Finally! A vacation from high school! Sure it's not summer vacation, but at least I'll have time to focus on Wattpad now that my projects are finished.

Warning, this is going to deviate from the original cannon storyline. Sorry guys but with the new chapters just springing more surprises on us, I don't know how I can edit my planned plot-line to fit the cannon storyline and the one I intended. Tell you what. After I finish the story, I will write you lovelies another Ereannie story that actually follows the cannon storyline. How does that sound! In the meantime, I hope you enjoy my story.

Damn them!! Fuck them all! Who needs them!!

Eren's eyes had been stinging for a while, ever since that happened. His cheeks had become wet with his salty tears, and his mouth had filled with saliva like a river with rainwater. Despite his angry tears, his saddened heart, and his tormented mind, Eren's feet managed to make their way to the one place where Eren actually felt okay. Well, he felt okay when he was there alone. When he was with her, he felt happy, marvelous, free. 

++++

"You."

Annie's ears perked up, though her lazy form showed no sign of it. After all, that voice had such a monotone air that even a professor could be lulled to sleep. Brushing it off as that nagging voice at the back of her head, Annie simply changed position so she could face the wall.

"I'm talking to you, Annie."

Of course she is, Annie thought to herself before turning over to face the bars of her cell. On the other side, with her eyes conjuring up a storm, her nose scrunched up, and her cheeks as red as the light seeping in through Annie's lone and barred slit for a window. She didn't think that she would ever have to see this beast again. Not until she was to be fed in four years, at least.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the beast that roamed the 104th," Annie grumbled.

"Cut the crap," Mikasa growled, a rattling noise filling the empty space of Annie's cell, as the former had slapped her hands upon them, "Where is he?"

"Who?" Annie yawned, tired and uncaring.

"Don't play games with me, Annie," Mikasa snarled, "You know who I mean! Where is Eren?"

"Eren?" Annie asked, "He's not here."

"Liar," Mikasa muttered. Unfortunately for her, that mutter echoed throughout the halls and Annie's cell.

"I am not!" Annie replied, "He isn't here. His time with me ended about an hour ago."

"He could have come back," Mikasa said.

"But he didn't," Annie said, "You don't need to be so concerned for him. Eren is, what, 19 now? He's practically a grown man. He can take care of himself."

"You haven't been around, Annie," Mikasa shrugged, "If you had, you would have known about how-"

"How the truth has messed him up?" Annie didn't need to hear this from Mikasa. The latter, however, simply stood there, still as an icicle, her eyes widening.

"Yeah," Annie replied, "He told me about it. Of course, you people don't bother to listen to him."

"He's shutting us out," Mikasa said, "He doesn't want us to listen."

"Classic," Annie mumbled.

"What do you mean?" Mikasa snarled.

"Find Eren," Annie replied, "He'll tell you."

As if waiting for the perfect moment, something broke outside. A loud, nerve-shattering, teeth-breaking rumble erupted from the sky outside, as well as the brightest, most blinding flash of light that managed to seep through Annie's small window. Waiting for the rumble to pass, Annie proceeded to turn away from Mikasa's direction.

"Go quickly," she said to the Ackerman of Hizuru, "Look's like Eren will end up being caught in a storm."

+++++

He prayed to Ymir that the rain would wash him away. That it would melt him down, bit by bit, like a child's treat on a sunny day. He begged Ymir to speed up her curse on him so he could die there and then. He didn't want to wait four years to be relieved of this world. He wanted to die right now. 

Perhaps if I just stay in this storm a little longer... yes. Certainly I'll be washed away from this God-forsaken world.

Like a child forced into becoming a Mindless Titan, the sweet, comforting, and small drizzle of rain had morphed itself into a disaster. Now, Eren had curled up under the tree... his tree... Annie's tree... their tree, where he waited for the sharp drops to slowly melt every cell of his skin one by one before leaving him to drain away in the little lake. 

Mom....Dad.... Ymir, let me die. Let me die, he thought to himself as he flashed back to that damn fight not so long ago.

*Flashback*

Eren was supposed to have been happy as he skipped along home, was he not. He had spent a lovely day with Annie in their little grove, talking about life and just about anything else. Of course, there has to be balance. In order to have something good, you have to take the bad that just comes along with it. Tonight, Eren took one too many bad things. It all started when a certain Eldo-Asian had to jump him on his way back to his apartment.

"You've been spending a lot of time with her, huh?" A cold, metal-like voice filled Eren's ears, causing him to jump. Behind him, with a face as red as her iconic piece of clothing, was Mikasa Ackerman, her eyebrows all scrunched up and and her pale, snow-white skin filled with wrinkly little creases.

"You startled me, Mikasa," he said blankly. He wasn't going to Mikasa's clinginess ruin another night for him. 

Regardless of his blank reply, Eren couldn't help but shiver when Mikasa took a step closer. And another. And another. And another. And another. And another. At one point, Mikasa was so close that her breath had ticked his neck (A/N: Still don't ship Eremika. Honestly, that ship might have the worst shipwreck in the history of fandom shipwrecks). This had stabbed a sense of a rushing adrenaline into his bloodstream, as well as a cold sweat, and a deep fear in his mind.

"Answer my question, Eren," Mikasa growled, her teeth clenched tightly to one another. 

Eren wasn't going to let Mikasa scare him. She might have been able to use that trick when he was fifteen, but he was a new person now. He understood that there are much worse things in the world than an angry Mikasa, such as all of the people on the other side of the ocean who, without even knowing him, wanted him dead. Mikasa wasn't going to scare him.

"Yes," Eren said nonchalantly, "Why do you care?"

To his surprise, Mikasa just huffed a small, yet very loud chuckle. That never sounded good.

"You do realize, Eren, that while Annie betrayed us, killed a magnificent number of our comrades, and nearly kidnapped you, I've stuck by your side," Mikasa spat, "I've slaved away for you, done everything for you, yet you don't even look me in the eye anymore. You fucking shaved for her, for Ymir's sake!"

"What are you implying, Mikasa," he replied, though he mentally snapped at himself upon realizing his voice was quaking.

"I've saved you ungrateful ass multiple times before!" Mikasa shouted, causing Eren to jump, "I saved Levi from breaking your neck during the battle of Shiganshina, I saved you from Bertolt and Reiner, I saved you from Rod Reiss, I saved you from my third kidnapper. You don't even pay me back. You just spend time with that bitch. You just think you're so special, but you are nothing. Everybody just saves an ungrateful little wuss who couldn't save his friends despite years of training."

At this rate, Eren didn't want to look her in the eye. He didn't want to see the glaring truth in her eyes because he had already felt it in his heart. He was ungrateful. He was a wuss who couldn't save anyone. He was worthless slave. 

"You, Eren Yeager, are nothing," Mikasa snapped, "Nothing. That's not just what I think. That's what everybody thinks. No. That's what everybody knows. They all know that you are nothing. Just a poor baby who needs Mommy to tuck him in bed. Oh wait, you couldn't save her, too."

That was the very thing that set him off. He felt something wet and salty run down his cheek and his heart was about to beat itself out of his chest cavity. He felt his shoulders shake up and down. He had been on the verge of crying before, but now he was crying. If only he had known that Mikasa had had a little too much to drink that night due to her frustrations about Eren and Annie's time together, so she had been ranting drunk lies. But he didn't. He ran off just when Mikasa came to her senses, but of course, her rant had hit home run already.

*End of Flashback*

Let me die, Eren thought to himself, I'm a waste of breath. Let me die. Let me die.

So, as the rain grew heavier and heavier with each drop falling from the sky, Eren lay there. He lay there on the muddy ground, cold and alone and unwanted, praying for the rain to wash him away. Of course, that couldn't happen now, could it?

+++++

"I can't," Mikasa replied to the blonde's earlier statement.

"Why?" Annie replied, her blonde brow arching upward.

"I just... can't," Mikasa snapped, flashing back to all of the things she said to Eren. 

Why did I have to let Jean coax me into a drink? she thought to herself, I didn't even mean half of the things I said. I was just mad that Eren was confiding in her and not me.

Annie was started to get annoyed with Mikasa spacing out on her. After all, Eren supposedly has disappeared and she was just standing there. It was raining buckets outside and Mikasa was just standing there.

"Look for him!" Annie shouted unintentionally, mind you, though loud regardless.

"Don't yell at me!" Mikasa snapped.

"I have to!" Annie yelled again, uncaring, "You standing there lost in fucking space is going to make Eren freeze to death. Go look for him!"

"He doesn't want me to look for him," Mikasa protested.

"Then I will look for him," Annie replied, though regretting doing so.

Mikasa let out a haughty little huff complete with a smirk gracing her lips, causing Annie to clench her teeth. 

"You?" Mikasa said, "In case you've forgotten, sweetie, you're a prisoner. A highly skilled and dangerous one at that. They are not going to let you go look for Eren. He's just going to have to come back on his own."

"Who's not going to look for who now," A voice from the deepest depths of the darkness caused both Mikasa and Annie to jump. 

Shivers flew up her spine, causing her to shrink back to her comfortable position on the somewhat comfortable bed. She felt her muscles tense up as the voice formed into a shapeless blob before becoming a distinguished form. It wasn't just any distinguished form, for this being had navy blue eyes, thin brows, raven back hair, and a blank expression that made the bravest man nervous. Captain Levi was here to save us all.

"Answer my question, twats," Levi said, "Who's not going to look for who?"

"Ummm, well, you see, I, ugh," Mikasa stammered, "Well, Heichou-"

"Eren is out in the cold rain, freezing to near death," Annie replied broadly, "And Mikasa just doesn't feel like looking for him."

"She doesn't, does she?" Levi said, turning to face the Ackerman of Hizuru, "And why is that?"

"It's just, well, Heichou, I kind of... said some stuff to Eren," Mikasa stammered, "That stuff... might have hurt his feelings a little, so he probably doesn't want me to find him."

"It sounds like you made a mess and you don't want to pick it up," Levi replied, "Stay warm and dry while Eren freezes all you want, Mikasa, but I'm not having it. Hange would kill me if the brat went and died on us."

"B-but s-sir," Mikasa stuttered, "It's late! Who's going to want to-"

"Leonhart," Levi spat, "Get prepared. You're getting let out."

"WHAT!?" Mikasa shrieked.

"But I'm a-"

"It doesn't matter," Levi replied, "I don't want to risk the anger of my soldiers, so you, being a prisoner, is the most convenient option right now. Besides, since it's Eren, he'll probably be happy to have you find him."

Convenient option. How kind, Annie thought to herself. Regardless of the less-than-friendly way the captain of the Survey Corps treated her, it was Eren they were talking about. Over the time of her sentence, he had kept her company, listened to her, was kind to her, became her friend. It wasn't even just the time of her sentence. He was always like this, ever since the day they met training in the 104th. Oh what the hell. If its Eren, then what has she got to lose apart from her only friend... her first kiss.

Once Annie snapped out of it, she managed to find Levi inside of her cell. His glare sent shivers running down her spine, though she wasn't going to show it.

"Before we go looking, do you have any idea where he might be?" Levi asked.

The truth was was that that Annie didn't have an idea at the moment. Where would a suicidal blockhead go if his... whatever Mikasa Ackerman was to him... had said "stuff" to him that "might have hurt his feelings a little." If she were him, she just wanted to go somewhere secret. Somewhere no one could find him so he could vent it out. Somewhere that only he and/or a trusted companion knew well.

"The grove," Annie sputtered.

"Excuse me?" Levi replied.

"He might have gone to the grove," Annie replied loudly, "That's where we go during the day. He really likes it there. He says that it calms him whenever he feels sad or angry or simply negative. He might have gone there."

"Can you guide me there?" Levi asked with a bored tone.

"Of course," she said.

A suddenly, a giant, earthshaking, clap of thunder rang across the Earth, causing Annie's cell to rumble with it. The raindrops outside suddenly became louder and more clear and the lightning become brighter with each clap that came with it.

"Let's hurry."

+++++

Annie almost wanted to cry when she saw Eren's pitiable form, soaking, cold, and almost immobile, all scrunched up against the grove's tree. His clothes, which included his dark gray cardigan, his tan, tasseled top, and black pants. His long hair was dripping and disheveled, and his tan skin was filled with dew drops as if he was some type of plant. Annie wanted to cry, but crying would just make things worse. Quickly, she tucked her arms into his armpits before yanking him off ground and dragging him to the captain, who was waiting not too far from them.

"What the hell did Ackerman say to make him just sit there in the rain like that?" Levi sputtered, his eyes widened.

"It doesn't matter," Annie shrieked, "We have to get him somewhere warm!"

"The Survey Corps' clinics are probably not open right now, nor are any other hospitals in the area," Levi replied.

"Damn it!" Annie muttered. 

Eren, you stupid, fucking dolt! What have you done to yourself? Why? 

"How long does it take to get to Eren's home from here?" Annie asked, doing her best to shield Eren from the rain.

"It's not too far from here," Levi replied, "But I don't want to take chances in this rain and my place is too far from here."

"Where is he supposed to go then!?" Annie shouted. She was really starting to get frustrated with this man's diligent excuses. 

"The closest place is the Survey Corps Headquarters," Levi said, "I have a meeting with the higher-ups in my office, however..."

Annie wanted to jump at that opportunity, but suddenly, Mikasa's snarky, yet truthful words etched themselves into her brain.

In case you've forgotten, sweetie, you're a prisoner. A highly skilled and dangerous one at that.

Fuck it, Annie thought to herself.

"We could keep him in my cell," Annie sputtered, almost regretting her words the second they came out of her mouth.

Levi stared at her, his thin brow arched and his ash-pink lips pursed together. Underneath those lips were clenched teeth. 

"Excuse me?" Levi said.

"We could keep him in my cell," Annie repeated with a blank stare, "As in keep him there so he could have a warm-ish place to go and a caretaker for the night."

"You're a priso-"

"I know that," Annie said, "But if we don't do something now, Eren will be bound to catch pneumonia. Not only will Paradis Island lose their trump card on the world, but your commander will not be pleased once she finds out that her precious baby was left to die in the cold." 

He did not like the confidence of this brat. Even if she didn't kill her, Annie Leonhart had mutilated Levi's beloved (A/N: If you haven't read my first fanfiction, "Shock," you should) to a point where they were separated for four years. Four whole years without her. Why should he comply to this brat's commands? Suddenly, a throaty and scratchy cough erupted from Eren's mouth, complete with some rainwater that managed to sneak its way in there. 

What the hell? Yeager is probably going to die if that option isn't open.

"Fine," Levi replied.

Annie nodded her head before yanking Eren upward once more, ready to drag him back to her cell. Before she could go, Levi held up his hand, the glare in his eye shooting daggers at Annie.

"If I find that you have escaped, I will personally hunt you down and hack off every single one of your limbs," Levi replied, "Don't think I won't. Plus, do not, I repeat, DO NOT, use this as an opportunity to schtup with him."

Annie gagged once Levi finished his statement. He wasn't serious, was he? She and Eren were just friends. Then again, they did share that kiss in the 104th. Never mind that. She had to get Eren back to her cell.

+++++

Annie didn't think that being a caretaker for the night would be too had. She just had to make sure Eren didn't die. Of course, the universe just couldn't give her a break, so her caring for Eren became a pretty hard job. Of course, she couldn't blame him.

Poor Eren had managed to cough his way through the night, shivering under the numerous layers of blankets that the Captain managed to scavenge. Regardless of the crazy amount of blankets and the cough syrup the Captain had gifted them, Eren still remained a cold, shivering, and coughing mess. He wasn't going to make it through the night like this. There was only so much Annie could do in her cell.

Well, there was that one option, though it couldn't happen. What could she do, though? It's not like she was going to schtup with Eren as the Captain had elegantly put it. She was just going to share some... body heat. STOP! STOP! Don't go there, my readers! Don't go there! It's not like Annie was going to strip or anything. She was just going to curl up a little bit so that Eren could keep warm. That wasn't going to hurt anyone. She already managed to give Eren her blanket, so now they were both going to freeze. 

What the hell? It's for a friend.

Walking on her toes so that she was as quiet as she could possibly be, Annie gingerly picked up a few layers of blankets with her thumb and pointer finger. At this action, the now exposed and sick Eren began to shiver as if his life depended on it. Noticing the chattering of Eren's teeth and his hitched breaths, Annie threw herself under the covers and proceeded to wrap her and Eren with all of the blankets. She hated to admit it, but she liked how warm it felt under all of those blankets. It felt like a shelter from the cold, angry, and unkind world around them, a safe place where she could live the rest of her short, yet warm life in peace... with Eren curled up in there, of course.

Careful not to fall asleep too soon, Annie moved herself closer to Eren so that they would be able to share body heat well. He still didn't stop shivering and coughing. Slowly moving closer to avoid the phlegm that came with the coughs, Annie placed her calloused palm onto Eren's chest. At this rate, there was only one inch of personal space between them. He managed to stop coughing, but he was still shivering. 

Well, Annie thought to herself drowsily, here goes nothing. In one swift movement, Annie placed her face into Eren's chest and wrapped her arms around him. At that same moment, Eren stopped shivering. In fact, the second Annie wrapped his arms around him, Eren had curled up within her embrace, almost melting at the new warmth he was offered. Annie almost cried out in relief. 

Good Annie. This should keep him warm for the night.

Slowly, she closed her eyelids before drifting off into a warm and quiet sleep, curling up at the sound of Eren's steady heartbeat and almost-steady breathing.

+++++

Annie was unable to have a sense of time within her cell, but she had learned to designate mornings from evening. Through the small slit in the wall that served as Annie's comical window, sunlight would pierce through as if it depended on it, to which it did in a way. How else could it give Annie light.

The morning after Eren's little sleepover, Annie had flinched as the sunlight shining on her face became present to her. She shut her eyes tighter and clenched her teeth, burying her face into Eren's chest a tad more. By now his breath had become steady and he stopped shivering and coughing altogether. It was calming and sweet, and it made Annie sleepy. Let her sleep for sometime, sunlight. What's a little harm in sleeping in? Then again, Eren probably felt kind of uncomfortable with Annie digging her face in his chest. 

"Maybe I should get up," she said to herself, moving away form Eren. 

Furiously rubbing her eyes free of the crud trapped between each lid, she blinked a few times before the sight in front of her came into focus. There, in front of her, more peaceful then a baby could ever be, was Eren. His eyes had been shut, yet they weren't scrunched up. His bent arm had been used as a pillow and he looked blank in his sleep. No. Not blank. In sleep, Eren looked... peaceful. He looked like a little kid again, as if nothing happened and the world didn't turn on him. It was oddly... sweet.

Annie found herself smiling, bringing her pointer finger to her lips before it gingerly moved a rogue bang behind Eren's ear. It wasn't long before her finger moved to Eren's closed eyelid, softly stroking it a little. Not too much, though.

"You've always had the prettiest eyes," Annie said to the sleeping boy, all calm and serene, her finger stroking the other eyelid, "They sparkle like an emerald in the sunlight. Or perhaps a forest in the sunlight. So pretty."

Annie found herself stroking Eren's forehead, nose, cheeks, and chin with three of her fingers, her heart elevating every second she did so.

"Your skin is so pretty, too," she said, her voice soft, "Such a pretty, tan color you are. Such a pretty thing you are, Eren Yeager, so pretty. How could you possibly be so pretty?" 

Eventually, the other two fingers retracted, leaving the lone pointer to make it's way up Eren's jawline and behind his left ear. 

"And you're ears," Annie smiled, "Such cute little ears you've got there. They suit you, your pointy, adorable, little ears."

Annie then retracted her finger, placing it back on her lips before giggling to herself, quietly. She had become so mesmerized with this boy, her eyes shut tight to preserve that sweet, pretty, innocent little image of him that she failed to notice him smirking with one corner for his lips upward.

"That's very sweet of you," Eren said, nonchalantly with a cool tone that made Annie's eyes widen and her heart to skip a few beats. 

She turned her head toward Eren, who was now wide awake. His pretty green eyes were smiling, along with his lips, now turned upward in a cocky little smirk. He was wiggling his dark eyebrows.

"Do you have any others?"

Annie's heart filled with dread. He was awake this whole time? She practically groped his face and he took it all in? She melted in front of him, even? Annie had nothing to say to that. Jumping up from their little cot on the ground, she walked over to her bed and buried her face in that cot, refusing to look Eren in his snarky, all-knowing, yet beautiful green eyes. Not even when he left could Annie look him in the eye. But Eren didn't mind. He walked back home with that jumpy attitude he had yesterday, except this time, there wasn't a drunk and angry Mikasa to intercept him. He skipped all the way home, thinking to himself: Annie is really sweet once you get to know her. I needed those compliments. 

Smirking to himself with a small giggle, Eren simply thought about how it was "too bad that she was too shy to give him more compliments, that cute thing."

A/N:

Yes! It took a while to capture the romantic essence of this chapter (by which I mean a whole week), but I did it!

Merry belated Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you beautiful people!

-TBG290