Chapter Text
The words coming from the loud music played in the big living room were almost too hard to decipher now that you were balancing yourself against the kitchen table, slightly intoxicated by the whatever lethal drink Connie proudly created that Sasha “encouraged” forced you to shamefully down just a few minutes ago. A reverberation of blaring sounds that rumbled in your heavy head, now hanging low from your shoulders with your back resting onto the cold surface of the marble table, your palms anchored onto it, holding on for dear life. “Never again” you whispered to yourself as the faint taste of alcohol kept creeping back, now leaving its regretful burning sensation on your tongue. You would swear you could feel the whole room spinning, if only you had the mental capabilities.
However, you knew that brief statement was simply not true. It couldn’t have been. Not when you were one of the most popular girls in college, and everyone knew you as a party animal.
“Come on now Y/N, show us how it’s done!”
“Sasha, I think I…”
“You think you… Think you’re too much of a pussy to do it?”
“No, Connie. I think I’m gonna throw up”
“So… A pussy?”
“You know what, Jean? Pass me that shit now, watch me chug it in less than a second. Dick.”
And so the story repeated itself, at least once a week, during one of the house parties Reiner would throw periodically. It all started at the beginning of the year, when he invited his friend group and “whoever y’all want to bring along” to celebrate the first day of college with just a couple of drinks. The one-day celebration quickly became an almost weekly occurrence, and the couple of drinks quickly became drunk sleepovers on his kitchen/living room/toilet/bedroom/literallyanywhere floor, everyone being too under the influence to even consider being able to safely go back home. Despite your numerous near-death experiences (your friends adored you, but they were clearly also trying to kill you), you’d swear you wouldn’t have it any other way. And so you pour yourself a glass of water from the tap, to then drink it with the determination of someone who does not want to miss out on anything that might be happening in the other room. As you fix your black skater skirt and you make sure your crop top isn’t revealing things you would not want to reveal (not that anyone would complain, safe to say many of the present people would consider themselves lucky to be even remotely acknowledged by you), you make your way back to the source of the loud noises, slightly refreshed by the water.
“Hey, Y/N. I’ve been looking for you”
Hitch tilted her head while resting a hand on your shoulder, quickly scanning your face to make sure you were okay. Probably worried because of your sudden, although short, disappearance. Her tone firm, you could hear her despite the questionable loud playlist playing in the background, and despite…
“YOU IDIOT! I TOLD YOU NOT TO DO THAT! JEAN, CAN YOU EVEN FUCKING PLAY VIDEOGAMES?”
“THAT WAS TOTALLY YOUR FAULT. WHAT THE FUCK EREN, WHAT ARE YOU EVEN TRYING TO DO NOW?!”
… Yeah. Despite that, too.
“Don’t worry about me, I only went to get some water. Connie tried to kill me again with one of his… poisonous shit.” Your face looked a bit disgusted as you finished the sentence, only the thought of it gave you a pang in the stomach as you looked away to distract yourself for a brief moment. “Actually, where is he now?” but Hitch ignored your question and, after chuckling at your affirmation, finally reassured you were alive and well, she grabbed both of your shoulders and turned your body to face the opposite direction, directing your gaze towards the sofa next to where Eren and Jean were playing videogames. A man was sitting on it, distractedly scrolling through his phone. “See that guy? You know, the blonde one,” she whispers into your ear, her torso now pressed against your back and her hands still pressing onto your shoulders. “You mean… Armin?” you asked, slightly leaning your head to a side to catch a glimpse of her face, her chin now replacing one of her palms. “Wait, you know him? You know Armin?” her tone now a bit squeakier, clearly surprised by your revelation.
If you knew Armin? God, you would have been able to draw his face with your eyes closed if you had to. Yes, you did know Armin. In fact, you’ve had a crush on him since the first day you saw him, sitting across the classroom in your biology lesson. You often caught him looking over you, and you often caught yourself moonily looking over him. Despite the several gaze exchanges between the two of you, his actions led you to believe nothing would ever happen simply because he would barely reciprocate your attempts of interaction. Whenever you tried to talk to him, with an excuse or another, his responses usually included very brief sentences and reddened cheeks, accompanied by awkward smiles. You made him unbearably uncomfortable, you concluded. And that bitterly made you decide to halt your vane efforts.
But, God, he was so beautiful. So beautiful he would make any living creature appreciate the faculty and luxury of being able to graze their eyes with the sight of his ethereal features, you thought. Cheesy much? Truth is, you did really like him, but you couldn’t have him. Until…
“Yeah, he’s in my biology classes. He’s a bit of a genius, y’know.”
Hitch shook her head blatantly ignoring your words, her hands slipped down your hips, her fingers now pressing onto them. “Well, he really likes you, you know,” she was now gently pushing you to his direction, a clear gesture of encouragement before concluding with a “do with that what you will”. You turn your torso to face her with a startled expression but, before you could protest or even ask her questions, she shuts your thoughts down as if she could read your mind with a striking wink as she starts walking away. Typical Hitch, you thought.
And blame it on the alcohol.
Or maybe blame it on the fact that you were not one that would easily feel intimidated by anything or anyone, not even Armin.
But you did start confidently walking in his direction, cautiously dodging all your drunk-dancing friends. You had no idea whether Hitch was telling the truth or not. Hell, you had no idea where that even came from, and you promised yourself you were going to interrogate her as soon as you’ve had the chance. All you could really think about right now was the fact that maybe… Armin did like you, and there was only one way to find out.
“Hey,” you looked down to meet his eyes, his face now lifted from the bright screen on his phone. His lips were slightly parted, his big blue eyes were fixed on yours. He was barely blinking, as if he couldn’t believe you were really there, trying to get his attention. You indicated the space next to him with one hand, raising your eyebrows to quietly ask him for his permission. He quickly replied with a nod, adjusting himself on the sofa allowing you to have more room. Not that that made any difference, as you sat as physically close as possible to him, your shoulder resting onto his. That was the closest you’ve ever been to the blonde, and you’d lie to yourself if you said that that proximity didn’t make your heart skip a beat. Jesus, you were so close, his fresh cologne reached your nose without any effort whatsoever. And in a way, you knew he could feel it too. You knew he could feel the warmth of your arm pressed onto his, your hand gently, distractedly, brushing his thigh. You could tell by the way his muscles tensed up against your body, by the way his eyes never left your pretty face, your eyes, your seemingly innocent smile, your relaxed eyebrows. Suddenly, you were brought back to your biology lessons; your intense but guilty eye contact, those few moments of contemplation. Then the too familiar hit of realisation, and his gaze cowardly dropping to occupy himself with something else. It was the same story, all over again.
But this time, it was different.
“I’m surprised to see you here”
You started, your eyes yearning for his now that he was staring at the TV used by Eren and Jean. Not that he was actually interested in what they were doing, he was simply trying to distract himself from your dangerous closeness. God, he was so nervous. But your words suddenly snapped him back to reality.
“Mh? Surprised?” he asked, finally reciprocating your gaze. “Fuck”, he thought. Maybe he shouldn’t have rejected Eren’s invitation to have a few drinks with him, he could really do with some confidence boost right now.
“Yeah, I mean. You don’t really seem like… the party type of person,” you affirmed, shrugging your shoulders. But something in your brain suggested that that wasn’t enough, that you wanted more. Before giving him the time to react to your words, you decided to move your leg towards his, your thigh now touching his. And you kept it there, his eyes quickly moving to look at your naked skin barely covered by your skirt, before coming back to meet yours. That action alone made him gulp, his Adam’s apple running up and down his throat. He knew that wasn’t your first time trying to interact with him, and he also knew every single chance he’s ever had with you… he blew it. Truth is, as if it wasn’t already criminally obvious, he liked you too. A lot. And you made him incredibly nervous.
But this time, he promised himself, it was going to be different. It had to be.
“Oh,” he mouthed with a giggle, “what type of person do you think I am, then?” he then asked mimicking your words, his tone is now firmer but never overpowering, with a confidence that surprises the both of you. You smiled in response, playfully shoving his shoulder and bringing your thigh even closer to his, your knee now brushing his.
As insignificant as it might have seemed, that touch alone was inebriating you. His soft lips, his now crimson cheeks, the way his fringe rested on his eyebrows, his small nose: those were pieces of a puzzle that depicted the most harmonious and beautiful shapes you’d ever lied your eyes on, and it was shameless the way you kept scanning those with your alluring eyes, almost too much for him to handle. You slid your hand from between your bodies to your thigh, playing with the hem of your skirt as you broke eye contact to squint your eyes and look at something indistinctive in the room, your expression now thoughtful. Armin swore you were trying your best to make him lose his mind and… wait a minute, were you flirting with him? But then you do find the words you were looking for, and your hand casually landed on his thigh as you looked back at him.
That’s when the realisation hits him that, fuck, you were flirting with him.
“I don’t know, Armin I don’t know what kind of person you are. You never seemed to really enjoy talking to me, or my presence,” your attitude isn’t accusatory, in contrast to the weight of your words. Your smile reassured the blonde that you weren’t actually angry at him as your response might have suggested. Your tone had something more to it, it was rather playful.
You were teasing him.
But Armin couldn’t bear the thought of you being under that impression. He actually loved your presence, he was grateful for those couple of times you tried to get closer to him, and he was fully aware he didn’t exactly act according to his true feelings. He now realises, he did push you away. And that, if he wanted things to be different, he had to do something to make them different. That made him take a deep breath.
“Y/N, I wanted to…”
“ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT,”
The loud music got overpowered by an even louder voice, a drunk Reiner was basically shouting on top of his lungs, trying to get people's attention. Annie noticed it first and, after rolling her eyes, she decides to quickly take control of the stereo and lower the volume down. Reiner raised a bottle of godknowswhat in her direction and mouthed a "thank you" before continuing, still shouting despite the music being now almost imperceptible:
“I THINK IT’S TIME TO PLAY A GAME. EVERYBODY, COME HERE. WE’RE PLAYING SPIN THE BOTTLE!”
Shit.