Author's Note: Hey there, loves!

First off, whether you're a reviewer, follower, reader, or someone who favorited this story, I appreciate you guys like crazy. And the reviews for last chapter? Holy crepes you guys are so frickin' sweet.

So, I regret to inform you that unlike last week's A/N, I did not have a near death experience this week, so sadly I cannot recite to you all a harrowing story of how I nearly escaped death. I did, however, trip and totally face-plant earlier today. I still maintain the stool jumped out and set itself strategically behind me while my back was turned. I also got a papercut which, we all know, is a fate worse than death.

In other news, Le girlfriend's currently sick… which means I'll be getting sick soon. The thing with me, though, is that when it comes to illnesses, my body gets all gung-ho and is all, "If I'm gonna get sick, I'm gonna get hardcore frickin' sick. I'mma get all the damn symptoms, in all the worst ways possible." And I'm like, yo, bro, it's great that you're like, super motivated and shizznit, but how about directing that focus towards making me taller or helping me not walk into inanimate objects as often. That'd be a nice change.

So… I base quite a few of the things that happen in this story on personal experiences, including the bit about throwing my shoulder out while playing wii-baseball. It was a family reunion and I had to defeat my asshole cousin, okay? The sad thing is, I actually totally played softball, basketball, and roller hockey (yeah, that's right. Let's put the chick who can't walk a straight line without falling flat on her face on wheels. Sounds like a great idea) in school, so it's pretty much doubly pathetic, cuz you'd think that'd make me slightly less lame, but I guess that's just not how things work.

Okay, last of all, special thanks to CanaanAlphardForever for bringing the song used in this chapter to my attention. It's called "Ass N Titties" by Dj Assault, and as I'm sure you can tell by the title, but incase not, just know it's a beautiful, touching song… perfect for weddings, funerals, and casual family get togethers.

Until next time,

Love Grimsley

Chapter 10: Kate Kane

It had started out with a simple desire to bake chocolate chip cookies. Excessive teasing and a profound mutual attraction blossomed into a full out war zone in the tiny kitchen. Flour coated the walls, sugar was strewn along the counter, and bits of chocolate were scattered across the floor. Krista stood in the middle of the mess, doing her best to catch her breath while attempting to stifle a laugh as Ymir stared at her in shock.

"Krista?" Ymir advanced on her. Krista backed up until her back hit the counter. When she realized she was trapped and had nowhere to go, she fell back onto what usually helped her get out of sticky situations. She batted her long eyelashes, bit her bottom lip, and met Ymir's frown with an innocent smile.

"Yes?" Krista replied, her voice angelic.

"Did you seriously just slip chocolate chips down my shirt?" Ymir's eyes didn't falter as she asked the question. It was as if they bore into Krista's very mind, reading every single thing that flashed behind her eyes. She wished very much so that this was not the case, as her thoughts at the moment weren't the least bit pure.

"Well, that doesn't sound like something I'd do." She was unable to hide her playful smile.

"I think some fell into my bra, you ass."

This time Krista was unable to hold back her laughter. She giggled in Ymir's face. That was the final straw.

Ymir took one quick step forward, resting her palms against the counter on either of Krista's tiny frame. She leaned in close, their noses almost touching.

The laughter stopped immediately.

Krista could feel the warmth emanating from her body, but fought the urge to press closer. Perhaps there would be time for that later.

"What you choose to store in your bra is none of my concern, Ymir. Well, not in this case, at least."

"Is that so?" Ymir's eyes dipped down, staring at Krista's lips.

Krista could feel Ymir's breath against her skin as she spoke the words. It sent an electric shock down her spine. Giving in to temptation, Krista-

Sasha stopped typing as her brain strained for exactly what should happen next. She almost had the wording down when she was interrupted by the opening of her bedroom door.

Sasha slammed her laptop closed as Mikasa walked in, trying to not look suspicious. She failed miserably. Mikasa eyed the computer, then looked to her friend, before going back to the computer.

"Doing something horribly devious again?"

"Er… perhaps," Sasha admitted.

"Did it involve food?"

"Technically, yes."

"Sasha," Mikasa warned. By the way Mikasa looked at her, Sasha could tell an explanation was expected. She relented, sighing as she opened the laptop back up, then turned it so it faced her friend.

"I… I think I got a bit carried away. It was just supposed to be a joke-like thing I was gonna send to Ymir to freak her out. You know, get her all antsy and nervous in that fun way she does, but I- uh, I think I got a little carried away. Maybe a lot carried away. Like, borderline super creepy carried away, but I couldn't stop."

A bizarre look of both concern and curiosity flashed across Mikasa's features. She sat down, cross-legged in front of her friend. She pulled the computer over and rested it on her lap before starting to read.

Sasha watched anxiously, wondering if her friend was internally judging her. It didn't help that Mikasa Ackerman was the reigning queen of poker face. There was no slight twitch, hint of a smile, or raised eyebrow. She simply read, seemingly emotionless, like one of those freakish lawn ornaments her aunt littered her front yard with. Perhaps that was where she got her creeper side from. Was the urge to write slightly kinky fan fiction about one's friends hereditary?

After a couple more torturous minutes went by, Mikasa finally finished. She closed the laptop, clasped her hands together, set them on top of the device, and slowly nodded her head.

"Yup, you're seriously fucking creepy."

Sasha dejectedly hung her head, slightly ashamed. "I know."

"What the hell was that?"

"Er, I call it YumiKuri. I got mad obsessed reading fan fiction last night and decided to write my own. Before I knew what was happening, I was writing about Ymir and Krista. I couldn't stop. It was like I was possessed by something kinda kinky and super fucked up."

"YumiKuri?"

"Er, yeah," Sasha mumbled.

"How many of these things have you written?" Mikasa asked. Sasha wasn't sure if she was simply trying to get a grasp on the situation, or was wondering if she'd been writing pervy stories about their group for years.

"That's the first one, I swear!" Sasha insisted, trying to convince her friend of the truth.

"Sasha."

"I told you, it really was just the one. Although," Sasha shifted her gaze to the floor, unable to look her friend in the eye, "I-I was kinda planning on writing another as well."

"You know Ymir would be freaked if she found out how far you took this," Mikasa pointed out. "Like, full on spastic freak out, like that time Armin almost deleted her save data on her old Pokémon yellow game."

"Er, the second one wasn't gonna be about Krista and Ymir, actually," Sasha admitted.

"Then what?" Mikasa asked. Sasha mumbled something incomprehensible, her eyes looking anywhere and everywhere other than at the girl sitting in front of her. She reiterated, "What were you going to write about then?"

"Uh, I was thinking of calling it Mikannie," Sasha explained. After a minute passed without a reply, Sasha gathered enough guts to look up, meeting her friends stare. It was one of confusion, as though something seriously did not compute. She'd have to spell this out for her.

"Mikannie… as in you and Annie."

Mikasa's cheeks became flushed, but her lack of expression remained the same.

"Mikasa, you're doing that quiet brooding and not responding to people thing again," Sasha pointed out. That seemed to knock Mikasa out of her trance. "It's kinda creeping me out. If you're gonna kill me, just get it over with."

"Uh, can you maybe…" the rest of her sentence was completely impossible to make out.

"Eh, can you maybe repeat that one more time, but like, not mutter the entire last part?" Sasha asked. Mikasa twiddled her thumbs and scratched absentmindedly at the sticker stuck to the back of Sasha's laptop.

"I said, er… can you maybe let me read that second story when you finish it?"

"It's Krista. I've totally got the super hots for Krista," Ymir confessed. Sitting in the living room across from her Gran, Ymir was afraid to look up and see her reaction. It wasn't because she was afraid her grandmother might be shocked and reject her for liking a girl, they'd had that conversation a long time ago, but because she never really talked to Gran about this kinda crap, and it was making her feel crazy uncomfortable.

"Well, no shit," Gran replied, not looking up from her magazine. "Did you know they just found a kid who was raised by wombats?

"Gran, stop reading tabloids," Ymir advised, laughing. "So, you knew, then?"

"About the blonde?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Ymir, with the way you're always blabbering around her, following her around like a little lost puppy dog, I'd have to be a complete basket case to not have noticed."

"You're saying that like you're not one already," Ymir muttered.

"You know what? I've suddenly decided Blondie is way outta your league. She's probably too polite and sweet to be interested in someone so immature, who can't even bake pre-made cookies without nearly burning down the kitchen."

"Hah, you think you're insulting me, but the truth is I already knew that, so joke's on you, old lady," Ymir shot back, a smug smile on her face. "And the kitchen thing only happened twice."

"You say that like you're proud," Gran pointed out, rolling her eyes. As much as she enjoyed the back and forth between the two of them, her granddaughter had a problem, and shed be damned if she didn't try and help her figure it out. "So, what're you gonna do?"

"I dunno. When I'm around her I get super nervous and lose the ability to speak like a normal person, or even a semi-normal person. Like, my mouth keeps moving despite the fact that I'm internally cringing and pretty much begging myself to stop. Everything comes out like a jumbled up mess. I get super clumsy, like, more clumsy than usual and always end up embarrassing the crap outta myself. It pretty much makes it completely impossible to do just about anything other than blabber incessantly. Then I usually face-plant, walk into something, or accidently find myself in a compromising situation."

"I wish I could say I'm surprised."

"Thanks. That was a real confidence booster. Were you a motivational speaker back in your day, you know, when powdered white wigs were the latest fashion and decapitation was the best form of entertainment you could find? Was 'Blarg' the caveman your first boyfriend, having wooed you after whacking you over the head with a boney piece of mammoth ass? Was your majestic steed a Stegosaurus? Can you remember that long ago?"

"Perhaps it's a good thing you can't talk around this girl," Gran decided, obviously annoyed. "Listening to you turn into a blathering mess is probably far preferable to what you seem to confuse for a sense of humor."

"I'm sorry," Ymir muttered, drumming her fingertips along the rim of her coffee mug. She sighed, all of her earlier cockiness instantly deflating as she realized her jokes were just a clumsy attempt to hide her own humiliation. She was completely at a loss, and her grandmother was the only one with dating experience, even if it was super old information, that she could turn to. Well, Krista probably could have given her some advice, but for obvious reasons that option was impossible. Reiner may have, as well, but Ymir would rather run across the school campus, completely naked, than have to deal with his smug grin. "Gran, what do I do?"

Taking a deep breath, Gran set down her magazine, removed her thick reading glasses, set them down on the table, and studied her granddaughter's face. "Just be yourself."

"You're mocking me, right?" Ymir asked. "Gran, you know me. Hell, you raised me. Just being myself is probably the worst advice in the entire history of crappy advice. I've walked into the same lamppost three times in the past month. Oh, and in art class we're helping make the theater kids' set. I stapled myself to a fake tree. In P.E. I was changing and accidently grabbed my underwear along with my shorts and ended up flashing over half the damn class. The other day I got my monthly friend and grabbed a highlighter instead of my tampon. Luckily, that was as far as it went, because had I eventually found neon blue in my tidbits, I would have fucking ran to the doctor's office first thing, and that would have been the most awkward E.R. visit ever. Believe me, being myself is probably the last thing I should do."

"Well it's kept her around so far, hasn't it?" Gran debated.

"Uh, well I guess that's true," Ymir admitted. There really wasn't anything she could say to argue to that. "Maybe she has masochistic tendencies."

"Look, I know you like her, Ymir. I mean, this is the first time you've ever sat down in front of me and admitted to having feelings for another person before."

"You're totally forgetting my crush on Barbie."

"I mean a legitimate crush."

"Are you saying mine and Barbie's love wasn't real? I'll have you know, she let me undress her anywhere."

"Shut your face and let me talk. You're serious about this girl, I get that, but isn't one of the best parts about being in a relationship the fact that you've found someone who loves you for who you are, rather than the person that you think they want you to be?"

"Eh, did you just say l-l-love?" Ymir stuttered, her brain stuck on the word.

"Ymir, all you can do is be honest with this girl and honest with yourself. Pretending to be someone you're not in order to be with someone, well, the truth will eventually start unraveling. It always does. You don't want to be in a relationship where, the moment a tiny flaw makes itself known, they leave."

"Krista isn't like that."

"I should think not, otherwise she'd be long gone by now."

"Again, thanks for the vote of confidence."

"What did you expect after the highlighter story? Just… just open yourself up and say what needs to be said. Would you rather run the risk of being rejected, or never even try?"

"Open myself up and just spill everything out? I dunno, I'd feel kinda pathetic, you know?" Ymir admitted. "It also sounds very Sweeney Todd-ish."

"You say that like being vulnerable is some kinda weakness."

"Well, isn't it? I mean vulnerable, weak, defenseless, helpless, it's all the same thing, right?"

"It takes a hell of a lot more guts to be vulnerable than it takes to pretend to be strong. Admitting your weaknesses, when you need help, your feelings, risking embarrassment… even some of the strongest people in the world can't do that. Never be ashamed to be vulnerable. It's about the bravest thing you can be these days."

The thought of being honest terrified her. Imagining looking Krista in the face and admitting to her that she thought about her all the time made her feel like she was going to throw up. Thinking about it made shivers run down her body and her hair stand on end.

Perhaps Gran was right.

"That being said, there are certain obvious things that maybe you should hold back on for awhile," Gran advised.

"Huh, like what?"

"Like perhaps the fact that you head into school twenty minutes earlier than you need to just so you can catch a glimpse of her before classes."

Ymir's jaw fell open slightly as she stared at the mysteriously well informed woman in front of her, wondering if the old bat was pulling a Charles Xavier and was secretly psychic.

"How the hell did you know about that?" She asked.

"Have you met your friends?" Gran replied, coolly grabbing her glasses before slipping them back on. She picked up her magazine and skimmed through the pages, attempting to find where she left off. After a moment, she looked back up at her granddaughter who was still watching her, shocked. "Grandma has her loyal spies."

Gran's attention reverted back to her reading material, signaling the end of their discussion. Feeling oddly confused and slightly betrayed, Ymir got up to head towards her room. "Damn jerks."

She almost made it to the stairs when Gran called out after her.

"And don't forget to mow the lawn and plant that rose bush for me."

"Don't forget? You never told me to do it in the first place."

"Well, now I am."

Pouting and suddenly feeling drained of all energy, Ymir trudged up the stairs, muttering obscenities under her breath.

Krista started walking that morning without a specific destination in mind, and yet she found herself standing in front of the same white, two-story house that she passed nearly every day on her way back from school. She took her time making her way up the walkway and hesitated for a split second before ringing the bell.

After a few long moments slipped by and no one had yet come to the door, Krista gave up, figuring no one was home. She turned around and got halfway down the driveway when she heard someone call after her.

"Hey, Krista right?" Krista turned around and scurried back to the door.

"Uh, yes ma'am. Is, uh, is Ymir home?" she asked, stumbling all over her words. Though she'd dealt with many wealthy and important people through her family, she'd always been able to talk… to schmooze with them easily, but there was something about Ymir's grandmother that made her somewhat nervous. Perhaps it was her quick wit or that, unlike those other people, Ymir's gran was always open and honest about her motivations. It could have also been that she just really, really wanted to set a good impression with the woman. Then again, it could also have been because she so often had pervy thoughts about the woman's granddaughter.

Yeah, that was probably it.

"Oh yeah, she's been cooped up in her fortress of solitude, or whatever the heck she calls it, all day." Gran gestured for Krista to go ahead and enter the house. Not wanting to keep Ymir's grandmother waiting, she quickly slipped in.

"Her fortress of solitude?" Krista asked. It definitely sounded like an Ymir thing to say.

"Yup, sometimes she calls it her bat cave, other times she refers to it as her room of requirement. You kinda just learn to go along with it after awhile."

They passed the same collage of pictures that Krista had studied so intently the first time she came here. Again, she spotted the young girl who looked exactly like Ymir, but with differently colored eyes. Gran seemed to notice her curiosity, but merely offered a small smile before heading off in the direction of the kitchen.

"Uh, thank you!" Krista called after her before heading up the stairs. As she neared Ymir's room, she could hear her excited voice filling the hallway.

"Yes! Yes! Almost there!" the excited voice rang out, and Krista could've sworn her heart fucking stopped. She reached the door, but couldn't bring herself to open it. Ymir's urging continued. "Yes, right there, don't stop! Yes! Yes!"

Without really thinking or knowing what she'd do, Krista burst into the room, terrified of what she might see.

Ymir stood in the middle of the room, her gaming chair seemingly discarded behind her, with her PS4 controller in hand. She was bouncing on her toes as the character she was playing as, some chick with long hair, a massive sword, and very little clothes on, delivered the finishing blow to a massive, horned demon creature of some kind. As the monster fell to the ground, Ymir threw her hands into the air and began, what Krista assumed, was a victory dance. She wiggled her hips about while chanting, 'eat it bitch.' She didn't stop until she spotted Krista, who had pulled out her phone and began filming the whole damn thing.

"What? Krista? Why are you here and, uh, what- what are you doing?" Ymir asked, completely and totally confused. "Uh, is that thing recording?"

"I learned a long time ago that if I simply film you, embarrassing things will eventually just start happening," Krista cheekily explained, earning herself a frown. She joked around a lot, but really, she was just happy what happened earlier was a simple misunderstanding and not what she thought it may have been.

Er, what exactly did I think was going on in here?

Krista shook her head, banishing the thought from her mind. Ymir was hers, damn it, she just didn't know it yet.

"Delete it," Ymir commanded, her voice authoritative. Krista shot her a you're-a-little-dense-if-you-really-think-that'll-work look. Ymir must have decided to change her tactics, because moments later she added, "please?"

"No chance in hell," Krista laughed, slipping her phone into her pocket. "Sasha promised to pay me top dollar for these, you know."

"Sasha's paying you to take embarrassing videos of me?" Ymir asked, not quite able to fathom just how peculiar her friends were.

"Videos, photos, stories. She offered me double if I managed to get you to do something horribly embarrassing in front of them," Krista admitted.

"Should I be thanking you for not taking advantage of such an opportunity?" Ymir questioned, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Nope, I have ideas of what I'm gonna do. I'm just waiting for a day where I'm strapped for cash to unleash it upon you."

"Krista, this is me we're talking about. I already embarrass myself enough on a daily basis."

A knock at the door halted their conversation. Gran peeked her head in, and smiled kindly at Krista when she noticed her. A mere second later that same smile faltered when she noticed Ymir and the game controller still in her hand.

"Did you forget something?" Gran asked her granddaughter, and despite having not known the lady for very long, Krista could tell she wasn't very impressed by whatever Ymir let slip her mind. That being said, she still had that kind, grandmotherly air to her, despite her fondness for the occasional swear word, that Krista's own grandmothers very much so lacked.

"Uh, happy birthday?" Ymir guessed.

"Not quite." Gran's response was short and the intense look in her eye became stronger. Ymir turned to Krista.

"Happy birthday?"

"Wha? No. Not me," Krista declined, shaking her head. Ymir seemed truly lost. Her brow furrowed and she absentmindedly stroked her chin, as if she was trying to remember something that happened in the far off past.

"I'll give you a hint," Gran smirked. "I told you to do it earlier before it got too hot."

Realization smacked Ymir upside the head like Mikasa's infamous backhanded slap… the one Eren was usually on the receiving end of. The color drained from her face as she stared at her grandmother, her face a picture of horror and despair. "You want me to go mow the lawn now?" she asked. It was fucking hot and the mere mentioning of her being forced to do any kind of physical exertion seemed, in Krista's opinion, to sap her body of any and all energy it had.

"And plant my rose bush," Gran added.

"No! Fuck no! It's too damn hot for that, you crazy, old hag woman!"

"Ymir."

"It's the weekend! I'm supposed to spend it relaxing away from school, not being forced into manual labor by a demented, cruel, really fucking old psychopath."

"Well, if you listened in the first place it'd have been done when the day was much cooler, wouldn't it?" Gran pointed out. Ymir looked like she was about to retort in some way, but her grandmother beat her to the punch. "It's your own fault; now get your ass out there before I find something else for you to do as well."

"But Krista just got here," Ymir reasoned, pointing at her. "It'd be rude for me to abandon our guest."

"Just because the majority of my daily social interactions are either spent with my socially inept granddaughter or yelling at the idiots on my television, doesn't mean I can't entertain your young guest for an hour or so," Gran mused, smiling proudly at Krista before adding, "if she plans on staying, that is."

"Oh, but what if she can't stay that long and she came all the way over here only for you to send me off to die in the hot, unforgiving sun?" Ymir's pleading eyes fell on Krista, as if they were begging for her to save the girl from such a torturous fate.

"Oh, I can wait," Krista chirped.

Ymir glared at her as her shoulders sank.

"Short Stuff, you have betrayed me," she decided.

"Yep, looks like it." Krista smiled, rocking back and forth on her feet.

"C'mon into the kitchen, Krista. I have the A.C. blaring and just made a fresh pitcher of lemonade," Gran beckoned, gesturing for Krista to follow her. She obliged.

"Oh, that sounds delicious. Would you happen to have any embarrassing Ymir stories?" Krista asked, feeling particularly devious. Gran stopped in her tracks, turned to face Krista, and smirked.

"Sweetheart, have you met my granddaughter? Her whole life is practically one long embarrassing story."

Krista sat across from Ymir's grandmother at her kitchen table, her hands cupping the glass of lemonade she'd been served. She ran her fingers along the rim, before finally deciding to ask Gran the question that had been on her mind since the first time she'd visited Ymir's home.

"Uh, Mrs… er," Krista only just now realized she had no idea how to address Ymir's grandmother.

"Gran's fine," she chuckled. "That's what all of Ymir's other friends call me."

"Oh, okay, Mrs. Gran," Krista corrected herself. Gran chuckled softly, her eyes shining gently. It was pretty pathetic that in the couple of short encounters she'd had with the woman, she already felt a deeper fondness for her than she felt for the majority of her own family combined.

"What is it, dear?" Gran's personality had done a complete turnaround from the feisty woman who'd been bickering with her granddaughter.

"Um, that photo by the door… the one with the young girl who looks almost exactly like Ymir," Krista mentioned. She wasn't sure if she imagined it, but what looked like a flicker of sadness flashed across Gran's features for a brief moment. The only evidence that it had been there was the foggy look in the old woman's eyes. Had she blinked, Krista would have missed it. "I'm sorry," she quickly apologized. "I shouldn't have asked.

"No, no… it's alright," Gran assured. She looked down into her coffee cup, unable to hold back a sad smile. Something about it seemed so hurt, it made her want to hug the lady, despite barely knowing her. "That's my daughter. Ymir's mother."

"I'm- I'm so sorry," Krista apologized immediately. Suddenly the sad look on Gran's face and several of Ymir's little comments she accidently let slip by made perfect sense. She was raised by her grandmother, and never mentioned either of her parents.

Krista was an idiot. A complete idiot. If anyone should've known better, she should have been that person.

Gran seemed to take note of her internal screaming, because she instinctively patted Krista's hand, doing her best to set her at ease.

"It's nothing like what you're thinking, dear," Gran assured her, allowing Krista to release the breath she hadn't known she'd been holding in. "I don't think it's really for me to say, at least I think you should hear the whole story later when Ymir's ready to tell you, but, well, just know her mother wasn't ready to take care of herself on her own, much less a child. She selfishly tried a couple times, and I stupidly let her."

Gran left it at that, but Krista could tell she was recalling some very unhappy memories.

"She talks about you a lot," Krista mentioned, hoping to pull the sweet woman out of her funk her question had put her in. Gran looked up at her, a quizzical glint in her eye. "When I first came here I was a little shocked. I've never heard a grandmother and granddaughter talk to each other the way you guys talk to one another. I asked Ymir about it, and she said she adores you."

Krista got up from her seat and walked across the kitchen so she could peek out the window. After a couple seconds, she felt a presence beside her, and knew Gran had joined her.

Outside, Ymir was carefully planting Gran's rose bush. Apparently she wasn't cautious enough, because moments later Ymir sprung back, shaking her hand. Krista couldn't help but chuckled as a steady stream of swear words flowed from Ymir's mouth. She flipped off the plant, not having noticed her audience.

Gran shook her head, unable to lose the sweet smile on her face.

"You know, she can be a real pain in the ass sometimes," Gran mused.

"Oh, I've noticed."

"She has a tendency to be lazy and is the most oblivious person I know," Ymir's grandmother eyed Krista. "Right?"

Krista nodded, unable to meet Gran's eye. "Right," she agreed. "Especially when she's playing games. It's like she enters an entirely different world and can't hear a thing you say." Gran chuckled and nodded.

"She also thinks spinach is evil. She even wrote an essay about it. It's on the fridge," Gran laughed. "She's a fair bit beyond neurotic and her obsessions are way not normal… and yet she's the best thing that ever happened to me."

Krista looked back out the window just in time to watch Ymir's victory dance. She pranced around, thrusting her pelvis and doing what Krista assumed was meant to be the robot. Without having to be out there to hear the entire conversation, she already knew Ymir was probably mocking the rose while shaking her ass in its general direction.

A small, crooked smile tugged at her lips, and she couldn't help but wonder when exactly her simple crush had blossomed into love.

"Your mother was a weed and your father was an earthworm, bitch," Ymir accused, smack talking the rose bush her Gran made her plant. Krista couldn't help but laugh as she watched the girl's bizarre, yet adorable antics.

Ymir whipped around so fast, she flailed as she nearly tripped over her own feet. Krista reached forward to steady her, winning herself a sheepish smile. It was straight-up adorable, and she found herself unable to decide which was her favorite, her shy smile, her devious smile, the smile she got while playing A.O.T. with her friends, or the one she saved only for Krista… the one she saw on very rare occasion when Ymir thought Krista wasn't looking.

"Er, the rose tried to bite the crap outta me," Ymir explained. "So, uhm, I decided to hit it where it hurts and, er, well you know. Flowers are very sensitive about their mothers, so yeah. Uh… Is a rose technically a flower? I guess it is… kinda like how a square can be a rectangle, but a rectangle isn't always a square thing, I suppose a rose can be a flower, but a flower can't always be a rose. Seems kinda fucked up to me. Like, what if it was a daisy's lifelong wish to become a rose? What're we supposed to do? Crush its little flower dream? It doesn't seem right, though why a daisy would want to be a rose is beyond me. I mean, it's like, it's a flower, you know? Petals, leaves, stem, all that shit… except it also is a thorny little bitch, too-"

Ymir continued to ramble, but Krista didn't hear a thing. She was too distracted by the babbling girl standing in front of her. She'd come to the realization that she loved Ymir only moments ago, but now? Now she had something very different on her mind.

Ymir's exposed shoulders were glimmering with a thin layer of sweat, and Krista could see the muscles of her arms twitch as she gesticulated while she spoke. A light spray of freckles painted her tan skin, and it was like Ymir was created for the sole purpose of tempting Krista, making her have pervy fantasies like some teenage boy. Her tank top was damp around the neckline, and Krista's eyes followed a slow bead of perspiration as it trekked its way down the side of Ymir's face, and slipped down her neck, disappearing into the cloth that hugged her torso.

Ymir, seemingly noticing Krista had observed just how drenched she was, began apologizing, as if her current state was disgusting, and not the massive turn on Krista had actually found it to be.

Ymir slipped her hand under the bottom of her sweat-drenched shirt before tugging it upwards, using it to wipe the perspiration away from her eyes. She was completely unaware that her actions just exposed her tight, lean stomach to the now openly gaping Krista.

"How the hell?" Krista was completely confused. "You play videogames all day, live off soda, and I'm fairly certain the only thing I ever see you eat is junk food. How the hell are you so hot?"

Ymir's face went pink. She tugged her shirt up to cover her flushed cheeks, but seemed to quickly realize this exposed even more of her body and the entire underside of her Pokéball bra. She whipped her shirt back down, her eyes wide with horror, but instead ended up pulling too far and once again showed off her bra, but this time the red top. Muttering obscenities, she quickly threw her arms over her chest region, crossing her arms in front of herself, her skin turning a deeper shade of crimson as the seconds ticked by.

"Well?" Krista asked, expectantly.

"Uh… well, y-you know, vir-virtual reality's the next big thing in g-gaming… and er, Mikasa, Sasha, Eren, Armin, and I all agreed that we'd n-need to be in good shape for that, you know? It'd be pretty pathetic to be super close to a high score only to end up a steaming pile of death on a virtual floor just because you can't manage to catch your breath in reality."

"Is that really necessary?" Krista questioned. "Though I'm not complaining or anything. Definitely not."

"It totally is! We've been doing Gran's workout videos from like… the eighties. Mikasa spends the entire time cursing out the instructors, especially when they lie and say there's only one more set, only to make you end up doing four more, but it's totally necessary. Last week I was playing wii-baseball with Sasha and ended up throwing out my arm. Armin played the boxing game and nearly keeled over during the first round. The worst, yet totally the best, was Mikasa's wii-golf game. She kept telling Eren to stop walking in front of her while she was playing, but he just wouldn't listen. One swing and a high-pitched shriek later, and I'm fairly certain Mikasa won't be having nieces or nephews anytime soon."

"You threw out your arm playing a videogame?"

"Er, yeah," Ymir admitted.

"That's really sad. Now I'm kinda embarrassed for you."

"Krista, this is me we're talking about," Ymir pointed out. "When are you not embarrassed for me?"

She had a point.

Krista sat in the middle of Ymir's bedroom floor, laptop in front of her, waiting for a particularly long loading screen to pass. She absentmindedly clacked her finger's against the keys, stuck in a complete and utter state of boredom as Ymir had decided to run off and take a shower.

When the game finally began again, tiny, virtual Krista ran around town, buying upgrades and replacing her blades, having dulled out all the old ones. Once fully stocked up, Krista was ready to go venture outside the walls, and attempt to do some titan fighting completely on her own for the first time.

As she neared the gates, Ymir's bedroom door cracked open and Ymir walked in, body glistening from the droplets of water that had yet to be wiped away. A blue towel hung around her shoulders, probably to use to dry her still dripping hair. Krista used the distraction as an excuse to rake her eyes up the girl's form, unable to help herself.

Boxer shorts exposed Ymir's smooth, long legs and her white t-shirt clung tightly to her body, making Krista's head spin in a holy-shit-that's-hot way. She slinked across the room before flopping over onto her bed, allowing her wet towel to slip off of her and land in a pile on the floor. At some point her shirt had managed to inch up slightly, and Krista's brain automatically went back to the moment she first caught a glimpse of Ymir's freckled stomach.

She was absolutely phenomenal, yet seemingly had no idea. Even the kids at school had yet to clue in to the gloriousness that was Ymir. How did they not notice how adorable she looked when she stammered on her words, her cheeks going red and her eyes falling to her lap, unable to maintain eye contact? How did they not instantly fall upon seeing the girls playful smirk, only for it to falter when one of her friends made a sarcastic comment? How did they not notice that Ymir had the body of a freakin' Greek goddess… like Artemis or something. Was Artemis the one who only hung out with chicks? Lesbian much? Wait, wasn't she also the goddess of virginity? On second thought, perhaps this was a bad idea.

Either way, either Ymir was totally playing everybody and simply knew how to keep her irresistible hotness secret from prying eyes, or she was the most oblivious seductress ever.

Krista was completely lost in her thoughts, trying to figure out at what point her brain decided freckles were the sexiest thing ever, when the girl in question pulled back from the blanket she'd snuggled into, rested her hand against her hip, and shifted onto her side so she was facing Krista.

Yep, most oblivious, unconscious flirt ever.

"So, what'd you and the crazy, old crone talk about?" Ymir asked, her gaze falling down to the bed beneath her, and Krista realized that despite her nonchalant attitude towards it, Ymir must have been truly nervous that her Gran may have dropped some interesting tidbit and embarrassed the crap outta her.

"Oh, nothing out of the usual," Krista recalled. "Just horribly embarrassing things I'll use to blackmail you in the future."

"Everyone at school thinks you're a sweet, kindly Goddess," Ymir muttered. Krista scoffed in mock surprise.

"Are you saying I'm not?"

"I'm saying you should tell me whatever Gran told you and maybe, perhaps, I'll forgive you."

Abandoning the computer game, Krista crawled over to where Ymir was, sat cross legged on the floor, and rested her chin on the edge of the bed, her face inches away from Ymir's. Krista could practically feel the heat radiating off of Ymir's flushed cheeks. It was a dirty trick, yes, but this whole almost getting there only for a pervy phone call, or an annoying intruder to interrupt them was beginning to drive Krista crazy.

She looked down at her the floor and bit her lip, before peeking up at Ymir. "Perhaps you'll forgive me? Is that the only way?"

Ymir audibly gulped, her eyes falling to her Batman bed sheets. "She… uh, sh-she didn't t-tell you about the wisdom tooth thing, did she?"

Krista smiled devilishly. No, she hadn't heard the story, but if she played this right she might be able to. "Ymir, this is your grandmother we're talking about. Of course she told me what happened."

"What? Seriously?" Ymir asked, her eyes wide with panic. She leaned back, her movements becoming more flustered as she spoke. "Look, it was totally the medication they gave me. I didn't mean to hit on all those people, especially that old lady. The bagger chick at the store… well, she may have been slightly intentional, but I didn't mean to stare at her ass for so long!"

"Ymir?"

"What?" Ymir pouted.

"You hit on an old lady?"

"Well, she was wearing relatively modern clothes and I only saw her from behind at first and- wait, Gran didn't tell you about the old lady part?"

"Er, she didn't tell me about any of it. I was just curious and you're crazy gullible," Krista admitted.

"Wh-what?" Ymir blankly stared at Krista for what felt like a full minute. Krista shifted in her spot uncomfortably. Slowly, after it looked like Ymir finally finished processing the information, she raised her hand to her head, gently rubbing her temple. "I'm usually smart, I swear."

"I know," Krista chirped, smirking. "You just have the adorable tendency to turn into a bumbling, naïve idiot when you're around me."

Ymir rolled her eyes. "No need to look so proud of yourself."

"Why not?" Krista whispered, leaning in so close to Ymir. "I happen to enjoy making you flustered."

Krista heard the sudden intake of breath, and was certain that if she was touching Ymir, she'd be able to feel her heart beating just as hard and quickly as her own was. Her eyes darted down to Ymir's lips, and she found she couldn't look away. They were so tempting, so lush, so close.

She was going for it and nothing, not a damn thing, was going to stop her.

Krista's eyes began to slip closed when a man's voice chanting "ass 'n titties" burst out from between them. Krista's eyes shot open just in time to see the color drain from Ymir's face.

Nothing would stop her, except maybe that.

Krista felt a rumbling in her pocket and realized the music was coming from her, which was bizarre as she'd never heard the song before. On the one hand, that was pretty much the worst timing ever, but on the other hand, the thought of that song going off when she was at home, and worse, in front of her step-mom, sent a shiver down her spine.

She slipped her hand into her pocket and was about to pull out her phone when a sudden, piercing pain attacked her forehead. She reeled back, clutching her head.

"What the-"

"I'm sorry! Shit, I'm sorry," Ymir blurted, clutching her own head as she scrambled off the bed. It would appear, in her desperation to silence the song, Ymir smacked her head against Krista's, effectively knocking her over. Damn that girl had a hard head.

She lunged for her pants, which had been discarded on the floor, but whatever she was searching for must not have been there, because she cursed and ran over to her computer. When the music didn't stop after she exited out of her music program, she unplugged the desktop for good measure.

Still nothing.

"Big booty bitches that's where it gets," the song continued. "Come on, hoe, let's go to the easy rest."

Ymir ran to her laptop and slammed it closed. Meanwhile, Krista, pain finally starting to ease in her head, grabbed her phone out of her pocket.

"Er, it's mine," Krista pointed out, earning herself an incredulous stare.

"Yours?" Ymir asked, as if the statement made no sense, whatsoever. Krista looked down at her phone.

"Annie's idea of a joke it seems."

"Wonder where she got the idea from," Ymir snorted, looking relieved. Krista couldn't blame her, Ymir was probably used to being the ass of her friends' jokes. "I think she's been talking with Mikasa too much."

"Er, I'll be right back," Krista excused herself, walking out into the hallway. She answered her phone amid a repetitive chorus of "ass."

"Annie, I'm going to kill you," Krista threatened, leaning back against Ymir's door. She closed her eyes, wishing her friend was there so she could show her just how serious her threat was. "Do you realize how embarrassing that-"

"Did it work?" Annie interrupted.

"Did what work?"

"I was hoping the song would subliminally get Ymir to check out your… assets."

"Do you realize that had I been at home and that went off, I'd be disowned?" Krista interrogated, fuming. She was so close. So frickin' close. Had Annie just waited one more damn minute, Ymir would have been hers. "Anyways, Ymir's almost always checking out my 'assets.'"

"No worries. I knew you were at Ymir's place."

"Oh? And how did you manage that?" Krista asked, flatly.

"I have spies."

"Are you over at Mikasa and Eren's place?" Krista asked, somewhat shocked. There was a long silence on the other line.

"Er, I have to go, bye!"

The line went dead.

Ymir sat on her bed, pretending to be extremely focused on A.O.T. when Krista walked in. Krista took one glance at her, sighed dejectedly, then trudged over to her laptop before plopping down onto the ground.

That was close. Really fucking close.

It wasn't that Ymir didn't want to kiss Krista. Hell no, it definitely wasn't that. It was just that her body had a tendency to go into full out, spastic panic whenever Krista got that close to her. As much as the interruption somehow relieved her in a bizarre way she didn't understand, it also made her want to toss out every electronic that had the remote possibility of playing a pervy song because, damn it, she also wanted to kiss Krista with every fiber of her fucking body.

Ymir continued to hack at a titan's mutilated corpse until tiny bits of its brain were chipping off, sloshing across the screen. It was overkill, yes, but she needed to get out all this pent out frustration somehow, and who better to vent on than a douche giant with a creepy ass smile?

She wished she had enough guts to do what she wanted to, to claim Krista's lips as hers, but she was just pathetic, clumsy, lame-ass Ymir. Why Krista had any interest in her, she would never know.

"Fuck," Krista huffed, pulling Ymir out of her self-deprecating thoughts.

"What?" Ymir asked, peeking over at her. Krista was leaning in, close to the laptop screen as her fingertips furiously jabbed at various keys. She was biting her lip in concentration, and Ymir wished she had a photographic memory, because she never wanted to forget what hardcore, gamer Krista looked like.

"Some asshole is attacking me."

"You're out fighting titans on your own?" Ymir asked, surprised. At Krista's level, fighting titans on her own should have been incredibly difficult.

"No, I'm in the city. Some asshole just came up and started attacking me."

"What?" Ymir asked, pissed. It was true, there were troll jerks who went around, attacking new players, killing them and waiting for their victim to respawn so they could do it again for shits and giggles, but due to her advanced level, Ymir hadn't had to deal with them in a very long time.

She looked down at her computer and realized there was no way she had enough time to get to Krista's character before she was killed. She cursed under her breath before jumping off the bed, running over to where Krista was, and sitting behind her, focusing on the screen to see just how bad the situation was.

"Okay, you may actually be able to get out of this," Ymir pointed out, taking in what upgrades the douche had equipped. "But you're gonna need to buff your character real quick". Krista, instead of listening, kept hitting the attack button. Figuring Krista was too engrossed to hear her, Ymir leaned in closer, until her lips almost grazed her ear. "Open the menu screen. I'll tell you what to do. C'mon, I know you can do this."

Krista froze, her fingers and her character no longer moving. Realizing virtual Krista was just about on the brink of death, Ymir decided to take over.

She opened the menu screen and, first things first, healed Krista's character with a med pack. She then, fingers flying across the keyboard, activated the necessary perks. Once everything was set, she exited out of the screen and began the closest, most epic battle she'd had in a long while. What with how often she played with her friends and her high level, most of her fights recently hadn't been too much of a challenge, at least not as much as they used to be.

"Don't worry, I'm gonna kick this fucker in his Jigglypuffs," Ymir assured, dodging her opponent's attacks, only to combat roll and stab him in the ass. She didn't want to just defeat this jerk, she wanted to embarrass the crap out of him. No one picked on her Krista. No one.

Krista leaned back and Ymir could feel her back press up against her. Had this been any other time, Ymir would have spazzed out, but right now she was too damn absorbed in the fight.

After a few more rounds of surprise attacks, the challenger swung his swords frantically, his character flailing in an attempt to hit Krista's character. Ymir, who hadn't yet been touched a single time, waited for her opening. When she saw it, she slashed at the troll with one swift, solid blow, and his head teetered back and forth on his neck, before sliding off his body and rolling across the cobblestone ground.

Ymir grinned smugly, oddly proud of herself.

"Did you see that?" Ymir asked boastfully. She tore her eyes away from the screen to look at Krista, and it was only then that she realized Krista had been staring at her the entire time.

Her hands were still on the keyboard, her arms on either side of Krista, and Ymir became painfully aware of how close Krista was. The girl's body was pressed against hers and Ymir couldn't help but notice how her very own frame seemed to envelope her perfectly.

Krista pulled herself up onto her knees and turned around, so she was facing Ymir. Slowly, making sure nothing she did made Ymir too uncomfortable, she slipped her arms around her neck and leaned in until their noses touched.

"K-Krista?" Ymir stammered, her heart thundering so hard she was certain Krista could feel it.

"Can I?"

The question hung in the air as Ymir stared into Krista's big, blue eyes. She expected a teasing smirk, but it never came. Instead, Krista looked just as nervous as Ymir felt, and for some reason knowing this was just as scary to Krista put Ymir at ease. Did she expect her to reject her and say no? The look on her face seemed to hint so, and it was the first time Ymir had ever seen Krista so vulnerable.

Her mouth suddenly felt dry and she couldn't bring herself to say anything. Instead, she found herself nodding before she even realized what she was doing.

Soft lips brushed against hers, sweet, full, and Ymir's mind went blank.

A/N: To be continued...

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