"I just don't know what to do," Armin stated to Eren desperately.
The two boys sat in Armin's grandfather's living room, playing Portal 2 while his grandfather was in the kitchen making tea. He could sense Eren's frustration with him—he frowned deeply whenever he had to remind Armin to move his character to the next area.
"Just freakin' ask her already," Eren grumbled, wildly pressing the buttons on his controller.
"But what if she says no?" For the last thirty minutes Armin had been asking Eren for advice on how to ask Annie out on a date (his insides twisted up whenever he thought of that word). He wasn't sure why he went to Eren first—he had the same experience as him when it came to girls romantically: absolutely none. But then again he couldn't go to Connie or Jean because all they would do is laugh and laugh and laugh.
He should've went to Marco.
"She won't. Oh, hey." Eren made his robot character walk around a wall. "Make a portal here."
Armin sighed, obeying. "You don't know that."
Eren studied the yellow portal Armin just created. "Yeah, you're right. I have no idea what I'm doing."
Armin glared at his best friend. "I was talking about Annie."
With an annoyed sigh, Eren put the game on pause, placed his controller on a nearby end table, and then pushed himself off the floor, heading toward his backpack on the other side of the couch that Armin sat on. "I'm calling Mikasa."
The blond boy's eyes widened. "W-Why?"
"Well, she's a girl, right? Maybe she can help you so you can stop complaining so we can get back to the game."
"Eren, no!" Armin grabbed Eren's wrist, stopping him from reaching for his phone. "Don't call Mikasa!"
Eren narrowed his eyes. "Why not?"
"She'll kill me if she finds out I'm trying to ask Annie out. You've seen the way she looks when I talk about her! It's like she thinks Annie is the devil itself!"
Eren hung his head and let a low and irritated groan escape his lips. "Ugh, look. If you really want my advice, just go for it. You talk about her all the time and I haven't even seen her 'crystalline blue eyes' yet."
Armin blushed furiously when Eren quoted his description of Annie.
"But from what I've heard, it sounds like she doesn't exactly hate you so she'll probably say yes. So just stop worrying so much about it or else I might just have to kill you."
"Whoa, let's not kill anyone just yet." Both of the boys turned toward the familiar sound of Armin's grandfather joining the conversation. He walked into the room with his old wooden cane in one hand and a small white teacup in the other. He then cautiously placed himself at his favorite rocking chair in the corner of the room and smiled at the two boys, his cheeks crinkling at the action. "Is there a problem?"
"No." "Yes." Eren and Armin answered at the same time.
Eren wasted no time in telling the old man the situation while he took a careful sip of his warm tea. "Armin wants to ask a girl out but can't do it."
"Eren…" Armin muttered under his breath, his cheeks still on fire from the very idea of this whole conversation.
"Oh! Is that true, Armin?" The old man rested his teacup on the end table beside Eren's controller, his smile widening.
"I…" Now that the question was directed at him, he couldn't lie to his grandfather. He always knew whenever Armin was lying; probably because he was a master liar himself. "…yes."
"Ah, finally. I was wondering when your father's flirtatious side would come into play."
Eren stifled a laugh while Armin continued to feel his entire face heat up like a hot air balloon. "Granddad, please help me."
"After you answer a few of my questions. How long have you known this special lady and why haven't I heard about her until now?"
"You haven't told him?" Eren jumped in, taking his place back on the floor. "You've been seeing her for like a month and you haven't told your granddad?"
"Eren, you're not helping in the slightest."
"A month? Then this shouldn't be too difficult for you, my boy." The old man leaned forward on his cane. "What's her name? What does she look like?"
"Oh, great." Eren laid on the carpeted floor, covering his eyes with his arms.
Despite the aggravated tone in Eren's voice, Armin grinned slightly and he felt his red hot face soften a little. "Well, her name's Annie Leonhart. She has bright blonde hair that's always tied in a bun. Her eyes are like crystals and her skin white as snow. She's small, around five foot, but she's way stronger than she looks, both physically and mentally. And, well, she hasn't smiled yet but I'd like to think that it's the most beautiful thing in the world."
Armin's grandfather stared at his grandson with a small but heartwarming smirk. "She sounds wonderful."
"I really want to get to know her better and, you know, see her more often. But I have no idea how to tell her this without embarrassing myself." He looked at his hands, worried.
"Maybe you should take her somewhere with your friends," his grandfather suggested. "That tells her that you want her in your life and introduce her to new things about you."
Eren sat up. "Does that mean I can finally see her?"
Armin thought about it. He has mentioned several times on how Eren wanted to meet the lost girl but she always shrugged it off like she didn't believe it. But maybe she wouldn't mind meeting his friends?
"Excellent idea! Armin, tomorrow I expect you to find this girl and take her to Springer's to meet Eren, Mikasa, Sasha, and Connie. No excuses."
"O-Okay…" Armin tensed up when he thought of Mikasa's deviled look while meeting Annie for the first time.
He felt Eren's hand squeeze his shoulder in reassurance. "Don't worry. I'll calm Mikasa down. Everything will be fine."
And, for just a moment, he thought it might be true.
He found her right away as soon as he exited the bus with Eren and Mikasa the next day.
His heart always felt like it was about to burst whenever he saw his own grey coat draped over her. It was big on her but then again, it was always a little big on him too. All the silver buttons were buttoned properly and she had her hands stuffed into the pockets. Her eyes met his across the street, nodding her head once in greeting, cheeks bright red from the icy cold temperature. He waved his hand and quickly turned to his friends, saying that he'll be in a moment. Eren grinned and nodded while Mikasa sighed to herself and simply entered the café without a word.
Armin ran across the street and into the alleyway Annie stood in. "Hi, Annie," he started, smiling widely.
"Hi."
"How are you doing? Are you feeling better?"
"I'm fine." She quickly rubbed her nose, sniffing heavily. "A little bit better actually."
"That's great! I'm glad."
The two stood silent for a while, but it was comfortable; they'd been having these moments for quite some time. Armin nervously swallowed and opened his mouth to speak: "Annie, c-can I ask you something?"
She shrugged. "Sure."
"Um, would it be okay if you, uh, w-went on a, um, you know, a…" He felt like throwing up he was so scared.
Annie's eyebrows wrinkled in confusion. "A what?"
"Um, well, would it be okay if we have lunch? Like inside a café? With, uh, with my friends? Ah—"
Her eyes traveled over to the café. "With your friends…and you?"
"Y-Yes."
She raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like some sort of double date to me."
His face felt hotter than it had ever been. "Uh, it's not a double date. E-Eren and Mikasa aren't dating. I mean, they would like to meet you and I really want you to have some friends and I want to get you know you more and see you often and make sure you're okay and I want you to be happy and…" He trailed off, realizing all the nervous babble that came from his mouth.
"So it is a date, but with your non-dating friends."
He was so embarrassed all he could do was nod and stare intensely at the pavement below.
Annie was quiet for a while before looking back at Armin and gave him her reply: "Yeah, okay."
His head shot up. "R-Really?"
"I suppose. You keep on talking about how people want to see me so I guess this is the only way to get you to shut up."
"T-Thank you, Annie. Thank you so much." He smiled warmly at her.
She moved her hair behind her ear. "I'm just surprised you're asking me out on a date even though I haven't showered in a few days."
He laughed. "Don't worry. Even with unwashed hair, you still look so beautiful."
She tensed up. "I told you to not call me that."
Armin didn't apologize this time and luckily Annie didn't point it out.
He had his hand hover over the small of Annie's back as the pair crossed the street (Armin made sure to get in front of her to open the heavy door of the café for Annie). Annie took two steps into the café and then stopped, looking a bit uncomfortable. The café was quiet today to which Armin was glad for, but Annie still looked uncertain about advancing further. He peered down at her and made his lips tilt up a bit. "Are you okay?"
She nodded but said nothing. His eyes still on her, he very carefully and gently held her freezing hand, fingers slowly wrapping around her knuckles. "It's okay. Come on."
She let herself be guided by Armin's hand around hers, holding it like it was made of glass. The two blonds made their way over to the table Armin and his friends usually sat at.
Eren looked up from his conversation with Mikasa just as they arrived. Mikasa did as well, just not as happily.
"Hey, guys," Armin said. "Annie, these are my best friends, Eren and Mikasa. Guys, this is Annie, the one I've been seeing for a while."
"Hey, Annie." Eren grinned at the emotionless girl. "So we finally meet. Armin's been talking about you nonstop."
"Oh, has he?" Annie momentarily glanced at Armin before looking back at Eren.
"Eren…" Armin mumbled as he pulled out a chair and motioned for Annie to sit. After a moment's hesitation, she did.
"I'm just saying," Eren said, Armin taking his place between his wonderful date and his loudmouth best friend.
"Yes," Mikasa added, looking at Annie, "Armin does mention you a lot."
Annie stared back at the raven haired girl. "He does the same thing with you two. Mentioned that you're siblings."
"Somewhat," Eren said. "My parents adopted Mikasa shortly after her parents died in a car accident."
Annie nodded and leaned back in her chair. "I see…"
Mikasa and Annie glared at each other while Eren stared confusedly and Armin held his breath in anticipation. Thankfully the moment was interrupted by Sasha's cheery voice: "Hey, y'all! I got your drinks right here." She placed their usual beverages in front of the rightful person (Eren his iced tea, Mikasa her salted caramel latte, Armin his white hot chocolate). Sasha then turned to Annie with a big, cheesy smile on her face.
"Hey! You must be Annie. Eren and Mikasa told me that you were coming, but they didn't know what you liked, so I got you what Armin gets because holy crap it's cold out there!" The brunette girl placed the heated cup in front of Annie.
Without even glancing at the drink, Annie faced Armin, her face expressionless. "How many people know about my existence?"
Armin glanced up at Sasha, his own irritation starting to seep through. "After Connie, I really hope no one else."
"Oh…right." Sasha held her grey plastic tray high above her head and ran for the backroom. "Connie, get off the phone!"
"Anyway," Eren started, attempting to erase the awkwardness from the conversation (which Armin greatly appreciated), "do you have any plans for Christmas, Annie? It's two weeks away."
She shrugged and cupped her hot beverage between her snow white fingers. "Try to stay warm I guess." She took a hesitant sip of the white hot chocolate. "Thanks for the drink by the way."
"A drink is the very least we could do for you if those are your plans for Christmas." Eren beamed. "You're pretty cool, Annie. You should hang out with us more."
The said girl gave no reply, just sipped her drink gingerly, but Armin could tell by the tiny flush in her cheeks that she appreciated the comment.
For the next forty-five minutes, Eren mainly hosted the majority of conversations, making sure to include everyone in, even moody Mikasa. Armin occasionally peeked at Annie's face, which remained emotionless at all times. When they stood up to depart, Armin announced that he was going to walk with Annie for a bit. "Alright," Eren said. "Text me when you get home."
Mikasa nodded and gave her blond friend a concerned look, but Armin just smiled brightly back. "I will. See you tomorrow."
After the two small blonds watched Armin's friends go, Annie turned to him. "So the date doesn't end yet, huh?"
He scratched the back of his neck bashfully and glanced down at her. "If that's okay with you. I don't want to say goodbye yet."
"I guess that's fine. It's not like I have anywhere to be." She turned her back towards Eren and Mikasa's departing figures. "Where to?"
"I was hoping it would be okay if we went to my apartment. It's warm and I can get you some food and we can just talk some more. There's so much I want to know about you. You're very quiet."
She stared at him a moment longer. "It's easier that way."
His dark blue eyes slowly went down to Annie's right and abandoned hand, white and bony. He held his breath as he dared to complete his next action: His fingers lightly touched Annie's bare wrist and very slowly traveled down into her hand. His fingers slid into her palm, expanding further as he interlaced with Annie's fingers. He squeezed her hand gently and ran his thumb over the length of her pointer finger. Her whole hand was cold and smooth like ice—except for her wrist; he grew slightly concerned when he felt a bumpy surface on that body part.
"I really like you, Annie," he mumbled, smiling to himself as he continued to run his thumb over her fingers.
Her hand was stiff for a while, as was the rest of her body, but she eventually relaxed a bit and, without breaking her lock on their weaved fingers, had murmured from her chapped lips, "I like you too."