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A low rumbling thunder rolls throughout the distant greying horizon and it’s not long after that you feel tiny drops of rain freckle your cheek.
“Wonderful,” you grumble beneath your breath, “just wonderful.”
Eren, who’s been riding slightly ahead of you, briefly glances over his shoulder. “We need to find shelter.”
No shit is what you want to bark in response but there’s no point when the wind is already growing stronger and Eren is picking up his paces. You loosen your reins to get your horse to follow his lead, your face darkening with every minute that you approach the thick forest ahead.
The towering trees—with their bulky branches and leaves that serve as a protective canopy—do enough to shelter you from the oncoming storm, but as seasoned soldiers, both you and Eren knew better than to stay near the edges unless you fancied surprise titan attacks. Though they weren’t able to climb the enormous trees, it was unnerving enough to have them within sight. You tail Eren as he travels further into the forest, subconsciously glaring at his back the entire way.
It’s been a terrible day, to say the least.
Not only did this large-scale expedition go south not even ten minutes after leaving the Walls, but you somehow got separated from the group and had all your cargo—which contained food, equipment, first aid kits, and all the other necessary items for survival beyond the Walls—smashed to pieces thanks to a few unruly Abnormals. To top it all off, a raging storm has approached and you’ll likely have to take shelter and wait until morning to rendezvous with the group at the agreed meeting point should the formation fall apart.
The worst of it all, however, is that you somehow found yourself stranded in this forest with Eren of all people, your 24-year-old squad captain who has a penchant for recklessness and danger and is always the first to volunteer your squad for suicide missions that other squads typically steer clear of. If you didn't know better, you'd think he had some sort of death wish or something.
Annoyingly enough, you couldn’t dispute his strength, skill, or instinct. In fact, Eren has one of the highest titan kill counts in all of the Scout Regiment’s history. But despite his unparalleled abilities, you as his vice had been duly reminded to ensure your captain remembers to value his own life and his squad’s. Your responsibilities include that as well as drawing up the technicalities and contingency plans of your squad’s operations. Technicalities and contingency plans that are notably ignored by Eren.
You always do your best to cooperate with your captain, and so far your latest squad has racked up a handful of accolades without experiencing any casualties yet (thankfully), but outside of your formal duties, you couldn't stand Eren. He was rash, hardheaded, and arrogant. Despite the delicate plans and strategies you’ve drawn up, your missions always ended with Eren’s whimsical improvisations, followed by what often feels like a test to see how the rest of the squad can keep up. You were certain it was simply because your team was made up of the most elite soldiers that no one had died yet under Eren’s peculiar leadership.
You and Eren have argued plenty of times over this, with you urging him to keep from endangering the lives of his squad and Eren brushing you off like a fruit fly in the summer.
“For the love of God, Eren. This squad is not indispensable.”
“And it’s not as if they’re rookies either,” Eren reasoned, “why do you think we’ve been training our asses off all these years?”
“That’s exactly why we should stick to the plans the Commander has drawn up for us and the strategies I’ve outlined! Our squad has some of the most talented soldiers, Eren, and I don’t just mean that they’re good for hunting titans. These are soldiers who have years of experience beyond the Walls, soldiers that are capable of teaching recruits.”
“Well, sorry if I’m not thinking about the future generations when I’m trying to put a fucking end to the monsters right in front of me! Tell me,” Eren challenged, stepping forward and invading your personal space when he leaned in to intimidate you, “what happens when the Commander’s plan doesn’t take into account the appearance of a new kind of Abnormal, hm? Or if one day the titans start eating the horses and we’re left without transport? What then? Or if it starts raining cats and dogs and we can’t even see or hear a thing? You know as well as I do that nothing that happens out there is predictable.”
“I know,” you gritted your teeth, understanding what Eren was really implying with the venom in his tone. The unpredictable included the countless deaths of your comrades. Before Eren was appointed captain and you as his vice of this squad, you two had been in a squad whose members had been completely wiped out. You and Eren had been the sole survivors at the time and you’d never forget the gruesome scenes of your friends’ mutilated bodies scattered across the blood-soaked ground. It took you years to come to terms with the reality that those nightmares never truly went away. Sometimes, on mornings after barely getting any sleep, you'd find Eren with dark bags under his eyes—a look that mirrored yours, and the two of you would share a silent moment of understanding that you were both witnesses to atrocities that would likely haunt you two for a long time.
But other than that, you and Eren had absolutely nothing else in common.
"I'm just reminding you that you're a captain of a squad, Eren. Stop going off on your own and acting like we're not up to par. We are more than capable of keeping up with your suicide antics but that's because everyone fucking trusts you. If you don't want to follow the Commander's plan then fine. Tell me what you want to do."
It was only then that Eren bit the inside of his cheek as if something finally got through that thick skull of his. However, instead of a rebuttal, he put forward a question that caught you dearly off-guard. “And do you trust me?”
You looked at him funny. That wasn't the point of what you were saying. Frankly, what did it matter whether you trusted him or not? Given your position, it wasn’t like you had a choice anyway.
“I’m your vice-captain,” you reminded him, but Eren didn’t seem to take that as an answer.
“I asked if you trust me.”
The deep shade of teal in Eren’s irises glimmered as you faltered for a moment and upon realizing how little distance there was between your bodies, your heart began kicking against your ribcage. You immediately took two steps back, clearing your throat exaggeratedly before throwing your glance to the side.
“We don’t have time for this, Eren,” you mumbled, hoping the dim torches of the hall didn’t expose the heat rushing to your face. You turned on your heel, ready to make haste towards the barracks when you stopped short, looking over your shoulder. “Just... when we’re out there, remember to look around for once, alright? You have a team. Everyone knows you'll have our backs—just as we'll have yours.”
You expected to leave that encounter with steam blowing out of your ears—as most arguments with Eren did—but what you didn’t expect was for that conversation to make permanent residence in your mind. Ever since then, although Eren never brought it up again, you’ve been tirelessly contemplating your answer to his question. Did you trust him? As a comrade, the answer should’ve been obvious. Eren is reliable. Regardless of his oftentimes unorthodox approaches and the way he so easily got on your nerves, there was not a single goal he never met nor a mission he did not complete. Eren is certainly trustworthy.
But the more you thought about it, the more baffled you became at the realization that you so often left your life in Eren’s hands, whether you intended to or not. Eren’s arrogance comes with an air of self-assurance that it’s almost impossible not to entrust yourself to him. From your days as rookies-in-training to your very first expedition, from being worked to the bone by your superiors to ascending the ranks and being recognized amongst the elite of the elite. You and Eren have survived through thick and thin. So in some way or another, surely this meant that you trusted him?
At the same time, there was something very dangerous about that man, as if only a single thread was holding his sanity together and that it might snap at any given second. Eren often felt like a ticking time bomb. He might be laughing and getting tipsy in the tavern with Jean and Connie and the others but if anyone ever caught him brooding in the shadows of the night, it was instinctual to stay away. Your reluctance to admit that you completely trusted him stemmed from this seed of fear that Eren might one day lose his way. And what could you, or any other soldier for that matter, do in the face of one of the Scout's strongest officers?
It is this ongoing battle in your mind that has convinced you to avoid Eren completely, finding his presence rather irritable at times. You didn’t like the way his words needlessly intruded your thoughts and being bothered by something so trivial is such a hassle in itself that you figured keeping your distance was the best course of action. Of course, it proved difficult to do when you and Eren were always expected to be at each other’s sides when it came to work and its entailing duties.
And now it would be near impossible when you were stranded alone with him.
As soon as you reach a denser area of the forest, you slow down as Eren dismounts from his horse. You notice he still has his satchel with him as he’s trying to tie his horse before double-checking how much propellant gas he has left in his gear.
“We’ll have to camp here for the night. Or until the rain lets up, at least. Come on, we need to scale up the trees.”
Without uttering a word, you follow him. The wires from your ODM gear shoot upwards, propelling your body all the way to the top. Eren settles on the side of the giant branch that meets the tree trunk and because you remain committed to staying away from Eren, you walk a little further out to its edge, contemplating finding yourself a branch of your own, maybe one a little higher up.
“Are you avoiding me?” Eren asks, annoyance in his tone.
“No.”
“So why are you sitting all the way there?”
“Because I want to.”
Eren sighs, muttering something about you being childish loud enough so you can hear. “You lost your bag, right?” he calls out to you, “I still have food and water. We can share.”
As tempting as the offer was, your pride wouldn’t let you give in. “It’s fine, I’m not hungry.”
“You need to eat something.”
“I said it’s fine.”
“Can you just take the fucking bread?”
“I said I’m fine—” You stop short when your stomach grumbles, so unnecessarily loud too, and while you’re feeling absolutely mortified, Eren is trying hard not to burst out laughing. He’s the absolute worst at it though because you can still hear the smile in his voice when he offers you half of his bread one more time.
It’s with the utmost reluctance that you turn around and take up his offer, dropping your weight in front of him, one leg tucked under you and the other hanging over the edge, as you stuff the bread slice into your mouth.
Eren is watching you the entire time but you keep your eyes glued to the rough surface of the tree trunk to keep from shrinking in his scrutiny. Why the heck were you even so nervous to be sitting alone with Eren anyway?
“Did something happen?” he says, taking a sip from his canteen.
“Other than the fact that this expedition went to shit and we’re stranded?” you quip, sarcastic as ever. He offers the canteen to you after and it’s also with reluctance that you accept it.
“Yes, other than that. You’ve been avoiding me,” he repeats.
“No, I haven’t.”
“You show up to the meetings, briefings, and the missions but you’re nowhere to be found as soon as you’re off-duty.”
“Didn’t realize you were looking for me, cap. Sorry.”
“I—” Eren interrupts himself for a moment but before you can dwell on it, he continues. “Did I make you mad or something?”
“What? No.”
“Then why are you being like this?”
“Like what?”
“Distant!”
You look up when Eren raises his voice only to see sheer exasperation in his eyes. He looks genuinely concerned for you. Genuinely worried. “What are you talking about, Eren? It’s not like we’re the best of friends or anything. I’m not Armin. Go look for him if you need company.”
In response to your stubborn indifference, Eren pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration. You don’t even know if you’re being purposely difficult at this point, but you do know that you want to navigate Eren’s sudden interrogation in the most roundabout manner as humanly possible.
“Look, you're the one who told me to pay more attention to my team and you're part of said team, alright?”
“Don’t worry, captain. I'm completely aware of my duties as your second-in-command. You won’t find me slacking, I promise you.”
Eren sucks in a deep breath between his teeth; a sign that he’s getting a little impatient. “You’re more than a vice-captain to me. You’re a comrade and a friend. If you’re feeling out of it, I need you to tell me. You don’t have to put on that brave face all the goddamn time.”
With that last bit, Eren avoids your gaze while you search for sincerity in his face. Why does it sound like he can see right through you? As if he's been aware that you have had to feign most of your courage to survive the Scout's terrifying missions. As if he knows that you don't let any fear show on your face because you believe it's not befitting of a vice-captain. As if he knows that every time you leave the Walls, it's with a mask of mettle. It feels like a violation—like finding out someone has been looking in through your open window.
But it does little to comfort you when Eren is being a downright hypocrite. He's expecting you to confide in him when he himself has never opened up his heart to a single soul. If anyone was operating on the pretense of bravery and courage with walls of iron stretching all the way to the heavens, it was Eren. The mask that he dons in order to lead this squad is much sturdier than yours. He probably thinks you don't see it but you do. There are times when you look at him and you don't see that tall, well-built man he had grown into—rather, the scrawny, clumsy green recruit he used to be.
A creeping sensation climbs up your spine and having always dealt with the unknown through avoidance, you try to redirect this conversation with even more nonchalance. You scoff, looking at your hands as your thumbs fumble with each other. “And what? This is you asking me to rely on you?”
“It is,” he says all too easily. “Don’t you trust me?”
There it is again. Do you trust me? The question still hits you like a storm the second time around because after contemplating it and debating it with yourself for so long, you’ve come to terms with the fact that... yes, you do trust Eren. You trust him so much that it’s almost ironically reckless. Even though he often chooses the path less traveled, even though he ignores your warnings and your concerns, even though he doesn’t even think twice about throwing himself into the very throes of death—you trust him. At this point, it's almost as if you don't even care if he might lose his way. You trust him so much that you always willingly follow him wherever he strays. And not because it was demanded by you as his vice-captain. You did so because you chose to; because you wanted to.
You trust Eren so much that your hands begin to tremble at the mere possibility that it might be more than trust.
But before you can admit that, you deflect the subject once more, turning the question on him. “Do you trust me?”
Eren answers in a heartbeat. “I trust you the most.”
You didn't expect the speed at which he'd answer. With the silence that hangs between you, all you can hear is the distant sound of torrential rainfall, the rustling leaves, and your breathing. All the while Eren holds your gaze, his eyes burning with an intensity that prevents you from breaking away. He only breaks eye contact to sift through his bag again, this time pulling out what looks like a change of clothes.
“Here,” he says, handing a sweatshirt to you. “You’re drenched.”
Oh. You’ve been so fixated on trying to avoid Eren that you didn’t even realize the rain had soaked you to the bone before you made it to the cover of the forest. It won’t be long until your body starts shivering but you notice that Eren is in the same predicament, if his clamped hair is anything to go by.
“You’re wet too,” you note.
“It’s fine. I’ll just use the blanket.”
“Oh, okay.”
Without any sort of warning, Eren begins undoing the ODM gear strapped to his suit before stripping his torso of the Scout uniform, leaving his upper body completely bare before wrapping the small blanket around his broad shoulders.
You meant to look in the opposite direction as soon as his shoulder blade is exposed but like some pubescent teenager, you couldn’t help but stare at the toned dips and lines of his chest. Eren probably felt your eyes shamelessly crawling all over him because he didn’t even look up when he suddenly cleared his throat.
The sound is enough to break you free from this bewitchment and you quickly turn in the opposite direction, growing shamefully aware of the fierce blush filling your cheeks. If Eren was so casual about stripping in front of you, then it probably shouldn’t be an issue for you either, right? Besides, you always have a tank top under your uniform anyway and you're professionals. This was nothing to get so worked up over.
The upgraded Scout uniform is a skintight, all-black one-piece that prioritizes utility and comfort over anything else, which also means that it is a total pain to put on and take off. And for some stupid reason, the zipper of the men’s uniform is conveniently stitched on the front, while the zipper of the women’s uniform runs down the length of your spine. Meaning, you almost always need another hand to help you.
You completely forget this very tiny detail as soon as you attempt to reach for your back to undo the zipper, and you let out an annoyed grunt as your hands fail to reach your back. You make a mental note to file an urgent complaint about this sexist contraption when you return to base.
Luckily, or unluckily for you, Eren spares you the embarrassment of asking for help when he speaks up first. “You need help?”
“Yes, please,” you say quietly.
For a man who’s so used to combat, heavy-lifting, and nursing wounds on rough, callous skin, Eren reaches for you so gently. He places one hand on the place where your shoulder meets your neck, the other carefully pulling down the zipper. You imagine he’s going slow so as not to accidentally get your skin caught but you can’t find the words to tell him not to worry about it, given that the zipper isn’t touching your skin at all when you’re too hyperaware about how the pads of Eren’s fingers briefly brush against the back of your neck.
It sends an electric current running through your veins but when you spot the goosebumps riding along your arms, you attribute them to a consequence of peeling off a bodysuit drenched from the rain and not due to Eren’s fleeting touch.
With the upper half of your uniform hanging at your hips, you quickly throw on the sweatshirt Eren lent you. Before you pop your head through the neckline, however, you freeze. This is a mistake. This is an absolute mistake. You contemplate pulling this sweatshirt off and chucking it off this tree because your senses are completely drowning in Eren’s cologne. You don’t know why it’s only dawning on you now but this is Eren’s sweatshirt, which means it smells like Eren, which also means you will smell like Eren.
“Do you need help again?”
“N-no! I got this!” you stammer from inside the article of clothing.
There’s no turning back now. You’re going to have to suck it up and endure feeling like you’re being constantly embraced by your squad’s captain. No big deal. You pull the sweatshirt over you completely, distracting yourself from the thought of being buried in Eren’s scent by focusing on how warm the inner fleece layer is. It’s doing wonders to soothe your goosebumps now, washing away any concerns of hypothermia.
“Warm?” Eren asks.
“Yeah, it’s really—” When you turn around to address him, you swallow your words when you notice Eren is visibly shaking, even with the so-called blanket wrapped around him. All it takes is a closer look—at the blanket, not his pecs—to realize that it’s actually only a thin piece of cloth. In fact, it’s the piece of cloth each soldier of the Scout Regiment carries around in case they are able to salvage the bodies or body parts of their fallen comrades. It is, without having to say, a very poor substitute for a blanket.
“Eren, you’re freezing,” you breathe, immediately tugging at the hems of the sweatshirt you’re wearing.
“Keep it—”
“I’m fine, Eren. I’ve still got my undershirt anyway.”
“It’s drenched too, isn’t it? Just keep the sweatshirt. I can endure a bit of cold.”
“No, you can’t, idiot. I don’t care how strong you are, human bodies are frail against forces of nature.”
You don’t know what exactly comes over you—Eren sure as heck doesn’t know either—but it’s with an irrefutable determination that you crawl over to where he’s sitting, gesture with your hands for him to make some space between his legs, and sit right there, your back pressed flush against his naked chest. You're most definitely not going to strip naked just to offer him some body warmth but this should be a sufficient alternative.
“What are you—”
“Shut up, Eren. You’re shivering and I can’t have our captain dying of hypothermia of all reasons. That would be pathetic.” You try to speak harshly to mask the way your heart is thumping, and the fact that you can feel Eren’s heart racing too as you take both his cold hands and shove them into the sweatshirt. You don’t even register that you’ve practically pulled his arms around you but for the sake of keeping your sanity intact, you’re not going to make any sense of what is to unfold in this very circumstance. You won’t even speak of it.
You hoped the fleece of the sweatshirt would be enough to at least stop him from shivering, but when you still feel him trembling against you, you rationalize the crazy thing. You guide his hands to slip under your soaked tank top. Both you and Eren tense, Eren probably out of shock at how intimate this arrangement is becoming and you at the stinging contact of his freezing palms against the bare skin of your stomach. But you’re not thinking about anything other than his survival. The average citizen would be surprised to know that Scouts had an equal chance of dying at the hands of titans and at the hands of nature—the latter of which likely claimed more lives than the former, statistically speaking.
With every fiber of your being, you hope this works and perhaps after accepting that you’re his only source of warmth at the moment, Eren pulls you tighter against his body. You hold your breath when Eren leans his head against the back of yours, the heat of his exhales running down the nape of your neck. You stay like that for a while, him enveloping you wholly until he finally stops quivering. You sigh in relief when his teeth stop chattering too and though his hold on you loosens a little, you somehow ease into his chest, laying comfortably against him as if you’ve done this a million times before.
“You’re… warm,” Eren says bashfully, his tone almost resembling that of a schoolboy talking to his crush for the first time.
You think about responding with something snarky but honestly, seeing Eren shiver like that was too much to bear. So, you choose honesty. “I’ve been told my body temperature is slightly higher than average.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“...There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Eren.”
“That’s not true. I know plenty.”
When you don’t respond, Eren continues.
“You prefer sleeping at 8 p.m. and getting up at the crack of dawn. You never take notes during meetings because you memorize everything being said by heart. You don’t like egg yolks and you always separate them at breakfast and leave them on your plate. You visit the orphanage some weekends and bring your horse so you can give the kids a ride... and, your parents were in the Scouts too.”
You swallow thick, unable to help tilting your head up to look at his face. You don’t know what surprises you more, the fact that he knows all these things about you or the ease with which he listed them off.
“We’re not strangers, you know,” Eren says as if reading your mind.
You don’t know why it bothers you that he’s right. You and Eren have known each other for years on end that if you actively tried to, you could also probably list down a bunch of things that you know about him; like how he’s trying to learn to braid so he can deal with his unkempt outgrown hair better, that he always prefers fried over boiled potatoes, how he has a hidden talent for scrubbing the kitchen floors, and that he always picks the flowers from the tulip garden when he visits his mother’s grave.
Oh, you do know Eren a great deal. In your defense, it’s hard not to when work necessitates you being near him all the time. But even so, you’ve never really felt close to him, like as a friend or a companion. Not the way Armin does, or Jean, even if all they do is bicker when they’re within each other’s vicinity. What is it that you feel when you’re around him actually?
“I mean, as I said before, we’re not the best of friends either,” you say, though you’re not even convincing yourself at this point.
“And if we’re something else? Something... more?”
“W-what—” It’s like a reflex when you move to sit straight up but Eren doesn’t let you, his hold on you still gentle but firm, caging you in his arms.
“I won’t spell it out for you,” Eren sighs like he knows something you don’t, and the feeling of his warm breath not so far from the shell of your ear sends a tingling sensation all the way to your toes. “But you haven’t answered me that one time. Do you trust me?”
Why, oh why was he bringing up that cursed question again now? It's precisely because of the first time he asked this that you’ve spent the last few months spiraling into a bottomless pit where Eren’s voice repeating this question echoes down the chasm. It’s why you’ve been religiously avoiding him while trying to sort out your feelings for him after all these years.
Wait.
Feelings? Oh no. That was a mistake, wasn’t it? Oh, no, no, no. You do not have feelings for Eren Jaeger. No. Impossible. No way. Absolutely not.
When you don’t answer, Eren takes the initiative to make his own guesses. “Can I take that as a yes?”
“N-no.” Your voice comes out weaker when you take notice of how his thumbs press gentle circles against your skin. Whether he’s doing this on purpose or not, it needs to stop. You place your hands over Eren’s, pressing his fingers down to keep them from moving.
“I don’t think you’d be doing this if you didn’t trust me though,” Eren whispers, squeezing you slightly as if for emphasis.
You yelp before smacking the back of his hands. “What does it matter anyway, Eren!”
Eren retreats his hands from under your shirt, gently pushing you forward so you can face him when he’s speaking to you. You find it a little embarrassing that the area Eren’s palms just occupied left such a cold and empty trail in its wake.
“Your trust in me is important,“ he says, adopting a tone more serious than it’s ever been tonight. "We risk our lives every day with no guarantee of tomorrow, so I need to know if you believe I can protect you.”
You frown, his words not making sense to you. “I-I don’t... I don’t need your protection.”
“But I can’t help but want to protect you. Protect all of our comrades. I’m only reckless and going off alone because I don’t want to see our team slaughtered the way... the way the others had been before. Especially not you. I can’t help it, okay? I want to protect you. I have to.”
The words spilling from Eren’s lips sound and feel a lot like a confession. He’s speaking so earnestly, so sincerely that you feel your chest constricting and squeezing out all the air in your lungs. It’s also giving you courage though, giving you a newfound resolve to be honest with yourself for the first time in the longest time too.
“I do trust you, Eren,” you finally admit, your imaginary walls crumbling to dust. “I’ve always trusted you. I’ve trusted you since our very first expedition. I always put my life in your hands, Eren. I trust you. And know that I only put up such a fight against your recklessness because I don’t want to see you killed. I want to protect you too.”
Eren parts his lips like he’s about to say something but doesn’t, and it’s clear from the surprise in his eyes that he hadn’t even considered that there were people out there who also cared for and wanted to protect him. You don’t know what to say either because your little rant is also starting to sound like a confession. Is that what you just did? Did you just confess to Eren Jaeger?
Mother nature comes to the rescue at the very height of this delicate moment and a sudden, extremely loud and shocking clap of thunder rattles the entire forest, shaking the ground and causing the thinner, weaker branches to sway. The sound startles you so much that you jump, and Eren leans forward in an instant, both hands hovering on either side of your torso.
At his reflex, you frown. “Did you think I’d fall off?”
“You can never be too careful,” he shrugs.
Leaning your head over the edge, with Eren’s hand still hovering protectively by your hip, you attempt to estimate the distance to the ground. “Yeah, I’d probably die in an instant if I fell from up here.”
“No, I’d save you immediately. Having our vice-captain die of a tree fall would probably be more pathetic than a captain dying of hypothermia,” Eren jokes. His reference to what you previously said makes you laugh and it feels like all the tension has left your body.
“Oh no, we can’t have that. Both the captain and vice-captain dying on the same night? Levi would kill us.”
“Yeah, he really would,” Eren chuckles.
Maybe this day actually isn’t so terrible. Maybe this conversation had been long overdue and it was finally time for you to own up to your feelings and stop denying or pretending they’re not there when it is so painfully obvious that they are.
You’re not bold enough yet to ask Eren outright if there’s a certain subtext in his question of whether you trust him or not. Replace ‘trust’ with a certain four-lettered word and you’d still have the same answer, to be honest, but if Eren won’t say it out loud first, you’ll wait for a little while longer until he does, or at least until you gather the courage to say it first.
“So... you’re not mad at me?” he says, bright eyes peeking through his bushy brows.
“I never said I was. I just—I didn’t know how to face you,” you say, “you get on my nerves.”
Eren’s laugh echoes throughout the treetops like wind chimes, nodding all the while like he totally gets you. “So do you.”
Your brows knit together. “I’m a good vice-captain though.”
“One that never listens to her captain?”
“Because the captain never listens to her.”
“I can’t think straight whenever you’re around," Eren says easily.
“Th-that’s not an excuse.” You try to ignore the way your face is turning into a furnace, finding it really annoying that Eren seems to enjoy flustering you. “Anyway, let’s just agree to be more accommodating now.”
“Accommodating?” Eren repeats, raising a brow.
“Yes. You’ll stop being so reckless and start listening to my strategies.”
“And you’ll start having faith in me and trust that every sudden decision I make is for the sake of completing our missions.”
“...Fine, but don’t treat your life so carelessly, and don’t expect us to do the same.”
Eren then smiles at you, an expression so sweet that it nullifies every bad thing that happened that day. A pleasant warmth buzzes in your chest and now you find yourself wishing the storm would never pass.
“Mm, yeah. I can’t throw my life away just yet when I just found out the girl I’ve been pining for actually feels the same.”
Nnhgh??! Good thing Eren keeps talking because you certainly can’t string together anything coherent after such a blatant confession. You’re going to ignore all the implications of that, mainly the fact that Eren has probably liked you for a while now.
“I’m cold,” he says, arms reaching out to you as he unabashedly reveals his more clingy nature to you for the first time. You're thinking this might be the beginning of him finally opening up to someone, that if you knock, he'll let you in. You touch his wrists, brushing your fingers along his palm and down his fingers.
“You’re a liar,” you say, feeling nothing but heat when you touch him. You then add, quietly, “I'm... feeling a little chilly though.”
“C'mere,” he says, abandoning all guardedness and reservation.
Instead of leaning back into his arms as you did before, this time, you meet him in an embrace that lets you wrap your arms around his neck, your face buried in the crook of his shoulder and your chest pressed against his. Eren’s surprise doesn’t last long when his arms wound around you in the most protective manner possible.
Knowing what you know now, you wonder if that was what he really meant all along—do you trust me? doesn’t seem all too distant from do you love me? anyway. You know for sure that your answer would be the same now and you’re certain it won’t be long until Eren figures that out too.