"Page After Page" | Erwin x Reader

Negotiate

As day and night passed he never brought it up again, a month going by and not a word uttered from that incident.

Instead, it seemed as if the both of you mutually agreed to pretend as if it never happened, or more so that's what you hoped he was thinking.

Anxiety clouding your judgement everytime you crossed paths with him and whenever your named was called you had already marked yourself as dead.

Naturally over time becoming accustomed to the house everything became much more familiar.

Is this going to be my whole life....
Feeling hesitant of everything you felt yourself begin to break down, since that day you felt numb.

You woke up, cleaned, and went to sleep, a repeating cycle as you became used to the home.

Other than you and Erwin you had only seen visitors giving news to him, having not stepped one foot outside of the building since.

You swept the bleak ground, the noises of the broom brushing against the flooring drowning your thoughts out.

A blank look on your face as you did so, your arms beginning to ache all you wanted was a break.

Sweeping and sweeping the end of your brush halts, clacking against an object and causing you to stop you're startled out of your trance.

Glancing up and around you, turning your head to the left, meeting eyes with Erwins door.

Groaning you turn your head back down, continuing to sweep as you push the thought out.

This is tiring but it's better than that....

You reminded yourself, you had now fully considered Erwins room as off limit, somewhere foreign and unsafe.

Even if he had granted you permission you were easy to decline, chills running down your spine at the thought.

Everything about his room led to bad things, as if it lured you into its jaws, trapping you.

Everything except,

Books....
Envisioning the books and countless shelves he had stored in his room you recognized a few, though he had so much more than you could count.

Feeling your face lit up at the thought of it it made you feel like a child again.

The uneasy look on your face turning to a smile as you held the broom up, the thoughts of reading them lifting your spirits.

But I can't....
Throwing off your entire mood you prohibited yourself from ever dare stepping foot in there again.

Not only for your own personal benefits but you weren't sure how to explain what you were doing in his room to him.

Holding a book in your hand being a sure way to end up guilty and killed.

Your grip growing on the broom and frustration began filling you, feeling conflicted on your thoughts.

It's a bad idea....
You reminded yourself, staring up at his door with tired eyes you hadn't known what to think.

It's a bad idea.....
Was all you could say to stop you, the noise of the broom hitting against the floor echoing through the halls.

"This isn't negotiable."
Erwin spoke angered, with an ill intent seeping from his words his eyes were as sharp as daggers.

The three other men in the room immune to it unlike the multitude of people who fell before it.