Circles | Eren x Reader

Chapter 13- The Hike:

On our second to last day on the trip, Levi forced everyone to go on a hike. We met up with some camp instructors at the foot of the hill and they guided us through the day. Apparently, the section of the trail that went under the waterfall was super slippery and thin, so we were divided up into groups of two to make sure no one would be caught under the waterfall while they waited for everyone else to cross. Simple enough.

As luck would have it, I was partnered up with Yeager. Jean gave me a little head tilt, asking if I was okay with being partnered with the biggest douche in the world. I nodded back— it was only for twenty minutes, at most.

Eren and I walked in silence for most of the way. On occasion, he'd point out a cool rock or hill, claiming that it looked like a face or a butt crack or whatever his teenage brain decided. He didn't seem very bothered by my lack of reply or enthusiasm. He was chewing the left string of his navy blue hoodie again: Levi had folded it and returned it to him this morning. I had seen Eren pick up the cleaned sweatshirt. He caught my eye and almost looked... disappointed? He didn't offer it back to me though, so I figured returning it to him early wasn't an issue.

I decided to wear one of my jackets from home— thank God I packed one. But after spending two days wearing Eren's hoodie in soccer, my jacket seemed to feel cold and scratchy, which is odd, since this was my favorite one. It also didn't smell as nice. It smelled like me: stale and musty. Yuck.

The trail started to get progressively thinner and soon enough, we had reached the waterfall. Eren and I stopped to appreciate the view. The soft dirt we had been walking on previously was no replaced by hard, slippery stone. The ledge was skinny enough to where we had to walk in a line with our backs pressed up against the wall. Thankfully, someone had hammered in a wire across the trail to prevent anyone from falling off, but it was a pretty thin wire, so I didn't trust it much.

We started creeping our way under the waterfall. I slid my back across the wall slowly, taking tiny steps to keep from slipping. Despite being scared for my life, I was really enjoying the hike. The mist and the sun created little rainbows, and the water was a beautiful teal-green color at the base of the fall. Suddenly, I hit something in front of me and lost my balance.

"Wha— agh!!" I yelped. Eren's firm hand caught my wrist and pulled me back against the stone. "Eren!" I yelled in fury, "What the hell is your problem?! Are you trying to kill me?"

"No. I just wanted to stop an enjoy the view," he replied nonchalantly.

I burned his eyes with my gaze. "You idiot! Why—" I could see the waterfall in his eyes. It was so... entrancing. I snapped out of it. "Never mind," I huffed. I realized he still hadn't released his grip on my wrist. I slapped his hand away and he looked at me, stunned. "Let's go."

In my anger, at both Eren and myself for getting flustered by his actions, I tried to walk around him to lead the way. I did so way too quickly and lost my footing in seconds.

"Wha—!" As I slipped forward, I reached my hand up to the wire. I grabbed it with two fingers and was able to catch myself, but the force of the fall made me swing upwards and then back towards the wall. The icy rock smacked me in the head and my vision went blurry. My muscles relaxed and I closed my eyes to sleep.

Eren's POV:

I watched from the wall in slow-motion as (Y/N) slipped and tried to catch herself. In seconds she swung up and back, slamming into the wall. I saw her eyes close and her grip on the wire loosed. Shit shit shit.

I acted as fast as I could. I secured my grip on the wall by putting my left hand underneath a flake of rock, and leaned forward to catch (Y/N) with my right. I was barely able to pull her up. Her jacket was stained red and sopping wet from the water. As I tried to carry her past the waterfall, I felt her shiver. Good. So, she was alive.

When my foot touched dirt, I sighed in relief. I gently put (Y/N) on the ground while I reoriented myself. She was scraped up horribly. She had a giant cut on her head that was bleeding profusely, and the rips in her clothing exposed red knees and elbows. The two fingers she had used to grip the wire were burned crimson. I acted as fast as I could, pulling (Y/N)'s wet jacket off and pressing it to her head to stop the bleeding. Soon enough I realized that the jacket wouldn't be useful for long. I needed to wrap her head with something. I noticed (Y/N)'s shirt was thin enough for me to rip, so I reached for that, but the second I made a tear in the base I felt a wave of guilt wash over me. That wasn't my business.

I pulled my hand away and decided to use my own shirt. That was less awkward. I tore it up into long strips and began to bandage her head. The white strips turned crimson instantly, but it looked like they would hold. Her skin felt soft and cool under my fingers, and her face was still a deep red. (Y/N)'s chest rose and fell calmly as if she were asleep. When I lifted her hair away from her neck I smelled iron emanating from her blood, but underneath it the faintest note of (A/N: y'all can pick your own smells idk anything abt you). It was... refreshing. No, it wasn't. Shut up, Eren. It must be her boring shampoo. I'm sure Levi smells the same. Like I've said a hundred times: this girl is nothing special to me.

I didn't have enough fabric to cover her other cuts and scrapes, so I left them for now. When I had finished bandaging her head, I picked her up and put my sweatshirt on her like a blanket. I had a hard time focusing on where I was walking— I had to keep looking down at her to make sure she was still breathing. She seemed so fragile, like at the slightest movement she'd shatter into a million pieces. I knew that wasn't the case though— if (Y/N) were that delicate, her body would be at the bottom of the waterfall by now. She still had a little blood on her cheek. I wiped it off with my thumb. Her skin was cooling down as she grew more faint— the crimson that colored her cheeks from embarrassment had long faded.

Finally, we had arrived at the end of the hike— Jean took (Y/N) out of my hands and brought her back to the cabin. Ugh. Dick.