Your Love is like a Riddle (Eremin)

17th Birthday

"Duh," Armin's lip quirked. "I'll be there."

          Eren clapped a hand to Armin's shoulder as he walked past, "See you at lunch Armin." Armin watched him walk off silently before moving to place his hand on his shoulder where Eren had touched. It was the same shoulder Mikasa had punched earlier, but for some reason it felt better now. Eren's hands were so warm, there was still some warmth left. Armin stayed there for a second before he realized that the bell was going to ring any second. He really needed to stop getting distracted from school today.

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          Armin had never had a crush before, but the day after he received his invite to Eren's birthday party, he finally started to like somebody. It was a girl in his chemistry class. He wasn't sure if it was just because of her looks, or if it was because of how smart, cool and collected, and mysterious she was. The point was, Armin was beginning to have a crush on Annie Leonhart, the school's new German exchange student (who also happened to be his new lab partner). Much to Armin's dismay, she didn't seem to show much interest in him. She mostly kept to herself, even when they were supposed to work as partners. The rest of the week Armin tried to be as smooth as possible, but due to his lack of romantic experience he kept failing horribly. However, Armin did notice that a slight smile crossed Annie's face whenever he stumbled over his words. Was she smiling out of pity, or did she like him too? Armin was overwhelmed with thought about Annie, he couldn't wait until Eren's party tonight to relieve him of some of the stress.

          It wasn't until Armin arrived at Eren and Mikasa's house that he realized he had forgotten to get Eren a present. He mentally punched himself over being too preoccupied with a girl to get his best friend a birthday present. He knew Eren wouldn't mind, but he still couldn't help but feel guilty. He reluctantly held up his fist to knock at the door, but to his surprise it swung open and he was greeted by an already wound-up Eren.

          "Woooo! Mikasa! Armin's here!" He ushered Armin inside quickly and shut the door behind him. "You're super early," Eren had an enthusiastic grin on his face as he glanced at Armin. Armin shrugged, "I got bored, there wasn't much to do at my house so I thought you wouldn't mind if I came early." "Of course not," Eren broke off down the hallway towards his room and gestured for Armin to follow him. "Well, happy birthday! I haven't had time to get you a present, I'm sorry," Armin mumbled, nervously scratching the back of his head. "No big deal, my best friend's attendance is enough of a present." Eren glanced back at Armin again, this time with a softer smile. Mikasa joined them shortly after they entered Eren's room and they played together on Eren's Xbox until the others arrived--Mikasa putting them both to shame, as usual.

          As soon as the cake had been served and a few games had been played Mikasa didn't even acknowledge anyone else in the entire house besides Sasha. Historia and Ymir were just the same, all over each other and not paying attention to anyone or anything. That left just Eren and Armin to chill out together. They went out to the backyard, where they usually went to get some peace and quiet and talk. After they sat in their usual spot underneath the huge oak tree in Eren's yard, Armin decided that now was as good of a time as ever to tell Eren about Annie, he'd have to find out eventually anyway. But how should he start?

"So Eren, any girls of interest lately?" Armin focused on a worm wriggling in the dirt by his feet.

"Psh, come on Armin you already know the answer to that question. You know about my 'reputation' at school."

          Armin laughed quietly and looked over at Eren, "Well you never know, maybe someone would be brave enough to step up and ask the 'heartbreaker' out."

          Eren smiled, "What about you?" Though there was a smile on his face, Armin noticed that Eren tensed up when he asked that question and almost immediately focused on something behind Armin's head.