THIRTEEN • Eren Jaeger

CHAPTER 4: Loop Two, II

You had to tug his arm a little harder when he paused in front of the Survey Corps Headquarters in Trost, longingly wondering when he would return with the rest of his friends.

"This is ridiculous," he muttered as he clambered into a wagon with a hood over his head. "There isn't even any solid evidence, Commander Erwin had never said anything!"

"You have to trust the Commander," Mikasa told him pointedly. "We can't risk you getting kidnapped."

"By Reiner and Bertholdt?"

"By anyone."

At the side, Petra, Oluo, Gunther, and Eld mounted their horses and waited for Levi's call. When it was given, the carriage sprang to life and you were being whisked away from Trost to the far mountains in the Wall.

Eren still looked annoyed. "I can't believe anyone close to me would want to do that. And how would the Marleyans get into the Walls? The land beyond it is crawling with Titans!"

"Maybe it's their technology," Armin suggested. "They had a flying carriage like my parents."

"I can believe Annie," you said stubbornly. "She was always trying to get close to you even though she never liked being around the rest of us."

Eren glared at you, but said nothing else of it. You noticed that he swallowed nonchalantly and looked away, trying to hide his red face from you.

You turned to your two other friends, dropping your voice so Eren couldn't hear what you were saying.

"What's up with him?" you demanded Armin.

He shrugged, but sported a small smile. "He thinks you're jealous of Annie."

Your mouth dropped. "Me? Jealous of Annie?"

"The way you said it, it sounded like you were upset that she was hovering over him all the time during training."

"It's obvious, [Name], you don't need to hide it," Mikasa added. "Whenever Annie came near Eren during cadet training, you would always glance at them suspiciously."

"Because she's a threat," you fumed.

In spite of the cold wind as the carriage sped past paths on the mountainside, Armin grinned with amusement.

Mikasa nodded. "You see her as a threat."

"Well, she is," you said petulantly. "And now we're hiding Eren away."

Armin chuckled, and Eren turned back.

"What are you guys talking about?"

You crossed your arms and looked away, just as he had earlier. "Just speculating."

Eren and Armin looked at each other. You knew Eren was going to force Armin to tell him what you said later. Reaffirming that you were jealous of Annie.

How ridiculous.

You were protective of Eren, but not in that way.

You found yourself back in the mountain cottage where you had hidden in before Historia became queen. You were with Mikasa, Armin, Eren, and the original Squad Levi, who mostly bossed you around to do the chores while they sauntered to and fro. It had you grumbling in annoyance but at least you had something to distract you from the gloom.

It wasn't so bad, though, living in the mountainside with your closest friends.

Cooking with Mikasa, organizing shelves with Armin, cleaning and complaining about cleaning with Eren. It was boring, but boring meant safe, and safe meant good.