WaitingForSpring

Then you have Jean, who has been in love with Mikasa since they were 12, but he has been so used to her being in love with Eren and never seeing him as anything more than a friend that he is incapable of imagining the possibility of Mikasa ever returning his affections. He tells himself that he is fine being her emotional support, looking after her, helping her, being there for her, yet he cannot stop feeling his love eating him up inside. It is a bruise to him at this point, he can bear the pain, and now it only hurts when pressed on. Any time Mikasa gets embarrassed, blushes, or gets close to him, he reasons it is because they are friends and nothing more.

At the Beach, In Every Life - Chapter 3 is live on AO3

At the Beach, In Every Life

Chapter 4 - Spring

“Bizarre doesn’t even begin to describe it, but funny enough, it feels like the most natural thing, a progression she never imagined and just happened organically. 

Her arm extends towards him. He’s close enough to touch, but still out of reach. 

How does she even approach this? 

Carelessness has affected them both, and she’s noticed the way he looks at her when he thinks her head is somewhere else.

He’d never do or say anything that would make her feel uncomfortable around him, and that inevitably puts things into a standstill. 

It’s probably the reason why he wants to move out, which means that it’ll fall on her to do the hard things.”

***

“If something is going to happen between Mikasa and him, it’s going to be because 𝘩𝘦 takes action and not because someone else decided that was the way things would go. 

𝘌𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵.

He sighs and watches her while she sleeps.

It’s not the first time he’s witnessed this sight, but he’s mesmerized by it anyway. The way she looks so serene, how her nose is buried in the scarf.

How he would hold her if he were near.

His arm extends to where she is; close enough for him to touch, but always, 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 out of reach.”

Gorgeous art by @anca.sketches on IG

Honestly, I love this scene in Spoof on Titan. Jean looks after and cares for Mikasa even when she doesn't even ask him. He just did this because he was worried that she would be hungry. Mikasa understands that he cares for her and even tries to replicate it with Eren, without realizing that Jean's actions came from his love for her, just as her replicating it came from her love for Eren.

At the Beach, In Every Life by AutumnWeen

Chapter 5 is live on AO3

Mikasa knows that to keep him, she has to tread lightly, has to wait for the right time to confess how she feels.

“You need time.”

“Yes.”

“And you know that won’t change who I am, right?”

She doesn’t understand the question, and he reads her so well that her confusion is a message written on her face. 

“I’m not him, Mikasa.”

“I know.”  

The disappointment in his features lasts but for a second, but it’s long enough for her to see. Her eyes widen, and quick, shallow breaths begin to bubble in her chest. 

“I don’t want you to be. Is that what you think I want?” 

“I don’t know, so what then? What are we? Who do you need me to be?”

‘𝘑𝘦𝘢𝘯. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘑𝘦𝘢𝘯,’ she thinks of saying, but she has made this mistake before. 

There’s a time Mikasa remembers well, a moment when she was too scared to admit how she felt, too shy to let Eren know what he meant to her. It’s something she’s had to live with, and it’s not a misstep she plans to take again. 

Her hands wrap around the scarf and take it off, leaving her neck bare.

His eyes, full of naked longing, follow the movement; the surprise evident on his face. 

“𝘔𝘪𝘬𝘢𝘴𝘢.”

Her name sounds like a plea said with the sort of pain she has come to know well.  

“What do you want from me?”

“𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨,” she breathes.

Art by @anca.sketches on IG

Jeankasa 🥺🫶

In Atomic Heart AU