Fire and Ice

an unwanted visitor

"The fear of death follows the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time." 

-Mark Twain

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TW: Talk of overdosing(not self-harm) and murder.  

Your eyes scan the ballroom, not searching for anyone, in particular, just watching as you enter through the large glass doors. The music is loud, no longer romantic and amorous but booming and fanatical. You can feel Eren's grip on your hand tighten as you lead him through the mass of dancing people, rolling your eyes when he pulls you back into his arms. 

"Where, are you leading me?" He asks, his arms wrapping around your waist enclosing you in a tight embrace. 

You pause and smile before wriggling out of his grip to face him, "To show you the stars." 

Eren stares at you with a quizzical look, "The stars?" 

"Mmh." You hum, taking his hand in yours once again, pulling him towards the main doors of the event hall. 

Fortunately, the crowd thinned as you reached the doors, giving you extra breathing space. You pushed forward, pulling Eren behind you so that an onlooker would ponder the possibility of a dislocated arm or an arguing couple, the latter being unlikely considering the happy expressions blanketing both of your faces. 

Although, if the onlooker watched as Eren stopped dead in his tracks to stare at a secluded corner near the door leading into the school, they may wonder if the handsomely sharp young man had been caught doing something. . . untrustworthy. Which of course, would not be entirely wrong. 

You turn in confusion, rubbing your shoulder from the sudden jerk. "Eren, what-?" You step closer to him, following his gaze toward the dark corner. 

He blinks, turning back towards you, "I thought I saw someone. . . I must have been mistaken." A smile reappears on his face, "Let's go look at the stars, yeah?" 

You nod in agreement, opening the door and stepping out into the cool night air once again. You exhale slowly, dropping Eren's hand to rub your eyes. 

"This way." You say softly, gathering your dress as you run ahead towards the wooded path. 

The trees muffle the sound of your footsteps, allowing the sounds of the forest to echo around you. The tree branches quiver in the wind, rubbing against one another, with no leaves to mask the sound of wood on wood. An owl sends out a lonely call over the gentle whispers of the dying underbrush. Fallen leaves crunch beneath your feet, your breath turning to steam as you walk up the winding path. You can hear the shuffle of a small animal in the wilting growth of ferns that lines the leaf-covered trail. 

Thin clouds cover the moon, allowing only a small amount of light to illuminate the winding trail that widened as you reached the opening. A single sigh escaped your lips as you come to a halt, staring at the rippling waves on the lake in front of you. 

You can feel the heat radiating off of Eren's body as he reaches you, "You're positive that clouds will clear up?" He asks hesitantly, staring up at the grey wisps of cotton that covered the moon. 

You nod, "The wind moves freely here so the clouds never stay around for long." 

"You talk about the clouds as if they're living, breathing creatures." Eren states before walking towards the dock that creaked eerily under the movement of the water.