catalyst ⋆˙⟡ nerd!armin arlert x reader

chapter 37

Too late now, you guessed. 

"Are you feeling a bit better?" You asked, and Annie shrugged, reaching over to the side table and grabbing a half-drunk bottle of water and downing the rest of it, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. 

"Kind of," She admitted. "I still can't sleep without the cold and flu medicine, which genuinely makes me feel like I'm in a different dimension, that shit is dangerous."

You glanced over at the half-used pack of thick orange pills and gritted your teeth. When you were younger, Porco used to give you them every time you were sick to get you to sleep. They were nightmarish, often making you too dizzy to walk, and he'd always tell you after the fact how much stupid shit you had said when you were too disoriented to remember, but it was the only thing that helped. 

Annie glanced over at you. "What time is it? Isn't Jean having that crab boil tonight?"

Shrugging, you grabbed your phone from your pocket and turned it on. 

6:23 pm. 

The crab boil started about 20 minutes ago, right when you had left. You figured it would take Jean a while to set up everything, leaving you a pocket of time to avoid mingling and visit Annie.

"I'm already late," You told her, not an ounce of concern in your voice. "It's fine, I'm not worried about it."

Annie frowned. "Are you sure? I don't want to hold you here, it's no big deal if you want to go, I should get back to sleep soon anyway, I feel a headache coming on."

This time, you frowned at her. "What? You haven't showered or anything, don't you want to get tidied up first, maybe eat something?"

Your blonde friend shrugged and looked around. "I haven't left this bed in days, there's no point in-"

You were on your feet before she had time to finish her sentence, walking over to the side of the bed and grabbing her arm, hoisting it over her shoulder, and walking towards the en-suite bathroom attached to the room.

Annie huffed out a sigh, leaning on you as you pushed open the bathroom door, welcoming both of you into the expansive space, decorated with coastal decor and white tiles. A large tub was in the middle of the room. Perfect.

"You're going to take a bath while I tidy up your room, sound good?" You asked, motioning for the tub as Annie gaped at you.

She shook her head. "No, that doesn't sound good. You shouldn't have to clean up my mess. I can do it myself once I feel better."

You looked back into the room, determining right then and there that she could literally not survive in that environment any longer. Used tissues were everywhere; she'd been feverish in sweating in the same sheets and duvet for at least three days, and the entire room smelled like mothballs.

"I don't know when you're going to feel better, so just let me do this," You urged, and Annie tilted her head at you, chewing the inside of her cheek. "Please?"

Annie hesitated. "Fine, whatever, but don't do too much."

You grinned at her and winked; you were absolutely going to do too much, and you had a feeling she knew it. 

You had a way of taking care of her anyway; you always had, even back at Marley. After her breakup with Armin, you had stayed with her for weeks to make sure she was taking care of herself, the same way Jean and Sasha had done for you. It was nice to know you had people behind you. 

Annie waved you off, slowly making her way to the shower where she grabbed her shampoo, conditioner, and body wash, placing them on the side of the tub before she started filling it, taking a moment to look at herself in the mirror as you watched her, making sure she didn't fall over.