A/N: I have each of these written out already, they have been posted on both tumblr and AO3, but I figured why not post them on here as well?

Day 1 - Protect

"Armin, can I talk to you?" Jean said, pulling Armin away briefly from their squad.

"Uh…sure yeah." Armin replied nervously. He knew what this was going to be about, and he was still having trouble coming to terms with it, even though Levi's words had helped considerably. Jean led him by the wrist to a separate area out of view from the others, where they could have some privacy. Things had been so hectic at the moment, neither of them had been able to talk about things since it happened, so much was left unsaid between them, but they both knew what the other was thinking.

"Armin, I…" Jean started, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "I can't thank you enough for what you did back there. No one else could have saved me, but you did. I don't think I'll ever be able to repay you for that." Jean came clean, his words coming out fast and jumbled as he shuffled his hands. This was hard for him, putting his emotions out there, but he needed Armin to know how grateful he was.

"Jean, I'm not going to lie, that was one of the easiest things I've done. I didn't think anything else of it, My first instinct was to save you. I… It's the hardest thing I've ever had to deal with, but there wasn't a doubt in my mind, I just wanted you safe. If that woman had just been a hair faster.. I…" Armin said, just as nervous as Jean, but at the mention of the woman he murdered, Armin looked away and fought back tears.

Seeing the watery tint to his bright blue eyes, Jean felt a jolt of pain through his chest. Without saying anything, he put his hand on Armin's shoulder comfortingly. At this, Armin looked up and saw Jean, just as scared as he was.

"I don't know what's going to happen when we try to save Eren. I don't know if those jerks come back and try to kill us, but Armin, someday I'll protect you the way you did back there. I won't ever forget it." Jean's words came easier to him now, the wall hiding his emotions was put aside for now, he needed to comfort his friend.

Armin, in a moment of need and bravery, wrapped his arms around Jean and pulled him in a tight embrace. "Just don't scare me like that again." Armin almost whimpered against his chest."

Jean tightened his hold even further, "I promise I won't."

They stayed in that embrace for a long time. Jean rubbing small circles against Armin's back with his fingers, Armin finding comfort in Jean's arms. It wasn't until Sasha called them back to make plans, before they finally broke apart.

"Thanks Jean." Armin said, discreetly trying to wipe at his eyes.

"Don't worry about it Armin, without Eren here, someone needs to look after you right?" Jean teased, ruffling Armin's gold hair.

"Hey, I can look out for myself thank you." Armin joked with a small laugh. "And you seem to forget that I've saved you three times, so don't talk like that."

"Right, I guess you have. What would I do without you Armin?" Jean said, the serious air that had just surrounded them was now gone, replaced with a friendly playfulness.

"Well you'd definitely be dead."

"True. just stick to my side alright? Now that you've saved me, I gotta make sure I can return the favor." Jean followed up with wrapping an arm around him and pulling him close to his side. Armin laughed, but he was glad that he could conceal the slight blush that had stained his cheeks.

"Right, I'll probably just end up saving you again." Armin and Jean both found themselves back with the others, but Armin was still aware that Jean had kept his arm draped over Armin the whole time, and he tried to conceal a smile, but his comrades had already noticed it.

"God Jean, just get a room you two. We don't want to see you two groping each other like that." Connie said with an evil smirk. This effectively caused both of them to jump nearly a foot away from each other and sit down with the others. The attention then went back to getting Eren, but the words they exchanged between them were not forgotten, and it was an unspoken agreement between them, one would always protect the other.