The upstairs storage room on the left wing of the Barracks was your safe place as a child.

Whether you had argued with your father or been upset by another Scout, you would always seek refuge in the isolated closet. The door had a lock on the inside, and no one else would ever enter the small, secrete room. In fact, many Scouts did not know or care about the little storage space. It was as if it had been reserved for you, and only you. And even now, as a teenager, you would still lock yourself inside for a moment of peace.

You suddenly flinched as the door you sat against knocked.

"Y/N?" You eased as you realised that it was only Reiner, "Are you there?"

You held your breath.

You could see Reiner's silhouette through the gap underneath the door; little did you know, Reiner could see yours as well, signalling that you were inside.

You watched his dark silhouette kneel down, getting comfortable on the other side of the door. He pressed his back to the doorframe. You could feel his warmth through the wood as you fought the urge to open it.

A few minutes passed you as you waited for Reiner to do something - to do anything.

And then you heard the sound of tearing paper, followed by the scribbling of a pen. You crinkled your nose in curiosity, unsure on what was going on on the other side.

A small, folded piece of paper was slipped beneath the door way. There was a note, but the handwriting was so untidy that you struggled to read it.

'u ok?'

Despite being in a fowl mood, you couldn't help but smile at the gesture. The pen was then slipped beneath the door as the blonde awaited a response. You wrote back:

'not really, no'

'i was really worried about you, Y/N'

'why?'

'i looked every where for you. i thought something might have happened to you on the mission'

You sighed to yourself, holding the small piece of paper in between your fingers. You reluctantly began to write again, feeling your anxiety slowly ease as you spoke through paper.

'i was worried about you too'

You slipped the paper back through the door, able to hear the blonde sigh with a smile through the thin wood. He took a moment to reread the small sentence over, and over.. relishing in the few words.

'u were seriously worried about ME?'

'dont let it get to your head, reiner braun'

You heard his soft laughter through the door.

'i can try. no promises'

You attempted to pick up the paper, however, Reiner swiftly grabbed it back from beneath the door. There was a pause for a few moments as the seventeen year old hesitated, before finally replying to you.

'i heard what happened. im sorry.'

'i don't want to talk about it to be honest'

'that's fine. im just glad ur ok. :)'

You rolled your eyes with a faint chuckle at the smile he had drawn on the paper. After sitting besides Reiner Braun in some of your classes whilst in the Training Corps, you already knew that his hand writing was atrocious - but this was a new level. You couldn't help but giggle whenever he handed the paper back.

'im glad you're okay too'

After you sent him one last reply, he pushed his final message beneath the door.

'can i come inside now? it's cold out here'

You instantly sat upwards, beginning to unlock the door with a single click.

The blonde stepped inside of the room; his tired eyes widened with horror at the sight of you, "Jesus- what happened to you?"

"What do you mean?" Your eyes appeared dejected at his comment.

"You're covered in bruises - how bad was that battle?"

Reiner lifted his fingertips, delicately tracing them up your bare arms and across your shoulder. Despite being so gentle, his soft touch was painful: the stinging made you realise that minor wounds were covering your skin. His fingers trickled up to your jawline, then stopped.

You hadn't yet seen your reflection since encountering the female titan, and hadn't taken notice in the wounds that infiltrated your arm, shoulder and neck. You assumed that the bruises were a result of the trees and branches you swung against whilst you were racing towards your Squad, and the adrenaline prevented you from noticing any pain from your injuries. The bruises weren't too alarming, and you could tell that they would heal within a few weeks: but Reiner's face was still stained with pure horror and sympathy.

"Fuck." Reiner's thin, blonde eyebrows knitted together as a storm began to brew in his copper eyes: "I'll kill that bitch, I will. She shouldn't have hurt you."

"Well, it's not like you could have told the titan not to." You were almost amused by his comment, tying your hand with his comfortingly, "It's a titan - it doesn't know anything apart from killing. It's how they're wired - we learnt that during training, so you should know."

He whispered to himself, so quiet that you couldn't quite make out what he was saying: "I'll make her pay for it. I promise you, Y/N. I swear, I will."

Reiner, still holding tightly onto your hand, began to trace his thumb in circular motions on your palm.

"It does hurt quite a lot, actually," You sighed through your nose, tightening your closed eyes, "I don't know how I didn't notice it before now.. my arm is aching like crazy."

"What do you want me to do about it?"

You tilted your head as his thick arms a crossed over his chest.

He scrunched his crooked nose with a lustful stare towards you, "You want me to kiss the pain away?" He asked with a mocking tone in his brooding, deep voice, laughing at the end of his sentence.

Not in the mood for his humour, you wanted to embarrass the blonde as you lifted up your bruised arm: "Go ahead, be my guest."

Reiner's caramel coloured eyes widened, not expecting you to even entertain his offer. And yet, he didn't hesitate to take your arm in his hand and press his lips to your wrist.

Reiner kissed your bare skin, sending a shock wave through your body. He firmly held onto your forearm with his long, slender fingers wrapping around your arm. His bronze eyes were locked onto yours as his lips slowly moved up your wrist and to your forearm, refusing to break eye contact. He took pleasure in your nervous expression as she kissed each of your bruises.

You sighed beneath your breath, unable to control your racing heart as you tried to make sense of your emotions: "Reiner."

"Mhm?" He mumbled, still pecking your skin as his lips moved towards your shoulder.

You didn't say anything, feeling his soft lips peck at your collarbone. He left a trail of small, tender kisses on your skin that began at your wrist, and led to the bottom of your neck. You clenched your teeth together, struggling to not outwardly react at the sensation of his lips on your bare skin.

You wanted to savour the moment. You didn't want the kisses to end.

"Ha!" Reiner began to boyishly laugh, leaning back away: "You should see your face right now - you're so flustered."

Your lips parted to speak, but you still decided to stay silent, unsure on how to respond. Your eyes gazed towards the ground as you both sat in comfortable silence for a few moments more, before you began to remember why you hadn't spoken to Reiner for the past few days. You cringed at the memory, feeling the unusual, unexplainable pain return.

Reiner, tilting his head, whispered: "What's up?"

You turned your cheek away from the blonde boy, tracing your finger up your arm nervously.

"Y/N.." He dragged out the last syllable of your name, leaning closer to you whilst prying you for an answer: "Talk to me."

You forced a faint smile: "Are you excited to go out with Christa?"

Reiner's eyes flickered open slightly, before his cheerful expression began to fade: "How are things going with Eren?" He changed the subject, "Have you spoken to him lately?"

You nodded: "He walked me home after the ball since my father wasn't ready to leave."

"I see."

"He helped me untie my corset, too, since none of the girls were awake."

Reiner's expression hardened; his lips curled down into a frown, "Seriously?"

You exhaled through your nose slowly, not taking notice in his frustration, "I'm just so nervous-"

"Nervous?" The blondes interest was peaked as he leant his back against the doorframe once more, folding his arms across his chest: "About what?"

Reluctance filled your wobbling voice: "You can't judge me - okay, Braun?"

His eyes widened slightly, before he promised that he would not judge or make fun of what you were about to say.

"You already know that I don't have a lot of experience with dating," You turned your head away from your friend reluctantly: "I'm just so worried that I'll be a bad kisser, or I'll do something wrong during the kiss. Like, when am I supposed to kiss him; should he be the one to initiate the kiss? Should I?"

"Listen," The blonde began to smirk, tilting his head downwards: "Take it from me, you're not a bad kisser."

Your eyes rolled, not satisfied with his attempt to comfort your worries.

A quiet moment passed once more as Reiner collected his thoughts, breaking the silence with a surprising offer: "If you want, you can practice on me."