Beneath Those Walls

by Average Fiction

Annie had spent a lot of time and effort constructing walls around her to keep people at a distance, but he just had to start chiseling away at them to get to her heart. [AnnieXEren, High School AU, Oneshot]

It's rather easy to get lost when looking up at the stars. All of those bright, glimmering, little dots of light shining in the dark night sky can have an almost hypnotic effect on a person. Even with their incredibly massive distance from the earth, they still have an uncanny ability to make whoever happens to be looking at them feel surprisingly small. Not necessarily small in an insignificant sort of way however; more so in a way that just made you appreciate how incomprehensible and awe-inspiring the universe actually is. Yet at the same time, it makes you come to the realization that you're quite important too. For all we know, we could be the only existing life in the entire known universe. All of the mysteries and questions we could ever ask were just hanging there right above us; the answers so tantalizingly out of reach.

That's how Annie felt, at least. Having spent most of her early childhood living in a small rural town, she would commonly climb up on top of her family's barn and simply lay there during the night; letting her distinctive blue eyes trace lines between the stars and celestial bodies to create her own imaginary doodles in the sky. Far from the cities and free from all of the lights that come with them, Annie could do this almost every night. She was never the most outgoing kid, not even during her younger years when you're apparently supposed to be filled with things like childlike wonder and such. She had friends, but her usual preference was never to just go run around and play. Rather, Annie could usually be found reading a book or practicing martial arts with her dad.

It wasn't that she necessarily disliked being around other people, far from it actually, but she always found herself to be much more comfortable and content when she was alone. When she was by herself, Annie never had to worry about anybody else. She didn't have to be concerned over whether or not she might say or do something that could offend or upset them. When it was just her and her alone, she could relax. Her thoughts could flow freely and clearly, and she could just do the things that she wanted to do – the things that made her happy. It might be the case that Annie hasn't always been the best at expressing her emotions, but contrary to what people may believe about her, that didn't mean that she was incapable of feeling any positive emotions at all.

So that's why she found herself currently lying on her back upon the hood of her car, hands resting behind her head while she stared up into the mesmerizing night sky. Meanwhile, all of her friends were having fun together and enjoying each other's company in the stands; cheering on their high school football team in a game that was at least tightly contested when Annie got up and decided to remove herself for a bit. Large crowds weren't something that the small blonde teen ever truly felt comfortable being within, and this was hardly a secret to those who knew her well. That's why she knew she could get away from everyone for a little while without anyone probing her or asking questions related to her otherwise sudden departure.

Annie glanced back a bit as an enthusiastic cheer arose from the bleachers behind her, a small sigh exhaling from out of her somewhat pronounced nose. While she no doubt enjoyed having this isolated solace, she couldn't help but wonder if anybody had even noticed that she left. She did mention to her group of friends whom she was sitting with that she was going to get some air, which nobody questioned even though they were all already outside, but often Annie felt as if her absence barely even made an impact on the rest of her friends when they were all together. She wasn't the life of the party like Connie or Sasha, and she certainly didn't exude a natural charisma in the same way that someone like Jean or Eren did either. Honestly, if it wasn't for her being such close friends with Reiner and Berthold, sometimes she wondered if she would even be invited to get-togethers like these in the first place.

Brushing some of her hanging bangs out from in front of her right eye and behind her ear, Annie returned her gaze back up towards the stars and sky while trying to push such thoughts out of her head. It's not that she wasn't used to having these sorts of doubts about herself, but lately they'd been taking a heavier toll on her than usual. She knew why this was the case too. While Annie undoubtedly valued all of the friends that she had and the bonds she shared with them, recently she'd felt one of those bonds beginning to grow much stronger than all of the other ones. It was an unfamiliar thing to her at first; she'd always considered herself to be quite adept at preventing herself from getting too attached to people, since she knew that they could always be taken away from you in an instant. If some people wanted to call her cold-hearted or emotionally devoid because of that, it was no skin off of her back. She wasn't going to allow herself to have her heart foolishly broken when it was more than possible to avoid it just by not getting caught up in the often unpredictable gamut of emotions that came with being a teenage girl.

This time though, she couldn't help herself. Initially, once she realized what was happening, she was upset and even disappointed in herself for allowing such feelings to grow inside of her heart. It went against everything that she thought she stood for as a person, and it was deeply unsettling at times for her to have to come to terms with the fact that as much as she might want to try, she couldn't deny what she was feeling. As time progressed, Annie began to grow more and more comfortable with the idea of – dare she say it? – being in love.

"They're beautiful, aren't they?"

Annie inhaled a bit sharply upon hearing a new voice abruptly make its presence known beside her. Having been too caught up in her own thoughts, and too spaced out with her sleek icy blue eyes staring up into the cosmos, she had failed to even realize that somebody had walked up beside her car. Quickly turning her head though to identify her visitor, she couldn't help but feel her heart flutter a bit as her eyes locked onto Eren's serene turquoise orbs that were looking right back down at her. Despite what she might be feeling inside, Annie maintained her usual somber and sullen outward appearance in order to prevent any of her true emotions from cracking through the impenetrable exterior she had worked so hard to craft and preserve.

"What's beautiful?" Annie replied curtly with a question of her own, honestly uncertain of what it is that Eren was referring to. For a brief and fleeting moment, she thought that he might actually be talking about her, but realized from the way he asked it that there's no way that could possibly be the case.

"The stars; they're beautiful, don't you think? I mean, I think I heard that in a movie once, but I guess it really is true. You mind if I join you?" Eren responded with a warm and genuine smile, giving Annie pause for a moment or so before she nods and slides over towards the side of her silver Chevrolet Camaro, making room on the hood of the car for the secret apple of her eye. He is quick to take up the space himself too as he carefully lifts himself up onto the hood of Annie's car and lays down on his back beside her, their arms brushing against one another slightly due to the close confines of the space that they're occupying together in the school parking lot.

"What made you come out here?" Annie asks just as Eren is getting comfortable, sitting up a tad bit herself and glancing over at him. Knowing that she can't let her sharp, large blue eyes linger upon him for too long, the diminutive but physically fit blonde does her best to take in his appearance in the small amount of time she can before her casual glance becomes a suspicious stare. The physical attraction that she felt towards him was essentially undeniable; especially considering how well-toned and chiseled Eren's body was from his place on the boys' soccer team. It was the type of body and figure that made Annie practically melt inside underneath all of her tough outer shell; as opposed to the clearly buff and muscular types like Reiner.

Adorning Eren's body was his long-sleeved, pullover jacket that he got from being a part of the soccer team. Annie thought that its dark blue color complimented his facial features rather nicely, especially in the glow of the moonlight, and it had "E. Jaeger" stitched upon it in the upper left breast in a neat and tidy white font. The hem of his dark green t-shirt was visible, peeking out from the bottom of the jacket that he frequently wore; particularly now in the cool months of autumn when said jacket was just the right kind of protection from the chilling weather. Traveling down Eren's torso and past his waist, Annie's eyes roamed down his legs and the dark denim jeans that covered them up, all the way down to his feet which he had crossed over one another at the ankles and where he was wearing a pair of black Nike athletic shoes with red laces and a matching trim around the sole.

"I can't come out to say 'hi' to a friend? I know that you like your privacy and all, but I thought that you might like some company anyway." Eren replied, still casting a warm and friendly smile over at Annie that only grew wider as he added, "Plus, I'm trying to hide from Mikasa for a little bit. She saw me talking to a couple of girls while I was in line to get some snacks for everyone, and she pulled me aside once I got back to get on my case about being careful who I'm seen with. I know that she's just trying to look out for me, but I swear that sometimes it feels more like she's a second mother than she is a sister." Eren chuckled while Annie glowered a bit to herself, her gaze still directed upwards so that he couldn't notice her scowl in the momentary time that it came and went.

Eren was too naïve to see it. Hell, it seemed like everybody was too naïve to see it except for Annie. She's seen the ways that Mikasa has looked at Eren, the ways that she's spoken both to him and about him, and the things that she's done for her adoptive brother. Everybody else might just simply see it as Mikasa being a bit too overly-protective of Eren, chalking it up to the fact that she lost her own family as a small child and figuring that she's just formed a very strong attachment to Eren since he helped her cope through that harrowing time years ago. Annie, however, is quite confident in her belief that Mikasa's feelings for Eren run far deeper than they may appear to all of their other friends. Hence why she couldn't help but mentally recoil a bit when Eren brought his sister's name up, as Annie knows that if she ever wanted to even dream about being with Eren, she would have to figure out a way to deal with Mikasa first.

It's not that Annie really had any personal feelings of malice towards Mikasa, but she knew that she really couldn't hope to compete against her taller, dark-haired friend in a battle for Eren's affections. This, provided that Eren wouldn't be too put off or uncomfortable with entering into that kind of relationship with Mikasa; considering that she is legally his adopted sister despite them having no blood relation whatsoever. Mikasa knew Eren better than Annie, or anyone else, could ever hope to know him. In a sense the two of them would almost be a perfect couple, and that wasn't lost on Annie either. As much as she might hate to admit it, bearing in mind her own feelings for Eren, she knew that he would probably be happier in the long run with Mikasa then he would be with her. Eren would want to be with a girl who could always make him laugh when he needed to be cheered up. He'd want to be with a girl who he could talk with about anything and everything. Most of all, he'd want to be with a girl who wasn't so god-damned afraid of her own emotions, that she had spent years of her life constructing and fortifying walls around them to keep anyone else from being able to access them; as well as making sure that none of her more sensitive emotions could ever escape and be seen.

"Hey Annie…uhh, are you okay?" Eren asked with a bit of concern in his voice, propping himself up on one elbow to get a better look at the petit, young girl laying to his right. Peering past her mane of sunshine-yellow hair that was tied up in its usual bun, Eren was fairly shocked to see that it looked like a single tear was slowly trickling its way from the corner of one of Annie's piercing blue eyes and down her soft, pale cheek.

"Yeah, I'm…" Annie started to respond in a somewhat softer-than-normal voice before realizing too late why it was that Eren had decided to ask how she was feeling. Gasping out a bit and reaching a tiny hand up to her cheek to wipe away the lone salty tear, Annie found herself almost frozen. Her trembling fingertips remained upon cheek, and her tender, pink lips remained slightly parted open from her own immense surprise at what she had done while exploring the tumultuous myriad of thoughts swirling within her mind. Temporarily lost in her own silent, emotional stupor, she was helpless to do anything to stop the walls that she'd spent so many years building up and reinforcing from finally breaking at long last. All of the work that she had done to repress these things inside of her had disappeared in an instant.

"Annie…you know if something is wrong, you can talk to me about it. That's what friends are for, right? I mean, I know we're not as close as you are with Reiner or Berthold, but I like to think that we're still close enough that you could talk to me if you had a problem. Especially because I really think we've become better friends over the past few months ever since you started teaching me judo." Eren said in an effort to assure Annie that he was worthy of her trust when it came to what was obviously a sensitive issue. Honestly she found it a bit amusing to see just how unknowingly eager and adamant he was, the brown-haired boy being totally oblivious to the fact that he was in fact at the crux of her problems.

He was right though in stating his belief that the two of them had grown a lot closer ever since he had approached her a few months back, asking her if she could train him in judo and the other disciplines of martial arts that she was well-versed in as an unorthodox way for him to stay in shape during the summer. Annie was hesitant at first to agree, but with enough pleading on Eren's part, he convinced her to take him on as a student of hers. Meeting twice a week now for their practice sessions at her house, it had allowed them the opportunity to get to know each other better. Annie had actually grown to enjoy their sessions quite a bit, and not just because it meant she got to spend time alone with the boy she had begun to fall in love with. It was her own dad who had taught her most of what she knew about martial arts, and getting to pass this knowledge onto Eren served as a rather nice way for the young blonde to remember her now late father. Plus, she didn't exactly mind getting the chance to put her hands on Eren and have him do the same to her, especially since most of the time it ended up with him being on the floor.

"Eren…I appreciate your concern, but really I'm fine." Annie replied politely but dismissively to her beloved, hoping that he wouldn't press the issue with her. She knew fully-well that there was no chance of Eren actually believing the lie she had just told, but she could only hope that he'd respect her wishes and back off in his questioning. Unfortunately, Eren's hard-headedness was the stuff of legend.

"Annie, no offense, but you and I both know that that's bullshit. For you of all people to be crying, that's—" Eren retorted before being abruptly cut off by the small-statured girl lying next to him on the hood of her silver car.

"I wasn't crying." She said firmly and a bit forcefully, turning her own head now to stare down Eren, who now found himself face-to-face with a pair of large, imposing, crystal blue eyes glaring into his own turquoise ones. In a sense, Annie wasn't really crying as she only allowed one tear to escape before catching herself and getting it to stop, but technicalities didn't obscure the truth. Even now, her rather striking eyes were still gleaming a bit with the welled up tears that didn't manage to leak out from the beautiful blue orbs they were trapped within.

"Okay…you weren't crying. I'm sorry." Eren said apologetically, realizing how wounded Annie's pride was right now just by being caught in a moment of weakness, something that previously would have been unthinkable to any one of her friends. "But I'm still not stupid enough to actually believe that there's nothing wrong. Come on Annie…please talk to me." He continued however, still refusing to allow what happened to just be swept under the rug. Hoping to calm Annie down somewhat and maybe make her more open to actually telling him what was upsetting her; he reached one of his hands out towards her and closed the small amount of distance between them by gently grasping onto one of her own tiny hands.

Annie couldn't keep herself from averting her gaze and glancing down as she felt Eren's fingers tenderly wrap around her hand, her muscles seizing up slightly and a minor blush beginning to burn upon her cheeks at the unexpected and somewhat intimate physical contact. She couldn't even remember the last time she had had her hand held by a boy like this, let alone one she cared about this much. It startled her a bit really, just how much she was being affected by something as simple as the act of holding hands. It also occurred to Annie that while this was having such a profound impact on her, it was simultaneously completely meaningless for Eren; or at least it didn't have anywhere close to the same meaning to him that it had for her.

Either way, it seemed as if this action was having the desired results for Eren, as he watched his distressed female friend slowly sit herself up and run the fingers of her free hand through her bright yellow hair. He joined her and sat up himself, crossing his own legs together underneath him while Annie sat with her short, shapely legs bent in front of her; her knees pointed up into the air while the soles of her gray sneakers sat flat upon the hood of her car. Taking a deep breath, she glanced back up at Eren's calming face for a moment before shifting her gaze forward again and staring out towards the school from where the two of them currently sat in the mostly empty parking lot.

"Eren…even if I wanted to tell you what was wrong, I couldn't. I don't expect you to understand, and I don't expect you to accept it either, but that's the situation. I'm sorry if you aren't happy with that…but I don't have any other choices." Annie said wistfully to him as her thoughts and feelings weighed heavily upon her head, a part of her wishing that she could just be free from these self-imposed, invisible shackles and spill everything out to Eren. That part of her wanted to tell him how crazy she was about him, and how great she felt whenever he was around. It wanted to tell him about how he occupied her thoughts during the day, and how he was often present during her dreams at night. That part of her so desperately desired to just confess her love and either have him accept it or throw it back in her face. However, that part of her was embroiled in a bitter and losing war with the rest of her conscience that steadfastly commanded her to keep her love locked away within the fortress of her heart; so as not to upset the balance or dynamics within the group of friends that she and Eren both shared, which would happen whether he reciprocated her feelings or not.

"You always have a choice Annie. I'm sure that whatever it is that's on your mind right now; it can't be so bad that you can't even tell one of your friends about it so that they can help you." Eren countered as he continued his efforts to persuade his clearly troubled friend into confiding in him, eliciting a deep sigh from Annie as the battle continued within her over whether or not admit to Eren how she really felt about him. "Annie…if you're in trouble, I want to do whatever I can to make sure you're okay. I don't want to sound too morbid or anything, but if you got hurt and there was something that I could have done to stop it from happening…I would never be able to forgive myself." He added, sensing that he was slowly but surely making progress towards convincing Annie to open up to him.

"I…it's nothing like that Eren. I'm not in any danger." Annie replied in order to quell the brunette boy's fears some, it now being his turn to let out a small sigh of relief this time.

"Good. Sorry to be paranoid like that. It's just that if something like that did happen to you, I would be devastated." Eren admitted, his words causing Annie to turn her head and look back over at him with intrigue in her spellbinding blue eyes.

"You really mean that? You…would be devastated?" she asked in the hopes of hearing it be repeated to her, wanting to make sure that she hadn't just imagined those words leaving Eren's lips and traveling into her ears.

"Of course I would. I mean, all of us would be devastated if you ever got hurt or something; especially if there was something that any one of us could have done to prevent it." Responded the apple of her eye in affirmation, causing her to look away again and contemplate what she had thought about earlier in regards to her status among her group of friends. She knew that they all cared about her to a certain extent at least, but she'd always figured that she was towards the bottom of the totem pole for most of them. Maybe that wasn't the greatest way to think about her friends, but she knew it was probably true. Outside of Reiner and Berthold, and now more recently Eren, she wasn't particularly close with any of them. Sure, she could go the gym with Ymir or study with Armin at the library and have a perfectly good time, but she doubted that she was ever the first person that they would invite.

A few seconds of silence followed between the two of them, the only noises being the ambient ones of the night, and those coming from the packed stands of the school football field in the distance behind them. Just as Eren was about to open his mouth to say something though, Annie's voice stopped him as she was the first to speak again.

"What would you do?" she asked him simply. A few moments passed by without any response from Eren, prompting Annie to turn her head back towards him with a moderately scrutinizing stare. "What would you do if something bad happened to me?" she reiterated with a bit more clarification on what she meant, Eren still unsure of what to say in response to his secret admirer's question as he returned her gaze with uncertainty. It was clear though that Annie was expecting an answer from him, so he was left with no choice but to give her one.

"I…I don't know. I don't even want to imagine that happening Annie. I know that I would do everything that I possibly could to help you recover from…whatever had happened. No matter what you asked of me, it wouldn't be a problem as long as I knew that you needed me to do it. If, God forbid, anything were ever to happen, you'd always be able to count on me being there." Eren finally managed to say, hoping that it was deemed good enough by the small but imposing blonde girl seated to his right. Annie's face was always difficult to read though, and at this particular time it was damn near impossible.

"And what if I couldn't be helped? What if there was nothing that you could do for me? What if I was gone?" she followed up after taking a few seconds to absorb Eren's reply, her thin eyebrows scrunching down and her opulent blue eyes narrowing as she stared over at him. Meanwhile, he could only try to wonder where the hell all of this was coming from. He had no idea why Annie seemed so fixated on these questions and getting answers to them out of him, but he had been training with her long enough by now to know that it was in his best interests to keep going along with whatever it was that she wanted. Be that as it may, he couldn't bring himself to respond to this as well without at least expressing his reluctance to do so.

"Annie…why are we even talking about this? You said that you weren't in any sort of trouble. If you're not, then why does it matter so much to you what I would do? I'm not trying to be rude, but just…please, can we not talk about this? I don't like it at all." Eren told her honestly, having to turn his head away from hers halfway through as he could feel her eyes boring a hole right through him. Looking down at the black asphalt of the parking lot now, he hoped that Annie would relent in what he felt was becoming more and more of an interrogation to him. Alas, he was not so lucky.

"Why don't you like it? I want to know Eren, what would you do if one day I just wasn't here anymore? How would it affect you? Would you even care at all?" Annie continued, strategically needling the boy she longed for with her line of questioning. Eren was more than discomforted by it, but hearing her dare to ask if he would even care one bit if she was no longer in his life, was not something that he was going to just be able to let slide.

"What?! Of course I would care Annie! How could you even think otherwise?! I just sat here and told you how devastated I would be if something bad actually did happen to you! Now you're accusing me of lying, is that it? I wouldn't lie to you Annie; especially not about something as serious as this!" Eren snapped at his fair-haired companion, admittedly hurt and offended by Annie implicating that everything he had said about how he'd be affected if she was hurt was nothing but a lie.

These weren't Annie's actual intentions or beliefs though. She knew that Eren could have a short temper at times, above all if somebody ever came after his family or his friends – whom he basically considered to be his extended family anyway. She also knew that because of this, if she were to openly question just how committed he was to one of his friends (specifically herself in this situation), he was likely to respond more emotionally than he had been thus far. She needed this to be the case in order for her plan to work as she was hoping it would.

"Then why is it so difficult for you to answer the question? If you care so much, it should be easy for you to express how you would feel." Annie replied just as calm and visibly unperturbed as ever, her expression still stoic and refusing to give away any of her true objectives. Eren gritted his teeth at the complete lack of change in her attitude, actually being a bit taken aback by how cold and callous Annie was being right now. She wasn't the most warm and affable person out there, nobody would dispute that, but rarely did she ever act in the almost spiteful manner that she was at this moment.

"Because I don't want to think about you being dead, Annie! Why is that so hard for you to understand?!" Eren rebuked, almost shouting at the smaller and sullen girl seated next to him before taking a deep breath and reining himself in. "If you weren't here anymore…I don't know what I would do. I care about you a lot Annie, whether you want to believe it or not. Hell, I probably care about you more than you'll ever actually realize." He added, spinning his head of thick, brown hair away from Annie as he finished speaking and gazing off blankly down the parking lot. In doing so, he failed to notice her eyes widening to some extent as a result of hearing his last sentence.

"What do you mean? You'll care about me more than I ever realize, what do you mean by that?" Annie asked with heavy intrigue now, her heart rate starting to increase in an anxious anticipation. She knew that there was something more hidden in what Eren had just said; otherwise he wouldn't have included that last sentence at all. Her amplified blue eyes could see him bristle ever so slightly at being asked to elaborate too, only further deepening Annie's suspicion that Eren was holding back something that he wished to say.

"Nothing. Just forget that I said that, okay? I was mad and I sort of just spit it out. It didn't mean anything." Eren said to quickly dismiss Annie's inquisition, trying his best to avoid having to give any sort of more truthful explanation of what he meant when he said that. He made a move to slide off the side of the hood of Annie's silver Camaro, hopeful that he could just escape and bring her back with him to watch the game with all of their friends. She wasn't about to let him get away so easily though, and Eren felt one of her slender hands reach out and grab onto his forearm to keep him from leaving.

"No, I'm not going to just forget it. I know that you wouldn't have said that if you didn't mean anything by it. So what did you mean?" Annie said firmly, asking once again what Eren had insinuated when the young teen heartthrob said that he, in all likelihood, actually cared about her more than the girl with the dandelion-colored hair would ever know. Her grip upon his arm was strong, and she didn't intend to let him go anywhere until she got an honest answer out of him.

Eren attempted to pull his arm forward some, only to feel it get tugged back into place by the menacing, small, blonde girl sitting behind him. He let out a heavy sigh as he came to the realization that he wasn't going back to the field anytime soon; not unless he gave Annie the answer that she was looking for at least. Knowing he was essentially defeated, he turned himself back around and expected to find Annie glaring right through him. What he found instead was rather surprising; her big, lustrous blue eyes were soft and pleading in an almost sorrowful manner. This was a side of her that Eren couldn't recall ever seeing before, and ultimately he couldn't bring himself to deny her any longer.

"Annie…if I tell you what I meant, then you have to promise me that you won't tell anybody else about it. I swear, Armin and Mikasa don't even know about this, so if I tell you then I need to know that it's only going to stay between the two of us." Eren relented as he forced himself to start mustering up the courage to reveal the truth, now that he had already committed to doing that much. He felt Annie's hand release its grip on his arm, apparently meaning that she was fine with these terms.

"I promise you Eren, I won't tell a single person. Whatever you say will only be for me to hear. I respect you too much to betray your trust like that." Annie said in agreement, nodding to him as the two of them sat together; facing each other on the hood of her car. Eren nodded back, still getting his thoughts together and determining how to word this. In the meantime though, it was hard for him not to admire the way that the trim and toned blonde looked while bathed in the moonlight shining down from the night sky.

She had on a light gray, corduroy jacket with a plain, white t-shirt underneath it that featured a slight vee-neck collar. Further down, she wore a pair of faded blue skinny jeans which clung to her impeccably sculpted little legs rather tightly. Finally, she had on a pair of dark blue Converse high-tops to wear upon her miniature feet. It was a simple outfit, but still one that Eren thought Annie wore remarkably well. She wasn't the least bit concerned about things like fashion – relative to other girls at least, she did still care about looking good – but she didn't really have to put much effort into making herself presentable. Her face was often absent of very much makeup as well, letting her natural beauty do the work instead. Sure, she was self-conscious about her nose, but Eren actually found it to be rather cute on her. If you could get past how intimidating she could be at times, you'd find her to actually be quite attractive.

"Alright Annie, this isn't easy for me to say. Uhh…not because I'm not comfortable with it, but just because I don't have any idea how you're going to react when I say it. Umm...shit, where should I start? I guess I'd say that it started around the same time that you started teaching me judo and stuff." Eren said, beginning down the path of spilling his guts to Annie. His gleaming turquoise eyes darted around nervously, only able to make a direct line of contact with her own eyes for a couple of seconds at a time before needing to find something else to look at. "Since then, I feel like the two of us have really become a lot closer to each other. Lately…I've been thinking that maybe we've even grown closer than…just being friends." He added to finish off his statement, a heavy load being lifted from his chest as the words leave his lips and his admission is left to now linger in the air between him and the girl he's just divulged his true feelings for.

For an instant, Annie felt as if her heart had frozen in her chest. This was it. This was the moment that she had so badly wanted to experience for months, and now that it was here she had no idea what to do next. Eren Jaeger, the boy of her dreams, had just professed his own genuine feelings for her; and just like he had predicted, she had no idea how to react. Internally, she couldn't remember the last time she had felt so happy and elated. She loved him, and he at the very least had strong enough feelings for her that could develop into love if they weren't at that point already.

At the same time though, Annie knew that everything wasn't going to be all rainbows and roses just because the two of them could be together now. Neither one of them had any idea how any of their friends would react to this. Presumably they would all be happy for the two of them, but things are rarely that easy. The only certainty that Annie could think of was that Mikasa would most definitely not be happy about it. She detested seeing her adoptive brother hanging out with any other girls for too long at all, save for the ones in their close-knit group, and even then she preferred to be there as well just to supervise. Annie imagined that Mikasa would end up seeing this as a betrayal that couldn't be forgiven, and that would inevitably cause some high tension. She'd have to figure out how to deal with it on her own though, as Eren was too naïve to figure out that Mikasa was harboring her own love for him as well, and Annie decided that she wasn't going to be the one to bring it to his attention. Not with the risks that she'd be taking by doing so.

"You know, you not saying anything really isn't making this any easier for me." Eren stated in a semi-playful tone; trying his best to seem as calm and collected as he can be despite how unsettled he was now that he had just openly declared to Annie his feelings for her. In truth though, Annie had failed to even realize that she had been silent for enough time to prompt Eren to speak up again. She had become so paralyzed be her thoughts as they raced through her head at a mile a minute that she forgot that it was her turn to say something back. Quickly, she moved to rectify her mistake.

"No, it's…it's my fault. I'm sorry, I should have said something. I really do appreciate your willingness to tell me that. It took a lot of courage for you to do it…more courage than I have." Annie said somewhat sheepishly as she was now in the process of chastising herself for being such a coward. She didn't know exactly when Eren had started to see her as someone who could potentially be more than just a friend to him, but it was clear that he'd been holding these emotions for a while. If she had just been brave enough to tell him that she felt that same way about him, they could have gotten together much earlier and already have bypassed the awkward stage of transitioning from friends to significant others.

"What do you mean? You're probably the toughest person that I know. I can't remember ever seeing you get fazed or rattled by anything, except for tonight." Eren said in response, still not entirely clear on what it was that was troubling Annie so much. "Hell, you're one of the only people I can think of who could scare me more than Mikasa does. Uhh, don't tell her I said that though." He added with a small, nervous smile curled upon his lips that Annie thought just looked so soft and enticing right now. She wanted to feel them pressed upon her own so badly; wanted to taste their distinct sweetness and trace them with her tongue to savor the flavor. It's not like there was anything stopping her either. There was nobody else around them in the parking lot right now, and the very few that were there would be too far away to identify either her or Eren. She could just do it right now and finally fulfill her dreams by making them a reality. All she had to do was make her body move and hope that her instincts would do the rest.

Annie could not bring herself to be so bold though. This was entirely uncharted territory for her, and she was still navigating the treacherous waters of romance with the utmost caution. She feared that acting so rashly would end up doing her more harm than good, regardless of how much she wanted to confess to Eren by simply kissing him and hoping that would do all of her talking for her. Words didn't always come easily to Annie, hence why she preferred to carry herself as the strong-but-silent type. It seemed though that she was going to have to call upon her verbal skills here in order to properly convey to Eren that she feels the same way about him that he does about her.

"Eren…Ireallylikeyoutoo." Annie managed to spit out in a considerably harried jumble of words that all ended up running and bleeding together unintelligibly. She realized this too after a moment, and bowed her head in disappointment so that she could curse herself under her breath.

"Umm…sorry, but do you think you could—" Eren started to ask Annie if she could repeat herself so he could get a second chance at understanding what it was she was saying. She was already a step ahead of him though, and butted in before he could finish his request to do just that.

"I said that I…that I really like you too, Eren." Annie succeeded in restating, this time with a much more measured tempo to her words that caused them to be slightly drawn out as they left her tender, pink lips. There; that was it. She had said it. She had finally said it. At once, it felt as if an enormous burden had been removed from her shoulders and chest. No longer was she being weighed down by the desires she felt forced to keep to herself all this time.

Annie picked her head up and turned it back towards Eren, relieved to see him smiling back at her warmly. His smile ended up turning into a lighthearted chuckle though, which concerned Annie a fair amount. Why was he laughing? Had this all been some sort of cruel and elaborate joke that he had orchestrated to hurt her after she'd made herself vulnerable?

"Ah…sorry. I don't mean to laugh." Eren said a bit apologetically as he noticed Annie's brow furrowing and her expression changing to one of confusion and fear. "I can tell this is hard for you; opening up, I mean. It's kinda funny to me though how cute you look when you're uncomfortable." He added genuinely, teasing his now all-but-official new girlfriend a bit. His explanation was once again enough to relieve Annie of any worries she might have had, another sigh passing through her lips as her fear went just as quickly as it had come.

"You know, it really isn't very nice to tease a girl like that." Annie smiled over at Eren as she spoke in a soft voice while sidling up close to him. She proceeded to take him by surprise as she reached over and placed one of her small hands upon his right thigh, resting it there gently atop his jeans. He looked over at her and noticed the devilish smirk slightly curled up on the edges of her lips, only realizing too late why it was present as he cried out in sudden discomfort. "Especially a girl who can think of a dozen different ways just off the top of her head to put you on the ground." Annie added with a sense of satisfaction as she pushed her thumb down into the delicate pressure point located in the wound of her new boyfriend's thigh.

"Alright…point taken. You win. Please don't kill me." Eren playfully responded through breathless grunts of pain; earning a small chuckle out of Annie as she released her grip on him. He exhaled deeply as he felt his blood returning to its normal pattern of flow in the artery that was just being compressed, grateful that the deceptively dangerous blonde seated next to him had decided to show mercy; particularly considering the amount of damage she could have done if her hand had traveled just a couple of inches further up. Still, the presence of Annie's hand on his thigh and in such close proximity to that most tender of regions was enough to get his heart going.

"You should remember though that I actually know how to fight back against you now. So you might want to be careful about trying to pull that kind of stuff on me. It may have worked this time because you caught me by surprise, but I'll be prepared for it in the future." He remarked as he decided it was his turn to smirk over at Annie, purposefully trying to provoke her into trying to subdue him again so that he would have the chance to counterattack and prove himself to be a worthy opponent. Just because they were going to be dating now didn't mean that he was going to start pulling his punches. If anything, he was more determined now to finally defeat Annie in one of their sparring sessions than he was before.

"Is that so?" Annie said as she was fully aware of the game that Eren was playing with her; still trying to decide whether or not she wanted to play too. "Maybe I should be careful then. We're pretty much all alone out here." She continued, glancing around a bit to reaffirm that the parking lot was otherwise almost entirely devoid of people, with only what appeared to be perhaps another couple standing together on the opposite side from her and Eren. "Who knows what you would do to a defenseless, little girl like me?" she finished with a knowing grin, having made up her mind in regards to her participation in the game at hand.

Her words sat in the air between them for a few moments as they sat there staring into each other's eyes; silently testing one another and waiting to see who it was going to be who made the first move. The standoff was only serving to get the adrenaline running in both of them, and soon enough it came to a head. Eren fancied himself lucky and lunged toward Annie, grabbing onto her wrist and trying to lock his grip on the pressure point there while simultaneously attempting to mount her as well. Annie was not simply going to allow this to happen however. Her combat instincts kicked in immediately, and she maneuvered her thick, toned legs to wrap around Eren's waist and get into a full guard. Having neutralized his mobility, Annie then quickly moved to prevent him from trapping her wrist above her head by reaching up and grabbing onto his arm with her free hand. She tried to forcibly remove his hand from her wrist by wrenching it away, but she discovered that his grip was too strong to accomplish this with just one hand. Nonetheless, she was still bothering him enough to keep him from effectively attacking the pressure point on the underside of her wrist.

"It appears…we've reached a stalemate." Annie said smirking up at Eren through a minor grunt as the two teenagers continued to struggle for the upper hand, with neither of them being able to make much progress. Eren couldn't keep himself from grinning back down at her, knowing her words to be true as at this point he was spinning his tires and getting nowhere. That's why he decided to change tactics.

"Maybe so, but I think I've got one move in my arsenal that you never taught me." He said to the smaller – but certainly not weaker – blonde beneath him, garnering a look of amusement and curiosity from Annie as she wondered what he could be referring to. She didn't have to wait long to find out, as their intimate proximity and positioning made it easy for Eren to lean down and tenderly press his lips against Annie's.

She had to admit, her pupil/boyfriend had finally caught her by surprise. Annie was stunned momentarily, lost in the wondrous euphoria of having her first real kiss with the boy she loved, but she regained control of her senses after a second or so and released her grip on Eren's arm. Likewise, he let go of Annie's wrist, allowing him to caress her cheek gently while she wrapped her arms around his neck and shoulders to pull him in close to her. Her shapely legs unlocked as well, letting their fit bodies coalesce directly on top of one another as they kissed; neither one of them wanting to be the first to break from the steamy lip-lock that they were currently indulged in.

For the next couple of minutes, the two of them simply laid there upon the silver hood of Annie's car; enjoying the feeling of being with each other as they shared their passionate, yet chaste kiss. Mutually, they agreed to adjourn when Eren pulled away and Annie did not protest. Both of them wore broad and slightly sheepish smiles upon their faces, and their cheeks were a deep hue of red. The moment was still quite surreal for both of them, as if they'd just woken up simultaneously from a shared dream.

"Wow…if that's how incredible a first kiss feels, I can't wait to see how good it is once we both get good at it." Eren remarked playfully as he got up off of Annie – with some reluctance – and sat back down beside her. She similarly pushed herself back up into a seated position, though not without a raised eyebrow as she knew for a fact that that wasn't Eren's first kiss.

"What are you talking about? I know that you've had your first kiss already. Or do you not remember what happened at Sasha's birthday party last year?" Annie said, recollecting the event which took place in the basement of Sasha's house that night when the birthday girl coerced everyone into a game of "Truth or Dare", where one of the dares ended up with Eren sharing a sixty-second long kiss with Ymir. At the time it didn't bother Annie at all, since she hadn't developed any romantic feelings for Eren yet, but she did distinctly remember Mikasa nearly shattering the glass she had in her hand from squeezing it so hard with whitened knuckles.

"I guess technically that was my first real kiss, but that didn't mean anything more than that to me. It was only a kiss." Eren replied, taking one of Annie's small hands in the warm grasp of his own as he explained. "This was my first kiss that actually meant something to me though. Kissing Ymir might have been fun on a dare, but that can't even begin to compare to how fantastic it felt to share that kiss with you." He added to summarize his meaning, smiling lovingly at Annie as he slid forward and his feet hit the parking lot asphalt. Receiving a gentle tug on her hand, Annie took the cue from Eren and joined him in getting back on her feet, taking the opportunity to stretch as she had been lounging on her car for a while now.

"Fair enough Eren Jaeger. Just don't let me catch you kissing anybody else if you want to keep those pretty lips of yours." Annie teased with a smirk as the two of them began to walk hand-in-hand back towards the football field, earning a laugh out of her boyfriend as he quite enjoyed her sense of humor – when she decided to show that she had one, of course.

He hoped that now that they were dating, she'd start becoming more open in public and around people who weren't already in their close-knit group of friends. He really wanted everybody to get the chance to meet the real Annie Leonhardt, hidden underneath all of the layers she put up to keep people away, because the girl inside was truly someone special.

As for Annie, she could finally say that she truly felt happy for the first time in a long time. Not just a passing moment of happiness either – the kind that vanishes once a moment has come and gone – but something real and tangible. She was young and she was in love; what more could she really ask for? All that she needed to do now, she figured, was make sure to always keep one eye out for Mikasa. Annie quite liked her head, and she didn't wish to see it removed from her shoulders just yet.