The sound of laughter fills her ears and she tightens her hold on the pen in her hand. The group project that Ms. Ral assigned to the class is underway, with everyone working in pairs, or, in Historia's case, a group of three because of the odd number of students in the classroom. Everyone is enjoying themselves, since Ms. Ral is one of the nicer teachers and typically allows the students free rein in her English class. She's partnered with Ymir and Sasha, which is great, as she loves her friends. But she can't help the sudden negative feelings that stew in her, knowing that, behind her, at another table, is Armin, partnered with a pretty girl named Hitch. And, from the sound of their enthusiastic talking, they're getting along fabulously.

It's. Great. Historia always figured her boyfriend needed to branch out and make new friends that wasn't just her and the rest of their group from middle school—everyone else has managed to make new friends in highschool. But, for some reason, his sudden closeness with Hitch doesn't sit right with her. She's pretty, no doubt about that, very good at social interaction like Historia, and is part of the student council! She's obviously good at keeping up with Armin's long winded talks on school subjects, even though the girl seems almost bored every time he speaks; Historia can tell from the gleam in Hitch's eyes that she doesn't find the boy boring and that she just naturally looks bored and coy.

She's really happy that he's found someone to talk with and connect with outside their friend group!

Another bout of laughter leaves her boyfriend, followed by Hitch's lighter chuckles.

Her hand grips the pen even tighter. She is so happy for her boyfriend! Really!

"You might want to let go of that poor writing tool before you break it, Historia."

Ymir's obviously bored, yet amused, tone snaps her out of her thoughts and Historia starts, turns wide eyes to her friend. Ymir just raises a brow, one hand propping her head up, while her other holds her pen that she twirls between her fingers. Beside her best friend, Sasha nervously smiles, her eyes darting between the small blonde and the table behind her that holds the pair that is totally not getting on her nerves. It's at this point that she realizes that she is not being subtle with her negative feelings if Sasha of all people can pinpoint what's going on. With a deep inhale, she breathes out and tries to relax her tense form, loosens her hold on her pen…

…Only to tighten it full force when she hears Hitch's chuckles become louder. She doesn't need to turn around to know that Armin probably has that look of pure delight on his face, the one he always has on when he manages to make those around him happy and laugh without their meaning to—she's seen it way too many times, has it ingrained into her brain at this point. (It's a look that makes him look so adorable, how could she not find it endearing of him?)

Ymir raises a brow, her eyes drifting from her to look over her, definitely staring over at her boyfriend and Hitch. She makes a small sound before looking back at her. "They seem pretty close," she comments, which is something Historia doesn't want to hear right at that moment. She glares at her friend, who only blinks slowly at her. "Kind of reminds me of an older sister badgering her younger brother," Ymir continues, not at all bothered by the smallest girl's irritated look. "As hilarious as it is to watch you seeth in jealousy," —Historia gives her friend an affronted look— "even I know that there's no way in hell Armin's going to cheat on you. He's been pining for you like a lost puppy for too long."

Her face flushes at that reminder, though it's not just embarrassment that has her face so red as she pouts at her friend. "I'm not worried about him cheating on me," she defends, though the way her voice squeaks at the end of her sentence has her wincing. Ymir's eyes glow knowingly and she glares right back, knows that her lie was effectively caught by someone who knew her too well. "You're reading into things way too much, Ymir. Besides, I'm not the jealous type anyway, so…."

Ymir's expression turns blank and Sasha gives her a look of disbelief. Right… Historia forgot it wasn't just Ymir she had to assure. But it's true—she's not the jealous type! At least, she never had a problem with Armin talking with any girls like Mina or…or…

"Okay, now there's no way Shakespare could have meant that!" Hitch's voice is clear and rings loudly in her ears, amused and baffled. She wonders why that table is so easy for her to hear when it's a few feet away. (She blatantly ignores that she's hyper focused on that specific table, but there's no way she's going to tell Ymir that, of course not!)

She tries to not look in their direction, but ends up failing, head slowly moving to allow her to peer over her shoulder at the duo.

Armin has the book open and held in his hands, though his attention isn't on the book, surprisingly, and is instead focused on Hitch next to him. The girl has her body moved away from him, a hand over her face, but it's easy for Historia to tell that Hitch is just trying to hide her laughter and amusement from the boy sitting next to her. She can see the shy grin on the boy's features and the way he ducks his head away from Hitch when the girl focuses her attention back on him has her heart pounding in her chest. She adores how embarrassed he gets when he realizes that he's made the people around him happy; it's such an endearing trait of his that she loves, including when he does it around her. There's always a warm, proudful feeling that wells up inside of her whenever she sees him do that around their friends, but seeing him do that around Hitch brings out a cold, bitter feeling.

She doesn't like it and doesn't know how to get rid of it.

At that moment, Armin's gaze raises from Hitch to lock eyes with her. He blinks at her, surprised, then he gives her a wide, affectionate smile that makes her heart skip a beat and has her still in her seat. She dimly hears the sound of her pencil dropping onto the table and the slight murmurs of her two friends that share her table. Armin raises a hand and gives her a shy wave, his eyes so soft and filled with so much adoration that she swallows and, with the heat rushing up into her cheeks, has her raising a hand of her own to shyly wave back.

The smile on his lips widens and his eyes glow in such a happy gleam that Historia feels that horrible feeling that's been gripping her for the better part of five minutes disappear. He looks so content, gentle, in that moment that Historia ducks her head away, feels her face heating up too quickly for her to try and play it off as the light from the room. Just that look, the way he practically softened when their eyes met and how he gave her all his attention, told Historia exactly what she already knew—what everyone around her already knew.

He's so deeply in love with her that the thought of ever cheating on her wouldn't even cross his mind.

And she knows, deep down, that she feels the exact same way with him.

A/N: Sorry for the super late update - life's been pitching one fastball after another at me! xD Didn't realize it's been a whole year since the last update, whoops! ^^; But, now, everything should be settled in the dust (hopefully I didn't just jinx it xD) so I should be able to update this as much as I can. I've been writing a few things for multiple of the prompts when I've had the time, so should be getting out as much as I'm able! Anyway, hope everyone enjoyed reading! ^^