Keeping a Strong Performance

Signatures and Tears

So this is probably the last chapter of this story as far as actual story goes because that's as far as it goes here. It's a bit confusing probably but that's why there will be...... A FUCKING THIRD BOOK OH YEAH.

It'd been a few days since I went to see Bertolt and he was awake. I'd been going every day to see him and most days we would just sit there in silence while he repeatedly flipped through the tv channels. He was slowly regaining strength and they said that he would be able to walk around in about a week as long as everything kept going the way it was. I had to work at my job for a few hours today and I wasn't able to go over to the hospital until later in the day.

I was glad when I got off work. It wasn't hard or anything, it was just the part of where I had to deal with people that got me. I sat in my car for thirty minutes before I actually left for Bertolt. Him and I weren't doing terrible and that was good. I was glad that he wasn't crying anymore and that he seemed more focused on getting better than anything. He'd began to hate the hospital because "they wouldn't let him leave and their food was shit" as he'd said at one point.

He understood that he needed to be in there and that they were helping him get better, he just wished it could be done without staying in a small white walled room that smelled of bleach. There didn't appear to be many people at the hospital so that meant that people were either at work or they weren't allowed during this time. I walked to his room and opened the door. I walked in just in time to see Bertolt toss a pack of papers and a pen to the foot of his bed and cross his arms.

He didn't look happy and most everyone in the room had stern expressions. "There. Happy now?" Bertolt asked with an annoyed tone. I was surprised to see all the people that were in Bert's room. Ymir and Krista, Eren and Levi, Jean and Marco, Sasha and Connie, Annie, and Armin were all standing at various places in the small room, making it feel more cramped.

Ymir picked the pack of papers up and looked at one page with satisfaction. She nodded in approval and everyone seemed to notice me and the same time. They all looked to me and had very angry expressions on their faces. Bertolt just looked incredibly crushed and done with the world. Ymir picked up the pen and turned the papers back to reveal the page that we hadn't signed yet.

"Reiner, great timing. Just in time for you to sign these for us and get it done." Ymir said and handed me the papers. My heart cracked a bit when I seen the signature on the bottom of the page. I looked up at Bert with probably the most broken expression anyone had ever seen because he had to look away.

"Bert.... You signed it?" I asked and he nodded numbly. I looked back at the paper in my hand, still not quite believing that the person that tried so hard to get me to stay, had given up.

"You've gotten what you wanted, so go ahead and end this now so Bertolt can live a happy life and maybe find someone who treats him right." Eren stated and everyone agreed. I uncapped the pen and put it on the paper. My hand refused to move. I looked up at all of them staring at me and felt extremely uncomfortable. I choked at the moment I needed to be strong on.

"Can I have a moment with Bertolt?" I asked and they all looked to him. He just nodded and they all reluctantly walked out. Once they were all out, I put the pen and papers down on the bed. I sat down and put my head in my hands. "Hey Bert, you know how to sign my name right?" I asked and he nodded with a confused expression. "Then can you sign it for me? I can't do it. I just- I can't. There's nothing else to it. I don't have the strength to do it." I said and he just looked at me.

"What are you saying?" He asked with his fists balled. I knew he was trying to keep himself composed, but it was hard. I was become unraveled myself and it was my fault.

"I opened my eyes? I don't know, I guess it just took me almost losing you again to realize that I loved you more than anything. Seeing you like that when I found out that you'd been shot, it was you getting hit by the truck all over again. I thought for sure that I'd lost you this time. It took me almost losing the best thing in my life twice to realize that I had everything I ever wanted right in front of me." I said, my voice cracking and breaking ever so often. He looked at his lap and pulled at the seams of the sheet that was over his legs.