threads of intimacy ?ˋ°?*?? eren jaeger

CH. 16

The sky was darker now, but not fully night. The lake mirrored it back like a twin, one slow blink behind.

"I think I forgot what he looked like when he smiled," Armin said suddenly, his voice barely above a murmur.

You turned your head, studying him.

"Eren?"

He nodded. "There were months where he didn't. Or... if he did, it didn't reach his eyes."

He leaned forward, forearms resting on the railing as he watched the water.

"He was angry all the time. Not yelling. Not slamming doors. Just... angry in this quiet way. He stopped talking to people. Pulled back from everything. And when he did talk, it was like he wasn't really in the room."

There was something raw in his tone, something honest and worn.

"I've dealt with anxiety my whole life," Armin said. "The kind that makes everything feel like it's going to collapse. Even when nothing's wrong, you're waiting for the sky to fall. Like you have to hold the world up with your own hands, or it'll fall apart."

Your heart tightened as you listened, not daring to interrupt.

"There was a night last year where I couldn't take it. I didn't tell anyone. I just left. No jacket, no phone, no destination. I walked for hours. I don't even remember where I was. I just wanted to stop existing for a while."

The air went still. Even the lake seemed to still.

"Eren found me."

You stared, breath caught in your throat.

"He didn't ask questions. He didn't tell me what to do. He just sat beside me on the sidewalk and said: 'If you vanish, I'll go looking for you every time.'"

Your eyes stung.

"He stayed with me for hours," Armin continued, voice unshaking. "Didn't try to fix it. Didn't even talk much. Just sat there like... like he wasn't letting go."

He exhaled slowly, then looked at you with a tilt of his head.

"I think that saved my life," he said.

You reached out, brushing your hand against his sleeve. Not needing to say anything. Just letting him know you were there.

He smiled faintly, gaze flickering away.

"I didn't mean to drop all that on you."

"I'm glad you told me," you said, voice thick but soft.

He looked over at you again, eyes warmer now. "Seeing him open up again... laughing... making space for someone else — it's just..."

He trailed off, searching for the right words.

"It feels like getting him back. Even just a little."

You felt your chest twist with something impossible to name. Gratitude. Sadness. Hope.

"I'm still trying to figure out what this is," you said quietly. "Between me and him."

Armin gave a soft, knowing smile.

"Whatever it is... it's making him softer."

You turned your gaze out to the water again, heart humming with everything unsaid.

"I hope it stays that way."

There was a pause. Then Armin bumped your shoulder lightly.

"Just don't break his heart."

"I won't," you said. And you meant it.

You stood there together in the darkening evening, stars bleeding slowly into the sky above you, the lake still as a secret. The air was cool, the world quiet, but inside your chest, something burned softly.