Chapter Two
Armin sat at the table, working on his chemistry homework. He looked up and gave a smile to his grandfather as he came into the room. "Home already? I thought you'd be out with your friends."
"I'm going out later." Armin said, returning his attention to his notebook.
"How much later? It's a school night."
Armin stared up at Grandfather. "Seriously? You don't make any sense. Two seconds ago, you were telling me that I should be out with my friends. Now you're telling me not to because it's a school night?"
"You're putting words in my mouth. Who are you going out with, anyway? I know the Jaegers aren't letting their kids out on a Tuesday night."
"That's….not important." Armin said, looking down. It wasn't that he was ashamed of his friends besides Eren and Mikasa, but rather that Grandfather couldn't keep any of his other friends straight in his mind and therefore asked about a million questions.
His answer was not a satisfying one to Grandfather. "Armin Arlert, are you going out with a girl?" The older man crossed his arms.
"What? No!" He exclaimed automatically. But then he thought about it. "Well, technically. I mean, Annie's going. But so are Reiner and Bertolt."
"That seems suspicious. And where exactly are the four of you going?"
Armin was about to say that it wasn't important when he decided not to. It would not help his cause. So, he decided on a different tactic. "Grandfather, I really have to finish this work." He held up his notebook.
"I see how you're going to play this. Fine, do your schoolwork. But know that you're not leaving this house until I'm satisfied with the details of your evening." Armin just shook his head as he watched Grandfather set about starting dinner. The man could be so overprotective sometimes. "You used to be such a good kid. I don't understand what happened to you." Grandfather grumbled.
"Puberty." Armin said absentmindedly as he finished the last problem. "My brain is going through changes. All sorts of hormones and chemicals. Biology has doomed me."
"Alright, wise ass. I never had these issues with your mother."
"That's because she was a girl. Again with biology dooming me." He closed his book and slowly stood up. His phone had buzzed, telling him Reiner was outside. "Though, I do recall her getting pregnant at 17. Bit of a problem, really." With that, he turned and dashed out of the kitchen.
"Now hang- Armin!" Before Grandfather could catch him, Armin was down the hall, grabbing his coat off the hook in the process, and out the front door.
"Run!" He said to Reiner as he leaped the porch steps and the boys took off down the street. After about a block, they slowed to a walk. Armin knew Grandfather wouldn't chase him that far.
"So, you had to stage a prison break, huh?" Reiner smirked, catching Armin in a headlock.
"Stop it. Get off!" Armin wriggled, trying to get loose. In response, Reiner just ruffled his hair. "Unbelievable." Armin said as Reiner finally let him go. He straightened his shirt and pulled on his jacket. "Keep your hands to yourself, this evening. Your husband might get the wrong idea." It was a long standing joke that Reiner and Bertolt were basically married in the way they behaved.
Reiner let out a mock sigh. "Ah, the old ball and chain."
"Lack of appreciation is one of the leading causes of divorce." Armin said, setting off down the street. "And we're going to be late if you don't stop messing around." Armin wasn't entirely sure how he had ended up with these three going to a basketball, a sport he knew very little about. To be fair, he didn't know much about any sport. His family was not sports people. But when Reiner has come saying his father had won tickets, of course he agreed to go. He was rather confused, though, when he found out Annie was going along. Bertolt, obviously, but Reiner had never seemed that close to Annie. To be fair, none of them really were. Annie was sort of that fringe friend that they'd hang out with when she was around, but they never went out of their way for. A thought struck Armin as they boarded the bus that would take them downtown to the arena. "How come your dad isn't coming?"
"What do you mean?"
Armin let out a tiny sigh as Reiner motioned for him to sit down first, leaving Armin smushed against the window as Reiner sat down next to him. He might be small, but that wasn't negated by how big Reiner was. "Well, he's the one who won the tickets, right? So why isn't he going?"
"He….doesn't really like basketball." Something about his answer seemed off to Armin.
"Then how did he…or rather why…" Armin was so flooded with questions that he couldn't seem to settle on one. But he decided to take a different approach. "Why Annie? Nothing against her, of course, but I just thought if you had two tickets, and you were inviting me, you'd be inviting Eren too."
"Eren's mother would never let him out on a school night."
Reiner had him there. Mrs. Jaeger had a hard enough time keeping control of her son as it was. She certainly was not letting him out galivanting around town on a school night. She'd never get him up for school the next morning. "Okay, well why not Connie then? Does Annie have a particular proclivity for basketball that I'm not aware of?"
"Not that I'm aware of." Reiner shrugged his shoulders.
"Wha-then why? Connie would have loved to-" Armin was struck by another thought. "Do you like Annie?"
"Of course I like Annie. Why else would I invite her?"
"Not what I meant. Are you trying to date Annie? Do you need me to be your wingman?" The bus arrived at the stop.
"What? No! What's with all the questions? Is this an inquisition?"
"You're deflecting." Armin said as he climbed off the bus.
"No, I'm not. I just want you to stop with the interrogation."
"Fine. But I'm onto you."
"No, you're not." Reiner said as they walked up to the gate. Armin could see Bertolt and Annie. Bertolt waved to them from their spot in line. "You're really not."
