Promise Me | Book Three

Chapter Two

Mikasa's POV

I and Eren ended up falling asleep on the sofa last night. I cried myself to sleep; Eren cradled me in his arms.

I awaken slowly, but Eren still lies asleep. I won't wake him. Besides, I like the position where we lie.
I hear his heartbeat, as I rest my head on his chest, and then that reminds of that day:

My heart stops for a moment.

That's Eren...

My instant reaction is to run after him; I don't care for what everyone else thinks for this time.
I feel myself crash into him. I hold him in my arms, with my heart racing like a drum.
'Is he alive?' I think to myself. I press my ear against his chest and my vision blurs as tears infiltrate my eyes.
He's alive. Thank God for that.
I want to hold it in, but then I can't; I cry.
I pull Eren closer to me and more tears fall down my face.
Thank God he's alive.

The flashback clears, and I look at Eren. He's so beautiful when he sleeps; he looks so peaceful, at last.
I wrap my arms around him; this causes him to move.
I seem to have awoken him, even though he usually sleeps so heavy.
"Sorry, Eren. I didn't mean to wake you up." I say, hurriedly.
"No, no. It's fine, Mikasa. I'm no longer tired." He says, smiling at me.
I smile back; I love it when he smiles.

"What do you want to do, today?" Eren asks.
"I've been thinking," I start, Eren replies with a, 'Hmm?'
"We should go back for a while, check on everyone. We haven't spoken to Armin in a few months now, I'd like to see how he's doing." I say.

Eren nods. "Good idea. Let's go today." He responds.
A smile grows on my face. His lips depart, like he's going to say something, but he closes his mouth again.

I brush it off, and stand up, but Eren grabs my wrist and pulls me back to him.
"Stay here for a while." He says. "It's nice, having you here."
I feel my cheeks heat up. "You blush a lot, Mikasa." Eren laughs.

I cover my cheeks with my hands; I'm not wearing my scarf.
He holds my hands and places them on his cheek instead. It's warm.
There's a short, but pleasant silence between us.
Eren breaks it. "What are we going to tell Armin?"
I bite my bottom lip. "The truth." I say.
"Well, obviously. I'd never lie to him. How are we going to tell him though?" He replies.
"Just, tell him. He's your close friend, I doubt there'd be a problem." I tell him.
"You're right." He says.

* * *

This journey back definitely feels longer than the journey here.
It's bright, but still cold. I pull my scarf up to my nose to warm it.
I hold the reins tightly to try and warm my fingers, but it hurts more than anything.

The horses are moving quickly, so we hope to get to Wall Maria by the evening.
I don't know if that's possible, but we can try.

"Eren?" I call to him. I don't think he hears me over the horses' repetitive trots. "Eren!" I say, more loudly this time.
He turns his head around quickly. I didn't actually plan on saying anything; I just wanted to talk to him, see his face, even.
"The truth is, I don't know." I laugh, embarrassingly.
Eren firstly looks confused, and then smiles.
"I know what." He says. "I love you."
My cheeks become even warmer than before.
"I love you too." I say, smiling behind my scarf.

* * *

The sun begins to set, and we are now in Wall Maria. We accomplished that goal we set.
We have to trot slowly, as there's a lot of construction going on in Wall Maria.

When we make it to Wall Rose, we stable the horses and continue on foot.
As we walk, my left hand swipes across his hand; he then decides to hold it.
He's been giving me a lot of intimacy and affection since we went back to Gerald's former cabin, and I'd like to give him more in return, but I'm not used to these types of things yet.