I woke up with Armin looking out the window, in the same position he slept in. I took in his peaceful expression, just stared at his face. "Morning."
He looked over and smiled. "Good morning, angel. Sleep well?"
"Of course. I've got the best pillow in the universe." I twirled a piece of his hair in my fingers. He smiled a little and looked down.
"Very funny," he murmured with a slight blush. "Ready to eat?"
"Nah, let's stay here."
"Come on. Get up," he coaxed.
"Nooooo," I whined.
"Fine, just let me up." I sat up enough for him to get up. "Are you sure you won't get up?" I nodded stubbornly and crossed my arms, pouting. "Fine." He reached down and pulled me up into a bridal carry.
"Oh my gods," I exclaimed and giggled a bit.
"Well, you wouldn't get up." He let my feet fall to the floor but still held me in a dip. I spread my arms out like tada! and giggled a bit more. "Jeez." He put me upright.
"I didn't know you could or even would do that."
"I picked you up just fine when you were unconscious so... And you said I could touch you so I figured why not."
"This is yet another reason why you're amazing."
He blushed slightly. "Come on." He took my hand, and I raised my other to his arm. He looked at me questioningly, and I started to take my hand away when he said, "Don't, uh, please." I smiled, and he squeezed my hand lightly.
We walked down the stairs together to the mess hall. Nico smirked at us and raised his eyebrows not so subtly.
"Well, I'm afraid I have to do some stuff. I'll see you in a bit," he sighed.
"Alright, have fun." I poked him a bit, and he smiled for the zillionth time. Man, he could smile at me forever. I let his hand and arm slip out of my hands and sat down next to Nico, Will, Hazel, Frank, Levi, and Erwin. "Nico, you are approaching Jason levels."
"I can't help that you two are adorable. So, are you dating?" I rolled my eyes at him. He shrugged to everyone else. I swear if they elected for Nico to ask, I was gonna kill 'em. "So you good with leaving today?"
"Yep."
"You should eat," Will instructed.
"Not yet, I'll get sick. Eating right away doesn't sit with me, remember."
"Fine, but if you don't I will...get really upset."
Sarcastically, I said, "Oh, gods, no. Please don't. That would be tragic."
"Tragic," Nico agreed seriously.
"Yeah, well we all know it would be for you."
I stood and looked for Erwin. I couldn't see him in the immediate area. I finally saw him in a hallway, heading this way. I ran over to him, and he smiled. "Hey, there's a speed limit here," he said with a chuckle.
"Eh, I'm a rebel. Anyway, you've stopped drinking haven't you?"
"I'm trying," he said tensely, running his hand through his hair.
"That's great, but please be careful. If you stop too abruptly and your body relies on it, the deprivation of alcohol could make you go through withdrawal. You won't be able to function and might die. So please just be careful." He seemed really stunned. "And if it's because of me, I don't want you to worry. It's okay."
"No, no. It was all just a reality check. I don't want to die before I'm an old man either."
"That's really amazing. I know it's going to be hard, and if you need any help, you can talk to Will."
"You're a good kid," he finally said.
"Thanks and really, congrats."
He looked a little confused, but I just waved and skipped off to the mess hall. I sat back down and ate some bread. "So who do you guys wanna take with us?"
"Mikasa, Eren, Armin, Levi, Erwin, Historia, and Ymir," Nico answered.
"Sounds good. Wait, seven. What is it with seven?"
"No clue," he answered.
About thirty minutes later, we were ready to leave. We stood in the building's shadow. I held Hazel and Armin's hands. I turned to Armin. "If I fall, it's your job to catch me."
"I'll be ready."
"Ok, on three. One, two, three," Nico announced.
We were surrounded by shadows for a few seconds before they fell back. We stood in the shadow of the Big House. I smiled as I breathed in the air, and I was pulled into a hug.
"Hi, Lacy." She released me and stepped back.
"How dare you."
"Eh," I said dismissively.
"How fucking dare you, you fucking bitch?" Annie spat as she stalked up to me. She looked really angry. "I thought you died, asshat." I smiled and shrugged.
"Calm down, Ann. Saving people is her thing. She saved my sorry butt...um," Mitchell looked down and counted on his fingers, "a lot."
"That's lovely," she answered with a small eye roll and even smaller smile.
"Yeah, so new sister?" Mitchell asked.
"Historia," Will answered and put a hand on her shoulder.
Piper and Jason ran over together. "That's Historia? Cool!" Piper exclaimed. The kids of Aphrodite, Jason, and Ymir started a conversation and left.
I took the opportunity of quiet. I grabbed Armin's wrist and whispered to him, "You wanna see the ocean?'
His mouth hung open a little. "Yeah, uh, Eren and Mikasa too or just us?"
"A little of both." I told Mikasa where we were going, and she took Eren's hand.
"Close your eyes," I instructed them all as we got close. They did, and I lead them to the shore. "Alright, open." Mikasa and I shared a little smile before she looked over. Her eyes widened when they hit the sea. Eren was silent for a second before murmuring, "We did it. We're outside the walls. It's the sea."
Armin's reaction was a lot cuter. He looked from the sea to me a few times with a cute open-mouth smile. He put his arm around me and stared at the ocean for a few seconds. "Yeah, Eren. We are. It's...surreal."
After a few seconds, he turned to me and looked into my eyes. "I'm glad I'm with you; I'm just so glad I'm here, in this moment, with you."
My mouth dropped. I wanted to kiss him so badly, but something held me back. I fell into him, and he wrapped his arms around me. After what felt like only a second but was probably a minute, Percy ran to the shore.
"Isn't it cool? We all can spend the rest of the day here. My dad's in a chill mood too so territory stuff won't bother him."
"That's awesome Perce, but Meg's probably pissed she wasn't my first priority. I might be back in a bit." I turned to Armin. "Is that okay?"
"Yeah, go ahead," he said, clearly disappointed.
"I won't take too long, okay? Just have fun."
"Okaaaay," he pouted. I jokingly patted his cheek twice. He smiled, and I went in search of Meg.
I found Meg and told her what happened. She was pissed but listened avidly. After I finished, she summed up, "So... you died to save your boyfriend and came back to life because he and everyone else missed you?"
"Well yeah, but Armin's not exactly my boyfriend."
"You've got be freaking kidding me. You used him as a pillow and fell asleep like that three times, he took care of you while you were unconscious, he picked you up and held you bridal style, and you hug him at least once every time you see him even though you don't like touching people. You like him a lot. He seems to like you just as much. He called you angel, and you called him honey. He said he liked that. If you put two and two together..."
"It's just... I don't know. I've been in two relationships before this, and one was for three weeks. I don't under-get-it."
[Under-get-it: Understand and get it mashed together. Used to lighten serious conversations.]
"Have fun figuring it out."
"I bet I will," I whined.
We talked about random stuff, and suddenly, it was dinner time. I didn't see Armin there. I ate as quickly as possible and went back with Annie to her room. She said she was gonna hit the sack.
I found Chiron to talk to him about Armin and didn't waste any time. "Have you seen Armin?"
"No, but he may be in his room down the left hall, on your right. The one opposite to Annie's room. First door."
"Thanks." I ran over and hesitated at the door. I finally knocked. "Armin? Are you in there?" I heard a nearly inaudible mumbling, but it was Armin. "Are you okay? Can I come in?"
"If...if you wa-want to." I opened the door, and Armin was sitting against the wall with his knees pulled to his chest. He shuddered. He didn't look so good. I sat down next to him.
"What's wrong, Armin?"
"My chest hurts, and I'm cold."
"Anything else? I can probably help; you have to tell me what's wrong."
"I guess it's a little hard to breathe, and my hands tingle a bit. It's okay though; this happens sometimes."
"Armin, answer me truthfully, are you scared of something bad happening?" He didn't answer. "Please, Armin."
"I guess, but I don't know why. Everything's perfect."
"I'm not a professional, but I think you're having a panic attack. Did anything happen to you earlier?"
"Not really."
"Okay." I didn't want to press him now. "Alright, Armin. Everything's okay. All you gotta do is focus on me and breathing, okay?"
He looked so scared. I just wanted to hug him, but I didn't want to make it any worse.
"It'll be okay in a minute or so. Just remember I'm right here for you, and I care about you more than you'll ever know. Just breathe with me, hon."
I breathed in for four seconds and out for four. I kept the same steady breathing and encouraged him every few breaths. His panic attack finally passed.
[This is the actual stuff you should do if someone is having a panic attack. Force yourself to stay calm for them, assure them you're there for them, and breathe with them in counts of four. Never tell them to just calm down because it's not that simple. They're not an idiot; if they could, they would. Assure, don't assert.]
He was clearly shaken up, as I expected he would be. I took his hand in mine and rubbed it with my thumb. "Any better?"
"Yeah. I'm still a little..."
"That's okay, though. I won't leave you, okay?"
He smiled slightly. "Thanks for all this."
"Any decent person would. Plus, I care about you so much."
He put his arm around me. I moved my hand that was in his and checked his pulse. It was a little fast, but not too bad. "I care about you too, my angel." He pulled me close gently.
We talked about some random things for a little bit. Armin fell asleep, and I did soon after.