A/N:

Hope you enjoy, leave a review if you can, and see you in the next chapter.

(Armin P.O.V)

I smiled happily at Mello's humming. He sounded so happy, so calm. It was so different from what he was beforehand. And I loved seeing him like this. Like he actually had a reason to laugh and smile along with us.

Having Matt in his life changed everything around me. Mihael was more fun and in turn this made everyone else have more fun. Even my grandfather was a little less grouchy after seeing the man as happy as he was. And that wasn't something I could say often since my grandfather didn't always approve of anything. He seemed to be warming up to Matt now that he was over more.

The only thing that was negative about all this was how much the two had to hide away. Not that people wouldn't understand, but there were too many extremists in the world who would do anything to abolish what they had together. These kind of extremists believed union was between a man and a woman and should stay that way. They believed love and union had no place for the same sex couples, and it made me a bit angry. Angry because I couldn't see why two people who loved each other couldn't be together happily.

But then… that was the world we lived in. A world where the unique and outspoken couldn't be so without a price.

It was sad really.

I ate my lunch quickly and this caught my mother's attention.

"Slow down, Armin. You'll choke on your food."

I swallowed the morsel quickly before turning to her. "I have to eat quickly. Eren is meeting me in the meadow after lunch. I want to get there as soon as possible."

"You have plenty of time." Mihael reminded me sternly. "Don't make yourself sick eating like an animal, or you won't see Eren for a few days."

I shrunk in my seat slightly. "Yes sir."

Even if he was a lot better than he was before, Mihael was still as scary as ever.

He grabbed his bag and headed for the door. "What do you need from the market, mother?"

She handed him a list and a small purse with enough coin to help him get everything. "All this, and I need some blue thread. Armin and the girls have been growing so much lately, they're going to need new clothes for the winter."

He nodded. "I'll be back soon." Then left without another word.

Sera giggled. "I'll bet he meets Matt on the way there."

"With how much that boy follows him," Mother replied, "I wouldn't doubt that he would."

I finished up the rest of my lunch and asked if I would be able to leave then. With my mother's permission, I quickly took off from the table and out the door. When I'd left the house I ran right past Mihael on the way to the meadow and I managed to catch a glimpse of a familiar soldier watching from the rooftops. In no time I noticed this same soldier started following me on the rooftops.

I looked up at him. "I'll be fine, Matt! I'm just going to meet Eren!"

"Knowing your brother, he'd kill me if he knew I left you alone down the alley!" He chuckled out. "Consider it private protection for helping me with Mello!"

I smiled happily at this before continuing my run through the alley. Once the houses were behind me and I saw nothing but green, Matt left me to my own. Now it would just be me and Eren.

And no longer did I enter into the meadow did I find sleeping beauty himself passed out under the tree. He really needed to start sleeping more at night if he wanted to stop randomly sleeping anywhere he found comfortable.

I sat beside the brunette and hummed, leaning my head on my knees. Eren always looked most peaceful when he slept. His face was relaxed, his breathing low and even, and every now and then I could catch a few words escape from his mouth. I never really knew what he was saying, but sometimes I caught my name and it made me blush. I never really imagined Eren thinking about me in his sleep, but the thought made my heart quiver slightly. I liked to have believed he cared for me more than anyone, even my own family, but I couldn't. It was too much for me to believe. Eren never really thought about anything other than leaving the wall and being away from everything. Including me in that perfect picture he had, was a stretch.

I heard him stir slightly and his green eyes fluttered open. When he noticed me, they shot wide open and he startled into a sitting position.

"Armin! Jeez, you shoulda woke me!"

I cringed inward a bit. "Sorry."

He was silent for a moment before humming. "No, don't be. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. I guess I just… I don't know. But it was a nice nap."

"Any good dreams?" I asked.

Again he was silent for a moment before lying back down on the grass. "Now that you mention it, I think I was dreaming about something. Something to do with the titans again. It's like I was close to them. Like I could see and smell them. Does that sound weird?"

I shook my head. "Not to me. Then again, I sometimes think I can smell the sea when I've never even been there to know what it would smell like. My grandfather said it was salt water, so I put some salt in a glass of water one time and tried to see if I could replicate my dream. It turned out that I only ended up with an odorless, foul tasting drink."

Eren chuckled. "At least you know for sure now."

I shrugged. "I suppose… but I'd still like to visit the sea and find out more about it. To see why it has salt in it, and if it can do anything to help fight titans."

"You think there's a connection?" The brunette asked.

"Maybe… maybe not. I mean, if there was then wouldn't we have settled near the sea to keep the titans away?"

"I guess you're right. But who knows, there could be more to it than we think. We just need someone brave and fearless to find out for us."

"I guess I'm not a good candidate." I mumbled out.

Eren pulled me down for a hug. "You kidding! You'd be the first person they send in for this kind of thing! You'd be perfect for finding out more about humans before the wall! You and your brother!"

I hummed at that before cuddling into his arms. "Maybe Mihael, but not me. I'm too small, too cowardly. They'd want my brother and father there because of their strength and attitudes for a mission like that."

He hugged a bit tighter. "Well if I was in charge, I'd have you before them any day! You're a lot smarter than your dad, and I'd only choose Mello so he could keep an eye on us. Let's face it, he wouldn't let us go unless he did."

I giggled at that before cuddling a bit more into his chest. "Thanks, Eren."

I could almost feel the smile on his face as he rest his head on mine. "We'll find a way out, I promise. And when we do I promise I'll take you to the sea. And we can live there together and never look back! No titans, no military, and no parents!"

I looked up in worry when he said this. "But… we can invite them over some days. Right?"

"Of course!" He promised me. "I still want to see my mom and dad, just not every day! We can invite our whole family's out there one day! But the rest of the time will just be you and me."

I smiled once again before relaxing in his hug once more. "Okay. I'm good with that."

Especially with the part of it just being the two of us.

Later That Night

(Matt P.O.V)

"You are so lucky Armin is staying over at Eren's tonight." Mello reminded me.

I continued kissing his bare neck continuing down to his shoulders, a sly grin on my face. "Luck be with the two of us, Mello."

He rolled over in his bed to cuddle against me. "I suppose you're correct."

And our lips were locked once more.

I'd had to control myself for the month Mello and I had been together, looking for ways to ignore the urges. More times than not we snuck around or found an empty building we used for our own, but we never got this far however. We'd never been intimate and together in this fashion. When I'd heard Armin would be away for the night, I had to jump in and try.

And I succeeded.

We pulled back for air but his arms were still hooked behind my neck. "My parents will kill you if they find you here."

"Naked in your bed, or just here in general?" I joked.

I got hit for that one but only weakly since the blonde was too tired to truly hurt me.

He'd just begin nodding off against my chest when he suddenly spoke up.

"Matt… I need you to promise me something."

I blinked at the sudden seriousness. "Anything."

He took a moment to himself before he said, "Promise that if anything happens to me, you'll take take care of my family. They trust and love you as much as I do, and I know I couldn't let anyone else take care of them were something to happen to me."

I jolted up a bit at this. "Mello, what on earth do you think's going to happen? I mean… do you think I'd allow anything to happen to you?!"

"Just promise me, Matt." He replied, looking at me with pleading eyes. "We don't know what's going to happen in the future, especially with extremists and loyalists looking for easy ways to get their points across. A soldier expressing love to someone of the same gender can lead to an uproar. I just want to be prepared."

Although his words pained me, I nodded to his request before kissing him lovingly. "I promise, should anything happen to you, I'll take care of your family."

His kissed me back. "I love you, Matt."

Those words could not have sounded more true, and more fearful, to me. "I love you too, Mels."