I'll Make You Bleed

Make It Real (Armin POV)

**written by: thesketchytepe** 

12:40 AM 

Levi's tone was calm and focused when he said, "Don't do anything stupid, kid, just wait it out." He tried to imitate him by taking deep, steady breaths, but the loud slamming of a body against the back door cut that short.

His eyes flew to the glass door and he had to swallow a scream. He couldn't see who it was at first; all he saw was the outline of an arm and shoulder but eventually they pressed their face against the glass. They rattled the handle and the rapid clicking sound it made reminded him of the ticking of a bomb. For a stupid moment, he thought Levi had whipped out some magic wand and help had already arrived, but once logic settled back in, he realized it'd be more appropriate to believe that somebody else was murdered.

Armin's heart dropped to the ground when he noticed Marco's freckled face, smeared with blood and panic.

"I, okay, I'm—shit, sorry," he stuttered into Eren's phone before ending the call and stuffing it in his pocket.

He ran to the door and threw it open. Marco stumbled in, gasping as if he'd been holding his breath the entire time he was gone, and Jean fell in behind him, quite literally. He collapsed onto his knees, panting like a dehydrated dog. He didn't stay like that for long, however—his raggedy head whipped up and his eyes scanned the dark kitchen they were in.

Armin shut the door and went to help Jean up. "Oh my God, are you guys—"

"Is Eren up here?" Jean interrupted in a sharp whisper.

He blinked. Jean got back up on his feet and peered into the living room around the corner. He was alert, wary, scared shitless. He knew; he knew about Eren.

"No. He's still in the basement with Mikasa and Annie."

Jean looked at him, his dark eyes scrutinizing him from head to foot. "Then, what are you doing here?"

"Eren's phone is working." He pulled it out from his back pocket to show them. "Annie caught him messing with it. She's distracting him now, so I could make a phone call. Levi is on his way with reinforcements."

He nodded his head slowly and then, as if in realization, narrowed his eyes at him. "Did you know Eren was going to do this?"

He was pissed (rightfully so) and he was about to throw fists at anyone who could be associated with Eren and his evil little games. And, in a way, Armin did know. Armin wouldn't stop Jean from punching him in the face or throwing him to the ground because he did deserve it. Armin knew Eren would do something and he didn't do anything to put an end to it.

His eyes avoided Jean's and landed on Marco. He was leaning against the counter, opened beer bottles and red solo cups littered behind him. His chest rose and fell with each panted breath and his own panicked eyes were glued to Eren's phone in Armin's hand. Sprinkles of dirt clung to his shirt and a few pine needles were stuck in his hair and his eyes were red and puffy, but it was the dried blood clotting his nose that captured his attention.

"What happened out there?" he asked Marco specifically. "Where are the others?"

Dread filled his lungs like smoke as soon as he asked the question; he had a terrible feeling that he already knew that too.

Marco glanced up at him and then aimed his stare back to the ground. He thought he saw tears welling in the corners of his dark eyes. He pursed his lips and cracked them open. "We—"

"Ymir and Sasha are dead," Jean interrupted again.

Something in Armin dropped like an atom bomb. It chilled his spine yet his face burned. His vision blurred and his body trembled. Her name bounced around in his mind; he felt like he was going to pass out. He already assumed Ymir was dead when Eren brought in Historia's body and he supposed he mourned for them both in the basement, but...Sasha?