IN WHICH EREN MAKES A CONFESSION!
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ARMS TONITE ∕ CHAPTER TWELVE

      "OH GOD! I'M SORRY!" Once again, Araminta had underestimated her own strength, and Eren was laying on the dirt, coughing and wheezing from the hard impact. She knelt down, frantically looking for a way to help since she'd been the one to violently throw him on the ground seconds earlier.

        "Don't be sorry..." He managed to get out between coughs, waving her away. "It just means you're improving. I'm fine." His wheezing began to slow, and although he insisted he was fine, she couldn't help but worry.

      "Are you sure?! I didn't mean to throw you so hard, I'm so sorry--"

      "Really, Araminta, it's fine." He shook his head, attempting to push himself off the ground. Araminta watched cautiously, holding her hands out so she could help him sit up at any time.

      "Maybe this is a sign we should take a break?" She suggested, giving him a sympathetic smile. He fell back, which she took as an agreement that it was break time. A sigh of relief was released from between her lips as she too fell back, finally allowing herself to relax. But when she did that, she also allowed herself to feel how worn out her body was, gasping at the pain spreading through her muscles.

      "You okay?" Eren laughed at her dramatics, causing her to chuckle in return.

        "Yeah, just the last three days of training hitting me all at once." She grunted, shifting herself around until she found the position that was just right.

        Eren let out a small laugh in response, then the silence set in. As she stared up at the sea full of glimmering stars and far off galaxies, she was brought back to the night they'd stargazed, the same night Eren had told her about his experiences in Shiganshina. And as she recalled that, she also recalled how she hadn't shared her experiences with him. The longer she'd gone without telling him, the larger her guilt grew.

        Araminta trusted him, right? Over the past three years, he'd proven to be a great friend, a person to trust, so why was she still so hesitant to open up to him? She tilted her head to the side to get a good look at him, seeing his gaze was once again lost in the vastness of the sky above them. His teal eyes were speckled with glitter as they reflected the stars up above him, and it was then that she noticed he had really pretty eyes.

        "Eren." She called out to him, and almost instantaneously he turned to look back at her.

       "Yeah?"

       "You remember the night when we were out here training, and looking at the stars?"

        He nodded. "Yeah, of course."

        "And... You told me your story... And then I promised I would tell you mine."

        "Araminta, you don't need to tell me anything. It's fine." He insisted. And apart of her wanted to just take that as her way out and drop the subject, but she wanted to push herself. If she couldn't bring herself to trust Eren, how was she ever going to trust anyone?

       "No, I need to." She responded flatly, then turned to look back up at the stars. The view out her nerves at ease.

"We just went to buy fruit. My sister and I. Her name was Marina." That was the first time she'd said her sister's name out loud since she'd began her training, but the feeling of it rolling off her tongue didn't feel foreign at all. Instead it brought a smile to her face. "She was so bossy, but to be honest I'm pretty sure all big sisters are bossy. But anyways... We were halfway home, and then we saw the Colossal Titan appear. God, I don't think I've ever been more scared than in that moment. The way he towered over the walls that were meant to protect us... Then destroyed them. When he kicked that hole in the wall, Marina... A rock had fell on her leg, I just remember the blue and purple spreading instantly and having no clue what to do."

        She gulped hard, trying her best to fight the tears that were close to flooding her vision. "We were close to home, so close. I was weak, completely helpless. I couldn't carry her, I couldn't stop her from--" Memories of Marina being lifted into the air, her blood exploding into the air, painting the bricks a deep crimson, her helpless screams. The stars above her began to melt together, and she couldn't blink enough times to make the blurriness go away.

       "Really, Araminta, you don't have to--"

       "By some miracle, I found my parents. I didn't even have to tell them what happened to Marina." Araminta cut him off, continuing on with her story. "They just knew. They knew she was dead. We just had to keep going. We had to leave everything behind, even my stupid stuffed rabbit, and just keep going. And things were fine, and then a huge Titan appeared--an abnormal--it didn't even notice us. We were just like little bugs, and... Then he squished my dad. Like a bug." She laughed bitterly, sounding a bit insane, probably. "And then we got out onto the boats and away from Shiganshina. Forever."

         She didn't have to look at Eren to know he was staring at her, searching for something to say. Her vision had finally cleared, the stars coming back into focus. She did it. She told him. And it hadn't killed her. Her chest leveled as she released a breath she had no idea she'd been holding in.

  It hadn't killed her.

        "So... Your mom...?" Eren finally asked slowly, the question shattering her small moment of relief.

Her mom. She could tell him the truth of how she hadn't gotten her mom to speak a single word to her since that night, and how she hadn't moved from her spot in the living room of their tiny apartment in nearly five years, or she could bend the truth instead of admitting that her mother didn't care enough about her to do anything.

         "She, um, died. A year ago, the flu got to her bad." She lied. Well, it wasn't a total lie, her mother might as well be dead anyways.

         "Oh. I'm sorry." Was all Eren said at first. But honestly, she couldn't blame him. What the hell else was he supposed to say? They laid in silence, while Araminta enjoyed his company, with a blanket of stars watching over them.

        "Thank you... For listening." Araminta told him quietly, finally turning her head to look at him. He was staring back at her, turquoise eyes searching her own.

         "You don't need to thank me. If anything, I should be thanking you. For trusting me with that story." He assured her softly. "And just so you know, you're not weak. You were just a kid--we all were. You did the best you could."

          "My brain knows that. I don't think my heart knows that, though." She replied, looking down at her fingers. And then his own fingers crawled onto hers, taking her hand in his own. For the first time in five years, Araminta believed she was experiencing true comfort.

850. THE 57TH EXPEDITION
BEYOND THE WALLS

      DEFEAT WAS A FEELING ARAMINTA HAD GROWN ALL TOO FAMILIAR WITH. This time around, however, it seemed to hit her harder than it ever had before. Any hope she'd felt that morning before leaving Wall Rose was long gone, instead replaced with a feeling of emptiness. They had failed. And not only had they failed, they had failed hard.

          Levi Squad, the group of the most elite Scouts had been almost entirely wiped out, except for Eren and Levi himself. The Female Titan had taken out so many Scouts, it was a miracle Araminta hadn't been one of those Scouts. But instead of dying, she was alive and being wracked with guilt that she had lived over these talented soldiers who would have probably better benefited humanity than she would, which was somehow worse than dying.

         And, not to mention, in the middle of all the chaos, Araminta had managed to break her wrist. Yes, her fucking wrist. Which basically rendered her ODM gear useless since she couldn't even hold one of the handles. Honestly, she hadn't been sure when she had broken it, whether it was when she'd accidentally ran into a tree or when Sasha had yanked her arm to pull her out of the way of a Titan, she couldn't know. But it didn't matter, all that mattered was that it was broken, and here she was, trying to control her horse with one hand.

         But, once they were sure they were clear of the Female Titan, they stopped in the middle of the field, allowing everyone time to rest up. It was very clear everyone was feeling the same way as Araminta, wallowing in the pain of their defeat. There was barely any noise coming from the soldiers, except a few sobs here and there. It was as though a thick, gray cloud had settled over the bunch of them. The break had really shown just how many Scouts were left, which honestly was not a lot.

         "Araminta!" Sasha was running through the small crowd of people, arms spread out in front of her. Araminta braced herself for impact. "Oh, I'm so glad you're alright. I don't know what I would do if one of us had died." She exclaimed, pulling Araminta into a tight hug.

         "I know. Me neither." Araminta responded, staring at the grass behind Sasha and blinking slowly. She reached to hug Sasha back, but completely forgot about her broken wrist, hissing in pain when she bumped it against her side.

        "Oh, are you alright? What happened?" Sasha stepped back, lifting up Araminta's arm to see the splotches of purple and blue that had begun to spread around her wrist. "Shit! We need to wrap that up! Hang on, let me go grab some wrap from the med cart!" She turned and rushed off, leaving Araminta standing alone.

         Her eyes drifted off to the edge of the group, where she spotted Captain Levi standing alone. It took a bit of squinting, but after a moment she realized he was standing over a group of bodies, wrapped up in cloth and laid on the grass. She watched as he bent down, tilting her head out of curiosity. He pulled back the cloth, looking at something Araminta couldn't see from where she was standing.

          "Okay! I got the wrap!" And just like that, Sasha had reappeared next to her, with said wrap in hand. "Okay, hold out your arm." She instructed, to which Araminta obeyed. She began to delicately wrap the bandage around her wrist, chewing her lip to help her concentrate. Araminta once again looked to Captain Levi, who had now stood, shoving something into his pocket. What was he up to?

         "You know, I heard he hurt his leg really bad while saving Eren from the Female Titan. Watch--he's limping on it." Sasha spoke lowly, obviously speaking of Captain Levi.

         "What do you mean saving Eren?" Araminta asked, narrowing her eyes. Apparently Araminta was very much out of the loop of everything that had gone down in that forest.

        "You didn't hear? I don't know how it happened, nobody really saw it, but Mikasa said the Female Titan stuffed him in her mouth and ran away, they thought he was dead until Mikasa and Captain Levi saved him."

          "What?! Is he okay?!" Araminta snatched her hand away from Sasha, giving her an incredulous look.

          "Yeah, I think so. He's just resting in one of the carts right now. But, um, your wrist is finished being tied. Come on, let's go get some feed for our horses." Sasha reached up to pat Araminta's back, a reassuring smile resting on her lips.

          Araminta followed her over to the buckets of feed that were being handed out, while also scanning the surrounding area to find out where Eren was. She'd been too busy helping kill the Titans that flooded the forest at the time, she had no idea anything happened to him. To be honest, she felt a bit like a bad friend for not knowing. But that it a bit stupid to feel that way, wasn't it?

        The two of them got their buckets and returned to their horses, where Connie was already feeding his own steed, a hollow look on his face. Sasha attempted to greet him with a small "hey", but based on his lack of a reply, he didn't look like he wanted to talk. Araminta lifted her bucket up for Jean Jr. (her horse), looking up to see Jean Sr. and Armin loading up the bodies she'd seen earlier onto a cart.

         "Do you think we'll make it?" She asked the other two, gaze locked onto the cart. All she could think about was how it could have been any of them on that cart, and one day it probably would be one of them.

        "For now we've survived." Connie replied lowly. "For now."

         "Well... What's wrong with that?" Sasha frowned. "We're alive." It was true, but it didn't lessen the weight Araminta felt on her heart.

         "Can you say that to the dead?" Connie responded, to which Sasha fell quiet. Araminta looked down at the ground, curling her mouth down into a frown and tucking her bottom lip between her teeth. "We might never make it back home."

          "That's true..." Araminta began, reaching up to gently brush her finger tips across Jean Jr's fur. "But we can't think like that. Thinking like that is what causes us to do stupid things and end up dead. You don't need to be a complete optimist, but you also can't focus on the bad stuff all the time. We just need to keep looking forward, and stop worrying." She looked over her shoulder at her two friends, who seemed to have fallen deep in thought.

           "Just put one foot in front of the other."

      THE SUN HAD STARTED TO SET WHEN two Titans had appeared over the horizon, running full speed ahead towards the Scouts. It was the first time they'd seen any Titans since they'd evacuated the forest, and now two didn't seem like a whole lot compared to the hundreds they'd escaped before. But that didn't make them any less of a problem to deal with.

        At that point in time, it was clear everyone was exhausted--not just physically, but emotionally as well. It felt like the universe was laughing in their face. "You thought you were going to make it home safely? Ha!" It seemed to say to them.

         When Araminta caught sight of the two Titans, she huffed loudly, wishing so badly this day would just be over. For the most part, it was looking like they would be able to outrun at least one of the Titans as long as they kept moving forward, but the other one was running at a much quicker speed than his friend, meaning they would have to engage.

         Had it not been for her wrist, Araminta would have turned around to help take out the faster Titan, but she stopped herself, remembering it was absolutely not a good idea for her to use her ODM gear now. Instead she just had to keep her position, hoping someone else would move to stop the Titan from catching them.

         "Shit... This isn't good..." Sasha muttered beside her, looking back over her shoulder at the spectacle going on behind them.

         Araminta looked back as well, the corners of her lips tilting downwards. "Someone is gonna have to engage. That bigger one is getting close--" She watched as the Titan reached down towards one of the horses, swatting at it like a bug but it didn't seem to get the horse's rider. But, it did get the injured Scout that was riding on the back, knocking him onto the dirt.

        "Oh no!" Christa, who was riding beside Sasha, exclaimed loudly.

The Titan didn't seem interested in whoever he'd just thrown on the ground, instead he plucked the rider off another horse. He didn't even have a chance before the Titan stuffed him in between his lips, sucking him in with a loud smack. She noticed the second Titan was now catching up as well, coming up on the rear of one of the carts. Araminta squinted her eyes, trying to figure out what was weighing down that cart so much that it was falling behind like that, but then she figured it out.

       It was the cart full of dead bodies.

       "They're gonna have to dump them." Araminta realized, her eyes growing wide. Petra, the one who had shown them around their first day, they were going to have to dump her. Oluo, the weirdo who would constantly impersonate Captain Levi at dinner, they were going to dump him. Mila, the second year Scout whose horse was next to her own at the stables, they would dump her, too. Araminta felt sick at her own realization.

         One soldier had launched their gear at the Titan, hurtling towards him while letting out a loud shout, like he was putting his entire self into the fight. But his shout was cut off by the titan catching him in mid air, slowly lifting him towards his mouth.

          But thank god for Mikasa Ackerman. She leapt off her horse, cutting through the air like a knife before slashing her blades through the titan's nape, finally taking him down. And while they no longer had to worry about that one, they did have to worry about the other one coming up on them quick. Araminta scanned the area for one of the squad leaders, hoping to be of some help. Luckily she spotted Levi, who was riding close to the carts in the rear.

          "Captain!" She called out, slowing her horse down so he could catch up to her. He looked over at her with his usual glare, but he wasn't telling her to go back to her position which she took as a sign to keep talking. "The carts are too heavy, we need to unload the bodies."

          "Captain, should we engage?" One of the soldiers guarding the carts asked Levi, who was now staring at Araminta with his eyebrows furrowed together like he was mulling over her suggestion. She knew it wouldn't be a decision he would come to lightly, considering his entire squad was on those carts, but she also knew he would make the right call.

         "No." He responded, looking back towards the Scouts on the cart. "Dump the bodies. Or else it's going to catch up to you."

         "What?! B-But--"

        "There were hundreds of dead we couldn't bring home before. Nothing makes these anymore special." Levi spoke grimly.

        "You'd do that?! You'd really do that?!" A Scout from
the other cart shouted, laying his hand on the cloth protectively.

        "We have to! The carts are too heavy!" Araminta called back. "I know, it's awful, but we're going to lose more people if we don't do this!"

         "Easy for you to say! You've only been with us, what, a few weeks? You didn't know them the way we do!" He shot back, his voice wavering like he was holding back a cry.

         "No, she's right! We have to!" The other soldier yelled, folding down the back end of the cart. Araminta watched as he began to toss out the bodies, cringing as they made contact with the dirt and rolled away from them. She felt sick as she watched the Titan behind them step on one, crushing it beneath its foot like it was nothing.

          "Holme. Get back to your position." Levi pulled her out of her daze, his expression returned back to its usual glare. Araminta nodded, tugging on Jean Jr's reins with her hand to signal him to move forward. At least it was working, the carts were beginning to pick up speed and create distance between them and the titan. But that didn't make her feel any less nauseous, the sight of the bodies smashing against the ground replaying over and over again in her mind.

      FINALLY, NIGHT HAD FALLEN, and Erwin had decided to call for everyone to take a break and rest up for the night before finishing their journey. He'd chosen to stop
them near a small forest--much smaller than the one they'd been in previously--so they could use their ODM gear if necessary, although since Hange had found Titans lived off of sunlight they shouldn't have to worry about anything sneaking up on them in the night.

         Araminta had just finished tying Jean Jr's reins to one of the trees, stepping up on her tiptoes to stretch out her body the best she could. Any adrenaline she'd had left in her had completely worn off, allowing her to feel the full pain of her injuries. She would kill to go lay on her sleeping bag and pass out underneath the night stars.

        She had just finished pulling out said sleeping bag when Mikasa had appeared next to her, her sudden presence causing her to jump. It felt very reminiscent of their first night at Scout Headquarters, which made her realize how badly she wanted a shower.

        "Hey. Eren's awake." The black haired girl told her.

        "Oh, he is? That's great, how's he feeling?" She asked, finding a bit of solace in Mikasa's news after their crazy day.

        "I'm not sure. He was asking for you." Mikasa replied, to Araminta's surprise.

          "What? Why?" She knit her eyebrows together. Why would he want her of all people? Sure, they were close friends, but he just woke up after nearly being kidnapped and eaten by some homicidal Titan, why was she the first person he wanted to talk to?

          "I don't know, he didn't say. Just told me he wanted to talk to you." Mikasa shrugged. "He's still in the cart, go talk to him." She instructed before turning on her heel and briskly disappearing into the dark of the night.

        Araminta stood for a moment, stumped as to why he was asking for her, but ultimately decided she'd better just go find out. She stuffed her sleeping bag back into the saddle bag sloppily before heading off towards the cart.

         Sure enough, he was awake, but he was still laying down with his cloak draped over himself, not yet healed from the damage he'd undergone. His eyes widened when he saw her, half a smile on his lips.

        "Hey. So Mikasa found you?"

        "Yep. She made sure I knew how urgent this was." She laughed softly, resting her hand on the edge of the cart. Eren let out an amused huff, turning his gaze upwards.

        "The stars look really pretty right now." He muttered, and Araminta watched as his eyes darted from different points of the sky. She glanced up, taking in the beauty of the shimmering stars. They truly were a pretty sight after the ugly day they'd had.

        "Yeah, they do. To be fair, they're always pretty." Araminta responded, the corners of her lips curving upwards into a grin.

         "You're always pretty."

         "What?" Araminta's eyes grew wide, she had to have misheard him. She looked down at him, making sure he wasn't bleeding out or something causing him to be delirious. Her face felt hot.

         "You're pretty. That was one of the first things I ever noticed about you."

Oh, she hadn't misheard him.

"But that's not the only thing I like about you. I like a lot of things. I like how strong you are, not just physically, but emotionally, too. You don't hesitate, you never panic, and you never give up, which after everything you've gone through, makes you incredibly strong."

         "Eren--" She felt dizzy.

        "And you're funny. You're really good at keeping things lighthearted. And your laugh--you have a pretty laugh Araminta. I love the sound of your laugh. Your smile, too. Just, happiness looks amazing on you. I hate you don't get to feel it very much anymore."

         "I--Did you hit your head, or something? Are you feeling alright?" Araminta asked breathlessly, reaching down to feel his head to see if he was feverish.

          "I feel great." Eren replied with a hum, grabbing her hand and holding onto it. "You remember the night when you told me about Shiganshina?"

         "Ye-Yeah..."

          "You let me hold your hand. You have very warm hands, by the way." He tightened his hand around hers, closing his eyes. "I don't know if I've made it clear enough, yet, but I like you, Araminta. A lot. Not just in a friendly way." He smiled, using his thumb to rub the back of her hand.

         Araminta couldn't move. She couldn't speak. She felt frozen in place, staring down at his peaceful face with her eyes that she knew were as wide as saucers. What was she supposed to do?! This was the last outcome she'd expected from this interaction. He liked her? Romantically?! What was she supposed to do with this information?

         Suddenly every interaction they'd had in the past year made more sense, the glares directed at Reiner, the snappiness at Jean for helping her with her gear--holy shit, he liked her! Her stomach was doing fucking gymnastics, flipping back and forth and doing somersaults. Nobody had ever confessed to her before, hell, nobody had ever liked her before. She had no idea how she was supposed to react, and what she was supposed to do next.

          But Eren's breaths began to grow heavier, which meant he had fallen back asleep. So, for now at least, she had some time to figure out what came next.

         What the hell comes next?!

omg it finally happened 😂 so cute
we love it 💖 ereminta canon coming
soon ??? jk we will see! anyways
the rest of this act will be season 2 i
am so excited