TAKE IT SLOW ୨୧ EREN
you were twelve, eren was ten.
the first time you two met was not really a typical childhood friends getting to know each other. more like you didn’t like him and he was adamant to bother you.
you were prim, matured, and quiet. he was reckless, impulsive, and hot-tempered.
yin and yang. sun and moon. black and white. monochrome and colorful. girl and boy.
you slapped his hands away from you as he tugged your hair. “eren, stop! you’re hurting me!”
he immediately let go and looked away. his face showed a bit of shame and remorse. he didn’t know why, but he wanted your attention to him and only him. not to armin. not to mikasa.
you shook your head in defeat. “you’re still a boy so there’s no use in scolding you.”
his face turned into a scarlet color and started whining like a little boy.
“shut up! i’m not a boy anymore! i’m thirteen! thir!teen!”
you did not believe him at all and it showed. “sure, eren, sure.”
you were fourteen, eren was twelve.
you enlisted the military first before him. he expressed a great excitement for your upcoming journey when you first said that you’re going to join the military. it’s either military, live in the farms, or marry someone.
you obviously knew what option you were going to make.
both of you were chilling by the riverside when you dropped the news. armin and mikasa didn’t come with you as they helped aunt carla in the house.
he immediately hogged your personal space and you almost jumped to the river. your heart was about to get out of your chest with his actions!
“really? are you going to join survey corps?!”
you looked away from him and stared at the river gently flowing in front of you. you haven’t still made a decision as to where you will join. you crossed the military police to your list as you’ve seen how corrupt the cops were.
you just gave him a shrug. “i don’t know, eren. i still haven’t thought about it.”
“join the survey corps so we’ll be the same military regiment!”
you raised an eyebrow. “you’re planning to joining now? fifteen is the requirement.”
“no, just saying!” he suddenly turned bashful and couldn’t look at you in the eye. “so we can see the world together…”
you paused and gazed at his twinkling eyes. throughout the years you have known him, his eyes were his biggest assets. his viridian eyes were brighter than doctor jaeger’s and full of fiery determination to join the survey corps. he was also starting to act like an… adult. you heard him said the word ‘slaughter’ to armin one time.
“… with mikasa and armin, right?”
he suddenly frowned and an unknown emotion flashed through his eyes. he deflated and blankly watched the river.
you saw eren as a younger brother who annoyed the hell out of everyone. so you were not sure how to approach this kind of behavior. it took you half a year before you opened your heart to him and placed a role into it.
both of you basked in the warm presence of the breeze with uncomfortable silence hovering above you.
you were seventeen, he was fifteen.
your family was dead. there were no letters given to you by the time you were graduating. no energetic responses from your father, no comfort food from your mother, and no random trinkets from your little brother.
you couldn’t sleep. you couldn’t eat.
it felt like life was sucked out of your very being.
if it was not for captain levi scolding you for wasting your life by rotting away and not being productive, you would continue doing that.
“we’re going to have new recruit,” captain levi informed his squad.
“oh, i’m excited!” petra exclaimed. as always, olou chimed in.
“they better not be a show-off! well, i am the secon—“ he bit his tongue and blood poured out. petra scolded him and they bickered as usual.
you were staring at the horizon with the sun glaring at all of you. the squad was having a tea afternoon, courtesy of captain levi.
you wondered if eren, armin, and mikasa survived. you considered them your family and you would probably slaughter all the titans for revenge. you did not think about them until a a yesr later since you were busy mourning and training.
“are you okay, kid?”
you looked over at captain levi who asked that. he was holding the cup in the weird way and you never got how he expertly handled it.
you blinked and felt the tiredness in your bones. “hmm.”
he was looking at you over the rim before he put the cup down. he stood up and called his squad over.
“get some rest. you’re going to meet the recruit tomorrow.”
you were seventeen, he was fifteen when you guys met each other again.
“this is eren jaeger. he will be under my wing and i expect you all to protect him with your lives. understood?”
you were gaping at him as if you just saw a ghost. well, you literally did. you didn’t know what to do right now. you assumed he’s dead so you’ve taken your heavy heart towards the path of healing. but here you were, ripping your heart out of your lungs and blood dripping out of his hands.
when his bright viridian eyes clashed with your own, you knew you were doomed.
you took your time analyzing him. the alive and breathing eren. your childhood friend eren.
when… when did he become an adult? his height towered you and you needed to look up to meet his gaze. his eyes became more intense. there was this fire that was slowly burning him from within which reflected in his eyes. and when he stood before you with arms bulging and eager to hug your warmth, you couldn’t resist.
you snakes your arms around his neck and placed your head on his shoulders. you felt him wrapping his arms around your waist and tightening his hold closer to his being.
“[name]… you’re alive…” he whispered between the two of you.
you heaved a sigh. “yeah… i am.”
you unclasped your hold to him and gazed at him with an unreadable expression.
“you grew up so fast. i still remembered you were a young boy bothering me to play with him.”
he cocked his head to the side. “yeah? well, i’m not a boy anymore, [name], i’m a man. an adult. you should treat me as one.”
you didn’t know why your heart was pumping loudly against your chest. his intense gaze was making you nervouse and his hold on you felt like you could never escape.
you crossed your arms. “well, you’re two years younger than me!”
“not a big difference! i am not a boy!”
“sure! whatever keeps you sleep at night!”
“oh, i slept very fine all right.”
both of you were busy bantering and you didn’t even notice the captain levi squad gawking at you two. captain levi couldn’t wait to interrogate you whether you are in cahoots with eren or a titan also.
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