THE OTHER SIDE. aa

zehn.

     he nodded slowly, taking your words in before pursing his lips. "huh, he lives so far. no wonder you guys just chat and call."

     you smiled and left it at that, hoping that he'd stop asking questions. lying was already hard and making up stories would be harder. you could only hope that he won't ask how you two met—

     "so how'd you guys meet?"

     fuck you, reiner!

     "uh, well, through social media..." you answered hesitantly, hoping that he'd just leave it be. but of course, when reiner is in his protective mode, his attention span isn't like a goldfish's. he'd ask anything about 'aaron' until he's satisfied.

     "social media?!" he exclaimed, "you do know that you can't trust anything from social media! you're lucky he didn't catfish you or use you or kill you. you need to be careful from now on, y/n." reiner barked out, voice laced with anger and concern.

     "i know that but i already met with him, so all is fine!"

     you sighed as another stoplight turned red, giving reiner the full chance to ask you more questions about your supposed relationship with a fake guy named 'aaron'.

     "yeah, sure. why did you even make it a secret? why don't you want to tell the others?" he, calmly this time, questioned.

     you sighed shakily and tapped your fingers on the steering wheel, "because i-i'm, well, i'm not sure if our relationship's going to last, y'know? i want to, uhm, make sure that we're both ready for something serious before i-i introduce him to you guys." you lied, silently praying for him to believe your (well-thought) excuse.

     reiner sighed and grabbed one of your hands from the steering wheel, squeezing your hands and patting it softly. "i understand, sorry if i seem too invasive. just want my little marine biologist to find someone kind and sweet for her, y'know? but don't worry, i... i approve of you guys together as long as he takes care of you." he, though forced, assured you.

     'my'? that's new... he usually says 'our.' you thought to yourself suspiciously. maybe you were reading too much into it but his sudden change of word is kind of noticeable. and his approval seemed forced and unusual, even for him.

     he sounds jealous. almost.

     the possibilities of him liking you were now raking up, even if you didn't want to think about it. you weren't that oblivious, either so...

     yeah, maybe you were reading too much into it. he's your best friend! you already told yourself that he doesn't like you that way. he has every right to scold you for keeping such a secret from him and he has every right to ask about 'aaron', as he's usually overprotective.

     though you didn't want to admit it, arguing with yourself and your thoughts left you confused and furious with yourself.

     you nodded in understanding, your stomach flipping at the familiar warmth of his rough and calloused hands. you pulled your hand away and focused your attention on driving once the light turned green, gripping the wheel tight in order to get rid of your thoughts about the blond.

     reiner was about to ask another question when your phone suddenly dinged from the dashboard, lighting up to let you see what it was. you were busy with driving, so you asked reiner to read it to you.

     it might be from your mother or father, asking you about your classes or you in general.

     "it's from pieck, she said give me memes or die l-o-l." reiner read, snickering at pieck's trashy message.

     however, what caught his attention the most was your new lock screen. beautiful digital art of a mermaid swimming up to the surface that you acquired from google. he eyed it curiously, eyes narrowed with a frown forming on his lips.

     "since when did you have a mermaid wallpaper?" reiner asked curiously, "last time i saw, it was a wallpaper of tony stark."

     you glanced at him sideways and shrugged before answering, "seeing tony stark every time i open my phone breaks my heart and i saw that cool picture on twitter so..."

     he cleared his throat and placed his phone back on the dashboard, "it's kinda weird that you're suddenly liking mermaids since last, last week, i think. what gives?"

     "uh, well, i haven't watched the little mermaid since i was born so i watched it like last week and all of the other movies that have mermaids in. i think mermaids are cool and pretty, y'know?" you reasoned, feeling your palms sweat up a bit.

     you were being too obvious now and it all depends on reiner's wit if he catches up. let's hope he doesn't...

     "wouldn't it be cool if it's real and we saw one, though?" reiner sighed out wistfully, looking out of the window with a look of deep in thought. the question sounded innocent but it didn't stop your whole body from going frigid, silently wishing that he didn't pick up any clues.

     "yeah, i think so too..."

     luckily, you both arrived at your college. you parked at an empty spot, grabbing your things and locking your car before following reiner inside the campus. you let out a breathe you didn't know you were holding. one thing for sure was that you were glad reiner's questioning was already over.

     one more confrontation and you might break.

a/n: hello! i'm very sorry for the late update. i was in another place and couldn't write because there were a lot of things that needed my attention and focus. plus, it's vacation, i needed some time for myself and i had to finish some work too (yes they gave us work during vacation sigh). next update might be late again because next week, we'll have exams so please be patient :)

thank you for understanding, i hope you liked this chapter!

also, any thoughts on the latest manga chapter? :) (possible spoiler in the comment section)