Eren's phone rings, the image of Sasha popping up on his screen. He immediately answers the phone, not even getting the change to start the conversation before he is questioned by Sasha -"She was at your house? And you didn't tell me?"

"Hello to you too, Sasha - yeah, she was here today, they came over to eat lunch and stayed after that. Sorry I didn't tell you, but we didn't tell anyone" he answers, knowing that he'll have to come clean about Armin's seeing her.

"How is she? Is she ok? She looked like she wasn't happy at all, are you sure you're taking care of her?" the girl fires off, asking question after question, her urgency to know the situation of Mikasa readable from her tone.

The brunette sighs, not knowing if he should explain what happened to Mikasa before -"Well, she's not perfectly fine, no...she still has some moments of panic, but she's adjusting quickly - I personally think that you guys might be able to see her soon enough. But don't take my word for it" he replies, satisfied with his answer.

"I hope so...I want to see her so much, you're probably the only one who wants to do that even more, aside from Levi - let me know if I can do something to help, ok? Preferential treatment with me, Eren!" Sasha exclaims, letting out a soft chuckle at the end, a signal that she's not serious.

"Actually, Armin is going to see her tomorrow - he's coming over to Levi's house, we're going to spend some time together" he says, grimacing in anticipation to her reaction.

For a while, Eren doesn't hear anything, even wondering if the line was lost at some point, but then he hears a loud sigh coming from the other side.

"Ok, I get it - Armin is closer to you, you're closer to Mikasa, but that last part is debatable, so it makes sense that Armin would be the first choice. You are off the hook for now, Jeager - but this is a warning. I'm next up, you hear me?" Sasha speaks, her voice getting both softer and as threatening as possible, making Eren nod instinctively.

"Don't worry Sasha, as soon as it's possible to do so I'll make sure you're next - you can trust me" the brunette promises, already imagining a time where all of them will spend time together.

"Ok Eren...I'll do that - do you think that I can call Levi? Ask if Mikasa can talk to me?" he can hear the girl ask, her tone getting softer -" Sorry Sasha, I don't think it's a good idea...we already did this with Armin, she wasn't talking at all basically...but I'll see if tomorrow me and Armin can call you, how about that?" he finishes, already knowing her answer.

"Great! Just call me anytime, ok? I'm counting on you! Night Eren!" Sasha finishes, ending the call. Eren makes his way downstairs, seeing his mom working in the kitchen, prompting him to loudly scoff.

"Mom - get some rest already, you've worked enough today. Let me cook" - the only answer that he receives is a chuckle, cooking interrupted for the moment -"Ok, Mr Cook, go ahead." Carla jokingly says, sitting down at the kitchen table , drinking some water.

"So, what are your plans for tomorrow?" Carla asks, watching her son takes a pot and fills it with water -"I don't know...I guess that I'll go and pick up Armin, then go to Levi's house - hopefully nothing happens to trigger Mik...after that I was thinking of maybe coming back here for lunch, just me and Armin, if that's ok with you" - Eren puts the pot on the stove, turning on the gas under it, covering it with a lid. "It's been a while since we spent time together"

The words "when I wasn't depressed" are left unspoken, but very clear to both of them, silence filling the void, mom and son temporarily not talking after that.

"It's great that you've finally gotten better, you have no idea just how relieved I am" Eren doesn't need to turn to know that his mother has the biggest smile on her face, happened leaking through her tone.

The brunette thinks about his situation, getting a bittersweet smile -" Sometimes I think that I've wasted my life...I spent so many years angry and resentful towards everyone, I'm not sure I know anymore how to be happy" he says, speaking softly, his shoulder slouching down.

"And then I think about how Mikasa had it worse, so I shouldn't complain about anything, so I feel even worse - it's just...whatever"

Eren grabs a pan, covering it slightly with oil and salt, opening a can of tomato sauce, waiting for the pan to heat up before dumping it in. Carla frowns, picking her words carefully in her mind, before speaking up.

"But you aren't complaining and not doing anything though - you're actively acting on that. That's a big difference. And you're not even complaining, you're just observing, now that you're feeling better, how you wished you had handled the situation in a different way." she pauses, waiting to see any reaction from the brunette.

"Don't worry about it. Eren, you're still young. Your friends are still young. Yeah, your college trip didn't end favorably, but you're not the only one who had to start from zero. Plenty of people have to do that. And it sucks. But there's nothing inherently wrong" Carla ends her speech, confident that Eren understood her point, having it confirmed when she sees him straighten his posture.

"And Mikasa has had it worse - but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't feel bad about your situation - as long as you aren't complaining to her about your situation, you aren't doing anything wrong"

Carla gets up, moving near Eren, and puts him in a bear hug, the boy smiling despite his efforts to appear annoyed by the gesture.

"Thanks, mom"

Carla moves back, her job accomplished, and sits down back at the table, grabbing her phone.

"No problem Eren - now come on, show me you learned how to cook from me!"

Eren and Armin are driving to Levi's place, the atmosphere peaceful, filled with excitement from seeing again their best friend.

"Before we get it, give me the short version of dos and don'ts - what about hugging? Is that ok?" the blonde starts, nervously tapping his foot on the floor of the car. Eren begins to answer, still uncertain about that question.

"Uuh, I don't know honestly - yesterday we did hug, but it was quick. With Levi and Petra she's more comfortable with physical touches, with my mom as well - she's still getting used to me, I guess"

Armin's expression turns shocked, his first guess being that Mikasa would feel at ease also with the brunette -"Really? With you? I would've thought the opposite, honestly" he comments, looking at the road in front of them, stopping at a red light.

Eren silently nods softly, getting slightly more dejected -"Well you're not the only one - but after what she's been-" he stops mid sentence, suddenly remembering that his friend isn't aware of the girl's experience. Armin looks at him, wondering why he stopped talking, about to ask him the reason.

Eren looks around, finding a parking lot across the street. He turns the car in it, stopping the car in a spot near the entrance and turning off the engine. He sighs once, and then faces Armin, who is still confused about the sudden change.

"Why are we here? Isn't Levi like 3 blocks up?"

Eren doesn't answer, instead deciding to focus on informing his friend on Mikasa. -"I'm not sure if I should do this, so I'm not going to go into details. Also because I don't know them myself. Mik...she was abused. Mentally and...and physically" he pauses, gulping to avoid getting a cracked voice, his own emotions not yet ready to handle that reality.

"These...these monsters...ran a-a...prostitution ring" - Armin's eyes widen, initially not wanting to believe those words, his brain firing off excuses to not listen.

Not hearing anything coming from his shorter friend, Eren continues with the explanation -"That lasted for 10 years...so don't make my mistake - the first time I tried to hug her she literally had a panick attack. I got confrontational with Levi and he almost punched me from anger alone"

Armin looks away, his breathing coming in a bit faster, still processing the information. Neither of them speak for a while, the silence steadily getting heavier and heavier to bear. He sighs, and turns to Eren -" Ok...so I won't try to hug her...thanks for telling me" - Eren nods at that, shaking his head to rid himself of those thoughts, not wanting Mikasa to sense their uneasiness.

"Come on, is it ok if we walk from here? I need to take a few steps" Armin asks, already getting out of the car without getting a response first from Eren, who silently follows him. For the first couple of hundred meters the two friends walk in silence, Eren thinking of what to say to help his friend cope.

"Listen, Armin, I'm sorry that I made you feel like this, but...you know I had to, right?" Eren says, staring off in the distance. Armin pats his back, that gesture coming out more forced than the blonde wanted -"You did the right thing, Eren, don't worry - I'm just not sure of what to do in front of her, but I'll just follow your lead. Don't worry, I'm not going to keep this state!"

As they keep walking, the brunette admires the way Armin handled the situation, not reacting in the same way he did, instead focusing on it and accepting it straight away.

I'm lucky that he stuck around to help me

They arrive in front of the apartment complex, Eren ringing the buzzer on the intercom, waiting until they hear a male's voice coming -" Yeah? Who is it?"

"Eren and Armin, Levi" Eren replies, inhaling to slightly pump himself up. He looks to his right, and, after catching Armin's eyes, they both smile to each other, giving each other a thumbs up. The door opens, and the two enter, climbing up the stairs when they arrive to Levi's front door.

Before entering, Eren nods once at Armin, a silent "Ready?" passing between them - as answer, Armin stares straight back, and knocks on the door, a smile on his face.

The door opens, Levi smiling a bit from the other side hopeful for the meeting -" Hey brats - everything ok?" he asks, while simply pointing at the shoe cabinet.

"Yes Levi, thanks! How about you? It's been a while since we last saw each other, how's Petra?" Armin asks politely, sliding the shoes into the cabinet, used to Levi's standards of cleaning.

"Well, can't complain - Petra right now is at her school, she started her course again...I'll be waiting a bit more before opening the shop - things are getting better overall - Eren, you ok?" Levi asks the brunette, judging if the boy is going to act in a not ideal way.

"Yeah, thanks Levi - listen, I didn't want Armin to learn her experience while here, so I kind of told him just before, just to warn him, sorry I went over your head" Eren says, cutting to the chase, hoping not to get chewed out by the shorter man.

"Mmh...well, he had to know anyway, I guess it's a good thing he heard before rather than later - well now don't go tell everyone what happened, ok? I'm serious, Eren. From now on, you ask before - Armin is an exception" Levi finishes, proud that Erem wasn't rebutting anything and was really upset at the idea of disappointing him.

"Where is Mikasa? Is she awake?" the blonde asks, cutting in, anxious to see his friend again - "She's in the livingroom,reading The Lord of The Rings books - and she's calm right now, so you should have an easier time talking to her" Levi answers, leading the way.

Armin can barely contain his excitement, physically having to stop himself from passing the older man and rush into the living room, Eren chuckling at the display.

"Hey Mik - Eren and Armin are here!" Levi starts, making way for the duo to enter the room. At the mention of Eren's name, Mikasa snaps her head up, immediately locking eyes with the brunette, breaking into a shy smile, then concentrating on the blonde kid next to him -" Hey Mikasa! You have no idea how happy I am to see you!" He takes a step forward, followed immediately by Eren.

Mikasa looks at Armin, memories of them talking or laughing at something Eren did flooding her mind -"Hey, Armin...I missed you too" she softly says, trying her hardest to maintain eye contact.

Levi motions for them to sit down on the couch, Eren and Armin sitting on the left and right of the raven, respectively -"You started reading the Fellowship, Mik? Man that book is good - then you have to watch the trilogy though" the brunette comments,looking at the book in her hands.

The raven doesn't answer, smiling softly, leaning a bit on Eren's side,making the boy look at Armin, the blonde unperturbed by the motion, simply getting up, facing Levi -"Sorry, could I have a glass of water?" he asks, the older man simply nodding and waving a hand back, signalling to follow him.

In the kitchen, Levi prepares a glass, handing it to Armin - "My bad, Armin - I thought that she would've been as comfortable with you as she is with us...didn't think this through. She's just scared, that's all - don't take it personally"

"No worries...I should've thought of that too, she hasn't seen me in ages..." he drinks the water, putting the glass in the sink -" I am probably making the same mistakes as Eren, assuming she knows that I won't hurt her..."

The duo walks back to the living space, watching Eren list the differences between the movies and the books of Lord of the Rings -" He's also getting better, isn't he?" Armin whispers to Levi, witnessing the barely barely contained excitement coming from the boy, moving past him sitting down on the chair, leaning on his knees with his elbows.

"I mean the books are way more exhaustive, and explain literally everything in that moment, but the movies are a work of art - we have to watch them like immediately" Eren continues, seeing the relaxed posture of Mikasa, invigorating his happiness and excitement.

"Eren, I'm pretty sure that Mik saw the trilogy already - right, Mik?" Armin asks, remembering the days where they would meet up at Eren's house and watch all sort of movies, succeeding at not saying "Before you were kidnapped"

This was a close call...

Mikasa looks at the blonde, a shy smile on her face, and then nods once -"Yes...I watched them with you two..." she explains, her eyes looking down at the book in her hands. Eren dismisses the blonde's comment, waving it off with his hand -"I didn't say that she didn't see them, I was just saying that we should see them again, since they're really good movies!"

"At what point have you arrived?" Armin asks, nodding towards the book -"Gandalf is just facing the Barlog..." she answers, getting slightly more comfortable with the blonde, who notices the change in her posture, appearing more relaxed.

"Oh man that's it - I'm watching that scene" Eren exclaims, fishing out his phone and searching for the clip on youtube, extending his arm so his friends could also see.

Levi looks at the scene, for a moment seeing three kids having fun and laughing at each other, a bittersweet smile appearing on his face.

We'll get there

"And so Eren just exclaims : 'It is the price that it is, if you don't want to pay that much drink water!"" Levi says, with Armin laughing at the story, Eren trying to appear angry but failing miserably.

"I swear he was ready to tackle that old lady" he adds, only increasing Armin's laughter. He looks at Mikasa, noting that she was listening in, smiling and occasionally letting out a small laugh.

"Well she kept complaining that everything was too expensive, and blamed me for it! I told her that I had nothing to do with it, but she ignored me every time!" the brunette says, still trying his best to sulk, still failing miserably.

"Well she was right about one thing - you're not that good of a retail worker : sloppy, and horrible sense of cleaning. I always had to make you clean again" Levi states, wagging a finger in Eren's direction.

"Your standards are really high though"

Everyone snaps their heads towards Mikasa, her eyes looking up from her slightly hunched position, smiling slightly at her brother, who is sitting with his mouth open, still amazed that she participated.

"Thank you! That's what I've been saying! See, it's not just me - everyone says the same thing!" Eren continues the conversation, registering after a second that Mikasa actually talked unprompted, and turns to face her, smiling at her.

Levi can read that Mikasa is becoming more agitated at everyone looking at her, and so decides to keep talking, grabbing the attention from her -"Even Petra says that - but to me it's just further proof that you're wrong"

The group laughs, and Levi notices that Mikasa is somewhat more relaxed, the agitation from before almost gone entirely, proud of her for her growth.

"Okok - hey Mik, I talked to Sasha yesterday, I did promise to call her, if you're feeling up to it" Eren asks her, his hand already going to grab his phone.

Mikasa mulls over it a bit, both wanting to not interact with other people and wanting to see her friend again. Sasha was one of the closest people she had, and she would love to talk to her again, but mentally she is tired for the day, wanting to relax.

Sensing her thoughts, Eren whispers -" It's ok if you don't want to - she won't get mad" he assures her, his hand going to rest upon hers. The raven freezes for a bit at the touch, still not entirely used to it, and moves her hand from underneath Eren's to put the book on the stand next to the couch, glad to have found a valid excuse to not have to hold hands, even if she feels awful for it.

Mikasa looks at the phone in the brunette's hand, and nods once, him understanding and smiling more, starting a video call with the girl.

After a couple of beeps, the call starts, the screen showing the face of the red head -"Hey Eren! Is everything ok?" she asks him, smiling at the brunette.

"Yes! I'm at Levi's house right now, with Armin-" he pauses, turning the phone towards the two, who simply wave at the girl -"And here is-"

"Mik! Mik! Where is she, Jeager? Show her to me, now!" Sasha abruptly speaks, cutting off Eren, who recoils from the interruption. Without saying a word, he turns the phone again, landing in front of Mikasa.

"Mikasa! Hi! How are you today? You have no idea how much I want to hug you, sweetie! And I want to see you with my own eyes, too!" Sasha fires off, sentence after sentence, not giving enough time for anyone to answer.

"I hope Eren is treating you well - we know that he can be a big reckless idiot at times, but he means well, Mik, just be patient with him!"

"What is this, bash on Eren day?" the brunette interjects, causing everyone to break into smiles, Sasha again taking over -"I can't wait to see you, Mik...I truly missed you so much, I'm about to cry...you're finally here! And you look good too!"

Mikasa's smile freezes, her eyes slightly widening, the appraisal from Sasha bringing in awful feelings down her spine. Levi takes notice of that, leaning more towards her, the motion causing Armin to wonder what is wrong, him too noticing Mikasa's frozen expression.

Eren and Sasha still don't see it, both still going on about how they will meet up sooner or later, already making plans -"And Connie will be there too, and you will meet Jean as well, nice guy, even though Eren antagonises him for no reason"

"Ok come on, you have to back me up on this!" Eren tries to interjectes, getting readily shot down by Sasha -"Nope! He's a swell guy, Mik, trust me"

"Sorry Sasha, but we're going to have to end the call here, we're all pretty tired - hope you don't mind" Levi speaks up, Eren looking at him not understanding the reason why. He just looks back at him, nodding once to message back "Trust me".

"Alright - but next time I pretend more time! Bye Mik! As soon as I see you I will hug you for like 5 minutes straight! I still can't get over on how beautiful you look"

At that word, Mikasa stares off in the distance, her eyes widening more and more, promptly looking around the room for Elena, sure that she has somehow found her again. She doesn't listen to the goodbyes, at Eren asking her what's wrong, and at Levi closing in, kneeling in front.

"Mik? Listen to me, Mik" Levi starts, putting himself in her line of sight to get her attention -"Everything is ok, Mik...they're not here" the last part does help a bit, but Mikasa can't overcome the instincts that were built inside of her, and she lifts her knees, hugging them, closing herself from the outside, practicing the inhale and exhale she's now become used to.

Armin is still sitting, not having moved from the end of the call, simply looking at the event unfold, not sure of what to do for help. He catches Eren's eyes, and the brunette gives him a thumbs up, reassuring the blonde.

Levi is now sitting next to Mikasa, sitting in Eren's spot, rubbing his hand on her back -" What happened, Mik? What did you feel?" he whispers, waiting for Mikasa to answer.

"They used to call me that..." she speaks softly, beginning to breathe a bit more forcefully, causing Levi to whisper back soothing sounds, making her understand that she doesn't have to explain anymore.

The two friends stand on the sideline, having heard what the raven said, and make their way to the kitchen, to let the two siblings have some peace without an audience.

"What did she say, exactly? That's what they used to call her?" the blonde starts, thinking back to any conversation that they had with her today -"I don't think we said anything about her..." Eren says, trying to recollect any word they had said to her.

Suddenly Armin snaps his fingers, looking at Eren -" Sasha! I noticed that she started to behave strangely after when Sasha was talking!" The brunette wears a confused expression at that, only having seen Mikasa's situation at the end of the call -"You sure? I thought she was acting normal"

"Yeah yeah yeah! She said..." Armin is trying to think of the exact words that Sasha used, getting interrupted by Levi, walking in the kitchen -" She said that she was beautiful" he finishes, grabbing a glass of water to drink.

"But why would that happen? She was sincere!" Eren, not realising it yet, is pushing back on the idea, not understanding how a compliment could cause a reaction like that.

"Doesn't matter - she just told me that it was that word. Doesn't take much time to understand why, in the situation that she was in" Levi speaks, looking straight at Eren, who is slowly connecting the pieces together, a horrified expression coming to his face -"Now she's resting, so no loud noises"

Armin doesn't move, him too understanding the underlying reasoning behind that reaction. The atmosphere around them stays heavy, neither willing to break the silence, but ultimately Armin decides to talk -"Well..I guess we should leave now...thanks again, Levi - you think I can go say goodbye to Mik?" he asks, already facing the living room -"Maybe...I don't know honestly...Maybe it's better to let her rest for now, I don't want her to think she's the reason you're leaving now"

Armin nods, slightly disappointed by that answer, but nonetheless agreeing with the logic behind it. Him and Eren get ready to go out, both wearing their shoes, and sighing once again before exiting the apartment -" Bye brats...and don't worry, you'll do this again - she liked it"

The duo say their goodbyes, walking outside the complex and making their way towards the car.

"Is it the first time she had a relapse?" Armin breaks the silence, not looking at his friend -"No...she...she already had had them unfortunately" images of her crawling away from him fill his mind, and he grimaces in response.

"Well, up until that point she was almost normal - a bit more reserved, but that's expected" the blonde comments, wanting to change the subject into positive news.

Eren nods, rhinking of the change she has made in these days -"Yeah...she has improved so much..." they walk to the car, entering the vehicle -" Do you want to spend more time together? We could go home or someplace else"

The blonde looks at his friend, happy that for once he's initiating something. He chuckles a bit, and then nods.

"Yes, that'd be great!"