So I watched Across the Universe. It was just as awesome as I expected to be. Some parts were really trippy, like I was smoking weed or something, but didn't The Beatles get high, too? And really, I Am A Walrus sounds even more ridiculous in the movie. Just sayin'. All in all, it was a pretty cool movie.

Anyway, here's a little follow up on the first chapter. I was debating whether I should post this or not, but then again, it doesn't hurt to add another chappie, right?

Again, I don't own the song, nor Shingeki no Kyojin. Because if I did, then then the story would've gone faster and other ships would've been canon a long time ago. Also, Halestorm's awesome, ' nuff said.

"Where the hell is Ymir?"

Berthold rarely loses his temper, but once he swears people know it's serious business.

Reiner shrugged his shoulders and downed the last drops of his vodka. "Hell if I know. Oh, Eren's back." The duo hopefully looked at their bandmate, who was asking around for any sign of their missing vocalist-slash-guitarist. Their hopes suddenly crashed down when the Jaeger boy dejectedly shook his head.

"Mina saw Ymir and Historia go in the girl's bathroom." Eren licked his lips at the sight of Reiner nursing his now empty shot glass.

"Ah, the secrets of the female urinary system and social interactions," Reiner muttered. Berthold sighed, a hunch forming at the back of his mind.

Eren grimaced. "They went in around 10 minutes ago."

Oh. The bulky blond and the tall brunet looked at each other, knowing fully well what the two girls are doing in there. They should know; when people have urges, it just…explodes. Boom, and you have to relieve those urges, so…

With a blush creeping up on his face, Berthold spoke, "Did anyone went in to get them?"

"They locked the door."

Fuck.

Reiner slammed the glass on the table so hard the other boys feared that it would break (thankfully it did not, much to the relief of Eren). "We're doomed!" We glanced at the empty stage beside them, and then at the people waiting patiently for the closing act. "We can't close the night without Ymir!"

Eren hung his head and began muttering something about "teaching her a lesson" and "bikes" and others. He knew that something like this would happen. He had always known that someday, one of 'em would screw up and they all have to pay the price for their action. If there's something Eren hates about being in a band, it must be the chances of being publicly humiliated. And in a bar like this too, full of adults and in the presence of his friends! Mikasa would break up with him and move out of their house, Armin would leave him for Annie, the band would break up… Such a shame! What a nightmare! Oh the horror!

While Reiner threw curses and profanities in the direction of the girl's bathroom and Eren began rocking back and forth on his feet, Berthold thought. Not in the way Armin would brainstorm, but close enough. Okay, so Eren devised a clever plan to raise his best friend's mood. What a nice friend Eren is, always looking after the others. Eren not only helped Armin get over his self-doubt, but also Annie, because he helped her realize Armin's feelings for her, and possibly even her feelings for him. Annie is also Eren's friend, but she's closer to him and Reiner. And friends help each other out, right?

His lips curled upward in a smile. In a flash, he pulled both his teammates in a huddle formation. One of the upsides of being really tall is also having a lengthy reach, and though he's not as strong as Reiner is he still managed to get the three of them together.

"Guys, I have a plan."

Armin and Annie looked up from their conversation when they saw Berthold approaching them from a distance. Armin flashed his tall friend an easy smile, while Annie's lips automatically dipped into a frown.

"Mind if I borrow Annie for a bit?" Berthold asked, with a hand already hovering above Annie's shoulder. Armin nodded once, and reluctantly Annie stood up from her seat and followed Bert backstage—er, sidestage, to be exact. 'And we were both going so well,' she thought to herself.

At the sight of their bassist returning with Annie in tow, Eren immediately jumped off the stack of crates where he was sitting and clasped the girl's hands with his own. "Thank goodness you're here!" he said in an awfully cheerful voice that does not really suit him, at least, in Annie's opinion.

Annie pried her hands away from the boy's grip and placed them on her hips. "Okay, so why exactly did you need to pull me out?" Her eyes scanned the three of them: Reiner smirking, Berthold sweating like he just finished running a marathon, and Eren smiling and…are those tears in his eyes? And where is Ymir? "Why is Ymir not here?" she asked.

Berthold scratched the back of his head. "She's, umm, she is currently unavailable right now," he responded. "And, umm, well…" He began murmuring incoherent phrases. 'The plan sounds much better in my head…'

Shaking his head at his friend's sudden lack of confidence, Reiner continued. "You see Annie, in gigs like these, you gotta make a big impression, you know what I mean? There might be talent scouts around here, watching, observing." Annie doubted the chances of a talent scout present in the bar, but that just might be her. "And if we, don't make a solid impression them, then we're not really that much of a great band, you know what I'm saying?"

"No," Annie deadpanned. "Just get to the point already."

Impatient, Eren took over Reiner's position. "Ymir snuck off to have hot lesbian sex with Historia, and we have one more song to perform before we call it a night." He took a deep breath. "If it's in the normal circumstances, either one of us could've taken over the lead, but it needs someone of a certain…caliber."

Or a certain gender, to be exact.

Annie, putting two and two together, sudden paled in color and took a few steps back away from the band. "No fucking way I am going to do it."

The boys gulped in fear. Berthold cleared his throat. "But Annie," he began, but she cut him off with a hand.

"I may have practiced with you a while, but that's it. I sing with bands, but that doesn't mean I do bands. You know what I'm saying?"

"But it's sort of the same thing," Reiner muttered. Annie shot him a dirty look.

"And besides, how am I to know what song you're gonna close with?"

Eren released the breath that he has subconsciously been holding. "The same song we first practiced with you. You know, that song."

The girl growled as memories of jamming with The Titans resurfaced in her head. During the early days of the band, Ymir was unavailable for band practice because she had to visit her grandparents, so the guys thought about postponing practice. Incidentally, Annie dropped by Reiner's place, intending to watch them play (because she didn't believe Reiner when he told her that he's in a band…but she never told that to them, of course). Coincidentally, Annie has a copy of the song—the same song that they're supposed to be practicing—on her cellphone (since she's a fan of the original artists), and the guys, appealing to their friendship, persuaded her to practice with them.

In the end, she agreed, and became a back-up singer whenever Ymir is away. However, only during their private practices, and only shows up during their gigs as an audience member. They used to talk to her about persuading her to join the band, but she always refuses. She didn't tell Eren and Ymir why, but Berthold and Reiner, having known the girl since their preschool years, knows.

"I am not singing. Period."

"But Eren did you a favor, Annie!" She raised an eyebrow towards Berthold, who has a desperate look painted on his face. "If it wasn't for him—and by extension, us too, then you wouldn't have snagged that date with Armin!"

The three boys didn't know that Annie's face could turn into that weird, but abnormally adorable (they dare not say that aloud) pink shade. She opened her mouth to say something, but ended up closing and opening it again like a fish.

"We helped you get closer to him, Annie," Berthold continued, staring into her eyes. "So it's your turn to help us."

Annie crossed her arms over her chest, obviously thinking about the offer.

"Please, Annie." Eren stepped closer and clasped his hands together, placing them near his heart. "Just this once, and we promise not to bother you again."

They heard her click her tongue against the roof of her mouth; a sign that she's ready to buy it. She stared at them for a few more seconds, her icy gaze freezing the boys in their positions. And then, slowly, she sighed and closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose as she spoke.

"Anything I else I should know? Changes, variations, suggestions?"

The boys shared a big smile among themselves. Jackpot.

Everyone stared as a blonde woman went up to the mic stand, clearly not the same woman who sang a few hours ago. But they still clapped as she hesitantly tapped the microphone with her fingers. Her friends all shared a shocked look among themselves: what is Annie doing up there?

Done with her mic test, Annie looked at Eren for a sign. 'What should I do?' her eyes said, and the boy took the hint.

"Erm, since our vocalist is currently away doing more important stuff than singing," he said, emphasizing the last part of his sentence, "we had to ask one of our friends here, Annie, to sing in her place." The audience members cheered at the sound of her name.

Reiner breathed on his mic. "She's really good, we promise." Annie whipped her head back to glare at him, and she barely registered the cheers from her friends.

"She's almost like the fifth member of our band, to be honest." Annie stared at Berthold, dumbfounded by his words. "Too bad she didn't join, right guys?"

The rest of the band and their friends erupted into cheers. Her eyes fell into Armin's, who actually looks amused, seeing her up there. She couldn't help but blush when he gave a warm smile, averting her eyes because she felt like melting then and there.

"Whatever," she said in a bored tone. They must be guilt-tripping her into joining the band, but it's too late to persuade her now. She jabbed a finger at Eren's direction, directing him to begin.

On cue, Eren began strumming the opening notes of the song. Some of the rock fans in the audience yelled in delight when they recognized the song that they were playing, including Marco, who was a closet hard-rock fan.

Taking a deep breath, Annie scanned the audience members and opened her mouth to sing:

"We could just go home right now
Or maybe we could stick around
For just one more drink, oh yeah"

Armin stared at the girl on stage, recalling the song that she used to hum whenever she thinks that no one's looking (not that he was stalking her!). He knows that she could sing—heck, everyone has the ability to sing!—but he didn't know Annie was this good. He had always found her deep, mature voice to be rather sexy, and now he finds that she sounds even hotter when she sings.

"Get another bottle out
Lets shoot the shit
Sit back down
For just one more drink, oh yeah"

After the first half of her verse, Berthold and Reiner joined in, with their bass and drums, respectively. Sasha bobbed her head to the beat as she walked back to the table where she and Connie, oh, and Mikasa too, sat. In her hands are two frothing mugs of beer, one for her, one for Connie. The boy grinned when he saw her approach, while Mikasa frowned. She stood up and passed Sasha, telling her that she'll get a mug of her own. The other girl simply nodded, wondering why Mikasa seemed to be in a bad mood.

"What's up with her?" she asked Connie as she handed him his mug. Their fingers touched for a split second, but a sudden spark of electricity flowed between the two of them. Connie wonders if it's just the effect of alcohol in his system.

"Dunno," he answered, trying to act normal. He drank his mug, a pleased sigh released from his lips after he drank. Then he turned towards Sasha, who took one good look at him and giggled ferociously. He only stared at her, wondering what the heck is the matter with her.

"You have a mustache, dumdum!" She wiped his foam "mustache" with her fingers, and she accidentally brushed the top of his lips. Though she wanted to immediately recoil her fingers, she had to make sure that there's no foam left, so she continued wiping it off, attempting to ignore the growing blush on both their faces.

"There," She gave him a thumbs up sign and a toothy grin. "Better."

"Here's to us, here's to love
All the times that we fucked up"

"Jean, you're drunk." He and Marco had been sitting side by side the entire evening, drunk boy playing with his friend's hair as he continued to drink more alcohol. He's already used to Jean's displays of affections, and really didn't mind it when people sometimes stared at them. "You should stop before you get even more drunk."

The other boy laughed, sounding even closer to a horse's braying due to being plastered. "Don't care," he said, pulling Marco closer to him. "You'll drive me home, anyway."

Marco snorted. "You're dad's gonna kill me if we show at your doorstep." The smell of alcohol in Jean's breath is intoxicating. "And I don't wanna die young."

"Here's to you, fill the glass
'Cause the last few days have kicked my ass
So let's give 'em hell
Wish everybody well, here's to us, here's to us!"

"Well, you said your parents aren't home for the week…" Jean pulled away from his friend, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "I dunno, but maybe I could crash at your place?"

The freckled boy blinked twice, then blushed at the implications of his friend's suggestions. He and Jean used to stay at each other's houses, but right now, it might be a little awkward between them, seeing as they have practically been flirting with one another. He knows that Jean's not in his right mind right now, but didn't they use to say that a drunk man is an honest man? Maybe, just maybe…

Marco forced himself to smile just a little bit. "Anything to help you out."

"Stuck it out this far together
Put our dreams through the shredder
Let's toast 'cause things got better"

Historia unlocked the door of the girl's restroom now that they're done. It's their first time doing something intimate at a public place such as a bar like this, and she feels rather dirty despite the restroom being cleaner than the usual public restroom. Adjusting the collar of her blouse, she noticed the mark Ymir made on her collar bone in the mirror, already beginning to bruise. Ymir's still inside the cubicle fixing her clothes when she heard the music.

"Ymir?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you hear that?"

The blonde girl could not recognize who the singer was, and due to the thick walls it sounded rather muffled. But whoever it was, she sure could sing.

In the cubicle, Ymir stopped her struggles with her leggings. She's usually rather partial to the use of leggings, but she had accidentally used her old pair, the one with the busted garter. Because she couldn't find a better fitting pair, she shrugged and just went on with it, wearing a lengthy t-shirt to hide her panty line, if it ever shows. It's a pain too remove and put back on.

"They're…playing…" she murmured, straining her ears to listen.

"Guess so," her girlfriend replied from the other side of the door. "Do you know who's singing? She sounds pretty good, to be honest." A pause, and then she added, "But you're better!"

But Ymir didn't hear anything Historia said. Instead, a slight pang of jealousy ached in her chest. Jealousy, and rage. How dare they play without her! They planned it already! She would be the one singing the lead! How dare they not wait for her! She kicked the door open, shocking Historia so much that the blonde jumped back and hit her hip on the sink.

"Historia! Help me with this!"

"And everything could change like that
And all these years go by so fast
But nothing lasts forever"

Mina sat down beside Armin, the boy still fixated on the singer onstage. Aside from the band themselves, she's the only outsider who knows about Annie singing back-up during some practice sessions. She's also the only other person who knows why Annie won't join the band despite them bugging her to go. When Armin noticed her, he greeted her.

"Hey Mina," he said. "Do you know about this?"

The twin-tailed girl bit her lower lip. She turned her head to look at the stage. Annie seems to be enjoying herself; her body language shows it. "She used to be as stiff as a board onstage," Mina mused. "Hated to be in the spotlight. Hated every second of it."

Armin propped his chin on his hand, his eyes still on the singer. "They wanted her to join the band, since last year, I think. But she always refused." Mina paused to take a sip from her fruit juice.

"How come?" he asked, wanting to know more about Annie. Both of them watched the band playing, at Eren expertly plucking and strumming the strings, at Reiner, who smiled as he hit the drums and cymbals with his sticks, at Berthold, who owned the bass better than anyone else.

"She has…confidence issues, that's all."

'Confidence issues…'

Onstage, Annie swayed and rocked and moved to the music. She sang passionately, every word escaping her lips sounding perfect. She leaked of confidence, just like the rest of the band. Confidence, passion, happiness.

"I guess she just needed a little kick, or something." Mia winked at Armin. "A motivation of some sort."

He smiled back at her. "I guess she did."

'Just like what Eren did to me a while ago.'

"Here's to us, here's to love
All the times, that we messed up
Here's to you, fill the glass
'Cause the last few nights have kicked my ass
If they give ya hell
Tell em to go fuck themselves, here's to us, here's to us!"

Annie couldn't believe it. She's singing onstage, with Berthold, with Reiner, with Eren. She's singing just like how she did a long time ago, in Reiner's garage. And she's singing lead, something that Ymir was ready to give to her if she ever accepted their offer. She has forgotten how horrible her past memories felt like, how utterly humiliated she was years ago.

There's a reason why she hated the stage. A long time ago, when she was still in preschool, she was cast as an angel for the Christmas play. Not just an angel, but the angel, the one who shows up at the end to summarize the entire play and would sing lead in Silent Night. It's such an important role, almost as important as Mary or Joseph or the Three Kings.

But she was too nervous, too jittery, and she ended up freezing on stage, forgetting her lines and almost crying in front of everyone. The adults just clapped at her, but young Annie knew it was out of pity. Her father shook his head, and her mother just smiled bitterly. Ever since that day, she hated be in the spotlight. She hated the stage, for fear of being humiliated again.

But everything's changing now.

So as she sang one of her favorite songs, on stage, with a live band composed of her friends, she shone. She shone as bright as the spotlights above them, as bright as the stars glittering in the night sky. She glittered, she sparkled, she smiled and beamed. And she loved it every moment of it.

So she took the words of the song to heart as she sang along.

'Here's to us!'

"Here's to all that we kissed
And to all that we missed
To the biggest mistakes
That we just wouldn't trade
To us breaking up
Without us breaking down
To whatever's comin' our way! Here's to us!"

The cheers of the crowd roared louder the moment they saw who's making the guitar solo. Eren almost stopped playing when he saw Ymir march onstage, overriding his planned solo. But he continued playing melody, giving the spotlight to her. It's a while since she ever played solo, so instead he readied himself for his next part to play.

Annie was taken aback when Ymir appeared, her hand clutching the microphone tightly. But the other girl just smiled and nodded at her, mouthing something like "good job", or whatever she said.

Eren took a moved his mouth closer to his mic and sang the first chorus:

"Here's to us, here's to love
All the times, that we messed up
Here's to you, fill the glass"

Annie's voice shone once again as she sang the next part.

"'Cause the last few nights have kicked my ass
If they give ya hell
Tell em to go fuck themselves, here's to us, here's to us!"

Mikasa stood at the middle of the VIP floor staircase. Levi cornered her at the drinks station, warning her that if any of her friends messes up, she's gonna be the first to pay. She hates the guy, from his abnormally short stature despite being two decades older than her, to the way he speaks about her friends. To hell with family!

But at the same time, he is family, too. The only one left sharing part of her blood.

Sighing, she listened as Eren sang his part of the song. With Annie at the end. She hates to admit it, but Annie does sound good. As much as she hates to admit to herself how important Levi has become to her ever since tracking him down a few months back.

Now it's Reiner's turn to shine:

"Here's to us, here's to love
All the times, that we messed up"

It has been a while since he sang, and he wasn't informed about his part until a while ago, but hey, at least he was given a part! Drumming while singing's rather hard, too. He winked at Berthold, telling him to get ready for the next part, but the bassist shook his head. 'Ymir,' he mouthed.

"Here's to you, fill the glass
'Cause the last few nights have kicked my ass"

She's still slightly pissed off, of course, about the others not coming to get her. But at least Bert agreed to give her a part to sing. She can't let Annie steal the spotlight for herself, even if she's proud that she agreed to sing in front of a crowd. And probably on the last minute, too. She nodded at Berthold, trying hard to think about the crowd's reactions once he sings.

"If they give ya hell
Tell em to go fuck themselves, here's to us, here's to us!"

Their friends began to holler loudly again at the sound of Berthold cursing on stage. Given that it's part of the song, but he's cussing! He rarely ever swears! And if he does, they know shit's going down!

Without any sign from each other, they all sang together for the last lines of the song. Their voices sound so good together; it's as if the five of them were meant to play together!

"Here's to us, here's to love!
Here's to us!
Wish everybody well!
Here's to us, here's to love!
Here's to us!"

"Here's to us!"

The audience erupted into cheers, their friends even giving them a standing ovation. All five of them were breathing heavily, exhausted from playing all night, and in Annie's case, overwhelmed.

Still panting, Eren took the mic from his stand and exclaimed, "Thank you, 104! Thank you everyone!" He walked center stage, and the others followed suit. Annie was surprised to find herself in the middle of the line, with Eren and Ymir on her right, and Berthold and Reiner on her left.

"Thank you, thank you everyone so much! Once again, we are The Titans, and goodnight everyone!"

All five of them held hands and bowed in front of the audience.

Their third anniversary is a success, one that they will cherish in their memories forever. Everyone enjoyed it; their friends, the other audience members, Levi most importantly, and they'd probably have a fifth member to add to their roster. Isn't that pretty sweet?

Mikasa pocketed her own share of the money before latching onto Eren, who wordlessly gave her his pay. She raised an eyebrow at him, but silently added his wad of bills inside her wallet. Must've forgotten his wallet at home. Urgh, men. She raised her scarf above her chin as the two of them walked hand in hand to the parking lot, both of them not wanting to be the driver.

Behind them followed Mina, Sasha and Connie, with the girls gossiping about the guy Mina flirted with while the lone boy calculated the probability of Sasha offering to give him a lift. As if hearing his thoughts, the ponytailed brunette tugged on his sleeve and asked if he wanted to ride home with her and Mina. He accepted of course, since he blew his money on drinks and food a while ago, but winced at the thought of sharing her with Mina.

Behind the trio followed another trio. Armin and Marco half-dragged Jean towards his parked car. The blond asked the sober boy if he had counted how many drinks he had. Marco shrugged and honestly told him that he only had a piña colada, a shot of vodka and two glasses of rum on the rocks. Both boys joked about Jean having a weak liver; the drunk responded by pinching their ears. Hard.

Historia and Ymir headed towards the latter's bike. Historia is honestly afraid of riding motorcycles, having seen an accident up close when she was younger and fears Ymir or herself being in one. But does she have a choice anymore? Her sister's been bombarding her with texts and missed calls, telling her that their dad's been asking about her. She could hail a cab, but it would take her too long to arrive home, and Ymir knows a shortcut. The taller girl patted her head lovingly, telling her that she'll be careful. Not that it eases her mind, anyway, but she's grateful for it.

The last ones to leave are Reiner, Berthold and Annie, with Annie up front while the guys followed her, pleading her to give them a ride home. But she won't agree, telling them that their houses are out of the way and she'll end up in trouble with her dad. Berthold actually doesn't mind taking a taxi, but Reiner continued to insist, earning him the business end of the girl's signature kick. With a sigh, the boy gave up, rubbing soothing circles on his aching back.

The first to leave the parking lot was Ymir and Historia. Everyone waved them goodbye as they sped off into the street in a motorcycle. The blonde tightly hugged at her girlfriend's waist, clinging for her dear life even before Ymir revved up the engine.

Armin unlocked the door to Jean's car as Marco unceremoniously shoved Jean in the passenger seat. The drunk boy merely groaned as he slept, drool slowly dribbling down his chin. Marco thanked the other boy for his help, and Armin walked towards Eren and Mikasa, who offered his a ride home.

On his way, he passed by Annie, who's just getting in her car. Their eyes met, causing them to simultaneously blush. He said that it's alright if they reschedule their date if she ever gets in trouble tonight, but she shook her head and told him that their pushing through with Saturday, grounded or not. There's just something about forbidden dates that keeps both of them on the edge. With a quick smile, Armin walked away towards his friends' car.

The blond found Mikasa and Eren engrossed in a battle of rock-paper-scissors. Neither of them wanted to drive, so the loser of their game would be the drive them for tonight. Armin sighed and offered to be the driver, but in one condition: he gets to borrow their car until next Monday. Eren protested, but Mikasa said yes, throwing her friend the keys to car. Chuckling to himself, Armin entered the driver's seat, Mikasa slid inside the passenger's side and Eren reluctantly sat at the back.

Mina tried her hardest not to giggle and tease Connie and Sasha as the two argued about which route to take. Though she felt like the third wheel, she finds it cute that these two knuckleheads are arguing from time to time. Like an old married couple. Sighing, she took out her phone and stared at the picture of the guy she was with earlier that evening. As Mina ogled at the screen, Connie finally gave up and leaned his head on the window, muttering something about getting lost in the streets. Victorious, Sasha placed the keys in the ignition and backed the car up.

And that leaves Reiner and Berthold, walking towards the main avenue in hopes of catching a cab this late in the evening. Berthold doesn't mind it, really, walking with Reiner. In fact, he appreciates the silence and the privacy. Unlike Ymir and Historia, they're rather uncomfortable with public displays of affection, so in private both the boys are able to walk hand in hand, talking about how awesome the night was. They were immediately able to hail a taxi, to the relief of both of them.

They sat side by side at the backseat, with Reiner's head resting on Berthold's shoulder as he slowly drifted asleep. Berthold released a much needed yawn as he pulled out his cellphone to text his parents that he's on his way home. And then…

"Fuck!"

Reiner was roused from his sleep, and even the driver seemed to have temporarily lost control of the car as it swerved slightly to the left. "Eh, whazzit about?" the blond asked, slowly blinking his eyes. He turned to his head to meet Berthold's face, who's wearing a panicked expression.

"It's almost midnight." The brunet answered, in a soft voice.

"So?"

Armin gripped the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles turned white. He wanted to tell Mikasa to shut up, but he's too afraid to speak. He could hear Eren gulp in fear.

"Today is Thursday, right?" she asked, eyes glued on the city lights outside. She released her breath that she didn't even realized that she was holding.

"I hate Thursdays," Eren grumbled.

"But I hate Fridays the worst." He and Mikasa nodded at Armin's wise words.

"Oh God no!"

"We're doomed!"

Mina groaned as she listened to the panicked voices of Sasha and Connie. "See? That's why I didn't drink at all," she murmured. She's not worried over Sasha's driving skills; she knows that she kept her drinking in check. She's also confident enough that Connie kept himself in check too. But hangovers could happen even to those who didn't drink that much, right?

Marco kept staring at Jean's sleeping figure beside him every now and then. Poor guy. He can't handle his liquor even if his life depended on it. He wondered if he and Jean would just skip tomorrow, but it would hurt their records. They haven't been late for school since the year began. And besides, it's just one test…

"Oh Friday, why did you have to be tomorrow?" he quietly said.

Jean did not respond to his question. Jean never answers rhetorical questions, awake or not.

"Don't go to school tomorrow," Historia whispered in Ymir's ear before she hopped off the bike. "You know how he hates people with hangovers…"

But Ymir forced herself to laugh. "Me? I don't get hangovers, silly girl. But you do."

The blonde whimpered, hugging herself to calm her down. "But I'm scared for you!"

"I'm scared for you, too."

Fuck PE. And fuck the guy who teaches it!

She bit her lip so hard she tasted blood on her tongue. She knows that it was a terrible idea to celebrate on a Thursday. But did they listen? Of course they didn't; she didn't voice out her fears. But couldn't they have waited until Friday? At least it isn't a school day the following day.

As Annie parked her car at the driveway, she reflected on what happened on her night out.

She was late, but Armin asked her out. Or rather, she asked him out, but either way is fine for her. She was forced to sing in front of a crowd, but she got over her confidence issues. She was able to drink free-flowing alcohol, but thankfully she's sober enough to drive herself home. It's alright that she refused the other's offer to divide the money again to include her; after all, it's just one song, and she's not an official member yet until the next session.

Yes, she did have fun, tonight, but there's one catch.

Annie slammed the door close so hard that she swears her father would've heard it from his bedroom. She didn't care when she stumbled on the porch steps and fumbled for the keys in her pocket. She pretended not to hear her dad's inquiry over the wellbeing of his car from the top of the stairs. She didn't even wash off the make-up on her face before she slid under the covers of her bed.

All she cares about is that Shadis is gonna fuck them up once they show up in his class with hangovers.

Mina is such a lucky bitch.

"Oh well. Here's to us."

So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, good night. Fuck school, so much, I'd rather stay and write!

*gets shot because of Sound of Music feels*

Well, I hope you enjoyed this story! Thank you for all your views and reviews!