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She’d received a letter in the mail. A wedding invitation, to be precise. And the names written in cursive across the top of the card left her in shock.
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She decided not to attend the wedding, but perhaps pop in at the reception for a minute or two to congratulate them. It was a lot harder than she thought it would be.
He was smiling, and she briefly recognized that look, realizing he certainly looks much happier. He was conversing with one of the guests, a glass of something in his hand. Champagne of some kind, probably. His eyes caught hers, suddenly, and she startled. Briefly, he turned to the guest, excusing himself, before approaching her, and for a moment, she thought about bolting.
“Mikasa,” he said softly, “I’m so glad you could make it. I didn’t see you at the ceremony, so I thought that maybe you flaked on me,” he lightly bumped her arm with his elbow.
“Ah,” was all she could seem to get out.
“I suppose we didn’t exactly leave things on good terms, huh?” he raised an eyebrow, chuckling, “I wouldn’t have blamed you if you didn't show up, I guess.”
“Well,” she tried her best to smile, “We were all friends before… um, y’know,” he nodded, returning the smile, “It wouldn’t have been right if I didn’t show.”
“Still,” Eren shrugged, “Thank you for coming, though. I really appreciate it.”
“Of course. Where’s Armin? I haven’t seen him around anywhere,” she looked around for a few seconds as if to prove her point.
“He’s around here somewhere. Probably caught up with my mom,” Eren chuckled, “You know how she is.”
“Right.”
She let out a breath, feeling the awkward air surround the two of them as Eren took a sip of his champagne.
Should she apologize? He was right, they hadn’t left things between them on good terms, but that was mostly her fault. She heard her foot tapping on the smooth floor, her hands ringing together as she let her eyes scan through the small crowd. It seems they had opted for a small wedding. Huh. Mikasa always remembered Eren saying he wanted a big wedding when they were together.
Guess she didn’t know him as much as she thought. She wondered what her life would look like now, if she hadn’t ended things with Eren almost seven years ago. She remembers that night in almost perfect clarity, what was racing through her head. She knows the decision she made was the right one, so there was no sense in mulling over the “what ifs.”
Besides, she’s found her person, just like Eren has found his.
“I’m—”
“Don’t say sorry.”
Her eyes met his in surprise, and she could read the lines in face as he smiled kindly at her. They were spelling out, in an ancient language as old as time, that he was happy. It was an expression she can’t ever remember seeing on his face when they were together.
“What you did was braver than anything I could have ever done.” He admitted. “Because of you…” He pursed his lips, and it seemed he wanted to say more, but he cleared his throat and met her eyes with earnestness. “Thank you.”
When Mikasa returned home that night, she greeted her husband with a peck at his hairline before moving towards the kitchen to get herself a glass of water.
“How was the wedding?” He asked.
She took a moment to respond. “Why didn’t you wanna go? You knew Eren and Armin just as much as I did.”
He smiled, “You’re seriously asking me that question?”
She rolled her eyes, “You’re telling me a high school rivalry really soured your relationship with Eren that much?”
“ High school rivalry? Mikasa, it was more than just a high school rivalry and you know that.”
She scoffed, “Right.”
He shrugged, “Eren had you and I didn’t.”
Right. Well. She supposed that statement was only half right.