Chapter 4:

Hey, so here's Chapter 4. It's Annie's birthday! Here's a little bit of relationship development, I guess. Eren is an adorable sweetheart to Annie, and Annie starts to become a little more comfortable with Eren. Next chapter might have a little bit of smut, not sure yet. Please let me know what you guys think in the reviews!

Keeping a relationship secret is no easy task, especially when you have such little time together because you're constantly being monitored. He hadn't even been able to kiss her yet, apart from the quick one he gave her in the infirmary. Over the course of two weeks, Eren felt a sort of joyous serenity that swelled up in his heart every time he saw Annie. She was his first girlfriend, and he was determined not to mess this up.

And he certainly wasn't going to let something as insignificant time constraints ruin it. So he snuck in little romantic gestures every now and then. For now, he was limited to simply holding her hand under the table during mealtimes, but Annie's birthday, March 22nd, was coming up soon and he was determined to make it the best she's ever had. He doubted she had very many good birthdays in her life.

He had a few ideas, but as it stood, he couldn't confirm anything yet. He'd need help- a lot of help- to make his plan work.

"Sasha?" Eren asked. Of course, the ever-hungry Sasha Braus was still in the mess hall, the last one, scrounging leftovers off the tables. "Could I talk to you for a minute?"

Sasha was chewing food, and held up a finger in a wait a minute gesture. She swallowed. "What is it, Eren?"

"Well, I was wondering if you could help me a bit." Eren figured that being completely up front would be the best idea. "I need you to help me get some meat."

Sasha's eyes widened at the word "meat." She grinned ear to ear and jumped to her feet. "I'd love to help. Do you want to steal it from the instructors' cabin?"

Eren shook his head. "No, I don't want to risk being kicked out. You came from a hunting village, right? Can you help me catch something?"

Sasha tilted her head. "I don't have my bow. It probably won't be easy to score a kill."

"Please, Sasha, it's really important!"

Sasha was startled by this. "What? Why? What do you need it for?"

"Well..." Eren debated whether or not he should tell Sasha. Only two other people outside of Eren and Annie knew, and they were Armin and Mina. Would Sasha keep quiet? "Can you promise you won't tell anyone?"

Sasha nodded. "Yeah, sure. I promise."

Eren decided to tell her. "Well... I'm kind of going out with Annie."

"Wait," Sasha said, leaning in and trying to find some trace of deception in Eren's eyes, "blonde Annie? Sulky, antisocial, grumpy, mean Annie?"

Eren got defensive. "She's really nice, once you get to know her." He argued. "But yeah, that Annie. Her birthday is coming up and I want to do something really special for her."

"So you want to bring fresh meat? You want to cook for her, is that what you're saying?" Sasha figured out.

"Yeah. But I don't know the first thing about hunting, or cooking, really. So I need your help."

Sasha smiled. "Okay, under one condition."

"Yeah, sure." Eren agreed, smiling. "What is it?"

"I get to keep a little bit of whatever we catch."

"Sure thing. Thank you so much, Sasha."

Annie struggled to understand affection. She was experiencing it for the first time, and while she was incredibly uncomfortable with it, that doesn't mean she didn't like it. The fluttering in her stomach... Butterflies, Eren had called them when she asked. Uncomfortable, but pleasant. The jump in her heart rate whenever he looked at her.

And his lips, too. Warm and soft, tasting faintly of charcoal. Her first kiss, absolutely wonderful thanks to him.

Romance did not come easy to Annie. She didn't really know what she was doing, but Eren had admitted that he didn't either, so she hoped that they would figure it out together. They just went along with what felt right.

Not like they had much time to do so anyways. Shadis had been keeping them exceptionally busy the past few days. Because of this, the pair of them were always tired and unable to meet after curfew. The fact that they agreed to keep their status as a couple a secret didn't help. Often, she wanted to kiss him goodnight before they went to their separate barracks, but other cadets were always around. Unfortunate, but necessary. She would hate to be the center of gossip.

Eren made her feel happy, which was something she hadn't felt in a long time. He normally seemed so distraught and burdened, like he was carrying the anger and pain of the entire universe in his chest on his back. Whenever their eyes locked, though, she could see all of that leave. It was proof that she was special to him. Annie was special to Eren. Of course, he was special to her too. Annie was felt lonely, so lost, so purposeless in the world. When Eren would hold her hand though, under the tables in the mess hall where nobody could see, she felt like she actually belonged somewhere.

"So, Annie," Mina prodded, bringing Annie back to reality, "how's Eren at kissing?"

Annie blushed and looked at the cabin floor. "Uh," she muttered, "I'm not really sure."

"What?" Mina said, "I mean, you've kissed him, right? How was he?"

"I don't know." Annie looked away, brushing her hair behind her ear, "I have nobody to compare him to."

"Did you enjoy it though?" Mina asked, half-teasing, half-serious.

"I..." Annie blushed. "...did."

Mina let out a squeal of delight. "That's so adorable, Annie!

Your face turned all red and stuff."

Annie scowled and got up to leave. She wasn't in the mood to be laughed at.

"Wait, Annie!" Mina said, "I'm sorry. I just got a little bit excited, is all. I didn't mean to laugh at you"

Annie sighed and sat back down. She was silent for a long while. Finally, she spoke up. "What happened to him in Shiganshina?"

Mina shook her head. "He doesn't talk about it. I don't think anyone knows, except for probably Mikasa and Armin. If anyone else though, I would have thought you'd know."

Annie thought to his eyes, his green, sad, pained eyes. "He'll tell me when he's ready."

Four days later, Sasha and Eren were stealthing through the forest in the dead of night, ducking under fallen trees and hopping over the creek. Sasha had been tracking some animal, Eren couldn't tell what it was from the tracks, through the forest for at least an hour. He had voiced his boredom a couple of times earlier, but every time he did, Sasha would just whisper, "Ssh, keep your voice down. You want to get that meat for Annie, don't you?"

So they trekked on. And finally, they saw it. A doe, drinking water from a river, about twenty feet away. It was Eren's first time seeing one, and he almost regretted having to kill it. Sasha crouched down, and motioned for him to do so as well.

"Here," she said, thrusting into Eren's hand the wooden spear she had been carrying.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" Eren asked.

"Throw it, what else would you do with it?" Sasha said, looking somewhat incredulous

"You want me to kill it?"

"You want the meat, you kill the deer. Just pretend it's a titan or something."

"But it isn't trying to eat me." Eren muttered. He brought the spear up nonetheless and faced towards the deer. "Where should I aim?"

"Try hitting it in the neck." Sasha answered. "It won't do you any good to hit it in the ass."

Eren focused, gauging the distance and the weight of the spear. And then he flung his arm forward, launching the wooden missile at its target. It soared through the air and struck its mark, hitting the center of the deer's neck. The deer let out a cry and jerked around, trying to run away, but it fell over after making it only about five feet.

"Nice throw!" Sasha remarked, "Truthfully, I was expecting you to miss. Here, I'll teach you how to skin and gut a deer."

Eren wiped his hands once more. While the blood had long since left his hands, they still felt dirty and grimy. He saw a water pump and headed over to wash his hands more thoroughly.

"Eren!" A voice whispered.

Eren turned to see a large, well-built figure heading over to him. Eren couldn't see his face very well in the dark, but it had to be Reiner. Nobody else was that big and hulking.

"Reiner. What's up?"

"Nothing, I just came out for a little bit of fresh air and saw you walking along. What's in the bag?" Reiner gestured to the bag slung across Eren's shoulder. It was a waterproof sack that Eren had brought with him that he was using to transport the cuts of venison.

"Oh, nothing, really." He whispered. "Don't worry about it."

Reiner shrugged. "Alright then."

Reiner turned to leave, but Eren had an idea. He had been wondering what to get Annie as a present, but he couldn't figure it out. "Wait, Reiner," Eren whispered, loud enough to be heard, but quiet enough not to wake anyone. "You've known Annie for a lot longer than I have, right?"

Reiner frowned, not really understanding where this was going. "Yeah, why?"

"Well, do you have any idea what t get her as a birthday gift?" Eren said.

Reiner's eyes widened and a faint smile grew on his face. "Oh, don't tell me. Do you like Annie?"

"You could... Say that." Eren replied.

Reiner stifled laughter. "That's hilarious! You have a crush on Annie!"

Eren regretted asking. What he wanted to say was "For your information, we've been a couple for three weeks." But he settled for "So you can't help me then?"

"Now, I didn't say that." Reiner calmed down. He stopped laughing, but he was still smiling profusely. "Annie doesn't like much, but she does like soft things."

"Soft things?" Eren echoed.

"Yeah, it's why she always wears that hoodie, even when it's crazy hot. Oh, she also likes alcohol. And it just so happens that yours truly has a very nice bottle of ale, straight from the Orvud district. I can give it to you, if you want."

Eren was shocked. "You don't want anything for it?"

Reiner shrugged. "I don't drink. I was gonna trade it for something, but none of the cadets have anything I want. You'll find better use of it anyway, but you're gonna have to figure the 'soft thing' out yourself."

Eren beamed. "Thank you!"

Annie awoke to a pair of hands, one clamped down around her mouth and the other holding her arms in place above her head. She tried to scream and punch, but the hand on her mouth muffled the cry and the hand on her wrists prevented her from moving. She realized quickly though, that this was no threat. The familiar green eyes twinkled in the darkness with something that almost resembled mischief.

"Hey, Annie," Eren said, "come on. "I've got to show you something."

"Eren," Annie said through Eren's hand, "get off me."

"Right, sorry." Eren released his grip on Annie and stood back as she sat up, keeping her chest covered by her blanket. Eren waited.

"Well?" Annie prompted, "Turn around."

Annie could see Eren's face going red. "R-right. Sorry." He stammered.

Annie got up and stepped over to her footlocker. She noticed the cold night air against her skin. She only wore a white shirt and a pair of gray cotton shorts to bed, and it was difficult not to shiver as she slipped on a pair of longer cotton trousers and her usual hoodie.

Annie turned to Eren, who was still looking away, and slipped her arms around his waist. She stood on her tiptoes to kiss his ear, which earned her a smile spreading across his face.

"Very cute." He acknowledged.

"So what did you want to show me?" Annie asked.

"Follow me."

Eren led Annie outside and guided her to an area a few hundred meters behind the cabins. "Close your eyes," he instructed.

"Eren, this is stupid."

"Come on," Eren said, "It has to be a surprise. Please?"

Annie complied with a sigh. "Fine. Whatever."

Eren sneezed in the cold night air.

"Shut up." Annie told him.

Annie could hear many noises. Cloth rustling, metal clinking, and liquid pouring. She could also smell... Was that meat?

"Okay, open your eyes." Eren said. Annie opened her eyes slowly, and then, at the spectacle before her, widened them. Eren had prepared a very nice, warm cooked meal for her and laid it out for them. Meat, steamed vegetables, drinks and all.

"Eren..." Annie's voice trailed.

"Happy birthday, Annie."

"Eren, how did you get all of this?" Annie marveled.

"Well, the vegetables I snuck from the mess hall on my day as server. The meat, I went hunting with Sasha for. As for the ale, well, Reiner helped me with that one. Now come on, let's eat before it gets cold."

Annie and Eren sat down side by side and started munching down on the food. Eren said something about being worried that his cooking, even with Sasha's help, would be unsatisfactory, but to Annie, it was an delicious mixture of warm and savory tastes. Annie wondered when the last time she ate something this good was.

He's wonderful, Annie thought, as she placed her head down on her boyfriend's shoulder.

They finished their food and were about to drink when Eren stood up. "Almost forgot," he said. He reached into his bag and drew a large, folded piece of what looked like fabric and unraveled it to size. Eren draped it around Annie's shoulders. "It's a deerskin blanket. How is it?" He asked.

Annie felt the surface of the deerskin and brought it up to her face. So soft, she thought. So nice. It feels like the way Eren makes me feel inside. Warm, fuzzy...

She'd never admit that to Eren though. "It's nice." She said with a smile. She was blushing again. She hadn't expected Eren to do anything this nice for her. It was a very pleasant surprise.

"Good." Eren said, relieved. He sat down next to her and grabbed an end, throwing it over himself as well. "And now, we can drink."

When they had finished their drinks, Annie lay contented on Eren's chest. She could hear his heartbeat, and feel his chest rise and fall with every breath. She looked at Eren. Eren looked back.

"Eren?" Annie asked, finally.

"Yeah?"

"I think I want to tell people about us. A couple of people, at least."

Eren smiled. "I'm fine with that."

Annie crawled forward and closed the gap between their lips. The butterflies in her stomach fluttered around again, ticking at her gut, but urging her to continue. She could feel Eren kissing back, feel how soft his lips were, feel how much he cared about her. Her mind went numb and suddenly, the only thing that mattered anymore was Eren. Not a thought about the mission, or the other Shifters, or even her father. Just Eren, sweet, caring, perfect Eren, who promised to always there, no matter what, who was with her when she fell asleep, who took her back to her bunk and laid her down, still wrapped in her deerskin blanket.