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∙ ⸰ ⊱ ❀ ⊰ ⸰ ∙ tw/cw: vague mention of suicide/overdose, death in general (of nobody new) the scene will be labeled prior!
How long has it been?
How long since you last let yourself be?
For weeks on end, you've been uneasy, waiting for that pen to drop. You've been trapped in a cardboard box with the word "fragile" stamped on the side with someone else's blood.
"Hugs and hand-holding—that's it."
They forgot to erase those words from the forefront of his mind. That was then, when your heart couldn't handle any sort of rise or drop without putting you under defibrillators, but now, this one can. So tell him that he can do more.
Waves crash on the shore, harmonizing with the song playing at a low hum through the speaker resting just a few feet away. The breeze pushes against the dimming flames that were once so alive—livid with heat—slowly killing them with hushed whispers.
But you're no witness to the fire's death. Your eyes are drawn solely to the back of his hand, watching every individual shift of his bones and veins as he manipulates the towel, fitting the fabric to how you've decided to position yourself with your legs bent over his right one, and your back against his left. He's hugging your shoulders with his strong arms, digging his chin into the top of your head. He was kissing you moments ago. Or was that just a drunken fantasy wishing to be reality?
"Eren?"
"Hm?"
You turn your nose skyward, finding his eyes with your own, looking up to him as he looks down to you. Beneath his gaze, you find it hard to fish the next words out from the depths of your throat. "I just..." you choke just so you can spit them out, "I really want you to kiss me."
Eren fights a smile, pressing pause on his pride as he dips his chin, leaning in to whisper, "But there's a parental figure present."
You lean further against his arm, slowly craning your neck to gain visibility of Armin's silhouette as the night tries its best to hide him away. He doesn't know he's not hidden; he thinks he's very much unnoticeable. But he must've caught you looking because he has his book splayed out in his hands, the sleeve of it still overlapping the left page. If not for the simple fact that it's basically pitch black all around you, you'd actually believe his facade.
"Oh." You laugh quietly to yourself, slightly embarrassed.
"You know how he is about that shit." Eren scoffs lightly, remembering how his best friend has reacted to others' displays of affection in the past. It's not that he's totally indifferent to it, he just believes intimacy should be just that—intimate.
