TITANS. aot

BREAK | a. arlert

[modern au!] armin | fem!reader

requested

                                                                                                                                                                                                       

     "maybe we should take a break."

     y/n teared her eyes away from the dark ceiling, her sleepiness and stress long gone. it was quiet in their shared room, except for their heavy breathing clouding the deafening silence and the ruffling of the bed sheets.

     "huh?"

     was all she could let out, confusion and heartbreak prominent in her voice. she turned to her side, eyes furrowed in confusion, only to see armin's back facing her with a space between them; the aftermath of another heated argument from earlier. unvoiced questions clouded her mind and it took her a few minutes to fully process what he meant.

     "why..." she paused, her throat clogging up as she tried to find the right words to say. 

     the blond let out a quiet sigh before shifting his position, now facing the ceiling with his hands on his stomach. even in the dark, y/n could see the way his blue eyes shined with sorrow and reluctance or the way his breathing started picking up that made her own e/c hues swim with concern. she wanted to ask if he was okay, hug him close to soothe whatever was in his mind, but like him, she was just as confused. she couldn't find the will to get close to him and pull the blond in a warm hug like she always does after what he just said.

     armin cleared his throat and quietly mumbled a hasty reply, "i just don't think it's working out. we're both stressed with our profession and that in turn got us to many useless arguments every single day. you're working on a big case and you have a court meeting next week that needs a lot of attention and i'm on the verge of a breakthrough--" 

     "all couples argue!" y/n flinched at her sudden exclamation, suddenly feeling small. "that's not an excuse to ask for space..."

     armin glanced at her sideways before keeping his eyes back in the ceiling once again, "the stress in return makes us say hurtful things to one another and i don't want to make it a usual thing. i hate myself whenever i see you on the verge of crying--"

     y/n bit her lip to stop herself from cutting him off again but she couldn't help it. he was asking for something she couldn't do. "armin, that's not a valid excuse! please don't do this... this isn't the way! we both know that we don't mean anything we say. you're just letting stress--"

     with a tired sigh, armin spoke up once again, "just let me speak, for fuck's sake!"

     the h/c-haired woman closed her mouth, surprise all over her face. the blond never cursed in his lifetime and he'd always joke that the time he'd swear out loud was if he was in his limit. just imagining that he was at his limit with her broke her heart in million pieces. 

     "i'm tired, okay? let's- let's just take a break and see where it takes us..."

     "are you tired of what's happening? or... of me?" y/n asked, her voice cracking up as she tried to contain her tears to herself.