eren sat on the steps of the mess hall building, his head leaning on his hands as he watched the two girls train. they had finished their morning training and while everyone else was having lunch, you and mikasa were still sparring. eren had left unnoticed with armin busy trying to calm sasha from eating meat to watch the two, not noticing jean slipping out behind him.
"are you looking at mikasa? you better not be!"
eren jumped in surprise, turning to face jean with a scowl. "what, no! she's my sister!"
"then are you looking at my sister!? how dare you!?"
"your sister? y/n's your sister!?"
"can you not hear me? i just said she was!" the two were too absorbed in their argument and pointless fighting to notice the two girls stop training to face them or the crowd that was gathering around the door, placing silent bets on who they thought would win the fight that was definitely going to occur.
"but she doesn't have a horse face like you." jean's face dropped as snickers ran across the cadets. you turned to mikasa with an amused smile, one she returned for a brief second until it dropped into her usual emotionless face.
"what did you say!?" you turned to jean, smiling at the sight of his angered face. it always amused you to see your brother lose his cool around eren. no one could wind jean up like he could and you loved to see it.
"can you not hear me?" eren mocked, copying jean's previous words.
"do they think we can't hear them?" you asked, turning to face mikasa.
"i think so." you laughed quietly, shaking your head.
"idiots. the both of them."
"are you going to stop jean?" you looked over at the two, noticing that they were fighting again.
"nah," you said, meeting mikasa's gaze. "are you going to stop eren?" mikasa shook her head. "want to carry on training?"
"yeah." and so the two left their brothers alone, letting them fight for the amusement of the cadets.
. . .
"you fought with jean again?" you asked, sitting next to eren and handing him the loaf of bread. it was the following night and the two were the only ones still out. the curfew was soon and if they were caught they'd have to run laps all day tomorrow but neither cared. eren and jean had were caught fighting outside the mess hall and already had ran all day. it didn't bother eren if he had to do the same tomorrow.
"obviously," he mumbled, his fingers tracing the bruise under his eye as he took the bread from you. "thank you."
you nodded reply and sat down next to him. you stayed silent as eren ate, hunger coursing through him from missing dinner. you looked over at him, desperately trying to think of a way to start the conversation. "now that you've mentioned it, he does have a horse face," you realised, nodding slightly. eren laughed and agreed with you.
"he does! you don't though. that's why i was confused. you have a pretty face."
"thanks," you replied awkwardly, your cheeks burning as you turned away from your crush. "y'know, my brother hates you."
"i'm aware, thanks," eren deadpanned, rolling his eyes. you chuckled at his dry tone and kept your eyes on the stars above.
"i was going to say that i don't. i don't hate you. it's the opposite for me actually." eren turned to you with wide eyes, his lips pulling into a smile. he never thought that his crush would return his feelings. he thought you didn't even know of his existence. "but you have to stop fighting jean."
"that's not gonna happen," eren scoffed. you shrugged, you knew the fights weren't gonna stop but it wasn't worth a try. as much as you found them amusing, you did wish that the two would get along at some level. noticing your dejection, eren added, "but i'll try. i can try."
you turned to him, smiling brightly. eren took in your smile, memorising it as best as he could. if it meant that he could see you smile, eren would try to get along with jean. even if jean was trying to get with his sister.
. . .
a/n ; sorry this took long, i haven't had a chance to write
