When I finished my walk back home in the snow, I quickly threw Eren's blanket off of me and hid it behind a bush. I was not going to let anything get in the way of rekindling my relationship with Jean.

    "I'm back with the pastries!" I called, stepping inside. "How did the salad go?"

    "Fine," Jean replied from the kitchen. "I put it in the fridge. I tried to cut everything evenly to make it more aesthetically pleasing; it's the least I can do after ruining the main part of our meal."

    "You don't have to do that," I said, walking in to Jean washing the dishes. "You're technically my guest."

    He shrugged, but stopped scrubbing the plate. "I saw the snow outside," Jean paused, looking me up and down. Suddenly, he put his hand on my cheek and raised an eyebrow. "I don't know how you managed to stay warm in that weather—" Jean dropped his hand quickly. "I was, uh, going to run after you to give you another jacket, but," he bit the inside of his cheek and looked away, "I figured it wouldn't be a good idea to go looking through your room for stuff."

    Thank God, I thought. I would've been embarrassed enough if he had gone into my mess of a room, but if he saw me with Eren too... I avoided thinking about the outcome of that.

    "I bought some Madeleines, if you want to eat them. Consider it a reward, of sorts," I said.

    "A reward? For what? Burning a perfectly good piece of chicken?" He teased.

    For sticking with me, I answered in my mind. I shook my head and smiled. "Sure," I replied back, handing him a Madeleine. "Now stop talking and let's eat."

    It was a short night, since we had school the next day, and Jean left right after we had finished the Madeleines. When he walked out the door, he flicked my forehead. That tiny action, in itself, I counted as my biggest victory of the year.

    I closed the door behind him and bounced around, relishing in the amount of progress we had made in a single night.

    Jean, I haven't lost you yet.

    I skipped a few steps on the way up to my room and piled on a bunch of warm clothes and blankets. It was still snowing, and I wanted to enjoy the winter air while I could.

    As I looked out across my neighborhood, I froze: I had climbed onto the roof of my house only a few times to watch the sunset, but not once had I ever gone up and sat down to find another person staring at me from across the street. I shuffled under my pile of blankets to get a better view. The snow, though it was beginning to thin, blocked any view I had on the details of this person's face.

    "Is that... Armin?" I muttered to myself, confused. "I didn't know he lived here..."

    I started waving my arms frantically, despite having no idea who I was talking to. Sure, I'd worry about it being weird if it wasn't Armin, but, in all honesty, I've never really talked to Armin, so it'd be weird if I was waving at him too.

    To my surprise, I got a wave back. I wanted to yell across the street and ask for them to come over, but it was getting a bit late to be annoying... I hesitated for a moment.

    "Whatever. YOLO. Catch you later, unnecessarily extreme anxiety— HEY!" I screamed from across the street at the unknown person. I was thinking about adding more, perhaps an invitation, but they responded before I could get another word in.

    "Hiiii!!!" someone called faintly back. It was definitely a boy, but his voice seemed a little higher pitched. Either way, I still wanted to see who this person was, so I motioned for the boy to cross the street and come to me. He tilted his head to the side in confusion. I waved more frantically, and I saw his head snap into a nod as he realized what I was asking. I watched him climb back through the window of his house into the warm light beyond and then pop outside the front door a minute later. I came down too to meet him halfway.

    When I was close enough I was eye-to-eye with the blue-eyed, blond boy, Armin Arlert. So, I was right.

    "I didn't know you lived here!" I said, pleasantly surprised.

    "Yeah, that's probably because I spend most of my time inside. The only time I really come out is when I go to school or watch the snowfall. And I'm not even sure if going on my roof quite qualifies as leaving the house." Before I could even ask my second question, the boy answered: "You haven't seen me on your walk home from school because I have to TA other students after classes end."

    I pursed my lips, "Oh... Did you know that I lived here?"

    He smiled sheepishly, "Um, yes, of course... I've been to a party at your house, after all."

    I cringed, realizing my obvious mistake. "Ha, duh."

    As if that weren't a good enough answer, Armin continued: "Plus, Eren comes over sometimes after he sees you."

    Eh? I thought no one knew about that...

    "It's mostly to hide from Mikasa, but, yes, you're correct in your surprise. I know," he said, implying that he knew something secret about my relationship with Eren. Perhaps something I didn't even know myself. "Eren doesn't speak much, but his silence has a lot to say."

    I simply nodded, not knowing what else to do. Suddenly, I apologized: "I'm sorry for talking shit about Eren for the past month. He's your friend— I shouldn't have done that and expected you to talk to me like everything's fine."

    Armin looked taken aback. "I forgive you, assuming Eren does."

    It seemed to be a mutual understanding that he did. I invited Armin inside and to the roof to watch the snowflakes fall. We stacked some blankets on top of ourselves and sat in silence, admiring the view. Not even the light pollution or the stuffy suburbia could ruin this kind of night.

    "(Y/N)," Armin asked quietly, "Would you mind if I asked you something?"

    "No, go ahead," I replied absentmindedly.

    He hesitated before speaking. "Why do you and Eren insist on running in circles?"

    The night froze before me as a tidal wave of thoughts rolled over my brain. This was a question I hadn't even asked myself, nor ever planned on addressing. Of course, Armin had to be the one to ask it. He was perceptive enough to see a pattern.

    "What do you mean?" I asked, still trying to gather my thoughts.

    "It's the same thing every time with you two," he said. "You fight, you make-up, your friendship begins to go well, and then both of you let it shatter in an instant."

    It took me a minute, but in my heart I knew what the answer was. I had been too scared to admit it to myself. Because if it continues to go too well, then there will be consequences. I turned my head away from the sky and met Armin's eyes, hoping he could read what I was too afraid to say.

    "It's because 'going well' for you two means something very different than it does for most friendships, isn't it?"

    I nodded the slightest bit. He was right. My relationship with Eren would always cross that line the minute we became somewhat close.

    "You seem... afraid," Armin observed. "Why are you so against the idea of being with him?"

    I sighed. Well, if I'm going to tell anyone, it might as well be Armin. "I don't know, really," I answered weakly. "I just... I don't think it's something that was meant to happen."

    Armin frowned. "Interesting..." he mumbled. "I suppose, to an extent, I understand what you mean, although I don't really buy into the whole 'meant to be' sort of thing— But, if you are so concerned about things meaning to be, then, isn't the fact that you two are drawn to each other in even the most absurd circumstances proof enough?"

    "I—" I wrinkled my nose, not sure what to say. "I guess I'd never thought of it that way. It's toxic, though. Or, it would be, I bet. Eren's interest in me only sprung from his desire to one-up Jean, after all," I added cheaply.

    "That's what he says too. But, I don't believe it. In fact," Armin said boldly, "I don't believe either of you. I think the only reason it's toxic right now is because the both of you refuse to admit that you like each other—" I opened my mouth to interject but Armin continued, "— even in the slightest amount. I'm sorry, (Y/N), but it's very obvious that Eren's affection towards you isn't one-sided."

    I slumped over, defeated. "Fine," I grumbled, upset for being called out, and upset that Armin said it before I could admit it to myself.

    "So, why don't you guys just... do something about it already? I'm not saying you have to date, but I think it would be a good idea to have a transparent conversation about this for once. I think it would be helpful to you both."

    "How about 'no'," I replied, crossing my arms.

    "You're still denying the fact that he likes you, aren't you?"

    I scoffed. "Armin, I know he likes me. I know he likes making out with me. But I don't really have any interest in those sorts of relationships right now." Or, perhaps, not when it's inconvenient for me, I thought.

    "Is that what you actually think?"  he questioned, implying that I wasn't being honest.

    "Yes. It's not that deep. And I appreciate you being concerned about your friend and the lack of transparency in our relationship, but there's nothing more to say." I thought for a moment, "And, if you really want to clear things up, just tell him that I'm not going to bother with the superficial romance he wants."

    "You guys weren't built to hate each other, you know," Armin commented. "No matter what you may think, (Y/N)."

    I didn't reply.

    When the snow had stopped falling, I walked Armin to his front door. On my way back to my doorstep, I noticed something white sticking out of the melting snow.

    "Eren's blanket!" I panicked, wrenching it out of the snow. It was frozen solid and had wet chunks of dirt all over it. "Shit," I cursed, "I hope this doesn't stain."

    I debated for a moment about calling Levi, then thought better of it. I ran upstairs with the sheet that was slowly starting to defrost and threw it in my bathtub, planning on dealing with it tomorrow.

    "Well, there's no point in waiting for snow to melt, so I'll just go to bed, I guess."