Chapter 24

Right now Eren was sitting against a tree with Annie right next to him catching her breath. When her breathing became normal again, she started to speak to him.

"Thank you" she said to him. Eren just looked at her with a slightly confused expression on his face.

"Thank you for what?" He asked her. Of course he could have just read her mind, but Eren himself would like to sometimes enjoy having a normal conversation.

Naturally, if it was something Eren absolutely needed to know, he'd read her mind, but right now it was just a normal talk between friends.

"Thank you for helping me get stronger, even if these spars don't really help you anymore." Annie said with a small genuine smile. If she were to be honest with herself, she was grateful to have a friend like him, but the closer she gets with him, the harder it would be for her. Especially now since she's been feeling a certain way towards Eren lately.

When Eren heard what Annie said, he chuckled a little. "There's no need to thank me. I told you i'de help you if you wanted. Besides, we're friends right?" Eren said as he looked over at her and smiled.

Annie turned away from him and frowned. 'Friends? Would we still be friends once you learn the truth about me? Would you still act so friendly towards me when you find out I'm part of the reason why your mother is gone... I'm sorry Eren' she thought to herself.

Eren who was right next to her, noticed how her mood completely changed. He himself could easily guess the reason why without reading her mind, but he still decided to ask her

"What's wrong? Why do you seem so sad all of a sudden?" He questioned her.

"It's nothing, let's continue when you're ready. We have a lot of time left until dinner." Annie said, lying about how she was really feeling. She began to stand up, but before she could, she felt a hand on hers.

Looking over, she saw Eren who had a slightly worried expression on his face.

"You don't have to hide it from me. I can tell that something has been bothering you. It's not just today that I've noticed it, so whenever you're ready, you can tell me ok? I'm here for you if you want to talk about it." Eren said to her as he gently squeezed her hand.

Annie's eyes went slightly wide when she heard him and for some reason, she hasn't pulled her hand away from his yet. The warm feeling that emitted from his hand felt comfortable to her.

'What the hell am I thinking??!' She thought to herself. If it was a week ago, she wouldn't feel much from Eren's actions, but ever since that day when Mikasa said she wouldn't mind sharing, she has naturally been thinking on that idea. Especially when she remembered Mikasa's words.

'So you wouldn't mind a guy who's stronger than you? That's basically Eren. He's also the only boy you ever really talk to nowadays.' Those were the exact words that Mikasa said to her and ever since then, it's been hard to not think of Eren in such a way.

The more she thought of it, the more she began to actually think that he would be a good match for her, but she'd never say it out loud.

She enjoyed his presence and liked talking to him for more than she should have and was of course attracted to him. He was a handsome boy after all.

She respected his strength and skills, as well as his goal of taking out the titans even more so when he actually had the power to back up his claims, but even that wasn't enough because he still didn't know the truth to do world. He didn't know the real enemies he should be worrying about. And he certainly did not know that she was part of the enemies that he should worry about.

Or so she still thought...

Knowing how much it effected her when she thought of Eren in such a way, she tried to stop thinking about it because the last thing she needed was to get even closer to him when she knows it's not a good idea to do so.

But how was she supposed to do that when a simple gentle squeeze to the hand gives her such a warm feeling. Or the way he looks at her as he reassures her that he's there for her. He probably doesn't even realize the effect his actions and words were doing to her, and she'd never show it.

So she quickly composed herself and replied back to Eren by saying "There's no need to concern yourself with me when I'm completely fine." Annie said, all previous signs of her feeling down vanished.

"Also, you should be careful with your words and what you say. I'de think that you were trying to flirt with me. I already told you that you're not my type." Annie casually said to him, but what he said next startled her.

"Then why are you still holding onto my hand?" Eren questioned with a smirk.

You might be confused with his actions so far when just moments before, he was so unsure if Annie liked him. Well that's because he read her mind and found out that Mikasa was right. The possibility was very high and something was holding her back.

That something was obviously the fact that Annie herself was basically his enemy. She had a mission to complete and she was getting way too close to the so called "devils", which was hurting her as time went by.

So Eren came up with an idea that he was slightly not so proud of. The fact that Annie was such an important part of the story and her ever growing strength helped him make this decision that he might or might not regret later down the line.

Bring her onto his side by making her fall in love with him.

Naturally, Eren already planned to find a way to bring Annie onto his side. He first hoped that their friendship would evolve to the point where she'd question if she should continue on with her mission, but that was just wishful thinking, and Eren knew that.

So after finding out how deep Annie's feelings were at this point, he thought that he could use it to his advantage.

Yes, it's a complete dick move, but there was no way in hell that he was letting up the chance to get her on his side.

Knowing that Mikasa was also fine on sharing him with Annie, he didn't feel as much guilt, but that could change once he tells Mikasa the truth about her which worried him.

He had more than a year to try and achieve this, so he didn't have to worry about time.

Before he could continue on with his thoughts, he felt Annie snatch her hand away from his as she got up and turned away from him.

"Tch, lets continue on with the training." Was all she said. Eren shook his head with a smile as he got up as well to continue sparing with her.