Chapter Seven
"I still can't believe you two went upstairs and climbed in the beds and left me sleeping on the floor like a jackass." Eren grumbled as they sat at the table eating their lunch.
"What was I supposed to do? Wake you up? No, thank you." Armin replied, munching on his sandwich.
"And why not?"
"Because you're like a bear to wake up, and I didn't feel like getting mauled." Armin grinned.
Eren shook his head slowly. "Yeah, I guess you have a point."
Grandfather walked into the kitchen. "So, what's on the agenda for you kids today? Please tell me it involves you all getting out of my house."
"Actually, we are planning on playing video games." Eren said.
"Of course you are." Grandfather sighed.
"Do you want us to go outside?" Armin asked, looking at Grandfather, who was standing behind Eren.
"It wouldn't kill you."
"It might, actually." Eren said, turning to look at him. "You see, we're indoor cats. We play inside."
Grandfather just stared at the two of them for several moments. "Get out of my kitchen."
"Yes, sir." They both jumped up and headed for the living room. Armin could hear his grandfather mutter something about damn teenagers. He couldn't help but smile. Eren plopped down on the couch as Armin crouched down and turned on the console. Then, he grabbed two controllers and sat next to Eren.
"I get to be player one!" Eren said, grabbing one of the controllers.
"As if! It's my house." Armin replied, hitting the button on his controller so that he would be player one.
"Dammit!" Eren groaned, flopping his head back.
"Why is it so important to be player one?" Mikasa asked, walking into the room.
"BECAUSE, player one gets the top screen which is easier to see, thus increasing my chances of winning."
Mikasa stared at Eren, and blinked. "So, there's no good reason, you're just whining."
"Pretty much." Armin said with a nod.
"What? No! I'm not whining. I'm just trying to get as many advantages as I can to make it fair."
"So, you're whining because Armin is better at video games than you."
"Oh my god! I'm not whining! But yes, this is like the only thing Armin is better at than me."
"That's a lie. There's lots of stuff Armin is better at than you. Math. Science. Making friends. Keeping friends. Not yelling and hitting people when he gets mad, though that might be a subset of keeping friends."
"Shut up, Mikasa." Eren grumbled. "Where have you been anyway? Snooping through Armin's stuff?"
"What's there to snoop through? She's here almost as much as I am." Armin cut in. He turned his head to look at Mikasa, who had settled herself in the armchair. "Is that my sweatshirt?"
Mikasa looked down at the sweatshirt in questions. "Um…"
"Oh, she's a verifiable sweatshirt thief. You're never going to see that one again." Eren said, not taking his eyes off of the screen as they started their game. "At any given time, she has half a dozen of mine. Only way I get them back is if I steal them, or Mom finds them in the wash."
"So, what you're saying is that my sweatshirt, currently being worn by Mikasa, is eventually going to end up being worn by you?"
Eren tilted his head to the side as he considered what Armin said. "Yeah, basically."
"Huh…I'm okay with that."
The boys played their game for hours. They were so absorbed that if she hadn't patted him on the head, Armin probably wouldn't have noticed Mikasa leaving. On a pause for a bathroom break, Armin was finally pulled aside by Grandfather. "Armin, you know I like your friends, right?"
"Oh no." Armin sighed, knowing something was coming.
"I do. But I tend to like them more when they don't invite themselves over and then don't know when to go home."
"You want me to tell Eren to go home?"
"He's been here for nearly 24 hours. It's time."
Armin let out another sigh. "Ok." He turned and walked back into the living room. "Hey, Eren. It's getting pretty late."
"Yeah, well, we definitely have time to get through this next part-"
"No, Eren. We don't."
"No, no, no. Armin, listen-"
Armin knew he had to take drastic action. He crossed the living room and grabbed Eren by the face, holding his own only inches away. He could feel Eren's breath on his face. "Eren, you're my best friend, and I love you, but you need to GO HOME. Go see your mother. Let her know you're not dead in a ditch somewhere. Or don't. I don't care. Just get out of my house."
Eren stared at Armin, not making any moves to get his face out of Armin's grasp. "What time is it?"
"Like 7."
"Where's Mikasa?"
"She left about 3 hours ago."
"How long have we been playing?"
"About 6 hours."
"Your grandfather wants me to leave?"
"Very much so."
"Can you let go of my face?"
"Yes." Armin said, letting go and taking several steps back.
"Thank you." Eren said, sitting down on the couch to pull on his shoes.
"You're welcome."
Eren got his shoes on and stood up, letting out a sigh. "Do I really have to go home now?"
"YES!" Grandfather called from the hallway. "Get out of my house!"
"I'll come over tomorrow." Armin said, patting Eren on the shoulder as he led him to the front door.
"Alright. See you tomorrow then."
"Bye." Armin waved before closing the door and heading into the kitchen.
"Seriously? You're going over there tomorrow?" Grandfather asked. He was standing at the stove, stirring a pot of soup.
"Yes. What's for dinner?"
"Minestrone. Do you ever NOT spend time together?"
"Every day at school." Armin pulled a couple of bowls down from the cabinet and places them on the table.
"Right. It wouldn't kill you to go a whole day without talking to him, you know."
"I might, so that's just a risk I'm not willing to take." Armin grinned as he grabbed two spoons from the drawer.
"Armin, I'm being serious. You're never going to really experience the world if you keep yourself cooped up in the house with the same two people."
"I can't tell if you're trying to tell me to take those two people outside or bring other people to the house."
"Armin-"
"They're my best friends. They've been my best friends since grade school."
"And I'm not saying to stop being friends with them. Just spend some time with other people. Make some new friends too."
"I have other friends."
Grandfather shut off the stove and brought over the pot, pouring soup into both bowls. "Friends you don't spend time with."
"That's not true. Just this week, I went to a basketball game with Reiner and Bertolt." Armin said, sitting down at the table.
"Yeah, and you complained because Eren wasn't there." Grandfather countered, sitting down across the table.
"I didn't complain. I just…thought it was odd."
"You're wasting your youth pining after someone who's never going to see you as anything other than a brother."
"I know that. I am trying to get over it."
"You should be out there, meeting people."
"How am I supposed to do that? I am awkward and shy. I've never been the first to initiate a friendship in my whole life. I mean, Eren was the one who started talking to me. And Mikasa, well she only came along because she moved in with Eren. Hell, ALL of my friends came through Eren, or other mutual friends who came through Eren."
"Armin, you have blossomed since grade school. You just have to find confidence in yourself. You are a likeable, fun person. You're the only one who doesn't see that."
"Grandfather-"
"Look, I know you said you don't want to talk about it, and I don't know if it's because you're embarrassed, or confused, or-"
"Both. All of the above. Please stop."
"Or whatever." Grandfather continued. "But I am here, Armin. And I'm never going to judge you, or make fun of you, or push you away."
"Oh my god." Armin groaned, banging his head on the table.
"And I know you're not ready to talk about who you're attracted to-"
Armin had to put a stop to this. So, he lifted his head and blurted out the one thing guaranteed to make Grandfather stop talking. "I'm dating Mikasa."
That certainly did the trick. Grandfather stared at him for a long time. Long enough to start to make Armin uncomfortable, and his face began to flush red. "I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not." Grandfather finally said.
"I'm not. I'm…dating Mikasa. It's why I couldn't go out with Annie, because I'm already seeing someone."
"But you guys don't-I mean, I never would have-"
"Because no one knows. You're the first person outside of us to know, so you can't tell ANYONE."
"Are you saying Eren doesn't know?"
"No, he doesn't."
"Is that a good idea?"
Armin shrugged. "It's not my decision."
"Mikasa doesn't want Eren to know? Why?"
"I don't know." He shrugged again.
"How long has this been going on?"
"A couple of months."
"Right. So, you know I'm going to need all of the details, correct?"
Armin let out a sigh. "You're worse than a teenage girl. I want you to know that." He huffed before launching into the story.
/so, the actual story of how Armin and Mikasa got together will be in the next chapter, because I'm mean like that XD. So you'll just have to read next chapter to find out what happened
