Growing feelings - (Bertholdt x Reader) College AU

Beautiful World - part 1

It's been a few days since I've come to Christa's place. Tomorrow was the day I would have to say goodbye to all of it - the mansion, nature, food... and people.

I was feeling gloomy thinking most of the people I had meet here, I didn't know when it would be the next time I would see them. I was also feeling down because this was a great excuse to spend so much time with Bertholdt. I didn't want it to end.

- (Y/n) put on a smile! - Reiner patted me on the back - We're leaving tomorrow so we need to enjoy this last few hours as much as possible!

I put on an affected smile to mess with him and talked with my teeth showing and barely moving my mouth.

- Is this good?

He laughed and patted me on the back again but with more strengh.

- You know, I'm going to miss this. 

- Miss what? - I replied still making a creepy face.

He sighed and looked away.

- Nothing! Just try not to get too close to children with that smile, they might think you're up to no good.

He left while laughing out loud and I giggled.

In the last few days, my friendship with Reiner got back to how it was before. He acted like our talk during the dance didn't happen and I decided to do the same. No matter what happened I still considered him a dear friend of mine and I loved having conversations with him, even if most of them were just silly.

Christa showed up and talked to the few people outside the house.

- I would like to propose a final challenge for everyone! - she was holding a few papers on her hand - it's a mystery hunt!

- Mystery hunt! - exclaimed Sasha, visibly curious.

Christa let out a cute giggle - It's not actual hunt, Sasha, sorry. It's just a game in wich there are clues hiden all over the forest and each team must follow them in other to get to the final prize.

- What is the final prize? - asked Connie promptly.

- That will be a secret. - she replied while smiling. - I've taken the liberty to choose the teams randomly so I'll give one paper for each pair.

Christa aproached me and handed the paper with the first clue written. On top there was the name of my teammate.

I took the paper to my line of vision and read the name out loud.

- Bertholdt.

I narrowed my eyes.

- Hi. That's me.

I turned arround and saw Bertholdt with his hand shightly raised. Talk about De Ja Vu.

- Yes I know it's you, silly. - I smiled.

We entered the woods and walked alongside the path. Christa had warned us that as long as we followed the path, we wouldn't get lost. Since it was the last full day to spend there, most of the people used the opportunity to do the things they preferred, like staying at the pool or playing tennis. Only a few that were closer to Christa were participating in the game. Each team had a different path to follow so they all went on different directions.

- Considering this, it must be close by... - Bertholdt peeked behind a tree, bent down and picked up something from the ground. - Here it is!

We walked for a while, looking for the hiden papers along the path. I watched Bertholdt's back as he read attentive the paper in front of him. I wondered if this really had been a random choice. The first time, fate allowed for me to meet him... but this time it would be too much of a coincidence. I had the feeling Christa had something to do with it.

But well, If she did... I was thankful for that.

I was distracted by my thoughts and I didn't realise I was straying from the path. Bertholdt was a bit farther away, committed to the little game.

I took one wrong step and my feet slided downwards. My whole body was pulled in that direction before I could even react. I saw myself falling down and I couldn't stop it.

I rolled down the small hill till I reached the bottom.

- (Y/N) !!! - I heard Bertholdt shout with a desperate voice.

He went down the hill without a second thought and looked at me with fear in his eyes.

- Are you hurt?? Did you broke anything??

He looked at my leg and got even more horrified.

- You're bleeding!! This is all my fault, I wasn't paying attention! I'm sorry!

I couldn't stand to see him like that so I tried to get up and show him that I was alright.

- It's ok! Don't worry! It's just a scratch!

I felt pain while I was getting up so I seated instead.

- I'll just cover this with something and it will heal. - I got a few tissues from my purse and covered it - See? It's nothing serious. And it wasn't your fault, it was mine for not looking where I was going.

Bertholdt placed his arms below me and raised me from the ground. I held on to his chest.

- T-There's no need for you to carry me...

- We need to go back to the house. We can't go the same way so we should go arround the hill and find another path. - his face was serious while he was deciding wich way to go.

- We don't need to go back! We can continue! I'm fine! 

- We're going back.

- But you seemed to be having fun...

- Nothing is more important than your safety.

I didn't respond while processing on how much he seemed to care about me.

We walked for a while, and I held on to his shirt while he was carrying me. I could hear his erratic heart beats.

- Bertholdt, you're tired... maybe we should stop for a bit and rest.

He agreed and we seated on a log of a tree that had fallen nearby.

- I... I don't understand. We should be getting close but... I... I have no idea where we are right now. - Bertholdt looked down with a hand covering his distraught face. - (Y/n)... I'm so sorry...

- Are you saying that... we're lost?

He nodded.

I looked arround, observing the trees and the dense vegetation arround us.

- We'll just call someone... - I said while searching for my phone on the bag.

- It's no use... I already checked my phone and there's no service here. It's only natural, since we're in the middle of nowhere...

I watched his sorrowful expression and wondered what we should do.

The sun was setting and the forest arround us was getting darker. 

Not knowing how to get back sure was a scary thought...

But at least I was spending time with him. So it wasn't all that bad...

Right..?