Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I don't own Attack on Titan.

"Go out with me!" Eren suddenly shouted. I was speechless.

It was after school, a week after I was grounded, Eren and I decide to walk home together. Armin got too busy with his club and Mikasa had to help a teacher.

"Please!" Eren starts to go red like a tomato and shuts his eyes.

"…Okay…" I answered quietly. This is really embarrassing but I really like Eren. I still remember that kiss at the park. It wasn't long but I felt something ignite within me when we kissed.

Eren lights up and smiles widely. He suddenly hugs me tightly.

"Yes!" He says happily lifting me off the ground and swings me around. Then he realizes what he did and puts me down and looks away embarrassed. "C-Come on, let's get you home." He says quietly. He slowly grabs my hand and squeezes. I smile and squeezed his back.

"Okay." I said, blushing hard, and then we start to walk to the café.

As we enter the café, we were greeted by streamers and confetti.

"Congrats!" shouted Sasha.

"You finally did it!" praised Connie. Eren and I turned even more embarrassed.

"Come guys, look at them. There're embarrassed. Leave the new lovebirds alone." Reiner teases. Bertholdt elbows, making Reiner laugh. Eren gently pulls my hand towards the table. He pulls out a chair and motions me to sit. I nod my head and sat down. He pulls a chair next to me and sits down, and then he grabs my hand under the table. I looked around the table and saw Ymir, Annie, Jean, Connie, Sasha, Reiner, and Bertholdt smiling at us.

"Aw how cute!" Petra shouts as she takes pictures with her phone. Are pictures necessary?

"Aren't they cute together Erwin?" She asked Erwin who was at the counter. He had his arms crossed and was glaring. "Erwin don't do that! You'll get wrinkles faster!" Petra warns him.

"What's with all the noise?" said the irritated Levi. Then his eyes caught sight of the mess in front of the doorway. "Who the fuck did that?" He growls. He turns his head to our table. "I just cleaned this floor…Clean it up now!" He ordered.

"Y-Yes sir! Connie and Sasha said at the same time and rushed over to clean up the mess. We all laughed at the panicked couple. Then the news on the TV came on announcing a bizarre story.

"In today's news, another body has been discovered in the city of Genevieve in Wall Sina." The male reporter announced, making everyone in the café goes quiet. "Stock broker, William Yern, was found robbed and stabbed till he was unrecognizable. Some people say that it is a work of a serial killer who already killed five other people in different parts of the walls. Three bodies were discovered in two different towns in Wall Maria and one in a small village in Wall Rose."

"People are starting to call this serial killer the Aberrant because of the way the people were killed," said the female reporter, "They were killed by stabbing many times all over their body even to the point that couldn't be recognized. These are the victims so far." The news shows all the victims faces.

'Emily Heist, Shawn Reed, Connor Monroe… Why do these names sound so familiar?' I thought. I heard these names somewhere before but where though? This is strange.

"Are you okay?" Eren asked. "You're squeezing my hand a bit too hard." He points out.

"Oh sorry…just thought it was a little scary. There's a serial killer running around and all…"

"I'll protect you." Eren says firmly as he squeezes my hand. "I won't let him hurt you." He was serious.

"That's a little cheesy don't you think?"

"R-Really?" He said and became red again and I laughed.

"Hey Armin and Mikasa are here!" Jean shouts. We all turn around and greet them.

"Why is there mess at the door?" Armin asked.

"Oh it was to congratulate our newest couple!" Connie says happily as he picks up the confetti. God Connie.

"Couple?" Mikasa tilts her head in confusion.

"These two right there!" Reiner points at Eren and me.

"Reiner!" We both said. Suddenly Mikasa pulls chair and sits in between Eren and I. Everyone became silent and the atmosphere became awkward. Suddenly my phone goes off, cutting the silence.

"Hello?" I said when I picked up the phone. No one answers me but only the sounds of cars going by then hangs up.

"Who was it?" Reiner asked.

"I don't know. It's probably a wrong number." I said as I checked the caller ID. It was restricted. "Yeah, wrong number." I said as I put my phone away.

"So Eren really did it?" Armin asked.

"Yup! He finally stopped talking big and went for it." said Jean as he smiled from ear to ear.

"Shut up Horse-face!" Eren shouts angrily at Jean.

"What!?" Jean shouts back. I laugh a little, enjoying their banter. I felt eyes on me so I turned my head and see Mikasa glaring daggers at me. I felt shivers down my spine as she glared at me. She finally looked away and leaned back in her chair. 'Mikasa must be really protective of Eren or something.'

After everyone left, I went to my room and texted Eren for awhile. Then someone knocks on my door.

"Come in!" I said. Erwin walks into my room and abruptly sits on my bed. He begins to twiddle with thumbs and looks around nervously.

"Is everything okay?" I asked him.

"What do you see in Eren?" He asked suddenly.

"Um..he's very kind even though he is kind of thick-headed but he's reliable…" I said and continued to point all the things I could think of about Eren from the bottom of my heart. Erwin listens intently as I talked about him.

"My little girl is dating already…" He said as he covers his face with his hands. "It seemed like yesterday that you were just that little girl who would drag that teddy bear around and have tea parties. Now you're growing up. I wasn't able to be there." He said as he looks down at the ground.

"Well…you're here now. I'm happy that I get to see you and spend time with you." I smiled at him. He smiles back and ruffles my hair. "So… I want to know how you met mom." I said.

"Didn't she tell you?"

"She said nothing about you. Not a word."

"It…was six years before you were born…" He starts. "I was in the military by then. I wanted to take some college courses so I entered Trost community college. That's where I met your mom. She was a beautiful woman from Japan. Nanami Shinichi. After a few months, I finally found the courage to ask her out."

"You meet mom here in Trost?" I asked

"Yup."He said with a distant look. Then his expression turns dark and he continues his story. "During those years of dating, I started to see strange changes. She wouldn't remember what she did the other day. There were times when she seemed like she didn't even know where she was. I was going to break up with her but you came along. So I married her in that instant."

"You stayed with her because of me?" I asked.

"I was going to be a father. I wanted to be there for you…" He pats my head lovingly. "Then one day, everything fell apart. I came home from work and find the apartment in a mess and…you two were gone." He said with such melancholy. His hands start to tremble a little as he remembers.

"I looked everywhere for you two but you guys were gone." I gently put my hand on top of his. I didn't say anything because I didn't know what to say. I didn't even know what to do. I sat there holding his hand as he sits there sadden with painful memories. "I missed everything. Your first day of school, birthdays, holidays, everything."

"You know…" I finally start to say. "When I was little, I used to trip on the stairs." I said trying to make him feel better. He looks up at me in disbelief. "It's true. After school I would go up the stairs and suddenly I would just trip." Then he starts to laugh.

"Weird child." He said chuckling. It went silent for awhile. "Tell me more sometime will you?" He asked. I nodded my head.

"And next time, tell me how you meet Mrs. Petra Smith." I said nudging him a bit. He grunts in agreement, ruffles my hair again, and leaves. I lay on my bed, smiling about the next time we get to talk about all those things we missed.