Ahh~ I'm so happy for such positive feedback from my first chapter. Thank you so much it's making me blush! I'm sorry it's taken me so long to upload the second chapter, I'm hoping that this will not happen from now on. I was supposed to upload it sooner but because my laptop kept mysteriously deleting whatever progress I made, it was kind of making me feel crummy. But I remain triumphant over my evil laptop! Also, I have in the works another Eremin AU fic, but it might be more tedious to write so I might not publish it for a while. Anyway, here's chapter 2!

Armin sat on his bed surrounded by textbooks and notebooks. Heavy curtains blocked any view of outside, and the only light visible was the electronic glow of his laptop. He had not gone to school that entire week, but still managed to keep up with all of his work from home. He lied to all of his teachers, he emailed them saying that he came down with a terrible cold. It was rather believable, considering the fact that winter was fast approaching.

In the middle of writing a report he looked over to his desk, which had Eren's folded varsity jacket carefully lain. His mind wandered to the horribly embarrassing events that occurred the previous weekend. Why was he so goddamn weak? Crying over a stupid note.

But it's not some stupid note. It's happening again. What if Eren found out?

Tears began to well up in the corners of Armin's eyes. He quickly rubbed them away before they rolled down his face. He didn't want to think about the boy, or the note he gave him. He didn't want to think about how hard he cried. He didn't want to think about Eren's face when he asked him what was wrong. And sure as hell Armin didn't want to think about how he just ran straight home without uttering a word to Eren.

Armin sat up and stretched. He'll take a break now, the report should be finished by tonight. Then tomorrow morning he'll get to that calculus work. He walked downstairs to the kitchen where his grandfather was putting on his shoes to go to work. He worked the graveyard shift at a local printing press.

"Good evening." Armin said, heading towards the fridge.

"I left some lasagna in there, all you have to do is heat it up in the microwave."

"Thanks."

Armin's grandfather hesitated for a moment before clearing his throat and saying, "You know, you'll have to go to school eventually. I have no problems with you staying at home doing your work, because you're very diligent, but you can't lock yourself up forever."

Armin looked down. His grandpa really was an understanding person, he didn't even need to explain his situation before staying home for a whole week. The blonde felt grateful for that. "I know." He said quietly.

"You are a very bright young man, but you will have to face what you truly fear sooner or later." He paused for a moment. "Don't do what you did when you went to St. Sina's."

Armin cringed. As understanding and caring as his grandfather was, he was also brutally honest.

"Well, I'll see you in the morning, Armin. Don't overwork yourself." With that, he left to work.

Armin just prepared his late dinner in silence, his grandfather's words resonating deep within him. He'll have to go to school on Monday, for sure, but he wasn't ready to face Eren.

"You should just visit him." Mikasa suggested. She and Eren were at his house, sitting on his large sofa in the living room. Eren's entire week was screwed up. Ever since Armin left crying out of nowhere last week, he couldn't keep his mind off of his friend. When he left, a piece of paper fluttered at his feet. Eren recalls picking it up and reading it, feeling a mixture of anger and confusion. Who gave Armin the note? Just what the hell happened? His mind was reeling.

"I can't just show up uninvited."

"Why not? I do it all the time."

"Yeah, well it's annoying when you do." Eren retorted.

Mikasa didn't flinch at the offhanded remark. She just stared at Eren until he caved in.

"Ah, fine. We'll go see him tonight."

It was around nine at night when Armin heard knocking at his living room door. He wasn't expecting anyone, so the sudden noise made him jump. He rushed down the stairs and peeked through the peephole in the door.

His heart sank. Shit. It was Eren and Mikasa paying him a visit. Armin inhaled and exhaled deeply. He could do this. He plastered on the realest fake smile he could and opened the door slowly.

"Hi, guys." Barely a whisper.

"I..um..you have my jacket." Eren mumbled, he looked down and shuffled his feet.

Armin sighed. A huge weight was lifted off of his shoulders, just from that silly remark. Eren didn't say anything about his pathetic behavior, which was relieving even if for a moment. However, he tensed up again. "I'm sorry I haven't returned it to you. Come in, it's cold outside."

Both teenagers entered the house and took off their shoes. Armin silently thanked his lucky stars that Mikasa was here to ease the tension between him and Eren.

"Um, I'll go get the jacket." Armin rushed up the stairs.

"I'm coming with you." Eren followed him, leaving Mikasa in the living room.

Armin tried to speed walk away from him, and shut his bedroom door behind him. "Armin!" Eren wedged himself between the door. "What the hell, Armin! What's wrong?!" Eren grasped Armin's wrist.

Armin pulled himself away and looked at his friend. He felt that his heart was going to fall out of his chest. He couldn't keep his composure, he was inwardly and outwardly freaking out now. Eren noticed Armin's hyperventilating and backed away from him.

"Armin are you okay?" Eren then walked toward his friend slowly. He didn't want to scare him off. "Listen, Armin. I need to talk to you."

Armin sighed. There was no use in weirding Eren out. Perhaps the situation was still salvageable. "Eren, I'm so sorry. I know I've been acting strangely." He reached for the varsity jacket. "It's just difficult to explain..."

Eren couldn't hold himself much longer. "Armin, who gave you the note?" He blurted.

"Note...?" Armin repeated in horror. Now he knows. Now he really knows. You should have gotten rid of the note, moron.

"The one that said..." Eren's words trailed off.

Armin, desperate to control the situation, lied. "That? Oh that was just a prank." He handed the jacket over to an unbelieving Eren. "Just...just an old classmate..." Armin didn't even notice the tears in his eyes until they rolled down his face. He gasped at the sudden moisture. Eren noticed. "Then if it was just a prank, why are you crying? Why did you cry then?"

The blonde rubbed his face. Dammit. "Eren, please." Was all that he was able to say with his hands covering his face. Why are you such a crybaby?

"Armin it's okay. You don't have to say anything. Just please let me be here for you, like when we were kids." Eren ruffled Armin's hair.

The smaller boy looked up at his friend and Eren had a brief moment of clarity. Armin's appearance really didn't change much since they were children. He still looked small and vulnerable. However, he changed in a different way. The air around Armin was different. He appeared more downtrodden, his smiles were often forced, as if something were weighing on his mind. Despite all of Eren's honest efforts, their friendship was strained. And tonight only proved that. Eren pulled Armin in a tight hug, not caring what he thought. It was a gesture that sent his friend over the edge, weeping openly in his shoulder. Warm, he was so warm. Armin breathed in Eren's scent. He smelled like nostalgia and axe body spray. He wanted to get lost in that comfort and warmth, and not think about any pain or embarrassment.

Mikasa spent her time looking at photographs that hung in the living room. There were family photos of Armin and his parents, and photos of Armin and his grandfather. Then some of just his parents, one of his mother, one of his father. One photo in particular really caught her attention.

There were two boys, they were around six or seven years old. They were standing in front of swings, holding hands. One boy had messy brown hair and multiple scrapes and bruises on his legs, the other boy was a soft-looking blonde with rosy cheeks and innocent blue eyes. Mikasa smiled a little at the irony that these two really close boys are the same ones that are bickering upstairs. The dark-haired girl walked to the foot of the stairs when the voices of the two friends became quiet, then dead silent in a matter of a few minutes. She climbed up the creaky steps, Armin's door was slightly ajar, light seeping through. She opened it and smiled at the sight she saw.

It appeared as though Eren and Armin exhausted each other with their arguing. They were both lying on the floor fast asleep. Mikasa gave another of her rare smiles.

When Armin woke up it was already morning, he was drowsy and confused, trying to make sense of his surroundings. Eren was right next to him, they were on the floor and were sharing a blanket. He looked up, Mikasa was sitting in his chair. She was asleep as well, her head was low and her hair was covering her face.

"M-Mikasa?" Armin whispered. The girl eased awake and blinked a couple of times before turning to the boy.

"So you're finally awake. You two fell asleep after your little squabble last night." Armin blushed and opened his mouth to begin explaining himself, but she stopped him. "Don't worry, it's not like I'd tell anyone."

Armin laughed a little, then stood up, being careful to leave the snoring Eren undisturbed. "Um, I'll make some breakfast. I'm sorry to trouble you guys so much."

They both took one last look at Eren, who was a remarkably deep sleeper and proceeded down the stairs in silence. Armin had introduced Mikasa to his grandfather, who had just come home from work and was particularly tired, so he went to his room to sleep. The duo made pancakes for breakfast, they grabbed their share and left some for Eren when he decided to wake up. Armin and Mikasa ate in comfortable silence until Mikasa was done.

"You know Eren was really worried about you. He wouldn't stop talking about the note or about you crying." Armin just looked at her, he felt ashamed of himself. He didn't know what to say, but it didn't matter because she kept talking anyway. "What happened, Armin? I won't tell Eren, because you need to tell him yourself."

Armin took a deep breath. He trusted Mikasa, so he could finally let everything go. He needed to let it off of his chest, this was a good start. "I didn't have to leave St. Sina's." He began quietly, staring down at his fingers. He began to nervously pick at his cuticles. "They have dorms there for students, so I didn't have to leave. I used my parents' accident as an excuse, though."

Mikasa listened intently, and nodded as if to tell him to continue. Armin breathed again. "You know, when my mother told me that I was different from other boys, I never quite understood what she meant. I liked the same things that any boy would like, I didn't seem abnormal in any way. But then I started to feel abnormal when I was around 13. There was a senior that I had really admired, I was only in 8th grade so I didn't see him that often, but when I did, he was really kind to me. I cried at his graduation, and then I realized that I..." Armin didn't finish his sentence.

"That you what?"

"I really liked him. Not just like a friend, or someone older than me that I looked up to, but...something more..." He drifted again, paused, waited for Mikasa's reaction. She was a stoic as ever. Armin continued. "After a while, I felt relieved that he had graduated, because all of those weird feelings were gone. Life could continue on normally, I even had a girlfriend for a few months."

"What happened to her?"

"I couldn't continue with the relationship. I felt like I was lying to her, and to myself. Then in my freshman year I developed feelings for a friend of mine. We weren't particularly close, but I couldn't help myself, and we became close in such a short amount of time. I thought that he felt the same way about me, so I confessed to him." Each word was becoming harder to say, Armin's breathing became hitched, and he was now bleeding a little from his cuticles from picking at them so much. Mikasa noticed his stress and placed her hand on his to comfort him. He took another deep breath.

"He said that he didn't know what to say, and that he'd give me a proper response soon enough. At the time I was concerned, I didn't know how he'd actually take it since his initial reaction was only surprise. Later that day, I found a note on my desk. It was from my friend, it said 'I feel the same way about you, Armin, but I want us to meet up in the library after school so I can tell you in person.' I felt absolutely elated." He gave a sad smile, tears were beginning to well up. Mikasa's stone face only softened slightly. "The entire day I was on cloud nine, nothing could bring me down. After school I rushed to the library, I knew it would be empty because the librarian liked to leave early. When I walked in...I saw him...I saw.." Armin began to choke on his sobs, he tightly held Mikasa's hand that was still rested on his. "All of my classmates, laughing. They stood there, he was in front of them. They were laughing and calling me the worst names, making the most obscene gestures." He sobbed some more, and tried to compose himself. "I wanted to die, Mikasa. I ran back home, and I didn't go to school for a month. My parents were so worried, my grandfather came to visit me, but nothing helped. They fought so much over me, they weren't sure what to do with me, but I was too scared to face school again. Then I began to get texts and calls that mocked me and made me feel disgusting. When I finally told my parents the whole truth, they were devastated because I didn't tell them sooner." He paused and the raven-haired girl gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. "They fought horribly that night, and went out for a drive...that's...that's when they..." Armin couldn't say anything else anymore, but he felt so light, as though his problems were solved simply by talking about them.

"So the boy that gave you the note last week..."

"He was the friend I confessed to. Everything was going well until he showed up."

Mikasa stood up from her seat and walked towards the door. "You have to tell Eren. I can't say how he will react, but you need to tell him. I will be leaving now, I have track practice soon. Thank you for breakfast."

Armin gave a shaky nod as he saw her leave. When the door shut, Armin heard a muffled yawn and footsteps from upstairs. Eren was awake. The blonde teenager braced himself for the worst with the renewed strength that Mikasa gave him.

Eren shuffled downstairs and gave a drowsy greeting. "G'Morning Armin...about last night..."

Armin sat Eren down on the sofa."I have to tell you something, Eren."

So much angst and dialogue, I'm sorry (cries) This was kind of painful to write because I love Armin so much, my sweet baby, I hate to see him sad. Expect to a lot of mama bear Mikasa, too.