Sometime before Chapter 6. Anna

Of all people, I wouldn't have expected Chrom to be a cuddler.

He usually held himself up with a strong and dignified persona, his chivalrous nature always showing. But when we were alone, he was more like a clingy puppy. We had always been the close type and physical contact was normal for us, but things changed once we confessed our love.

Chrom held me in his lap, sprinkling kisses on my face. "Must you go?"

I giggled and pushed him away. "Yes, I promised Sully that I would spar with her. I can't stay in here with you and snuggle all day."

He let out an annoyed huff, burying his face into my shoulder. "You could, though."

We've only been engaged for three days; the early parts of our relationship. We never got the chance to court or do any of the traditional dating stuff, but I did not mind. Because of that, Chrom and I were still figuring things out. We were like two dorky teenagers who just went steady after months of liking each other. Well, I guess we technically were.

Sure, I was shocked at his sudden proposal. Honestly, I secretly really wanted to go through the courting and dating stuff before he proposed. But, I couldn't be any happier. I already knew Chrom was the man I would spend the rest of my life with.

"You dork," I breathed, kissing his hair. "If I did, then suspicions would raise. We have to keep this a secret, remember?"

His arms tightened around my waist. "I'm going to miss you too much."

I rolled my eyes. "I'll still be in camp! Plus, you'll see me again soon enough!"

"Not good enough." His hand threaded through my hair.

At this point, I was actually getting annoyed. "Chrom, I have to go."

He wouldn't let go.

"Chrom." With a lot of effort, I pried myself off of him. "I. Have. To. Go."

Disappointment flashed in his eyes. "But..."

I quickly pressed my lips against his. "I will see you again soon. I promise. But we can't spend each and every second with one another," I sighed. "We have an army to run and a secret to keep."

Before he could utter another word, I stepped towards the exit of his tent. "I'll see you at dinner. I love you." With that, I swiftly slid out of the tent.

I ran a hand through my hair, noticing that it was undone. "Dammit... I knew I shouldn't have let him play with it! I need to redo it before anyone sees!"

...

"That was a nice match, Anna!" Sully grinned at me from across the dinner table.

I lifted my cup to her. "Likewise to you."

"How did it go?" Chrom asked, taking his seat next to me.

Sully's chest puffed out in pride. "I won, of course! 15-5, Anna! 15-5!"

Stahl chuckled. "And that's impressive! I don't think anyone has that many wins against her!"

"Well, except for Frederick," Sumia added, glancing at the knight and blushing.

"Hey! I can't help it if he's my teacher!"

As the conversation continued on, I felt Chrom trying to take hold of my hand under the table. I swatted his hand away and mouthed a no to him.

The pleading puppy look in his eyes did not make anything better. Good gods, Does he have any idea as to how big of an idiot he is! I mouthed "not now".

"Is everything alright, you two?" Frederick asked, eyebrow raised.

My body went still as I nodded. "E-everything is fine!"

"As you say..."

I glared at my prince. He shrugged apologetically. Stupid stupid stupid stupid!

...

This is more like it.

I clashed my blade against Chrom's, digging my feet into the ground. I began to shake when he pushed, so I jumped back. I haven't spared with him in over a week! I forgot that he's like a brick wall!

"You holding up?" Chrom panted.

I wiped a bead of sweat off of my forehead. "Yeah, I'm good!" I leaped forward again and continued slashing.

We did this for a while until Chrom decided that it was time to end this. He hit my arm with his elbow, making my blade fall. I stumbled back, preparing myself to fall. However, Chrom threw his own blade to the ground and caught me by the waist as I fell.

Then, he hoisted me up, put his free hand on the back of my neck, and kissed me right then and there.

"Mmph?!" I quickly pushed him off, beat red and breathing wildly. "What the hell are you doing?!"

He frowned. "Anna, calm down-"

"We're in plain sight! Anyone could have seen us!" I shouted, wiggling out of his embrace. "We need to be careful, Chrom!"

His angry look did not disappear. "I'm just trying to be affectionate, is that a problem?"

I wanted to scream. "No, but when you're keeping it a secret from everyone, it is!" I groaned. "Just...stop, ok? When we're alone, I'm all for this, but we really need to be careful. Alright?"

He let out a hard sigh. "Fine."

"Good." I picked up my blade. "I'm still a bit rusty. Can you teach me how you did that disarming thing."

Now he was smiling. "Sure, come here and I'll show you."

...

As we poured over some maps, Chrom began to play with my hair.

I ducked away from his hand. "Not now. We're strategizing."

He huffed, annoyed. "You know, if you really don't love me or you're uncomfortable, you could just say."

My heart stopped.

What...what did he just say...?

I turned to him, trembling slightly. "C-Chrom...?"

He looked impatient, angry, sad, I couldn't really pinpoint what emotion he was feeling. "I understand that we need to keep this a secret, but you keep rejecting any of my advances. It just...it feels like you aren't really serious about this..."

My heart shattered into a million pieces. "Chrom...no... No, that's not it at all..." Tears began to fall down my cheeks. "Please don't think that. Please, please don't think that. I love you with all of my heart and soul. I'm so sorry for acting this way... It's just...I'm just..."

"Shhh..." He pulled me into his arms, rubbing circles on my back. "I shouldn't have said that. I don't mean it. I really don't mean it. I'm so sorry. Please, forgive me." He kissed the top of my head. "It's just...I don't know... My mind is creating a million scenarios and I don't like any of them."

"I-I understand." I looked up at him. "Know that I love you with all of my heart. Don't doubt that for a second. I'm just really scared. I've never been in a relationship before and everything is going so fast. I'm fighting between being your tactician and your fiancée. I would be lying if I said I didn't mix the two up sometimes."

His soft lips met my forehead. "I get it. Truly, I do," he breathed. "There's just so much that I want to do with you. I want to go on dates, and hold hands, and just do everything that couples do. I want to do all of that now but I know we can't."

"And that's why we're fighting to bring that day closer," I smiled. "We need to talk about this. We need to think of a game plan. As much as we want to show our affections publicly, we can't."

Chrom nodded. "Right. Yes. We do." He pulled me closer. "We need to communicate with one another. I don't want to end up like my parents who never talked about their feelings."

"Then let's talk. We'll find a way to put up some boundaries. But I don't want to put our love on hold for that."

"Absolutely not," he agreed. "We'll figure this out. I know we can."

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

*****

I WILL SLIP IN SOME ANGST, DAMMIT. I've always imagined that in the early days of their relationship Chrom and Anna wouldn't really know how to keep a safe distance (even though these dorks were always in each other's space before getting all lovey and shiz). But anyway, it would probably stress them out and cause some misunderstanding, but they'll work it out cuz power couple. Thank you so much for reading and look forward to reading more!

Next Prompt: July 31st - Tired

Link: https://youtu.be/HCahW3c5Ors