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For as long as Eren Yeager could remember, Armin had always been especially strict about never showing up to places uninvited. Going somewhere that might be reserved only for people who had been allowed to come, without straightforward permission to do so himself, made him feel uncomfortable and out of place, almost like he was invading someones' personal space.
That right there was the very reason Erens' heart dropped as he opened his front door to reveal his very distressed boyfriend. Even as a child, Armin would always pester both of their mothers relentlessly until he was absolutely sure he was allowed to cheerfully knock upon Erens' door and invite him out to play, so him just ignoring his habit and showing up unexpectedly in the middle of the worst thunderstorm they'd had all year in just a thin shirt and sweatpants could mean only one thing. It meant that something was horribly wrong.
Eren was so shocked, so worried, that it took him around five seconds to actually process what was happening, his eyes widening in what was almost fear as he grabbed Armins' soaking wet arm and dragged him inside the house. The very second Armin realized it was Eren who had pulled him in he latched tightly onto him, almost as though he were a lifeline, and this certainly did nothing to calm Erens' ever-growing anxiety. He let the shivering boy hold onto him tightly, scanning over his body for any visible signs of what might be causing him this distress, and only when he found nothing did he notice that Armin was hyperventilating, sobbing so hard he was barely breathing.
"Whoa, Armin, slow down angel. Can you look at me please?" he asked, trying to hide the shakiness in his voice. Armin didn't move, staying with his head buried into his shirt as his chest heaved with ragged breaths and his rain-soaked hair dripped water onto the floor. "Armin, baby, you're really scaring me. I'm gonna need you to look at me, or at least try and calm down a little, can you do that for me?" he spoke again when he realized Armin wasn't going to answer. When he still got no response, he hurriedly scooped Armin up and carried him over to the couch, before sitting down and holding Armins' palm up to his chest. "Alright lovely can you just copy my breathing? Deep breaths for me okay?" he said, trying his best to keep calm himself. Armin had panic attacks frequently, and it wasn't uncommon for him to become nonverbal, to not be able to speak, but he'd never become unresponsive like this.
Eren was sure he had never felt more scared in his life, his mind spewing endless possibilities as to what could have caused Armin to slip into such a disturbed state. He hadn't seen any visible injuries (which ruled out the possibility of Armin being severely injured and not being able to get back home, like the time he had broken his leg and crawled god-knows-how-far to Erens' house), hadn't managed to spot any hints to the cause of his distress, so all he could do right now was try and get him to calm down so he could explain what was going on. He really wished Armin would've looked at him before hiding himself in his shirt, because over the years he had learned to tell what was wrong based only off of his expression, and knowing what had happened would most certainly make him feel a little more at ease, even if something bad had happened. This feeling of the unknown, of not knowing what had Armin in such a horrible state, was probably the scariest thing in this whole situation.
Erens' slow breathing seemed to help Armin steady his own, and a few minutes later he started babbling incoherent words that Eren couldn't have understood even if he tried. "Shh, Armin, slow down. It's okay. No need to speak right now. Just calm down and then we'll talk okay? Just focus on your breathing and try to stop crying, because it's only making it worse. Can you do that for me?". Armin nodded at that, and Eren almost breathed a sigh of relief because although his breathing was still awfully fast and there were still tears flowing relentlessly down his cheeks, at least he was responding.
Ten minutes passed, and then another ten, and finally, when it had been around forty-five minutes since Armin had showed up on his doorstep, he turned to look at Eren with wide blue eyes that held emotions so strong that even Eren, who had been by his side practically since birth, couldn't decipher the situation. "Do you think you can tell me what's wrong now angel?" he whispered into his ear, trying his best not to overwhelm him.
"They got in an accident" Armin hesitantly mumbled a few moments later, suddenly looking away as tears filled his eyes once more. "My parents. The rain was so heavy today and I guess they didn't see the other car or something because they just crashed right into it and they're both in surgery I think and it's possible they won't even make it and-" he gasped as sobs shook his body once more, his hands curling into fists in Erens' shirt.
"Oh my god Armin I'm so sorry" he whispered, his eyes widening as he held the crying boy even closer to him, now understanding why he'd been so miserable before. Armins' parents meant the world to him, so he wasn't surprised he had reacted in such an extreme way. If someone were to inform him that something of the sort had happened to his parents he was sure he'd do the exact same.
He sat with him for a little while longer, listening as he let out halves of sentences and cooed reassuring words at him until his sobs quieted down and all that were left of them were the silver streaks that went down his face and the little hiccups he'd let out every once in a while. It was only then, once the initial panic of this whole situation had died down, that Eren realized that his boyfriend was still dripping wet, and that certainly wouldn't do.
"Armin, angel, you're dripping wet. Let's go get you some clothes so you won't get sick okay?" he whispered gently, knowing the last thing Armin cared about right now was his clothes.
As expected, Armin shook his head before uttering out a hoarse "no. Please just stay with me Eren. Give me a second, I-I can't".
"Okay" Eren mumbled, leaning over to kiss his forehead. "Just tell me when you're ready, okay lovely?"
When Armin hummed in agreement, Eren let his fingers trail up into his hair, combing through it soothingly, and thinking to himself that he'd give him half and hour before forcing him to get a change of clothes. Well... maybe not forcing - just... a gentle nudge. It appeared that he wouldn't have to wait a half hour though, seeing as how only a few minutes later Armin started shivering violently, and just as he was about to suggest they go get some clothes, he stood up from his lap, his legs shaky and unstable, and whispered:
"Um... Can-can I take a shower maybe? I'm really cold..."
"Of course you can. I'll get you some clothes, just give me a sec okay? You can head up to the shower for now if you want"
Armin nodded, heading upstairs silently, already knowing where the bathrooms were seeing as Erens' house was practically his second home. Once Eren was sure he was out of earshot, he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers. This was going to be hard on them both, not to mention his mom. She was very good friends with Armins' mom and god knows how she'd react - if she hadn't been told already that is.
Eren then made his way to his room, already hearing the running water. He must've been absolutely freezing if he's already in the shower, Eren thought to himself, feeling nothing but sympathy for him. Armin usually waited for a change of clothes before getting in the shower, and Eren couldn't help but wonder just how cold he had been if he had gone to the lengths of abandoning his habit.
The rest of the night went by in a blur - Armin taking so long in the shower Eren was worried he might have drowned himself, Erens' mom coming home and announcing that Armin would be staying with them until everything was sorted out (it appeared that she'd already been told what had happened and so there was no need to inform her of the situation), followed by a lot of tears that made Eren wish he could just take all of Armins' pain away.
He stayed beside Armin the entire time, reassuring him when it was needed and practically forcing melatonin down his throat when he realized that it was three in the morning and that he was way too stressed to fall asleep, holding him close as he drifted off in his arms. He held Armin close even as he heard his mom silently crying in the kitchen, the stress getting the best of her. He held him close when he saw his mothers' horrified expression that morning, as well-concealed as it was, knowing exactly what it meant. He let him cry into his shirt when his mom had finally gathered up the courage to tell him that his father had passed away during surgery and that his mother was in a coma she'd probably never come out of, staying right next to him even as he realized that it had been three hours and his legs had gone numb. He whispered sweet words to him when his breathing became labored and heavy once again, and gave him space when he said he needed it. He watched as Armins' bright blue eyes became just the slightest bit duller, and he hated it, hated how he couldn't take his pain away, how he couldn't console him no matter how hard he tried. He stayed next to him and made sure he ate, made sure he slept, made sure he didn't ruin himself in his misery, as hard as it was.
Eren learned that he could handle a lot of things. He could handle it when Armin lashed out at him for no reason before practically breaking down right before his eyes, sobbing apologies as he sunk to his knees. He could handle the fact that his mothers' smile seemed to be just a little less bright, as depressing as it was. He could handle all the heartbreaking noises Armin would let out as he cried, could handle the devastating words he'd whisper as his emotions overwhelmed him.
Something he couldn't handle, however, was when around a month later, Armin told him that the decision to have move in with his grandfather was final. This was something he couldn't handle, because Armins' grandfather lived across the country and that meant that he'd hardly be seeing him anymore. He wouldn't ever, even in his wildest dreams, break up with Armin, but long-distance was most certainly not something he was especially keen to experience. He'd miss him too much. Miss the way his eyes and hair seemed to shine in the sunlight, he'd miss the afternoons spent together in that old abandoned coffee shop they hung out at so much, he'd miss the way Armin would sometimes just kiss him randomly, pulling back with the brightest smile on his face. He'd miss it all too much, and this is why this piece of information was something Eren Yeager couldn't handle. However, no matter how much he cried at night when no one was watching and pleaded with the universe to please let Armin stay, please, eventually the day Armin was scheduled to leave came.
"I can't believe this is the last time we'll get to hang out here" Armin breathed as he looked around the abandoned shop. "I can't believe it's the last time I'm gonna see you in a while" he then added, turning to face Eren.
"It'll be alright, don't worry. We'll figure it out, and even if I don't see you for the next decade I'll never stop loving you" Eren answered, trying his best to fight back the tears threatening to spill.
"I know. I'm just saying it'll be hard, and I'm gonna miss you- I'm gonna miss you so much" he sniffled, and that's when Eren realized that Armin was crying, silent tears spilling down his cheeks.
"Baby, no. Don't cry. I know it'll be hard, but I just know it'll work out in the end okay?" he said, trying his best to flash a reassuring smile toward him. When Armin still didn't stop crying, he leaned over and started kissing his tears away, pressing his lips to the little droplets as they fell, and then landing some more or random places just for fun, peppering Armins' face with tiny little fluttery kisses until he was giggling slightly.
"You know you can't do that every single time I get upset right?" he asked, wiping the last of the tears off of his cheeks.
"Why not? It works wonderfully, and I get to see your beautiful smile" Eren smirked at him, watching as his boyfriends' cheeks grew indescribably red. "Hey, Armin, do you remember what we did when we first found this place?" he asked after a few minutes had passed in comfortable silence.
"Didn't we pretend this was a ballroom and danced around like idiots despite the fact that we don't know how to dance?"
"Exactly" Eren hummed as he reached over to grab his boyfriends' waist, swaying them back and forth in a peculiar little dance as he hummed a song he didn't quite remember the name of.
"Eren what the hell are you doing?" Armin giggled as he let himself move along, laughing as Eren led them both around in little circles.
"Dancing" he replied, smirking at him once again. Armin laughed, and Eren swears he had never heard such a beautiful sound, a sound he hadn't heard in so long. In all their foolishness they completely disregarded the tablecloth laid crumpled on the floor, and before they knew it Armin was slipping, sending them both crashing to the floor, Armin lying on top of his boyfriend in a way that he thought only happened in movies.
"Well, that was fun" Armin said as he cupped Erens' face and slowly leaned in to press their lips together.
"Yeah, because me scraping me elbow is most certainly fun"
"Shush. Stop your grumbling. I kissed you so that should be plenty to make up for it" Armin teased, watching as Eren frowned a little. He found it absolutely hilarious when Eren frowned like this at his little teasing jokes, thought it was absolutely adorable. "It's almost three... I'll be leaving soon" he muttered, watching Erens' face fall for real this time as the conversation grew serious once again.
"Yeah..."
"Eren... Just... Promise me this is going to work out... I-I can't lose you" he whispered, looking away from those green eyes he loved so much.
"Hey. Look at me" Eren said, stepping closer and tilting Armins' chin up so he was looking straight at him. "Remember when I promised I'd stay with you forever? Do I ever break promises Armin?". When Armin shook his head, he continued: "you could live over the goddamned ocean for all I care. I'd still love you all the same"
Armin smiled, letting Eren pulling them close once more, relishing in the way Erens' lips were always so soft and the way his hand trailed up toward his hair and the way he always tasted faintly of strawberries for some reason (maybe it was because he knew that Armin loved strawberries more than anything and always seemed to have strawberry flavored candy in his mouth for situations like this exactly).
"You better call every day though, or I swear Armin I'll walk all the way to your grandfathers' house, and I don't care if it's across the country"
"Of course I'll call you, you idiot" Armin giggled as he pressed yet another kiss to Erens' cheek. Who could blame him? It'd be the last time he'd be seeing him for a while, and he was going to get as many sweet moments in as he possibly could.
And with that, Armin and Eren said their goodbyes. Well... not exactly. Just because they were half the country apart doesn't mean they weren't inseparable as ever, and they wouldn't have it any other way.