Chapter 6: Childhood Friends Or Lovers

So I was reading the reviews you guys posted and I was lmao. Haha really, it killed me. Thanks for taking your time for leaving a review. I really do enjoy reading your opinions :'D Happy Halloween !

Sorry about the grammars & mistakes I made.

Disclaimer: I do not own Attack on Titan 0.0

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Bertholdt still couldn't stop thinking about what Annie said to him the other day. It broke his heart. His dreams of being with her vanished instantly and it brought him unbearable angst. He tried to avoid everyone, he wanted to be left alone. He was sitting at his usual spot.

Reiner was with him he found him earlier and he insisted on staying by his side until he knew what was bothering his bestfriend.

"Oi, when you gonna stop moping around? It's getting on my nerve!" Reiner snorted.

"….." Bertholdt remained silent and ignored him.

"Fine, if you're gonna act like a child at least tell me what's bothering yah?"

"…Its Annie…"

"Eh? What about her?"

"She's with someone."

"What?!" Reiner said acting a bit surprised. What the hell was he supposed to do now? Should he lie or see how it will end? He scratched his head thinking about whether he should tell him the truth or not.

"Do you know who she is with?" He asked pretending to be curious.

"No, I don't know that's the thing with Annie." He said annoyed.

"Maybe you should let her go it's been a few years already. I think it's time to put it behind you." Reiner said softly. He looked at his friend, it brought him sadness. It has been years since they used to be friends hanging out just being kids. Having no duties, nothing to worry about and being carefree. The three of them had no one but each other and he understood where he came from. He missed being a trio. Together they were powerful, indestructible and fearless.

Reiner looked up at the trees. He saw two full grown birds of prey and a very young one. One of them flew up to the sky scavenging for food for his beloved family. The other one was watching their child. He smiled warmly at the family seeing those protecting each other brought him nostalgia. He remember what it felt like to have a family alongside was Bertholdt and Annie. He had them now no one else. Although they are separated the bond they shared reminds them to stay strong rather than weak.

Reiner bent down and patted Bertholdt on the shoulder.

"It hurts…" Bertholdt said not feeling happy.

"Bert, we are on a mission. For now, forget about Annie and focus on what you are supposed to do. We all have a very important role to play." He stood up and left him alone. He hope his words would get through to him he needed him to stay focus on this mission. He wanted to help him get back together with Annie but now wasn't the time. He was trying very hard to complete the mission but things weren't going so well according to the plan. He acted as if he cared about the others by being a good leader to them.

But in reality Reiner didn't give a shit about the trainees. He was slowly losing himself and he was worried about Bertholdt and Annie. Mostly Bertholdt since Annie chose to isolate herself from them. They were warriors not some fucking lame ass soldier who obey their higher ups like a fucking mindless slave.

Reiner was heading towards his room when he spotted Eren.

"EREN!" He shouted getting attentions from the trainees. He ignored them and he waved his arms greeting him.

Eren stopped walking he looked around searching the voice that called him. He saw Reiner waving at him and he ran up to him.

"Hey Reiner? Is something wrong?" He asked curious.

"I need to speak to you but not here. Lets go somewhere private, alright."

"But I'm in the middle of looking for someone."

"Who?"

"Er, um Annie…" He mumbled his cheeks turning red. He stared at the ground as if it's the most interesting thing in the world.

"Huh? I can't hear you speak up."

"It-ts nothing just forget it." He stuttered.

"Okay, you can do that later, now lets go." Reiner demanded.

"…"

Eren stayed quiet and followed Reiner shortly after he spoke. They went around the cabin. Reiner looked around absolutely making sure no one was planning to eavesdrop on them. He took a deep breath calming his nerves. He glances at Eren.

"You two are together?" He implied not wasting any of their time.

"What!?" Eren said caught off guard. He gawked at him in disbelief.

"Come on tell me the truth, I already figure it out. It is a small world after all I wanted to confirm it from you since Annie won't say shit to me." He remarked feeling very annoyed. He crossed his arms and spit on the ground waiting for him to reply.

Eren gave in and sighed "Yeah we're seeing each other, is there a problem." He said getting angry.

"No, No!" Reiner added quickly. He didn't want to give Eren the wrong idea.

"Fine, I'm leaving now!" He turned around but a hand stopped him from walking. He observed Reiner hand suspiciously before he glimpse back.

"You need to know the truth." Reiner spoke in a serious tone. Eren stared at him in the eye intense.

"What do you mean the truth?" He asked skeptical.

"About what happened a few years ago before the incident started in Wall Maria."

Eren froze feeling uneasy when he mentioned about Wall Maria. He wanted to forget what happened to his mother there were too much memories and he couldn't handle the grief. He bit his lip from crying in despair. His body trembled in discomfort.

"Wh-hat do you me-eann?" He asked stuttering.

"The same thing happen to me too Eren." Reiner replied feeling guilty as he recall the event.

He didn't say anything he didn't know how to respond to it. He gestured his hand allowing him to continue.

Reiner exhaled in relief and he began to tell him about his past the day he lost the truth meaning of the word home.

***Flashback***

It all happen a few years ago and I was only young. Everything happen so fast it was like a blur. Our town was in chaos. I was petrified and lost. I didn't know what to do as I stared at the bodies piling up little by little. The panic feeling started to overwhelm me and I was beginning to hyperventilate.

Bertholdt shook me hard and I snapped from my thoughts. He told me to breathe in and breathe out slowly. I started to feel calm and I sighed in relief. I thanked him and he accepted my gratitude. He told me he had a plan and I followed his orders.

We tried to evacuate as many people as we can. But they were numerous of titans from left to right. We lost several of our kind. Death was everywhere, is there any hope at all. Who was going to help save us from hellish world? We were surrounded by our enemies there was no escape. I accepted my death quickly without any second thoughts at all.

But my closest friend did not. He chose to sacrifice himself in order to save Bertholdt and I. He had given us the opportunity to escape.

He told us "We can't give up now, we can still fight back!" He grabbed a broken tree bark and hit the nearest titan. The hit didn't have any effect on it. Bertholdt and I stared at him in horrid.

The titan he tried to hurt was seven meters tall with multiple sharp fangs and claws. The titan turned around and roared in anger for disrupting its meal. It grabbed him by the waist squeezing the life out of him. He screeched in agony. His piercing screams never left our ears it haunted us to this very day.

"RUN!" He cried as blood began to spill from his mouth. It was his last word before he died in vain.

We watched in terror as the titan open its mouth and devoured our closest friend. We heard the bones being crushed as it began to masticate.

Bertholdt collapsed on his knees covering his ears he cried afraid this is the end of humanity. We were doomed from the start.

I continued to watch the titan feeding off of my friend. Blood splatter everywhere and it landed on our faces. We smelled of dead corpse from the air we breathe in. All there was left of him was his limps. I vomited from the sight.

I tried to look away but my body froze in shock. I couldn't stop watching fear held me at its gripped. It felt as if I was being forced for my punishments. I didn't know how long time past but I noticed the titan was distracted at the very moment.

There were a few openings and I acted on my instinct. I wiped my mouth using my sleeve and I grabbed Bertholdt. I helped him stood up when he wobbled a bit.

"Reiner, what abou-tt Berik!" Bertholdt said as he tried to stop himself from glancing back.

"Berik deads! We-e have to-o keep-p going" My voice cracked as I replied to him. We ran from where we stood. I didn't look back at all. I was afraid the titans were going to follow us in the woods if we did.

Up ahead there was a forest it was nearby and a good place to hide. The woods looked deserted I was sure that the titans wouldn't be interested since the forest looked dead. We kept on running even though our legs wanted to give out on us.

All I heard was my feet pounding on the ground and we were breathing heavily our lungs begged us for some oxygen. I tripped over the tree stamp and I landed on Bertholdt. We rolled downhill getting cuts and bruised from the trees and rocks. I blackout when I was consumed by darkness.

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I opened my eyes when I heard someone talking. I wince in pain when my body ached from earlier. I sat up quickly remembering what happened. I broke down I realized it wasn't a horrible nightmare that I dreamt. Someone squeezed my shoulder reassured me. I couldn't stop sobbing as I still mourned over my friend Berik tragic death.

"Berik! Why you idiot!" I yelled angrily.

"Reiner, please calm down! I know it's a lot to take in but Berik saved us we should thank him." Bertholdt said calmly and depressed.

"Hey shut up and be a man!" I heard the girl scoffed.

I turned around and glare at the icy blue eyes. She wasn't tall and I wasn't dismay. I got up and walk toward the blonde. I placed my hands on her shoulder and shook her out of anger. Before I was able to comprehend what happen a few seconds ago I was flat on my back.

"What the fuck just happened?" I asked astonished.

"Don't you fucking dare lay a hand on me or you'll be in more of a fucking surprised." She replied unemotional. She scowled at me threateningly. I cowered back in fear. She quickly left leaving me and Bertholdt alone.

"You just got your ass kicked by a girl." He said in awe as he watched her walked away.

I shooked my head in denial and I immediately passed out.

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Few days had passed ever since the death of our friend. I dream about it every day. I wished I can bury it deep in the dark. The girl who kicked my ass her name was Annie Leonhardt. She was an orphan just like us. A week ago we went back to our town and Bertholdt asked Annie to tagged along with us at first she refused but he kept on pestering her until she finally agreed.

As we walk to our destiny we noticed many homes have been destroyed by the titans. I grit my teeth in anger. Some had survived others did not make it. I was feeling sad I…no… wait we lost our home. I wanted to cry but I knew it would get us nowhere.

"Goodbye…Berik…Home…Family..." I said sadden when I spoke those words.

"Where will we go now, Reiner?" Bertholdt said absent-minded.

I shrugged my shoulders not knowing how to answer. He is my family. So is Annie.

"Your friend Berik what he did was courage's don't ever forget that." Annie said quietly. We looked at her our eyes began to water.

"Come with us, Annie." He said warmly. She looked at him confused and I chuckled at her. My bestfriend had a crushed on her and I wanted so badly to tease him but I waited until Annie decided to join us.

"Tch…I prefer being alone." She said obviously.

"I'll follow you no matter where you go I promised you I want to help you." He shyly replied. He grabbed her hands and stared at her in the eye.

I was shocked by his sudden move. I didn't know Bertholdt had it in him. I continued to watch the scene that unfolded in front of me.

"Wh-hat are you-u doing?" She asked dumbfounded.

I covered my mouth from laughing I didn't want to ruin their moment or his as a matter of fact. I didn't know much about Annie we only been with her for a few weeks but was she always this oblivious I figured she was intelligent but I assumed when it comes to liking someone she either ignores it or she tried not to have their hopes up.

"This…" He answered her question by kissing her. Now, he's defiantly getting his ass whooped. What even shocked me the most was that she stood there doing nothing. He pulled back quickly and grinned at her sheepishly.

I walked up to him and patted him on the back.

"Wow, Bert you managed to shut her up." I said congratulating him. He gave me a thumbs up. Suddenly Bertholdt flipped on his back and I felled to the ground when Annie kicked me on the shinned. I yelped in pain as I grabbed my leg.

"We won't brin-gg this up!" She said trying to sound angry but failed miserably.

We laugh and we watched the sunset together it was such a nice scene we forgotten for a moment that the world we live in didn't exist.

***Flashback Ends***

"After that we left together leaving those painful memories we experienced." Reiner said as he wrapped up his story. He stared at Eren for a moment he patted him when he didn't say anything.

"What happened after that?" Eren asked he was afraid of the truth.

"During some time Annie didn't want to be with Bert anymore, but it's not my place to say. You should talk to Annie about it I doubt she'll tell you unless I'm wrong." He replied.

"I-I I'm sorry what happened to you I really am but I want to be left alone right now."

"Before I leave I want you to reconsider about Annie and Bertholdt feelings." He began to walk away but Eren stopped him.

"What do you mean?"

"Bert doesn't know you two are together and if he finds out from someone else other than you or Annie he's gonna be very pissed off."

"I don't care if he gets angry! I care a lot about Annie! I won't give up on her." He said feeling very threaten at the moment.

"Do whatever you want, but if you tried to hurt either one I'm coming after you." Reiner said in a warning. He started walking and he smirked to himself. He was looking forward for the day.

Eren watched him disappeared from where he stood. He punched something close by letting his anger out. What was he gonna do? There were so many questions that were left unanswered. He wasn't going to start questioning Annie until she was ready to open up to him. All he wanted to do was stay by her side now her past was chasing her. He looked up at the clouds before he went back to his dorm.

Tbc… in chapter 7!

I stayed up all night to finish this chapter x.x I hope it cleared things up.

I'm having a writers block atm so if you guys can wait a little longer for the next chapters I'll be happy to throw in another pairings in the next Chapter. Like a filler I guess.

If you still need me to clarify on what happened from this chapter or the previous chapters I'll try to do that in the next 2-3 chapters.

Also, I suck at writing first point of view ~.~

I hope you enjoy this treat cus it was a bit tricky. Haha get it Trick-Or-Treat :x

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