Ice Cold ( Eren x Annie )

Ice Cold

The blonde's ice-cold stare seemed to pierce his heart. There was a sense of fright; of insecurity, that Eren had not felt for quite some time – whatever Annie ever said or did, seemed to make his heart skip a beat in an unfamiliar way. Whether it be the way she elegantly swung through the large treetops as thin, but strong, wires supported her body, or when she was just relaxing with that hard, tense expression. Of course, you probably wouldn't even realise she was relaxing, due to that unrelenting aspect of her face that always seemed like something was wrong. But there wasn't.

The brunet always seemed to be doing something vitally important when he caught glimpse of her. When he's doing his chores and coincidentally, Annie is his partner for the day, or when they're duelling – whatever it may be, he always had to stop. Stop, and stare, at the girl who was constantly shrouded by mystery. Despite the fact it would normally get him scolded, or ridiculed (because it was blatantly obvious he was halting, and gazing), he didn't care. Truthfully, it was worth it, focussing on the little mannerisms she had, that nobody else bothered to study...or, so he thought.

Whenever Annie was around Bertholdt or Reiner, there would always be an unpleasant twinge stabbing at his stomach. Churning his guts and clawing at his throat, as his eyebrows instinctively furrowed. But his heart...oh, how his heart played like a harp, heartstrings being tugged ever so lightly, but with as much feeling as possible. Constantly, he felt this nauseating feeling, as Annie seemed to be reliant on the two, which was perfectly understandable – they're childhood friends after all, right? Right. So, if he can understand why she doesn't pay as much attention to him...why was he so bitter?

Jean knew perfectly well why. He had felt this many times before, as you could expect. Eren, however, was having none of it – him, jealous? Of Bertholdt and Reiner? He must've been joking. He just must've! Eren has more important things to focus on, like saving humanity and the sort. Although, this spiked the obvious question: So why does he stare so much?

Annie would not be described as an open book. In fact, she was the exact opposite. But it was as if Eren was determined to gradually let her open up, for her to soften, for her to relax. Whether he would eventually achieve this or not, he hadn't a clue, but he had to try! Slowly, carefully, the two got closer, and closer.

And then everything went downhill. It was all abruptly ruined and shattered into shards, and pieces, when Annie was frozen. Confined, in an icy jail that emitted cool mist and reflected the scorching sun. But despite all of this heat, Annie was determined to stay frozen. It was as if it – no, as if she herself, were indestructible. While this 'plan' was quite obviously a last resort for dear Annie, it was a full-proof once, that's for sure, as if she had been expecting this to happen all this time. Eren, stricken with terror he had not felt since his mother's death, felt discomfort course through his veins as he instinctively banged his hands against the ice, calling out Annie's names in a pitiful, yet desperate manner. Saliva dripped from his lips and his eyebrows were knitted, creases lining his tanned face as he spent far too long attempting to break the glass; attempting to even scratch it. But to no avail. She was staying in there, for real. Then it finally hit him – the jealousy, why he wanted to be around her, to be friends, to study her face, her mannerisms, to study everything she did: he was in love. But now, there was nothing he could do about it. He doubted there ever would be.