"No I'm not wearing underwear today.

No I'm not wearing underwear today.

Not that you probably care,

Much about my underwear

Still nonetheless I've gotta ssssssaaaaaaayyyyyy

That

I'm

Not

Wearing

Underwear

To-ddddddddaaaaaayyyyyy."

Eren groaned and sat up. "Connie, why are you singing?" he grumbled. It was way too early in the morning to even consider worrying about underwear, especially singing about it. Connie stared at Eren.

"Eren, what are you talking about?" he asked, "I'm not singing."

Yet he wasn't denying that he wasn't wearing underwear…Still, Eren gaped at him. "But…but I just heard you singing…" He knew he heard Connie singing. Or maybe that late night training session and 4 hours of sleep was destroying his brain cells.

Out of nowhere Jean's face shot up. Wearing a maniacal grin, he stared at Eren. "I'm sorry Jaeger, did you just say you thought you heard Springer singing?" His left eye was twitching ever so slightly. Slowly, slightly fearful, Eren nodded. Jean began cackling like a hatter on mercury, causing Eren and everyone in the bunker to jump.

"YES! YES! I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE!" he laughed, "OH YES! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!" Erupting into hysterics, Jean pointed at Eren. "YOUR TURN JAEGER!"

Everyone stared at the two of them. Eren felt the blood creeping up his face. The whole dorm knew about the "musical" incident Jean had seven months ago. They all thought he had food poisoning. Dangit! He should never have eaten Sasha's meatloaf!

Reiner broke the silence. "Seriously Springer. Put on some underwear."

[First agonizing commercial break]

"Annie…" Armin whispered. Tears were forming in his eyes. He didn't hear what she just said. He didn't hear her axe his dreams—their dreams. He didn't just feel her throw his heart to the Titans. Annie, stoic, solid, didn't even blink as she struck the finishing blow.

"It's over Armin," she said, then turned her back on him.

Eren knew he shouldn't have been listening in, but the crack in Armin's voice split him like lightening. How many times had he heard that hitch in his voice, trying to convince them that he was okay? Back then, it had been physical warfare. Now the beating grounds were Armin's heart.

"WHAT THE h—" Eren hollered, sprinting into the open. "HOW CAN YOU DO THIS TO HIM!?" he called at her back. To his shock, he felt a tight—almost painful—grip on his shoulder. Eren turned to see Armin gazing past him.

"Go Eren," he muttered. Eren opened his mouth in protest, but found himself flung on the ground. Jaw hitting the dirt, he sat in the grass, dazed. In all their life Armin had never raised a hand against him. How could he do this? Eren was only trying to defend him!

"Armin, what was that—" he growled, but stopped. Tears coated Armin's cheeks as his hands, the same hands that threw Eren to the ground, shook.

"Please," he sobbed. Eyes wide, Eren felt like he had been thrown to the ground again. This was an Armin Eren had never experienced before. Coming to his senses, Eren walked away without a word, listening to Armin's voice warble, singing mournfully:

"I'll keep remembering kisses
From lips I've never owned,
And all the lovely adventures
That we have never known.

One dream in my heart,
One love to be living for,
One love to be living for,
This nearly was mine."

Crap, Eren didn't even care about the singing at this point. Turning back, he watched Armin collapse and cry into his knees. Nope. Nope. Screw this. With a new ferocity, he turned back to Armin and sat down next to him.

It was a long time before they got back to the camp.

When they finally did make it back, it was about time for lunch. Armin picked at his food. Most of it never touched his lips (Instead, it went to Sasha's stomach.).

"Are you feeling okay Armin?" she inquired through a mouthful of potatoes. "You sick or something?"

"Yeah. Reiner cooked today, and you haven't eaten any of it," Connie pointed out. Armin shook his head.

"Don't want to talk about it," he mumbled. Connie and Sasha raised eyebrows at each other, then at Eren, who shook his head. All Armin wanted was a little peace, which was exactly what he was going to get…til Sasha opened her big mouth.

"Hey, how come you're not sitting with Ann—Armin?"

Immediately Armin ran, almost knocking Jean over in the process. Jean tried cursing him as he was leaving, but was so confused by the fact Armin wasn't being careful (which never happened) and the tears on Armin's face (which really never happened) all he could do was sputter and fumble as he sat next to Eren.

"What's wrong with Arlert?" he asked. All three of them stared at each other. None of them wanted Armin to have to deal with rumors and whispers. Their silence almost ate the table underneath them, until Marco finally sat down next to Jean.

"How's Armin? I heard about the break-up," he said. Jean's mouth formed a small "o" as Eren glared at Marco.

"How'd you find out?!" he demanded. Startled, Marco pointed over to Ymir and Christa. "Mina heard Annie and Armin arguing, and told Ymir and Christa, who told—"

"Everyone else," snapped Eren. "Can't people just leave it alone?"

"Not until they have something else to talk about," Jean said, his mouth twisting into a grimace. "Everyone wants to catch up on the latest gossip. Especially girls." He sighed. "Once again, why I wiped away my faith in humanity."

"Yeah, on my shirt," Connie grumbled, then grinned. "Fine, if they want something to talk about, I'll give them something." Everyone at the table dropped their forks as he stood on the table. With a twist no one knew that Connie had in him (not even him), he held a hand out to Sasha, bending down on one knee. By this time everyone in the mess hall had eyes on them. She blinked, eyes blank and mouth agape as Connie began belting:

"They say it's a man's world
Well, that cannot be denied
But what good's a man's world
Without a woman by his side
And so I will wait
Until that moment you decide

That I'm your man
And you're my girl
That I'm the sea
And you're the pearl
It takes two, baby,
It takes two."

With a nearly-wicked laugh, he pulled Sasha onto the table. Half-yelping, half-giggling, Sasha stumbled as Connie very expertly swung her like it was 1925.

"Lancelot had Guinevere
Mrs. Claus has old St. Nick
Romeo had Juliet
And Liz, well, she has her di*k

They say it takes two to tango
Well, that tango's child's play
So take me to the dance floor
And we'll twist the night away."

Breathlessly, as if their lives had been culminating toward this moment, Connie kissed Sasha full on the lips. The whole mess hall stayed silent, which Eren found odd. He himself almost began clapping (after all, it's not everyday you get Broadway right on your table, even if it was caused by food poisoning)….until he looked in the doorway, and froze in fear.

Shadis.

"SPRINGER! BLAUS! ON THE FIELD! START RUNNING!"

[final agonizing commercial break]

"Well, there is the man of the hour!" Reiner hollered as Connie stumbled in. The boys hooted and hollered as he collapsed on the bunk. Buried in thick layer of dirt from running and training for 7.25 hours, Connie rolled over as if to give his final words. Everyone watched him intently.

"Totally. Worth. It," he gasped, then immediately passed out. With a sad smirk, Armin pulled off Connie's boots and tucked him in his bed…which Connie had fallen asleep on instead of his own. He had heard how Connie had (quite literally) whisked Sasha off her feet. All the times he wished he could have done that with Annie…Wiping his eyes on the back of his hand, Armin forced her out of his mind. She told him she used him, told him that she needed his brains to pass class, to get into the Military Police. It just didn't make sense though. Every kiss, every night under the stars…There had been times when she came close to telling him something, on the verge of spilling something deep, but something always stopped her. Maybe if he had pressed harder, maybe she would have told him.

Or maybe she would have walked away sooner.

Still even if it was a lie, it was like she had stabbed him and left the knife in. Buried it so no one could pull it out. A touch woke him out of his misery. Jumping, he turned to see Eren's hand on his shoulder.

"Hey Armin, you okay?" Eren asked. Armin nodded.

"I'm fine."

Later on, when everyone had fallen asleep, Eren woke to the sound of sobbing. It was soft, like he didn't want to bother anyone with his pain. Like it wasn't worth bothering anyone. Oh Armin, Eren thought. He rolled over to push himself out of bed, to go comfort Armin, but it looked like someone was already doing the job for him.

Bertholdt sat on the edge of Armin's bed, hand on his back. Realizing Bertholdt was facing his direction, Eren quickly shut his eyes and feigned sleep. He didn't want to embarrass Armin any further. However, as Armin was his best friend, he couldn't help but crack one eye open.

"You know she loved you," Bertholdt whispered. "I've never seen her open up to someone, actually hang around someone like she did with you." He chuckled. To Eren, it seemed strange, almost half-hearted, but Armin didn't seem to notice.

"Then why did she tell me she used me, hated me, never wanted to see my weak a** again?" he wept, burying his face into his knees. He hiccupped twice, then softly began to sing:

"Her eyes
As we said our goodbyes
Can't get them out of my mind
And I find I can't hide
from her eyes.
The ones that took me by surprise
The night she came into my life
Where there's moonlight
I see her eyes."

"How'd I let her slip away
When I'm longing so to hold her
Now I'd die for one more day
'Cause there's something I should've have told her
Yes, there's something I should've have told her."

Bertholdt sighed. "Maybe she didn't want to hurt you. Maybe she was trying to push you away to save you—"

With a growl he could only have inherited from Eren (a surge of pride ran through his friend at this point), Armin slammed his fist onto the bed post. "I DON'T CARE!" he yelled. "She shouldn't think she needs to hide from me. I love her. I want to keep her safe—"

"You can't always keep her safe," Bertholdt argued. "We'll be going our separate ways soon. She'll be going into the Military Police, you'll be in the Survey Corps, you won't be able to protect her—" Emphatically Armin shook his head.

"Doesn't mean I can't stand by her," he snapped, then softened at Bertholdt's shock. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you…I just…I don't need her thinking she needs to protect me. I need her to know we're here for each other. That no matter what, she can always come to me…" Armin's eyes closed, and his shoulders sagged against his legs. He was exhausted. Tired of an aching heart, and analyzing Annie's lies. Something didn't add up, but his brain felt like a Rubix Cube with the stickers ripped off and forced on the wrong squares. So much harder to put together. "I love her Bertholdt…"

A strange, almost heartbroken look twisted Bertholdt's face. "I know…I know…" he whispered, rubbing Armin's back. "Get to bed Armin. Training starts up again tomorrow. You need to rest." Nodding, hiccupping one last time, Armin laid down. Heartbreak swiftly put him to sleep.

With a groan, almost like a heartbroken lover, Bertholdt trodded back to bed. Eren, now very much awake, listened to the sounds of 2 a.m. Poor Armin. Something just didn't seem right. Sure, he and Annie were a weird couple, the boy who wore his heart on his sleeve, and the girl who was almost a tin man. Still, they loved each other. Annie always softened in his presence, and down the line, even a hard-head like Eren was able to tell. As Eren drifted back to sleep, he could swear he heard a female voice trembling, a faltering soprano:

"Just came to say goodbye love
Goodbye love. Came to say goodbye love,
Goodbye.

Just came to say
Goodbye love, goodbye love
Goodbye love,

Goodbye."

Lyrics are as followed:

"I'm Not Wearing Underwear Today" from Avenue Q

"This Nearly Was Mine" from South Pacific

"It Takes Two" from Hairspray

"Your Eyes" from Rent

"Goodbye Love" from Rent.