𝐓-𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭 𝟐𝟑- 𝐉𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐊𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐢𝐧 (𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐀𝐔)

22

A/N: Comments are greatly appreciated🤍🤍 Buckle up everyone.

Chapter 22: The Burden

"You look like shit."

Never have you ever climbed out of bed so fast in your life. Walking with her suitcase, Ymir places the luggage over her bed; getting a full look of your appearance. "Jesus, you look like you've spent all your time here."

You were grateful Ymir entered the doors of your shared dorm room a day after. Out of all the days, you were relieved to have her there. "I see you've done a lot of redecorating." She sarcastically comments, motioning to the toilet paper roll sitting on your bed stand.

"You're back." You say. Ymir nods. She turns to see everything in her room untouched. "My aunt was starting to annoy me, and I almost missed this place." It was the closest thing to 'I missed you' as it could get. Ymir was never good with expressing emotions, in fact, she was rather cold. And you sort of needed that coldness too.

"That sounds good." you admit, "I joined the baseball team. And I'm not with Jean." Ymir suddenly turns to you, raising a brow, "Wait, really?" she asks, "But didn't you guys have a thing going on?"

You shake your head, "We were only acquaintances." The word burns at the base of your throat, "He helped me get into the team, and I helped him with some skills during training." Ymir is silent for a second, "Then what about the rose and girl scout cookies I saw?" she asked, "Did Jean give you those?"

You freeze. "How did you..."

"I saw them," she states rather simply, "You're my friend, that's when I noticed. No guy walks you to your dorm without wanting something. And now, I think something's happened. You're not as giddy as before."

"What do you mean?"

Your friend sighs, holding the bridge of her nose, "I mean you don't look like an idiot right now. You're supposed to, but now that I see you it's gone. So I don't know if that's good or not."

You bite the inside of your cheek, "Honestly? I don't know either. But I do know that I'm starting this Quarter fresh. I have a team to focus on, school..."

"And romance?" She asks, "What will you do about that?"

"I'll surround myself with people who love me." you hold onto your arm in support, "I'll be with people who actually make an effort and have honest feelings towards me. If a relationship comes my way, great! If not, then no rush." You pause to yourself, "I think I'm finally understanding Mr. Moblit." For the rest of the day, Ymir didn't pry. She spent a good part of her day telling you about what she had done during break, and what classes she had planned to take. The two of you exchanged plans, and it felt like you had caught up with one another. The scrape of your relationship was slowly healing.

"And (y/n)?" Ymir pauses midway at the doorstep. "I'm sorry for being a bitch." She says, "I acted like one when I should have been supportive. I was just worried about you with Jean. I was worried he was going to have sex with you and break you heart, but that doesn't seem the case." She laughs as if the idea were a mere hypothesis. Not to worry about. "You'll continue to be you, and things will go back to normal." She points.

"I'll come back to my dorm and see you here, reading or writing fan fiction." She humors, "Who knows? Maybe you'll find a good fanfic to tell me about, or maybe you'll tell me about Mr. Moblit and his weird therapy metaphors." When she's out the door, your jaw stiffens. Your shoulders fall, and the breath of air suddenly feels bitter.

'You'll continue to be you...'

How can you?

'...things will go back to normal.'