𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐌𝐄 𝐓𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 | eren jaeger

17

; 𝐢 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝'𝐯𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧.

As the days passed, life on the island became a monotonous blur. Day after day of fixing damaged homes and property, farming, and all sorts of other manual labour kept everyone occupied, albeit in a very tedious way.

Then, a strange ship washed up on its shores, and signalled the acceleration of Eren's plans.

They would soon come to miss their simple, boring lives.

*

"... are you sure we can trust them?"

"What else are we meant to do? They have more information about the outside world than we could ever dream of getting ourselves."

Following the arrival of captured Marleyan soldiers from the ship that had arrived at the island, [Name] and Eren's sequestered meetings soon began to increase. However, with everyone on high alert - especially Mikasa - it also required the two of them to get creative with their meeting places.

In the late hours of the night, long after everyone else had retired, [Name] and Eren lay on a pile of straw in an empty stable. Although it reeked of manure and piss, the two made do with what they had and tried not to make too much noise or move around much.

"I mean... I guess the train thingy has been useful," sighed [Name], lying with her arms beneath the back of her head. As she stared up at the rotting wooden ceiling and its beams, she also added, "I wish I was looking up at the stars and not the inside of a dilapidated barn."

"Nice word. Dilapidated." Eren laughed, and turned to look at his companion. "Sounds like someone's started reading. Good on you for expanding your vocabulary."

"I— hey!" Before [Name] could protest, Eren had reached out and ruffled her hair. "Why are you treating me like an idiot? I learned that word in elementary school, you asswipe!"

"Another nice word. You're on fire."

[Name] rolled her eyes as Eren laughed at her expense, and responded by punching him in the chest.

"Anyways, enough about the big plan." Eren propped himself up on one elbow and positioned himself so that he was gazing down at [Name]. "A lot of time has passed, so I thought it'd be okay to ask now."

"Oh, great," said [Name] sarcastically, lolling her head to the side so that she was staring up at Eren. "Bring on the questions."

"How did it feel being with Jean?"

"Dating him?"

"... yeah. Are you... were you in love?"

Although [Name] had a plethora of jokes she would have loved to pull out, she figured that this definitely wasn't the time for them.

"Whatever love means to a thirteen year old," she snorted, lying flat on her back once more and staring up at the rotting wood. "Or twelve? I can't remember how old we were. You're going to have to be more specific with your questions, Eren."

Eren sighed, and made himself comfortable next to [Name]. Shoulder to shoulder, they now both had a good view of the rotting ceiling above them.

"Whatever you felt then is probably more than I ever have."

"What makes you say that?"

"I mean... even though you two weren't public about it, you still mutually agreed that you wanted to be romantically involved, right?"

"... oh." Seeing where the conversation was going, [Name] sucked air through her teeth and said,  "You don't have to be romantically involved to love someone. It's okay to love Mikasa and not be 'romantically involved', as you so brilliantly put it."