The Library (Armin Arlert x Reader)

Chapter 13

'the dream!'

"Hey, Armin, I had this weird dream- well it was more like a nightmare than anything."

He adorably tilted his dead in confusion, signaling for me to continue on.

"I couldn't control it and it's still so clear, as if it were a memory of some sort. I saw a young Jean and Marco but..." I stopped, the flashback of how detailed his corpse was preventing me from speaking on. I fell silent, and Armin gently rubbed my shoulder.

"You can always tell me later, (Y/N)." His smile reassuring me that I'll be fine. The officers came back into the room with cups of water that I gladly downed. Talking for hours on end was so tiring, how do Sasha, Connie, and Jean do it?

"We have information on the man, we were successfully able to identify him as James Allen. When we investigated him, he had spoke of you in an excited manner." The taller officer said to me.

"Do you know this man?"

He slid a photo of a man with pale skin, brown eyes, and angled nose, and dirty blonde hair. He's vaguely familiar...

'Well...it's definitely the guy who was delivering the desserts.'

I shook my head no. "I've only lived here for a few weeks, I really haven't met anyone besides the people in my school...but he's a little familiar..."

"Maybe this will strike up a memory." The serious officer held up another photo, this time of the same guy but with dark brown hair, brown eyes, and the same pale skin.

My stomach dropped and my eyed widened. I sat up straight and felt Armin get startled by my reaction by my side.

"That's—No...no, he's back in my hometown- back at Sina-"

"Well he's here right now. Your restraining order expired."

"He got plastic surgery to change some of his features."

'Fucking shit'

"W-well, can she get it renewed?" The worried blonde beside me spoke, seeming a bit frustrated and confused.

Both of the officers nodded, concluding that the recent attack was more than enough proof that he was still a threat on my life. The meeting ended and I signed some papers to get the process started. After, Armin walked me back to the library. He could look cautiously across the street and make sure I was never too close to anyone else.

A salesman tried to approach me, but Armin would gently steer me away by the shoulders.

We slipped in and he clocked in for work, taking me over to his cozy, secluded spot behind the bookshelf.

"Armin, you look like you've been worrying over something since we left...are you okay?" I finally broke the silence, hoping for an answer.

"Oh! Yeah...I hope you don't mind me asking..." He stood over the mini fridge and pulled out some milk, grabbing hot chocolate powder from the cabinet and turning on his electric kettle. "Who exactly was that guy...? If you don't mind telling me- you don't have to!"

I looked to the floor with a sigh.

"My ex boyfriend."

"Oh." He tensed up, straightening out his posture and puffing out his chest slightly.

"Yeah." I shifted to find a better position on his little couch. "Everything was perfect until he cheated on me with some girl from the city named Hitch. She didn't know and contacted me as soon as she found out. We met up and confronted 'James'." I put his name in air quotes, knowing James Allen wasn't his real name.

"His real name is Abel. Not any better-" I laughed to myself and Armin stayed silent, pouring the hot milk into two cups, mixing the powder in. "Um...yeah. Ever since we broke up he's just been stalking any social media of mine that uses my real name-which is only like one- and the last straw was when he broke into my house and..."

I shivered at the memory. Armin came over with the cup and set it on the small table infront of us for me to drink.

He draped a thick and warm blanket over me and sat down beside me, taking a sip of his own hot chocolate, waiting for me to finish my story.

"And he tried to kill me. He almost did, too. God, this makes twice..." I shook my head and reached out for my cup of hot chocolate. Taking a sip, I noticed the back of my head started to hurt a bit. I winced and Armin tilted his head.

"Why isn't he in jail? If he tried to kill you twice, he should get at least one thousand years." He sounded ticked off, gritting his teeth.

I laughed suddenly, covering my mouth to stifle it. He looked to me curiously, tilting his head.

"Because he's rich, that's why. Bastard was able to pay his way out. Why is that even an option for a crime so heavy as that..."  I sighed out.

"(Y/N), I'm so sorry to hear about that." He took another sip and shyly scooted a bit closer to me. I looked up to him only to find out he was already looking at me. He blushed, quickly looking to the floor and I smiled.

"Do you mind if I nap here? I wanna sleep away this headache."

"O-oh, um, yes! No!" I watched with a smile as he stumbled over his words. Adorable. "I mean- yes, you can but no...I don't mind. I'm so sorry-"

"It's alright..." I took a deep breath in, quickly kissing his cheek and then watching him blush.

'he's so fucking cute.'

"I...I have to get to work, but you-you're more than welcome to...sleep here..."

"Thank you, blondie." I said and he left the room, making sure to close the 'door' behind him.

As soon as I was able to shut my eyes, I woke back up in that damn world.

"Reiner, are we doing this here? Now?"

The voice sounded so familiar. Infront of me there was a brunette I did not recognize. She had a hooked nose and a pair of goggles. She stood still and pretended like she could not hear who just spoke. Everyone did.

In this dream, I couldn't move, much like before.

I noticed everyone here seemed like a younger version of the people I knew.

Next thing I knew, there was a big flash of lightning that came crashing down right behind us.

"(Y/N)!" The young man that looked like Jean ran to me and tackled me down, saving my life as a big piece of debris came at me.

"Damn you...YOU TRAITORS!"

"Eren?!" I sat straight up on the couch. Armin wasn't yet back, I don't think I was asleep very long.

'What the fuck was that?'

For some sort of comfort, I pulled the card I was given out of my bag.

The card had an adorable puppy and kitten on front asleep, totally something Marco would pick out. I opened it and it was full of the signatures from my history class. They each put some sort of cheesy quote and signed their name.

One stood out from my teacher, Mr. Smith.

"Dedicate your heart."

That deeply resonated with me for some unknown reason.

I feel like I've heard it before.