Chapter Twenty-Two
"Armin, come over here." Ymir cornered him the second he walked into gym class the first day back from break.
"What's up?" He asked as Ymir pulled him off to the side.
"So, a little birdie told me that you were seen outside the mall during break, all snuggled up with a Miss Ackerman."
Armin felt all the blood rush from his face. "Um…"
Ymir leaned in closer. "I saw how you were at the dance, so I don't doubt my source. Are you hitting that, Arlert?" Ymir smirked.
"I don't know how to respond to that."
"Good for you!" Ymir playfully punched him on the arm, though it was hard enough to make him recoil back several steps. "She is a fine specimen of woman."
"Ymir, you can't say any-"
"What are you two talking about over there?" Jean called over.
"Nunya." Ymir replied, crossing her arms.
"What?"
"Nun'ya business!" Ymir looked pleased with herself.
"Wow. Just wow." Jean shook his head and walked away.
"So, Armin," Historia sidled up next to him. "How was your break?"
"It was fine." Armin said, feeling on guard.
"Do anything fun?" Historia had a mischievous twinkle in her eye. "Like maybe a trip to the mall?"
Armin just sighed. "I take it you were the little bird then?"
"Tweet tweet." She giggled.
"You guys can't say anything. Mikasa will have my head."
"Why doesn't she want anyone to know?" Historia asked. Armin just shrugged in response. "Well, you can buy our silence."
"How much?" Armin groaned.
"A double date."
"What? Why?"
"Because I really want to go on one, and nobody else seems to hold a relationship long enough for us to do one."
"But going on a double date would require me to tell Mikasa that you know about us, which is what I'm trying to avoid."
"Too bad. You know my price." Historia giggled.
"Fine." Armin huffed. "I will talk to her. But I can't guarantee that she will say yes."
Historia shrugged. "Then, I cannot guarantee that Ymir won't run her mouth at the lunch table."
"You can't guarantee that anyway!"
"I have my ways."
"This is blackmail…possibly even extortion."
"I know what I want."
"And yet you were the one complaining about criminal enterprises at the lunch table." He shook his head as he walked away from Historia. He knew this wasn't going to go over well.
Mikasa did not take it well. "What do you mean they know?" She snapped.
"Exactly what I told you."
"How do they know?"
"Historia saw us outside the mall."
"I knew I shouldn't have let you-"
"Let me what, Mikasa? Show affection? Well, sorry for wanting to show I care about you outside the confines of our bedrooms!" He rose to his feet.
"Armin-"
"This whole secret relationship thing? It's not really working for me anymore."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying you need to start making some concessions."
"What kind of concessions?"
"For starters, you could stop yelling at me every time someone finds out. It's not my fault. I shouldn't have to be your verbal punching bag." Mikasa looked taken aback by his outburst. "You could also tell me why you're so desperate for no one to know about us. Are you ashamed of me?"
"No!" Mikasa jumped to her feet. "No. I could never be ashamed of you."
"Then, what is it?"
"I just don't want Eren to know."
"But why? He's not going to react nearly as badly as you seem to think, so-" Armin took a step back from her. "Are you still holding a candle for him?"
"What? Of course not!"
"Then, why don't you want him to know about us? Make it make sense for me."
"I do not have romantic feelings for Eren." She said bluntly. "The whole point of this was to get over our feelings for him."
Armin's eyebrows shot up his face as his eyes widened. "The whole-is that the only reason we're together? So that you can get over Eren?"
"What? No! That's not how I meant it!"
"Then, how did you mean it? Because you just made it seem like I'm a stand-in for Eren."
"Armin-"
"Am I just as easily replaceable?"
"I didn't say that."
"But that's how it feels." Armin felt the overwhelming urge to get away. To run. To be by himself. He spun around and walked to her bedroom door.
"Armin, where are you going?"
"I don't know." He opened the door and started down the stairs.
"Armin, come back!"
Armin felt near tears. What was happening? He ran into Eren at the bottom of the stairs. "What's going on?" Eren looked at Armin, then glanced behind him. Armin could only guess that Mikasa was behind him.
"Please move." Armin said, straining to keep his voice calm.
"Tell me what's going on." Eren said.
"Where are you going?" Mikasa asked from behind him.
Armin snapped. "I don't know!" he shouted to both of them, before pushing past Eren as he headed for the front door.
"What is going on?" Mrs. Jaeger asked from somewhere behind him.
"I think Armin and Mikasa are fighting." Eren answered. Armin was out the door after that.
"Armin!" Mikasa called after him, chasing him down the street. At the end of the block, Armin stopped and whirled around to face her.
"Why can't you tell me why you don't want Eren to know?"
"Because I-I don't know why!" She finally answered, throwing her hands up in the air. "Some deep down gut feeling that I can't explain!"
"Could it be that you still have feelings for him?"
"I don't! I promise you that I don't!"
"Well, you have to give me something, because right now…it feels like you're…like you're not serious about me." His voice cracked and he felt the tears begin to fall. "Like I'm just a play thing for you to get over Eren."
"Oh, honey, no." Mikasa closed the gap between them and wrapped him in a hug. "I have never been more serious about anything in my life." She pulled back slightly and looked at his face. "I love you, Armin."
"Then, I need you to show it." Armin sniffled. "Start loosening the reins."
"I'm not ready to tell Eren."
"Then, not Eren. But I need to feel like you're not ashamed to have me as your boyfriend, Mikasa. Because you're breaking my heart."
Mikasa began to cry as she pulled Armin into a hug again. "I'm sorry!" She clung to him tightly, and he hugged her back. "Tell me what you need and I'll do it."
"You need to stop being so worried that Eren is going to find out that you sacrifice the relationship. He is going to find out eventually. Maybe he already knows."
"We would know if Eren knew. He would have said something." Mikasa said.
"You would think that." Armin said under his breath. Mikasa took his hand and led him back to the house.
"Are you two good now?" Eren asked as they came in the door.
"Shut up." Mikasa replied, letting go of Armin's hand and starting up the stairs.
"I'm just saying it's not normal for Armin to start screaming in our foyer." Eren replied. "I think I'm taking custody of him."
"You're so annoying." Mikasa stomped up the rest of the stairs.
"Are you actually okay?" Eren asked as soon as she was out of earshot. "You didn't break up, did you?"
"I'm pretty sure I would have gone home if we'd broken up, not come back here holding her hand."
"That's a valid point. I'm just saying, you guys canNOT break up, or it would actually ruin everything. It would be hell for me to have to manage both of you individually."
"I'm glad you're concerned about your feelings, Eren. That's what's important here." Armin shook his head.
"Are you okay, sweetheart?" Mrs. Jaeger stepped into the foyer. "Do you need a cup of tea to calm down."
"I think I'm calm now."
"Alright, well you let me know if you need anything." She wrapped him in hug. "We love you."
"Uh…thanks." Armin lightly patted her back.
"Mom, stop being gross and get off of him." Eren said. "He doesn't want your smothering."
"It's not smothering." Mrs. Jaeger said exasperatedly. "It's mothering."
"Mothering. Smothering. Same thing."
"Alright. That's enough." She stepped back from Armin. "Armin, are you staying for dinner?"
"Uh…"
"Yes." Eren answered for him. "We're going to play video games now." Eren grabbed Armin's arm and started steering him towards the basement.
"What about homework?"
Eren spun around in place. "Mom, how could we possibly do homework in our current heightened emotional states? We need to decompress first. Return to a balanced state."
"Armin said he was calm." Mrs. Jaeger crossed her arms.
"I'm not! I saw my entire way of life flash before my eyes! I need some time."
"You're ridiculous. Half an hour."
"But that's hardly-"
"Half an hour or none. Take it or leave it."
"I'll take it." Eren continued to pull Armin into the basement. "For real, you can't scare me like that."
"Again, thanks for making my relationship problems about you."
"What were you guys even fighting about?"
"Nunya."
"What?"
"Nunya business." Armin smirked.
Eren just stared at him for several moments. "I hate you." He finally said.
"No, you don't."
"I'll start, if you keep saying dumb shit like that."
"I think Mikasa would like that. It would mean she gets me all to herself."
"Like hell that's going to happen. She has to share. You may be her bed partner, but you're still my video game partner."
"We need to get you a girlfriend." Armin shook his head.
"I'm trying!"
"How's it going with Annie?"
"I thought it was fine. Everything went really well after we got separated at the mall."
"But?" Armin asked, sensing something was up.
"But she doesn't always answer when I text her."
"Maybe she's not an intense texter."
"I thought that. But we had been texting non-stop before the date, so I don't know." Eren shook his head. "It's just like, with you, she went straight to kissing you. No dates involved."
"We went on a date." Armin said, realization hitting him like a ton of bricks.
"What? When?" Eren looked at him.
"The basketball game!" Armin said. "I only just realized now because at the time, it was so awkward. But Reiner had organized that whole misadventure as a double date. THAT'S why he was so dodgy about my questions." Armin thought back to that night several months ago. It all made a lot more sense now.
"A double date, huh? And yet Reiner and Bertolt deny that they've ever dated."
"That is entirely not the point, Eren." Armin sighed.
"Right. Annie is the point." Eren said. "But it all just makes me wonder if she actually likes me."
"I think she does." Armin said. "But she doesn't have her wingmen to bolster her up, so she's nervous."
"Her wingmen?"
"Reiner and Bertolt…though I guess it's mostly Reiner."
"What should I do?"
"I say keep doing what you're doing, for now. She'll give you a sign if she's interested."
"But what if I miss the sign?"
"Then, she'll probably start aggressively kissing you."
"I could only dream."
"Well, you're clueless enough about women that your dream will probably come true." Armin patted Eren on the shoulder.
"Thanks-HEY!" Eren exclaimed, realizing what Armin had actually said. Armin laughed.
"Boys! Time for dinner!" Mrs. Jaeger called from upstairs.
"There's no way it's been 30 minutes already!" Eren whined. "We didn't even get to turn it on."
"Eren, I don't think we're getting to play video games today." Armin said sympathetically. "But I'm starving, so I'm going upstairs."
"It's probably a trap to get us to set the table."
"Why wouldn't she just ask you to set the table if that's what she wants?"
"Because I don't always go when she asks me."
Armin shook his head. "You have no one to blame but yourself." Armin jogged up the stairs. As he came through the basement door, he ran into Mikasa.
"Are we okay?" She asked softly.
Armin took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Yeah, we're okay."
