Neighbors || Jearmin

Stay for lunch

"Want to stay over for lunch?"

"You have lunch at 5?"

"Considering that I woke up at twelve..." Jean smiled at him over his shoulder and straightened up, throwing the towel to a side and took the bag Armin put on the table.

"I... Hmm... I already ate so..." I'm not hungry. He wanted to leave and return to his apartment, fell on the couch and stay there.

"You look pale. But your cheeks are getting red." Jean furrowed his brows at the awkward boy.

"I am still recovering." A pink blush adorned Armin's cheek. It was definitely time to go.

"You can stay if you don't have plans. We can talk. You don't have to eat."

Is he lonely? Maybe he wants company... Armin nodded and sat on a tall chair near Jean while he got back to work.

Armin felt uncomfortable at first for sitting alone and in silent, with nothing he could come up with for a conversation. He let Jean work while he observed him, trying to guess things about him. By his looks you wouldn't guess he had talent for cooking, he seemed more like the one to burn down the kitchen. It's funny. Armin chuckled at his own thoughts, loud enough for Jean to hear and he turned around.

"What's so funny?" Jean smiled and tilted his head lightly to a side.

"N-nothing." Armin stuttered, completely embarrassed and looked straight at his hands. He felt his cheeks heating, internally cursing for blushing so many times in less than an hour.

"It's okay. At least you're smiling."

"What?"

"Even if you have to laugh at me, you're smiling and not awkwardly."

"Why are you so nice?" Armin needed to change the subject or the embarrassment would make him faint again.

"I feel a little... Guilty." Jean smiled nervously and leaned against the countertop. I knew it.

"Guilty for what?"

"I didn't know you were studying this hard. My parties must have driven you crazy." Jean cleared his throat and turned around searching for a couple of glasses. He filled them up with water and gave one to Armin. His hands were still shaking and Jean noticed, Armin could say by his expression, but Jean sipped on his water and didn't say anything.

"Don't worry about that. I always end up like this after finals." Armin shook his head. He didn't want to sound like a nerd but... That's exactly what he was so, why hiding it?

"And your friends left you alone?"

"Kind of." he smiled and drank some water. "The only one who would have come wanted to watch horror movies and play videogames. And I don't feel like standing his energy today." He felt a little guilty for that, because he knew Eren would have stayed there getting bored just to make sure Armin was OK. That was the main reason he didn't want his friend to go, because he knew Eren had better plans which Armin wanted him to attend.

"Hey, horror movies are masterpieces. Well, some are." Jean smiled at him and Armin rolled his eyes. He reminded him of Eren in some way, excepting Eren's bad jokes and a personality too loud to bear for a normal person. Jean seemed to be more friendly, nice... Calm.

"I like books."

"I don't read much."

"You... Play the guitar?"

"I was part of a band for a while. It didn't work. But we still play sometimes."

"I learned some piano when I was younger."

"You don't play anymore?"

"A piano is more expensive than a school year." It was. He checked.

"True"

Armin had no idea what to talk about next. The nervousness started to fade away but he still felt awkward with the atmosphere in the room. He would always avoid pretending to care about strangers' personal lives, it was easier to avoid misunderstandings. But Armin cared about what Jean had to say, the only problem was that he had no idea of starting interesting conversations.

Jean dragged him out of his thoughts when he put a plate on his hands, Armin raising his eyes to him finding a smile rising widely on his lips.

"I said you didn't have to eat, not that I wouldn't offer you my famous chicken." He winked and walked to the table. Oh no...

Armin followed him looking at the plate. It looked tasty, smelled really good, but that didn't mean he could eat it. The blonde stood down on the chair and put the plate in front of him. I don't want him to think I don't want to, but... God, I should have left.

Jean approached him, then, and put a glass of orange juice in front of Armin, sliding the plate of food away from him. He looked at the glass of juice and then at Jean. The taller was getting ready to eat, not paying much attention at the surprise on his face.

"Thank you." It meant more than Armin could explain. The weight on his chest eased and he could relax a little. People used to look at him with pity, some of them even tried to talk to him about it like they knew what was happening in Armin's head.

Jean didn't seem to care eating alone by the way he was enjoying his food. Armin smiled at his juice and let his body fall a little on the table, resting his head on his arm.

"Are you tired?" Jean asked mouth full of food.

"No. I am out of energy. I was going for a walk but now I think wouldn't make it to the street."

"You should stay at home and rest." Jean mumbled and then swallowed. "When I feel really tired I don't even get out of bed."

"Ahh! I hate lying all day. I need to do things."

"How are you gonna do things if you barely breath?" Jean laughed and Armin pouted.

"I am fine! Really!" He tried to sit straight again but he couldn't, giving up and resting his head on the table.

"The definition of 'fine' must be different in your world."

"Okay... But still, I don't like being lazy."

Armin looked at the plate again. He bite his lip nervously and stretched his arm out towards it. Maybe if I taste it... His stomach twitched but he touched the meat softly. It was warm and juicy. He tore a little slice with his fingers and looked at it for a moment, brought it closer to his lips. It smelled good.

Armin slid it in his mouth and chew on it slowly. He can so cook! This is really good. Armin raised his eyes to Jean who was staring at him expectant, checking his face for an answer. He raised an eyebrow and Armin smiled and nodded.

"I like it." He whispered after swallowing it all. I'm sorry for not eating the rest, he wanted to say but Jean seemed content with that so he shut up and observed the other finishing his food, all trace of nervousness vanishing from his mind and leaving behind a genuine smile.