This nightmare. There was no end. You felt like you were stuck. You couldn't open your eyes no matter how hard you tried. The sun never rose, everything was shrouded in complete darkness. Not even the moon was visible in your nightmare.

Screams of terror ripped through the streets as huge chunks of concrete crashed onto the floor. Silhouettes of men, women, and children sprinted past you. In front of you was a large boulder, half of a body underneath it.

"Little bird get as far away as you can from Shiganshina." The strained voice of a man called out to you. He was merely a silhouette but the way he spoke to you with so much love, that nickname 'little bird'. Was it you?

You widened your eyes as tears welled up in your eyes. You were completely speechless. You didn't know him but your heart felt like it was being torn apart seeing his silhouette.

"That's ***** little girl!" A tall figure rushed towards you and scooped you up in his arms. "Y/N it's no longer safe here, we need to go!"

Your vision became cloudy. You grew lightheaded. Suddenly the man stopped and looked towards the wall behind him. You followed his gaze and saw something truly horrific.

A large figure, taller than the wall surrounding you. It emitted steam and it's eyes were glowing a sinister shade of red. The man who was carrying you shielded your eyes from the sight and continued running.

"I'm not letting you die. I promise not to let him die in vain." He clenched his jaw and picked up his pace.

You buried your face into the man's jacket, gentle sobs escaping your quivering lips. "I'm scared.."

"I know." He breathed out, stroking the back of your head with his hand. "You'll make it out little one."

The kind stranger pushed you through a sea of desperate people. He brought you to the front and explained your situation to two silhouettes guarding the boat. They nodded and quickly made an entry way for you.

A pair of gentle hands grabbed onto yours and pulled you forward. "Thank goodness you made it." The voice of a little boy soothed your ears, your shoulders relaxed in his embrace.

"You must have been so scared." He lead you over towards an empty spot on the boat and seated you against the wall. "You haven't seen— E***, M*****!"

The boy quickly brought over two more children. They were all about your size and you figured they were around your age. One wore a red scarf around their neck.

"Look who made it!" The boy who had approached you earlier showed you to his friends.

"Y/N," A feminine voice breathed out. She kneeled in front of you, although they were all just silhouettes you could see their mouths move. She gave you a warm smile.

Suddenly a loud noise sounded through the streets. You stumbled to your feet and bolted to the edge of the boat. In the distance you had seen another large figure, this one wasn't as big as the other one but this silhouette also had a crimson glow in their eyes. It had ran through the wall and made a hole.

It turned it's head and stared at you. Your heart dropped, it's jaw dropped open, emitting smoke. Suddenly an image of Reiner's face flashed through your eyes. You covered your mouth and shook your head.

"Snap out of it Y/N!" A pair of strong arms wrapped around your waist, pulling you closer.

Your eyes flung open. The nightmare was finally over. You woke up in the arms of Reiner. Tears continued to rolls down your cheeks. You tightly gripped onto the back of his shirt.

You let out a shaky breath. "Reiner.."

"That's right Y/N. I'm here." He stroked your back in a reassuring manner. "You don't need to be scared.."

Why did his face appear when you stared at that silhouette? That monster.

"What happened?"

"Tears suddenly began streaming down your face as you were sleeping. You began whimpering and you began shaking." His arms grew tighter around you, "It's a relief that I was here."

You nodded. "I don't know if they're memories but.. they were so scary."

"You can talk to me about it." He pressed his forehead against yours, softening his eyes as looked at you.

You began explaining everything from the beginning. In total you had been through 3 different scenarios in your nightmare. Every time you tried to describe it you felt sick. Your body felt like it could break down at any moment.

By the end of your story, Reiner's expression darkened. When he had heard about his face appearing in front of that large silhouette, he knew exactly what she was talking about. His Titan form. You had seen it's silhouette.

Those were memories.

Reiner pulled you in closer, resting his chin on your shoulder. "I don't know what you saw... but it's okay now. William told me you'd be experiencing these quite often, but I won't let you go through it alone."

You smiled, exhaling with relief. "Thank you Reiner." You placed your hand on the back of his head.

"You too Reiner," You held his face in your hands and looked into his eyes, concern embedded into your E/C eyes. "I'm here for you too, we can help each other."

He was silent. Reiner's gaze was completely set on your gentle features, specifically your lips.

"Okay?" You spoke again, getting on your knees to reach his eye level.

Reiner snapped out of his small trance and grinned. "Okay."

"Good." You leaned forward, planting a soft kiss on his forehead. "It's okay to be honest with me. Just don't go through it alone."

A small blush tainted his cheeks. He nodded wordlessly before tugging on your wrist, causing your body to fall forward. Before you knew it, he had crashed his lips against yours.

You froze in your spot, your eyes widening in shock. Your heart was beating uncontrollably. The butterflies in your stomach erupted. Your cheeks were on fire.

Soon enough you gave into the moment, moving your lips along with his. The moonlight peeked through the curtains, illuminating the room in its natural glow.

The two of you finally pulled away from each other, your shoulders heaving up and down. Reiner's arms never unraveled themselves around you, they stayed in place. Without noticing you had wrapped your arms around his neck in the heat of the moment.

"I'm sorry if that shocked you." His forehead rubbed against yours.

You shook your head and smiled. "I was a little shocked, I admit. But I'm not upset. In fact, I am glad you did that. All those worries seemed to fade away within those moments."

He chuckled, tucking a strand of your hair behind your ear. "I was surprised myself, I didn't know I would actually do it."

"You're bold Reiner." You playfully smacked his chest.

"I know."

—

William had gotten home late that night. The clinic was busier than usual since there was a cold going around that affected the children. He was exhausted. He kicked his shoes off by the front entrance and trudged up the stairs to check on you.

He stood in front of your door and slowly opened it. To his surprise, Reiner was still there. He laid next to you, with his arms around you. The bed wasn't big but with you curled up in his arms, there was just enough room.

William pushed his glasses up and released a heavy sigh. "Mr. Braun just what are you to her?" He muttered under his breath out of pure curiosity.

—

authors note;;
im so bad at describing! but anyways, ive been
thinking about a modern AU Jean or Armin fanfic... i just think it would be so cute!

oh! thank you for over 300 reads. im so
happy people are actually
taking a glimpse at this story despite
how badly written it is.

thank you!

signed off, kyr0mii