Attack on Titan Short Stories

Breaktime w/ the Barista (Reiner x Bertholdt) part 2

TW: Mentions of blood, amputations, mental illness, war

"Mom...*hic* I'm so scared he's not coming back" Bertholdt sobbed into the phone.

"Honey breath...everything is going to be ok."

"Mom I think I really messed up. I scream at him, I threw things in his face...he won't answer his phone...mom what do I do?"

"Bertholdt sweetheart, letting him have some space is the best thing you can do. It sounds like you both said some things that you didn't mean to say. Both of you have been under a ton of stress. I've had fights with your dad before and we are going 40 years strong. You can text him and let him know you are sorry, and let him know your still here for him"

"I just want him to come home" Bertholdt sniffled. "I don't wanna lose him"

"Honey if I know Reiner he will come back I promise. You two have been through so much together, I don't think one fight is going to ruin your 8 year relationship. So make some tea, go take a hot shower, and snuggle with Charlie."

"I love you mom, thanks for talking to me" Bertholdt said his sobs easing.

"I love you too Berty Bear"

Bertholdt hung up the phone. Charlie looked at him with sad brown eyes. Bertholdt reached down and scratched behind his ears.

"Don't worry buddy he'll come back".

******************************************

Reiner was grateful for the breezy evening. It was helping drying his eyes. He wasn't sure how far he had walked, but he found himself outside the Starbucks near their house.

Bertholdt and him would walk Charlie here on the weekends that Bertholdt had off.

His knee where his prosthetic leg was attached was aching, so he decided to stop in for a hot drink.

It was about 8:45, so the pace was slow.

"Welcome to Starbucks, what can I get ya?"

"This guy must be new" Reiner thought looking over the young man behind the counter. Most of the baristas knew him. He noticed the American flag pin on his apron

"Decaf Pike place with 1 pump of vanilla and a bit of almond milk please, venti"

Reiner scanned his app.

"We will have that right out for you sir"

"Thanks" Reiner said slipping two dollar bills into the tip jar.

*********************************************
Bertholdt heard the tea kettle whistle. He got up from the kitchen table and pulled out a mug and two bags of peppermint tea.

Tea in hand he sat back down. Looking over the grad school program pamphlets.

He rubbed his eyes. They were red and swollen. He made his way to the bathroom and pulled out his contacts case. He squirted some contact solution into the case and starting taking out his contacts.

Ever since they were in 8th grade it had always freaked Reiner out when he would put in and take out his contacts.

Bertholdt saw that he had a sad smile on his face as he put his glasses on.

Even without his contacts in his eyes still hurt, so he got an ice pack out of the freeze and laid on the couch, Charlie snuggling beside him as he put on a prerecorded Manchester City match.

*****************************************
Reiner felt his phone buzz, but he ignored it.
He felt kind of bad for ignore Bertholdt's calls but he just need some time to cool off.

"Here you go...Reiner"

The barista placed his coffee on the counter.

"How long were you in for?" Reiner asked.

The guy smirked at him. "What gave it away?"

"I use to work at Starbucks. They made all the vets or reserves wear the flag pin."

"Gotta virtual signal" the guy laughed. "I try to hide it among my other pins"

Reiner looked at the Star Wars pin, the pride pin, some sort of anime pin, and a watchmen pin.

"I'm Eren by the way" he extended his hand.

"Nice to meet you Eren."

"Eren you can go on your break now" a woman called from the back.

"Aight, I'll be back in 30 Rico."

He turned to Reiner, "you want some company, you seem like you got something on your mind"

Eren and Reiner made their way to two chairs in the corner.

Eren took a sip from his water bottle. "So I was in the army from 2006-2010. Did 4 tours, 2 in Afghanistan, 2 in Iraq, until my unit got caught in a fire fight, lost my hearing in my right ear, and 3 fingers." He held up his left hand, notice the prosthetic. "Good think I'm right handed"

Reiner laughed. "I'll one up ya". He lifted his pants leg. "Lost it when my convoy hit IEDs"

Eren tapped the titanium leg with his foot. "That's some high quality tech"

"It better be considering how sh*ty the VA was about paying for it"

"Yeah they gave me hell just to get my hearing aid." Eren said. "Then I set my fiancé on them"

"Getting married...congratulations"

Eren pulled out his phone. "Her name is Mikasa, we actually met in between tours, she was teaching a workout class at the gym I went to, she works as a dental hygienist, and teaches self defense classes"

Eren showed a picture of him, a tabby cat, and a beautiful young woman with black hair just above her shoulders.

"She's beautiful, you're a lucky guy" Reiner said.

"Don't be getting any ideas now" Eren joked.

"No need to worry, let's just say she's not my type"

"Not a fan of black hair girls?" Eren asked.

"Not a fan of girls in general" Reiner said with a nervous laugh.

He saw that it took him a minute to get what he said. Reiner was a bit worried he might get up and leave.

"I'm sorry about the whole "don't ask, don't tell thing" he finally spoke. "Some of my best friends in the service were gay"

Reiner winced at the "were".

"I'm actually here because me and my boyfriend got into a major fight, we said somethings. I called him a rich boy, told him he didn't know what it was like to be surrounded by death, I was so thick headed didn't even realize how many patients he's lost" Reiner said sadly.

"You snagged yourself a doctor?"

"ER trauma nurse, works at Trost Medical center"

"No sh*t, one of Mikasa's best friends works there, Sasha Springer" Eren said with a smile.

"Yeah, we do out with her and her husband a lot. Small world" Reiner laughed. "Girl can drink and eat any person under the table"

"So what happened?"

To be Continued