the three year old sat near the window, her elbows resting on the sill so her chin could rest between the palms of her hands. her big eyes watched as the rain continued to poor down, flashes of lightning coming every so often. the sound of a cartoon playing on the tv was heard as well as a soft hum from the older woman who sat in a rocking chair, sewing.

the little girl sighed which did not go unheard by the older woman. "what's wrong dear?"

"why doesn't mommy ever come home and play with me?" the little girl turns around and pouts, tears pooling in her eyes.

the older woman gives her a small, sad smile. she sets down her supplies, moving them onto the table next to her. she opened her arms wide, gesturing for the girl to come to her. the little girl ran from her spot and into her open arms, hugging the woman tightly. her lip wobbled as she refused to let her tears spill.

"your mom is out working hard to earn money to care for you." the woman lied, trying to come up with an excuse for the small child to comprehend. "but as long as i'm here, you won't be alone and i'll always be here to care for you."

_________

you awoke suddenly as the dream came to an end. a dream or old memory, you couldn't tell. the small girl did resemble you. you sighed, trying not to overthink it all as you sat up, stretching your limbs as a sweet aroma filled your nostrils. scratching the back of your head, you took a look at your surroundings and realized you were not in your dorm room.

"morning, sunshine." you heard a male voice say. yawning, you turned in the direction of the voice to see eren flipping a pancake in the kitchen.

"what time is it?" you muttered as you rubbed the sleep out of your eyes. before he could answer, you reached to grab your phone only to have your eyes widen as it read 9:02am. "shit! i'm so late!"

"chill." eren chuckles as he sees your frazzled state. "no classes today. did you forget it was a holiday?"

unlocking your phone, you looked at the date only to realize that he was right. it was a government holiday, meaning places like the courthouse, post office, and of course schools, were closed. another thing that caught your attention was the time. had you really managed to sleep almost 10 hours? you couldn't even remember the last time you managed to sleep more than four, besides the time eren called you.

"there's a brand new tooth brush on the counter in the bathroom for you and feel free to borrow my face wash if you need it." eren offered, pulling you from your thoughts.

you got off the couch with a nod, stretching your limbs once again and releasing a satisfied groan with your joints pop. another yawn is released as you stumble towards the direction of the bathroom. eren shakes his head at you with a small grin.

dragging yourself into the spacious bathroom, your met with your reflection. some mascara is smudged under your eyes and your hair resembles that of a bird's nest. your eyes land on a hairbrush with you quickly grab and usher through your hair. after untangling most of it, you tie it up with a hair tie that was conveniently already on your wrist. you then splash your face with cold water to wake yourself up a bit more before washing it and switching to brush you teeth. you scrunch your nose in distaste at your half assed attempt to freshen up, knowing that you'd rather have taken a shower but that was highly unlikely seeing as you had no other clothes to change into. sighing, you walk back into the living area only to see eren seated at his small table with pancakes, eggs and bacon plated.

"aw, you made me breakfast?" you tease.

after swallowing the contents in his mouth, eren says, "i made breakfast for me. i just so happened to have enough scraps leftover to feed you."

"and who said romance was dead." you mutter and plop down in the chair.

eren laughs as he slides over a glass of orange juice. "sleep well?"

"yeah, actually. why didn't you wake me up? take me home?"

he shrugs, shoving a forkful of food into his mouth. he finishes chewing and swallowing before he opens his mouth to speak. "why would i wake you up knowing that that was probably gonna be the only time you slept this week?"

you raised a brow, knowing he was more than likely correct. you also didn't want to show how flustered this made you knowing how much attention to detail he was giving you. "touché."

"anyways, i don't know if you saw the group-chat text but everyone wants to head to the beach later since it's still warm out and end the night with a bonfire. you in?" he asked.

you take a sip from you orange juice as you nod your head. "i'm in."

you pull out your phone and see a couple missed calls and texts from your roommates as well as the group chat eren was referring to. your eyes almost fell from their sockets as you read a message sasha had to you in your private chat reading "is your v-card still intact? 🤣"

"what happened?" eren asked. he was just clearing his plate as he noticed your reaction. he got up from his spot and began walking back into the kitchen to load up his dishwasher.

"n-nothing. just some assignment i forgot i had due." you easily lied.

eren just nodded in response as he continued loading up. "after you finish, i'll drop you back off so you can get ready for later."

"i appreciate that." you gave him a small smile to which he returned.

______________

after arriving back at your dorm, you immediately announced that your virginity was still in tact and would not be leaving any time soon. sasha let out a whine meanwhile annie gave you an earful about how some good dick was what you need. mikasa scolded the two to get ready and leave you be so you could get ready yourself. you sent her a grateful smile as she nodded and you all disbursed into your own rooms.

it was then that you realized you didn't really pack any swimsuits besides an old lilac one piece. you were sure the other girls would be sporting bikinis and worried that a one piece suit would make you look like a prude. you shrugged off those thoughts and hurriedly changed into it, sliding into some jean shorts and a pair of flip flops. you threw a book, headphones, sunscreen and some sun glasses into a tote bag before meeting the others in the living area.

after seeing everyone was ready, you all piled into mikasa's car and headed towards the beach. it was about a 45 minute car ride that was filled with lighthearted chatter and sasha's terrible sing along.

"so you guys just studied and then fell asleep to shrek?" annie blurted as she turned the radio.

you shrugged, scrolling through your phone. "pretty much."

"his instagram story says otherwise." mikasa smirked.

you narrowed your eyes as they made contact with yours in the review mirror. "what do you mean?"

"you're telling me you didn't even see that he tagged you in it?" sasha scoffed.

before anyone could say anything else, you quickly opened the instagram app and clicked on your notifications. and then you saw that you had been tagged in a story. you clicked on the image and saw that it was a picture of eren's hands in your hair, your face not showing as it was directed towards the tv which displayed shrek. his caption read 'guess she didn't like my movie choices :/ @lifeofyn". you added the story to your own, not adding any caption before locking the device.

"look at that big ol' smile!" sasha teases as she reached over to pinch your cheeks.

you quickly smacked your hand away. "shut up."

"just go for it, y/n! it's clear you guys are into each other."

"may i remind you i just got dumped like not even two weeks ago? i wouldn't want him thinking he's a rebound."

"true. just take things slow." mikasa advised.

"but not too slow. every girl on campus wants him." annie said as she clucked her tongue.

you sighed, leaning your forehead against the glass of the window as the view of the ocean met your sight. it was mid afternoon now, somewhere around four o'clock. the beach was filled with families and other parties of young adults around your age. some faces you recognized as students you'd seen on campus.

mikasa parked the car and you guys all unloaded your belongings. she checked her phone, reading a text she had just received. "jean has a spot for us set up already."

"lead the way." annie gestured for mikasa to lead as you all follwed behind her like ducklings. the sun was beating down on you and you were grateful you had remembered sunscreen as you didn't want to have to deal with a painful sunburn. thankfully, there was a light breeze so it wasnt too unbearable.

"you guys made it!" armin cheered in greeting as he made his way over to help you guys with your belongings.

"of course. this weather calls for the beach, barbecue and booze. don't you agree?" annie smirked as reiner came over and high fived her.

"hell yeah!"

you laughed at their interaction before following mikasa who was setting up a space to tan. sasha had already ran off towards the water with connie and jean. ymir and historia were also there, already tanning on their towels so you guys set up next to them.

"hi guys! i have tanning oil if you need some." historia offered upon your arrival.

"i'm trying to not get burned so i think i'll just stick with my sunscreen." you laughed.

"same here." mikasa agreed as she plopped down on her towel. "can you get my back?"

"suit yourself." ymir grumbled, yanking the bottle out of historia's grip and applying some to her skin.

you let out a chuckle before laying on your back. your phone buzzed in your pocket, making you curious as to who was texting you since everyone you talked to was with you. until you remembered about your so called best friend, emi, as her name appeared on your screen.

emi 👯‍♀️
hey, why are you ignoring me? who is that guy on your story? it's been weeks since we talked and i miss you...

you let out a sigh, trying to figure out what to reply. no matter what you came up with, it all sounded like sorry excuses.

y/n

emi 👯‍♀️
y/n, you know you can talk to me about anything bothering you. doesn't matter if i'm happy or not. we've been best friends since we were 8 so i'll be here for you through anything.

a small smile reached your lips as you read emi's reply. you had to admit you did miss her hyper activeness but also realized that that was slowly being replaced with sasha. you wondered what would happen if the two of them would ever be in the same room together. you snorted at the thought of all the chaos. shaking your head, you sent out one last reply promising emi that you'd give her a call soon to catch up. you turned to lay on your stomach, closing your eyes and allowing yourself to relax in the sun's warmth.

a couple hours passed by and you were sitting under the shade of a large beach umbrella that marco had provided. everyone else was in the waters after you all devoured the food that reiner and jean prepared. unfortunately when you excused yourself to use the restroom, you saw that your monthly visitor had arrived which prevented you from joining the rest of the group in the water festivities. instead, you decided to sit back and read a novel you had picked up at work just a few days before.

someone sat down beside you and you looked up from your book to see a guy around your age whom you have never met before. you gave you a kind smile. "hey. saw you were alone and decided to come keep you company."

"and you are?" you questioned.

he playfully knocked his forehead. "where are my manners? i'm kevin. i'm a second year at marley so i've seen you around campus from time to time."

"i'm y/n. i'm assuming you've figured i'm a first year." you gave a shy laugh as you shook his hand that he had outstretched towards you.

"i guess you can say that." he laughed.

while the two of you were conversing, jean tapped eren on the shoulder. the guys were now heading towards the volleyball courts to play a few rounds of beach volleyball before the sun completely set. the girls were in charge of getting the fire started in the bonfire pit.

"what?" eren asked as he shook his head like a dog to dry his hair. he threw a look at jean as he tied it up into a bun.

"kevin is with y/n." he stated as he jutted his jaw towards your direction. the two of you were immersed in causal conversation though from an outsiders perspective, it looked like flirting.

"so? who is kevin?"

"the second year who gets in every girls pants." bertholdt said.

"and it looks like his next target is y/n." connie butted in, clapping a hand around his shoulder.

"and you're all telling me this because...?" eren asked, eyeing the guys.

"well, you like her. don't you?" armin deadpanned, looking at his friend with a sly smirk. if there was one person who knew eren better than himself, it was armin.

eren just rolled his eyes, scratching at his chest. "we're just friends."

"friends my ass." armin muttered as he saw the tips of eren's ears glow with a red hue. eren just grumbled something before stomping off in your direction.

"that guy is way too stubborn." jean mused. it was then that mikasa called the guys over, asking for help to move some logs and chairs over so everyone could gather around the bonfire that was slowly coming to life.

"... anyways the shop has really great pastries and if you'd like to-" kevin was cut off when eren plopped down next to you and laid his head against your shoulder.

"eren! your hair is dripping on my book!" you scolded.

the boy said nothing as he closed his eyes, but not before sending a glare to kevin. kevin sent one right back before standing to his feet and wiping the sand off of himself. "it was nice talking to you, y/n but i think i should head back to my friends. see you around?"

"yeah, see you." you smiled at the boy who returned it before waving him off. you then turned your head to peer at eren. "why aren't you with everyone else? you spent yesterday with me, aren't you tired of me?"

"i could never get tired of you, y/n." eren mumbled, eyes still closed. you were grateful for that fact considering you refused to let him see the flush that coated your cheeks as your heart did a mini flip at those words.

"eren! y/n! get over here so we can make smore's!" sasha shouted as her and niccolo ran up to you two. you nudged eren with your shoulder as he sighed but got up.

"i was just about to help you up." niccolo told eren.

"you would've failed. i was almost asleep so it would've been like hoisting up a dead body." eren joked. the two of them walked ahead of you and sasha as said girl wrapped her arm around yours.

"it's only a matter of time before the two of you see what everyone else sees." she said with a wink.

you opened your mouth to protest but quickly shut it as you recalled the words had just spoke to you and the reaction you had to it.

~~~~~~~

author here

sorry updates are still soooo slow but here is this mess of a chapter that i hope you all enjoy.

i really want to publish other stories i'm working on as well but they aren't anime related so i'm afraid they will flop haha 🥲

anyways, thank you all for continuing to read and support my work. i was very surprised to see that this book has almost 5k reads already!

thank you <3