Complexity- Armin x Reader

Chapter 1: Fizz

But you were definitely not crushing on your best friend. No. You were just platonically noting how adorable he is. Platonically.

"Hey, Y/n. You crushing on your best friend?" Jean had slithered his way next to you, two Coke cans in hand and a teasing smile on his face. He was originally just going to ask if you wanted a can of soda, but he noticed that your attention was elsewhere.

You nearly jumped out of your skin at his presence and looked up at the boy with wide eyes. It took your brain a moment to catch up to the question. You felt an all-too-familiar heat rise to your face as you struggled to respond to his query. "I- uh...what? Haha, wh-what the hell are you talking about, Jean?" You looked away and hoped that Jean would leave you be. The topic of your feelings for the Brainiac always left you feeling a bit winded. They were complex. Disorganized. Your best friend just had a way of making you feel like this and you couldn't quite put your finger on what the feeling was. Admiration? Fondness?

But the thing was-- you knew.

You did have a crush on him. A massive one, too, and you tried desperately to deny, deny, deny.

Apparently Jean had taken notice of your inner turmoil and decided to back off a bit. The devious look on his face was replaced by a more soft expression. He shook his head and sighed at you, offering you the second Coke can that he had gotten.

"Thanks."

"No prob." He lazily leaned against the wall near the two of you and took a sip of his drink, making sure to savor the fizz. He was taking in the state of the room, finally being able to recognize the condition it was in. It turns out that when you throw a whole bunch of teens and food into a room, the place magically transforms into a natural disaster zone. Cluttered. Crowded. Crowded with friends, though. His eyes naturally wandered onto Mikasa.

"You know, Y/n, if you do have a crush on Einstein over there, I won't tell. I won't judge." He let the statement linger. He took another sip.

You glanced up at the boy and followed his gaze to Mikasa.

Right. Jean would maybe understand.

"Hey, how did you know that--er... that you liked Mikasa?" You looked away, worried that maybe Jean wouldn't want to talk about such things. You knew him enough to call him a friend, but not enough to know what was ok and what wasn't ok to talk about.

Your eyes were trained on your own shoes. You heard him take a breath.

"I guess...I just knew from the moment that I first saw her that she was a cool person. I don't know how to explain it, really. Obviously, I thought she was pretty. But there's more to it than that. Something about her presence. The way that she acts. I'm not gonna lie and say I know how, but I just found myself...attracted to her." The rest of his Coke Can was downed and he chucked it into the nearby trash bin. He looked a bit embarrassed after having admitted something so personal. His hands had gone into his pockets, his whole body language following in suit of his bashfulness.

"Why did you ask me that?" His now curious eyes met yours.

You bit the inside of your cheek. "I don't know how I feel about Armin. I'm--I think I like him. And I really shouldn't."

"Ya think?" Jean snickered at you and your obliviousness. It was comical to him how little awareness you possessed. You pouted at him and told him not to laugh.

"Y/n. You bein' for real right now? It's plain as day that you like him. Hell, a lot of us joke around about it. Just the other day, we got a laugh out of seeing the way you drooled over him in his PE uniform after we ran the mile--"

"HEY!! Keep your voice down, man!" You rushed out of your chair and clamped down both of your hands over his loud mouth, earning a glare from him. You glanced over at the couch. Armin was still preoccupied with the game.

He swatted your hands away and gave you a pointed expression. "Look, Y/n. Why don't you just accept that you like the guy and ask him out? I mean, what's the worst that could happen? It's Armin. He never gets mad and he doesn't look like the type of guy who would say no to girls in a douchey way. So, even if he did reject you, he would still wanna be your friend." He crossed his arms and looked expectantly at you.

Despite Jean's words of encouragement, you still felt knots in your chest just from thinking of all the possible outcomes following a hypothetical confession. You had never told anyone you liked them, so this was all uncharted territory. What if you did confess and he did reject you? Sure, maybe he'd still want to be friends, but everything would most likely change. Every hug you gave him would be looked at differently. Maybe he wouldn't even feel comfortable giving you hugs anymore.

"I can't!"

"And why the hell not?"

"Because I'd rather keep the friendship that we already do have. I wouldn't wanna gamble it away on the slim chance of him saying yes to a relationship."

Jean looked at you incredulously, his brows scrunching together in frustration. Why were you being so difficult? He practically asked Mikasa out on a daily basis and he's had no issue in doing so. So why was it hard for you?

His mouth opened ready to fire at you the many reasons why you were acting dumb, but someone beat him to the punch.

"Y/n, that's the dumbest shit I've ever heard. Aren't you an honors student?" You looked up in shock at Ymir, who had sauntered over to where you and Jean were with Historia in tow. The blonde with her messily braided hair frowned up at her girlfriend.

"Ymir, that's not nice! Y/n is just scared of losing him and even if you disagree, you can't be mean about it!"

Well, this was bad. Your mouth went dry and was now slightly agape. Now, Ymir and Historia for sure knew about your crush. Would they tell Armin? Maybe they wouldn't be cruel enough to do so (Historia, at least), but what if they accidentally revealed your secret?

Ymir's dark eyes were piercing. Knowing her, she was observing you, probably making incredibly accurate assumptions about the situation.

She scoffed at you and let her head nod back to look at the ceiling. "Not that I really care, but I think you should stop being a chicken and tell him. That blonde coconut definitely likes you back anyways. Letting your fears cloud your judgement won't get you anywhere in life. I was scared to tell Historia how I felt about her, but I'm damn glad I did, cuz look," she looked down towards her girlfriend and put her arm over her shoulders, pulling the flustered blonde closer to her. "I ended up getting the cutest girlfriend in the world." Ymir flashed a slight smile down at Historia. The one that was only ever reserved for her. Historia beamed up at her with flushed cheeks.

Jean coughed as you and him awkwardly saw Ymir and Historia get cuddly. "SO ANYWAYS," he turned to you. "I think Ymir is right. Just go for it." He gave you a closed, half-smile of encouragement.

The thought of finally pouring your feelings out to your best friend would maybe bring you some relief, but you couldn't quite dispel the cons of confessing that were still lurking in the back of your mind. For now, you thanked Jean and Ymir and Historia for their help and gave them a nervous smile.

You cracked open your can of soda and took a long swig, trying to calm your nerves with the caffeinated, sugary drink which would probably just end up making you more anxious in the long run.

You would confess to Armin the morning after the sleepover before you left for home.

"Let's get this over with."