Mikasa was lying on bed. She had a hand on her forehead.

Mikasa was stressed. Eren was avoiding her. He would back up when she tried to touch him, he would avoid conversation with her, and if she actually managed to touch him, he'd jump back, almost as if he was scared.

And it hurt. It hurt a lot. What hurt even worse was that she knew why.

Eren was afraid he was going to hurt her. He was absolutely terrified. The look he had when he was at court when they said he harmed Mikasa was such a mortified look that she almost expected this.

But she wasn't prepared for how much it would hurt.

Mikasa stood up, walking out of her bedroom. She needed to go outside and think.

She walked down the hall, slipping outside. What she wasn't expecting was for Eren to be out there too.

"Eren!"

Eren turned, and his face went panicked.

"M…Mikasa…"

"I wasn't expecting you to be here," Mikasa said quietly.

"Y-yeah, well, I was about to go inside, so-"

Eren tried running off. Mikasa caught his hand though.

"Eren!"

Eren tried to pull his hand out of her grip, his eyes filled with terror.

"Mikasa! Let go of me!"

"No! Eren, you keep avoiding to me! You haven't been talking to me, and I can't take it anymore!" Mikasa cried.

"…I just…I don't want to hurt you!" Eren said, tears filling his eyes.

"Eren, why would you hurt me?" Mikasa asked. Eren stopped struggling.

"…I almost killed you, Mikasa…I almost killed you…" Eren said, tears now streaming down his face. Mikasa felt her heart wrench. She hadn't seen him a cry in a long time.

"Eren…"

"I don't know what I'd do with myself if I actually did end up killing you…I'm trying to protect you…like you've always done for me…" Eren said, his voice cracked.

"Eren…"

"So…please…don't stay around me…" Eren begged.

"Eren…why would I ever do that…?"

Mikasa suddenly wrapped her arms around Eren. His eyes widened as he struggled.

"Mikasa!"

"Eren, please…listen."

Eren stopped moving and went quiet.

"Eren…I'm not going to leave your side. You could do anything. You could hurt me…kill me…hate me…ignore me…but I will never leave you. Never. Not as long as I'm alive," Mikasa said firmly.

"Mikasa…why…why aren't you scared of me?" Eren asked quietly. Mikasa felt her heart ache.

"I could never fear you, Eren."

"But…I could kill you…I'm a threat…you should at least hate me…" Eren said.

"What did I just say, Eren? I'll never hate you. Ever."

There was a moment of silence.

"…Thank you…Mikasa…" Eren whispered.

"Anytime, Eren…just please…don't ever do that again…" Mikasa begged. Eren pulled away from her embrace and nodded.

"Now…it's late. We should head back," Eren said.

Mikasa nodded with a smile.

And Mikasa thought as they walked inside, 'Eren…with you…I can withstand anything.'