CHAPTER NINETEEN:
panicked pre-somethings.
"So then she came up to me during our honors biology class and asked me to be her boyfriend," Armin said wistfully.
"Wow- really?" Y/N said, eyebrows rising in surprise.
"Can you believe it, Y/N?" Armin said happily, his voice emitting from my computer speaker.
"I'm really happy for you, Armin," Y/N replied, faking a smile as they barely held it together. "That's- that's really great."
"I didn't even know she liked me like that," Armin said, running his hands through his hair in disbelief. "I thought it was a bit strange that she always talked to me- no one really did, but I was the new kid, so."
"Yeah..."
"She's wonderful, I think."
Y/N grinned awkwardly, unable to escape, seeing as they were on a video call. "She is, isn't she?"
Mikasa coughed a few feet away in front of Y/N, adjusting in her bed. She shot them a look, almost asking if she needed an excuse to leave.
Y/N popped a knuckle in response, dropping a book off of their bed as a signal.
"Hey, Y/N, don't forget you said you'd hear my attempt at that song you wrote. Wanna go? We can pull an all nighter with Klaus," Mikasa said loudly.
The (H/C) guitarist looked at her briefly before turning back to their computer. "Looks like I have to go.."
"Oh, I don't want to keep you," Armin said, "we can call tomorrow morning like always, anyway. Goodnight!"
"Goodnight, Armin," They said softly.
"I love you!" Armin chirped affectionately.
"I- I love you, too."
BEEP-BEEP.
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VIDEO CALL WITH ARMOUT HAS ENDED.
DURATION OF VIDEO CALL- 41:27
╚═══*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*═══╝
Y/N slowly shut the laptop and buried their face in her hands, closing their (E/C) eyes in tiredness.
"I'm sorry," Mikasa said, shaking her head as she got up and enveloped Y/N in a hug, pale arms slinking around their body. "I.. I didn't think it would be that way."
'ᴴᵉ ᵐᵉᵃⁿᵗ ᶦᵗ ᵖˡᵃᵗᵒⁿᶦᶜᵃˡˡʸ,' ran the small voice
in the back of Y/N's head.
-
"We're here, Ms... 'Person'? Really? That's your name? You couldn't have been a bit more creative?" The taxi driver asked skeptically as he looked on the Taxi app. "Hey, I've seen you before! Aren't you that one guitarist from that one band?"
"No," I said bluntly. "Totally different person."
I scowled as I got out of the taxi cab and stepped on the concrete driveway lined with grand green bushes. Tall metal cylinders held string lights in between them, their soft glow lighting a path of visibility.
"Who ate all of the wings?!" was the first thing I heard as I entered the lively party in the courtyard of what I assumed to be Hitch Dreyss's house.
Hitch's family was incredibly rich- probably because they belonged to a family of nobles-now-businessmen. There were pretty flower bushes and small angel statues everywhere. If I had to guess, I'd say that Hitch was certainly everything she bragged about.
This was going to be a long night.
I sighed before stumbling over my feet into a tall guy with dark hair, getting a face-full of warmth as he yelped.
"Sorry," I said, brushing myself off and trying to rush past him without awkward confrontation, a bubbly feeling in my stomach as I mentally cursed myself for my poor eyesight.
"Hey- hi, Y/N," He said, grabbing me by the shoulder to make me stay, smiling kindly as he spoke. "It's me, Marlo."
"Oh, hey, Marlo!" I greeted hastily, noticing the change in pitch of my voice from shame, "How are you? What have you been up to?"
"I'm doing very well. Surely you've seen the charity for orphans in the outer districts?" Marlo asked, sipping from a juice box as opposed to the beers that everyone else held. He put a hand on his hip, mom-style, slurping loudly.
"Mhm. That was you?"
"Yep," Marlo said proudly, before switching to his charming 'I get what I want' persona- a complete pouting mess. "But you've got to tell Connie and Mikasa to join their start-up with my start-up, really! We're just useless competition now!"
"Um... I'll- sure."
He sighed, spotting Hitch and some random girl talking flirtatiously by the food tables, small smirks on both of their blushing faces. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go convince Hitch not to drink too much."
I cringed and wandered inside of the house alone. I'd left the hotel by myself, as I sensed that Jean and Eren weren't going to stop fighting anytime soon if we all went together.
It was a terrible mistake.
Going to parties without the usual buddy system sucks, because you feel awkward and usually cling onto one comforting person.
What a pain.
My eyes flickered towards the kitchen. Surely someone I knew was in there. I creeped closer and grinned to myself when I saw the people inside.
A tall blond man sighed beside the kitchen counter as Connie and Sasha dove into the pile of pies and pastries. There were platters and plates scattered around the table, clean dishes in a neat stack not too far away.
"Oh my god, these tarts are to die for, Niccolo," Connie gushed as he bit down into a small pie. "Mph."
Niccolo scowled. "They're nothing special."
"No, Niccolo, they're amazing!" Sasha exclaimed, shoving another into her mouth.
"Er- hm. T-thank you," Niccolo stammered, busying himself by taking the steaming pot of tea off of the stove.
"Y/N!" Sasha squealed, noticing me in the doorway. "Come and eat!"
Connie got up from his seat and hugged me tightly. "We thought you weren't going to show!"
I smiled and patted his head. He'd grown quite a lot, almost as tall as Eren, and I had to reach up instead of down if I wanted to give him head pats.
"How's the baby?" I asked Sasha while Connie sampled a piece of cake that sat on top of the stove.
"Hungry," Sasha chirped, cutting into a pecan pie happily.
"You're always hungry, baby or not," I chuckled. "Only three months to go, though!"
"I saw this thing where you play music when the kid is born so that the baby hears music when it first comes into the world- so I'm thinking of playing the Wii lobby music for the birth song," Sasha said casually, "y'know, 'cause that's how Connie and I first met."
"That's so cute!" I grinned.
"Yeah," Connie smiled, looking over at Sasha and kissing her forehead.
"Have you gone and figured out the sex yet?" I asked, taking myself out of my thoughts.
"Mhm!" Sasha hummed. "We know."
"Really?" I gasped, surprised that they weren't making it a spur-of-the-moment thing.
They were definitely the type to want a surprise.
Although, Connie had definitely become more responsible. He'd been preparing the day that Sasha took the pregnancy test. It was adorable, and I count myself lucky to have witnessed the moment that Sasha told him.
"It's an attack microwave," She said serenely.
Connie exploded in laughter, Niccolo rolling his eyes before chuckling lowly into his wine glass. I cracked a grin and giggled at her lame joke. I felt better as I let a laugh loose- better than I had in the hotel. Seeing my friends arguing so passionately struck a chord inside me.
"You're too much, Sasha," I panted, out of breath from laughing.
"Imagine what their kid will be like," Niccolo said, shaking his head and taking a sip of his glass of wine.
"Y/N," Connie said, tapping my shoulder excitedly. "You're actually wearing the pie pants!"
"Yeah, why wouldn't I?" I snickered, standing up to show off the plaid pants embroidered with a small pie on the ankle. "Pie pants."
"I thought it was just Sasha that was weird, but I guess her friends are weird too," Niccolo pondered. "I shouldn't have expected more from a girl who thought being in culinary school meant eating the food you make, I suppose."
"Don't disrespect the pie pants," I said, pushing Niccolo lightly.
"Anybody who says 'pie pants' doesn't demand respect," Niccolo said. "That being said, I respect you for having the courage to publicly embarrass yourself like that."
Sasha leaned into Connie's ear and whispered something with a serious expression on her face.
Connie grinned at me as Sasha pulled away from his ear and gently smiled down at Sasha's round stomach. "I think so too, it's perfect right now."
"Think what?" Niccolo asked nosily, beating me to the question.
I shrugged and approached the platter of biscuits that sat on the counter behind us.
Connie cleared his throat and spoke heartily, "Niccolo, my cook, w-"
"I am not your cook. I'm Sasha's friend who happens to get paid to make her delicious food on a daily basis."
"-we have decided that Y/N will be our child's godmother."
"That's nice," I replied absentmindedly, melting into the taste of buttered bread and trudging back over to the table.
"Did you hear me?" Connie snickered, ruffling my hair.
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, idiot, you said I'm your child's g- oh my god, I'm your child's godmother?!"
"Yes!" Sasha screamed, getting up and hugging me as I broke down in tears, an overload of emotion.
"But- but why me?" I bit the inside of my cheek, clutching onto Sasha's sweater tighter, burying my face into her shoulder. "Wouldn't literally anybody else be better? Why not Mikasa?"
"What idiotic things are you saying?" Connie spat, knocking over a plate of pie, much to Niccolo's annoyance. "My family's all gone, disapproving, or both, my mom's nearly a brain-dead vegetable- and Sasha's father is already busy with Kaya and all those other children he adopted!"
"Shit, man, I'm sorry," I muttered.
"If anything happens to us, we want our child to grow up with a parent our age, someone who can pass on all the stories of the stuff we pulled when we were younger," Sasha said, patting her stomach affectionately, her chocolate brown eyes rimmed with slight tears, too. She blinked them away, giggling slightly. "Sorry. You're making me emotional, too. Ugh."
"Why would anything happen to you?" Niccolo interrupted, forehead creased with a frown.
"Have you seen the traffic and road rages in Trost, Nick? No traffic jams, no opinion."
"Connie, please don't call me 'Nick' ever again."
"You're just jealous, Nicky," Connie teased, lips curling devilishly as Niccolo pinched the bridge of his nose.
"I've got more than you think, Connie," Niccolo said.
"I- I finally found you," Armin panted, dropping down onto the chair next to me in the hallway upstairs.
"Looking for me, were you?" I muttered, taking a sip of my tea.
"Mhm," Armin hummed. "Why did- why did you leave the hotel without us?"
"I- I felt like doing it, I guess," I lied, not saying that I didn't want to see what happened with Eren.
"We were worried," Armin flushed.
"Oh. Sorry," I said, playing with the hem of my shirt. If you couldn't tell, I was indeed not sorry.
Armin stiffened and shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants. "Er- I'll go now. S-see you around?"
"Don't go. Want to walk around? See all that wealth Hitch always mentions?"
"S-sure," Armin said, holding out his hand for me as he stood up.
I took his hand and brought myself to my still-wobbly feet. Armin didn't let go.
Crap, I thought. What do I do now?
As I looked across to Armin, I could tell he was thinking the same thing. He looked away awkwardly and blushed slightly.
Platonic hand holding? Is that what this is?
No- is it even platonic if you have feelings for the other party?
Blond wisps stuck out on the top of his head as he ran his hand through his hair. His eyes flickered towards me and I realized I'd been staring.
Abort mission, abort mission-
"Er- Sasha and Connie made me their baby's godmother," I said, clearing my throat as I looked intently at the ceiling.
"Really? That's wonderful, N/N!" Armin gushed, grinning at me and tightening his fingers around mine.
I wriggled slightly, wanting to get out of his grasp, but also not wanting to be rude. I grimaced.
"Hitch said that the view from the bedrooms was pretty, want to go check it out?" Armin asked, pointing to the room at the end of the hallway. "M-maybe?"
"Sure," I said uneasily, both of us coming to a stop as we reached the end of the now rosy-lit hall.
The setting sun cast a beautiful orange glow on everything it could reach.
My hands were doused in the light. I frowned softly and took my hand out of Armin's.
He has a girlfriend.
Suddenly, Armin pushed open the door and gasped quietly, turning back and breathing hard as he slid down the wall.
"Wh-?" I started, furrowing my brows at the sight of Armin's reddening face.
"Don't- don't look inside," Armin whimpered softly. "Plea- please."
I gave him a worried look and peered into the large room with purple walls to see Annie and Bertholdt in bed together kissing passionately. Bertholdt brought his hands up to Annie's hair and moaned quietly.
Annie pulled away and saw me out of the corner of her eye. "H-"
I yelped and slammed the door closed. "Oh my god."
Armin had a shocked look on his face.
"Let's get out of here," I hissed, grabbing Armin's hand and pulling him down the stairs.
Step, step, step.
How could she do this to him?
Step, step.
How could she do that to Armin?
Step.
Armin only ever gave his all for her, and this is how she repays him? By going back to her old ex?
Sharp turn, step.
We sprinted to the best of our abilities down the halls, occasionally passing a few people arguing, others talking, and yet more laughing.
I saw Jean and Marco arguing with a guy I recognized as Floch- probably on their marriage. If anyone changed, it had been Hitch, but Floch just got worse somehow. Hitch and I were on good terms, and occasionally went out for coffee. But that was because Hitch formally apologized and did everything she could to repent for her literal crimes.
I pulled Armin into a deserted area behind the concrete fountains, which were now lit up with pink lights, making them ever visible, even though the sun had at this point fully set.
"H..?" Armin panted, letting go of my hand and dropping to his knees before covering his face with his hands. "How- how could I not have noticed the signs?"
I collapsed on the floor next to him.
I should have told him.
I should've told him what Connie told me.
"I'm sorry," I whispered, pulling Armin into a hug.
What am I supposed to do?
Armin sighed heavily.
We sat in an awkward silence for a few minutes.
Occasionally I would pat his shoulder, and Armin would acknowledge my presence by putting a hand on my back before rubbing his eyes again.
"Here you guys are, oh my god, we've got to go, we've got to go," Marco's voice panicked.
ʷᵒʳᵈ ᶜᵒᵘⁿᵗ: ²³²⁴