[ She listens to that in silence, her chin lowering and her expression clouding with bitterness. It's hard to be mad at an explanation like that, but she still is, somehow. Maybe it's misdirected anger, maybe she's not even sure why she's upset. But something about this, all of this, turns her stomach. ]

... you always try so hard to protect me. [ At least she's not yelling anymore, though her voice is still cold. ] I don't need a guardian. I wish you'd stop treating me like I'm going to break every time I walk outside. I can take care of myself. Maybe I didn't need Eren's help at all.

[ Now she's being petulant, and maybe she knows it, if the sharp downward curl of the corners of her mouth speaks to her feelings about her own words. After all, she went to Eren before he could even find her. It would have happened anyway, all of it, in the exact same fashion, and to pin that on Dave is unfair. She knows it's unfair.

Which is why she groans, frustrated, and grips her head in two hands as she paces away, toward the door. But she stops a foot or two short, lowering her arms so she can tightly hug herself instead. ]

... I just want to know one thing. [ She looks up at him, and much of the hardness is gone from her expression. ] ... what were you so scared of? ... dying yourself, or me getting killed?