A/N: Although I had planned this to be a shorter chapter, it turned out to be my longest chapter yet (I think). I should have known that things never go accordingly to plan, haha. I still had fun writing this one though!

"Hey Jean!" Armin called out brightly as he saw him entering the pantry.

It was late into the morning and he had been starting to worry why he hasn't seen Jean for the whole of yesterday. Going back to his dorm after all that fun baking cookies, Armin almost forgot he hasn't seen him around at all until he spotted his Secret Santa gift on the bed. This morning, he didn't even turn up for breakfast which only seemed to prove that Jean may be sick. Wishing to preoccupy himself with other thoughts, Armin decided to check into the gingerbread men cookies in the pantry and do a storage count of all the ingredients they had left. Luckily, his fears of Jean being ill again were finally laid to rest with his presence in the pantry.

Almost immediately however, that presence was removed as Jean made a u-turn back out.

Armin was perplexed. What just happened? He didn't even have time to react properly and call him to wait.

And Jean didn't even say hi …

Armin began to wonder if he had angered Jean or made him upset in some way. Of course, there could be other reasons like a possibility that he suddenly had to make a break for the bathroom or that he simply didn't hear him due to being groggy from sleep.

Jean looked him in the eye though. He came in, flinched at Armin's voice and looked him in the eye before going back out.

Armin really couldn't argue for Jean still being sleepy. He knew he had fully registered the fact that Armin had greeted him and consciously made the decision to not do the same.

As for the bathroom break … it just doesn't seem to fit what just went on. The moment their eyes had connected, Armin saw, or at least he thought he saw, a flicker of hurt. It flashed by for less than a second but …

Something was definitely wrong here. He had a really bad feeling about this.

Jean wanted to smash his head into a wall. It was just his luck to run into Armin in the morning. Unfortunate events like such were so typical for him; really he should give up trying. He even purposely went to get breakfast late so that an early riser like Armin would have already had his breakfast and gone somewhere else.

What made it even worse was that u-turn he did. Why? Jean stood outside his dorm, staring at a wall. He seriously considered hurling himself at it. That was a bad decision. The worst decision. Acting so suspiciously would not only raise an alarm in Armin's head, but will also arouse his meddling nature and provoke him into searching for an answer.

Jean smashed his head into the wall. The pain was almost unbearable. But it was nothing compared to what he had to brace himself for later. Now that he had acted so weirdly, he knew Armin was going to try his hardest to find him for answers and Jean basically would have to spend his whole life running from and avoiding Armin.

Why couldn't I have just played it cool, grabbed breakfast and left?

He raised his head from the wall, tilting it back so that he could smash in his forehead again.

Then, a hand suddenly turned him around.

"Are you crazy? What are you trying to do?" Historia looked baffled.

Jean answered monotonously. "Give myself a concussion, it seems."

Historia felt his head. "You're not sick are you?" She examined his face carefully. "You're anxious about something, aren't you? Is it Armin?"

Jean pushed her hand away and broke out in cold sweat. Was he really going to have a conversation about him? Right here, right now?

"Calm yourself," Historia said sternly. "What did you do?"

"Me?" Jean spluttered, "I didn't do anything! Armin, he - I, I heard him but not really, I don't know - he thinks -"

Historia stopped him. "You're not making sense." She sighed. "But it looks like you two need to have a chat."

Jean felt his panic level rise at the word "chat". What is wrong with him? He shouldn't even be so worked up about this in the first place!

Then, there were footsteps coming round the corridor. The two of them heard voices getting louder. Jean immediately thought this was the perfect opportunity for him to escape. Without wasting a single precious second, he murmured a hurried "excuse me" to Historia and ran into his dorm as if there were a fire in the hallway.

Historia shook her head. Honestly, she did like him and found all his antics cute. But even she had to admit he had found someone he really, really cared about.

Loving someone can indeed bring as much joy as pain. She steadied herself, remembering her promise. This wasn't the time for a pity party. Historia wondered if there was something she could do to help them …

Armin was feeling slightly stressed out. The party was tomorrow and they would have to prepare for a Christmas lunch. At least the gingerbread men cookies were done. He went down the list. The pastries would have to be baked by today.

He left the kitchen, planning to start baking by 4pm so that the soldiers would have time to make their own dinner for tonight as well. Armin began to make rounds around the castle informing everyone he saw.

Now that he had completed what he needed to do on his agenda for the moment, Armin then went on his hunt for Jean. Wherever could he be?

Perhaps he was in his dorm?

Armin headed over and knocked on the door. Nobody answered so he opened it to peer inside. It was empty.

"Looking for someone?" A voice behind him asked.

Jumping a little, Armin looked back to see one of Jean's dorm-mates. "Issac, is Jean in?"

He shook his head. "You just missed him, he went out a few minutes ago."

"Do you know where he went?"

Issac thought for a bit, then frowned. "I'm sorry, he may have said something but it was so soft I couldn't catch it. I did see Krista with Jean as I went out later though!"

Armin thanked him and hurried off, thinking of looking for Historia. Perhaps she'll know where he went. All of a sudden, a mad rush of people almost knocked him over as he turned a corner. They were all heading towards the entrance.

Catching his balance, Armin looked on curiously as more soldiers dashed past him. What was going on?

"Armin!"

He whipped his head around to the voice. "Historia! I'm so glad, I -"

She came over excitedly. "Listen! There's going to be a mass snowball fight outside! You should go!"

"Snowball fight?" Armin was surprised. "How - why so suddenly?"

"Just go!" Historia said, pushing him towards the entrance. "It'll be fun!"

Armin was confused but went along anyway with Historia following him. When he got to the hallway of the main entrance, he could already hear the shouts and laughter. He felt a buzz of excitement. Armin just couldn't help himself. It was a mass snowball fight!

Subconsciously, he found himself quickening his footsteps towards the entrance. Once outside, a fantastic sight greeted him. About 30 or more soldiers have gathered there hurling snow at each other. Everyone was laughing and running around, tackling each other and taking sides. It reminded Armin of the snowball fights they had in his childhood.

Mikasa and Eren appeared out of the blue and lunged at Armin.

"Duck!" Eren cried out as the three of them hit the soft ground. A snowball had narrowly missed Armin and he heard Sasha complaining how it wasn't fair they took an easy target from her.

Armin laughed as did his two friends.

"Easy target, huh?" Armin grinned. Time for payback.

Jean was baffled. How did this happen?

Just a few minutes ago, he had shaken off Historia whom he ran into again and gone off to take a stroll around the castle grounds for fresh air, peace and quiet.

However, as he finished his circle around the castle and was about to go inside, Jean's eyes was greeted by what seemed to be a massive snowball fight. Not to mention, annoyingly, the whole horde of soldiers were blocking the entrance too.

"Why don't you join them?"

He was suddenly alerted to Historia who was beside him. "Where did you come from? And didn't I already tell you I'm not going to look for Armin?"

She shrugged. "I'm not telling you to look for him now, I'm urging you to join them."

"In the snowball fight?"

"Yes," she smiled. "You're so smart!"

Jean rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry but I don't feel like it. I'm going back inside."

Krista smiled even more sweetly. "But to do that, you would have to go through them right?"

Jean paused for a moment and then he understood. "Oh my god, you did this."

Historia had already started to push him towards the crowd.

"Wait, Historia! Why would you - Aargh! No -"

But it was too late, a snowball hit Jean and he was promptly swallowed up in the fray. Historia took in a deep breath and let it out. Her work here, was done.

Now, the rest was up to them.

"Don't be such a wimp, Jean!"

"Come back here!"

Armin whirled around quickly upon hearing Jean's name, almost hitting both Mikasa and Eren. The three of them were beginning to look like some unbeatable snowball fighting machine. But Armin who had heard Jean's name, stopped his relentless attacks immediately.

"Ah - Ow!" Eren brushed off a snowball that had hit him. "Armin we could really use your help right now!"

However, Armin seemed not to hear as he ran off, pushing through the crowd. Trying to search for someone in the middle of a snowball fight was no easy feat. Especially with the flying snow and swinging arms.

Finally, he spotted familiar brown hair moving through the crowd. Armin tried to go faster. "Jean! JEAN!"

He was now a few metres away from the boy. Armin called out as loud as he could. "JEEAAN!"

Jean turned with a look of annoyance that quickly changed to shock and then alarm. His eyes locked on to Armin's for the second time of the day but he tore himself away and started to elbow his way through with greater force.

Armin tried to catch up to him and within a few moments, reached the end of the crowd and was now facing the entrance of the castle.

But Jean … Jean was long gone.

Panting, Armin reached his dorm. He had been going around collating various allergies the soldiers had. This was so that the food they would be cooking for the party could be eaten by everyone. Armin also kept an eye out for Jean, and even doubled back to places like his dorm once or twice. Although he did catch him a few times, Jean always turned the other direction and disappeared off somewhere.

He was definitely deliberately avoiding Armin. And … it really hurt.

Armin curled up on his bed. He wasn't feeling too well. He was exhausted from running about trying to find Jean and recording down allergies.

More than anything however, Armin was confused, anxious and devastated. He brought both hands to his chest as he breathed heavily.

Armin tried to think back, looking through their interactions to see if there could be anything that might have elicited such a reaction from Jean. Unfortunately, he couldn't come up with anything that may have lead to such a drastic change in Jean's behaviour towards him.

He was beginning to regret going down memory lane as he started to feel worse. Running through all of the memories they had shared the past few days really made him realise how much he missed Jean's company.

He didn't care what Eren or Mikasa thought. They could speculate all they want but the truth was, Armin trusted Jean and so far, he hasn't given Armin any reason to think otherwise. At least until today …

But his behaviour wasn't that of deceit or guilt, it was more like he was upset as well. Armin curled up into an even tighter ball. It didn't make any sense. Armin didn't feel like he was the one who hurt Jean but somehow also got the feeling that he blamed him for something.

He was frustrated. Armin couldn't come up with any leads. He continued to lay in bed, distressed.

Who would have known Jean would mean this much to him?

A blush crept over Armin's cheeks. Of course, he meant that Jean was important to him, he liked him … as a friend.

Liar. His brain told him.

Armin gasped and quickly clamped a hand over his mouth. However, he couldn't stop the tsunami of thoughts and emotions from all their interactions and growing relationship.

Quivering, he drew his own hands around him, hugging himself. He felt tired. Tired and lonely.

Armin pulled himself to a sitting position and stood up, albeit a little shakily. It was four, he needed to get to the kitchen and start baking the pastries with everyone. He had to be strong and push these troubling thoughts from his mind, lest the cooking turn out to be horrible.

Making his way to the kitchen slowly, the only thought that could comfort him was the hope he'd see Jean there and get a chance to talk to him.

Armin was greeted by Eren and Mikasa at the kitchen. They looked cheerful as they informed him that the soldiers have already started on the cranberry tarts.

"Armin … are you okay?" Mikasa asked noticing that their friend was silent.

"You look a little pale …" Eren agreed, placing a hand on his forehead. "You don't have a fever though."

He smiled appreciatively at his friends' concerns. "It's nothing to worry about. I'm just tired."

"Then you should rest," Eren sounded stern.

Armin managed to laugh a little. "Honestly, it's okay. Could you give me something to do?"

With Armin's insistence, the two eventually relented and allowed him to twist the strips of dough that were to become the crust of the tarts.

It wasn't until they were starting on cake rolls that Armin spotted Jean walking - no, being dragged into the kitchen by a very determined looking Historia.

He was being led to a table surrounded by soldiers doing the icing. They started to make noise about how he hasn't helped out at all and pushed towards him, most of the tarts that need to be iced.

Armin noted an air of dejection about him as he started for the table.

"Armin!" Mikasa suddenly tapped him on the shoulder from behind. "Could you stuff these rolls and put them in the oven?"

He took the tray from her. "Umm … okay."

Armin stuffed the rolls as fast as he could, hoping Jean doesn't pull another disappearing act. Then, he put the entire tray in the oven and was relieved to see Jean was still there doing the icing.

He had his back turned to him so Armin wagered he probably hasn't spotted him yet. Now was his chance!

"Armin!"

This time, Eren had come over from the sink with a basket of vegetables. "We need to dice these carrots and peel the potatoes for tomorrow."

Armin felt a little dizzy. "Sure …" he said faintly, taking a chopping board and knife.

He willed himself to be patient. Everyone was busy with something and he should be here helping and not thinking about resolving personal conflicts.

15 minutes later, the vegetables were done and so was Jean with the icing. He informed his fellow soldiers he had completed his task. Armin decided this was perhaps the best time to go over except that … something smelt like it was burning.

"The oven!" Connie shrieked as smoke started to rise from it.

Being nearest to the oven, Armin grabbed a piece of cloth and opened it, coughing as the smoke came out. He pulled out the trays quickly, almost burning himself.

Everyone rushed over to examine the damage.

"Ahh … it's a little charred."

"But it can still be saved."

"Thank goodness for Armin. You pulled them out real quick."

Armin heaved a sigh of relief. The cake rolls looked like they were going to be fine. Then, he peered over his shoulder.

Once again, Jean was gone.

"Excuse me," he tried to get by several people. He didn't see Jean leave by the front door so perhaps he went by the door to the pantry?

Armin dashed to the door just in time to see Jean finish drying his hands and going out of the pantry's back door. Armin swiftly followed.

He saw Jean turn a left and approached the long corridor that he and Eren were in yesterday. Since it was a straight corner until another turn at the end, Armin thought it was the best decision to run after him now before he could escape.

"Jean!" Armin ran as if he were in a race.

Startled, Jean froze for a moment before his own legs started to move.

However, having had a head start, Armin managed to latch onto his shirt and pull him back. The force swung them both back and they stumbled, falling to the ground.

"Jean!" Armin was the first to sit up, he grabbed Jean's hand and helped him up too. "Jean, why are you avoiding me?"

Jean stared in shock. This was the worst case scenario. He didn't even prepare himself for a response! "Umm …" then, he looked to the ground. "I'm not …"

Armin was getting a little frustrated. "What are you talking about? You can't deny -"

"I was giving you some space!" Jean exclaimed suddenly, snatching his hand away. He felt ashamed, upset and angry at the same time. They don't make a very good feeling together.

"What do you mean?" Armin was terrified. Did he do something wrong after all? The corridor was too dark at this time of the day. He wished he had a light so that he could see Jean's face.

"I know how you feel …" Jean muttered, standing up slowly. "You don't have to hide it."

Armin stood too, feeling an urge to hold Jean so that he couldn't escape. "I'm not hiding anything."

Luckily, Jean stood still. "Please don't be considerate like this. Trust me when I say it makes me feel worse."

Genuinely flummoxed, Armin stammered. "I - I don't understand -"

"Look Armin," Jean said, tearing his eyes up from the ground. Despite the lack of light, Armin could see hurt and betrayal in his eyes which shocked him. "I didn't want to tell you but I overheard what you said about me … and I now know you think I'm being creepy and that you hate me."

"Jean, that - I have never -"

"I was there, okay?" Jean pointed to a corner in the corridor. "I was behind that wall, listening to you and Eren talk here yesterday!"

Armin's eyes widened. "Oh my god, you were the one who made that noise?"

"I dropped something, yes," Jean admitted awkwardly, then remembered the situation at hand. "But do you get it now? I found out how you felt about me!"

"How much have you heard?" Armin was starting to understand now.

"Does that matter?"

Armin stepped closer. "Did you hear about the part where Eren made up a hypothetical scenario about you and me?

Now Jean hesitated. "No …"

"Well, in that hypothetical scenario," Armin explained. "You were using me to win a bet against people - that you could make anyone you wanted fall in love with you. Which includes me."

Jean blushed. "What? I've never even -"

"Eren based that off what you did in the past with Mikasa you see …"

"But that was then! I don't even see her that way - I don't do these things anymore!" Jean said hotly. He was getting so worked up here about what Armin thought of him and his past actions. He honestly didn't care anymore that he was saying whatever first came to mind at the moment.

Armin sighed. "I believe you. But Eren asked me what if that were the case. What if those were the reasons you decided to befriend me."

Jean looked utterly furious. "Of course those weren't my reasons!"

"I know," Armin cracked a small smile. "But because he wanted an answer, I had to admit that if those were your reasons, you'd be kinda creepy and that's probably the part you overheard -"

Jean hastily grabbed Armin's hand, making the boy gasp a little. His head was in a mess now but he couldn't hold himself back. He had never been this relieved and happy. "Armin," he said, looking directly at him. "I was your friend because I sincerely like you and - and … I really enjoyed being around you."

Armin felt like he couldn't breathe. He could hear his own heart thumping and wondered if it was loud enough that Jean could hear too. He felt himself turn red at Jean's words. He was reminded of his conscience calling him a liar. It was gloating in triumph.

"I - I … Jean," he swallowed. "I never doubted you. "I told Eren that -"

Quickly, Jean pulled Armin in. He hugged the boy tightly, as if he could disappear at any time. For some reason, Armin was blinking back tears. He felt like his heart could burst at any moment. The smell of Jean … the smell of his clothes, his hair … this was the closest he had ever gotten to him and Armin didn't want to let go.

This is dangerous. Jean thought. He had to let go …

And finally, with amazing willpower, he was able to pull apart. They both stepped away quickly in embarrassment.

"I - I'm sorry …" Jean apologised in a fairly steady voice. Inside however, he was certain he was dying. Was Armin going to think that was weird? Oh god, after he told me he's never doubted me too …

"I'm so, so sorry!" He said, bowing to Armin who had started to say something. "I'm sorry for causing you so much trouble and not giving you the benefit of the doubt!"

Jean … Armin desperately tried to raise him up but he wasn't budging.

"I'm deeply sorry, A - Armin," he said thickly, his voice starting to tremble. "I'm so stupid and I put you through so much p - pain … I don't deserve to be forgiven, b - but -"

Armin knelt down, grasping his shoulders. "I understand Jean! I got it! I forgive you, so please, please stand up straight!"

Slowly, Jean did straighten up. He was breathing as if he ran a mile. "Armin … you don't have to …"

"I want to," Armin replied firmly. "I understand … I really do. I just hope things can go back to normal again …" He took in a deep breath trying to steady his pounding heart. "I really missed you, Jean."

Jean stuck out his hand, laughing a little with heavy breaths. "Let's start anew? Hi, I'm Jean."

Armin giggled, accepted the handshake. "Hi, I'm Armin. But I think you got your name wrong, Idiot."

"Hey!" Jean was laughing heartily now. "Come here!" He attempted to tickle Armin but the smaller boy squeaked and squirmed away, dashing down the corridor while Jean gave chase.

From behind the corner, Historia smiled contently. It looked like everything was going to be okay.

A/N: I'm so excited! We are reaching the end! It's finally Christmas Eve. XD