"I was at soccer practice when it happened. My parents and two younger siblings were on their way to pick me up. I remember I was practicing hitting the ball in the goal, I sucked at it. The wind was cold, the day humid, the sun hidden behind clouds when I felt it. A sudden pain in my chest. It was my heart. I couldn't tell you now or why it even happened, but it felt like I was having a heart attack. And at that moment, a drunk driver had rammed into my family's car, killing my younger siblings instantly, my mom and dad suffering for some time before the paramedics came and picked them up. Sasha and I were in soccer together, we were already super close,
so her family took me in since I had no one else. And when we went to the hospital, that's why Dr. Ackermann, Erwin, and Dr. Zoë all knew who I was, because my mom had still been there. She was on a vent for some time and wasn't waking up at all. They didn't think she ever would. They gave her a 10% chance. She ended up getting worse every day until she went brain dead. That was when they told me I had to turn off the machines and say goodbye."

"But she was my mom and she was everything to me. I couldn't end her life when she looked so alive, even though it was the machines doing everything for her. So I visited, and I sat by her bedside and I begged her to wake up. But she never woke up. So I knew what I had to do, because she couldn't stay like that forever. It'd be torture."

You felt yourself crying, not in a dramatic way, just simple tears falling down your cheeks as you nodded your head, listening to Connie's story. He sounded so heartbroken and all you wanted to do was hold him and tell him it'd be okay, that you were there for him.

"So when I tell you that I care about you in a way that I haven't cared in a long time..." Connie looked at you, his body trembling after literally spilling his guts out.

"I'm so sorry...I didn't know," you apologized, realizing you weren't the only one scared to give yourself away.

"It's okay," he reassured you and you scooted closer to him, leaning into him as he placed his head on top of yours, his body relaxing as you comforted him, hoping he'd stop shaking soon.

"It happened when I was still in high school. Sasha's family ended up fostering me until I became an adult and now they're helping put Sasha and I both through college. Sasha is like my twin sister, I don't know where I would be if it weren't for her," Connie was quiet after that, the silence comfortable as you sat with him, taking in his trauma.

You couldn't imagine that ever happening to you, nor would you ever want to. Your whole family just gone in the blink of an eye...having to stop your own mom's life. It was awful.

And now Connie was saying he cared about you in a special way, and now it was only fair if you told him your story. A heartbreak for a heartbreak. Mikasa said he would understand.

"I'm kinda tired, but I don't want to sleep alone. Would you mind staying in here with me?" Connie asked, shutting you down before you could even speak.

"I'm not going anywhere," you promised, and pulled away, turning to face Connie and placing your hands on his cheeks, smiling softly at him.

"Thank you for telling me. If you ever need to talk about it, you can call me, okay?" He nodded his head and you leaned forward, kissing his forehead.

His honey eyes gazed at you warmly and you felt your stomach flare with butterflies. You let out a soft laugh and a frustrated groan, placing your forehead on his as you looked at each other.

"Butterflies?" He asked.

You furrowed your brows and gave him a questioning look before you asked, "How did you know?"

"You said it in the bathroom when you got wasted at Eren's party. There's really only one meaning for butterflies," he answered and your cheeks got hot, embarrassed that that had happened.

"Don't worry, I thought it was cute."

"Oh, shut up!" You leaned back as you jokingly scoffed, crossing your arms over your chest.

"No, come back! It's cold without you," he waggled his eyebrows and you scrunched up your face, pretending to act disgusted.

"Connie Springer, I think we better go to bed before anything happens," you crawled over to the headboard and pulled at the sheets, but Connie came and grabbed your waist with his good hand, pulling you towards him as you flopped over.

"Connie!" You hissed.

"Come on, let it happen!" He teased as you got out of his grasp.

You sat up, Connie laying down beside you laughing. You shook your head with a smile, wondering what you were going to do with this man child.

"Let's go on a date tomorrow," he spoke up after the laughter had worn off and you went to hold his hand, biting your lip as you felt those butterflies again.

"Lets," you replied and Connie dragged you back down, ruffling your hair as he wrapped his arm around you, smiling that goofy grin before the two of you fell asleep.

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It was cold outside as you pulled your plaid fleece coat around you, the oversize fit of it comforting. You and Connie had snuck out of the apartment early, and he took you to the dorm so you could change. Now you were walking around the campus, the leaves whizzing by as a harsh wind whirled around you.

Connie noticed your cold state and wrapped his arm around you, pulling you into him. You smiled up at him, glad you could finally show your affection without feeling constricted. It was nice.

"Favorite dessert?" Connie started rattling off questions to which you both answered, simple things that you hadn't been able to learn about each other like favorite color, fruit, movie, music, etc.

"Are you hungry?" He asked and you shrugged. Connie had his thinking face on and grabbed your hand, practically pulling you back to the car.

"I have an idea," he smiled back at you and you gave him a questioning look, hoping he wasn't planning something too crazy.

He took you the grocery store and started grabbing all sorts of snack type foods off of shelves. You tried to guess what he had planned but he kept on saying, "You'll see."

You followed him around for a while, his hand gone from your grasp and you wanted to hold it again. But he needed it to grab things off of the shelves, so you impatiently waited until he was finished.

It wasn't until you were standing in line to check out when you took his hand, his gaze diverting to you.

"What? I like holding your hand...it's nice," you defended yourself and he broke out into a simple grin, his eyes twinkling.

"I do too."

So Connie had dragged you all over a grocery store and now you were back at the dorms. You pondered in your mind what he was trying to do, now that you were here, when he started to grab things to help build a fort, throwing blankets on top of the "support beams" which were just your bed and two chairs.

He had blankets inside the fort along with pillows, throwing the snack foods in there as well. "Grab your laptop," he pointed at it and you took it off of your desk, unplugging it and bringing it into the fort, Connie following you.

"By the way, I'm going to the doctor's tomorrow, they say this should come off. The fracture wasn't too bad, so they said it would heal pretty faster than most," he patted his splint, looking at you.

"Do you want me to come with?" He shook his head no, and replied with, "But we could hang out after."

Smooth Connie, already setting up a second date. But he knew you wouldn't say no, why would you?

"I'll have to check my schedule," you drew in a breath, pretending to sound uninterested in that idea.

"Oh come on! Clear your day for me!" He pleaded, leaning towards you, the dim lighting of the fort making his honey eyes darker.

"I'll see what I can do, but no guarantees," you advised and Connie smiled at that, quickly tasing your side and you let out a yelp.

"Please! No! I hate being tickled!" You guarded your side, knowing you couldn't fight back with his splint on.

"Whaddya mean? Everyone loves being tickled!" Connie started wrestling with you as he tried to tase your side again, your laugh loud and boisterous as you fended him off. 

"This isn't fair! You have a broken wrist!"

"So?"

"So I can't go all out!"

Connie laughed at that and let you get up, his fight to tase you disappearing. "Fine, we'll wait until tomorrow to really settle this, okay?" He looked at you expectantly and you leaned in, teasing him.

"Okay," you whispered and he inched closer to you but you put your finger on his lips, stopping him.

"Not so fast. You tease me, I tease you."

"Oh that is so not fair."

"Sorry, you started it. Now what movie should we watch?" You opened your laptap and pulled up a streaming service, looking back at Connie as he gazed at you.

"...What?" You smiled and he dropped his head, shaking it.

"I just can't believe I couldn't stand you at first, which only lasted a short while, because now I have no idea what my life would be like without you in it," you felt your cheeks flush at that, his honey eyes looking back at you, and you never wanted to look away.

"Don't get all sentimental on me, this date isn't over yet," you pointed out and his jaw dropped as he lightly smacked your thigh.

"Hey!" You protested.

"Say something back!" He smirked and you rolled your eyes, reaching for his hand.

You were silent for a while as you thought of something to say, your heart pounding when you found the right words, nervous to even speak it.

"I'm waiting," he chimed and you shot him a glare before opening up.

"You're the first boy who has ever made me feel butterflies again," you confessed and his eyes sparked with curiosity but his cheeks turned red at that.

"Blushing? Is that blushing I see? Oh, don't flatter yourself too much," you joked and he scrunched up his face at you, his voice all screechy as he mocked you.

"I don't sound like that!" You fired back and Connie kept mocking you, your laughter filling up the fort as he started to laugh with you, the movie long forgotten now.

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You were sitting on your bed, trying to finish up your homework before Connie arrived for your second date. You were still in your pjs, something you didn't care if he saw. You'd spent so much time at his apartment and sleeping over that Connie had honestly seen you at your worst.

The door opened and you flicked your eyes up from the laptop screen, watching Sasha shuffle into the room before falling onto her bed and passing out. You grabbed your phone and texted Connie, letting him know not to knock or be loud since Sasha was trying to sleep.

You went back to your homework, struggling on a math question. It wasn't due until Tuesday, but you'd feel better if you finished it now rather than later. Your brain scrambled to find an answer, and when nothing happened, you shut your laptop in frustration, leaning back against the wall.

Though your frustration didn't last long as your phone buzzed. You looked around to see where you threw it, discovering it enveloped in blankets. You smiled as you read the text from Connie, jumping to your feet and letting him in the room. He walked inside, whispering to you to dress warm, hinting that you'd be outside again today. But you ignored him as you reached for both hands, examining his once-broken wrist.

"All better," he smiled and you smirked up at him, replying with, "Now we can finally see who's the better fighter."

"Get dressed," he scoffed and you hurried to put on warmer clothing, grabbing your coat and leaving the dorm, letting Sasha get her beauty sleep.

"The heating system in our building broke, that's why I had you dress warm," Connie mentioned as you two walked outside to his car.

"Really? Damn, that sucks," you couldn't imagine if the heating broke down in the dorms, it'd be impossible to focus on anything.

"So what are we gonna do when we get there?" You asked and Connie paused before opening his car door, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"We have the place to ourselves."

"Connie, you seriously have to stop with that," you laughed and he flinched as if taken aback by your words.

"I'm not doing anything!" He defended himself and you rolled your eyes at him, motioning for him to get in the car.

As usual, Connie tried to serenade you during the drive, one hand on the wheel. This time he was singing something in Spanish, surprising you.

"I didn't know you spoke Spanish," and Connie looked at you, shrugging.

"I'm full of surprises," he replied and turned up the radio, the music blasting as you drove down the street.

It wasn't long until you reached the apartment, Connie's crazy driving getting you there in record time. You hated how reckless he was when he drove, and he knew it, but bad habits die hard.

"I'm taking you back to the DMV and demanding you take the test again," you dared and Connie chuckled at that, ruffling your hair, trying to mess it up.

"Hey!" You smacked his arm and he looked down on you, his devilish grin widening.

"Connie," you croaked and he grabbed you, hoisting you over his shoulder, your head and arms dangling over his back.

"Put me down!" You laughed as he carried you down the hallway to his apartment, opening the door and flopping you down onto the couch.

"That's it!" You exclaimed and lunged at him, trying to put him in a headlock as he wrestled you back.

At some point, you two fell onto the floor, and Connie was getting the advantage as you were stuck under him. Finnaly, he had you pinned, proving his point that he could beat you. His arms were on either side of you, his eyes squinted as he smirked down at you, honey eyes shining. You gazed up at him, and moved your body upwards, propping yourself up on your elbows so you were inches from his face. You could feel your heart racing, the tension between the two of you growing by the second.

"Pinned ya," you teased and confusion flickered in his gaze for a brief second before you leaned in, kissing him.

He pulled back slightly from shock, not expecting it. Yet, he started to return the kiss, his body relaxing. His arms wrapped around you and pulled you into him, deepening it, his hands moving to your hair. Your heart was racing as it felt like sparks were exploding in your body, your arms wrapped around his neck.

And just as surprisingly as you brought it on, you cut it off, putting all your weight onto him and catching him off guard, pushing him to the floor. You laughed at his beet red face, embarrassment radiating off of him.

"You should see your face!" You snorted and rolled back, grabbing your stomach as you laughed, your chest heaving.

Connie frowned at you and pulled you up off the ground, his face still red. You giggled and made kissy faces, teasing him, but he leaned forward and started kissing you again, pulling back for a moment as he grinned.

"I wanted to kiss you first," he spoke softly and you shrugged, cupping his face as you leaned back in, your heart soaring.