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Between Us

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The moonlight that filtered through the jagged remnants of the Wall was soft, almost too soft, for the world that had known only the brutal kiss of steel and the relentless crush of titans. Eren Yeager sat, his back pressed against the cold, crumbling stone, as the night's chill seeped through his worn jacket. His eyes, glowing faintly beneath the twilight, seemed fixed on the horizon, but in truth, his mind was far from the war—torn landscape. Far from the walls, from the bloodshed and the battle.

It was a landscape painted with shades of golden hair and eyes as cold as they were mesmerizing.

Annie Leonhart.

Despite all his efforts to outrun her, Annie still haunted him. Not like his enemies, who burned in his mind with hatred and violence, but always in the silent moments like this—the spaces between breaths, where shadows deepened and his thoughts unraveled. In the quiet, she lingered, a presence he could never fully banish. She was a thought that always found its way to him.

He swallowed, trying to suppress the restlessness rising in his chest, but it was futile. For years, he had buried it, hiding it beneath his duty, his rage, his fear. Even today, during training, he had shoved it down, pretending the tension between them didn't exist. But tonight, here in this fragile moment, there was no escaping it. He was finally facing what he truly felt for her, and that terrified him.

It wasn't plain fear of rejection—no, that wasn't it. It was the opposite. He was almost certain she felt something, and that's what scared him. The idea that this wasn't just in his head. That maybe, just maybe, she wanted him too. And it wasn't that he didn't want to be with her. He did, desperately. But he was afraid of what would happen if she knew the truth—that he was a trans man. The secret he had carried with him, silently, for so long.

What was he thinking? Even if she didn't go so far as to hate him, she'd never look at him the same again. Let alone want to be with him once she knew. How could she? That fear gnawed at him, making the ground beneath him feel unsteady, as if everything between them could shatter with just one word.

"Yeager."

There it was. Her voice, low and precise, cut through the silence like a blade. He hadn't even heard her approach, and he cursed himself for letting his guard down. But this wasn't the battlefield, and her presence, rather than filling him with the instinct to fight, did something far more dangerous. It made his pulse quicken, his heart thrum in his ears.

Perfect. Just perfect. She was the last person he wanted to see right now, precisely because she was the one he wanted to see deep down. But somehow, she always knew exactly where to find him.

Eren exhaled sharply, his heart heavy with unspoken words. He could feel her eyes on him, sharp and curious, as though she was trying to peel back the layers of whatever he was hiding. It was in her nature to want the truth. That was why he admired her, wasn't it? The way she cut through the lies and delusions, even if it was brutal. Even if it hurt.

Eren turned his head slowly, meeting her gaze. Annie stood a few feet away, her posture as rigid and defensive as always, but there was something different about the way she looked at him. Something... softer, even if she would never admit it. Her icy eyes held a flicker of something warmer, something he recognized because he felt it too—had been feeling it for years.

"Leonhart," he murmured, his voice hoarse. He struggled to find words, any words, but what could he say? Every interaction between them had been a battleground, a war of glances, a clash of wills. And now, with nothing to fight, there was only the weight of what they had left unsaid.

For a moment, neither of them moved. The air between them thickened, heavy with the tension of unsaid words, unspoken truths. Eren's chest tightened painfully as Annie's gaze lingered on him longer than it ever had before. There was no hostility, no cold calculation. Instead, there was something else in her eyes—something fragile, raw.

Annie's hand clenched into a fist at her side, her jaw set as though she were fighting some internal battle. "You've been avoiding me," she said flatly, though there was a strange softness in her tone that made Eren's heart stutter.

"I've been busy. That's all," he replied, trying to act nonchalant, but his voice a little too quick, a little too defensive.

But they both knew it was a lie. It wasn't his duties that had kept him away. It was the feelings he could no longer ignore. The ones that churned beneath the surface, threatening to break free.

Annie took a step closer, the crunch of gravel beneath her boots startling in the quiet. "Don't lie to me," she said, her voice barely more than a whisper. Her eyes flickered with something like frustration, but it wasn't anger. "You've been avoiding this."

Eren's breath hitched, and he could no longer meet her gaze. His hands clenched into fists at his sides, nails digging into his palms. "Huh? I don't know what you mean." Bullshit.

Another step, and she was close enough that he could feel her presence, like the pull of gravity, inescapable. "You've always been such a terrible liar, Eren," she said, her voice growing quieter, more intimate. "I know you."

The words hit him harder than any punch. Annie knew him—perhaps better than anyone, and that terrified him. She could see through the layers he had carefully constructed, the mask he wore for everyone else. And yet, here she was, stripping it all away with nothing but a few words.

In the hours they spent apart, Annie's thoughts were consumed by him—just as his were by her. For years, she had refused to acknowledge what had quietly grown between them. She had built walls around herself, walls of cold resolve and strength, never allowing herself to feel anything deeper for anyone. Her burdens were hers alone to bear. She couldn't afford to be vulnerable, couldn't risk being distracted on her path.

But now, the truth was undeniable. She finally knew what she felt for him, and there was no going back.

He finally looked up at her, and there it was—that thing they had been avoiding for so long. It was in the way she looked at him, the way her lips parted as though she wanted to say something but couldn't bring herself to. It was in the way his heart pounded in his chest, the way his hands trembled with the weight of the unspoken truth.

"Annie, I..." His voice broke, and for the first time in years, he felt utterly exposed. Vulnerable. He had faced death, destruction, the end of the world itself, but this... this was different. This was her. "I can't..."

"Stop pretending." Her voice was firm, but there was an edge of desperation to it now. "We've been pretending for far too long."

Eren's throat tightened. He wanted to tell her everything—to tear down the walls that had kept him silent, to confess what had been eating away at him for years. He wanted to tell her that, despite everything, he cared for her, maybe he even loved her. But it wasn't that simple. There were things she didn't know about him.

Annie moved closer, her eyes set on his lips, and before Eren could react, she reached up, her hand trembling slightly as she brushed her fingertips against his jaw. The touch was so gentle, so unexpected, that it sent a shiver down his spine.

He should have pulled away. He should have pushed her back, kept that distance between them. Stop her from getting this close. But he couldn't. Not anymore.

Her breath ghosted over his skin as she leaned in, her lips so close to his that he could feel the warmth of her breath. "Eren..."

It was a whisper, a plea, and it broke something inside him. His resolve, his fear. Everything he had been holding back crumbled in an instant.

But just as her lips were about to meet his, Eren recoiled, his heart lurching in his chest. He stepped back, breathless, his chest heaving as though he had been running for miles. "Annie... I—I can't..."

Annie blinked, stunned, her hand still suspended in the air where his face had been. "What's wrong?" Her voice was softer now, almost hurt, and that cut him deeper than any blade.

Eren couldn't look at her, not like this. "I... I need to tell you something first."

She frowned, her eyes searching his face for answers. "Tell me what?"

His pulse pounded in his ears, louder than the wind that howled through the broken stones. He had never told anyone. Not even his closest friends. No one. This was a secret he had buried so deeply, he lived his life and had almost convinced himself it didn't matter.

But it did. It mattered, especially now.

"I..." His voice faltered, and he swallowed hard, forcing himself to look her in the eyes. "I'm not who you think I am, Annie."

Her frown deepened, confusion flickering across her features. "What are you talking about?"

"I wasn't always... this," he said, his voice rough, almost breaking. "The person you see now—the body you see now—it wasn't the one I was born with."

Annie's gaze didn't waver, but there was a flicker of confusion in her eyes. "What are you saying?"

"I..." His throat constricted, making it hard to get the words out. "I'm a transgender man, Annie. I wasn't born... male," he continued, each word heavier than the last. "I transitioned. A long time ago. It was something I had to do for myself, to be true to myself... Even if no one knew, even if it meant keeping it buried." He clenched his fists again, forcing himself to breathe.

The words hung between them like a storm, heavy and suffocating.

Annie's eyes widened, but she didn't speak, didn't move. The silence stretched on, unbearable.

"I'm... I'm a man, Annie. I've always been Eren, but... not the body I was born with..." His voice cracked, and he had to fight to keep the tears from welling in his eyes. "I was afraid. Afraid that if you knew the truth, you'll... hate me. That you'll see me differently. That you could never love me..."

The vulnerability in his voice was raw, naked, and it scared him more than any battle ever had. He had never been this exposed, this fragile. And now, it was up to her.

For a moment, Annie just stared at him, her expression unreadable. The seconds dragged on, and Eren felt his heart sinking, felt the fear that had kept him silent for so long creeping back in.

For a long moment, the world seemed to stop.

The silence between them was deafening, pressing in on Eren from all sides. He braced himself, every muscle in his body tense, waiting for the reaction that would come. He had run through every possible scenario in his mind—the disgust, the rejection, the cold look of betrayal. He had prepared himself for all of it.

But nothing could have prepared him for what actually happened.

Annie didn't move. Didn't flinch. Her face remained impassive, unreadable. But her eyes softened, just the slightest bit, a subtle shift that only someone who knew her as well as he did could notice.

"That's it?" she asked quietly, her voice steady, calm in a way that almost unnerved him.

Eren blinked, his breath catching in his throat. "That's it?" he repeated, disbelief threading through his voice. "Annie, this is... I've never told anyone this. Not even Armin or Mikasa."

"It doesn't change anything, Eren." she said simply, her gaze still locked on his.

He stared at her, his mind struggling to process her words. It didn't change anything? What?

"I'm still me, yes," he said, almost defensively, as if he needed to remind her of that. "But I needed you to know the truth before... Before we..."

His words trailed off, leaving the unspoken confession hanging between them.

Annie's expression softened, her eyes searching his face with a depth that made his chest ache. She stepped closer, close enough that he could feel the warmth radiating from her, the steady pulse of her presence grounding him in a way he hadn't expected.

"Eren," she said quietly, her voice gentler than he had ever heard it, "You think something like this would change how I feel about you?"

His heart stuttered at her words, the walls he had built around himself cracking under the weight of them. He had spent so long hiding, so long believing that this truth would drive people away, especially her. But here she was, standing in front of him, as steady as the earth beneath their feet.

"You... still feel the same way about me?" he asked, his voice barely more than a whisper.

"You're an idiot," Annie muttered, though there was no malice in her words. "You really thought I'd walk away because of that?"

He let out a shaky laugh, a mix of relief and disbelief. "Most people wouldn't want to be with someone like me."

Annie's hand slipped down to his wrist, her fingers brushing against his pulse, anchoring him in place. "I'm not most people."

And she wasn't. Annie was fire and ice, fierce strength wrapped in quiet stillness. No one was like her. She was the one who understood the weight of secrets, the burden of living with truths that no one else could know.

For the first time in a long while, Eren felt the knot of tension in his chest begin to unravel. His heart slowed, his breathing steadied. He stepped closer to her, and for a moment, the world fell away. It was just them. No war, no Titans, no fear.

Annie smiled softly, her blonde hair catching the faint light. "All I see is the man I've come to care about more than I ever thought possible," she said, her eyes boring into his. "The rest of it... it doesn't matter to me. Your past, the body you were born with... None of this matters."

Slowly, Annie reached out again. Her hand, trembling ever so slightly, cupped his cheek, and this time, Eren didn't pull away. His mind was still processing her words. Her touch was warm, steady, and her gaze softened in a way he had never seen before.

For the first time in what felt like forever, the weight that had been crushing Eren's chest lifted, and he let out a shaky breath, his vision blurring with unshed tears.

Annie's gaze softened further, and without another word, she closed the distance between them, her lips brushing his in a kiss that was tender, filled with all the things they had kept hidden for so long. The kiss was soft at first, hesitant, like they were both afraid of breaking whatever delicate thread had brought them to this moment. But then it deepened, the warmth between them building, melting away the fear and doubt that had held Eren back for so long.

Annie's hand slipped to his jaw, her touch firm, reassuring, as if she was grounding him in the reality of this—of them. Eren was pouring everything he hadn't been able to say into the moment, the weight of their shared history, their shared pain, binding them together in a way that felt inevitable. It wasn't just a kiss of passion. It was a kiss of understanding, of acceptance.

When they finally pulled apart, their breaths mingled in the cool evening air, and Eren rested his forehead against hers, his eyes closed as he let the moment wash over him.

And for the first time, Eren allowed himself to believe it. To believe that, maybe, after everything, he could still have this—have her. "You have no idea how much I wanted this... You..." he said.

"You're not going to lose me, Eren," Annie whispered, her breath warm against his skin. "Not now. Not ever."

Eren believed her.

Annie was still there.

And that was all he needed.