A long while had passed and by the time we'd rolled up to my old home, Jean was passed out, his head lolling to the side on my shoulder. The two-story home, wedged in between a small bakery and another house with an alley in between stood in front of me. Ivy started to crawl alongside the once blank walls to the front of the house, showing the age of how long it's been since I've been here.

I walk the horse up to the front and take a deep breath to myself, preparing for the worst. Pulling myself together I tap on Jean's cheek lightly with my hand, waking him up.

He lifted his head from my shoulder, his arms releasing their hold around me as he yawned, his hands reaching for the sky and rubbing at his tired eyes. He looks at the house in front of us then back to my quiet form in front of him.

"This it?" I nod. I look away and pick at my nails, but I could still feel Jean's heavy gaze burning into the back of my head. He gets off the horse a few moments later, holding out a hand for me to take once he's settled on the ground.

I take it with a tense smile, hopping off the steed. We walk a few feet and I tie the reins around the gate, ensuring the horse wouldn't have any chance to take off.

I look at the house again, tensing up slightly when I see a figure move by a closed curtain window.

"I'll wait here, yeah?" Jean says, standing by the horse. I nod and take out the form Shadis handed me earlier, smoothing it out along my thigh, ridding it of its wrinkles.

I take one last deep breath and walk up the small sets of stairs, placing myself right in front of the door and hold up my hand to knock, but nothing happens. My upraised fists tremors in the air as I silently will it to move, still aware of Jean's gaze from the gate.

"C'mon, you're gonna be okay. You're okay," I whisper to myself. I shake my tense shoulders, rolling them back, and finally, knock on the door.

Footsteps echo inside the house and the door opens up to reveal my mother, a displeased expression resting on her face once she sees me.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Without even a single glance back at Jean I shove past my mom and into the house.

"Hello to you too, mother," I say dryly, closing the door behind me. My mother follows behind me as I stride through the small dining room and towards the study, not even taking the time to look around.

"Let me ask you again, you brat, what the hell are you doing here?" I ignore her, slamming open the twin doors to my father's study, starling my bum of a father in his chair. His face screws in disgust at my sight, my mom's shrill voice echoing inside the house.

I stalk up to my father who was seated at his desk and snatch up a pen. Slamming the paper Shadis gave me onto the table I spoke up.

"Sign this," I say, willing my voice to be firm. My father doesn't even look at the paper, he only leans back into his chair, his hands interlocked and resting on his stomach.

"I thought you said you would never come back home," he says, his voice deep. I didn't have the strength to say this wasn't my home any longer. He peers up at me while my mother comes to his side, her eyes narrowing at me. "Where's my dear brother, still risking his life for a useless cause?"

My nails bite into my palms to keep myself from lashing out at the jab towards Miche.

"Just sign the paper." I nudge the paper closer to him, but again, he doesn't so much as take a glance towards the form. He walks over towards me, his chair scratching against the wooden floor. He and my mother now stood in front of me as he reached a hand out to my face. I flinch back hard, my back hitting the bookshelf behind me.

My father smirks dangerously and walks up to me and takes a long strand of my hair in between his fingers. "Good to see you still know your place," he says in a low tone with a sneer. "You know," he says, changing the subject, "you've angered your dear parents when you went off to live with my freak of a brother-"

"He's not a freak!" I spit out, resulting in a slap to the face. My father's palm whipped across my face, leaving a stinging red mark in its wake. My head stays turned down from the impact, too scared now to even lookup with old memories rushing in my mind.

"You fucking useless bitch! I said to get two cases of beer, not one!" My father's fist pounded on my body, laying hard hits all along my skin.

"I'm the sorry father!" I sobbed out, willing him to stop, but he continued.

"Momma, help me!" I scream aloud, but my mother does nothing. She only stares at me from atop the stairs; watching as the drunken father beat his child relentlessly.

"Do not interrupt me," he says in a deadly calm voice. I keep my head lowered in submission, not wanting to anger him further.

My hands trembled by my side as his face crept towards mine, his voice whispering in my ear. "You know you'll have to have a punishment for your decisions, don't you, you bitch?" He seethes out.

"Not only did you leave this household with that bastard, but you joined the military without our permission. With no other children, who would we sell off at a marriageable age with you gone? You ruined everything for your family." This was true. Ever since I turned old enough my mother used to train me on how to be the perfect docile wife, raising me to be sold off like it was a business agreement.

My father's hand leaves my hair and grabs onto my neck forcefully, making me look into his beady eyes. "Well, don't you have anything to say for yourself?"

My mother joins in, a sneer coming into her face. "Or do you not talk like your freakish uncle-"

"Don't call him that!" I yell out, my fear from earlier replaced with simmering rage. "He is not a freak!"

My father steps aside while my mother swings her arm at me, going to slap me in the face, but I catch her wrist in the air, halting her. She stares at me with wide eyes. I throw her hand away, making her take a step or two away from me.

My father's in front of me now, his eyes narrowed into angry slits. "Do now to speak to your mother like that!"

I huff out a breath and point to the woman. "She is not my mother! And you," I move my pointed finger towards my father, "are not my father! Miche is! He cares more about me than-" My father slaps me across the face again, making my back slam into the bookshelf again, catching me off guard.

"Your uncle does not care about anything! He is a coward that threw his life away for a lost cause!"

"He's not a fucking coward!" I scream out. My mother gasps when I push the man away from me. "You're the fucking coward! Never doing shit with your life! Hitting a child anytime you get! You disgust me-"

I'm cut off when my father pins me against the shelf, its edges digging into my back as both of the man's hands come around my neck.

"Shut up, you bitch!"

I spit in his face, making him flinch, and step harshly on his foot and kick him hard in between the legs, making him release me.

Take advantage of his short shock and groaning pain, I grab his arm and twist it around his back pushing him towards the desk, slamming the top half of his body on the wood surface of the table. My mother shrieked at the sight of me manhandling my father with strength I didn't have before. Thanks to my years spent with Miche and months in the Cadet Corps I could take down men twice the size of my father with ease.

"Sign the paper!" I yell out, slamming his face into the wood again. He grunts in pain under me and tries to get up, but slumps against the desk again as I twist my hold on his arm tighter. "I said, sign the fucking paper!"

His hand searches for a pen as he drags the piece of paper towards him, but once I see the pen on the ground I turn my head to my panicked mother.

"Pick up the pen," I growl out. She scurries over and picks up the pen, laying it down right by my father.

The writing utensil now in his hand, he hesitates. I tug on his arm harder, making him yelp in pain. With his free hand, the aging man signs the document, writing his name down in cursive clearly. I peer down at the paper, double-checking everything and snatch it up, letting go of my father in the process.

"That wasn't so hard, was it?" I say as my father rubs his shoulder while both he and my mother stare at me like I was a whole different person, which I was. I wasn't the same little submissive kid they could just verbally and physically abuse now.

I stare at them in disgust, the roles being reversed from earlier, and leave the room, stealing an apple from a now-empty bowl in the foyer without so much of a goodbye.

𝐣𝐞𝐚𝐧'𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐯

I waited outside of Y/n's parents' home, surveying the horse in front of me and thinking if Eren's words were true. Did I really look like a horse? Nah...

It's been a few minutes since Y/n disappeared in the small house, and I was beginning to grow worried. Ever since her uncle said I would be coming here to this place yesterday, something's been off with the girl. She wasn't as lively and spirited like she usually was. It was strange.

I stand up strength fully from my leaning position on the gate when I hear screams coming from inside the house. I hesitated, wondering if I should go in and see what was going on or if Y/n could handle herself, which I did not doubt that she could, but my feet ended up carrying towards the front door in a flash anyways.

Anxious for Y/n's safety, my hand goes to turn on the doorknob but it opens up wide with a slam, nearly tearing the door off its hinges. I'm met face to face with Y/n biting hard on a red apple with a signed document in her other hand.

I look over her shoulder when I see her father crawling on the floor, her mother right by his side, trying to help him up. He's screaming now.

"You little whore! Get back here this instant or you're dead! Do you hear me! You're dead-"

Y/n cuts the man's voice off by pushing me out of the way softly and slamming the door shut. My body stands in place at the cruel words Y/n's father screamed at her.

"Good riddance," she mutters out with an eye roll. My eyes go back to her and widen when I see fingerprint marks forming on her neck and a blotchy red mark on the side of her face.

The apple now in her hand I grab her face in my palm, turning it to the side so I could see the injuries more clearly.

"Shit, Y/n. What the hell happened in there?" Her (e/c) eyes widen at my touch, making me blush at the attention and the actions that I did without even thinking. She doesn't answer me.

I continue to stare at her face, searching for any more signs of bruising, and my body relaxes when I see nothing else, but my face is still hot in fury as I drop my hand from her face.

"He did this to you, didn't he?" I say harshly, my tone hushed. She just looks away. I take her face in one of my hands again, making sure not to touch any of her injuries. Her skin was soft under mine. "Y/n, answer me. I can- We can get them locked up or-"

"Don't be stupid," she says, looking back at me. My heart jumped in my chest when her eyes connected with mine. Those eyes. Those (e/c) eyes held so much emotion, so much sadness, and fatigue. "The Military Police won't do shit and none of the branches have jurisdiction over it. Just... just let it go."

"Y/n..."

"I'm fine. Let's just go," she says with a tired smile. She hesitates a moment before pulling on my hand, dragging me behind her as we walked to the horse. I stared down at our interlocked hands, a warm feeling taking place in my body. Her hand was so small in mine.

Seeing her still tense shoulder I grip her hand in mine, not saying anything but letting her know I was there for her. She doesn't turn around from in front of me, but I saw her body physically relax.

Once we get over towards the horse she places the paper in the horse's satchel- her hand still in mine- and feeds the horse her unfinished apple. Releasing my hand momentarily, Y/n lifted herself onto the horse, swinging her legs on either side of the steed.

A part of me is disappointed when her hand leaves mine, which just makes me even more confused than I already was about how I was reacting to Y/n's touch.

She reaches out her hand to me and it only takes me one try to get on the horse this time. My arms immediately locked around her middle, pulling myself close to her so our bodies were almost touching.

She doesn't say a word as she nudges and kicks the horse into a gallop, taking us away from her old childhood home.

We travel through the Karanes District, the atmosphere still busy as the sun starts to disappear behind the walls, leaving the sky around us to bloom in deep purples and blues, signaling the end of the day.

We've been riding for what seemed like three hours now and the Cadet Corps training grounds started to loom in the distance. I peered down at Y/n and saw the edge of a frown on her face.

Once we reached the stables it was already dark out, only a few lit lamps to each shed illuminated the darkened grounds. Y/n was about to walk to the mess hall for dinner but I took her hand in mine and dragged her behind me.

"Where the hell are we going, Kirstein? I'm hungry," she whines out, tugging on my arm. But I'm adamant about what I was doing and continue to pull her along until we reach the tallest building in the Cadet Corps training grounds.

"Isn't this the officers' building?" Y/n asked from beside me, a confused look on her face.

"Yep, so be quiet so we don't get caught," I whisper to her and sneak us into the building. We tiptoe past the doors to the sleeping instructors and officers and race up the four flights of stairs, heading to the roof access level.

"Ymir was bragging about how she snuck up here with Christa once," I explain to Y/n's still confused face. She turns to me and nods her head in slight understanding. Her hand still interlocked with mine, I pulled her to the center of the flat roof and tugged us to the ground.

As our backs hit the pavement I speak up, my breath coming out foggy as the night grows colder with each passing minute. "Look up."

Y/n's head tilts away from mine, her eyebrows scrunched and did as I said. Her mouth and eyes opened wide at the sight above her.

From atop of this roof, barely any light from below reached up here, allowing us to see the stars clear that shone in the night sky. They twinkled in Y/n's eyes as she looked back at me, her smile wide and beaming. The warm feeling erupts in me again at the sight.

Thankful for the darkness around us to conceal my blush I smiled back at her. We stare at each other for a few moments until Y/n grows shy, her head turning back to gaze at the stars.

Even though the sky was breathtaking, I couldn't keep my gaze off of Y/n. Even after staying atop the roof for another hour and heading to the mess hall, I still could never take my eyes off of her.

𝐚/𝐧

𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐲'𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐣𝐞𝐚𝐧'𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐯 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 😌😌