Reiner Braun

The one that got away / Reiner x reader

"Never planned that one day, I'd be losing you" [Reiner Braun x reader]

Content warnings: angst, hurt no comfort, modern au, high school sweethearts, songfics, war, death, strangers to lovers, lovers to strangers, regret

Inspired by Katy Perry's The One That Got Away

Word count: 10.9k

A/n: not proofread, posted this on 2019 Tumblr and wattpad (using a different pseudonym) and I decided to repost it again

♡ ㅤ⭒⠀♡ ⭒ㅤ𓈒ㅤ⭒⠀♡ ⭒ㅤ𓈒ㅤ⭒⠀♡ ⭒ㅤ𓈒ㅤ⭒⠀♡ ⭒ㅤ𓈒ㅤ⭒⠀♡ ⭒ㅤ𓈒ㅤ⭒⠀♡ ⭒ㅤ𓈒ㅤ⭒⠀♡

Summer after high school when we first met

It was one, sunny afternoon when you and your friends passed by your usual hang-out place. You just finished taking the final exams with Mikasa and Annie, and it drained the hell out of you. Being worn out from taking a difficult exam did take a toll on you when it comes to your mental health and well-being. For weeks, you stayed up all night to prepare for the examination and there were countless sleepless nights, meals that were skipped, and of course, a lot of procrastination and spacing out in your dorm room.

Life sucks and is unfair at the same time. Those two girls are gifted, and like, it's natural for them to be genius and extraordinary. While you, you're so, plain, normal. You need to work hard to keep up with them.

Whenever there's a group study, you notice that they never read too much. They read it one time, and that's it. They immediately learned the lesson and retained the information.

You, on the other hand, are pretty much of an average type of student.

As usual, you dropped your overrated type of cliche-college tote bag on the picnic table as you sat next to Annie. You sighed out of exhaustion, your head still hurt due to lack of sleep, and you felt your eyes sting a little.

"I'm going to order on the nearby coffee truck. You guys want something?" Mikasa asked.

"the usual, please." You said, taking a deep breath.

As Mikasa lines up to the nearby food truck, you stare into space out of the blue, imagining that you're rather in another dimension, in another life, where you're chasing the degree that you always like. Wondering what life would be like for you if you took arts and design instead of marketing.

Your world turned upside down on that specific sunny afternoon when Mikasa's boyfriend, Eren, showed up unannounced at the picnic table with several familiar people, but not familiar enough to be acquainted with. He had brought his football teammates right after they won a football match against the opposing university.

You've recognized some of them, which you usually see passing by the hallway, some were unfamiliar, while others were your childhood classmates from elementary school or middle school, the same school you went to with Mikasa and Annie.

The only person who was able to catch your attention was the guy who recently passed by, the guy who has an intimidating brusque statue with dirty blonde locks that match his chiseled features and that striking hazel eyes, those stupid brown eyes.

From the corner, you eyed the boisterous blonde, laughing with one of his friends, and a certain pair of brown eyes observed you from afar.

"Didn't expect our sweet y/n to check someone out, an airhead gorilla-like Reiner, really?!!" Sasha shouted, loud enough for everyone to hear. Your face reddened to the sudden announcement, embarrassed by it. Few of their teammates heard, you hoping your friends didn't, and Reiner himself.