The first person that Eren found in hide and go seek was Mina; she ended up getting distracted by the fact that Carla was making cookies in the kitchen. It was meant to surprise them after their game, but since the little black-haired girl had came sprinting into the room at such a speed and out of the nowhere, the woman had no time to play it off. He had causally came strolling into the kitchen to find her sitting on the floor and watching the cookies bake in the oven in awe and as soon as she looked up at him, she exclaimed, "oh poopy!" Leaning against the island table nearby, Carla giggled.

Hitch had been still trying to find a hiding place and Eren peered into the gaming room to see her scanning around as if debating her choices. And as soon as she saw him, she pointed her little finger at him and shouted, "that's not fair, Eren! I didn't even get to hide!" So with a small smirk, he raised his hands defensively and backed out of the room, telling her she better find a new room altogether if she planned on winning. On the other hand, Hannah thought she was being slick; having found her spot in the hallway closet and maybe Eren wouldn't have found her if she hadn't been peeking out so obviously, opening the door as wide as she did.

The nearly inseparable Rico and Isabel were both sitting in the upstairs tub with the curtains closed; which they were highly upset because Marlo happened to be standing in the bathroom with them, telling them not to break anything when Eren passed by. Isabel even kicked him in the shins; and surprisingly, the usually mature twelve year old boy actually dropped his prideful ways so that he could angrily pursue the girl around the house in hopes of being able to give her a taste of her own medicine.

And it was hilarious seeing his red face and her laughing, smiling one as they zoomed by the college student; the chase still in full progress.

"Queen" Rico declared that Sir Eren, knight of the Kingdom of Fosterville, carry her around in the act of what she called a "piggyback ride" which she even did the air quotes as she said it and he had to wait in the hallway as she retreated to her room to fetch her tiara, comically dropping her glasses in the process. As he stood there, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and started ringing, blasting the Skrillex remix of Cinema and he quickly pulled it out and answered it without so much as even looking at who it was that was calling.

"Yo," Reiner greeted.

Eren grinned at the voice,feeling a little bit cheekier than he did before. "Ah, rein-deer. What's up? I hope you've been having fun up there in the North Pole."

"Fuck you, you cheeky bastard," came to response and the brunet couldn't help but laugh. "Anyway, I called to ask you where you would want to go next weekend. Armin and I were talking earlier and we weren't sure what you would want to do then." Eren was raising an eyebrow now, visibly confused as to what his friend was talking about; and it didn't help that Rico had returned to his side. She pulled at his free arm with her tiara on her head, pouting impatiently, her head tilted up at him with attention-wanting eyes. "Hell, we even asked Mikasa and she wasn't sure."

"...Nobody told me we were making plans this weekend...or that it was even my turn to choose," he murmured, his eyebrows furrowing as he tried to dig into his own memories. "Actually, it wouldn't be my turn to pick. I picked two weeks ago. Don't you remember?"

There was a long pause on the other end and Eren took this as he chance to get low for Rico so she could climb onto his back. He used his free hand to hold one of her legs and she clung to him rather tightly, not used to him lacking the second hand.

"What…?" Reiner breathed.

"Do I have to recall that I made you, Bertholdt, Mikasa, Armin and Jean do a play-date over here at the house? And the fact that Mina made you look like an ugly clown?"

There was a long, low and pained groan. "Don't remind me. That is exactly why if I were a girl, I'd go natural. Fuck that make-up applying bullshit. But no, we're letting you pick. Just like the way we do for everyone else's birthday." Birthday? "Just because you're a cheeky asshole that the entire group secretly hates, it doesn't mean we won't let you decide."

Birthday!

"That's right!" Eren cried, feeling a mental slap to the face and completely ignoring Reiner's sly remark. Rico was leaning her head on his shoulder now, swinging her feet. "I can't believe I forgot!"

"You forgot your own birthday?" Reiner inquired, adding an ashamed click of his tongue. "Are you for real? The big two-one and you forget? Come on, that's the drinking age! Hell, you won't even have to wear that big-ass black mark on your hand and the wristband for being a minor."

"Ooooh!" Rico cooned, eyes getting wider and the brunet could hear his college mate whimper a small "oops" on the other end. "I heard you, Reiner-Roo! You cursed and I'm telling mom on you! You'll get a hand-smack with her big spoon."

There was a quick shriek into Eren's ear. "Not the big spoon!" Reiner counterfeited playfully, eliciting the small girl to giggle.

"Don't listen to my conversation, Rico!" Eren reproached in a soft yet stern tone and the girl whined, but was nice enough to switch the shoulder that she rested her head on so that she wasn't close to the phone. And then it hit him.

Reiner was right; he was turning twenty-one, wasn't he? The big two-one. And if they were to go to a club, he wouldn't be marked as a minor. And he could drink. And he wouldn't be seen as a kid. He'd be seen as an adult.

The thought excited him to a certain degree and maybe he would pick to go to a club or a bar; maybe. His mother definitely wouldn't like the idea but nobody said she had to know. But even then, he still didn't like lying to her and he didn't like keeping things from her either, especially things that could be potentially dangerous.

It wasn't like he was going alone though; he'd have Armin, Reiner, Mikasa and everyone else there with him, that is, if they would go with him. The only ones who would still be tried as minors would be Christa, Ymir and Sasha. They didn't seem like the drinking type anyway and Sasha would be happy as long as there's food.

Eren squeezed the phone a little too much against his face. "Then I might have an idea of where I'd want to go, Reiner-Roo," he whispered in an exhilarated undertone.

"You have absolutely no right to call me that, ERen." He deliberately spoke his friend's name in a derpy, unsavory voice that made Eren want to gag.

"That was so gross."

"So was Reiner-Roo," the blond male retorted.

"Why does Rico get to say it then?"

The girl on his back did Eren's signature grin. "Cause I'm pretty and special~" She purred.

"Cause she's pretty and special," Reiner repeated in a eerie and dreamy timbre.

After Rico's squeal of victory, the brunet narrowed his green emerald-like eyes and he uttered, "So you're basically saying I'm not pretty or special?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying! Glad you could catch the fuck on."

Rico gasped.

"Fuck you! I'm hot!"

And she gasped again and Eren quickly shut his mouth, hearing the obnoxious laughter of Reiner booming from his phone's speakers as Rico flicked the college student in the head.

"I'M TELLING."

In the end, Hitch was the last person to be found by Eren in hide and go seek. He had promised Rico to force Bertholdt and Reiner to come over and play Mario Cart with her if she didn't tell mom that he had cursed in the house which the blond agreed to quickly (he knew good and well Carla would scold him too if she ever saw him). He spent the next ten minutes searching around the house for Hitch who only managed to hide from him this long because she was constantly moving hiding spots and eventually Rico caught her running behind Eren as she tried to change rooms.

And Hitch wasn't very happy to be betrayed by her "own blood."

They all ended up sitting in the kitchen, awaiting cookies and Eren stayed on the phone with Reiner for a little bit longer, helping him with his homework because he understood nothing from Music Theory I and Bert wasn't even taking that course.

"Pitch, form and…." Reiner trailed off quietly, obviously unsure of his answer and just as Eren was about to open his mouth, the blond was once again noisy and obnoxious, "Bert, back the fuck up! You're basically breathing down my neck! Not that I don't like that… ah, fuck. Shut up, Reiner."

"I'm curious about Music Theory," came the sound of Bertholdt's tiny voice.

"Eren."

The brunet snapped to attention when he heard Reiner say his name. "Yeah?"

"Pitch, form and…." he started.

Ignoring Hitch as she climbed into his lap and wrapped his free arm around herself, Eren scrunched up his face. "Right…here, just remember this; elements of music such as pitch, rhythm, harmony, and form, but also with descriptions, concepts, or beliefs related to music. Repeat that to yourself and you'll remember it."

Reiner snorted. "Please, I have killer memory. I was the one who brought up your birthday and everyone else lost their fucking minds like," he adopted a fake and stupid, high pitched voice, "O-M-G! It's almost Eren's birthday?! I haven't even gotten him a present! Ohmergerd!"

"Who sounds like that?" Bertholdt asked on the other end.

"That was mostly a Sasha impression with a pinch of Connie," Reiner said.

Eren was unconsciously squeezing Hitch and curled his toes, yawning. "Of course."

"And the sad part is, the parts you think Sasha said...she wasn't the one who said them." And as soon as Eren caught on to that, he broke into an ugly fit of laughter that made Carla raise an eyebrow at him and even startled Hitch when she tried to snuggle back against him.

"Alright, well this isn't due until next week," Reiner sighed; the sound of papers ruffling and textbooks being slammed closed echoing with his voice. "You can help me another time."

"What? Well what if I don't want to help you?"

"You would let me fail?"

Eren felt his eyes flicker suddenly and as much as he preferred texting or talking; he was glad this was a phone conversation rather than a face-to-face one. Cause he would playfully say no and then his ears would turn red; a major give away that he was lying. And another hint to that? His eyes flickering. But that was one most people, even Mikasa, didn't know about.

"Nah," Eren said. "I was kidding."

"Better be. I would have marched my ass right the fuck over there and shoved my foot up yours!"

And the brunet's lips tightened at the threatening remark. He sat there, swaying involuntarily, an arm wrapped around Hitch as he shook his head, grinning. Boy, was Reiner lucky that his mother was in the kitchen with him or else all hell would have ran loose and gone rampant on the streets, starting with this house, and starting with Eren, in particular.

He let Isabel use his phone to contact Armin because he was invited to join them for dinner and the girl just adored him and his intelligence. It made Eren smile, seeing her stare at him with eyes of admiration and awe as he read her books, watched shows with her, played with her; it seemed no matter what they did, he always had some interesting input on something and his humor wasn't half bad either (though Eren felt he should take some credit for this because he used to be a boring stick in the mud when they were younger). And Isabel had happily skipped back into the kitchen to announce the good news of Armin being able to come over which Eren was glad to hear, he didn't want to leave his friend at the apartment, bored and with nobody to talk to except maybe the TV and his textbooks.

Time passed by surprisingly fast; Eren was helping his mother cook and the kids cleaned around the house; they even cleaned their rooms because they got done too quickly and Carla wanted them to be kept busy and away from them. And Eren was pretty sure she was only doing that because she knew how easily distracted he got.

Armin arrived before Hannes did; he was still in the same clothing he went to college in; a long-sleeve white button up that was noticeably ironed and well kept, blue jeans, and his favorite pair of blue converse that Eren had bought him for his birthday. He looked nice and, not to toot his own horn, but he couldn't help but notice that Armin's fashion had gotten better since he started letting Eren go shopping with him.

He was like a blond, blue-eyed cute-boy version of himself and his attractiveness skyrocketed to the top of the chart whenever he wore clothes similar to Eren's kind of style. He was still, and always would be, his nerdy, little friend though, even if one day he does wake up ten times sexier than Eren (which he could see happening, as much as he hated to admit it).

Armin was charming on his own.

Isabel nearly knocked him over with how she greeted him with a hard tackle when Eren announced his friend's arrival, but the cooking was still being done and Armin had no problem waiting in the living room with Isabel and the rest of the kids. Hitch had happily grabbed his arm and pulled him along, telling him she wanted him to hear her sing which resulted in a pouting Isabel who hurried after them.

Still, Eren knew that it was very much like him to change into something nicer whenever he came over for dinner and he wondered why he didn't, but there wasn't much time to ask. He'd find out later if he didn't forget.

It was only Eren and his mother in the kitchen and he thought that perhaps this was a good time to bring up the certain incident from this morning before she ended up hearing it from someone else's mouth. Especially since somebody (deadpan on Armin) decided that Christa should know. He finished setting up the table before retreating to the little island table in the middle of the room and sitting down, intertwining his fingers as he leaned against the marble table.

He inhaled. "So…..mother…"

"So…..son…" Carla responded, eyes focused on the beef stew she was stirring over the stove.

"Carla…."

"Eren…."

"Mama Jaeger…"

His mother smiled just a little bit and she glanced in his direction just for a few seconds, studying him before turning her attention back to the stew. "Your bottom lip is quivering." Her son reached up to feel his lip before silently cursing. "So that means that you're either thinking really hard to the point of almost hurting yourself or there's something you want to tell me and it's making you nervous because of how I may react."

"I didn't even know that my lip quivering was another give-away of mine!" Eren cried, voice cracking in the process and leading him to curse, but not so silently this time. "Fuck…!"

The woman glared at him from over her shoulder, watching her child's face turn pale. "Watch your language, Eren Jaeger!" She said sternly. "Don't make me get out my big spoon!"

"Sorry…." He murmured, head lowered and eyes on his lap.

It took a while, even almost a minute, but she gradually relaxed and her facial features softened up. She had just as much of a temper as Eren did whenever he got pissed off; in fact, that's where he got it from, but hers was much more controlled and she cooled down very quickly and rather skillfully. "Now what were you going to tell me?"

Eren barely lifted his head back up. "Ah….it can wait. After dinner would be a better time-"

"No, tell me," she insisted gently.

"I don't think I should at this particular moment…"

"Eren."

"Mother."

She turned around. "Eren Jaeger!"

He had his hands up now, laughing nervously. "No, really! I'll tell you later, I swear!"

Teeth gritted and cheeks slightly rosy, she stormed over to him and grabbed him by the ear and Eren couldn't help the numerous amounts of "Ow, ow, ow!" that came from his mouth. He even gripped her wrist in hopes that she would stop and let go.

"You're going to tell me, Eren. Right. Now." She affirmed dourly, tugging at his ear hard enough to result in a wince; that was followed by him standing up and stepping closer just so that he could make it less painful for himself. "This hurts me just as much as it hurts you, you know."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," her son countered in a pained response.

With that, Carla released her manly grip of steel and backed up, crossing her arms over her chest. "If you're going to go through this much trouble over telling me something; it must be bad. Whatever it is, please tell me," she pleaded. "I promise I will not yell or get angry."

"Or hit me with the big spoon?"

"Or hit you with the big spoon," she confirmed, nodding her head. "Now tell me."

She watched as her son slowly sat back down in his seat and observed her before sighing heavily. His bottom lip was starting to quiver again and his mother reached out to gently grab his shoulders and look him in the eyes. Two very similar, green-colored orbs met and didn't break contact for a few long and painful seconds.

Carla seemed to be staring into his soul now. "On a scale of dropping an empty plastic cup to getting a girl pregnant and having her entire angry family hunt you down-"

"I almost got hit by a car because I was texting," Eren blurted out, everything sounding blurred and jumbled up; that anxious tone in his voice absolutely unmistakable.

And Carla stared; and she stared; and her eyes were widening one second, but then the next they were narrowing and her eyebrows were scrunching up indignantly just like her face. And her lips tightened into a thin, upset frown and her nails dug into her son's shoulders. She slowly nodded her head as if confirming that she heard him and she pulled back, brushing her loose strands back behind her ear and spinning on her heel, jaw clenched. Her slippers skid, being dragged against the floor as she walked back to the stove and picked up the stirring utensil with a death grip, going back to cooking silently.

And that was it.

Eren was glad for that promise; she had kept it and there was no yelling on her part. Getting mad might have been another thing though. But he had to conclude this; that what happened in this kitchen just a minute ago was the most painful experience he had ever endured in his life.

The dinner went smoothly. Even though Eren knew he had royally pissed off his mother by telling her about the incident this morning; Hannes was more than enough to get that off of her mind. Her jaw had unclenched and she was actually smiling and laughing whenever the shopkeeper cracked a joke (correction: cracked a stupid joke). Armin was a big hit too. All the girls were interested to know about his majoring in astronomy and astrophysics, especially Isabel. He told them about what he was learning; like the evolution of the universe, the stars, the galaxies, and they were so intrigued that Eren worried about whether they would finish their food before it got cold.

However, he noticed Marlo just sitting there and eating. It was as if he wasn't even listening at all and he wished he could help the boy loosen up some more.

"Hey, Marlo," Eren whispered to the black-haired kid sitting next to him.

He looked up from his nearly empty bowl without saying a word.

"Weren't you interested in astronomy? You know; the stars and the galaxies and stuff?"

The younger male eyed Eren for a few seconds and when the college student gestured to Armin and he lifelessly stared at the blond. It was as if he didn't hear Armin who was still talking about the solar system and it's stars; or maybe he was pretending like he didn't care. Without saying anything to Eren, Marlo stood up from his seat, grabbed his empty bowl and utensils and started walking to the kitchen.

Carla noticed and turned to look at the boy. "Marlo? Do you want seconds?"

"No," he said.

And when his mother glanced to her son; all he could do was shrug with a frown on his face. But Hannes knew about Marlo and the others were too busy wrapped up in all of Armin's theories and "hypotheses" to have noticed. So the three, as much as they didn't want to, ignored Marlo's behavior and continued with their dinner. When it was all said and done, Hannes left right away since he promised the manager he would return and help him close the store up before going home, but Armin stayed and Eren found himself washing the dishes in the kitchen with his blond friend as Carla tucked everyone in upstairs.

They cleaned up silently and the only thing that could be heard was the running water, the clanking of dishes, and the sound of Eren yawning somewhere mixed in.

"Sounds like I'm driving tonight," Armin hummed with a smile.

"I could drive," Eren replied, drying a bowl with a green dish towel and yawning again; his mouth opening wider this time. "I'm not that tired. Just a little."

The blond glanced at him sideways. "...I'll drive. Better to be safe than sorry."

"Are you saying I'm a bad driver?"

"I'm saying you're tired."

"Nah," the green-eyed boy murmured. "I'm not tired. I'm Eren."

At this, his friend smiled slightly and shook his head, scrubbing hard at one of the dishes in his hand and letting it run under the water. "If you act weird like this when you're tired, just imagine how you do when you're drunk... And I'm curious as to whether your levels of cheekiness and smart comments triple-"

Eren nearly dropped the little bowl he was drying and half-lunged at Armin, clamping a tanned hand over his mouth and raising his other to his lips in a gesture to be quiet. Or better yet; to shut the fuck up. His petite friend stood there, eyes wide and frozen, having stopped scrubbing.

"Do you want my mom to hear you?!" Eren yelled in a whisper.

Armin shook his head silently.

The brunet pulled his hand back, quickly hurrying over to see if his mom was coming downstairs before returning to his spot beside Armin. He dried the bowl he had, practically snatched the last one in his college friend's hand and turned off the water faucet, going back to his drying duty. And he waited for a couple of seconds. Then he leaned in close.

"Who told you?" He inquired suspiciously.

"Reiner."

"What did he tell you?".

"That you might consider going to a bar for your birthday," Armin responded.

"Might," Eren stressed.

The blond shrugged, scrubbing away at the messes left in the sink before washing the sponge again and squeezing out the excess water. "I think you should."

"You? You think I should? That's weird….. Why?"

The only reply that came from Armin was a little charming smile and a bedazzled glint from those blue orbs as he retreated from the kitchen. "Tell your mother I said good night. I'm going to start the car and warm it up. If you think it's cold in the morning; the evening is what kills you. Don't take too long," he called, heading for the door with Eren bounding after him.

"Wait you have the car?! You didn't drive it this morning. I thought you didn't go home?"

"I did," Armin said, standing in the doorway. "I know I usually change, but I just didn't get to because I made it home by the time Isabel called me."

Eren stood there and watched his friend close the door behind him, completely dumbfounded. So that's why. But then the question was; what had Armin been doing then? Especially because he had to work later on. Normally he would go home and get in as much rest or studying as possible. Eren had been home for over an hour before the dinner; so what had Armin being kept busy for that long?

"Eren!"

The brunet turned at the sound of his mother's voice and saw her standing at the bottom of the staircase. She hurried over to him and took him into a motherly embrace which he returned with a smile on his face.

"I'm glad you could come spend time with the kids and eat dinner with us today. Do it more often, alright? Possibly bring Mikasa and Annie? Or Reiner and Bertholdt? Hmm….or everyone," Carla said, lovingly patting her son's hair. "Invite Armin too, cause it's quite obvious how much everyone looks up his intelligence. And with that sparkle in Isabel's eyes…I wouldn't be surprised if she wants to marry him."

Eren grinned. "No kidding. And alright, I'll try." They broke away from their hug and Carla watched as her little college student turned to leave. "Oh, and Eren!"

The brunet had his hand on the doorknob and stopped to look at her. "Yes, ma?"

"I'm not mad at you over that incident you told me about," she muttered softly. "Sometimes even I look down at my phone when I shouldn't be. Just be careful, okay? I don't want to lose you."

His lips pulled up into a smile and he nodded, opening the door. "I will. Love you."

"I love you, too," Carla said, blowing her son a kiss (which he pretended to catch like a weirdo). And with that, he crossed over the threshold of his old home and closed the door behind him, walking into the cool air and hurrying to join Armin waiting in his car.

The drive home was very quiet; there was nothing wrong between Eren and Armin. They were perfectly fine actually, but Eren was completely worn out with his eyes half-open, leaning against the window in the passenger seat about ready to pass out. His eyelids felt extremely heavy and he wanted nothing more than to just fall asleep, but then, in a couple of minutes, he'd have to wake up again. He hated that; he hated being in a car and knowing the ride was short whenever he was tired because that meant that in five minutes someone would be shaking his shoulder and telling him to get up. And he would have to get up. Then he'd sluggishly make his way upstairs and collapse right on his bed without even taking a shower or brushing his teeth.

It was a horrible feeling.

And he didn't want to screw over his hygiene over sleeping in a car.

He most definitely wasn't going to.

He glanced down at his phone to check for any text messages every now and then, but in the end, he decided to stare out the window; nothing special was out there but it'd be more entertaining than observing Armin as he drove or looking down at his lap.

"Uh oh…"

Eren slowly turned to look at his friend. "What's wrong?"

"We need to stop for gas… we're almost on empty."

"Damn it…."

The blond kept his eyes on the road, refusing to even regard Eren. "It'll be quick."

As soon as they stopped at a gas station and parked by a gas machine, Armin turned off the ignition, pushed open the door and stepped out. Any sleepiness in Eren's system was blown out when cold air rushed into the car and jolted him out of his sleepy state, but the cold did nothing to change how weary his voice sounded.

He snapped his attention to his friend. "Do you need my wallet...?" Eren asked exhaustedly before the blue-eyed male could shut the door, taking off his seat belt so that he could reach into his back pocket.

"No, I have mine," he replied. "Don't worry. It's my turn to pay for gas."

The brunet watched him close the driver's door and then nestled back into the seat, leaning his head against the window once again. They were parked at the last machine and facing the gas station's store so he tilted his head down, annoyed by how bright the lights from the store were shining compared to the darkness outside.

He was going to close his eyes.

But not sleep.

Just rest….

And then, in the corner of his vision, Eren saw somebody stumble into the alleyway on the side of the building. But it wasn't just anybody, it was somebody familiar and he didn't get enough time to take in their features before they disappeared.

Sitting up straight, the college student pulled the car door's handle and pushed it open, stepping outside. Armin must have not noticed Eren inching towards the direction he saw the person go because the car's gas container was on the opposite side and he was too busy dealing with the complicated machine to even look up.

Eren knew he had to be careful in case he mistakened someone for somebody else. There was a possibility the person in this alleyway kidnapped young adults in their 20's. There was a possibility that the person just stumbled into the alley to appear helpless, to pull some saint into a trap. Or maybe he was going to get jumped and robbed. Maybe even raped. And the thoughts kept making Eren want to turn around and head back to the safety of the lights of the gas station store, to the warmth of Armin's car, and away from all harm.

But then he saw him.

Eren's breath hitched and he almost wanted to cry because this was too good to be true.

Standing in the alleyway, leaned against a wall was the man who had rescued him from that car this morning, the one who had swooped in like an angel and left like a bird taking off from the nest. He had the same unique undercut hairstyle; and there was no jacket suit over his blue collared dress shirt and it wasn't tucked into the black pants that matched his raven-colored hair. His clothes looked a little wrinkled, his sleeves were messily pulled back to reveal his forearms and his shirt was unbuttoned at the top.

And as soon as he noticed Eren, he squinted those steely, dark eyes at him as if trying to recall something and the younger male smiled. But that smile didn't last very long; it actually dropped too quickly because the man suddenly collapsed and fell to his knees, gagging and shaking violently.

"Hey!" Eren rushed over to his side without a moment's hesitation and dropped to the ground beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder blades and rubbing soothing circles into his back. "Talk to me! Are you okay? C-Can you respond to me?"

There was no answer to the question except more retching noises. He didn't know what was happening to this man, but it didn't seem like he would be able to support his own weight for long. His arms were trembling under him and Eren could feel how tense his back muscles were; he felt them contract under his fingers every time the man choked as if he had to vomit but refused to do so.

The brunet didn't know what to do; he was confused and scared. But he was also feeling conflicted. He wanted to make a dash for the gas station real quick. He wanted to run up to the person managing the cash register, he wanted to yell at them to call the ambulance. But he didn't want to leave him by himself. There was no telling what could happen.

Eren silently cursed himself. If only he had kept his stupid phone inside of his pocket instead of leaving it in Armin's car, then he wouldn't have to worry about leaving the man alone. Cause he couldn't do that; what if he died or what if he disappeared before he got back? What would Eren do then and how could he handle that sort of guilt?

He was desperately patting the man's back now who was still gagging. And he was licking his lips, preparing to yell out for Armin before he felt someone grip his arm. Hard.

Eren met the dark orbs of the man; he had stopped making those choking noises, but his eyes seemed off; as if he couldn't quite see very well because his grey pools flickered and squinted; and refocused. And he was looking around as if he didn't know his own surroundings. And then he was staring at Eren again, intensely, with those bloodshot eyes and he was breathing heavily, wearily as if it hurt every time he did. And that's when the college student smelled it.

The pure stench of alcohol.

The man was drunk.

And here he was stumbling around, lost, with nobody watching over him.

Eren kept rubbing his back and leaned forward. "Um… What's your name?"

The only kind of response the brunet got was one of the deepest sighs he's ever heard in his life, a tired moan and the giving of the man's arms as he collapsed to the ground in a drunken heap.

"Oh, fuck..!" Eren cursed, making an attempt to catch the man before he could hit the gravel. If he wasn't unconscious, he was as close to it as a person could ever get; his eyes were closed and he was as limp as a rag doll when Eren made an attempt to use his body to support the man. He managed to throw one of his arms over his shoulder and could only raise him to a sitting position before he had to yell for Armin.

The blond came running over faster than Eren has ever seen him run before and by the time he made it over, he was out of breath. "E-Eren! I was looking for you, are you crazy?! I didn't want to cause a scene so I didn't shout for you, but I was scared….!" He trailed off, eyes widening at the sight of his friend sitting on the ground, holding up a limp body of a man. "Eren, what are you…?!"

"He's unconscious!" The green-eyed male loudly whispered after hushing his friend. "It's him."

Armin caught on immediately. "Him?! As in the one who saved you this morning?"

"Yes! Now help me lift him up! We should take him home and let him rest there..."

"Shouldn't we take him to the hospital instead?"

"Armin!"

"Okay!" The male whimpered, hurrying over.

A/N: Next chapter is in progress! Let me know what you think in a review! I have terrible TERRIBLE things planned for this story and I can't wait to screw you readers over BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA- ackkK! And yes, Reiner is important. Compared to the stories I've read Reiner isn't very important in most stories so I feel weird that he's legit all over mine. BUT. He's part of a good chunk of the plot so I guess that's why. I hope you all like reindeers. Just think of him as Eren's second best friend after Armin. Kay. Think that and nOTHing else! Anyway, until next time! ^o^