y/n clambered off of eren's lap upon hearing the subtle whispers and mumbles about the two of them.
in the oak doorway stood mikasa ackerman with her jaw clenched and angry eyes. behind her, armin hid his flushing face and jean and conny stared with their mouths agape.
they couldn't believe what they were seeing. the group of young people were stumbling around in the hallways when they heard quiet conversation in a guest bedroom that was seemingly far away from where the guests were supposed to be. letting their curiosity run wild, jean and conny creeped down the hall to eavesdrop the couple in the room, only growing more and more shocked as they heard eren's deeper laughs and a mystery woman's light whimpers. they heard everything.
mikasa didn't know if she wanted to be angry or not, but as tears leaked out of her eyes, she finally figured it out. she was jealous, and she envied that woman in the tan dress a lot more than she would ever admit. this woman that eren had just met had already done more for the titan shifter's heart than mikasa could ever do. she was the one who got to kiss him, and eren didn't even hesitate to kiss her back.
"eren..." mikasa quietly said his name, not able to form full sentences.
"mikasa, i can explain." eren quickly stood to try and near mikasa. he moved slowly, trying to find the words that he needed.
"please, miss ackerman. listen to him," y/n pleaded similarly. "this isn't at all what it looks like."
"i hate to break it to you, but we heard everything," jean teased with a smile.
"every little bit," conny nodded and smirked.
y/n's heart began to pound louder and louder. she knew that if the news ever got out, she'd never be the same. she could hear the words and rumors already. the same ones that she heard when she was only sixteen years old.
her eyes darted back and forth between eren and the group in front of her, and as she felt her chest begin to ache and lungs shut, she ran out the door without looking at anything else. she pushed past jean and conny with a silent apology and she ran down the long corridor to the entrance, which would now be her only exit.
she pushed through the large doors, breathing heavily and trying to blink her tears away. she ran through the empty town until the houses began to get smaller, and she finally found her home near the outside of sina, far from the castle. her breathing only slowed when she felt the cold pillows of her bed underneath her and she was able to hold herself tightly underneath the blankets.
-
"i'm sorry that i did this to you, mikasa. the least i could've done was been honest."
eren and mikasa sat on the front steps away from everyone else. mikasa sadly held her head in her hands and eren made any attempt that he could to not look at her, only because the last time that he did she had cried.
"what does she have that i don't? what's so different about the two of us? or do you just not care about me anymore..."
"you didn't do anything wrong, mikasa," he softly denied. "she's just... i don't know. she makes me happy."
"and i don't?" mikasa almost immediately asked.
"you do! it just feels different with her."
"better?"
"different. i love you, mikasa... but i really like her."
mikasa sighed and finally looked at something beside her feet. she stared up at the stars above them.
