Blooming Hearts. ✿ a jean kirstein x reader story ✿

Chapter Three - Growth

jean knew he fell for you the moment you had lent your hand to him, it just took a couple months of denial to finally, finally come to terms with his feelings.

he couldn't pin point all the times he thought that you were made out of the stars. all the times he thought you could just be a bottle of warm sunshine disguised as a human being. all the moments with you he wished he could freeze and admire for a long time, even after countless years.

you'd both been on a break from relentless training, sweaty and muscles sore from using ODM gear for a long time.

jean lay on the lush green grass, under the cool shade of a big tree, as he looked up, seeing the sky broken up by the branches, hushed chatter surrounding him. he could faintly hear marco conversing with connie, who only nodded, either agreeing or not understanding marco's rants. Jean wasn't really paying attention to the conversation either, he was barely able to focus on anything but his pounding heartbeat. That was, until, he saw you sit down next to him, in the space between jean and marco.

He saw marco greeting you with a smile, which you returned affectionately. Jean turned his head back to the sky, assuming you'd want to talk to marco and connie instead, but he seemed to be mistaken.

"here, you look thirsty." You said, handing him the sack of water – already half empty, but jean appreciated it nonetheless.

He couldn't help his lips twitching upwards, grabbing the water from your hands, the brisk touch of your fingertips sending a shiver down his spine despite the blistering heat.

You smiled again, and jean swore that the world stopped for a moment. He swore he saw stars in your eyes, like galaxies etched into your pupils.

He blinked into the present, still staring at you, even if you were looking at Mikasa and sasha, laughing at sasha's antics to get the raven haired girl to crack a smile.

Jean didn't care about his surroundings, though, too engrossed in you to think about anything else. Had you always been this beautiful? Had he missed it? Missed the way your hair framed your face, missed the way your smile lit up his days, missed the way your fingers delicately wove through the grass as you rested?

How could he have missed this?

Jean exhaled slowly, eyes softening, heart racing.

Maybe that was when he finally saw you, your nose, your lips, your eyelashes, the rise and fall of your chest as you breathed in the scent of soil and summer.

Maybe that was when he finally acknowledged the fact that he was falling for you. rapidly.

–

Marco has always pride himself as an observer. It was one of the things he was good at. He might be weak, but he, like armin, keenly looked for details other people might have missed.

More than that, marco knew he was good at reading his friends. The fiery rage in eren's eyes that could be calmed only by Mikasa. The cluelessness in connie's eyes whenever armin and marco ranted about the world, the way armin's voice always wavered with faux confidence which marco hoped would become real one day, the way Annie only decided to interact with others if Armin was involved.

He also didn't miss the way jean looked at them that day.

Oh, he could see it as clear as the sky above them. While armin elaborated on a point marco had made to connie, he saw jean, his mouth slightly open, despite the closed water bottle that lay on his lap. His eyes were fixated on you. his expression was mostly blank, but marco knew. Of course marco knew, he was jean's best friend after all, even if the latter refused to call him that.