Complexity- Armin x Reader

Chapter 9: Goldie

I keep getting writer's block, but hopefully I'm at a good place with how the story is coming along. As always, have a good one, guys c:

~♢~

It was Friday night, the night after Y/n and Jean met up, and Armin was still reeling from his friend's suspicious behavior. He contemplated calling her out on what Eren and Mikasa had seen, but his non-confrontational personality cringed at the thought of arguing with Y/n over this. It wasn't as if he were her boyfriend in the first place.

"She could go out with whoever she wants." The blonde said to himself quietly under his breath as he worked his way through his English assignment that he had tried desperately to finish earlier. Though he chanted this sentence over and over to himself, letting it slip and slide through the folds of his mind, he found his demeanor gradually crumbling over the thought. He closed his eyes in annoyance and slammed his book shut, heaving out a sigh as he gave up on trying to focus on metaphors and tonal changes.

Armin didn't like to think of himself as being a clingy best friend. He didn't mind when Y/n hung out with Eren and Mikasa when he couldn't join them or when she went over to Connie's house to bake along with Sasha.

But he was finding himself feeling upset. Almost as if he were a jealous lover of hers.

"Shouldn't I be mad at her for lying though?" He reasoned with himself, his aggravated behavior making more and more sense to him. "I mean, hypothetically if she did lie. I have the right to be mad. Right?" He walked circles in his mind, switching from "yes" and "no". It was a complicated ordeal for him.

There was a knock on his door and Armin peered behind him to see his grandfather poking his head into the room, curious eyes settling onto the blonde.

"Who are you talking to, Armin?"

The boy's cheeks tinged red, and he brought his index finger up to his face to scratch his cheek out of embarrassment.

"No one, Grandpa. I was just talking to myself."

"Ah, ok." Armin's grandfather nodded his head at the boy's antics before clearing his throat to say what he had originally gone into the room for. 

"I just wanted to let you know that Y/n is here. Better hurry on over to her, kiddo. She doesn't look too good." After saying his piece, he ducked out of the room.

Armin looked at his grandfather's retreating form with wide eyes, quickly rising from his seat and making his way down the hallway towards the front door.

He stopped in his tracks as he turned the corner into the entry hallway. Y/n was standing in the center, her eyes tinted a red hue and her cheeks stained with dried rivers of tears. She looked up at the blonde and smiled a fragile smile that broke Armin's heart.

"Hey, I'm sorry I couldn't come yesterday, but I'm here now to kick some Alien tail."

Armin briskly walked towards the girl and found himself pulling her into a hug.

"Y/n, what's wrong?" His voice was heavy with concern, his arms tightly wrapping around his friend, who was now clutching onto his hoodie and burying her face in his chest.

"I'm sorry about this." She spoke softly into the dark-gray fabric of the sweater. "I'm just upset because my mom came into my room at 5 in the morning to tell me she couldn't get Christmas Eve off." Y/n clenched her eyes shut tightly and forced back sobs that threatened to come out, not wanting Armin to fully witness the fragility of her current state.

"I'm so sorry, Y/n." Armin truly felt horrible for the girl as he rested his chin on the top of her head and continued to envelop her in a caring embrace. All of his previous annoyances with Y/n's actions from yesterday went out the window as he focused on bringing his friend comfort. He noticed the girl's odd silence and peered down at her small, trembling form, her face turned from him as she hid herself from his sight.