CHAPTER 8

The sound of flirtatious giggles softly echoed through the diner, reaching Eren's ears. One of his eyebrows twitched in response, the annoyance rising inside of him.

"Eren, stop sulking already. You're driving all the customers away." Sasha teased.

"I'm not sulking." He muttered.

Sasha eyed him. Said boy was sitting on a swivel chair next to the cash register. He sipped orange juice from a red straw that had clearly been chewed on. The brunet was all but slumped over the bar with his head leaning against his palm. His furrowed eyebrows and narrowed eyed plainly indicated irritation.

"Really? Because you look like a jealous ex-girlfriend right now." She snickered.

"Ha. Ha." Eren retorted, "I just don't understand why they gotta do their..." the brunet crinkled his nose, "mating ritual right in front of us."

Another round of giggles could be heard. Irked, Eren glanced over to the source. Jean had once again visited Armin and just like before, the blond boy forgot everyone and everything the moment the taller boy walked in. Armin had led Jean to the booth tucked in the right corner of the restaurant, something Eren had found strange. The green-eyed boy obsessed even further with the act when he clearly saw Armin glance nervously towards Eren before they sat down. Was Armin trying to hide their romantic interactions from Eren? It was something that should've appeased him as it meant that Eren could ignore them better and yet it only irritated him further.

That had been around an hour ago.

"Oh lighten up, here! Try one of these." Sasha placed a plate of tater tots in front of Eren.

"Food isn't the solution to every problem you know."

The girl made a face, "I beg to differ. Try them, come on!"

Eren sighed. He bit into one to appease Sasha. They were actually very delicious as they were stuffed with cheese and sausage.

"Good, right?"

The brunet nodded, too busy stuffing his face with food to give a proper answer. Sasha laughed.

Meanwhile the two conversed, Jean and Armin had stood up from the booth and said their goodbyes. One last wink from Jean made Armin practically float over to Eren and Sasha once the tall boy had left.

Sasha nudged him, "Hey there lover boy, how'd things go?"

Eren rolled his eyes.

"Great!" The blond boy's cheerful expression soon turned wry, "Wait-no... bad!"

Eren and Sasha exchanged glances, "Bad?"

"Yes! Jean invite me to a party!"

The other two coworkers stared at Armin like he had just grown an extra head. It was Sasha who finally questioned the boy, "Isn't... that a good thing?"

"It's great!" Armin buried his face in his hands with despair.

Eren blinked slowly, "Is this some kind of gay thing I'm too straight to understand?"

Armin seemingly ignored the comment, instead grabbing Sasha's hands and pulling her closer, "Sasha I can't go to that party alone! I'm awful at parties! Come with me pleeeeeaaaseee!"

"What do you mean you're awful at parties? It's the easiest thing in the world! You just get drunk and do stupid shit."

Armin nodded vigorously, "That's what I'm bad at! I don't like drinking, I just kinda stand there watching everyone do weird and gross things... I spend most of the time thinking about how I'd rather be at home..." He looked down shyly, a light blush appearing on his face.

Sasha chuckled, endeared by Armin, "I wish I could but I already told you my dad's outta town. I'm gonna be babysitting my siblings till next week. Can't you find someone else to go with you?"

Armin's blush deepened, "I-I don't really have any friends my age with me taking a year off of school and all."

"Wait! I know someone who could go with you. He's our age and I'm preeeetty sure he'll be free."

The blond's eyes lit up, "Really?! Who?"

The girl pointed at Eren who had just finishes annihilating the plate of tater tots. He had a ketchup stain on the corner of his lips, "Say what now?"

Before the green-eyed boy could say anything else, Armin pushed the plate aside and all but threw himself over the counter, now grabbing Eren's tan hands instead of Sasha's. His big blue eyes shined like the ocean on a sunny day, "Eren, I know we haven't known eachother that long-"

"Noooooo…" He began, already knowing where this was going, "No way."

The blond frowned, something that appeared more cute than intimidating, "Pleeeaaseee, I have no one else I can ask."

"Yeah, and wasn't Armin nice enough to help you out with your shopping yesterday? Sounds like you owe him one." Sasha chimed in, blissfully unaware of the venomous daggers Eren's eyes were sending her way.

"Uhhh... I don't knoowww..."

Armin's eyes widened with realization, "Ah! Beer! There's gonna be free beer aaandd every party needs cute girls. Maybe you could find a nice one and chat her up."

Eren's hesitation halted. Booze? Hot girls? Was he going crazy or was going to the party starting to sound good? He had only gotten drunk once before and it had been an awful experience. The brunet had been itching to give it a second try, maybe this time with a better outcome. And making out with a cutie wouldn't hurt either.

The blond boy noticed Eren's inner turmoil and quickly pounced, "You'll just have to arrive with me and stay for the first half hour. Once I find Jean I should be good! It's just the 'getting there without knowing anybody' bit that has me nervous. After that you can drink and make out as much as you want."

Only thirty minutes? That didn't sound too bad...

The brunet liberated his hands from Armin's grasp. He scratched the back of his head, deep in thought, "Weeellll, how bad could it be?"

A small smile formed on Armin's lips, "Is that a yes?"

The brunet sighed, "Sure."

"Yay!" Armin leaped a foot into the air causing Sasha to cackle at the sight.

Eren chuckled as well.

"Gimme your phone number and I'll call you tomorrow, okay?" The blond sweetly smiled back at Eren.

The boy rolled his eyes even though he couldn't hide his smirk, "Okay."

Next chapter is my favorite so far, see y'all next week! :)

~Gum