"Um, why do I have to play as Christa again?" Armin asks, embarrassment clear on his face as he dons a pair of black high heels. The blonde wig frames his face nicely, hiding all semblance of his boyishness.

"Because, a beautiful woman is the perfect model for this commercial," Eren states.

"But why can't Mikasa do it?" Armin looks over at Mikasa, who glares at him.

"I'm not an actress," Mikasa says flatly.

"Trust me, if Mikasa could act, she'd definitely be in the shoot. She's a lot prettier than you are," Eren says, oblivious to the deep blush that crawls over Mikasa's face, "and the real Christa has a scheduling conflict, so you're the next best thing. Besides, you're in the drama club, this is good practice for you."

"Well, I've always wanted to be in a theatrical production, but I don't really care for fake TV ads," Armin says, allowing Mikasa to smear some lip gloss on his lips.

"This is a school project, c'mon Armin, don't you want to help me get a good grade?" Eren asks. He has that passion in his green eyes again, the one that Armin can't say no to. Eren aspires to become a director one day, and this little commercial is one project of his in what's sure to be many more to come over his next few years. They are college freshmen, and Armin has a feeling this won't be the only time he helps out with Eren's video production assignments, so he sighs and gives in.

"Fine."

"Alright! You won't regret this! You're gonna look great!" Eren says, looking ecstatic.

"You've already got the outfit on anyways," Mikasa points out.

The three of them walk out of Eren's dorm and find a sunny patch of grass below one of the larger trees on campus. Eren pulls out his camera and sets it up, trying to find the best lighting. Mikasa gives him support while Armin stands around awkwardly.

Although he's in a pretty good costume as a girl, he still hopes that no one will see him and recognize him. Dressed in heels and a skirt isn't his idea of fun, and he wonders idly how any woman can do it – he's already quite unbalanced normally, so it hasn't exactly been a 'walk in the park' wearing heels.

Once all of Eren's equipment is set, he begins taking some shots of Armin. The purpose of the commercial is to advertize their university, and to bring in more students. Whoever gets the best grade on this assignment will actually have their commercial shown once on television. Eren, of course, is trying to get his commercial out there.

He chose to take a scenic shot of Armin pretending to study in the beautiful green on campus, along with other shots he's already taken. Armin tries his best to look the part of the pretty yet studious blonde, taking cover under the tree while reading her textbook. It's easy for him, since he spends most of his time studying anyways. He wants to be an architect, so he has a pretty hefty class load. He's always had a passion for arts, so he's also joined the drama club on campus in order to fulfill his dream of acting on stage at least once in his life.

Eren swings the camera around Armin as he studies, making sure to get the best angle. Mikasa advises him on how to do this, almost like a co-director. The whole process is beginning to be a little boring, and Armin feels like dozing off.

But he's woken up abruptly when a strange fellow rushes up beside Mikasa. Mikasa looks at him, surprised. The student has a mess of brunette hair, shaven on the side, and he's tall. He has a long and narrow face, with a sturdy jaw, although he's currently panting for breath, as though he's been running around campus all day.

"Mikasa," he breathes out, looking extremely grateful to have found her.

"Um, yes?" Mikasa looks at him, perplexed.

"You're in my English class, I'm Jean, remember?"

"Oh. Right," Mikasa says. Armin resists the urge to roll his eyes at her. This girl is so oblivious to all her admirers. She only has eyes for Eren.

"Um. So, well, I know this is kind of out of the blue, but would you perhaps go out with my parents and I for dinner tonight?" he stumbles over his words, but continues to look her straight in the face. Armin admires his bravery, and he actually smiles, thinking that Jean's blunt confession is kind of adorable in a crazy way.

Eren steps in front of Mikasa, protectively, "Just who the hell are you?"

"No," Mikasa says behind Eren, not caring to let him down gently, "Why don't you ask Christa over here?" she smirks, pointing to Armin behind her.

Armin is still sitting under the tree, textbook open and laying in his lap. He gets up quickly, "Hey, what are you on about?"

"Haha," Eren laughs, seeming to forget his anger with Jean, "We're just about done here anyways. Yeah, you should take Christa on a date!" Eren buckles over with laughter, trying his best to compose himself.

Jean looks to Armin, who still has the full appearance of a girl, with hope in his eyes. "Well, I know I don't know you, but would you come Christa?" he walks forward and gets right up close to Armin, almost too close for his liking, "I told my parents a dumb lie that I had a girlfriend, and they're coming here tonight to meet her. I'll give you $50."

Armin's eyes light up. Money. Now that was something he couldn't just pass up. As a freshman on a budget, with no time to work a part time job, money was scarce in Armin's life. He's currently living off of student loans and a meal plan, so the idea of having a free dinner with this guy's parents and getting $50 out of it sounds pretty appealing…

But the problem is Jean must think that Armin is actually a girl. He seems to believe that Armin is Christa. Can Armin really pull of acting like Christa for an entire dinner? Well, he'll have to put his few weeks of drama club practice into action.

He smiles and nods his head, "Sure. Why not. I mean, if you're that desperate then I guess it can't hurt, and besides, I could use the money." He says it in the most girlish voice possible, and he watches as Eren and Mikasa's jaws drop. He gives them a silent glare, threatening them with his eyes not to say anything to ruin this. They slowly close their jaws and nod ever so slightly, so that Jean won't notice.

Jean is over the moon with glee, "oh thank you thank you! Well, the dinner is in an hour, but can we hang out before then? I should probably get to know you a bit before I introduce you to my parents." This plan is starting to sound quite ludicrous to Armin, but he nods and waves goodbye to Mikasa and Eren. He's pretty sure he can hear them buckle over with laughter once they are a few feet away.

…..

"So, um, why would you lie to your parents that you have a girlfriend?" Armin asks, playing with the hair of his wig, trying his best to act natural.

Jean and Armin are sitting in a bench at the park, and he turns to Armin, slightly pink in the face. He sighs, "well, I wanted them to think I was, you know," he waves his hands, looking for the right words, "doing well."

"And having a girlfriend would be a sign of doing well to them?" Armin asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, yeah. They've been worried about my…well being. I've been getting good grades, and I sort of stretched the truth with talking about my success to them," Jean explains, laughing a little awkwardly.

"Hm, okay. So, what exactly did you tell them about your fake girlfriend?" Armin asks. He has so many questions, this man sitting next to him is an enigma. Who would lie to their parents about something like that? What's the real reason he did that?

"Oh, well, I told them she's cute, so I'm glad I found you," Jean says, without really thinking. He realizes that he just complimented Armin though and looks panicked, "Oh um, sorry! I mean, I'm not trying to hit on you, really! I mean, you are cute, but, I know you didn't agree to a real date and. Okay. I'm going to be quiet now," Jean is completed flustered, and Armin laughs, finding this very flattering and adorable.

He continues to chuckle, hiding his mouth with his hand and hoping that his laugh sounds girlish. "You're a weird guy," Armin finally says, and Jean furrows his eyebrows, "I mean, you seem to worry a lot about what others think about you…but thanks for the compliment."

Jean grumbles something under his breath about how he doesn't really care what others think, and Armin realizes he may have hit a sore spot. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to assume anything," Armin apologizes quickly, "Now, tell me about you, so that I don't make a fool of myself in front of your parents."

"Oh sure," Jean says, snapping out of his glum mood, "Well, I'm a freshman studying sports medicine, as I want to be a physical trainer some day. In high school I played on the soccer team, and I love listening to rock music. Um…what else do you want to know?" Jean looks over at Armin, seemingly out of ideas.

"Everything, I'm supposed to be your girlfriend, remember?" Armin says, leaning closer to Jean. "What's your favorite color? Favorite food? Your likes and dislikes?"

"Okay, well I like green and I guess I like to eat pizza a lot, although I'm not particularly picky, and as far as my likes go…well, I like soccer and video games but admittedly I suck at video games. I like to read books and I like watching movies and being lazy when it rains. I dislike really cold weather and I've never traveled very far, but I always thought it would be nice to travel someday. Um…I also don't like horses too much, when I was a kid I was thrown off a horse and I was scared ever since," Jean rambles all of this out, closing his eyes with concentration. Armin wonders for a second if he's ever told anyone all this information so readily, it looks like he's straining just relaying these few simple details about himself to Armin.

Armin doesn't laugh about the horse thing, or ask him why he hasn't traveled. He nods, taking in this information, and finding similarities to his own self. Jean told him a small part of who he is, and it struck a chord with Armin, mostly because of how much the two have in common. So although Armin is playing as someone else, he feels the need to tell Jean that the two of them are not so different, "It sounds like you and I could get along very easily." He smiles widely, noting Jean's slight blush, "I too like to read, it's one of my favorite things to do when I'm alone. I'm alone a lot of the time, but I don't really mind. And I'm probably too scared to ever ride a horse, although I've never had the chance. Most of my life, I've felt like I've been locked up in a cage, I grew up sort of poor, so I never had the chance to travel. I've always wanted to see the ocean, it's been a dream of mine since I was little. I guess you could say I've lived vicariously through stories all my life. I've been interested in arts since I was little, and I have a pretty sharp mind, so I'm studying to become an architect. My friends Eren and Mikasa also encouraged me to join the drama club, so that I could try acting…I've always wanted to at least see what it's like to pretend to be someone else." Armin realizes that this all probably sounds pretty lame, but it's also the truth. He has to act the part of a girl, but that doesn't mean he has to be someone completely different.

Jean takes a moment to gather all this information. He looks awestruck, "wow Christa, you're the most honest, straight forward girl I've ever meet."

Armin blushes, and turns his face to hide it from Jean, "Haha, well, you were really truthful with me so I thought I'd return the favor!"

"Yeah," Jean smiles softly, "anyways, it's almost time for us to get going. My parents want to meet at Bella Luna at 7."

"Bella Luna? Isn't that a really nice restaurant?" Armin asks, surprised.

"Yeah, do you have anything nice to wear?" Jean asks back. Armin nods, and they agree to meet in a half hour in front of Jean's dorm. Armin's going to have to hurry and beg Mikasa to borrow some of her clothes.

….

Armin feels absolutely ridiculous in Mikasa's red dress and high heels. It takes him a few minutes of practice to walk in the heels, but Mikasa doesn't laugh at him. She simply looks at him questioningly, as though she's studying a subject matter for science class.

"Why did you agree to this again?" she wonders while brushing his face with blush.

"He's giving me $50," Armin reminds her, trying to sit still as she now digs around for mascara. "Besides, he isn't so bad. I think it will be nice company."

"But if they find out you're a guy, you're in big trouble," Mikasa reminds him.

"Well, I'll just have to continue acting like a girl all night then," Armin says, shrugging like it's no big deal.

Mikasa huffs to herself indignantly, and Armin is slightly annoyed, "What?"

"You think it's easy to pretend to be a girl?" Mikasa asks.

"I've been doing it all afternoon, it's no big deal!" Armin defies.

"Alright then," Mikasa replies, still sounding doubtful.

…

A half hour later, Armin is silently cursing Mikasa and whoever invented high heels. How can women wear these things all the time? Armin walks slowly, trying not to tumble to the ground while simultaneously trying to keep his padded bra upright and his spaghetti straps from slipping down his shoulders.

He hates to admit this, but Mikasa was right.

Being a woman all day is awful. He wonders why they don't get more credit for the outfits they wear to look good. He has a newfound appreciation for all women of the world.

"Um, are you okay?" Jean looks at Armin curiously, raising an eyebrow up.

Armin turns his face away to hide his blush, "I'm fine, um, these shoes are new though so it takes a while to break into."

"You didn't have to look that fancy," Jean says.

"It's a nice restaurant though! And you're wearing a tie!" Armin shoots back, in his rehearsed high pitched girlish voice.

Jean is wearing a button up with a blue tie, and looking absolutely stunning. Armin almost did a double take when he saw him, and he had to remind himself that this was just an outing to dinner with his parents, not a real date. It's a shame that Armin couldn't meet Jean while he was himself, really.

But oh well. Armin will have to ignore Jean's good looks and get through this dinner without making a scene.

…..

They arrive at the restaurant a few minutes early, and Armin is starting to get a little nervous. "What if they don't like me?" he asks Jean, fretting about something that really he shouldn't be worried about.

Jean laughs, "Well, you aren't my real girlfriend, so it shouldn't be a big deal."

"But it's a big deal to you, right? I mean, why else would you lie to your parents?" Armin asks. Jean flinches slightly, and Armin realizes that he must have touched a nerve. He looks away quickly, biting his bottom lip, a nervous habit of his.

Before Jean can respond, an older couple walks into the restaurant, both with light brown hair and wide, happy smiles. "Jean!" the woman cries, bringing him in for a hug.

"Hello mother," Jean greets, looking a little embarrassed at being pulled in for a big squeeze.

"And you must be Jean's girlfriend?" Jean's mother asks, extending a hand forward.

"Yes, I'm A-um- Christa! Nice to meet you," Armin says, nearly exposing himself. He laughs nervously and extends a hand to shake with Jean's mother. After greeting her, he turns to greet Jean's father, who seems to be a closed-lipped type of person.

The four of them are seated soon after, and Jean's parents reminisce with him about their hometown. Armin listens, nodding at the appropriate times.

"Your father got a small promotion as well!" Jean's mother squeals, "So, we might be able to come visit you more often!"

"Oh, wow," Jean says, feigning interest, "That's great."

Jean's father clear his throat, "Anyways, how's college life son?"

Jean answers, "Everything is great, I have good grades, I'm used to my schedule now, and I'm adjusting well to campus life."

"And not to mention, you have a super cute girlfriend to keep you company!" Jean's mother says excitedly, "Tell us about yourself Christa! What's your major? What do you want to do as a career?"

"How did you and Jean meet?" Jean's father pokes in.

Armin gulps, feeling overwhelmed by all these questions. He's never had a real boyfriend before, is this really what it's like to meet your partner's parents? It's extremely stressful, to say the least!

Armin answers all their questions, trying to keep calm and respectful. Jean's parents seem impressed that he's studying architecture and that he's in the drama club. He makes up a story about his meeting with Jean, hoping that Jean will play along, "Jean and I met at the coffee shop on campus, I was studying for a test and he and I struck up a conversation by chance."

"Oh, that's odd," Jean's father furrows his brow, "Jean doesn't like coffee."

"Oh, um, I wasn't there for coffee," Jean says, quickly eyeing Armin, "I sometimes go there to study, since the atmosphere is nice." Armin realizes this is clearly a lie, but what else was he supposed to say? That he meet Jean a few hours ago while cross-dressing as a girl for his best friend's stupid commercial? Yeah right.

"Wow, that's so unlike you! I remember you used to only study alone in your room in high school," his mother says, "it looks like you've already changed so much."

"Yeah well," Jean clears his throat awkwardly. But Armin notices that he doesn't seem upset, rather, he seems to be in a good mood along with his parents. Although Armin made up this information on the spot, it seems that Jean's parents are happy – and therefore, Jean is in light spirits as well.

The subject of conversation soon moves on from Jean and 'Christa' and back to other topics. Armin relaxes after a little while, realizing how easy it is to talk to Jean's parents. They are easily flattered by his intelligence and charm, and Armin finds himself enjoying the dinner out.

The best part of the evening is having Jean beside him. Jean watches Armin carefully, making sure that he's alright and not too uncomfortable. In the flow of conversation, Armin notices that he and Jean do get along quite well actually, and they soon don't have to try so hard to pretend like they're a couple. There's a natural chemistry between them, and a mutual understanding passes through them. Perhaps, Armin thinks, he could actually make a good friend here.

When it's time for them to depart, Jean's parents mention again how lovely it was to meet Christa. Genuine smiles are etched on their faces as they walk away, leaving Jean alone with Armin again. Armin sighs in relief – it seems everything was a success!

Jean walks Armin back to his dorm, and the two of them strike up another conversation about random things – from favorite movies, to books to food interests – it's just so easy and natural speaking with Jean.

"Oh, well, here we are," Jean says when they arrive back at Armin's dorm. "Thanks again Christa for coming out with me tonight, I really do appreciate it."

"Oh, no, it was no problem! You have really great parents," Armin says, before blushing a little. He wanted to mention that he really enjoyed getting to know Jean, but he isn't sure where they stand now. Are they going to continue seeing each other as friends? Or is this their one and only encounter?

"Oh," Jean remembers something and takes out his wallet, digging out some cash to give to 'Christa.'

Guilt pools inside of Armin's stomach, "oh no Jean, really, I can't accept that," he says frantically. Sure, he may have helped Jean out for the time being, but things feel wrong somehow. He's lying to Jean, who believes him to be a girl. After seeing how good a guy Jean is, Armin feels bad accepting his money.

Jean stares at him, confused. "I thought the whole reason you came out tonight was for the cash?"

"At first, yes, but…" Armin pauses, not sure what to say. He looks down at his feet, fidgeting.

"Hm," Jean smiles and turns red, "maybe, um, I can just repay you another way then? I know it's a little sudden…but I felt like you and I got along really well today, genuinely…and, well, if you'd like to actually go out for dinner or something sometime, maybe..?"

Armin watches Jean stammer this butchered attempt at asking him on a date, and his heart stops for a moment. It's completely adorable how nervous he is, even though he spent the last few hours chatting Armin up with no problem at all. Again, that feeling of guilt claws inside of Armin, so he decides there's only one thing he can do now – come clean.

"Um, Jean," Armin looks up at him, and takes a deep breath, "to be honest with you – "

"Oh, right, yeah no worries Christa! It was silly of me anyways, to assume we could go on a date, I mean, I don't really know you right?" Jean laughs awkwardly and then turns around in a flash, "I should get going, see you around!"

Armin barely had time to process what happened. "Huh? Wait!" Armin yells, rushing forward. But it's already too late – Jean waves goodbye and then darts off as if someone is chasing him.

Is he really that afraid of rejection? Or did he suddenly change his mind in the last second there? What had happened?

Armin may never know. He's left baffled at the entrance to his dormitory, unsure of whether he'll ever see that cute awkward brunette again in his life.