Breathless •Eremika (Love. Me. Now. Or. Never.)

IV: Spin the Bottle

"Armin, you go join them for lunch, I'll stay here," Eren was slumped against the wall, "you need to eat." They were in the boys' dormitory, loitering their time away. They had shared the same room with Jean and Connie, the two infamous class-clowns.

"What's wrong with you, Yeager?" Jean sighed and gave him a friendly nudge before heading out of the dorm with Connie. Eren flinched, breathing hard, hiding his face in his sweaty palms.

"I'm fine. I overworked today, that's all. All thanks to that grueling hike." With Mikasa's help, he had successfully hiked up the cliff to where Armin was in half an hour. By the time he reached the top, his mind spun and disconnected from the world momentarily.

"Eren, if you don't come out to eat, Mikasa will know," Armin tried again, sitting down on the edge of his friend's bed, "You should've stayed at home."

"My mother was crying, Armin, I don't want to see her like that," he whispered dismally, "maybe things will be better if I leave the house. Besides, I want to see you guys too during my last few months."

"You want to see Mikasa," Armin was sniffling, swallowing his tears, "If you have feelings for her, you should tell her, before it's too late."

"What are you saying? I don't like her that way," Eren scowled faintly.

"It's rather obvious. But just listen to my advice, Eren," he muttered, "Anyway, just come join us as soon as you can."

"Right, I'll come out later, when we roast marshmallows after dinner. I don't feel like dinner at all anyway," Eren's throat tickled. He had to ensure that Armin was out of the room before he could cough in peace, "I need some quiet time."

Eventually, Armin succumbed to his will. He left without making another comment, knowing that his attempts to compel Eren to eat would all be futile. Once he latched the door of the room shut behind him, Eren coughed. An acute pain embedded itself in his lungs as he forced the air out, covering his mouth with his hand.

His hand was stained with blood and a metallic tang filled his mouth. It was the first time he had coughed blood up.

***********

"These little cotton balls are delicious!" Sasha squealed, picking up a palm-sized marshmallow and cramming it into her mouth. She was with her friendship circle, which consisted of Jean, Connie, Mikasa and Armin. They were around a bonfire, sitting on wooden stumps, each holding out a metal prong with a marshmallow attached to the tips. Besides the heat and the light provided by the unstable fire, there was nothing illuminating in the utter darkness. They had chosen a remote area, away from the camp base, to avoid having to share the same roasting area with another group.

"Where's Eren?" Mikasa muttered to Armin, "You said he would come after dinner."

Armin sucked in a breath, unsure of how to reply, and his smile widened as soon as he saw a figure approach the group. He could only see the figure's silhouette, yet it was enough for him to deduce that it was Eren, "Hey, speak of the devil!"

Mikasa turned to see Eren hobbling to the group. She scooted over to offer her wood stump for him to sit on, "Eren, where have you been?"

He accepted her offer, crouching down beside her. Their arms grazed and she could feel that the unearthly warmth emitting from him. "I was tired." She could see, in the flickering light of the fire, that his eyes were bloodshot, with dark circles under them. His face was sagging more than usual.

"Alright, now that Eren's here, this is going to be better," Sasha unzipped her little rucksack and produced an empty can of beans and flashed a lopsided grin, "Let's play Spin the Bottle."

A few gasps came from the circle of friends. "And why, exactly? I can't remember how the game's played." Jean asked. It was a good question.

Sasha shrugged, opting to ignore his first question, "So the game goes like this. I'll spin this can twice and the two people it stops in front of will have to kiss. Simple as that."

Eren groaned, dangling his hand between his legs, lowering his head, "Do we have to do this?" He had hauled himself out of the boys' dormitory to join Mikasa and Armin, not to be involved in an inappropriate game of Spin the Bottle.

"Sure you don't, Eren, but I know you haven't had your first kiss yet and no offence but I'm pretty sure no girl would kiss you under a mistletoe on Christmas, which is merely weeks away, so why not do it now in a casual mood?"

Sasha's statement had made Eren wonder. Would he be able to make it until Christmas came? Would this be his last Christmas? What would his last days be like? He felt a hand on the small of his back. His shirt had adhered to his skin due to him sweating and thus the hand on his back felt eerily close to him.

He dragged his gaze up to see Mikasa, an apprehended expression plastered on her face. She was mouthing 'are you fine?'. He simply nodded in response, hoping that she could not see through his mask of good health. In fact, he was feeling anything but fine. The smothering smoke from the bonfire was restricting his normal breathing and his trachea constricted from the dust particles entering his lungs. A part of him craved the pleasure in coughing freely, yet his friends were around and he did not want them to see the blood spew from his mouth. It would ruin the joyous atmosphere.

The chatterbox popped the last marshmallow on her prong into her mouth and dumped it aside so it would not obstruct her view. Then she positioned the empty can in the center of the circle, ready to spin it. "Y'all ready?"

"Wait," the dense bushes from behind them rustled. Levi emerged from the bushes, motioning for Sasha to shuffle over in her log stump so he could sit, "Who said I wasn't going to join?"

"Why are you here?" Eren croaked, his throat parched, his body tensing up in hostility.

"I'm here because I want to see a pretty face," Levi replied, eyeing Mikasa, raising a brow.

"No one invited you," Eren tried to retain his calm.

"I don't need invitations, Yeager," Levi smirked.

Armin feigned a sneeze to disrupt the heightening tension. He didn't want the fight to unravel before him all over again, "Guys, we're playing Spin the Bottle, right? How about you spin first, Sasha?"

Sasha was drooling over Levi, her eyes fused into his, taking in his every move and elegancy. Eren growled, waking her from her trance, "Oh, right, yeah, sorry." She gave the can a poke, sending it spinning.

It gradually spun to stop, pointing towards Mikasa. Eren felt his heart skip a long beat.

Sasha then gave the can another slight push, with the tip of her shoe this time for convenience. It spun on its side for a prolonged period of time, and Jean, Connie, Armin, Eren and Levi had their eyes fixated on the can, anxious about what fate had in mind.

The can abruptly stopped, tripping over a piece of rubble on the ground. It was facing Levi. Did that mean Mikasa would have to kiss Levi? Crap.

A triumphant smile spread over his smug face. Cold jitters crept up Eren's spine just as an invisible yet chilling hand tightened around his chest. No matter how much he willed his mouth to speak, to deny the very fact that the can was pointing to Levi, he couldn't find the right words.

He glanced over at Mikasa. She was either furiously blushing or it was simply the reflection of the inconsistent flickering of the red bonfire. Eren could not tell but he wished it was the latter.

"Levi, Levi, Levi," Connie chimed in, "You may now kiss the bride."