Within the walls

44

Nyx's pov

After everything that had happened in the past few days Reiner had invited me over to have dinner with his family. Apparently he had already spoken so much about me that his mother was desperate to meet me.

I had baked a chicken and mushroom pie to bring with me as a gift and dressed as nicely as possible. I wanted to make a good impression on them. He had warned me beforehand that it wasn't just going to be his mother but Gabi and her parents too.

Gabi's pov

The entire house was in a bit of chaos because Reiner's new girlfriend was coming over for dinner. I was just worried she was using him to become an honorary Marleyan.

There was a knock at the door that sent everyone into even more of a frenzy.

"That'll be her! Someone get the door!" Aunt Karina said.

"I've got it!" I called as I hurried to the door.

When I threw the door open the first thing I looked at was her arm band. It was red. She was somehow an honorary Marleyan. Looking up I realised it was just Reiner's fellow Warrior, Nyx Betzner.

"Hi Miss Betzner, what are you doing here? We're waiting on Reiner's girlfriend to show up." I said.

"That's why I'm here." Nyx said.

"Reiner invited you to meet her too?" I asked.

That was a bit odd, why would you invite the girl you used to like to meet your new girlfriend. Reiner must have had a screw loose.

"Gabi why are you keeping her at the door? Come in." Reiner said from behind me.

"It's not her, it's miss Betzner." I said.

At that Reiner and Nyx both chuckled as she stepped into the house. Reiner placed a kiss on her forehead before motioning for me to close the door. I did as I was told, what in the world is going on.

"Everyone this is my girlfriend Nyx. Nyx this is my mum Karina, my aunt Marie, my uncle Thomas and you already know Gabi." Reiner said.

"I um, I made chicken and mushroom pie. Figured if I was coming for dinner I should bring something." Nyx said as she held out a dish to aunt Karina.

"Thank you dear, chicken is quite expensive are you sure you're not breaking the bank with this?" Aunt Karina asked.

"No, not at all. I don't really have much to spend my pay paycheck on anyway." Nyx said.

"She's beautiful isn't she Gabi." My mum said to me with a smile and I nodded.

Time skip

I had noticed that through dinner Nyx had never once touched her food. But she had hit it off with the family. She had disappeared off to the bathroom and we had taken that as a chance to discuss the evening.

"Why didn't you tell me it was miss Betzner!? I must have looked so stupid!" I said to Reiner.

"You never asked. Besides, I thought you realised I loved her when you saw us together during the war." Reiner said.

"I really like her Reiner but what about when your term ends?" My mum asked.

"We inherited on the same day so we have the same amount of time left." Reiner said.

"I'm glad you've found someone that makes you happy. You should enjoy what's left of your term. And hey, if you choose to have any kids Marie and I will be happy to take care of them." My dad said.

"It's a conversation we're going to have to have." Reiner said.

"Gabi can you go and check on her? She's been away for a little bit." Aunt karina said.

I nodded and left through to the bathroom. I heard coughing before I actually reached the bathroom and when I got there I realised the door was wide open. Peaking in I saw Nyx on the floor, leaning against the side of the bathtub, her hand that wasn't keeping her up was covering her mouth but blood was still seeping between her fingers. She looked so ill, so different from the version of herself she presented to me and the other candidates.

"Reiner!" I called.

Nyx looked at me like she was going to object to me calling on Reiner but broke out into another coughing fit. I heard quick and heavy footsteps as Reiner appeared around the corner.

"What is it Gabi?" Reiner asked but quickly hurried into the bathroom as he heard Nyx coughing. "Nyx! Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"I'm fine, just give me a second to catch- catch my breath." Nyx replied cutting herself off to cough.

Reiner had crouched down beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders as he tried to check on her.

"You're not fine. Do you need anything? Water? A doctor?" Reiner asked.

"My jacket pocket... there's a- a vial." Nyx replied.

Reiner didn't even have to tell me, I knew I had to go get it. I rushed past the dining table, getting weird and concerned looks from my family. I grabbed Nyx's jacket and began going through the many pockets.

"Gabi you shouldn't be going through Nyx's things." Aunt karina scolded.

"She asked me to get her something from her pocket. That's why she's been in there for so long." I said.

Both my mother and aunt nodded their heads as if they understood. I had a feeling I knew what they thought it was but ignored it as I found a vial with a blueish looking liquid inside.

When I brought the vial back to the bathroom I saw that Nyx and Reiner had changed position. Reiner was sat on the ground with Nyx resting between his legs, her back against his chest and her head tilted to the left with a hand over her mouth.

"Here, this is it right?" I said as I held out the vial.

I didn't get a proper reply, Reiner just took the vial and passed it to Nyx, popping off the lid as he did.

Nyx was quick to down the liquid before going into another fit of coughs and then leaning back into Reiner's chest.

"Thanks Gabi." Nyx said.

"You'll be okay?" I asked.

"Yeah... Yeah, I'm fine." Nyx replied.