Beneath the Cliffs (Armin x Reader) DISCONTINUED

Chapter eight - House on the cliffs

Y/n

It was a cool day, bright with a crisp breeze whipping at your skin. Leaving your Friday morning lecture with Eren and Bertholdt, your shoes crunched over the sharp grass of the lawn between buildings.

"Do you guys have any plans for the mid-semester break?" Bertholdt asked.

Eren, on your left, nodded, busy with his phone and eyes glued to its screen. "Yeah, I've got something on this weekend."

"You don't sound all that excited by it," you noted, brows knit as you looked at him.

He glanced up, side long to you as he shrugged off the comment. Following his gesture, you forced yourself to turn away from him, eyes back on the path toward the cafe.

Oh Eren.

Even after all this time, in the months since your confession, and the month since you'd hooked up with a stranger, eager to move on, your heart still leapt when you glanced him. But at least you could talk to him now. At least you didn't need to hold Armin's hand just to be near him.

As you lifted your head, staring into the sky, bright rays of mid-morning sun on your skin, you smiled. That's something you'd been doing a lot more of lately - smiling. And not false shields or synthetic gestures, but genuine smiles.

And it was all thanks to a stupid guy and a stupid club. In a twist of fate, it turned out Hitch was right - you'd needed a good rebound to get your mind off Eren. To feel desired and wanted, and not like a heartbroken reject impossible of being loved - you had needed that push to cut clean your feelings.

You weren't totally there yet, but your days were brighter. You looked forward to Friday group meetings and classes. There was a spring in your step and song in your veins. You were finally moving on.

"And you, Y/n?" The taller of the men glanced to you. "Anything fun planned?"

"Just studying," you said. "It's only a two week break to mark the middle of the semester. It's not like I'll be packing up for a holiday. Besides, finals and due dates won't be long after, so I thought I'd get a head start."

"Armin helping you?" Eren asked as his shoes begun to scuff pavement. "I asked him to help me study but it sounds like he has plans with you the entire time."

You nodded, humming. "Yeah, he said he'd lend me a hand."

And it was true, Armin had offered to help you. Again. Like he always did. You'd be studying in your dorm, or at your spot atop the cliffs. You had it all planned out - even a break at the end of the fortnight to head to the cinemas and unwind before classes started up again.

But... You frowned.

In the month since you hooked up with the stranger, life returning to semi-normal, things had actually been a bit awkward with Armin. Certainly not on his end. As always, he'd been kind and helpful - a perfect friend. Rather, it was you who was being awkward. Overthinking your texts, running out of things to say, feeling your skin prickle when he got too close.

Because you still hadn't told him. He still didn't know about the man.

After you'd crawled back from the beach that night, the name and contact of the guy you'd met drowned beneath a sea of alcohol, you'd fallen straight to sleep. In the morning, you'd expected a sense of regret.

Instead, all you'd felt was lighter.

Like the sex had lifted a weight from you. It didn't take long for you to realise that it was the bulk of your lingering feelings for Eren that had been lifted, and when Hitch and Annie made it back to the dorm, you'd told them everything.