Eren's Tainted Rose

ch. twenty-seven

"Are you okay?"

I lifted my gaze up to see blue eyes. Armin was looking down at me with a worried expression, his brows drawn close together, his lips in a tight line.

I wanted to say yes. I wanted to reassure him that everything was fine. I wanted to trick myself into believing it.

And for the most part, everything was fine. Nothing had happened, but things felt off. My gut was telling me something, but what was it?

"I don't know Armin," I sighed.

"Talk to me," he sat down in front of me, setting his hands on top of mine. It was comforting, it was sweet, and it was everything I needed in that moment.

I met his eyes once again, "I don't know what to say. I just... do you ever get this weird feeling? Like something is gonna happen?"

Armin blinked once, and then again before responding. "What is your gut telling you, Y/N?"

I shrugged. "I'm not sure."

"Did something happen to cause you to feel this way?"

"Eren. He didn't do anything but it started as soon as I was with him yesterday. He was apologizing for everything again. He was telling me he loved me."

Armin's expression changed into understanding. His grip tightened on my hands ever so slightly.

"You're worried. That's normal, especially considering you and him just started interacting again. You're putting too much thought into it, Y/N. Things were bad before, but you two are good now. Don't allow yourself to overthink too much. You guys are good, there's nothing that's going to mess that up for you. Allow yourself to be content. Okay? You're not used to being with him anymore. Let yourself grow used to it again."

I listened to his words, replayed them in my mind and let them sink into the pit of my stomach. Maybe he's right. Maybe nothing is actually wrong. I have no reason to believe that something is.

Eren had done nothing. I'm just so scared to lose him again that I'm reading into the smallest things way more than I should. That's all it is.

"You're probably right," I sighed, letting go of his hands and running it through my hair.

"Let me know if you need anything okay?" Armin smiled.

"I will, thank you."

Armin stood up, giving me one last glance before he left me all alone.

. . .

Everyone had just gotten back into town from going outside of the Walls. We were all exhausted, wishing to be granted permission to sleep the rest of the day away.

"You look tired," Reiner joked, elbowing me. I looked up and him, rolling my eyes.

"You don't look very energized yourself, Reiner."

"You must be seeing things," he shrugged, a smirk on his face. The bags under his eyes were prominent, his pace more slow than usual, his movements lazy.

"Fight me and we'll see who's more tired," I grinned.

"Oh, you know what? I think Bert is calling me!" Reiner glanced around, searching for his friend.

"No I didn't, Reiner. Don't use me to get out of the situation you put yourself in."

We both turned around to see Bertholdt standing behind us, his arms crossed.

"You're supposed to go along with it!" Reiner groaned.

I laughed, waving bye to them before catching up with Sasha and Conny.

"Y/N!" Conny jumped up and down, throwing his arms around me before Sasha had the chance.

"Hey! She's mine," Sasha pouted, stomping her foot.

"Too slow," Conny teased, patting my head with a smile before moving out the way for Sasha to hug me.

"Come here Sash," I laughed, hugging her too.

"Where's Jean?" Conny asked, looking around for him.

"No idea, thought he'd be with you guys," I shrugged.

Sasha shook her head, "After we got back, he vanished."

I quickly observed my surroundings, looking for Mikasa, who was no where in sight. If they're together, it's none of my business, but sooner or later, more people than just me are going to catch on.

"He's probably just really tired and went back to his room," I made up an excuse, grabbing their arms and pulling them along with me. "Now come on. Time to eat."

. . .

"You wanted to see me?" I asked, watching as Levi set his papers down on his desk. His dark eyes flickered up to mine, his brows furrowed.

"Yes, I did," he responded, folding his hands together. "How are you?"

"I'm good sir, why do you ask?"

He took a deep breathe before releasing it slowly. "There's a big job. One I need done as soon as you can. Erwin doesn't think it's a good idea, so I'm asking you to do this without his knowledge of it. Understood?"

I blinked. Captain Erwin and Levi usually don't always agree, but even when they don't, one or the other always gives in. Hearing Captain Levi say he's doing this behind Captain Erwin's back was shocking.

"Anything you need, sir. What's the job and why isn't Erwin okay with it?"

"Since when did you think it was okay to ask so many questions? I have a job for you and you need to do it. That's all that matters," he muttered.

"Okay," I grit my teeth, annoyed with his tone.

"I... I didn't mean to sound that way. It's a job that consists of you meeting with people I knew in the Underground. I can't go myself, so I'm trusting you to do it. Erwin is against it, and so he won't know. I'll give you your instructions tomorrow with everything you need to know. Alright?"

"Yessir," I nodded, causing him to look away and pick his papers up once again.

"Goodnight Y/N," he dismissed me. I left without another word, silently making my way to my room with a million thoughts racing my mind.

Nothing about this felt good. And neither did my gut feeling about Eren.

What's going on lately?

___

super short again just bc i wasn't able to update yesterday like i thought i could. tomorrow is very free for me though so ill have enough time to write a VEERRYYY long chapter for you guys :)) thanks for everything