Chapter 29: Love in Winside

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~Erwin~

I shouldn't be here. It was bad enough things were falling apart at work, but now Zeke...The door opened and there she stood looking angelic as usual even in her pajamas. Her hair was in a messy bun. I had to see her, get one last look at her. "Hi," she whispers.

"Hey,"

I wish I could stay in this moment forever, forget what happened earlier today but I can't, and whether I liked it or not, she would find out.

~Earlier~

The car took me to Jaeger Enterprise as I suspected. I don't know how Zeke would've found out about me, but there wasn't much else I could do but face him. The men waiting for me outside the car opened my door. Quickly getting out, they then pushed me inside rather roughly. Oh yeah, he's definitely pissed.

The two men hastily brought me to the blonde's office where they shoved me in. I stumbled forward immediately trying to find balance. Then there before me sat the prick, grinning up at me as if he had just won something. "Well well, I'm surprised you know, never did I think I'd be fooled by a detective. I'll admit it, you were good at keeping your records squeaky clean," Zeke begins all while slowly rising from his seat.

I stood there glaring at him, "But it's too bad, that your colleagues can't seem to do their job at keeping your little secret. But hey, Floch got me what I was looking for. And for the bugs, that was more a pest than anything. I made a mess of my office because of you,"

"Will you just get on with it, I don't really need a rundown on how you found out," I blurt.

"Gladly, I just wanted to cherish this moment, because frankly I could just make this quick and say you're fired- which you are but let's put that aside for now and talk about this lovely lady," he says as he pulls out a picture of (Y/N), he teasingly waves it in front of me. And before I could lunge at him his men were already on me holding me back.

"I swear to god if you touch her I'll-"

"You'll what? As far as I'm concerned she will want nothing to do with you when she finds out," Zeke, now with the picture, walks up to me and carefully slips the photo in my pocket. "You can have that- you'll need something to jack off to later,"

I wanted to punch his fucking face in right about now, but the two larger men's grips tightened on me. "You are revolting, what makes you think she would hate me?" I question.

Zeke laughs hysterically as he returns to his desk, "Are you really that dumb? Let's see, first, you lied to her about who you were, and you used her to get to me!"

I didn't talk back now, but I also didn't want to admit he had a point, "You know I'm right, and once she knows she will turn to me, the one man who hasn't lied to her. And I will be the one to greet her with open arms," he says as he opens his arms wide.

"I seriously doubt that, despite all of that, she still wouldn't ever wanna be with a disgusting man like you," I snap.

The blonde stood there now with crossed arms, then his brows rose as he turned to the small stack of papers on his desk. "Alright, I think we're done here, oh- one more thing Erwin,"

He walks up to me slowly, eyes locked with mine. His men held me, I wasn't sure what exactly he was doing but I figured he was going to hit me. And before I really had time to react to the blow, Zeke had punched me hard in the gunt. This caused me to fall forward a bit, I wasn't able to hit the floor due to the two guys holding me up, but fuck it hurt a bit. "That's for stealing (Y/N) from me,"

With that, Zeke waved his hand signaling his men to take me out of the room. Before I knew it I was tossed out onto the sidewalk with my things. And just like that, I had been fired from Jaeger Enterprise. Not only that, but it was only a matter of time before (Y/N) would know, whether it was me who told her or Zeke. I have to tell her before Zeke does.

~Present~

I stepped into her apartment, it smelt of cinnamon. After shutting her door she quickly walked past me into her kitchen where she revealed some cinnamon rolls. "I made you some," she says softly as she places the pan on the counter.

As much as I wanted to eat her food, I had to talk to her. "Thank you but... I really have to speak with you,"

"O-okay,"

"I-" everything I wanted to say was caught in my throat making this even harder than it needed to be. Then his stupid voice came into my head reminding me of how I was lying to her. If I can't tell her the truth then... I need to end this, right here and right now. "We... we should stop this," I finally say.

I watched her face turn pale, and blank. It took her a minute to process my words but after a couple of seconds of silence, she looks up at me and asks, "Why? I thought we were good?"

"We are I-" Again I was at a loss for words, my heart was racing.

"Then why do you want to break up? Did something happen?"

I wanted to tell her so badly, but each time I tried I couldn't help but stop. In her eyes, I could see she was hurting and confused. "I just- I'm not good for you,"

She suddenly chuckled, "That's ridiculous, you're perfect," she mumbles, reaching for me, I take a step back creating more space between us.

"No, I'm not, there... there are things about me you don't know- things I wish I could tell you. But I'm afraid of hurting you by saying it,"

She was silent for a moment, I was prepared to leave it at that, turn away and walk out the door but she took a step closer to me. "What's hurting me is the fact that you constantly put yourself down. And act like you don't deserve to be loved. It's frustrating really, trying to show you how much I care for you. I just wish you could see yourself the way I see you because to me you're perfect. And you know what, I love you, which probably scares the shit out of you but... I lo-"

"No... no you shouldn't-" I quickly turn away only for her to quickly come after me.

"Hey," she whispers, now right in front of me, with her hands on my face. "Look at me," her voice was gentle and soothing yet it was hard to listen to her because I wanted to fight this, but at the same time, I was so ready to give myself to her completely. Finally, my eyes met hers, she smiled sweetly before saying softly, "I love you Erwin, and you have nothing to be afraid of okay?" she asks.

This is it- tugging me forward, I bent down slightly and was greeted by her lips. Automatically my hands gripped her waist, pulling her in, I let out a long sigh all while returning her kiss. Screw it, screw everything! Because of this woman, I couldn't deny it any longer, I couldn't simply leave her behind and hope the best for her- no I was in too deep. And there was no way in hell she was gonna let me leave, not without a fight.

Once we parted, (Y/N) took a step back but kept one hand on my cheek and said, "You do what you have to, and I'll be here for you," Then, with that she walked away over to her kitchen, leaving me to think over everything that was said. How can I even think of letting her go? She's the best thing that's happened to me.

~Zeke~

That evening I sat in my dark office going over shipments and what not. I was thankful that none of my plans were leaked- but still, that didn't stop me from still being paranoid. I would have to be extremely careful.

Currently, I was on the phone with my younger brother Eren. He was overseeing the late shipments making sure everything got on the boats and that the money was taken care of. This would be good practice for him when he takes over. "How are things, little brother?" I ask.

"So far so good, are you at home?" he asks.

"No still at the office, just finishing up on a few things," I retort.

"Well you better hurry, you need to catch your flight to Winside for the fundraiser- besides, is it wise for you to be there after what happened?" he asks.

I let out a sigh, he had a point. "I've checked everywhere Eren, there aren't any bugs left that I am aware of. And when I return I will be sure to look over my office again." I reassure him.

"Alright, I'll let you go, so you can finish and head home to pack,"

With that, we both said our goodbyes and hung up. Letting out another sigh, I straightened the stack of papers to my right before flicking the desk lamp off. I need a vacation.

~Time Skip~

~(Y/N)~

Winside was beautiful, we had a hotel right by the ocean. The sun was out and it was a perfect temperature to go out and explore. Upon arriving at the hotel, Erwin and I made our way to our room to drop our things off.

As I set my bags down, I walked over to the window where I opened the curtains to see the view. "What should we do first?" I ask, and as I look back, I was surprised when I found my man right behind me. His big arms wrapped around me as he held me close and looked out the window with me.

"Wanna go down to the beach for a bit?" he asks.

I nod before leaning in close to peck him on the lips. Already this trip was turning out perfect! We both changed into some swimwear, as we both headed down we watched as some of the hotel workers put up a sign it read, 'Welcome to the wedding of Destiny and Emma' taking a peek we could see tables being set up with beautiful flowers.

Then taking Erwin's hand I led him out of the hotel, we walked around the building a bit in order to reach the beach area. There we both picked out a spot to settle, placing down a towel, I glance up at Erwin who was making his way to the water. Along the way, he had peeled off his shirt allowing his upper half to be shown to everyone. I stayed back for a bit to fix the towel and get an umbrella up for some shade. That's when I could overhear a couple of women talking.

"Oh my god, do you see that guy by the water?!"

"Yeah! He looks like a god,"

I sincerely hoped they weren't talking about Erwin, but as I looked up and looked in the same direction the girls were I knew they were talking about him. My blonde boyfriend didn't seem to notice as the other women and some men gawked at him. There I stood up and took the semi-sheer cover-up off. I then made my way over to Erwin completely ignoring the other guys as they cat-called me or attempted to talk to me.

Erwin took me into his arms and swung me around dipping my feet in the water. I chuckle softly as I hid my face in the crook of his neck. Thankfully the two girls I overheard seemed to lose interest after seeing me greet my boyfriend. Same with the guys, thankfully. For the afternoon though, Erwin and I enjoyed the water and sun before heading off to our next adventure. 

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