Home Sweet Home | a. arlert

Chapter 21; Accident

My heart was beating out of my chest, legs shaking but I managed to grab Armin's phone. He was asking me what was wrong but his words were drowned out, almost silent to my ear. I opened up the news and that's when I saw it, everything my mother had been sobbing over. Headline after headline.

"Tsunami Hits Thailand!"

Thailand Gets Crushed By Massive Tsunami!"

6000 Dead and 2000 In Critical Condition After Tsunami Strikes Thailand!"

My legs finally gave out from under me, smashing against the floor as tears began to fall from my eyes. Kou. He's in Thailand for work.

"y/n sweetie, you need to come home." My mom composed herself finally.

"M-mom, is he okay? P-please don't tell me h-" My emotions had the best of me, words were so hard to form.

"I-i don't know yet. I can't get a hold of him but I have a bad feeling..." She trailed off. Not wanting to say what I knew she was thinking. Kou was hurt, or worse, dead. Armin came up behind me, enveloping me in his arms. He no longer asked me what was wrong, he just made sure I knew he was there. "I'll catch the next train to Marley. I should be there by tonight."

I hung up the phone and started to rapidly pack my bag. "You're going to Marley? Is everything okay?" Armin grabbed my hand as it was about to throw a sweater in my bag, stopping me in my tracks to get my attention. "It's Kou, my brother. He's away for work in Thailand and things don't look good. I need to go home to comfort my mom." I shook his hand off and continued to pack.

"I'll come with you. It's late and I don't want you on a train in this state. I can only imagine the weirdos at this hour."

"Armin you have school, and work, I'll be fine by myself. It's not the first time I've been on the train this late." He caught on to what I was saying and frowned. "I can do school online and work has enough staff to cover us for a week. I'm coming."

"And if it's more than a week?" I really did want him by my side but when I did all this stuff with Jean, it stressed him out. I didn't wanna scare Armin off. "Then it's more than a week." He began to pack his bag, fed up with my little arguing nature. My bag was flung over his shoulder, along with his own. We walked down to the parking lot to get in his car, buckling my seat and resting my head against the window.

Armin's POV:

I had to come with her. Not only did I want to be there for her but I knew Marley was a bad place to be in when she's in this state. She wasn't crying anymore. Her eyes were puffy and red but the tears stopped. She was suppressing them. I knew she wanted to let them fall but she held her composure. I didn't understand why.

My hand drew small circles on her thigh the entire drive so she knew she wasn't alone. I also needed that comfort. I was about to meet her family. I'd be meeting them at an awful time but I needed to be by her.

"How you doing? You've been silent this whole time." I glanced at her before returning my gaze to the road. It was super dark out and a thin layer or fog. "Do you want the real or fake answer?"

"Real."

"I'm scared. Right now I'm holding it together but I don't know how long I can. Kou means a lot to me." Her tone was soft and slightly shaky. I knew her and her brother were close. She'd talk about him all the time. I hoped so deeply that he was okay.