𝙰𝚛𝚖𝚒𝚗. 𝙿𝚘𝚟
I Smile as I leave the booth, making my way to the back of the bakery. I walked to my tote bag with all my things from last night. I didn't even go back to the dorm. After I dropped off (Y/n) at her dorm, I came straight here, and I didn't want to have her waiting just in case she decided to go early; what kind of man would that make me to leave a lady waiting?
I take out my camera, turn it on, and I flick through the photos ensuring that they are all tasteful. Satisfied, I returned to her; she looked up at me and scooted over in the booth, seemingly wanting me to sit beside her.
I can't help the warmness as it creeps up my neck as I sit down next to her.
She wasn't afraid to peer over my shoulder, eager to see what photos I had stored in this capture device.
"If there's any that you want me to delete, just let me know, and I will, okay'?" I say with a small smile, seeing her with her lips twinged upwards a bit also, enough for it not to be considered an RBF.
She scooted a bit closer to me, her head nearly on my shoulder as I moved the camera screen closer to her vision.
I begin to go through the gallery. The first few pictures are of Sasha frozen mid-dance as her lips look like she's in the middle of singing and her body in the middle of jumping, my eyes shifting to see her reactions as I slide through the photos.
She's smiling as she hides her chuckles, bringing her fingers to her mouth, her nails tapping her bottom lip.
After a few photos of Sasha, (Y/n) begins to show herself, also dancing in frozen moments with her best friend, the both of them bending over and what appears to be yelling lyrics to a song as they face each other, Sasha mimicking a microphone with a whisk that was still covered in brownie batter.
I click through more. These next few are more focused on (Y/n) as she poses for goofy photos, her white teeth showing in an over-the-top smile, much like a kid on their first picture day.
She did some more, some with the tongue sticking out and other silly poses; Sasha eventually joined, and they did poses together. One sequence of five photos shows the events of Sasha jumping on (Y/n)'s back, which causes (Y/n) to lose balance and fall; the following photos show them on the floor laughing, both of their grins wide as they giggle on Jean's floor.
After skipping some blurry and out-of-focused ones, a few candid photos of (Y/n) are shown. I look at them closely, almost forgetting that I'm even showing her these pieces of art.
I pause on one photo, a photo that had (Y/n) smoking a blunt leaning out of Jean's living room window. The flash was off, so the colored shadows amplified her figure more as it contrasted with the deep blue and red LEDs that Jean had.
The look on her face seemed focused as she looked out of the window, her body leaning over the window seal, propped on her elbows. It really was a good photo.
After I analyzed that photo, the next was also taken in a sequence, three images that show her smoking, then looking at the camera, and the last one of her smiling, the shadows bringing out her jawline and shape, her teeth illuminating from the shadows in her signature white smile.
A smile I could look at forever.
The next photo is of her close to the lens, but she's looking up past the lens, seeming as if she is looking up and smiling at the one behind the camera, which in this situation, was me.
I remember when she had spoke to me after she noticed I was using her as my muse.
"Am I your muse now, blondie?" She had said to me as she walked close to me, the camera leveled with her neck as she ignored it to look up and smile at me.
I grinned at her, "is it such a crime to capture art in its natural habitat?" I remember my confidence being so high that I wasn't taking precautions when I was speaking to her in between taking photos.
I snapped that picture before she replied to me, the very photo where she was grinning up at me, focused on me behind the camera.
"I may be art, but this isn't my natural habitat." She had said, referencing Jean's dorm.
I remember smiling as my cheeks started to cramp up a bit, but still, my face never faltered around her, not like it could anyway.
"So then take me to your natural habitat; let me see you in your rawest form." She grinned as she leaned up to whisper in my ear, pushing the camera down as she did so.
"Maybe, if you're lucky enough, Arlert." Her warm breath sent automatic chills down my spine, causing me to accidentally capture a blurry photo of the floor and our shoes, a blurry photo that held an aesthetic vibe to it.
My smile widened a bit at the memory, a memory I could recall based on these photos, a luxury to have indeed.
"Armin, some of these are really good!" Words from a songbird broke my concentration, always inviting and welcoming.
I turned to her and smiled, and I could feel my face warm at the sincere compliment.
"You think so?" I ask, already knowing she's about to express how much she likes my photography skills.
"Yeah! Like look at this one," She then presses the back button showing the candid photo of her smoking out of the window.
"See! I like how you didn't use the flash, using the given light to ensure the vibe and aesthetic of the setting; it's impeccable!"
Bringing my left hand to my ear to scratch it awkwardly, I accept her compliment with a meaningful 'Thank you.' Seeing her eyes light up at the following photos.
"You're really good at capturing good moments. Do you have more of these?" She asked me. She seemed so eager to see more.
I have hundreds more; of course, I do. How many of those could I show you, though? Perhaps thirty, fifty if you're lucky. I might lead them to you one day, one day when you're comfortable enough to tell me your past, comfortable enough to be mine. Perhaps I'll show you the photos of you I've taken over the years, images that kept me going until we were this close. Maybe then I'll tell you how long I've really loved you for.
(𝚈/𝚗). 𝙿𝙾𝚅
It was nice hanging out with Armin. He was adorable and actually a bit funny. He had a dry dorky sense of humor, but honestly, that's the best kind of humor.
It's like comparing Bob's Burgers to Family Guy, Bob's Burgers don't rely on references or sequences to be funny; it's comical because it's so dry; the nonchalant characters and their reactions to scenarios really make the show, but even said futurama is far superior.
Leaving the cafe around noon meant that it had warmed up a bit, and by a bit, I mean a complete five degrees.
I was looking at my boots as I walked on the gravel. Seeing my breath made me want to hurry back to my dorm, but I didn't think I was in such a rush to run into someone until I did.
My shoulder clashed roughly with someone else's, which caused me to turn back and grunt, looking up at the dickhead who couldn't say, 'Excuse me.'
"Jesus, what's your damage?" I scoff as I look at the tall redhead before me, his undercut a darker shade of red, almost looking dyed, and his hair kind of resembled prepubescent Justin Bieber.
"Floch?" I questioned once he turned around to face me, a look of surprise on his face for a moment before he smiled sheepishly.
"(Y/n)? Sorry, I didn't mean to bump into you. How are you? I haven't seen you in a while."
It was like him, always trying to make small talk as he tried to buy time.
"Yeah, I know. I changed my classes so I wouldn't have any with you." I replied, checking the sweets Armin had given me, making sure they didn't topple over in the paper bag.
"You didn't have to do all that." He chuckled sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.
I raised my brow at this.
"I've done a lot of thinking, y'know, after we broke up and stuff, and I've been wanting to tell you how sorry I am. I wasn't the boyfriend you needed, and I apologize for not stepping up enough for you."
It was awkward.
He looked different since when we dated first year. He's not as thin as he was, he's more built, and his face isn't as slender as it was and seemed a bit taller too.
When we first started talking, he seemed to be only about 5'8, but now he appeared around 5'10-ish if I was being nice. He was taller than Armin but still much shorter than Eren.
My mouth was a bit dry, one part being the weather and the other part being caught off guard at this sudden interaction.
"Uhm, yeah, it's cool; it was like two years ago. Don't sweat it." I looked again in the paper bag, trying to look anywhere but Flochs staring eyes.
"You know I've missed you; why don't we do something, y'know, to catch up?" Floch stepped forward, which I noticed, the creeping feeling of anxiety creeping up my legs and towards my stomach, almost making me nauseous.
"I-I'm actually really busy, y'know-Uhm.." I stepped back, still looking away from him, my fingers getting numb as I began to lose feeling in my hands as they shook slightly."
"Hey babe, I was just coming to see you." I held back a gasp as I felt a broad arm across my shoulders, which caused me to look up.
"Eren-" I couldn't get anything else out as I looked to Eren, who had his arm around me, a slight smirk on his lips lazily as he looked down at me, his green eyes looking into my (e/c) ones.
"How are you, beautiful? Aren't you cold only wearing that sweater?" Eren asks, completely ignoring Floch's existence.
"Here, Take this." Eren then begins to take off his black denim jacket, which is layered on top of his forest green hoodie.
He then wraps it around my shoulders, even pulling my hair out from the back. He then looks down at me, he has to see my confused face, but is he ignoring it?
He then uses his right hand to lift my chin a bit as he leans down to me, his lips kiss mine, and I'm stuck frozen, frozen as in no reaction or movement.
The kiss was warm but short, a seemingly casual kiss to the world, but an act of a million questions raced through my mind. He then slips the bag from my fingers, his own holding onto the handles, "Let me hold this for you, babygirl." He smiles as he takes total possession of the bag as he then reverts his arm back around me.
Now he chooses to acknowledge Floch, who is now standing dumbfounded and confused.
"Who's this princess, a classmate of yours?" Eren asks me, and I look up at him as he looks down at me before looking back to the silent Floch.
"Uh, no. We used to date." I answered as I absently leaned into Erens side.
He was really warm.
"Oh, you're the ex, Sorry man, I haven't heard much about you, my bad," Eren says as he offers his hand to Floch, an action Floch clearly didn't anticipate since he took a good five seconds looking at his extended hand before he finally took it.
"So, when did you date my girlfriend? It had to be a while ago since we've been together for about a year now. Isn't that right, princess?" Eren asked me as his left hand caressed my shoulder, which surprisingly provided me with a bit of comfort, causing the numbness in my hands to go away.
"Yeah, I think in a month or two." I continue looking at Eren, going along with his ploy.
"We dated freshman year. We broke up when the school year ended." Floch responded, albeit with reluctance.
"I thought she broke up with you, well, from what little I've heard," Eren says, now engaging in meaningless taunts, something which I picked up on almost immediately.
Floch then awkwardly scratched his neck, now looking to the pavement.
"Uh, yeah, it was rough." He commented lowly, avoiding our eyes.
"Yeah, I bet it was. I couldn't imagine fucking up something so great, but hey, everything happens for a reason, but I can say (Y/n) has always been able to make the right decisions, so I guess that's why she's with me now."
Eren grinned at this, seeing Floch become red in the ears. He knew he had hit a nerve with him. It was apparent I didn't feel bad for Floch, but I didn't expect this from Eren, or at least him, to step in and help me out like this.
"I've gotta go. I'll see you around (Y/n)." And with that, Floch had turned around and began jogging again, putting his AirPods back in as if this interaction hadn't happened.
"He's on the track team?" Eren asked as we both watched him jog away.
"Yeah, on a scholarship," I replied with no added substance. I hate speaking about Floch, nevertheless his achievements.
"I wonder how fast he'd go if I were trying to beat the shit out of him." Eren casually said as if saying something mediocre.
This caused me to look up at him and gasp, "Eren!"
He only smirked as he turned towards me. "What? He's a douche, and he clearly bothered you really badly. Are you okay?"
Eren asked, switching the topic to me, which I allowed, not wanting to waste more time speaking about the fire crotch.
I sigh at first, not sure if I even want to talk about it; I mean, he saved me from having a panic attack, sure, but shit, that doesn't mean it's easy to talk about.
"Yeah, I'm fine; I'm definitely better now that you showed up. I thought I was going to freak out." I replied honestly.
"He's that type of ex, huh?" Eren asked, catching on that I had an extreme distaste towards Floch.
I sigh as I hold my head in my hand for a moment, "Yeah, I can say with utter confidence that he was my worse relationship, even the fake one you created was a million times better than what I had to go through with him."
Eren nodded as he presented the bag of sweets to me, "Sorry to hear about it; I'm all ears if you ever want to talk." Eren smiled as he then put his hands in his hoodie's center pocket.
I nod, looking at the bag momentarily before looking into his green eyes.
"It's a long story. Maybe if you buy me enough drinks, I'll spill my secrets to you." I smiled, feeling better and more normal again.
Eren kept his smirk on his face, "Yeah? I'll have to take you up on that sometime then." He looked down and continued to smirk, "My jacket looks good on you; wear it and give it back to me later." I nod my head, honestly forgetting that he had put his jacket on me despite it weighing a ton.
"Sure thing Yeager-boy, I owe you one, thanks."
"Anytime, Babygirl."