Remember that warning back in chapter one? This is one of those really relevant chapters.

There is a clearly posted warning farther down… Please don't read beyond that point if you don't want to. It's really not necessary to the story.

(yay smut!)

Please enjoy!

(3)

It was late when he finally made it up to his room. Sasha and Connie had provided the evening's entertainment for a while as they fought over the chunk of chocolate cake Jean had brought. He'd decided he didn't really want it at the last minute. Armin had said something once about hating chocolate cake... He'd tossed it on the table and watched and laughed half-heartedly while Sasha and Connie devoured it.

There were only a dozen or so people still awake when he'd entered the dining hall. Of those dozen people, Sasha and Connie were the only two who'd been a part of the 104th. They remembered the baskets and jumped at the chance for some of his mother's homemade sweets. He made sure Sasha got the remaining bars of the sandalwood soap. He and Sasha joked at Connie's expense when he started smelling the others. Only two or three were girly scents, but Connie made a face whenever he'd pick one up. He finally chose the citrus ones. They were yellow-green, but smelled more of oranges than the lemons and limes that gave the soap it's color.

Moblit had chosen a green bar that smelled like sweetgrass. He asked if he could have the pink hibiscus ones for Hange and Jean told him he could take the rest if he wanted it. By that point, though, a couple of the others had come along to choose. Nanaba went with the yellow one. The only smell Jean ever got from it was sunshine- and even though he wasn't sure exactly how sunshine was supposed to smell. He couldn't remember the other girl's name, but she liked the lily-scented ones.

He changed in silence, trying not to wake Reiner and Bertolt. The other boy that shared the room was dead now. He didn't stay for long.

Armin's room was at the end of the hall. He knew it was empty now. He didn't know if he was doing the right thing, but if Armin wanted him to leave, all he had to do was say so. Everything he'd tried so hard to say had come out awkward, but he thought Armin understood. He hoped so, anyway.

The door opened with a tiny squeak. There was almost no light to see by, but he could make out a lump on the bed shoved against the wall in the far left corner. The lump rolled over and peered up at him from under the edge of the blanket.

"Jean?"

He felt guilty for waking Armin up. "Yeah... Just... wanted to see if you were... okay..." He hesitated by the door, unsure of what to do or say next.

"Not really." The muffled whisper drove a cold spike into his chest. "But it wasn't anything you did..."

"Sorry for waking you up." He turned, stepping back out into the hall.

"Wait…" Armin was sitting up, rubbing his eye with the sleeve of his nightshirt. He curled his legs up under the blanket and wrapped his arms around them. Jean didn't go back inside. "Can I talk to you about something?"

Jean frowned hard, but nodded. He stepped back inside the room and pulled the door closed behind him, blocking out the small amount of light from the hall. "What is it?"

"Annie." Armin pressed his face into the tops of his knees. Jean padded over the bare floor to the bed. Rather than sitting down at the foot of the bed or beside him like he figured Armin probably expected, he climbed up behind him and wrapped his arms around him as he'd done once so long ago. Armin slid forward so he had more room, but Jean kept a tight hold on him. It had been too long, and he figured Armin needed this as much as he did.

-0-0-0-

"What about Annie?" Jean's whisper tickled the side of his neck. Armin brought both of his hands up to clutch at Jean's arms.

"She's…" He paused, wondering just how much trouble he was going to get into for telling Jean about this. "She's the Female Titan."

Jean went rigid behind him, all of his muscles tightening. "Um… what?"

"It all makes sense…" Armin let his head fall back on Jean's shoulder. It was just too much for him to keep it all to himself. How could Commander Erwin really ask him to do that? He knew that he, Annie, and Jean had all been a part of the same squad for a while back in cadets. "She knew who she was looking for. She didn't kill me, and she didn't kill you…"

"That… doesn't… that doesn't prove anything."

Armin felt himself smile just a little. At least he wasn't the only one who was struggling with accepting Annie's betrayal. "She reacted to 'suicidal blockhead' remember? And… when she was looking down over me after she knocked me off of my horse… She looked like Annie."

Jean was silent for a long moment. "That's… That's still not enough to think…"

Armin sighed and brought his head forward again, hiding his face. "I think she killed the two captured Titans, too. During the inspection, she… she presented Marco's gear."

"How… how do you know that?" Jean's voice wasn't even a whisper, just a sort of breath muttered into the darkness.

Armin thought back to their previous conversation. Jean had been so intent on telling him everything, so maybe it was his turn for some honesty. "I used to help Marco with technical studies. We… we took it apart and put it back together again dozens of times so that he could learn every piece."

"He… he never told me that…"

Jean was on the verge of pulling away from him, but Armin selfishly held him in place. "I asked him not to."

"Why?"

"Because we would talk about you." Armin lifted his head and looked over his shoulder at Jean. His expression was exactly what he'd thought it would be. Hurt and betrayed, a little confused, and angry. "He was my friend, too. He never told me anything, really, but I always knew from the way he'd look when he started talking about something you'd done that day. I despised myself for it, but I looked forward to those times. You two were happy, and that was enough for me."

"That's so stupid." Jean snapped his head away, his eyebrows drawn together and his scowl firmly in place once more. "You're really dumb sometimes, you know that?"

Armin smiled, just a little. He couldn't argue with that. "Maybe, but I didn't want to get in the way. As far as I could tell, Marco never really knew anything about… well… us. So I just listened. He trusted me because he knew I wouldn't divulge his secrets." He studied his hands resting on Jean's arms.

"Uh… what… what all did he tell you?" Jean neck grew warm.

"I deduced most of it by reading between the lines," Armin answered with a small shrug. He couldn't quite bring himself to look back up at Jean. "Marco didn't have to say much. His face always gave him away."

He wondered if he'd made the wrong choice by telling Jean these things. He'd never intended to. Was Jean really so angry with him? But no, he couldn't be. If he was, he'd have left already. However, that did not necessarily mean that he hadn't just hurt him.

"You're face gives you away too." Jean lifted his hand and put one finger between Armin's eyebrows, pushing hard so that his head fell back against Jean's shoulder once more. "You always get that wrinkle over your nose when you overthink things. So stop, okay?"

That was easier said than done. He gnawed at the inside of his cheek for a moment. They weren't on the subject of Annie anymore, but he wasn't sure that this line of conversation was much of an improvement.

WARNING:

Mature content ahead.

If you don't want to read it, please feel free to skip ahead to the next chapter. You won't miss anything important to the story. It's just smut.

Jean shifted behind him. The next thing he knew, Jean was grabbing his chin and turning his head over his shoulder again. The rest of his body had come around to Armin's side. All at once, Jean was kissing him hard and pressing his back to the wall.

Armin had just one thought before he gave himself over to physical attraction: I am so selfish.

His arms came up around Jean's back as he pulled him closer. One of his hands was pressed into Armin's shoulder, holding him in place. The other came up to his neck. Armin's fingers dug into Jean's shirt. Jean wasn't gentle as his mouth moved over his, but he didn't want him to be gentle. He was tired of everyone always trying to be gentle with him.

Jean's hand slid from his shoulder to his chest. The nightshirt was so thin, he could feel as Jean's fingers scraped over his nipple. He gasped just a little, not expecting his body's reaction to the sensation. Jean took full advantage of the moment, his tongue filling Armin's mouth.

He could feel his cheeks burning when Jean pulled away, his hand sliding down Armin's neck. His body tensed when Jean moved his head lower on the opposite side, his lips grazing over the sensitive skin. Jean's teeth scraped over his collar bone. He sucked lightly on the skin he'd nibbled on, eliciting a soft moan from Armin.

His back arched toward Jean as he brought up his hand and dug his fingers into Jean's hair. Jean's hands weren't still either. The one that was Armin's chest had moved lower, grasping at his waist for a moment. His other hand found Armin's untouched nipple and he squeezed very lightly. Another gasp burst from Armin's throat, this one a little more strangled and desperate.

Armin's hand in Jean's hair tightened and pulled up, bringing his face back up. There was no mistaking Jean's groan, yet it was full of surprise. He kissed Jean with everything he had, taking advantage of his open mouth. He was on the offensive now, his curiosity burning through him. His hand left Jean's hair, moving to his neck; and his other hand slid over Jean's chest. He mimicked all of Jean's previous actions, fingers teasing his nipples and his lips and teeth at Jean's neck. He couldn't explain the way the deeper, rougher sounds Jean made affected him, he just knew he liked it.

Armin was not as gentle as Jean had been. He pinched harder and bit down with more force, driven by the desire to hear those sounds from Jean once more. He almost didn't notice that Jean's hand had moved: he was grasping at his thigh, then moving higher underneath Armin's night shirt.

He froze, suddenly terrified. "Jean…" He flinched hard, his voice betraying him by coming out shaky and broken. He turned his head to the side, unable to look at him. Jean didn't stop. Armin's fingers grasped at the front of Jean's nightshirt; he couldn't focus anymore. Jean's other hand was suddenly at his neck again, using his forefinger and thumb to move his chin so that Armin was facing him once more. Jean kissed him hard and Armin gave himself over to all of the sensations flooding through him.

At some point, he began to mimic Jean's actions once more. He didn't realize that he was doing it until Jean was resting his head on Armin's shoulder, his breathing uneven. Every few seconds, something he'd do would get him another rough and low groan from Jean, sending white-hot tingles down his spine.

Everything began to blur for Armin, and his entire world was chaos for several long moments. Jean pulled his hands away, holding his wrists with just one of his hands. He pulled Armin back against his chest, holding his arms high above his head and forcing his neck to the side. His teeth sank into Armin's neck from behind, and Armin choked on a strangled shout, his body shaking.

Jean held him close as they fell back to the mattress, curled up on their sides. Armin was still trying to slow his heart rate. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Tomorrow was going to be another day of hell, but for tonight, he relaxed. He was still flustered, but he felt that sensation wasn't going to fade anytime soon. He accepted it and closed his eyes.

No one knew what tomorrow might bring.

Soooo…..

I hope you all don't hate me.

Just keep in mind that neither of them have had all that much experience with everything that's going on. It has to be a little awkward and it can't really go too fast too far. Stages, people! It has to move in stages!

I'm ashamed that it took me so long to work out that scene after the warning. I mean, damn… That took way longer than necessary. I was struggling so much with it though. I had to figure out just how far I wanted to take it and draw a line at some point. I was deliberately NOT descriptive. I can be, believe me. o.o;

Please let me know what you think, even if you hated it.