The phone picked up with a click. "Armin, please tell me we are on the same continent." I could hear the swoosh and crackling sounds of his fumbling before he replied, voice muffled from, what I imagined to be, the rather uncomfortable position of phone clutched between cheek and shoulder.

"Okay then," he said. "I see it's no, 'Hey Armin. How are you? How was your flight? Oh, you—"

"Armin."

"OH, your flight was delayed? Oh, Armin that must be terribly stressful and downright irritating. I feel for—"

"Armin."

"YOU and your suffering so much. Please do let me, even if I am a very inconsiderate friend, comfort you in your time of distress. What, you say? You're—"

"ARMIN."

"You're a complete jerk and you don't know how I, a saint, ever put up with you? Yes, I would say you are correct." I growled but then heard the phone come out from the crook of his neck with a sigh. "Yes, Eren, what do you want?"

I took a deep breath. And then in a rush: "I might have just gotten to my cabin and found my roommate about to jump this other dude and the one guy was staring at me and Blondie, I mean, Erwin, probably thinks I hate him because then I ran away and Levi laughed at me and I was blushing and now I'm sitting huddled on the tire swing out by the lake and I'm a complete freak and I don't know what to do now." I dropped my head against the bark of the tree, feeling the ridges brand their shape into my skin. I groaned. "Please tell me you're coming soon."

I could practically hear his eyebrows rise in concern beneath his blonde bangs. "Oh God. That sucks. Yeah, my flight was delayed but I'm finally back. I'm about to transfer."

"But when will you get here?"

"I don't really know?"

I groaned again. "Arminnn."

"I'm sorry, okay? Flying across the ocean is not a quick process. I've got nasty jetlag, and I'm super paranoid my luggage is still somewhere in London. Plus, my flight was delayed, and now I have to deal with your whiny ass?" My eyes widened at that. The swearing was new. "FYI, my day hasn't exactly been a joy either."

In reply, I was silent. It was enough of an apology, I guess.

He sighed. "My flight leaves in thirty minutes. It'll be, like, an hour til touchdown after that. Then I need to get my hopefully not lost luggage and drive down, but I should be there in time for dinner." I heard the clug-clug, clug-clug, of bags rolling across uneven ground. "When is it exactly?"

I fished around in my pocket for the wad of forms and schedules. They weren't there. I patted each in turn and looked around the area before glaring back the way I had come. This was just too much. "DAMNIT. I left the fucking papers in the fucking cabin with the fucking men."

"WAIT." Armin giggled. "You actually caught them having sex?! Like sex sex? IN THE CABIN? RIGHT THEN? Please tell me they were at least attractive."

"What? No. Yeah? Wait. I don't know…" I messaged the bridge of my nose. "Fuck. Just. Ugh. Fuck."

"Woah. Okay, just calm down. I'll be there in, like, a couple hours. Take a swim. Go for a walk. Just calm down and work out a strategy."

I sniffed, grumbling, "That's your job."

"But I'm not there, am I?"

The wind breezed through the branches of the nearby willow tree; meanwhile, a duck quacked and fluttered around in the water somewhere in the distance.

"Listen," he said. "Just follow my instructions. Take a swim. You've missed Lake Rose anyways. Then lay out in the sun… Is that picnic table still there?"

I glanced around. Sure enough, there it was, next to the willow tree and the sand volleyball court. "Uh, yeah," I said, nodding.

"Good. After your swim, lie out there and take a nap. Or plan some activities for the kids for when they get there. It doesn't matter. Just distance yourself."

I nodded. Yes. Strategy was good; Armin always had good plans. I would take a swim and a nap and plan some activities. I would not fret about heavy-lidded looks and voices that slipped and slid like skis down fresh powder. I would not dwell. Or wonder why I was dwelling. And why I was so keyed up. Nope. Not at all.

"Okay, so… I'm gonna go now. Flying and such. I'll see you soon…"

"Hey, Armin?" I stopped him before he could hang up, and said, "Thanks, man. I don't know what my problem is. Have a good flight. Enjoy the pretzels. Take a nap."

This time, I could see and hear his expression—an exhausted smile, curved up just slightly at the corners. "Yeah, you too. Bye." And he hung up.

Everything was warm and sunny and God. Summer. The lake lapped at the banks as the volleyball net jangled in the breeze. The sun blanketed every inch of me, filling me and laying atop me like a lover, sated and satisfied. The nap had been good-my thoughts settled and organized, my mind at peace.

Alas, the peace would not last long.

CRUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH. "Dang it, ARRRGH."

I stretched, running limbs against grainy wood, and turned my head. Before me was Armin, decked out in jeans and a cardigan much too warm for the muggy heat. "Arminnn. Nooo. But my nap was so nice. And the sun was so warm."

"Erennn." He stared at me, blinked once, twice, then: "Come on. I just got here. I'm hungry. I'm tired. And we're missing dinner."

"No, wait. WHAT?" Nap no more. I jumped off the table and began to throw on my shirt and shoes. "You're kidding." How long had I been out?

"Oh my god. Wait. Wait. Eren. Turn around. Oh my god," he said.

"What? No, we're late. Let's eat."

"No, really. Jut do it." He grabbed my arm and forcibly turned me around—"Oh. My. God. Eren."

I shook him off. "What?" His face was screwed up in I didn't even know what kind of emotion. "WHAT?" And then the laughter came.

"Oh. God. Oh my God. Eren. How long have you been on that table?"

"I don't know. Like a couple hours, maybe?"

"Look at yourself." He grabbed my hand and shoved it in my face.

It was a bright, almost neon red. He turned it to the side, and behold! My arm was the equivalent of a side-by-side strawberry and vanilla milkshake. "SHIT. ARMIN." He was doubled over, laughing, my arm still clutched in his hand. I tore it away, trying to rub the white fingerprints off of my sunbaked skin. "Stop laughing, you ass."

He was still shaking. He held up a finger, and I sighed, waiting. This was just great.

"This is just great," he said between gasps. "Oh my goodness. Day. Made."

I glared at him, tapping my foot. Then rolled my eyes and grabbed his shaking shoulders. "Come on, Asshole."

I could feel their eyes on my back as I slopped out various dishes from the line. With Armin in tow, I made a beeline for Ymir, who was, of course, choking on her food as she banged her hand onto the table in laughter. I had to evade several rows of occupied tables before plopping down in front of her, my back to the unlit fireplace and hanging portraits of past camp directors.

"No words. Or the kids hear about the time with the deer." I said.

She paused, hand in midair, sobering up. Then her cheeks puffed up and a bark of laughter burst forth from her red face. Not as red as mine of course, but still.

I leaned forward slightly, trying to glance around inconspicuously. "Can you cool it. Just a little? Please?"

Armin glanced at me, offering a timid smile, before taking a breath and putting a larger grin on his face. He said, "Oh my gosh, Ymir. We haven't seen each other in how many years and you haven't even said hi? Just because Eren looks like he's been boiled alive?"

I glared at him, but the diversionary tactic had worked. Ymir was already jumping out of her seat to grab him and ruffle his hair. They settled into greetings and stories while I moved my food around on my plate. Down the table were a pair of boys—one dark and lean, the other blonde and broad—who were settled in some sort of silent companionship. The blonde speared the brunette's broccoli and tossed it in his mouth with a smirk; the brunette shook his head deferentially.

"Yo, Eren. Lobster boy." I looked up sharply into Ymir's gleeful expression. "She's talking to you," she jerked her head, directing my gaze to a tall brunette girl holding a tray piled with food while clutching several rolls under her armpit.

"Um, yes, hi. I was wondering if I could sit here?" She squirmed, trying to gesture without dropping any food, at which she failed as several tater tots popped from the bulging pockets in her shorts.

I motioned my approval, still watching the pair of boys down the table. Another girl had come to join them, sitting down with neither a glance nor a word. The big blonde slapped a hand on her shoulder—an obvious mistake. Slowly her head swiveled to stare at him, cold and blank. His smile faltered as he let his hand slip from her shoulder, turning back to the brunette with a raised brow.

I fought back a smile, glancing back to my suddenly distraught companions. Mayhem had descended upon our table. An outraged diatribe was exploding from Ymir. The new girl, Sasha, apparently, had no sense of decency, or so I could gather from Ymir's cry to the lazy ceiling fans:

The fucking new girl had snagged one of her pats of butter, followed by her French fry-who fucking does that?

Beyond the commotion, I found my eyes wandering to a strangely quiet corner—an anomaly to the dining area.

Of course it was him—Levi. He was engrossed in some book, head balanced on one fine-boned hand, which was playing with one of the three tiny silver hoops in his ear. The other twirled his fork as he smirked at whatever events that were occurring before his eyes. And of course, it was that smirk that reminded me of when and how I'd seen him last.

There was no denying it: Levi was certainly a catch. I guess Erwin had good taste, if nothing else. But really, it was more than that, I noticed, as the blonde took a spot next to Levi with not a word uttered, a fact that the heavy-lidded man seemed to appreciate, indicated by the tiny smile he offered in a fleeting glance.

I tore my eyes away. It was one thing to casually observe the men you had walked in on, another completely to stare and study them. Instead, I returned to the conversation with renewed gusto. Sunburned or not, uncomfortable or not, things were not going to get better unless I at least tried to participate.

"Eren, seriously. Just come in with us. It'll take like, what, five minutes?" Said Ymir, directing me to the doors of the nursing station, hands placed forcefully on either of my shoulders.

"You'll regret it if you don't! Everyone knows it doesn't start to really burn until you've been out of the sun for several hours," Armin said, nodding his approval as he opened the door.

I tugged at his blonde ponytail as I was pushed inside.

"Hey! No need for the violence!"

"Nu-uh," I said. "I get forced into the nursing station; I call the shots." I folded my arms petulantly.

Armin rolled his eyes, redoing the elastic as he let the door slam shut behind him. "I know you're not a big fan of doctors, but come on! It's a nurse! A nurse who will give you magical cooling concoctions for all your cooling needs. You're not, like, going through experimental torture. Chill. You'll be fine. She'll be great. Everyone will be happy."

A bright blonde head popped up behind the counter—just her head: she was too short to see the rest of her body. "Hi!" She beamed, tilting her head to the side. "Did you need something? I was just go—"

"No, No. We were just leaving," I said, turning for the door. Unfortunately, Ymir had already taken up residence at the entrance. Staring me down, she clapped a hand on my shoulders—Owww—and spun me back.

"Actually," Armin said, shooting a disapproving glance at Ymir. "My friend, here. He's got this nasty sunburn. Do you maybe have something?"

"Oh yeah!" She said quickly, eyes widening at my lobster-esque complexion, before disappearing for several seconds. I threw myself onto the bench—Owww, folding my arms and glaring at Ymir, who happened to be completely avoiding my gaze, turned into the bulletin board. "Here it is!" The little one called, waving a bottle of green gel back and forth. "Aloe!"

I glared at the bottle. Ymir glared at me. Armin glared at Ymir. The little nurse beamed at all of us.

I grabbed it with a grumbled thank you before sitting back down to smear the stuff all over me. The blonde, Krista, was introducing herself. I wasn't bothering myself wondering why Ymir seemed to be hiding behind a food safety pamphlet. Even if I knew she didn't have any food allergies. Nope, I didn't care. And I definitely wasn't going to start smiling. Not at all. Even if the gel was soaking into my hot skin—ice on searing asphalt. I was not paying attention at all.

Until the bell rang on the door.

"Krista, I really, really need you to check out this thing on m—" He stopped in his tracks, face immediately going blank, arms falling to his side.

Krista smiled. Again. "Oh, hi, Levi! This is so great—guys, Levi is a joy. Levi, this is Armin, Ymir, and—"

"We've met," Levi said, nodding to me. I thought I saw his eyes flash, but it could have just as easily been the tiny barbell in his eyebrow.

There was an awkward pause where Krista's grin fell, her brows coming together in a look of confusion before ironing back out. We looked at her. She looked at as, glanced at our new guest, and said, "So, um. Why don't you guys head out now, and I'll catch up after I take care of Levi, here." She turned to him, offering over her shoulder, "Save me a seat up front!"

I turned to Armin, "For what?"

"The meeting? Eren, weren't you listening?"

"Yeah?" He quirked an eyebrow. "…No, but-"

"Seriously," Ymir said, clapping a hand, again—Owww—on my shoulder, "it's on your schedule. Lose it already, Rudolph?" She waggled her eyebrows.

I shoved her and shot her a dark look. "No. I just…left it in my cabin," I mumbled.

Unfortunately, I was still heard. A snort arose from Levi's general direction. I glanced back, and of course, there he was, staring. And smirking. Still smirking. "Come on. Let's go."

We shut the door on the conversation behind us—No. It's serious this time! Yes. Yeah. See? Infected. You have to believe me. No, really. No! I'm not being a diva. I could really—and I promptly thumped Ymir over the head. "What are you doing, huh?"

She rubbed her head and opened her mouth for whatever projectile word vomit was coming, but Armin spoke first. "Was he?"

My feet were suddenly very interesting. Great design on those shoes. Just quality really. I wasn't blushing. Not at all.

And he giggled. The boy had the audacity to giggle. "Oh my gosh, no wonder you were freaking out. What a cutie! No lie there."

I shoved past him. "I never said that."

The thump, thumping was of course Ymir, lumbering along behind me. "Ooh! Eren's gotta cru-ush!"

"Yeah, this coming from the girl who hid her puppy dog eyes behind a fucking food allergy pamphlet for what? Ten minutes? Did you ever actually see her over the Epipens and Heimlich maneuvers?"

"Eren." Armin warned.

Ymir shoved me from behind. And I shoved her back. And so it went, back and forth all the way to the lakefront—The Three Amigos, united at last.