Indefinitely - Armin X Reader

Chapter 10 | Morbid Day

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In the field

I thought I was dead when a hand grabbed mine. Something about the hopelessness of the situation made me think that I had died, and when I looked up I would see my mother or something poetic like that, but instead when I looked up, I saw my brother. I blinked in bewilderment that of all people, he had come to our rescue, especially with one of his legs ripped off. 

"Fuck! Eren?"

He pulled me up to the mouth, muscles straining, and once I was close enough I grabbed back onto the jaw, pulling myself back to my feet. Armin reached his other hand up towards Eren, and once my brother had a good grip on his arm, together we flung Armin out an onto a nearby roof, breaking the tiles with the force he was thrown.

"Now go, Eren!" I sobbed, heart breaking at the thought of leaving my brother and Armin behind while I died, but I would rather it be me than one of them. In that moment, I imagined the two of them seeing the ocean for me, travelling the world like we had always dreamed of doing when we were kids. 

They'll have to see the ocean for me. 

"Keep safe!"

"No, are you stupid? You go! Save yourself!" He yelled back. His eyes were filled with tears, blood everywhere. I wondered how he could even move, but I figured the adrenaline rushing through his system was keeping his pain at bay. My muscles were straining, both of my hands now holding open the titans mouth with all my might. I shifted one of my hands from its sharp teeth to the roof of its mouth, but the saliva made it slippery. It's foul smelling drool was all over me, making me want to be sick.

"No!" I argued. "We don't have time for this, please just go!"

Eren took his spare hand and pushed me with all his remaining strength out of the mouth, and I landed roughly on the roof in front of the titan where Armin was. The harsh texture of the tiles would've felt like a blessing compared to the slick warmth of the titans mouth if I weren't only aware of the boy I had left behind.

"No!" I cried, reaching out for my brother.

I saw Eren looking out at Armin and myself, hand held out desperately. I saw his mouth open and close, grunting something inaudible. His life seemed to flash before my eyes, all of our childhood, every day and minute up until this second. Then, his muscles gave out and the titan's mouth slammed shut, Eren's arm flying past my head.

It felt like I had been shot, everywhere and all at once, my whole body numb in the most haunting sort of way. I let out a long, helpless scream the second the mouth shut, the air expelling from my lungs at an alarming rate until I lost my voice. I sucked in a harsh gasp of air, struggling to breathe, choking on sobs that had not yet left my mouth. The weight of the world now felt like it was being balanced on my shoulders.

An agonized cry broke through my haze of grief, and I turned and saw through tear filled eyes Armin, on his knees, hand still outstretched towards where Eren had been mere moments ago.

His cry was warbling, never ending, and when it ended he let out another, chest heaving. He sounded like he was in the worst pain he had ever endured, and I supposed he was. I was as well. Nothing had hurt like this, and I had never heard Armin like this before.