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Historia led Ymir to the top of a hill overlooking the city. Behind them, their friends talked and laughed around a bonfire. If it weren’t for the weight of Historia’s hand on Ymir’s, the latter might’ve been coherent enough to take in the beautiful sight below.
“Sit down.” Historia said, dragging Ymir down to the grass as she sat with a ‘plop’.
Ymir settled down next to her, keenly aware of the distance between the two of them. Historia bent her knees at an angle, tucking her skirt under herself as she did. She looked up into the distance. Historia’s eyes darted over to Ymir’s.
“You’re staring again.”
“Am not!” Ymir blurted out, finding a sudden interest in the view.
Historia chuckled at that.
Damn, might as well sign me up for fuck boy of the year.
They sat in silence for a moment. Ymir realized they were sitting in a clearing surrounded by skinny oak trees. Their leaves swayed to the rhythm of a summer night’s wind, rustling quietly. The shadows they cast juxtaposed the swirl of red, white, and gold lights in front of the two girls. Ymir considered the clearing to be an awfully peaceful place considering the chaos happening at the bonfire behind them. An uproar of laughter seemed to respond to this musing.
Ymir was torn from her thoughts when Historia settled a bit closer to her. Their arms were now touching.
Holy shit.
Ymir instinctively stiffened, earning an alarmed look from Historia.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing! You just scared me…”
The blonde averted her gaze for a moment. She didn’t seem content with that answer, but said nothing.
Without skipping a beat, Ymir threw her hands up into the air.
“This place is cool and all, but boring as hell,” She made sure to drag out the last word. “Got any scary stories? Gossip?”
Historia huffed indignantly at that, throwing her head back slightly. Ymir ignored the sting in her heart.
“Gossip,” Historia started, “is for middle schoolers.”
“Aw, come on, don’t act like you’re above that. Just yesterday you were shitting on poor Sasha for not eavesdropping well enough during 4th period.”
“You got me there,” she said, rolling her eyes as a smile fought its way to the surface. She sighed. “Fine, I’ll cave. Ask me something.”
“Anything?”
Historia nodded earnestly.
Ymir thought for a moment.
“What’s up with you and Reiner?”
It was Historia’s turn to stiffen at that.
“Uh- you don’t have to answer if you don’t want, I just-”
“It’s fine, really,” Historia said, shifting slightly. The lost contact with her arm felt like a rush of freezing air to Ymir. “I said I would answer anything. I keep my promises!”
Historia’s hand flew to her hips, her face sporting a pout. Ymir laughed, earning a smack from the other.
“So, Reiner.” Historia continued once they’d settled. “He and I had biology together in freshman year. We went to different middle schools from everyone else, so we didn’t know each other until we got partnered together for a project. We kinda messed around the entire time, I mean, who takes freshman biology seriously? We ended up having to work on it after school a lot. Even after the project was finished though, we still hung out. We didn’t really know anyone else. It was nice to have someone to talk to. Even after we made other friends, we still talked to each other. I guess we basically ended up bringing the group together.”
At the end of freshman year, Jean threw a party. Everyone was there. Reiner had been acting kinda weird for a while before then, and during the party he kept looking my way even when he was on the other side of the room. He asked to talk to me, so we went up to Jean’s parents’ room alone. Of course I was worried, so I asked him what was wrong. He ended up confessing to me then and there. I didn’t know what to do… I mean, I know a lot of girls are into him. He’s good-looking and nice, and he has everything you could possibly want in a person. I just didn’t know if I liked him in that way,” Historia turned the other way, leaning her forehead against her hand.
“I didn’t even know if I liked anyone. All of my friends seemed to be so obsessed with relationships and I just couldn’t understand it. It felt like there was something wrong with me. I told all that to Reiner, because he was my friend. He looked so sad after that. I told him we could kiss just to try it out. It felt so...weird. It wasn’t as horrible as I thought it would be, but it wasn’t amazing either. I really thought I could feel something if I just kissed him, but I felt nothing but boredom. I told him I was sorry, and it was so awkward. He just sat there, and I was so embarrassed. Everyone was staring at me when I ran out of the party.”
Historia looked down at her hands, fiddling with them in her lap. She looked out into the distance, a melancholy look on her face.
“It didn’t stop there. Someone spread a rumor that Reiner and I had...you know. All the boys kept teasing me, and the girls would whisper behind my back. Even Jean and his friends wouldn’t talk to me the same. Only Sasha and Mikasa really had my back. It was like that for all of sophomore year. The worst part? Reiner didn’t do anything. He didn’t start the rumor, but he didn’t exactly stop it either. I know I broke his heart, and probably led him on, but it was so horrible,” A shine gleamed in Historia’s eyes. “Eventually everything stopped when Reiner got a girlfriend. The lowerclassmen and even people from our own grade don’t remember, but I do. I know it might be petty, but it honestly fucked me up. Reiner and I are friends I guess, but we never really made up. That’s why things are the way they are. Sorry for ranting, just needed to get that off my chest.”
As Historia finished, a single tear escaped. Ymir reached up to brush a finger against her cheek to wipe it off. Their eyes met, both filled with the raw emotion of a shared secret.
“It’s not petty at all,” Ymir began. “What they did to you was fucked up. You didn’t deserve that. You’re amazing for putting up with that and still being so...kind. I know I wouldn’t have been so forgiving. I would’ve beaten their asses.”
Historia laughed at that, wiping her last tears.
“I’m glad you could find some humor in my glorious sob story!”
“Wha- I didn’t mean it like that!”
“I’m kidding, jeez!”
They laughed, playfully shoving each other into the grass.
“I can relate, by the way.” Ymir muttered.
“Relate? To what?”
“The uh...not liking boys part.”
“The- oh,” Historia said, her eyes widening in realization. Her cheeks turned a terribly adorable shade of pink. “Ah.”
They settled into an awkward silence, letting the sounds of the oak trees and the party below fill the gaps. After a few moments, Historia shivered.
“Wanna get back to the fire? It’s getting kinda cold.” Ymir asked, suppressing the urge to wrap her arms around the girl next to her.
Historia nodded with a simple “yep” and they stood up. Brushing the stray twigs off themselves, the two set off towards the gathering down the hill.
Ymir glanced at the girl next to her, who’d faced hell and still smiled. She’d be content as Historia’s friend forever, if they had that long. That kind of infinity would be enough for Ymir.
If only life were that simple.