Attack on Titan One Shots

Unspoken Goodbye [AU] (Young! Erwin x Reader)

This originally started as a fanfic about two of my old chums, but I hated letting it rot away under my name. Therefore, I have decided to revamp it into something for this series. I hope you enjoy it as much as I loved writing it or rewriting it rather.

~May

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The previously empty hallways were now filled with crazed students rushing to get home. Among those escaping the shitty lectures and uncomfortable seats, Erwin yawned as sleep deprivation consumed him.

He didn't have a single clue how he even got through the day, and his whispering classmates weren't helping either. They were wondering what finally made the impenetrable crack: a corner of his shirt rested against his jeans, his socks clearly weren't from the same package despite the fact that they were the same color and from the same brand, heavily contrasting dark bags sat under his eyes, and his disheveled mess of blonde hair lacked any product to make it presentable. He was a mess.

A couple of theories currently floating in everyone's mind were that they were being featured on some lame ass prank show or an unintelligent alien had tried to take their student body president's place.

However, the real reason for his uncharacteristic appearance happened to be the fact that his body and brain were probably running on an hour of sleep— maybe less, but that could be considered unwonton too.

His Chemistry professor had assigned the whole class a project requiring months of work, but he had completely forgotten about it due to pouring his heart and soul into a plethora of clubs he led as well as being a normal student with a heavy workload. If (Y/N) hadn't been complaining about the project a week before it was due, he surely would've shown up empty-handed. The professor most likely would have understood, but he just couldn't stand losing his credit in imprinting other students to follow his example— like a commander of sorts.

He stayed up for days trying to formulate something to present, but genius only struck him four days before the deadline. Anyone would've believed him to be a goner, but he somehow managed to pull his project together and it looked amazing. His best friend couldn't even fathom that it had been done last minute, and he too would've applauded his skills if he weren't running on essentially nothing.

Every bodily function he had was close to shutting down, but he held himself together enough to shove his books in his bag and slam his locker door shut. He turned to trudge away only to flinch at the sight of (Y/N) standing there. His cool and collective manner had slowly ebbed away after each class, so his guard was practically non-existent at this point. The (h/c) haired girl almost smirked at finally scaring him, but his current state made her think again.

"How're you holding up, Pres?" He scrunched his face in what he assumed was a glare before she held up her hands in surrender.

"Just take me home. My mattress is calling me." She chuckled before dragging him to her car. It wasn't much, but she really appreciated having something to take her from place to place. In her mind, having a car beat walking any day.

She released Erwin's hand to grasp for her keys when he abruptly erupted into a fit of coughs. His calloused hand flew to his mouth as pain ripped through his parched throat. The feeling was unlike anything he had experienced since he hadn't swallowed glass shards before. (Y/N)'s head snapped toward her best friend, but she felt paralyzed. She didn't have any kind of medical experience, so she had no idea what caused his coughs or how to go about helping him.

Erwin made a beeline for the nearest bush as he felt a bitter taste rise up in his throat. He doubled over and retched blood onto the soil beneath his freshly cleaned sneakers. The beyond tired male stared at the thick, red substance coating the ground. This had to be some sick side effect of not having slept in days. He shivered in disbelief before wiping some blood off of his chin with the back of his hand. His other hand awkwardly grabbed the water bottle from his backpack's side pocket and gulped down the taste of iron. Once he felt collected, he walked back toward the deer in headlights.