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The city was like nothing you had ever seen. Tall, immaculate buildings. Lights as far as the eye could see. Cars rushing and weaving in and out along the packed, busy roads. It was so different in comparison to the small neighborhood you had grown up in and you planned on exploring and experiencing as much as you could.
However, there was one, teensy problem.
“Ugghhh…” you groaned, throwing your bag on the floor, “Man I’m beat.”
Legs heavy and eyes droopy, you dragged your body across the room with the intent to crash onto one of the clean, freshly made beds, not giving a damn whose was whose. You could figure that out later when you weren’t at the point of collapsing. Sleep was your goal and that’s exactly what you were going to do, regardless that you were still in your day clothes that were sticky with sweat and reeked of bus diesel.
No matter. You would just set your alarm 15 minutes earlier than usual so you could shower and spray your bed sheets with perfume before you had to head out tomorrow. The next few days were going to be busy so you needed as much rest as possible.
You lazily removed your shoes, leaving them out of the way so no one would trip over them, and flopped onto the bed by a large, curtain drawn window. A yawn left your lips, arms stretching above your head as you caught sight of your luggage resting against the wall in addition to a carry-on that was sitting next to the room’s sofa that was filled with your laptop, documents, and brochures that your teacher had provided for you the day before.
It had taken some time, but you slowly began to realize that college was nothing like highschool. Ever since you had started at your university 2 years ago, there had been countless nights filled with work and events you had no choice but to attend, so whenever you had time to yourself, you would either spend it with your friends or do something you enjoyed.
It wasn’t all bad though, as college had provided you with opportunities you never thought you would experience. And right now, despite your exhaustion, you were immensely glad to be in your current situation. Enrolled at Maria University, working towards your degrees in biology and marine science, and on a class field trip that put you smack in the middle of the great, capital city of Shiganshina.
You had been waiting for this day for weeks when it had first been announced in your biology class. For 5 days, your whole class would be conducting research at Shiganshina’s Museum of Science, a grand building that contained everything from dinosaur fossils to its very own aquarium. Everyone got to pick their desired field within the museum and would be required to meet at a specific location everyday for lessons, then would be released to complete any assignments given as well and be given the chance to explore the city.
Today was no exception, as it had mostly been used for the actual car drive to Shiganshina which was about 2 hours away from your university, student check in at the hotel and pair ups (you were paired to share a room with your friends Mikasa and Sasha), and a brief class check in at the museum to discuss what the next 5 days would consist of. It sounds simple enough, but in actuality, everything had completely taken up the whole day, leaving you utterly drained by the time you returned to the hotel. Initially, you had planned to go out for dinner and hang out with your friends, but you were pretty sure that you would have collapsed if you tried.
So here you were, alone in your hotel room in sweet, blissful silence, wondering how on earth Mikasa and Sasha and everyone else had it in them to party after such a hectic day. Even your boyfriend was out and about with his own friends. It had taken a bit of convincing on your end since you didn’t want him to miss out on some well deserved lounge time simply because you were tired. In the end, he agreed (albeit a little hesitantly) and was dragged off to some restaurant by a few guys in your class that were long time friends of his. Eren, who you knew well enough since he was also friends with Mikasa, along with a bald headed kid named Connie, a freckled one named Marco, and one last one whose name you couldn’t quite remember. Jack? Jeff? All you could recall was that it started with a J. That, and his face had, for some reason, reminded you of a horse.
If you had been more awake, you could probably find it somewhere it yourself to remember. But you were so damn tired that your brain was near the point of short circuiting and you knew that you’d be a total mess the next day if you didn’t get enough sleep.
Using the last bit of your energy, you quickly slipped out of your clothes and dressed yourself in a pair of sleep shorts and oversized t-shirt. You then grabbed a water bottle from the mini fridge in the hotel room in case you got thirsty in the middle of the night while additionally grabbing your phone charger from your bag. After making sure the device was charging, you leveled your fatigued body onto the bed and under the covers before proceeding to make 2 more small but essential efforts. With quick taps, you set your alarm for the next day, then opened your messaging app. A plethora of names entered your view, but a certain one by the name of “Minnie <3” was the one you selected. Fingers gliding across the screen, you began typing a quick message to your bookworm of a boyfriend.
“Hey, just letting you know that I’m turning in for the night. I may not reply, but send me a message when you get back to the hotel so I know you’re safe. Don’t have TOO much fun without me, okay? >.< See you tomorrow. Xoxoxo.”
With a satisfied hum, you pressed send and turned your phone off, setting it on the nightstand while also reaching out to switch off the yellow shaded lamp at your bedside.
A soft * click and the room was dark, increasing your sleepy state once more. With a sigh, you pulled the blankets under your chin and let your head fall into the crisp, white pillows, body relaxing upon the wonderfully soft mattress. It didn’t take long, 5 minutes at the most, when you were finally wrapped up in sleep’s warm embrace.
~~~~~*Timeskip
*knock *knock *knock
“ ..….”
*knock *knock *knock
“..Mmmmmph…”
*knock *knock *knock
“...Agh….what the hell?”
Groaning softly, you shifted your body so that you were propped up on your forearms, wondering who and what it was that had woken you up. Just a simple look around your hotel room showed you that it was still night time, the area around you still near pitch black minus the dim, white light of the moon casting through the cracks of the curtains.
You rubbed your sleep filled eyes, yawning loudly while also reaching out a weak hand to grab your phone. The screen lit up with the contact, allowing you to catch a quick glimpse at the time.
11:47, and considering you had gotten back to the hotel room at 9, that meant almost 3 hours had passed by.
You put your phone back down and looked to your left, catching the faint outline of the remaining two beds meant for Mikasa and Sasha. Squinting a bit, you could see that they were still empty with no evidence of the two girls in sight, the sheets and pillows still completely undisturbed.
“Guess they must still be out. ” you thought, stretching your arms, “ But they should have their key cards to get in so why- ”
KNOCK* KNOCK* KNOCK* KNOCK* KNOCK*
“Okay! Okay!” with a huff, you threw the blankets of your body, “I'm coming! Just give me a sec will ya!”
You quickly turned the lamp on and and stood, hastily making your way over to the hotel’s rooms door. Stopping at the entryway, you reached out and grabbed the door knob, twisted it, and yanked it open, ready to reprimand whoever was on the other side.
“What the hell do you want? Do you have any idea how late it-?”
“Y/NNNNNNN !”
You paused, eyes blowing wide at the individual in front of you as all sense of anger you had had disappeared into thin air, replaced with what you could really only describe as confusion.
A male stood before you, his body stupidly sluggish against the wall. His head was tilted to the side, face blushed a dark crimson, with baby blue eyes glazed over and half lidded. Golden bangs lay messy and disheavled across his forehead, a complete 180 to how it usually was. Upon further inspection, the same went for his clothes. A white shirt that would typically be tucked and crisp was wrinkled and unbuttoned, showing off a little bit of the boy’s chest. And you knew him well enough that he would never, EVER walk around like that out of his own volition.
So naturally, as you tried your best to form words of much needed inquisition, you found yourself struggling. It was just such a bizarre situation for your brain to handle at such ungodly hours of the night. And so, after many seconds of useless pondering and clogged comprehension, all you ended up uttering was-
“A-Armin? What are you doing here? ”
With the widest of smiles on his face, the boy practically fell against you, body wracking itself into a sudden fit of giggles.
“Ack! Armin-!?”
“That’s meeeeee…” he slurred, poking your chest with his index finger. Then, he looked up at you, lip immediately puffing out into a pout “I was wondering what was taking you so long. I reallyyyyy wanted to see you. You weren'ts trying to ignore me, was youuu?
“Uh, uhm. N-no I-”
“You were!’ He exclaimed, gripping your shirt, “You h-hwesitatedd to answer!”
“But I didn’t-”
“How could * hic you?” he whimpered, burying his face into your chest, “After I come alllll diis way to see you!”
“Ar-”
“I’ll n-never forgives you! Y-you’re so * hic m-mean Y/NNNN! ”
A vein poppped in your forehead, eye twitching.
“ How is it mean when you didn’t even let me answer!?” you thought.
Exhaling softly, you gently pried Armin’s hands from your shirt, his palms shaking in yours, and it was now that you noticed something else.
His smell.
Because of his now extremely close proximity to you, it was stronger than before and you had thought it was your nose playing tricks on you, but you were positive now that you knew what it was. Laced in his pores and in his breath, even wafting off the fabric of his clothes, was the unmistakable scent of alcohol.
It all made sense now, although you thought you’d never see the day.
Armin. Your sweet, lovable, caring, responsible, Armin…
Was drunk.
This…this was going to be interesting.
“Armin…” you asked, trying to look at him “How many drinks did you have tonight?”
“A * hic feeeew…” he slurred.
“Okay, how many is a few?”
He looked up at you and held up his hand.
“Dis many!”
“So…5.”
“Wrongsies!” he giggled, “Try again!”
You groaned, palming your forehead, ““Armin, I’m not trying to play games with you right now. You’re drunk and the last thing we need is to get caught out here like this. So please, you need to come with me and…”
“M’not drunk! ”
Another sigh escaped you. Of course that was the only part he actually acknowledged, and because of his denial, you knew for a fact that it was true.
Whining like a 7 year old child, the blonde once again buried his face into your chest, pitifully swatting at your arm.
“Ur’s no fun Y/N. No fun at all…”
Wow. Now that was odd to hear. Usually it was you trying to get Armin to have fun, whether taking a risk or two or trying something you’ve never done before, whether an activity or even trying a new food. Hell, it was you who told him to go out that evening and let loose, convinced that it would be good for him.
Now however, you were starting to regret doing that. But it’s not like you could undo the past. You’ve faced harder and now that you had a feel for the situation, all you had to do was change how you were going to go about it.
Once more, you softly gripped Armin’s shoulders.
“Armin,” you tried again, this time in a more gentle fashion, “Hey, look at me.”
He mumbled something incoherent against your chest, but you could have sworn you heard the words ‘Y/N’ and ‘Big meanie’. Sighing again, you lifted his arm over the back of your neck, holding him in place against your side.
You wanted to figure this out, but a hotel’s hallway wasn’t the most ideal place to do that, giving you no other choice than to guide your drunk boyfriend into your hotel room. At this point, you didn’t know whether or not you’d get in trouble for this, and honestly, you didn’t give a damn. At this point in your life, you were expected to act like an adult, so that’s exactly what you were gonna do.
“Okay Armin,” you urged, patting his back, “What do you say we go on a little walk, hm?”
Taking a step forward, you pulled Armin along with you, his footsteps dragging against the carpet. At some point, he had started giggling uncontrollably again, making it that much harder to guide him. He would speak and mumble utter nonsense, and at one point he had even started singing. Not quietly though, oh no. He seemed intent for the whole world to hear him as he bellowed out lyrics that were several octaves too high and you couldn’t help but cringe at just how loud it sounded in what’s supposed to be a quiet atmosphere.
But it seemed that Armin couldn’t have cared less.
“WeRe gOinG oN a tRip iN oOr faVoriTe rocKetsHip. ZoOmiNg thRouGh thE sKy~!”
“Shhhhh….Armin!” You whispered, “ You need to be quiet! Or else you might wake someone up!”
To your surprise, he had actually stopped, opting to hum the tune instead. He was still incredibly off key though and still a little on the loud side, but it was nothing in comparison to his little “Serenade” that he had called it from before.
Mental note. Don’t ever let Armin take up singing unless you wanted to lose your hearing.
Actually, now that you were thinking about it…maybe that’s why he always denied his turn when you and your friends had gone out to karaoke. There had been a few occasions where you had sung duets together so you never really got the chance to hear his singing voice by itself and you meant this in the nicest way possible that you were sort of glad for that. Then again, your voice wasn’t anything special either…
“ Okay, okay… not important right now .” you thought, shaking your head, “ Let’s just focus on NOT face planting into the carpet.”
It took some time (and a lot of stumbling), but you finally managed to get him inside your hotel room and over to your bed. You sat him down, watching as he flopped backwards against the sheets, face flushed against the pillow, blue eyes hazy.
Considering that he hadn’t he probably hadn’t consumed anything that evening but alcohol, you opted to try to get some water into his system since you could recall how warm his body had felt against yours. Content with his positioning, you began to stand, but was stopped when you felt a light tug against the sleeve of your shirt.
You directed your gaze behind you to find Armin sitting up against the pillows, his eyes half lidded and face blushed an even darker shade of crimson. You paid no mind though, as it was more than likely just the effect of the alcohol.
“What’s wrong?” you asked, sitting back down next to him, “Did you need something?”
He gave you a small nod, then looked down in his lap. Curious, you took a step forward.
“What is it?”
He didn’t answer you right away. Instead, he cautiously looked around the room as if looking for something, then directed his gaze back to you and slowly cupped a hand around his mouth.
“T’sa secret. A biiiig one.”
You raised an eyebrow, deciding to play along. Maybe he was still coherent enough to tell you how he had gotten in this state in the first place.
“Oh? A secret, huh?”
“Mmhmmm.”
You nodded slowly, giving him a gentle smile, “Well, you know you can tell me anything. And I promise I won’t tell anybody, okay? It’ll just be between you and me.”
Armin tapped his chin a few times as if pondering the option, then shot his hand out towards you.
“Kay…but you hafta pinky promise.”
You blinked, “Uhm…Armin that’s your index finger-”
“ S’nottttt.” he drawled, leaning forwards, “Do it or I don’t tell you nothings.”
You sighed and lifted your hand up whilst extending your index finger by Armin’s command, linking them together tightly.
“Now say da words.”
“ I pinky promise,” you squeezed his finger comfortingly between yours, giving him a reassuring smile, “Not to tell anyone your secret. It will only stay between you and me.”
“Yay!”
Giggling, Armin reeled back and pulled his hand away, but he still kept it raised, his finger now beckoning you forward.
“Come here. I whisper it to you’s.”
You rolled your eyes, an amused smile pulling at your lips as you leaned forward. In a very Armin like fashion, despite his drunken state, he pulled your face towards his by squishing your cheeks together, his thumbs caressing the skin on the side of your face. It was a little more aggressive than usual, but you didn’t mind and you actually had to suppress the urge to giggle from the feel of his soft lips by your ear and his tipsy sounding hums. There was no denying it. Even though he had been a bit of a pain earlier, Armin was still as cute and innocent as ever-
“I wants…sex on the beach.”
…
…
…
Wait.
WHAT?!
You immediately pulled back, your face bright red.
Did…did he just say what you think he…?
“A-Armin, hold on,” you stuttered nervously, “W-what are you saying?”
Humming happily, Armin teetered his body back and forth on the bed like a child, then rolled over onto his stomach, kicking his legs.
“I already told youuuu….I wants sex on the beach.”
You swallowed, “B-but Armin, we’re in the m-middle of a city. There’s no beach around for miles.”
“ Not that I’d give in even if there was…” you thought, biting your lip, “ Besides, he’s drunk. He has no idea what he’s even talking about…god how do I even go about this?”
Suddenly, there was a warm feeling encompassing your hand and you snapped back to reality, only to find Armin right in your face, his fingers curled tightly around yours. His brows were furrowed, lips in a frown as he fell against you.
“But Y/NNNNNN…” he whined, “I want itttt…I want sex on the beachhh…”
“Armin we c-cant-”
“Isho goooood…”he sighed out, nuzzling your neck, “I knows that you’d like itttt..”
“I-I…”
“With eeeeeveryones around with us watchingggg…hehehe…it tasteds good toooooo…”
“OKAYYYY THAT’S IT !”
In one, quick motion, you pulled yourself out from underneath your giggly, wasted boyfriend and catapulted off the bed, grabbing your phone from the nightstand in the process. In confusion, Armin sat up on his knees, body swaying ever so slightly..
“Y/NNNN,” he drawled, tilting his head, “Where a’you going?”
You turned your head to look at him, and for a moment, despite your rapid heartbeat and near short circuited mind, you felt a little guilty. He looked so…adorable.
Smashed as hell, but adorable.
However, you had to figure this out, and clearly, trying to make sense of things with Armin wasn’t going to work.
It was time for plan B.
“I...just have to make a quick phone call.” you said reassuringly, “ That’s all. Then I’ll come right back, okay?”
Armin puffed out his cheeks, “But what abouts the sex on the beach?”
You flinched, chuckling nervously.
“ Jesus, he’s not gonna drop this, is he?”
“Uhm…w-we’ll see. But I really need to make this phone call.” Using your other hand, you gently placed it on Armin’s shoulder, “Just stay here and relax for now. Can you do that for me?”
You gave Armin a hopeful expression, and it seemed that the tiny little sprinkle of hope that you had given him in regards to what he wanted perked him up some. With a happy little hum, he grabbed your hand.
“M’kay,” he answered simply, lips turned up in a cute little smile and you, despite your flustered state, smiled back.
He let go of your hand, and as calmly as you could, you made a beeline for the hotel room’s door, making sure to grab your keycard on the dresser beforehand.
You opened the door and slid out, making sure to close it behind you so that Armin couldn’t hear your conversation (not that he would be able to comprehend it), and leaned your body against the wall. With quick fingers, you opened your phone’s contacts and selected the one you desired. Tapping the green call button and pressing your phone to your ear, you impatiently awaited for the person to pick up. 1 rings, 2 rings, 3 rings, 4-
“Hello-?”
“EREN!”
A loud yelp sounded from the other end followed by a crashing sound, immediately making you wince as you pulled your phone away from your ear. There was a low groan, followed by a few curses. Slowly, you put your mouth by the speaker once more.
“Uh…Eren?”
“ Ughhh….God, Y/N, are you trying to make me go deaf or something ?”
You chuckled nervously. “Ehehehe…No that…wasn’t my intention. Sorry about that. Are you okay?”
“Shit…agh yeah. I’m good. Just fell off my bed.”
“Klutz.”
“Mmm…so uh…not to be rude or anything, but why are you calling me? You never do.”
“Oh, right! It’s…it’s about Armin.”
There was a pause for a moment, and you wondered if the line got cut.
“Uhm…Eren?”
“S-Sorry!” he stuttered, and you furrowed your eyebrows, catching the sudden, nervous tone to his voice, “W-What about him? Did something happen?”
“You…could say that.”
And then, it was as if the dam broke, all of the events that had occurred in the last 30 minutes spilling from your mouth in the biggest stream of word vomit you’d ever spoken.
“Armin showed up at my hotel room a little while ago and he was drunk out of his mind so I tried talking to him and I brought him into my room since he was being really loud and I didn’t want to wake anyone up so I didn’t think it would be that big a deal! But then he started singing and giggling, and speaking nonsense and then he said he had a secret and it ended up being that he wanted to have sex on the beach! And he kept repeating it over and over again but I don’t know what that means or if he was actually serious or not so I had to slip away into the hall because at that point I didn’t know what to do so I-”
“Woah, woah, woah! Jesus Y/N, chill for a minute.”
Immediately, you shut your mouth, just now growing aware of how ridiculous you sounded and how loud you were being. You hoped Armin hadn’t heard you.
“Sorry...I guess I lost myself there for a moment.”
“Nah, don’t worry about it. But slow down and back up a bit. What exactly did Armin tell you?”
You exhaled slowly and gripped your phone, the inklings of a blush blossoming on your face as you tried to re-explain at a slower, more comprehensive pace.
“For the last 10 minutes, Armin kept telling me he wanted sex on the beach. A-and I didn’t know what to think or say or do since there’s no beach anywhere for miles…n-not that I would have thought differently if there was…but he wouldn’t shut up about it and I thought that you would know something since he was with you all night so I…I decided to call you. I’m so lost and confused and bugged out because he is saying stuff he would NEVER say and it’s…ugh god. I was just hoping you’d have an idea of how this happened….”
“Oh...I-I see…” once again, there was a pause, “What if I told you…that I do know what happened? ”
“ Easy answer,” you cracked your knuckles loudly against the speaker, ‘“That you’d better tell me if you want to wake up in the morning.”
“God, already with the threats?!”
“Why are you surprised? I trusted him to have fun with you guys and let loose a little! Not come stumbling back to my hotel room like a drunken sailor! Need I remind you that we’re on a COLLEGE field trip? Do you have any idea what would happen if the teacher’s found out? ”
“I know, I know! But we didn’t think a few little drinks would do him any harm. I hate to say it Y/N but you got a lightweight on your hands.”
“Jaeger I SWEAR to God-!” you gritted.
“Alright, alright, I’ll tell you. Just…don’t kill me okay?”
“That’s up for me to decide,” you huffed, “But anyways, proceed.”
“Okay...so after you left, we all decided to go to this pub to hang out. It was about a five minute walk from the hotel so it was the best option. So we sat down, ordered some food and drinks, and just talked about guy stuff y’know? Then a little later, the waitress came over and said that it was happy hour and that all drinks were half off until 10 o’clock…soooo we ordered a few.”
“At first, Armin said that he wasn’t gonna drink but it was kind of obvious that he wanted to. He’s always been like that where he feels obligated to do stuff to fit in even though he didn’t have to, but then Connie and Jean stepped in and started giving him recommendations of drinks to try.”
Ah, Jean. That was the guy’s name.
“Alright…” you trailed , “So what happened afterwards?”
“Well it seemed none of them interested him…but when the waitress came by again, she started recommending drinks as well. Cocktails and different drafts, the stuff that was a lot more potent than what we recommended to him. In the end…he decided to try a sex on the beach.”
“S-sex on the beach?”
“Yup. It’s a cocktail with vodka, peach schnapps, orange juice, and cranberry juice. And he ended up really liking it…so much that he…”
Eren groaned, and you could’ve sworn that you heard a face palm.
“He ended up having 4 of them, and you can see, they uhm…eheheh. They’ve definitely taken their effect. We basically had to drag him out of the pub and back to his hotel room, but it seems that he had other ideas and went to go see you instead. I’m kinda amazed he didn’t get lost. But yeah, that’s pretty much what happened.”
You rubbed at your eyes, completely blown away at how much of a headache this whole situation grew to be. But you were still glad that you finally knew the entirety of what happened. However, there was still one more thing you needed to confirm.
“So…when Armin told me wanted sex on the beach, you mean he-”
“Wanted the drink? More than likely, yes.”
Holy shit did him saying that make you sigh out the biggest breath of relief. Finally, FINALLY, everything made sense. Were you completely okay with the situation though? No, not really. You’d definitely get on the guy’s ass about it tomorrow whilst also having a heart to heart with Armin once he was coherent enough.
“Y/N? You still there?”
“Huh?” You inquired, “Oh, sorry. Yeah, I am.”
“You sound down.” he noted, and you swore you could hear him smirking “What, were you hoping that you and Armin would actually get to-”
“Eren, if you finish that sentence I swear I will come down to your room and super glue your mouth shut.”
The malice in your voice sent shudders down his spine. Damn, you were always so sweet with Armin, but you could be also fucking terrifying when you wanted to be. It was like you had multiple personalities or something.
“Eheheh…s-sorry,” he uttered nervously, “B-but anyways, I should really get going. It’s getting sort of late.”
You made a noise of agreement, “Yeah, and I should go check on Armin. Make sure he’s not doing something he shouldn’t be doing.”
“Right…and uh…I didn’t mean for things to end up like this. Really.”
“Don’t worry about it for now. I’m just glad you were able to clear things up for me.” you giggled, “Man this is gonna make one hell of a story.”
Eren snorted, “Ditto. See ya tomorrow, Y/N. Night.”
“Good night.”
You hung up the call with a *beep and let your body go slack against the wall, completely exhausted. You could probably fall asleep if you tried, but not wanting to cause any more concern for the night, you decided against it and forced yourself to make your way back into your hotel room.
It was dead silent when you entered, concerning you a bit as you walked further into the room.
“Armin?” you called, “Armin are you-”
Upon setting your gaze on the bed, you shut up immediately, a sudden case of butterflies fluttering about in your stomach .
There Armin was, fast asleep, body curled up right in the center of your bed.
As quietly as you could, you made your way over to him, smiling at how simply adorable he looked as he dozed away. He looked so peaceful with his slightly flushed face, tinted pink along his cheeks and nose. His lips were parted, pink and plump and oh so kissable while his hair, though unruly, looked as soft as the feather’s on a newly hatched duckling.
You looked behind you.
Well…looks like you were kicking it on the couch tonight.
Turning back to Armin, you carefully pulled the sheets up over his body and leaned down to press a gentle kiss to his forehead. Then, you switched off the table side lamp, using your phone’s flashlight instead to guide you through the room.
You made a quick trip to the closest to grab an extra blanket and pillow, then headed back over to the sofa, laying them out to your desire before settling your body down onto the soft cushions. Sleep came to greet you as soon as your head hit the pillow, and you were delighted to fall into it’s wonderful embrace. A reward (especially after such chaotic events) you felt you truly deserved.
~~~~~~~Timeskip*
“Y/N. Hey Y/N, wake up.”
You groaned. Good god, how many times were you gonna be woken up before your alarm?
With much unwant, you peeled your eyes open, vision fogged and drowsed. You had to blink a few times to gather your bearings before you gazed up at who was calling you and you were highly surprised to see Sasha standing beside you with her hands on her hips, her bed headed hair let down from its usual ponytail.
Upon further examination, you could tell that it was morning due to the streams of sunlight pouring in from the now open window, but with the sky’s pale blue color, it was easy to see that it was still rather early.
You slowly sat up, arms stretching above your head as you looked over at the brunette.
“Mmmmh, Mornin Sasha,” you yawned, “What’s up? Is there something the matter?”
“No…not really, but I wanted to ask you,” she pointed behind her with her thumb, “Is there a reason that Armin is puking his guts out in the bathroom?”
Your eyes widened as you practically sprung up from the couch, now fully awake, adrenaline pumping as you fell into a sprint towards the bathroom.
“Y/N?” she called after you and you whipped your head around, giving her as sincere a look you could despite your sudden panic
“I-I’ll explain everything later! Promise!”
She didn’t say anything else, as you turned your head back around, now right outside the bathroom door. You gave it a gentle knock and was surprised when you heard a gentle, feminine sounding “Come in.” emit from the other side. Twisting the door knob, you peeked your head inside, features softening when you found Mikasa sitting on the floor next to a hunched over Armin. She was rubbing his back and shushing him as he heaved into the toilet, only breaking her attention away from him once she caught sight of your face. She gave you a look of acknowledgement, then maneuvered her head back down to Armin’s side.
“Hey…I’m going to go now. Y/N’s here okay?”
You’re heart clenched when all Armin could do was nod slightly before he was heaving again. Mikasa then stood up and you opened the door wider. Once she was closer to you, you reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder.
“I appreciate you for staying with him.”
“It’s no problem.” She reassured, stepping past you, “I’m going to go down to the lobby snack bar and see if they have some Ginger Ale for him. We need to get him feeling better before we have to meet at the museum.”
“Right.” you nodded, “Thanks, Mikasa.”
She gave you a reassuring smile and stepped out, leaving you and Armin alone. Quietly, you made your way to his side and squatted down to his level, the tile cold on your knees. No time was wasted as you immediately placed a hand on his back, massaging in soothing circles as you used your other hand to move his hair out of his face.
He felt so stiff under your touch, skin sticky even through his shirt that still adorned his body from the night before. And he was trembling, whimpering, his forehead so hot as you brushed his bangs aside with your fingers. You felt terrible seeing him like this, but it was almost inevitable after the state he was in the night before.
The vomiting went on for several more minutes, only ceasing with the occasional dry heaves and coughs that ended in bringing up more bile and stomach acid from your boyfriend’s system. All you could do was sit there and comfort him, praying that it would end soon. Nothing more.
Thankfully, it seemed your prayers worked, and it relieved you when Armin finally pulled his head up from the toilet to rest it against the wall, his face flushed and a mess and his usual sparkling blue eyes dull. Seeing him so miserable made you feel a little sick yourself.
Slowly, you reached your hand out to rip a piece of toilet paper from the holder, handing it Armin so he could wipe his mouth.
Once his mouth was clean, you took it from him and threw it into the toilet, flushing it away along with his stomach contents, then took your place by his side once again.
“Are you okay?” you asked softly, caressing his cheek, and his head fell to land against your shoulder.
“M-my head is killing me.” he whimpered and you cringed a bit. His voice sounded so raw.
“I’m sure it is…” you crooned, now rubbing his temple, “I’m not surprised…especially not after the night you had.”
He opened his eyes (though it was more of a squint), and looked up at you, an undoubted quizzical expression floating deep in his sapphire orbs.
“W-what even happened anyways?”
You gave him an incredulous look.
“You…don’t remember?”
“No…” he uttered, looking downwards at his lap “Not really. All I can recall is going to that pub with Eren and the other’s, then waking up feeling like absolute garbage. Everything else is a blur.”
You bit your lip. Ohhhhh boy. This was gonna be fun to explain.
But not now. You had other matters to attend to.
“Well…we can worry about that later. Right now, we need to get you feeling better. Last thing I want is for you to be parked in the museum’s bathroom all day.” You stood up for a brief second, grabbing a styrofoam cup that was sitting in a holder on the sink and flipped the handle to the right to fill it with water. Turning back around, you held the cup in front of Armin’s face.
“Here, rinse. I can’t imagine the taste in your mouth can be too pleasant right now.”
Humming a weak “Thank you,” Armin accepted the cup and took a generous sip, swishing it around for a few moments before splitting it into the toilet. Once the cup was empty, you placed it on the counter to throw away later and sat back down, allowing your hungover love to once again rest his sweaty forehead on your shoulder as you resumed stroking his hair.
“But there is something you need to know, Armin.”
You felt his head shift slightly.
“Hm? W-what’s that?”
“You,” and you meant this with every fiber of your being, “Are NEVER drinking again.”