The next morning~
Everyone was gathered in the mess hall for breakfast, with the usual chatter till Josephine walked in.
"Are you ok?" Mikasa asks.
Josephine smiles slightly, "Yeah, I'm fine."
"Are you sure? Your eyes are kinda puffy and dark," Armin asks worriedly.
"I'm fine! I always have dark circles around my eyes!" She responds raising her voice causing Armin to flinch, "I'm- I'm sorry.. I just didn't get much sleep last night." She sighs and lays her head down on the table.
"Looks like neither did Jaeger boy here." Jean says pointing behind Josephine.
"Hey..." Eren groggily says with horrible dark circles around his eyes.
"Didn't sleep well either?" Josephine asks.
He yawns and plops down next to her, "Yeah.. Plus Hanji made me wake up five hours earlier for some experiments," he senses Mikasa tense, "I'm fine." He lays his down on the table and turns towards Josephine (facing the back of her head), "You ok? You had me worried there last night," he asks.
"We all were," Petra adds.
Josephine sighs and turns her head towards Eren, "I'm sor-" she stops and the two blush at the realization at how close they are (two inches/five centimeters apart by nose). She quickly sits up face still heating up, "-ry." she clears her throat, "I'm sorry," she stands up from the table, "I'm sorry for making you all worry. I'm fine honest!" She says shooting them a smile. Everyone's expressions soften a little. She turns to Eren, "Now, you come with me." He shoots her a confused look, "Come on!" She says grabbing his hand, and dragging him along; causing his cheeks to tinge pink.
~in the supply room
"What are we doing in here?" Eren asks.
Josephine takes out two buckets and fills them with cold water and sets them on the counter, "We're both hella sleepy, so I figured we need a pick me up. It'd be better to sleep, but that isn't exactly an option." She sighs and puts her hair up, "Ready?"
Eren nods, "At the count of three?" Josephine nods, "one, two, three!" They both take in a big gulp of air and dive their head in. After what felt like an eternity they both finally bring their heads to the surface. Josephine throws a towel to Eren as she wipes off her face, "Better?"
"Better." He says as he sighs contently.
"How come you didn't sleep well last night?" He asks.
Josephine sighs, "The closer and closer we get to the expedition the more tense everything gets. It makes it kinda hard to sleep. Plus all the things I wanted to forget come popping back… I just needed to vent somehow, so I stayed up pretty late to do that too."
"How'd you do it?" He asks.
"I drew."
"You draw? I wanna see!" Eren replies excitedly.
She laughs, "I figured you might say that," she reaches into her pocket and pulls out a folded up paper. Eren unfolds it and it reveals a drawing of her brother with his shaggy long hair and that signature toothy, goofy grin. Eren smiles slightly at it, "I'm glad you like it." Josephine says smiling back at him, "…hey, why didn't you sleep well last night?" She asks.
He folds the paper back up and hands it to her, "Same reason as you, and… I was kinda worried about you…" he trails off.
Josephine frowns, "I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to make you guys worry," she sighs, "Sorry."
"You say sorry too much!" Eren replies.
She smiles slightly, "Oh! and I figured that you might've been feeling a bit down, so I drew you some stuff too!" She hands him two folded up pieces of paper; one was a drawing of the four of them in that beautiful field of flowers they always used to hang out at. At the very bottom it said 'talking about the outside world with Armin, Mikasa, Eren, Me and big bro!' Eren smiles remembering all the peaceful memories, but it quickly fades into shock when he sees the next one. It was a portrait of Carla, his mother. Before he could even realize it, tears start flowing out of his eyes, "It's been so long!… I- I almost forgot what she looked like…" he chokes out.
"Hello?" A voice suddenly calls out. Conceal. Josephine quickly hugs Eren and buries his face into her shoulder to try to muffle his sobs. The person peaks their head through the door, it was Petra, "Hello? Joy? Eren?" She calls out, "Huh, I could've sworn I heard them; I wonder where they went." She murmurs to herself as she walks away.
Josephine turns off eye ability, and let's go of Eren's head, "sorry about that, I figured you didn't want anybody to see you cry. " she says laughing awkwardly.
"Thanks." Eren replies still leaning his head on her shoulder.
"Uh, Eren?.." Josephine asks.
"…Just give me a few to get myself together.." He replies cheeks tinged.
"Of course," She replies as she blushes and awkwardly starts petting his head, "I'm sor-"
He lifts his head off her shoulder interrupting her apology, "Thanks, you helped me realize my goal again." His face is fixed into one with determination, "I have to. I'm going to! Eradicate all the titans!" He yells.
"I knew you guys were in here!" Petra pops her head through the door again, "Corporal's been looking for you two! You two have chores to do, and Joy afterwards you have to go see Hanji for some experiments, ok?"
"Ok, thank you!" Josephine replies. She turns to Eren, "So um… seeya later? I guess?.." She awkwardly says as she slowly backs her way towards the door.
"Yeah! Hey, good luck with Hanji!" Eren replies.
Josephine laughs slightly, "Yeah, thanks!" Before walking out the door.
Josephine's POV:
Bleh, Hanji kept me back pretty late today. I didn't even get to go to the mess hall! I sigh, at least she brought me food…
Flash! Boom!
I squeal and run away as fast as my legs can take me. As soon as I stop and reopen the eyes I never knew I shut, I look around. Shit. Where the fuck am I?
Booom! Crash!
Shit! I run away from the windows and hug my knees tight to my chest. Fuck, fuck I don't know where I am, and I'm scared shitless. What the fuck do I do? I wince again as I hear another thunder clap. I'm so pathetic... I hate thunderstorms! They remind me of too much... Of the colossal Titan... Of just how fucking lonely I am... Another flash and crash, and I bring my head down to my knees. "S-somebody.. Please-Kya!" I squeal as I hug my knees tighter. Ugh, I feel so weak... Get your shit together! This is the least you can do for yourself! I take a deep breath and use my exploring eye ability. 'Quickly! Find me a good place to wait out this storm! One that blocks out noise well, and no windows!' Quickly my view changes and I'm zooming through the halls. Apparently there are stairs near by and downstairs theirs a room cracked; the basement! Why didn't I think of that! I see lightning flash again, and I run as fast I can to the basement, I see more lighting flash and thunder crash, but I just run faster. I finally reach the basement and I kick the door open and slam it shut. Suddenly all the pent up feelings I ever kept, come bursting out of me. I slide down the door and cry, and cry. I don't know why just then did I decide to release everything; maybe it was because I was alone... Or so I thought.
"Joy?" A voice called out to me.
Suddenly everything fell into place. This was Eren's room.
I sniff and quickly wipe my tears away, "Ah, I'm sorry! I disturbed you didn't I?" I turn to the door, "W-well I'll be going now" he quickly grabs my arm turns me around and hugs me.
"It's ok. I know how much you hate thunderstorms, you have since we were little! I also know how you aren't so scared of them when you have someone with you, so it's ok. You don't have to leave. You don't have to face it alone anymore." Eren soothingly tells me.
3rd POV:
Sarah is racing through the halls to Levi's office. Without even knocking she burst through the door.
"What the hell do you think you're doing brat?" He asks sternly.
"We have a situation Levi." Her face and tone serious.
Levi baffled by this responds, "What?"
"Jo's gone missing." She replies.
Levi stands from his desk, "What do you mean missing?! The castle is guarded and it's pouring rain outside. Plus she's a shithead when it comes to directions."
"I know right! But she never came back to our room yet and it's past curfew. I already checked Hanji but she wasn't there! Leevvii! What do we doo?!" Sarah wails.
"We find her idiot." He grabs her hand and they both begin searching around the castle.
Josephine clenches Eren's shirt and buries her face in his shoulder, tears begin to well up in her eyes again, "... Eren... I'm terrified..."
"Shh I know" Eren interrupts her as he pats her head.
"No. Not just by the storm..." She hugs him back tightly, ".. I'm terrified of losing you and the others! At the battle of Trost.. Even back then in wall Maria... So many people they- our entire squad that day! They-" She clenches her teeth. She can't bare to say it.
"I know. I'm scared too, we all are, but, it'll be ok. We've already been through hell in Trost, and this is only a test run. Yeah! Everything will be fine…" he murmurs.
"Eren." Josephine says sternly breaking the hug, "stop with the reassuring lies. It's not gonna help either of us. You and I both know that we don't know what's out there, we're in the survey corps dammit! We have to face hell with those Titans whenever we go out!" She sighs, "I have faith in all of you, but that nagging feeling is still there.."
"You're right… I know we don't know what's out there, but I promise," he says as he extends his pinky, "I'll come back alive, and you better promise the same." Eren says. Josephine smiles and hooks her pinky with his, "I promise."
Suddenly the door swings open causing Josephine to fall on top of Eren.
"What's the meaning of this?!" Levi asks sternly.
Sarah peaks her way through the door way as well and wiggles her eyebrows, "Ayyyee go get'em Jojo!"
Eren and Josephine blush profusely and quickly sit up.
"It isn't like that!" Josephine and Eren screech.
"Were you making a move on her Titan shit?" Levi glares at Eren
"No!" Eren defends.
"He's right, by the looks of it Jo here was making the move on Eren!"
"N-No! It wasn't like that! You guys kicked the door open, so I fell on top of him!" Josephine yells, blushing even more at what they were suggesting.
"Why were you in his room." Levi demands an answer.
"I.." Josephine trails off embarrassed to tell him the truth.
"I was comforting her sir." Eren replies for her.
"Why?"
"Because-" as if on cue, lighting flashes and a thunder clap, booms in the hallway and through the open door; causing Josephine to squeal and tighten herself into a ball and bury her face into her hands.
"You're afraid of thunder and lighting?" Levi smirks slightly, "what happened to all that audacity back in court? I believe you said, 'I'm not scared. I'm fear itself.'"
"Fuck off!" Boom! She squeals again, "I'm only human!"
Levi looks at the door questionably, before yanking Sarah in, stepping out the door and closing it behind him. Another thunder clap booms outside, "Could you guys hear that?" Levi asks.
"Hear what?!" Sarah yells back.
Levi walks in the door again, but this time closing it behind him, "I see." He mumbles to himself, "Well it seems Joy here is terrified of thunder-"
"What of it asshat?!" Josephine defensively says.
Levi shoots her a glare and clears his throat, "as I was saying, since you are pretty much terrified to go outside at the moment; you can stay here until the storm passes. Afterwards I expect you in your room, I'll be checking on you in the morning." Josephine nods in response.
"And you Eren," he glares at the Titan boy, "if you try anything, I'm going to rip your balls off. Do you understand?"
Eren nods furiously, "Yes sir! I'd never take advantage of her sir!"
"Good." Levi responds, before turning his back and walking out the door. Sarah gives them a little wink and wiggles her eyebrows before leaving with Levi.
"I can't wait to tell Hanji this!" Sarah excitedly says.
"What does shitty glasses have to do with this?"
"Shishishi~ well ya seee, Hanji purposefully held Jo a little later, so she would walk out for the storm, while I told everybody that Erwin ordered that everybody locks their doors cause of the storm; I told everybody except Eren leaving his door unlocked! I knew she would look for some place to hide shishishi!~"
"Why waste your time doing something like this?" Levi asks.
"Cause we ship them!" Hanji responds popping out of nowhere.
"You guys are fucking weird." Levi responds as he walk away.
"It's a fangirl thing!" Hanji yells after him as Sarah and herself begin to discuss how their plan worked out.
Back in Eren's room~
"So um…" Eren scratches the back of his head, "Are you sleepy?"
"Yeah…" Josephine responds softly.
"Ok, so you can take my bed and I'll sleep on the floor!" He suggests.
"No it's ok, I'll take the floor! I'm afraid if I sleep too well I won't be able to make it to my room when the storm ends." Josephine suggests.
"How about we-" Eren stops and thinks for a moment, 'if we share the bed, we both might not be able to wake up and Corporal might check on us in the morning!…' he covers his crotch defensively and pales.
"Eren?" Josephine asks worriedly.
"Oh, I-I was going to say maybe we should wait out the storm together?" Eren finally responds.
"Ah, no it's ok! I can do it by myself! You didn't get much sleep last night and you had to wake up super early! You really need some sleep and-"
Eren grabs the blanket off his bed wraps it around himself and sits on the floor at the side of his bed (facing the door), "You didn't get much sleep either, and I don't mind, it's the least I can do, for all you've done for me," he stretched his arm out to the side and ushers her over, "look there's room for you in here!" He says with his cheeks tinged.
Josephine blushes and walks over, and scoots her way into the space Eren made for her in the blanket. She continues to squirm around trying to find a comfortable sitting position as Eren laughs at her struggle, "Comfortable?"
"Hold up a second," Josephine gets up and sits on his bed and takes off her boots and all her straps, before sitting back down and hugging her knees. Suddenly Eren brings his arm around her scooting her closer and enveloping her in the blanket.
"Better?" Eren asks.
"Be-better." Josephine stutters out with her face pinking.
"You always feel so cold." Eren randomly says as he grabs her hands, cheeks tinged.
Josephine leans her head on his shoulder, "and you're always so warm."
Eren blushes, "That means we're perfect together," Eren murmurs.
"Hm? Did you say something?" Josephine asks.
"No!" He responds a little to fast, ears reddening.
She laughs slightly, "You're such a bad liar," she yawns, "but I'll let you off this time.." She says as she drifts to sleep. Eren following soon after.
Eren's POV:
I feel something hit my crotch scaring me awake as I yell, "Don't rip off my balls!" I look around and don't see corporal; I guess it was just a nightmare. I lay my face in my hands, but then what- I look down to see Joy's head on my lap. Oh. I try to shake her awake, "Joy. Joy. Joy!" She just groans and curls herself up tighter into a ball and buries her face into my lap. I can feel my face heat up slightly. I sigh and carefully wrap the blanket around her and carry her to my bed. I open the door to see if the storm stopped, it did. I check the time, 2 am. I think I have enough time to carry Joy to her room, and still get some sleep. I put my shoes on, remove the blanket from Joy, carry her bridal style, and pick up her boots and straps. God! She's getting heavy! I walk out the door and try to find Sarah and her room. Luckily cleaning so much let me know my way around the castle, I find a door with a piece of paper pinned to it that says, 'Sarah and Josephine's room!' With little drawing of themselves on it. I turn the door to find it's unlocked, how convenient! I walk over to her bed and gently place her down, and her boots and straps next to her bed. I go to walk away before I feel something tugging on my sleeve. It's Joy! Is she even awake?! I pinch her cheek, and she groans and turns away from me. Ha. I guess not. I look to see if Sarah's asleep; it looks like it. I turn back to Joy and blush, I'm going to regret this later. I lift her bangs up and gently place a kiss on her forehead. She stirs and before I even know it I'm halfway through the hallway. I really feel like I'm going to regret this later!
author's note: lol sorry if Eren's OOC I've been reading too much shoujo manga xD