Almost Normal

Chapter 1

Authors note- Hello everyone! I'm so excited to officially start this fic! There are no warnings for this chapter other than excessive cuteness and an overload of feels :) I hope all of you enjoy! And don't forget to comment any suggestions to make the story come alive even more. Happy Reading -Zenovia

Armin's POV

Chapter 1

I can't begin to explain to you how socially awkward I'm functioning in this situation. From before I can remember, I have always had trouble talking to strangers, or even people that I knew. I was always afraid that I would spit out something embarrassing the moment the atmosphere got tense. This awkward encounter however, probably takes the prize for the 'Most Embarrassed I Can Feel About Myself' award. No matter what I do, I seem to keep stealing glances at the mysterious boy across the train. I try and tune out all of my emotions by listening to the sweet tune of my music. And maybe the song "Falling Slowly" from the musical Once, isn't the best choice for a song because with each new verse, I keep wanting to catch a sight of the boys green eyes again. They truly were mesmerizing. The way they almost took on the color amber when they hit the light just right, and if I was able to stare long enough, I could even see hints of blue in them. But then reality hit me like a slap to the face. What I was doing could be interpreted as "creepy" and "stalker-ish" so I tried with all my might to not look at the boy across the train.

Tuning out the world had become something I was a pro at. All I had to do was clear my mind of all the distractions that were clouding my mind of "what if's?" Music also helped this process. To listen to the instruments and the background noise rather than the actual lyrics always calmed me, and intrigued me at the same time. I would look out the window of the train and start to paint a story in my head of what was here 1,000 years ago. I imagined all of the people and each of their lives as if I knew every single one of them. An evil prince would steal away the poor maiden but the blacksmith's son would come to rescue the frail maiden and of course, the two lived happily ever after.

I never understood why I like to write fairy tales of lands that consist of dragons and deep blue oceans that are so deep, you can never reach the bottom. In a way, I think they help me cope with not being able to express my feelings to other people, so I just decide to monologue in my mind.

Before I know it, I have forgotten all about Mr. Emerald Eyes sitting on the other side of the train. He seems like a distant dream that even if I tried to reach out and grasp hold of it, it would slip away like grains of sand falling from a fragile hand. I try and concentrate more on falling into the stories that I have made up in my head, but then I hear an announcement pulsate over the train that says that my stop is coming up in the next four minutes. To my disappointment, I grudgingly start to gather all of my possessions that are scattered over the unused chair in front of me. I pick up my notebook of what I like to call "My shitty ideas that won't stop bothering me until I write them down." I gather my sweatshirt that has my school's name and mascot on it, and I also grab hold of my closed umbrella because with my luck, it will start to downpour right when I step off of this train.

I check to make sure I have everything that I need when I realize I'm missing something. I don't have my bag that contains my laptop and creative writing homework in it. I start to look around the train, when the bright red bag comes into my field of vision. Its sitting on the luggage carrier in the middle of the aisle, connecting the two sides of the train. I stand up to grab for my bag, not really paying attention to what I am doing, when I feel a flash of heat on my corpses hand. My attention gets snapped into focus when I realize that Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome is standing on the opposite side of the luggage carrier, and our hands have made contact with each other. Our eyes seem to be locked on each other, having no way to escape this contest to see who will pull away from the comforting touch first. I get to have a close up look at the colors that play in his eyes. It's like I'm looking through a kaleidoscope there are so many colors. But the one color that seems to be dominating all of the others is that shimmering emerald green. I examine all the little details on his porcelain tan skin. I notice the intricate little sun freckles that dot his cheeks, that just happen to be growing redder with each passing second. I notice the dimples that rest upon the bottom of his cheeks. His hair sweeps over in different directions as though he just got off a roller coaster. He is seemingly beautiful to me. He looks like a Greek god out of a storybook.

I'm so entranced by everything about him that I don't even realize he has said something to me until he is waving his other hand in front of my face to see if my brain is still receiving oxygen. I blink a few times and stutter out "I...I'm sorry, what did you say?" The figure replies with "I was asking if you were okay? And that you're grabbing the wrong bag." My eyes look down to our hand, which still happen to be slightly touching, and now that my eyes are in focus, I can count that there are in fact, two red bags on the carrier in front of me. Although, it isn't the similar color that shocks me, it is the name of the college that is printed on the front of the bag. It is the same school that I go to!

I squeak out a small "Oh, I'm sorry, my bad." I move my hand to grab the correct bag, and I start down the stairs to the lower level of the train to exit out of the doors. Just like I had predicted earlier, the second I walked out of the doors, it started to pour. With my umbrella in one hand and my other belongings in the other, I start the walk to my empty dorm room.

I was about to put in my headphones and zone out the world, until I heard somebody calling my name. I kept hearing the faint shouts of "Armin!" get closer and closer until I recognized the dark haired boy from the train, rushing with great speed to reach me. I immediately stopped walking, and I waited for him to catch up to where I was. When he was next to me, he was sweaty and panting from running in the rain. I looked up into his eyes and asked "How do you know my name?" The boy replied with "I think we must have grabbed the wrong bags back on the train. I was lucky enough to realize this when I saw that the inside of the bag said Armin instead of my name." I grabbed the red bag that I held in my hand and looked inside the flap and saw that there was a name in black sharpie marker that stated the owner of the bag. I read the name over and over again, just to make sure that I would never forget it. "Eren. Eren Jaeger. What a strange name. But who am I to talk about strange names here?" I thought. Eren kept talking, he said "I'm just glad that I caught you before you were too far to get your attention. Anyway my name is Eren." Eren held out his hand and I was leery of grasping at first, but if I didn't he might think me odd. So I grabbed hold of his hand and smiled and I replied with "Armin, Armin Arlert." Eren smiled a mischievous smile and said "Well it's nice to formally meet you Armin. I never knew that we went to the same school." Eren chuckled "Small world huh?" I just smiled as giggled to myself and told him that it was nice to meet him as well, but that I really should be going. Eren reluctantly agreed and started to walk away. It wasn't ten steps later that I hear Eren calling out my name again. And when I asked if he needed anything, he said "Um, listen, I know that I barely know you, but I...I um...I was wondering if you maybe you wanted to get coffee sometime? Maybe catch a movie, or just hang out?"

Eren's cheeks were a pale pink and he was clasping his hands as if he was nervous talking to me. To ME, of all people, he wanted to talk and hell, maybe even hang out with me! An asteroid could have crashed against the Earth and I would have been perfectly fine because somebody finally wanted to get to know me. When I got out of my little daze, I realized that my cheeks were flushed and the palms of my hands were a little sweaty. I told Eren that "I would love to get coffee and hang out sometime. How does Friday night at 5:00pm sound?" Eren's smile widened even more. He said "Friday sounds great! Here let me give you my number so you can call or text me if anything changes." He grabbed hold of my hand and pulled out a sharpie marker and quickly scribbled down the number on the palm of my hand, and it was like I was back on the train again. I was transfixed by all of his small little features and I was quickly pulled out of my fixation when he let go of my hand and said "There, just text me whenever you can! Well I should probably get going. I will see you soon Armin! Bye!"

He left as quickly as he came with the right red bag in place. I started to walk back to my dorm, and as I was looking around at the dreary weather around me, I didn't feel so alone anymore.