A/N

This is my first fanfic so I apologize if it is awkward to read at times. I would really love feedback so that I can improve. Thank you. I hope you enjoy!

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EDIT: Since I keep getting asked this: Why Fem! Eren?

Well, I really love Fem! Eren and I found a serious lack of fics out there that have her. It's NOT because I don't like BL, just wanted to make that clear. Anyway, I really hope I do her justice and I hope you come to like her (more) or even love her like I do!

Chapter One: Invitation

It was on a chilly winter afternoon that she first received the invitation. Eren Yeager, who was sitting in a small coffee shop that was a 10 minute walk and 5 minute train ride away, checked her phone as a message flashed across the screen.

[Received 3:40 PM] Mikasa: The University is throwing a holiday party after exams are over, you interested in going?

She hummed quietly to herself as she thought about the invitation sent from her dear friend. She took a sip of her mocha latte, humming contently as the warm liquid slid down her throat. She typed and sent her response, asking for more details so she could let her boss know ahead of time. She set her phone on the table as she waited for Mikasa's response and enjoyed the last few sips of her drink. The screen flashed again as she set the porcelain cup down on the plate and tapped the screen to open the message.

[Received 3:46 PM] Mikasa: The party is at the Chemistry Department Head's home, any students and faculty from any department are invited. It's an open house style, so you can come and go as you please from 6 pm til midnight on December 21st.

As she finished reading the last of the message, her phone lit up again with a second one.

[Received 3:47 PM] Mikasa: I know, it sounds kind of lame, but I think it will be a great place for you meet some of the people you will be going to school with… Armin and I are both going, so I really hope you will too. It's been too long Eren. We miss you… this will be a great way to reminisce. Plus free food.

She smiled and laughed a little to herself, thinking, 'It's only been a semester…' She sent her response quickly, saying that she would ask her boss to let her start winter vacation that weekend and let Mikasa know for sure the following week. She also said that if she was able to go, she left the responsibility of finding her a date for the night on Mikasa.

Eren got up from the booth she occupied and walked over to the island station that held the paper products, water, sweeteners and the trash bin. She threw her gently used napkin into the trash hole and placed her soiled mocha cup and dish on the counter nearby for the workers to pick up and clean. As she headed for the door, she buttoned up her coat and pulled down her knitted beanie to protect her ears from the outside chill.

The cold air greeted her as she walked back to the train station to make her way home.

Two weeks after the invitation was sent, Eren found herself three hours away from her cheap little apartment on the lesser side of the city. She was now surrounded by large custom built homes, tons of corporate business buildings, and a few streets of shopping arcades filled with restaurants, apartments, hotels, and clothing boutiques.

Eren was guided through the crowds that filled the shopping arcades by Armin and Mikasa, both excited to find their last minute outfits for the holiday party, which was now just one night away. Mikasa finished her exams that Wednesday, but Armin didn't finish his until Thursday, so neither of them had had a chance to go shopping for proper attire for the party. Armin was set on the shoes and suit he was going to wear, but he wanted to get shirt and tie that would match what Mikasa was wearing, since they were going as a pair.

After making their way past the large crowd of last minute Christmas shoppers, the trio landed in a shop that catered to both men and women, though the men's section was embarrassingly smaller than the women's. There were large red and green signs hanging over various sections of the shop, decorated with white and silver balls, and stripes resembling candy canes, that read '50% off' or 'Buy One Get One.'

Armin spoke up first, "I'm going to go look at their tie selection, the sale is pretty good and I've heard the quality here is decent for the price."

Mikasa grunted and nodded in agreement as she took hold of Eren's arm and steered her towards the evening and cocktail dresses. They separated and began their search for a good looking dress for the best price, and decided that they would pay together and get the 'BOGO' deal.

Mikasa pulled a few simple black dresses and one navy dress with silver stitching details. She wandered around to where Eren was and asked, "Eren, have you found anything you'd like to try on yet?" Eren nodded and smiled, showing a black sequined cocktail dress, a gold dress, and a silver dress. "Good," Mikasa continued, "it's pretty busy in here," she paused and looked around, "I think it would be faster if we shared a dressing room."

Eren nodded in agreement adding, "Yea, that sounds good, then we won't have to yell between rooms to ask for each other's opinion."

They made their way back to the dressing room and placed the little plastic marker with a number '6' written in a fancy script outside the room with a thick white curtain. They entered, slid the curtain closed, then each picked a side before slipping out of their layers and trying on the sleek classy dresses. Mikasa ended up going with the navy blue dress. It was faux velvet with silver lace and stitching designs around the collar and the sleeves; it landed two inches above her knee. Simple, classy, and very fitting of Mikasa's image. Eren decided to go with the black sequined dress, it seemed a bit much at first, but the black color and simple, fitted cut, made her features more prominent. She wasn't exactly blessed in the curve department, rather, she had a lean athletic frame with a little curve from her hips and very little from her breasts. The sequins reflected the light when she moved, so it accentuated her barely there curves and was quite flattering for her figure.

They slipped out of their findings and back into their bundles of layers and exited the room feeling accomplished and content. Now the next thing on the list was accessories.

While Mikasa headed over to the sad excuse of a men's section to show Armin her dress choice, Eren made her way over to the jewelry section to look for a nice ring and earrings to complete the look. She already planned to borrow Mikasa's black patented leather heels, so she had free reign with whatever color of metal and jewels for her accessories. She hung the dress on her left arm and began picking out a few sets of earrings. She tucked some loose hair behind her ear and found an unoccupied part of the mirrored wall where she began holding her finds against her face to see where the length, and width on some, would fall. After searching through a surprisingly vast amount of options, she finally decided on a pair of asymmetrical pearled bows; one was a stud and the other fell about an inch lower with a single pearl as the stud and the pearled bow at the end of the silver chain. She picked out a simple silver ring band and some silver studs she was sure Mikasa would like. Armin found a navy blue dress shirt and a lighter gray tie with a silver paisley design. The trio made their way to the back of the store to pay. Once they'd made their purchases, they made it back out onto the sidewalk and into the growing crowd of last minute shoppers.

Eren spoke up, "Do you guys want to grab something to eat before we head back to the dorms?"

Mikasa nodded as she replied, "I'm pretty hungry, especially after going through all that, what about you Armin?"

"Yes, that sounds great. Where do you want to go?"

They pondered aloud as they continued walking until Eren caught a whiff of something fresh, herby, and fruity. "How about that little pizza place we went to last time I was here?" The other two nodded in agreement and they hurried as quickly as they could through the crowd and into the quaint corner pizzeria.

They sat and talked, reminiscing about their troubles and annoyances in their first few semesters of college life. Eren complained about her boss and his weird training methods while simultaneously praising how effective they were. She talked about how creepy some of the customers at the small salad bar she worked at were, while Armin and Mikasa recalled their triumphs and trials from the past four months. Their pizzas, salad, and drinks came and they ate like they'd never get another meal. Silence overtook the table as they hungrily devoured the spread before them.

Eren excused herself as she got up to go to the bathroom and on the way, tripped, not too gracefully over one of the loose, slightly raised tiles on the floor. Her large green eyes closed as she braced herself for the impact of the cold hard ground that she was tumbling forward to meet. When the impact she was expecting never came, she cracked her eyes open to peek at the softer and much warmer embrace of the white clothed arm that was wrapped around her waist and the feeling of a sharp hipbone pressed against her rear. She opened her eyes fully to register that she hadn't fallen, and was in fact being held in place, and at that very moment, being tilted upright to stand, before she jerked out the hold of her savior and onto the wall a foot or so away from where they both stood.

With green eyes widened by surprise, she stared u-down, at the man standing before her. He was short. Extraordinarily short. Not too unfortunate in the face… rather, not unfortunate at all, aside from the scowl …or was it a look of disinterest… that marred his face. He had on a suit, a black suit, with a white cravat slightly loosened and laying a bit slack around his neck. His suit jacket was carefully draped over the arm that hadn't just rescued the…now rudely gawking Eren that was supporting herself with the wall. She regained some ability to process thought as the man quirked an eyebrow at her and began to straighten out his white dress shirt.

"…Thank you, um, thank you very much sir," she paused and looked down at the floor for a moment before continuing, "I probably would have busted my face if it weren't for you." She laughed a little more awkwardly than she intended and smiled at the man.

"You should be more careful." The man said in a silky smooth and unamused tenor, as he gave her frame a once over and turned to head out of the door. His expression remained unchanged, even after seeing the smile she gave him.

Eren watched his already small figure, get even smaller as he made his way out of the door and down the sidewalk, blending in with the rest of the hustling and bustling crowd. In her daze, she wandered into the bathroom and remembered what she had left, the table and her still waiting friends, to do. She hurried back, after washing her hands thoroughly enough by her standards, just in time to pay her part of the bill before they all got up and went back to the dorms to celebrate their spoils and sleep.

But mostly to sleep.