Attack on Titan fic: The reason I'm here, part 3

WARNING: This is the final chapter of one of my stories! Please go read the previous chapters first if you haven't yet!

Chapter 1: Attack on Titan fanfic - The reason I'm here

Author's Note: Alrighty then! This is the third and final chapter of my Attack on Titan fanfic! The moment you've all been waiting for! XD
I also re-watched a few episodes for this chapter, to get a better grip on my storyline.








First person POV

I rested my head on my hand and twirled the pen with my other hand, flipping it between my fingers and my thumb. I was supposed to be writing something down right now. But I’d rather look out the window at the clouds that were quietly drifting away without a care in the world. I wish I could be like those clouds…

Suddenly a hand slammed down on my desk which startled me and made me jump back in my chair. I looked up and saw the teacher glaring at me.

“If my course doesn’t interest you, you can leave. I won’t tolerate lazy students!” The teacher declared.

I rolled my eyes. “Yes sir…”

He gave me a warning glance before returning to the blackboard.

I pretended to take a few notes but quickly got bored once again and started twirling my pen in my hand again. I looked at the other students; most of them were paying attention. How could they be so absorbed by what the teacher was saying? But then I noticed that some others were doing other stuff, like drawing or reading which made me smirk. You see, I’m not the only one you bore, teacher! I thought.

I went back to staring out the window, looking at the drifting clouds once again and imagining figures out of them.

But then I felt something bounce off my head and land on my desk. I looked down: it was a little crumpled ball of paper. I opened it. Something was written on it. It read: ‘Pay attention or you’re going to get caught by the teacher again.’ I looked around to see who had thrown it and noticed Armin subtly waving at me, which made my heart skip a beat. He then pointed at the teacher, clearly telling me to pay attention, and he had a little look of disapproval on his face – his little pout is so cute! I thought, smiling.

I decided to write something back and threw it to him. He caught the paper and silently opened it under his desk.

‘But his class is boring…’ I wrote.

He looked back at me and let out a quiet chuckle. That little laugh warmed my heart; I rarely saw Armin laugh so making him happy made me happy too.

He started writing something on the paper and threw it back to me. I easily caught it, and opened it.

‘That’s true. I already know most of what he’s teaching anyway.’ He wrote.

I gaped at him, which made him smile. I quickly scribbled something and threw it back to him.

‘Are you kidding me?! I have no clue what he’s talking about! It’s all gibberish to me!’ Is what I wrote, which made him chuckle again and he glanced back at me with a grin.

“Passing notes, are we Armin?”

We both simultaneously looked at the teacher in astonishment. He had taken a few of the notes and read them.

Oh no!

“So my class is boring, eh?”

Oh crap!

I looked at Armin who was frozen on the spot, staring back at the teacher in panic.

I instantly shot up from my chair, making it tumble backwards. “It’s me!” I declared.

All eyes were on me now.

“I’m the one who’s been passing notes. It’s my fault, not Armin’s!”

Armin shot me a fearful what-the-heck-are-you-doing look.

“Of course it’s you!” The teacher bellowed, making me cringe.

“Well then,” the teacher continued in a calmer tone. “Since you find my class so boring I will allow you to leave, and go straight to the principal’s office!”

Oh great…

Everyone laughed.

I sighed. I picked up my chair, put it back in its place, and left the classroom.

After a long lecture from the principal I was allowed to leave his office. When I got out I found that Armin had been waiting for me on the bench. He quickly got up and came to me, looking a little nervous.

“(Name) you didn’t have to do that, I should have gone to the principal’s office instead of you…” He babbled.

“Oh no, it’s fine, really.” I waved it off. “It was my fault to begin with.”

“But I was the one who started sending you notes!” He continued.

“Yeah, but it was because I wasn’t paying attention in class; I started this.”

He still didn’t look convinced.

“Don’t worry. What’s done is done anyways.” I smiled.

“I guess…” He looked away.

“Oh, by the way, Armin…”

“Yeah?” He perked up.

“I was wondering if you could you help me with my homework? I’m really behind because I’m having trouble with it…”

“Of course.” He smiled. Then added, “That’s the least I can do after getting you kicked out of class.”

“Great!” I enthused. “Well, I gotta go get my stuff that I left in class.” I told him as I started jogging towards the classroom. “See you later!” I called back.

“Okay!”

I got myself a homework-date with Armin! I thought as I ran down the hall. I giggled at the word. Homework-date… That sounds paradoxical.

I went into the class, quickly gathered my stuff and left. On my way to my room I met with Ymir.

“Hey (Name).” Ymir greeted.

“Hey!” I smiled back. We walked together down the hall.

“So how are things going with Armin?” She asked.

I immediately stopped walking. “Huh?” I uttered, dumbfounded.

“Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about.” She laughed.

My cheeks heated up. “But-”

“You like him.” She state bluntly. “It’s obvious.”

My cheeks got even redder. “H-how do you know?” I stuttered.

“I told you: it’s obvious; the way you look at him, and the way you act around him. It’s so obvious that practically everyone knows.”

“Other people know?!” I practically yelled.

“Yeah, almost everyone. Except you two. You guys are the most oblivious couple I’ve ever seen…” she sighed.

“So, Armin doesn’t know?” I whispered.

“I don’t think so.” She replied, and I sighed in relief.

“Why don’t we discuss this in private.” She said. “Let’s go to my room.”

I followed her to her room. When I got there, a surprise awaited me. First of all, when we neared her room I could here lots of noise, and when we entered I realized that it was because many people were there, making loud conversation. My jaw dropped at the sight that was in front of me.

“Hand me the chips! They’re mine, you thief!” Connie yelled, leaning on Sasha as he tried to retrieve his bag of chips. But Sasha shook her head and turned her back to him. “Not anymore!” She was holding them tightly against her chest.

“What? I lost? You must be kidding!” Jean exclaimed, staring at his of cards in disbelief. Then he glared at Eren and said, “You cheated Eren! I’m sure you did.”

“No, I didn’t! You’re just a sore loser.” Eren countered.

“How dare you accuse Eren of such a dishonest action!” Mikasa retorted.

“Welcome back Ymir.” Krista said when we came in.

“What the heck is this?” I yelled in disbelief.

Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and turned to face me.

“Oh, hey (Name)” Eren called. “We’ve been waiting for you.”

I looked at Ymir in irritation. “You said we would talk in private.”

“We are.” She said as she sat down. “Come.” She looked over her shoulder towards me and tapped the floor with her hand.

“This isn’t private.” I retorted as I sat down next to her.

“I told you; practically everyone knows.” She grinned.

“This is embarrassing…” I muttered.

“So apparently you have a thing for Armin?” Jean inquired.

I sighed and nodded.

“When did you find out you loved him?” Krista asked.

“Was it love at first sight?” Sasha asked.

I shook my head. “No. Actually at first I didn’t pay attention to him. I even disliked him; I thought he was a useless coward and wondered how he had managed to get into the Survey Corps.” They were staring back at me in disbelief. “But then I discovered who he truly was,” I continued. “And he opened my eyes to many things that I had been ignoring because I was too stuck in my own problems. He’s a very generous person who understand people and wants to help them.” I explained. “And he helped me.” I finished.

Everyone was silent for a minute.

“Wow.” Eren commented.

“I wasn’t expecting a deep philosophical explanation.” Jean said.

Ymir nodded. “It’s interesting, that’s for sure.”

“So Armin doesn’t know?” Eren asked.

I shook my head.

“Are you going to tell him?” Mikasa asked.

Was I going to tell him? Should I? I have no idea how he’ll react… What if he doesn’t like me in return? What will I do then? All these thoughts passed through my mind.

“I’m kind of scared honestly.” I answered.

“Scared of his reaction?” Krista inquired, and I nodded.

“Well then, why don’t we do it indirectly?” Ymir suggested.

I tilted my head. “What do you mean?”

“One of us can ask him how he feels about you.” Ymir explained. “That way you won’t have to confess, in case he rejects you.”

“Oh…”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.” Jean commented.

“But who should do it?” Sasha questioned.

“I think Eren or Mikasa, since they’re the closest to him.” Ymir said.

They looked at each other and then back at Ymir.

“Eren should do it.” Mikasa said.

“What?” Eren gaped at Mikasa. “Why me?”

“I’m not good with this stuff.” Mikasa stated.

Eren frowned. “And you think I am?”

“No. But you can do anything without looking suspicious.” Mikasa said.

Eren was silent for a moment, looking confused, then added, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Everyone laughed.

“Just do it Eren.” Jean declared.

“Fine, fine!” Eren rolled his eyes. “I’ll ask him tomorrow.”

"Thanks!" I said.

For the rest of the night we played a few games. Then everyone left and went to their rooms.

The next day we had gathered at Ymir’s room again to discuss Armin’s answer.

“So? What did he say?” I questioned, impatiently.

Everyone looked at Eren.

“Well, this is what he said…”


Flashback: Eren’s point of view:

“Hey Armin.” I sat down next to him. He was reading a book, and when I sat down he looked up at me.

“What do you think of (Name)?” I asked.

Armin looked a bit startled. “Why are you asking me that all of a sudden?”

“Just curious…”

“Well… um… she’s nice…”

“Do you think of her as a friend or more than a friend?” I inquired.

“Eren. What’s this really about?” Armin frowned.

“What if…” I continued. “She likes you. How would you feel?”

Armin looked down at the table. “So she likes me, huh.” His mood instantly became gloomy the moment I said that, for some reason.

“Yeah! Let’s say she likes you and confesses her feelings to you. How would you react?”

Armin fell silent for a while. Still staring down at the table. He looked troubled, and I wondered why.

“I wouldn’t accept her feelings.” He said finally, still not looking at me.

“Really?” I was a bit surprised. I thought he liked her too. “So, you’d… reject her?”

He gave me a small nod as an answer, and for a second I thought I had imagined it.

“You don’t like her then?”

“I don’t know how I feel about her Eren, and I don’t want to give her any false hope.” He answered.

“I see.”

End of flashback. Back to (Name)’s POV


“So that’s how it is…” Ymir commented.

“We’re at a stand-still then.” Jean added.

“He doesn’t like me.” I stated matter of fact, looking down, avoiding everyone’s gaze. I couldn’t look at them in the eyes now.

“Don’t say that! You don’t know for sure. He didn’t give a direct answer, so it could go both ways.” Krista said.

“He was probably… just being polite.” I said, and I could hear my voice quiver. “He probably… doesn’t like me.” I finished. “Actually, I’m pretty sure he doesn’t.” I quickly added.

“You don’t know for sure.” Sasha remarked.

“Let’s just wait it out. He might change his mind.” Eren suggested.

“It doesn’t matter.” I said. “I still love him. And I’ll still protect him with my life.”

“I see… You love him that much…” Mikasa murmured.

Everyone was silent after that. I guess they didn’t know what else to say.

We all parted ways again.

For the next few days it felt kind of awkward being around Armin, but I didn’t act any differently with him. So he didn’t suspect that I knew about his answer. In fact, there was no reason for me to act differently. I had already made up my mind about how I felt.

And then one day something drastic happened. It was during another one of our expeditions outside the Walls.

“We're going back into titan territory?” I said, and Armin nodded his head. For some reason I didn’t feel like going. I know I’m a Survey Corps, and it was my job, but… I felt like something ominous was going to happen.

“This time we’re going all the way to the Forest of Giant Trees.” Armin said.

“The Forest of Giant Trees?” I repeated.

“Oh, that’s right, you haven’t been there yet…” Armin brought his fingers to his chin.

“Why are we going there?” I frowned.

“I don’t know.” He answered. “The commander doesn’t like talking about his plans; he likes to keep these things a secret.”

“Oh…” I noticed Armin held a worried expression on his face and wondered why.

“You’ll need to be extra careful once we get there.” He explained.

“So it’s that bad, huh?” I smiled, but it wasn’t a genuine smile. It was the kind you use when you feel apprehension.

“Did something bad already happen there?” I inquired in a whisper.

He didn’t answer and looked away, so I took that as a yes.

“Come on, we have to prepare for our trip.” Armin said and started walking away. I quickly took his hand and squeezed it, and Armin looked back at me with wide eyes.

“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.” I told him and smiled.

He stared back at me, and then gave me a small smile in return.

Once we had prepared everything we needed, we got up really early the next day so as to depart from here early on, since it was likely that it would take us the whole day (and maybe more?)

We were now on our horses, waiting for our instructions.

“I’m kind of anxious.” I admitted, petting my horses neck; he could feel my nervousness and I was trying to comfort him.

“Try not to think about it.” Armin reassured, but he looked just as gloomy.

I nodded.

Commander Erwin had mounted his horse and it was time for us to go. He gave the order and we were off on our journey.

I looked straight ahead as my horse ran, trying not to think too much about anything and keeping my mind blank.

We had an extra team with us this time, called the Support team, but they wouldn’t be accompanying us all the way. I wish they were though…

No! Don’t think about that! I thought to myself sternly. Keep your mind blank.

I glanced at Armin. He also held a serious expression.

Just then I realized there was a Titan on our tails. Already? I thought. But we aren't even past Wall Maria…

I wasn’t the only one who had noticed the Titan; the support team was already taking care of it.

We now existed Wall Maria, leaving the support team behind, and then spread into the bigger formation. In the far off distance I could see Titans coming.

How come titans are already chasing us? Last time it took a while for us to encounter them. They’re also more numerous now…

“There are a lot of titans…” I commented.

“Yeah. We’re going to try and avoid them as much as possible. Don’t fight them.” Armin said.

“I wont.”

They were catching up to us pretty fast. So we accelerated. And I shot a red smoke round.

“Will we outrun them all the way to the forest?” I inquired.

“Hopefully…” was Armin’s answer.

The forest was right ahead of us, but we were still very far from it.

“An Abberant!” Armin called and I whipped my head around to see. It was on all fours and running faster than the normal titans.

“We can’t outrun this one!” I cried out.

“But we can’t fight it either.” Armin replied. “Just keep going!”

I ordered my horse to go faster, but he was already at his maximum speed. I looked behind me. It’s right on my tail! At this rate I’m going to be eaten! I thought in panic.

But suddenly I saw Armin take out his gun and shoot a smoke round straight into the Titan's face, temporarily blinding it, which caused it to fall back and stop running. I glanced at Armin and saw him putting his gun back.

“Th-thanks.” I quavered. He gave me a nod.

We were getting closer to the forest.

“Wow! Look at those trees! They’re huge!” I exclaimed.

“That’s why it’s called the Forest of Giant Trees.” Armin smiled at my reaction.

Once we were quite close to the forest I noticed that the group was separating: the people on the exterior went around the forest and the center group went in.

How come we aren’t going in the forest too? I wondered.

The titans were still right behind us.

“Get on a tree!” Armin told me and flew off his horse. I followed him and landed on the nearest tree branch. The titans were now at the bottom of the tree, clawing it, trying to climb up. And I tensed up, ready to fight it, but then I realized they couldn’t climb trees and relaxed a bit.

“Our job is to not let any titans get into the forest.” Armin explained.

“So we're like a human barrier?” I commented.

“Yeah.”

I noticed that three were ignoring us and walking straight into the forest.

“So we have to kill those?” I said, pointing at them.

Armin’s eyes widened in shock. “No... How come it’s not working? They’re already ignoring us and most of the troupes aren’t even in the forest yet… Why…”

“Think about it later!” I said, unsheathing my swords. “Right now we have to get them.” I sprang forward and flew towards the titan. I slashed a deep cut into its neck and flew straight for the other two, but when I had finished exterminating them I realized with horror that there were a lot more than just those three which were heading into the forest.

“What the-” I uttered as I landed on a thick branch.

About a few dozen more titans were running straight into the heart of the forest.

“There’s too many of them!” I cried out as I sprang through the air once again, trying to kill as many titans as I could. A few other people had joined in the slaying, including Armin. I kept a close eye on him, never letting him out of my eyesight. This expedition was getting more dangerous by the second and I was really scared something might happen to him.

While Armin was slaying a titan, another one had come up behind him, but Armin hadn’t noticed it, he was too busy slaying the other titan.

“Armin! Behind you!” I yelled and leaped to his rescue, but I was quite far away from him.

The titan grabbed hold of him and he let out a yelp. The titan was slowly bringing Armin to his mouth.

“Don’t you dare!” I hollered in rage. Adrenaline rushed through my body; I could feel my heart beating so fast it felt like it was going to burst. Fury swept over me, and I gripped my swords so hard it was hurting my hands.

“Die!” I screamed as I slashed through the titan’s neck. I slashed so hard that not only did I get its neck, but its head also went rolling down on the ground, creating a big bloody mess.

Armin was falling through the air and I swiftly dashed towards him, grabbed hold of him and sprang back up, landing on a branch. We crouched down and I took hold of his face with my hands.

“Are you OK, Armin?” I spluttered. “Armin!”

He was staring back at me blankly as he was still in shock.

But suddenly he snapped back into focus and looked back at me with eyes so wide I thought they were going to pop out of his head, and for a split second I wondered why he was looking back at me like that.

“(Name)! Watch out!” He cried.

Huh?

Before I could react he instantly grabbed hold of my arm and jerked me towards him, and I collided into Armin’s chest. But something else pulled me back right then, separating me from Armin.

The first thing I noticed was a stinking, heavy breathe right behind me.

Don’t tell me!

I turned my head around, intense fear pulsing through my body.

Dull, unemotional eyes stared right back at me. They were centimeters from my face.

“Ah-”

I realized then that its teeth had crunched down into me.

“Ah-”

The creature was grinning at me. I was paralyzed. That second where we stared into each other’s eyes felt like an eternity. But suddenly the reality of what was happening hit me.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH” I shrieked.

It got me! It crunched me! Somebody help! I’m dead! All those thoughts that raced though my mind… that’s what I wanted to say. But instead I just let out an uncontrollable cry.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH” I screamed again, this time struggling; I had regained control of my movements. I tried to push myself out, and when I looked down I realized something.

Wait, no! No, it didn’t crunch me! Not me, but my 3D Maneuver Gear! I’m still intact! Once that though had crossed my mind I immediately unhooked the 3DMG and prepared myself to jump onto a nearby tree branch, out of the titans monstrous mouth.

“Jump! I’ll catch you!” Armin yelled, his arms outstretched and his face contorted into an expression of horror.

But just then the titan understood that I was about to get away and started shaking its head violently so that I couldn’t escape. It slowly brought its hand towards its face, I think so that it could grab me and stuff me into its mouth. I had to jump now! Even though I couldn’t see where I would land. It was literally now or never.

So I jumped, and I managed to jump straight towards Armin. But suddenly, while I was still in the air, the titan’s giant hand swiped at me, slamming me against the tree trunk. When the titan let go, I went plummeting down to the ground. And the moment I hit the ground everything went black.






Armin’s POV

“Jump! I’ll catch you!” I yelled, and she did so. I stretched my hands as far as I could to be ready to grab her. But suddenly without any warning the titan brought its hand up and smacked (Name) against the tree. I let out a gasp. The titan let go of her and she went falling down, but the titan’s hand was still going after her to grab her.

“(NAAAAAAAAME)!!!” I unsheathed my sword and went after the titan before it could grab her again. I slashed a cut deep into its neck and managed to kill it with one swing of my blade since it wasn’t paying much attention to me. I race down to where (Name) was lying, swiftly grabbed hold of her and sprang back up to the highest branch so as to get away from all these titans.

Once we were safe I sat down and cradled (Name) in my arms.

“Wake up (Name).” I implored.

But she wasn’t moving. She wasn’t reacting at all. Tears started to water my eyes.

I placed my ear on her chest to listen to her heart, and I let out a gasp. Her heart was still beating but it was very feeble; like it could stop any second!

“No…” I lifted my head and stared at (Name). “Don't go…” I whispered, my voice quivered with emotion.

Just then Mikasa arrived. She landed on the branch next to me. I stared back at her; tears were finally falling down my cheeks.

“We’re retreating.” She said.

“(Name)…” I whimpered.

“Is she dead? If she is we have to leave her behind; there are too many casualties, we can’t take everyone back with us.” She explained in a stoic voice.

“I’m not leaving (Name)!” I declared.

Mikasa frowned.

“She’s not dead… just in a coma.” I explained in a calmer voice.

“I see.” She answered. “Let’s go.” She added and flew off.

I carried (Name) on my back and followed Mikasa. We flew through the trees, heading outside the forest. Once we were out, we regained our horses. I went to one of the carriages and gently placed (Name) down before fetching my horse and mounting it. We started off and ran back home on our horses. As usual everyone was in a gloomy state. We had lost more than half our members. So of course everyone was down. The sun was sinking in the sky; it was almost nighttime so it was quiet. The titans would slowly go to sleep soon.

I ran along close to the carriage that had (Name), quietly staring at her, lost in thought. Someone who can’t sacrifice anything can never change anything. That to defeat monsters you have to be willing to throw away your humanity…  I had said those words… But I was wrong. It seems that we can’t do it; we can’t change that way – it only leads to more and more deaths... There must be other ways to change the world… and we need to find them! Yes, we don’t have to make sacrifices to change the world! We can change the world another way, I’m sure of it…

We had arrived at the gates and we were heading inside the safety of the Walls. As usual, the people greeted us with scornful remarks about how useless we were. I kept staring down, trying to ignore them, but their words hurt, no matter how much I pretend it didn’t…

We dismounted our horses and brought them to the stables. Then I quickly went to join the carriage that had (Name).

“So apparently she’s in a coma?” Professor Hanji asked and I nodded my head. 

“Bring her to the nurse then.” She ordered a few people who immediately took her body and did as they were told. I quietly trailed behind them, looking down at my feet. I heard the comments of people as we passed by them.

“So she gets treatment but not my son?!”

“Who is she? I’ve never even heard of her.”

“Where are her parents? They should be with her.”

“Don’t tell me an unknown orphan girl gets attention, but someone as important and famous as my daughter doesn’t?!”

How could they say those things! I thought. I gave them a stern glare, which quieted them a bit.

When we reached the nurses office they placed her on a bed and then left. The nurse quickly came and examined her.

“Will she make it?” I inquired. My heart ached.

“I don’t know yet. I’ll need you to leave while I inspect her. I’ll call you back when you can come.” The nurse replied.

I took one last glance at (Name) before leaving the room. I dragged my feet to the nearest bench and plopped down on it, and looked at my fingers.

Time dragged along; I could practically feel the seconds and minutes and hours ticking away, until the door opened, and then I sprang up. I walked up to the nurse a little hesitant.

“You can go in.” She told me. “We’ve done all we could. Now we just have to wait.”

“Okay.” I nodded in acknowledgement and slowly walked in and went up to her. (Name) was lying in bed, tucked in the covers, he expression peaceful. It looked like she was just sleeping. I sat down next to her and took hold of her hand.

“(Name)…”

I sighed.

“I don’t know where to start…”

I squeezed her hand a little tighter.

“I’m sorry…” I started. I took her hand with both of mine.

“I’m sorry… If it weren’t for me you probably wouldn’t be in this state. You saved my life. You saved my life countless times… And I – I just ignored your feelings…” I paused.

“It had to come to this for me to understand my own feelings. I was ignoring them up until now.” I stopped, tears threatened to resurface.

“I didn’t realize I had feelings for you… until now. I had slowly started loving you and only realized it when it was too late…” I finally started crying.

“So please wake up.” I whispered. “So that I can tell you my feelings... So that we can continue having fun together, and with everyone... It wouldn’t be the same without you…” I said and got up.

“I don’t want it to end this way…” I added. I leaned down and gave her a gentle kiss on her forehead.

I straightened up and placed my hand on hers briefly, and told her “I’ll see you soon.” Then I left the room.






First person POV

I slowly opened my eyes. I was feeling pretty weak so I just looked around. For a second I was confused. I’m in a room. But it’s not my room. It’s the nurses room. Oh, that’s right, I fell into a coma…

I sluggishly sat up.

“Oh! Oh! Oh! You’re awake then!”

I looked to my right and saw who had said that.

Professor Hanji?

“About time to.” She was sitting back on a chair with her arms crossed over her chest and a smirk on her face.

“What? How long have I been out?” I asked.

“Almost three weeks.”

“Three weeks!” I repeated, my jaw dropping.

“Well then.” Hanji clapped her hands once and got up. “I’ll go tell Levi of the good news.” She started walking towards the door.

“Professor Hanji…” I called her back.

She stopped and looked over her shoulder. “Hm?”

“How is Armin? Is he all right?” I looked back at her with worry.

She turned around completely to face me. “You’re the one who almost got killed and you’re asking if Armin is alright?” She snorted.

I looked down gripping my covers tightly.

“So you heard what he said?” She asked in a quieter voice.

I instantly started blushing in embarrassment, still looking down, gripping my covers tighter.

“Judging by that look on your face I’m guessing you did.” She laughed.

“Quite the confession, wouldn’t you say?” She added. I didn’t have to look at her to know she was smirking again.

“He’s the one who set up a watch for you 24/7 until you wake up.”

I instantly looked up at her in surprise, completely forgetting about my embarrassment.

What?

“He gave a pretty convincing speech for it too…” She rolled her eyes.

He did this? For me? I could feel the blush coming back.

“That’s why I’m here!” She retorted in annoyance, placing her hands on her hips. “I wouldn’t be here otherwise; I have other stuff to do than to babysit a sleeping maiden.”

He went to all that trouble... For me... I think I was probably as red as a tomato by now.

“Although, he’s the one doing most of the babysitting.” She added, putting a finger to her mouth.

“He stayed with me?” I inquired.

“Yeah! Many times I found him asleep on the this chair.”

I slowly got out of the bed. “So where is he now?” I asked.

“Where do you think he is?” Hanji answered.

The library.

When she saw that I had caught up with her train of thoughts she gave me a wink and left the room.

I headed towards the library.

Armin. I can’t wait to see you!

But I was a bit anxious too; I had no idea how he was going to react when he sees me.

When I entered the library I expected him to be reading a book, like usual. But he wasn’t. He wasn’t even seated on a chair; he was on the floor, curled up in a ball in the corner of the room, near the window and staring up at the sky.

His melancholic attitude got to my heart.

I slowly walked up to him.

“Hey Armin…” I whispered.

At the sound of my voice he swung his head around and gapped at me for a full minute. Then he got up. “(Name)…” He uttered. He slowly walked towards me, still looking at me in stupefaction.

I smiled back at him.

Suddenly I was in Armin’s arms. He hastily wrapped his arms around me in a tight hug, almost squeezing me.

“Oh my God.” He whispered, I could feel his breath on my ear. “I thought I’d lost you… I thought I’d lost you for good!” He tightened his grip around me. “I’m so sorry… I’m so sorry…” He repeated.

I gently pushed away from his hug so that I could see his face. It was covered in tears. Tears that were still streaming down his face. I smiled and cupped his face with my hands and wiped away the tears with my thumbs.

“Don’t cry. There’s no need for you to apologies. It’s not your fault. Nothing’s your fault. Ok?” I soothed.

“But you saved my life… and because of that you ended up badly injured…”

“I told you I’d protect you and that’s what I did. I knew the risks. But everything’s fine now, so you don’t need to feel bad, OK?”

“Okay…”

I hugged him back. “But thank you for worrying about me.” I whispered. “It means a lot to me.” I closed my eyes. Being in his arms like this felt so nice. It was the first time we had a proper hug. I don’t want this moment to end. I want to stay in his arms like this forever…

“(Name)… I have something I need to tell you…” He said.

I opened my eyes and we separated from the hug.

He looked back at me seriously, but there was also a tiny blush present on his cheeks.

“I… I love you.”

Then he immediately looked down and quickly added: “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before, I know I should have, but I wasn’t sure of my feelings back then, and I – ”

I cut him off as my lips landed on his. I took hold of his face and kissed him deeply.

Then I stopped and looked back at him. He was looking very flustered.

“I know.” I grinned.

“Y-you knew?” He stuttered.

I nodded. “I heard what you said to me… while I was in the coma.”

“You could hear me?” He asked.

“Well, I don’t remember much actually: it felt more like a dream, so I wasn’t sure if I had imagined it or not. But when you said you loved me just now I knew it wasn’t a dream.”

“Oh…”

“And, I’m pretty sure you know by now…” I continued. “I love you too.”

“I know.” He smiled, and this time he was the one who leaned in for the kiss, taking hold of my chin. When his lips touched mine my heart started beating faster. He wasn’t a shy kisser as I expected him to be. It wasn’t a gentle kiss but a strong one.

Suddenly the door bursts open and we quickly jumped away from each other. The others were by the door staring and gapping at us.

“Hey (Name)!” Eren called. “Professor Hanji told us you were up so we came looking for you!”

“You idiot!” Jean accused. “Stop acting like you’re oblivious, you knew they were kissing! You were behind the door spying on them just like the rest of us.”

“Why didn’t you wait a little longer before opening the door Eren?” Ymir inquired. “We could have found them in an even more compromising position if you had waited a few minutes.”

“Yeah, I would have liked to see how far Armin was willing to go.” Jean added.

I glanced at Armin. That statement made Armin blush like crazy, which made me chuckle.

“Jean!” Armin called out indignantly, pouting and balling his hands into fists. “You make it sound like I’m some kind of animal! I – I wouldn’t do anything l-like that!” His face was extremely red, it was cute to watch.

“I bet they would have done it.” Sasha commented.

“SASHA!” Armin blurt out.

“No, maybe not on the day she woke up. He would have waited I think.” Ymir added.

“YMIR!”

“Okay, that’s enough, guys!” I declared, waving my hands in the air. “Why don’t you leave us now.”

“Yeah, we’ll leave you two so that you can get back to it.” Eren winked.

“Eren! Not you too!” Armin exclaimed.

They finally left.

Armin sighed and looked back at me with a timid smile.

I let out a chuckle, which made him laugh, and we both laughed out loud at the embarrassing situation that had just occurred.

Then, when we stopped laughing, he took my hand. “We should head downstairs too.” He said and smiled.

“Yeah! Can’t keep them waiting.” I replied, and we walked down the hallway hand in hand.