Complexity- Armin x Reader

Chapter 26: Complication

"Sorry for what?"

"For not taking care of you. I even--" Armin froze and stopped himself.

I even yelled at Jean.

He rephrased.

"I shouldn't have drank," he said solemnly. "I let you down."

Y/n frowned.

"Armin, you didn't let me down. I'm not your responsibility."

"But you're my best friend! We're supposed to look out for each other."

"Well, then I'm a pretty shitty friend for not taking care of you either. I'm--I'm sorry for getting drunk." Y/n said and she hugged the boy. "I'm selfish and I'm really sorry, Armin."

"Y/n, you're going to make me cry." Armin said sniffling slightly.

"You're going to make me cry." Y/n said nearly sobbing.

"Ok, we might be a bit hungover," the blue-eyed boy observed and Y/n nodded with watery eyes.

"Yeah, just a bit." The girl cuddled closer to Armin, and they both found comfort in each other's presence, all bundled up under a fluffy blanket.

All was serene as they looked towards the falling autumn leaves in Eren's backyard. The morning air was fresh in their lungs, and they believed that they would make it out of their hangover together in one piece.

All was good again.

Until Carla and Grisha Jaeger walked through the front door a day earlier than they should have.

To say that Carla Jaeger was furious would be an understatement.

Because that woman, upon seeing her son in the state he was in, grounded him. And for the first time, Mikasa had been grounded, too.

~♢~

It certainly had been a memorable night and morning for all of them, with some lasting effects carrying through into the weeks to come.

The most consequential one being that Armin and Jean couldn't get over their argument from that night.

They were both stubborn.

Armin wouldn't apologize and Jean wouldn't clear things up, so the two carried on ignoring each other and throwing each other occasional glares behind each other's backs.

Y/n noticed some tension between the two. She saw how Armin would sort of disappear on her whenever Jean was in the picture, or how Jean would almost always change the subject whenever Armin was mentioned.

She had brought the situation up to Jean and he had rolled his eyes, brushing off her questions. He had told Y/n that it was all in her head, which made the girl second-guess her thoughts.

She believed him, and she shrugged it off, carrying on.

~♢~

April 5th, 20XX

"Armin, you know how I told you I was studying for my permit and my mom was teaching me how to drive?" Y/n asked the blonde next to her as they made their way home from school.

"Yeah?"

"Well, I finished reading the book and finally learned the material. And guess where I went yesterday?" Y/n asked excitedly, practically jumping.

"Uh...the DMV?" Armin raised a brow.

Y/n nodded happily and then burst out into a wide grin.

"I aced my permit test and my mom passed the car down to me!" She exclaimed and Armin gasped.