Before the End - Armin X Reader

Dreams

     I slowly woke in my bed and brought my arms to the sky for an enormous stretch, surprisingly the pain from my wounds had ebbed away. Strange, I thought I was in my hospital bed? Shrugging it off, I stood and walked steadily out of my shared room. I walked through the halls and headed for the eating quarters to grab some breakfast. Something was strange about the halls this morning. 'Different carpeting? No, the lighting is the same. Could it be,.... silence?' Usually by this time of day (It's 8:45 am ) people were buzzing through the halls, either late for breakfast or just busy doing work.

     Arriving down at the eating quarters, I pried open the wooden doors leading into it. Nobody was in here! Surely there would be a few people left still eating before they headed to training? I decided against getting food, instead to find out where everyone was. I walked through the back doors of the cafeteria, the ones everyone heads out when going to training, and still, an eerie silence hung in the air. 'Did everyone go on an expedition without me?' I thought worriedly as I made my way up the hill towards the training grounds.

     'Something stinks...' I thought, trying to pinpoint the grotesque smell. My eyes widened as I suddenly realized the all too familiar stench. 'Death.' I bolted up the hill the rest of the way, only to spot the horrifying scene that lay in front of my eyes. Bodies upon bodies of friends and familiar faces lay sprawled across the ground. Many bitten in half, some just with scarring gashes across their stomachs, legs, and faces. Blood stained the ground, flies and birds hung around the corpses in the field. Shocked, unable to think straight, I fell to my knees and screamed. That's the last thing I should have done, because it alerted the nearby beasts of my existence. 

     I fumbled across the ground to find one face in particular. It belonged to a blonde haired boy, whose body lay sprawled out across the ground in front of me. A deep gash tore into his side and down to his legs. "No... no....." I breathed out slightly when I finally recognized the person to be Armin. "NO!" I yelled and sobbed, unaware that the beasts were now closing in on me. Hearing large footsteps, I glanced up. Hordes of titans surrounded me, but they weren't normal titans. Hair covered their bodies, sharp teeth jutted out of their jaws as saliva was strung between them. Red, beady eyes glowed with hunger and a thirst for killing. 

     I cried and sobbed into the boys shirt, only to feel a gentle shake from him. ".... Everything's okay, calm down..." He choked out below me. "..Please, don't cry...." His voice grew to be more confident. The world around me faded, growing black, only to be replaced with a white, blinding light. 

     My eyes tried to focus on the scene around me. I was in my hospital bed, blonde streaks of feather-like hair hung down over my face and I recognized who was above me. I let tears escape my eyes, which soon turned into a full out sob. I sat up ignoring the bruise like pain that stabbed my stomach. Throwing my arms around him, I cried into the crook of Armin's neck. "You're... okay" I whispered through my sobs. "Of course I'm okay, silly, why wouldn't I be?" He gave a small laugh. Returning the hug, he spoke more softly. "That must have been some nightmare..." I only nodded in response, trying to rid my brain of the very real dream I'd just had. "You were crying out "No" in your sleep and you started to cry, s-so I thought I should wake you up, just to be safe." He said in a soft voice, it was comforting, almost an angelic voice.

     "Thank you" I managed to mumble back and I pulled away, wiping my tears away with my arm, and I laid back down on the bed. Eren hung in the doorway of the room, leaning on the frame. A hint of worry pierced his expression, but it quickly vanished. "H-how long have I been here?" I asked. "About 30 hours." Armin was the one to respond. "The doctors said it will probably take 8 days for enough of a recovery for you to return to your room. The gashes in your legs could become infected, so they want to keep an eye on you for now. " He said, not sugar-coating any of it. "A-and you have two broken ribs, but the doctor informed us that they will heal fairly quickly. You should be back on the field in two weeks." Armin gave you a weak smile.

    "O-okay, thank y-you." I sniffled, "Thanks for s-saving me guys," I addressed both Eren and Armin, I wasn't sure who had actually saved me. " I really appreciate it-" I was cut off by Eren. "Don't thank me, he was the one that did all of the saving." Eren pointed to his blonde friend. "I was just here to make Armin come and get some food, he's been sitting here since you were bandaged up." Armin gave the brunette a look of death. "A-and to make sure that you were okay, of course." Eren added before nodding in the direction of the cafeteria. "I'm gonna grab some grub though, come down when you're ready." 

     Eren left us alone, I beamed up at Armin with grateful eyes, "Thank you for saving me" I said in a softer tone. "I-It was nothing, really." He rubbed the back of his neck, deep down he felt guilty. It was his fault that she was attacked in the first place, he was the one that engaged the titans. But he wasn't going to bring that up right now. He felt arms wrap around him once again for another embrace, he hugged her back. "You're welcome, (Y/N)."

(A/N): Thanks for reading guys, sorry I hadn't updated until today, I've been busy. Let me know if you like the story so far! And comment if there is anything you'd like me to add, so I can make the story a little more enjoyable for you guys. Thanks for the 30+ reads!

Have a good day! :)