbled by the support that i've gotten towards my writing and it makes my day realizing that my writing makes people happy...so thank you all for supporting me and enjoying my work!
this chapter has a pretty simple premise: what would happen in a scenario based off mistletoe? even though it's nothing flashy, i hope you all enjoy it. and with this message...i wish you all an AWESOME 2022!!! please take good care of yourself and others :D
-
Eren:
Knock. Knock.
You shrugged at Eren as he gave you a pouty look, his lips stuck out and his eyes about to be stuck in the back of his head. "Are you sure this is the right address?" He whispered, leaning into your ear. "That was like...the fifth time you knocked."
"I'm sure," you whipped out your phone. Sighing, you tapped in the digits to the party host (Erwin's) number. As you were about to officially file a complaint for 'worst waiting time to get into a Christmas party ever', the doorknob in front of you twisted.
With a click, the door swung open to reveal an eccentric Erwin. "Apologies for the wait," he laughed. "Come on in!"
Eren stepped ahead of you into the house. You followed, giving a light smile and nod to Erwin. He did the same in return, and you couldn't help but feel that something was a little off...after all, him smiling was something you swore you hadn't seen in a few lightyears.
And your gut instinct was right.
Stopping in the middle of the main hallway with Eren, you noticed everyone around you had their phones out. Not scrolling through social media, but recording.
Recording both of you.
"Heck no," Eren snapped his eyes around in every direction, clutching your shoulder. A moment of silence passed before he paused, though, and looked at you right in the eye. "Wait a second..."
You didn't even need him to say any more. You looked at the ceiling, where a piece of mistletoe was barely hanging by a thin piece of string.
Without another word, your partner brought your head forward as he tilted his, your lips meeting as the crowd of the Christmas party cheered, phones held high in the air.
I guess that makes up for him forgetting about my Christmas gift, you thought, leaning into the kiss.
Mikasa:
For the past hour, Mikasa had you practically glued to her side.
No matter what you tried to do, she knew it before you did. Like the time when you tried to greet a long-time-no-see friend - she came with you because she thought it would be nice for them to get to know her as well. Or when you went to the bathroom. Mikasa insisted that she wait outside because she didn't want to get lost without you.
To be fair, the host's huge was the size of a mini mansion. It was easy to get lost, but seriously? Not even your business to yourself?
"Alright," she sighed as both of you made your way back into the main party room. You noticed that it seemed like she was watching out for someone or something, though you didn't know what it was.
"You okay?" You began to look around as well. Her instincts were top-notch. If she had trouble finding trouble, then you might as well run for your life.
"Yeah," she gripped your hand and took you to a corner.
"Where are we going?"
"Where it's quiet," she said, finally stopping in her tracks.
"...Okay?" You looked around and saw nothing of interest here. "Mikasa, I appreciate you wanting to spend more time with me, but I've noticed you feel a little...off. Are you okay? Like, for real this time."
She didn't even respond this time, instead just coughing.
"LOOK AT THOSE TWO LOVEBIRDS IN THE CORNER!" Someone squealed, making you almost jump into your girlfriend's arms as they pointed to you. "SOMEONE BRING OUT THE MISTLETOE!"
Another person threw a piece of mistletoe at Mikasa.
"Wait, it has to be han-"
Mikasa pulled you in for a kiss and hug combo, her arms wrapping around your stomach as tight as ribbon around a well-wrapped Christmas present. In a way, this kind of was a present. Just a very...unexpected one.
Armin:
"SOMEONE HELP!" Armin screamed, holding on to you for dear life. In silence, you did the same.
You had no idea that this was going to be the last Christmas you ever celebrated, much less the last chance you could have to hear Armin's voice.
In the middle of the rendezvous the two of you had planned for a quiet holiday alone, someone had stolen you away...to your own basement. The attackers were swift and blinded you and Armin with a wrap of cloth around your head. Lucky enough, if either of you were to escape this situation, you knew the names of the perpetrators:
Eren and Mikasa.
Since they had been long-time friends, it was easy to assume that they didn't have much planned. Probably just stealing all your Christmas cookies that Armin had left out for Santa, or unwrapping a few of your gifts a little early.
"Take their blindfolds off," Mikasa said. Eren replied with ripping yours off, allowing you to see that you and Armin had been placed right next to each other, both your hands bound by rope as you sat in rusted chairs.
Armin's blindfold was yanked off his head. He laughed as it came off - though you didn't want to know if this was him messing around or a case of him going into his...'mode'.
"Geez, buddy," Eren tossed the blindfold away and huffed. "Don't be so scared. Just look up."
"Look up?" Armin raised an eyebrow. You looked up before him to find the source of all this trouble: mistletoe. He seemed to realize this as well, his face twisting into an embarrassing shade of red.
"Uhhh...let's just get this over with," he said, leaning over in his seat. You nodded in agreement, leaning in as well and initiating a short peck on the lips.
"That was it?" Mikasa blinked. "I mean, you don't have to keep going if you're not comfy, but-"
Armin pulled you in for another kiss by surprise, your head tilting on instinct to match. It made you want to fall out of your seat at first, but you began to give in to Mikasa and Eren's dream fanfictions (assuming that's why they brought you down here) and embracing the sweetness of your partner's lips.
Levi:
Ever since you found out Levi's birthday landed on Christmas, you always found it fun to throw a few tricks up your sleeves to save money: getting him presents that would double as birthday / holiday gifts and throwing a party that would also kill two birds with one stone.
Though he was never a big fan of this strategy. It was, in your words 'twice the fun on one big day!' and to him 'twice the mess and social anxiety'.
This year, you had to prove him wrong. In order to do that, you had to spice things up.
Everything went as usual. The party, this time, was a surprise. It consisted of people mainly from Levi's friend group and a few of your own friends. Both sides were in on your plan and had promised that they wouldn't leak a word of the plan to Levi.
You waited with anxiety for him to walk into the house. The knob twisted. Everyone went silent, and then...
"Hello?" He peeked through, eyebrows raised and eyes alert in order to find anything suspicious. He must have thought the coast was clear, so he took a step forward. However, he took a step back when a small piece of mistletoe was being reeled down on a fishing rod in front of him.
You flicked the light switch on from the back of the room.
"Surprise!" Everyone yelled. Hange, the one helping hang the mistletoe, ushered you to come forward before Levi could make a run for it.
You followed their instruction, walking up to the confused (possibly blushing?) man, pulling him in for a satisfying kiss while tugging on his shirt. As you pulled away, you watched him go from confused to mortified, probably realizing all the people surrounding him.
"Was this your attempt at making me like my birthday better?" He scoffed.
"Maybe."
"You should try a little harder, then." And before you could argue, he went in for another kiss, cupping your face with his hands.
Erwin:
"Phew," you huffed, making the finishing touches to the angel standing on top of your 7'0 Christmas tree. A few hours ago, you and Erwin decided to split the house decorating plans. You would work on the living room, while he would tidy the halls and leave a few decor pieces in other rooms. Even though it didn't seem like it, the workload was actually equal since the house you lived in was pretty big (this is Erwin, after all.).
"Dear," Erwin startled you, almost making you fall off your ladder to knock down the Christmas tree. "Oops, apologies-"
"No, it's okay." You grabbed the handle of the ladder last second and climbed down, dusting any of the glitter from the sparkly ornaments off your shirt. "What's up?"
"I've just come to say that I'm done with the rest of the house." He came over and gave you a smell peck on your head. "Would you like to go see what I've done?"
You didn't even reply. Erwin just put his hand on your back and escorted you out of the living room as if he could read your mind to find the answer. Of course it was going to be a solid "yes", yet you felt like there was a reason he was excited to show you everything.
After walking out the living room, he turned you around and gave you another kiss: this time, it was on the lips. While it was fast, you swore that his touch would leave you in a daze for a few minutes before you could fully recover. He was just that charming.
"Look on the doorways," he pointed to the one on the bathroom, kitchen, guest bedroom, the laundry room - good God, you never realized how many doorways existed in your house.
You also didn't realize that this made your home the perfect subject to having mistletoe laid on every single doorframe.
But Erwin did.
"Oh boy," you muttered under your breath, realizing that you were probably going to be kissed more times than you were going to breathe by the time the new year started.
Your husband gave a hearty chuckle as he marveled at his work. "Now, what room do you want to go to first?"
Hange:
"Come on, open your present!" Hange cheered, tossing you a light and poorly-wrapped cardboard box that seemed to have a few items in it.
It was common sense that the best gifts came for last...but it was also a gut feeling that the worst things came in small packages. Knowing Hange, they would definitely send you overboard with guessing on what in the world could be inside. As you tore the wrapping paper open, you started to get a whiff of something...nature-ish?
You peeked inside, hoping this wasn't some air freshener bought at Dollar Tree. With another whiff, you deducted that whatever was in the box was definitely not that - it was too natural to just be plastic.
"Keep going!" Hange clapped their hands together.
"Uh, okay," you turned the box away from you and flipped the cover open. Reaching your hand inside, Hange watched with hawk eyes as you lifted it up...
"Mistletoe?"
"Lift it a little higher, there's a surprise!"
"Okay..." you lifted it in the air above your head, checking underneath the leaves for the leaves for anything that seemed off. After finding nothing, you grabbed the box and-
SMOOCH!
"Come on," Hange leaned you back in your spot, rattling your shoulders. "I can't believe you fell for that - holding up the mistletoe so that I would have a better excuse, too!" They laughed, which made your cheeks flush red. At least it wasn't an air freshener, right?
Mike:
With a cautious sniff, Mike searched the room. He had been in this state of searching for whatever there was to find ever since he had gotten back home from an outing with his friends and noticed that you had decorated the house in his absence.
You nudged his shoulder. It was a way to ask 'what are you doing?' Though in this case, he took it as a sign that he should smell you next.
He grabbed your hand and inspected it, apparently fixated on its scent. He let it go and moved onward with his quest, leaving you wondering why he did that in the first place. You gave your hand a small whiff and didn't notice much except for the subtle aroma of greenery.
I guess he's on to me, you thought, smiling a little as you found out where he was next.
Of course Mike was on to you. When wasn't he on to the next mystery being solved in this house?
You realized that he might spoil your plans before you could even start them. Not another second wasted, you rushed to where he was in the house and froze in place - he in the room next to your secret weapon: the mistletoe.
"Hmm?" He caught you. Though his eyes were concealed behind his bangs, one of his eyebrows must have been raised in confusion. Did he already piece the puzzle together?
Regardless, you didn't set this all up for nothing. You met him at the doorway.
"You thought I didn't notice?" He smiled, sweeping you off your feet and giving you a long and gentle kiss on the lips.
"I was betting on it," you laughed, "but I think I know better now than to underestimate you."