Just This Once || Erenxreaderxjean

29

2 years ago...

A beer bottle clutched in each boy's hand, moonlight dusted their cheeks as they hung their feet off of the edge.

This was an often occurrence for them. Taking a trek out to the bridge, sipping on beers while they talked about anything and everything.

They found comfort in the habit. The routine of escaping their lives, if only for a few hours, to listen to the gurgling of the river, the whispering of the wind that they had discovered so many years ago.

Memories were ingrained in every steel beam, every overgrown vine.

"She's just... I don't know man. It almost feels like being with her is like taking a breath of fresh air. She makes me happy", the brunette said, eyes focused on the horizon, even though the sun had long ago set. He twirled the glass bottle in his hand, swirling around the liquid inside.

Jean listened intently as he sat across from his friend, one leg dangling off the edge, the other resting atop the bridge. He understood how his friend felt. He'd been in love with Mikasa for years.

The ash blonde watched the boy. Watched him smile as he thought about her.

Did he smile like that when she crossed his mind?

"I'm hooked. She's completely got me wrapped around her finger." A look of pure bliss amid his features, he leaned his head back so that it rested on the beam behind him.

The brunette had accepted his fate. If he was to be sentenced to death by falling for Mikasa, then so be it.

You and me both, buddy, Jean thought.

Jean took a sip from his bottle, and forced a small smile onto his face. He had no chance now. Not when he knew Mikasa felt the same way for Eren.

"Never thought you'd be the first one to fall for a girl", Jean laughed. It was painful, the sound that emanated from his chest. Eren didn't notice.

"Neither did I." Eren took a sip of his beer.

Jean knew it wasn't true. That he had fallen for the raven haired girl, long before his friend had. If only he had had the guts to say something.

He still remembered the first time he met her. It was nothing special. They didn't bump into each other on a crowded street, or make eye contact through a sea of people. Fireworks didn't go off, and doves didn't fly through the air. But it was still special.

He had simply said "hi" to her in middle school. A simple greeting, that she had returned with a smile.

He'd met her first. Met her before Eren. Yet somehow, his best friend had managed to steal her away.

He wasn't angry with his friend. He didn't hold a grudge. He recognized his mistake in not confessing his feelings. Hell, he hadn't even told the boy that he liked her.

He couldn't do that now. He couldn't take this from him. Eren had done nothing wrong. The brunette had no idea how deep his words cut into Jean's heart.

Eren was still talking. Something about Mikasa. Jean didn't want to listen right now. Instead, he nodded along, offering support in his mere presence, but his mind was somewhere else.

Jean ran his fingers over the surface of the bridge, recalling the events that took place at this very spot, almost 4 years ago.

How Eren's feet had skimmed along the brink of this very surface. His cries, and how he had begged for his mother to come back to him on the walk home.