Complexity- Armin x Reader

Chapter 9: Goldie

"You can cry. Don't hold back." He rubbed soothing circles on her back, hoping to coax her into venting it all out. It was this simple touch of his that seemed to have broken the wall of the dam. Y/n relaxed her tightly shut eyes and let the tears pour onto Armin's hoodie. She let out quiet sobs as she pondered to herself what was wrong with her.

"I don't know why I'm so upset. This is stupid." She managed to voice her thoughts over to Armin through broken phrases.

"You have every right to be sad. Don't doubt your feelings." The blonde spoke in soft tones. His heart ached at every sob, and he simply hoped that Y/n would feel better in time.

He wrapped an arm around Y/n's shoulder and guided the girl to his room, sitting her down on the side of his bed, making sure to leave his door wide open for his grandfather to keep an eye on them as he usually did when Y/n visited. He grabbed a box of tissues from the top of his desk and offered it to his friend, who gladly accepted them.

The blonde sat awkwardly next to the distraught girl, patting her back and not knowing what else to do.

"Well, at least we get to pig out on Christmas Eve together." He laughed weakly, trying to crowd out the room's silence.

Y/n sniffled as she looked up to meet Armin's gaze, a small smile breaking through her sad features.

"I guess you're right. Will there be dessert?" She asked hopefully.

"I'll buy you all the cake you want." He slightly grinned at her and her face lit up.

"Let's bake a cake."

He laughed lightly. "Y/n, you know we're just going to throw cake mix at each other if we do that."

"What about cookies?"

"Only if you don't eat the cookie dough."

She huffed. "Fine." She held out her pinky for Armin to take. His lips curled at her and he linked his pinky with hers, promising her that they would make cookies together.

"No promises. I just might take a small bite out of it. 3, tops." Y/n murmured quietly after the pinky promise and Armin bumped her shoulder with his hand, smiling at the girl who seemed in a much better mood.

"Wanna watch some TV?" He suggested.

"Yes please." She chippered at the thought of sitting close to Armin on the couch and she quickly got up to make her way to the living room, Armin laughing right behind her and following with a blanket in his hands.

~♢~

The two found themselves on the blonde's couch tucked under a large blanket, laughing loudly together at the comedy show they were currently binging. Armin's grandfather had stepped out to run some last minute errands and fill up the gas tank, so they had no need to hold back on their volume. It was a comfortable atmosphere, until the blonde began to overthink.

"I really want to cuddle with her. We did agree that we could start cuddling, but being the first one to make a move is a whole other concept." He sat stiffly in place, glancing back and forth from the TV to Y/n's preoccupied face. As he was debating on what to do, he felt a weight come down against his shoulder. He looked over and his breath nearly escaped him.

"Is this ok?" Y/n asked sleepily as she rested her tired head on Armin's shoulder.

"Y-Yeah, of course!" He said, flushing under the light of the TV screen. Y/n continued to nestle into his side, not noticing how she was affecting the boy next to her. Her heavily growing exhaustion clouded her awareness and she began to drift off, no longer really being able to grasp what was happening in the show. Then she felt Armin wrap his arm around her shoulder and pull her closer to him. Her eyes shot open and she hummed in surprise.