Once it started getting dark, Armin woke me up. I got up and he started walking down the hill. I grabbed his shoulder. "Wait, Armin," I said with desperation. He turned around looking at me with his curious sparkling blue orbs and I grabbed his cheeks telling him "I really enjoyed you bringing me here." I pulled him close and, impulsively, I kissed him. He gasped as I connected my virgin mouth with his. "Thanks," I said. Armin replied with a nod, looking baffled. He looked down and gently touched his lips with his fingers. We stood in silence for maybe a minute or two before continuing on our path. Once we had hiked down the treacherous hill, he brought us back to the horse. Armin untied the reins and we got on. I lay my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes as he speedily rode the horse back to civilization. When we got back, he helped me down off of the horse. I lay down in the hay while he untacked.

"Y/N, it's probably dinner soon. We should get going."

I opened my eyes to see him lending me a hand. I accepted it, pulling myself up.

"You go ahead, Armin. I'm going to my cabin to get some early shut-eye."

"Really? Are you sure?"

"I'm tired. Besides, I'm not that hungry anyway. You should go sit with your other friends or they might think you've given up on them."

"Seri-"

I shoved his shoulder playfully and smiled.

"Go. Your friends are waiting."

"Fine. I'll see you at your cabin after?"

"Sure. You don't need to knock, just come in."

"Really?"

"Yes, of course."

Both of us walked to the mess hall and split up there. He waved goodbye and I waved back. I walked slowly up that stupid little hill, into the dark forest trails. Once I got to the cabin I kicked off my shoes and jumped into bed. Truthfully, I wasn't tired. I just needed some time to think because I felt like things might have been going too fast. I was really serious about running away with Armin and that scared me, to be honest.

To think that I thought I actually had a place in this world. Wasn't this originally a test? Wasn't like just another exploration in the name of science? Why was I getting so attached? I would have to leave eventually because I had another place to call home. Why does life have to be so damn hard? I cared about people back then and from my time but I couldn't be with both. There was no in-between. A tear trickled down my cheek at the thought of my conflicting worlds and I began to cry.

_________________

Once I got my food, I walked over to the table I used to sit at. Eren and Mikasa sat before me. "Hey, am I still welcome to sit here?" I asked. "Hell yeah! It's about time, Armin!" Eren exclaimed. I felt glad my friends hadn't forgotten about me like I felt they might have. I smiled and sat down across from them at the table. Dinner was pretty quiet. They ate. Mikasa would every so often ask Eren to eat her food and he'd refuse. She'd respond saying he was too skinny and he'd tell her to stop nagging him. A normal dinner for the duo. I felt that what had happened was digging at me inside and I was so eager to tell Eren. I mean, I needed another friend to talk about my experiences with, besides Y/N. But how could I bring up the topic? Should I just go straight forward to it?

"I had my first kiss."

Milk sprayed out of Eren's mouth and I dodged it. He wiped his mouth, stood up, and slammed his hands on the table. "What!?" he yelled in dismay. "Eren, you're making a commotion, please stop. It's not that big of a deal," I told him, feeling not only embarrassment for myself but second-hand embarrassment for him. The room was silent, everyone was looking at Eren. He gave them a dirty look and sat back down as the noise steadily crept back into the room. "Thanks for being subtle about it, Eren," I said. "No way. You actually had your first kiss?" he pried.

"Yes."

"When?"

"Today."

"With who?"

I looked away as I felt my cheeks become warm. "A girl," I replied stupidly. That was such a terrible response. Of course, it was a girl.

"Yes, what girl, dumbass?"

"W-Well, um, she's beautiful– no stunning. Whenever I see her it's like my heart skips a beat and–"

"I didn't ask you to describe her, I asked who she was. Just tell me who!"

"It was..." I began. Eren leaned forward. "Who?" he demanded.

"It was..."

"Who, Armin?" he said with frustration. "It was Y/N," I finally told him. The air between us was silent and Eren sat back. "You mean that girl you've been hanging around with lately?" he questioned.

"Yeah, her."

He sat there and hummed. "S-so... what do you think?" I asked nervously. I felt scared. Yes, this was my best friend but for some reason, I feared judgment. "I mean, I think I'm jealous. No offense but if anyone here had to guess who the first person to get their first kiss would be it definitely would not be you," he replied. Not quite the answer I was looking for but it could have been significantly worse.

"Wow, thanks for the friendly support."

"I said no offense."

"That doesn't make it any less offensive, Eren," I explained. I slumped my chin into my palm, resting my elbow on the table.

"I'm sorry, Armin. But really what was it like? I mean you're the first person here with this experience. You better not spare me any of the deals. If you do, I'll kick your ass," Eren yelled. Mikasa rolled her eyes as she got up and walked away. "Whatever, just ignore her," Eren told me.

"W-Well, I don't know? It was like a kiss, I guess."

"Come on, you've gotta give me some details, Armin."

"Well, um, it just feels good. It's warm and wet and just, honestly, it's hard to explain."

"Fine, be like that, but please tell me that you had the balls to made the first move."

"Unfortunately, no. I'm a coward Eren, even you know that."

Eren put his face in his palms. "Well, at least you got some. Does she like you or something?" he asked. Even I wasn't sure at the time. Did she like me?

"I think so, well, I hope so. I'd like to think she wouldn't be the kind of person to kiss someone she didn't have any feelings for."

"And, do you like her?"

"Y-Yes, I do. A lot, to be honest."

"Then promise me that next time, whatever that maybe, you'll take charge and make the first move."

"Fine," I said, unsure of whether or not I could keep that promise. Eren offered out his hand in a promise shake. I took it, gently shaking his hand. After dinner, we took our trays to the tray rack and left the mess hall.

"Be nice to her."

"What?"

"You should keep her while you can. Not many people get this kind of chance. If we're being realistic, at least half of us here are going to die alone. Some people are going to die off during combat and others just won't be lucky enough to meet the right person, so, please be nice to her. You might be one of the lucky ones," Eren lectured. It was rare for Eren to have such a serious conversation with me, but I appreciated it.

"Don't worry, I will. You know me."

He patted me on the shoulder. "Go on, make the first move," he demanded.

"Now?"

"Yes, go now!"

He pushed me to the bottom of the trail that headed towards the cabins and I looked back at him.

"Get your ass moving, Armin. If you don't I might make a move on her or, even worse, Jean might."

"Okay, I will."

I walked up the trail and into the forest, waving goodbye to my best friend. I wondered whether or not I should listen to Eren's advice. I wanted to make a move on her, but what would I even do? We weren't even dating so it wasn't like there was much more that we could do. She went to bed early. She probably didn't have time for me to be stupid and make some cheesy move on her, I thought. But he wouldn't actually try to steal her away, right? Eren wouldn't do that to me because I'm his best friend, right?