The Boy I Knew

13. No Goodbyes

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"So where are we going?" You had been dreading this question because it meant that he was catching on. He held onto the belt loops of your pants as you made your way to Wall Maria. You two had just passed through Wall Rose a few hours ago, after stopping for the horse to rest and the Garrison to check any paperwork.

"They wanted to test something and wanted to do it as far away from people as possible."

"Are you sure?" No doubt he was skeptical.

"Yeah. I don't know too much about what y'all do, so I'm just repeating what I've been told." You hoped he would buy it. You pulled up to an outcropping of trees a few miles before Wall Maria.

"If they're not here yet, we'll have to wait." Y'all had been riding for what felt like hours and you needed to walk around and stretch your legs. Not only that, but the sun was setting and you wanted to wait until dusk before drugging him and trying to leave. Key word trying. You prayed that the Garrison were either drunk or asleep by the time you got there. And that the effects of the chloroform held.

"Did they say what they wanted to do exactly?" You watched as he hopped off the horse after ryou and sat below a tree. Everything was remarkably silent. No birds, grasshoppers, or cicadas making noise. It was unnerving.

"If they did, it was before I came into the room. I listened long enough to know that they needed you before offering to go get you. I enjoy them and all, but I didn't want to sit around and listen to it all." That elicited a laugh out of him.
"I understand. I don't blame you for it." He started pulling grass up while you waited. "So about you and Erwin..."

"What about us?" You blushed, giving him the answer he wanted.

"I knew it! Well, Connie and Sasha did. They do too much snooping and I guess they caught y'all together at some point." You rubbed the back of your neck.

"Didn't realize it was that easy to figure out."

"Well, the Commander is private for obvious reasons, so when you started hanging around more often, it didn't take long to figure it out. You should see the way he looks at you, too." He carried on, but the pain in your chest grew. It made you feel bad about doing this to him, even with the added insecurities of his letter to Marie. There's no telling how many he actually sent. You began playing with the necklace, having only taken it off long enough for baths and sleep.

"Did he give that to you?" Your train of thought was broken.

"Yeah." You gave him a smile. Sitting beside him, you laid the pendant in your palm and showed it to him.

"Maybe I should get something lie that for Mikasa. Hopefully she'll finally wash that scarf." He laughed.

"You like her?" Suddenly quiet, he looked away from you. "It's cool if you don't want to talk about it."

After sitting in silence for a while longer, you stood and brushed any dirt you had off of your pants. The dark had fallen quicker than you expected, leaving the trees behind you extremely dark. The last of the light loomed over the wall and it reminded you that you'd be riding in the dark as you searched for Zeke. It was now or never. You pulled out the cloth from the side bag and covered it with the fluid. You wanted to make sure he was going to be unconscious for a while, so every inch of the piece of fabric was covered. It was clear, but had a strong smell, so you'd need to act fast...

"What is that?" Eren stood over your shoulder, startling you. Too stunned to speak, you moved as fast as you could, placing a hand on the back of his head and forcing the cloth over his mouth and nose. He placed one hand on the horse to steady himself while the other one wrapped around your throat, squeezing it. You struggled to breath as you were trapped between him and the horse, but you refused to be the one who passed out first.