I.
By morning I'll be gone and you'll never remember me.
He remembers dark forests and the labored breathes that scrambled out of his lungs and it's a panic that seizes him because the Titans are coming and he hears the rumble of them in the distance and there's a scream of blood echoing in the night and he thinks that he'll be gone soon and he can't breath , can't wake up and he doesn't realize that the hoarse screams that are coming out of his throat are his own until it's Jean holding him by the shoulders and shaking him and he wants to sleep , as he slumps against him and Jean kisses his raven black hair gently and holds him close.
"You're not alone Marco, I'm here. I'll always be by your side."
ii.
Jean remembers the panic that creeps into his skin as he realizes that he's quite utterly screwed as his gear is broken and there 's no time to run and get away from the Titans that are grinning at him, hands scrambling to snatch him up and eat him whole , a little treat to them and enough horror for him to want to throw up.
"C'mon Jean, catch me if you can!"
He hears Marco's voice in his head, back to one of the lazy days at training where they had the day off and it was warm, and they were fooling around , the sun beating down on them and he remembers them running through the forest , the creek rustling on by where no one could see them and he remembers running and his lungs feeling like they were about to explode but he wraps his arms around Marco and they roll onto the leaves on the riverbank , laughing like a bunch of kids but that's fine fine fine because he remembers Marco pressing a kiss to his lips and he thinks of sun kisses and something sweet and it's fine fine fine.
He runs as if his lungs are about to explode and thinks that he'll steal a kiss from Marco this time around.
iii.
They make a promise to each other , in the dead of the night with no one but the moon watching them , that they'd always find each other.
"You sound like some hopeless romantic , Marco" Jean mutters as he clasps their hands together and tugs him close to him.
"You're the one who wants to live in the Inner Wall, Jean." Marco hums , resting his head on Jean's shoulder and the wind howls outside and it's warm between them and they make their promise
- "Don't you dare die out there tomorrow, Jean"
"Same to you Marco"
The moon watches as they slowly fall asleep together, wrapped in duvets and blankets and their hands are clasped together and it's one gentle kiss goodnight.
iv.
He doesn't want to wake up from this sleep, doesn't want to face the demons that crawl from beneath his skin but he wakes up with a shudder and it's red rimmed eyes and pale lips and he thinks of pale eyes gazing at nothing and blood seeping into the ground and he can only whisper a mantra that strangles him in the early morning light -
You promised not to die.
you promised you promised you promised you promised
v.
He thinks of old ghosts and vesper kisses against his lips and he hears his voice again -
I'll be home by morning .
And maybe he can live and kill as many titans as he can because it's the only way he can keep his mind off of ghosts that sing siren songs to him in his sleep and kiss his skin in the dead of the night.