Reiner and Bertholdt

Reiner's POV

We had nothing to do... so, we thought that walking on Wall Rose was suitable for our boredom. What scared me was the fact the part of the wall was torn away... like from an explosion. When I touched the rubble, my head started to ache. I see flashes of white, and my dreams...

"Bertholdt..." I manage to say, stunned by the accuracy of my dreams and this place. Maybe, I'm a psychic? Just... maybe?

He groans, "What, Reiner?"

"Doesn't it... feel weird, walking along these walls-"

"You know what feels weird?! Me being here with you. Reiner, if it wasn't for you... well, maybe I could've had a chance with Annie! But no! That... Armin kid stole her away as I'm following you! Just, please!"

My fists tightens... he still blames me for all that... at this point, I wanted to smack some sense into him. I don't care if I like him or not... but he needs to grow over that. Annie is happy and loved with Armin... and I'm glad for that. Now, if he stops being an overgrown baby...

"Reiner... I'm tired of this... I'm leaving." He says, walking away from me.

Did I lose control over myself? Maybe... maybe my rage took over... but I rushed to him, tackling him to the ground. His chest hits the stone walls, and he starts to fight me. "Stop it... Bertholdt..."

"Let me go!" He cries... and then... I saw my nightmares again. That kid with the freckles... when I saw him, I felt deep sadness... and I felt that I knew why. I pinned Bertholdt down, just as I did to him in my nightmares.

"Can't you listen to me, at least?! Please, I'm trying to tell you something..."

Then, Bert stops his squirming. "What?! What was so important that you had to pin me to the ground?!"

"Because you're stubborn as hell! Stop crying over Annie! She's happier with Armin than she would be with you!"

"Oi! Come on!"

"Aren't you gonna listening to me?!"

"I am, aren't I?!"

"Not well enough!" I shouted, loosening my grip. "Now please, can you stop being a stubborn bastard and at least hear me out? If you do, I'll release you, okay?"

"Arg... fine..."

"Thank you." I manage to say, unpinning him from the ground. I collapsed onto the stone wall, taking breaths. Bertholdt manages to sit up, staring at me with confusion in his eyes, twinkling softly. 

His eyes stared straight at me with pure anger. "What, Reiner? What did you want to tell me? Huh?"

Taking a deep breath... I realized I couldn't force him to love me... but I could tell him how I felt about him. "Bert... I have to tell you something. Very important..."

"Well, you got me this far to listen to your insufferable ranting-"

"I... I have feelings for you... m-more than a friend... can you at least understand that? Please..."

Bertholdt stares at me, shaking his head, "You're crazy, Reiner... maybe, you think you do, but I'm just you're friend."

Upon hearing those words shatters my heart... why didn't he believe in my feelings? For the past couple weeks... I tried and tried to flirt with him... and now, it ended as a failure. Was I not destined to be with him? Oh... my heart is just painful now...

"Bert, it's more than a friend, can't you feel that? I... I like you."

He shakes his head, confirming my broken heart.  "R-Reiner, I know being in a different place is stressful... you're just stressed okay because this place is like your nightmares. It's okay, you got it, okay?"

"M-Maybe..." I wouldn't be able to be with him if he keeps denying me like that... I think it's better if I moved on, to heal my broken heart.

*   *   *

Leaving the wall, we joined up with some other people, mostly Eren and Armin as we decided to walk around the city of Trost. Most of the girls were out doing some fun activities in the castle... to understand the history of the walls. Something like that. 

"So... what are we doing?" I asked as we walked through the crowd.

Armin shrugged, "I'm just gonna look for something nice for Annie... I don't know what, but I know it's gonna cute and beautiful... just like her..."

Turning to Bertholdt, he stared at him in anger. But what made my heart leap was that Armin cares for her, taking better care of Annie... better than what Bertholdt can do. The way that Bert stared at Armin made me jealous... I wanted him to stare at people who attempted to flirt with me...

"What about you, Eren? What are you doing?" I asked him as he drifts away. 

"Eh... I don't know. Maybe I'll join Armin or something. I don't know what to do here... what about you, Reiner? You and Bertholdt."

Shrugging, I wanted to say that we wanted to go out and eat, as a couple... but after what happened, I know that I cannot do that. Bertholdt doesn't want me, and I think I might've lost the will to keep flirting with him.

Bertholdt rolls his eyes, "I-It's about lunch time. I-I think we are gonna go grab something and eat real quick. You sure you guys aren't gonna join us for a quick bite, Eren?"

He waves it off, "Naw... I'll wait until Armin's done shopping for his... *snickers* girlfriend."

Armin, acting very weirdly, smacks him in the face. Hard enough to not laugh as Eren snickered, but the way Armin acting all angry is something I never seen him do in the time I had known him. "Eren freaking Jaeger! I will punch you until you finally see that you're a sick, annoying little angry German kid!"

I shrunk back in fear, hearing his shout like that... pretty scary when you hear it. Heck, even Eren had fear in his eyes. "A-Armin..." I managed to squeak out as he panted.

Suddenly, he started to regain his cuteness. "Sorry... that was out of line... sorry Eren..."

"I-It's fine... I kinda deserved that. I'm the one that went out of line and insulted you."

"Well well, you guys done having your little... gay moment?" Snickering as Bertholdt rolled his eyes. "Come on, you guys seem a bit busy... Bertie and I can handle going to grab a bite. Go and have a bit of some fun."

Eren snickers again, "Yes Mom..." He says before taking Armin's arm and walking away

*   *   *

Bertholdt's POV

I followed Reiner into an old cafe, still angry at the fact that Armin is there, looking for something precious for my crush. But... Reiner was right about one thing... she was happier with Armin. I seen her smile more often these days. Though, she does avoid looking at me.

"Table for 2... but we might be expecting 2 other people for lunch here." Reiner says to the woman at the front.

She nods, "Follow me and I'll assign you your seats."

Took a couple minutes to finally decide on something to eat... but then, there was this guy... never met him before. Light brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. The way he spoke reminded me... of Jean. Huh...

"I'm Charlie. You look... out of place. Where are you guys from?" He asks, gazing into Reiner's eyes.

"Heh... do we now? Well... we're here on a school field trip."

"Oh!" Charlie's eyes popped open. "Cool. Born and lived here for all my life. As I heard... once of my ancestor saved this island. I even saw his name."

Now, there's this feeling in my heart that seems... foreign to me. The way Reiner looked at him and the way he smiled at Charlie. I... did I have to step in? To stop Charlie? "That's kinda cool-"

"Um, our friends are coming over, Charlie. Now, if you don't mind, please leave."

I didn't care if I hurt his precious feelings or not. I just followed my heart- if I told him to stay away from Reiner... did I put those feelings under layers of hatred? Ugh... Reiner was right about one thing... that I was hiding those fake feelings about Annie... and now, I see it all.

"B-But-"

I stopped him in his tracks. My voice lowered as I threatened him. "I want you to leave us. And for you to never come back, understand?"

He gulps, "Yeah."

"Oi, Kirschtein!" Charlie turns around, "The school group from Rose Junior High that's up in the castle- you gotta help your sister." A waiter calls out to him.

"Lisa?" He questions, "I think she got it."

"Um... she called to tell me to get you out there and help. After all, you need to help with the last heir to the throne- technically."

Charlie rolls his eyes, "Lisa has herself and Violet Reiss. She doesn't need me-"

The man narrowed his eyes. "Charlie John Kirschtein. It's your duty to help with all these visitors that all come here. You signed a contract that said that you'll help preserving the history of these walls. Now, you're disrespecting your ancestor by not helping with the history that he worked so hard to protect."

"Fine... tell her I'm coming." Charlie then turns to me, "Sorry about everything, I didn't realize he was taken by you."

Waving it off, it felt right, being called Reiner's... "Sure thing..." I responded as he left. From the corner of my eye, I saw his smirk. "R-Reiner? W-What's wrong?"

"Oh nothing... hey, since we want to save some money, wanna share a small cake together?"

I felt myself smile... and it felt... right. "Yeah... yeah, I wouldn't mind it at all..."