I decided to go shopping, again, because Armin really needed a new pair of shoes. I took him out to the mall and bought him some new stuff. He got a few more shirts that I absolutely adored on him. There was this adorable red plaid shirt that he got, along with a cream-colored sweater. For some reason, he really wanted another blouse, so I gave in and bought him one. "Y/N, remind me to owe you back when we get to my time," he stated. I told him that when we were in my time, I would pay and that he didn't have to owe me anything. We were currently eating lunch in the food court. Armin took a sip of the drink we were sharing. "Okay," he said, "but I get to buy you stuff on your birthday, got it?" "Sure, if you want. If you haven't given up on me by then," I replied half-jokingly.

"Give up on you? Why would I do that?"

"I don't know. You might just get bored of me someday. Who knows?"

He stood up and gave me a serious look, then walked over and gave me a huge hug. It was a little embarrassing how serious he was taking what I said, especially considering we were in public. "Y/N, don't you think I'll ever give up on you. You're the only chance at a relationship I'll ever get and I actually really like you. Let's face it, without you a guy like me would die alone," he explained. I hugged him back. I told him that I was sure he'd still manage to find a beautiful girl in his time to date, even if I never came along. He disagreed and said that we could finish the conversation later. Armin let go and stood in front of me.

"I'm done. We'll go whenever you're done, Y/N."

"I'm finished as well, so let's go."

I got up and grabbed the bags. We walked around the mall, looking at all of the stores. "Wait, Armin, one thing before we go," I said. "What?" he asked. I grabbed his wrist and brought him into a custom jewelry store. I went up to the counter. "Hi, could we get two silver chain link bracelets please?" I asked the tall woman in a pantsuit who was standing behind the glass display counter.

"Sure, would you like anything engraved in them?"

"Yes," I told her. The women turned around and got me a paper and a pencil. "Please write out what you'd like," she said. I wrote out:

'A & Y/I*'.

Then, I handed the paper and pencil back to the woman. She told me the bracelets would be ready within a few minutes.

I paid at the register with my debit card and Armin and I stood at the counter, waiting. "Bracelets?" he questioned. "It has our initials on it. I thought it'd be a cute way we could have a little piece of each other with us every day," I explained. His cheeks turned bright crimson red and he looked away. I felt a little embarrassed. Did he not feel the same way towards me that I felt towards him? If he didn't, purchasing the bracelets would have been a huge mistake.

"I think..."

His voice faded into silence. I put a hand on his shoulder and he looked up at me.

"If you don't like it we can always return it."

"O-Okay..."

The woman came back to the counter and handed me a box containing the two bracelets. I thanked her for them and Armin and I left the store. We sat down on a bench just down the hall from the jewelry store. I opened up the box and unwrapped one of the bracelets. I undid the clasp and put it on my wrist. I asked Armin if I could put his on and he agreed. I took the second bracelet out of the box and grabbed his wrist, putting the bracelet on it. He looked at the little engraving. He smiled and told me he really liked it and thought it was pretty. I said I was glad he liked it. We got up, threw out the packaging, and walked towards the nearest exit. He held onto your my and brought me close as we exited the mall.

We spent the rest of the afternoon driving around my city, then went back home around dinner time. I put Armin's new stuff on my bed and took off the tags. "These look so good on you. All the ladies will be coming after you. I might have to fight them off," I joked. "In my dreams," he said sarcastically as he rolled his eyes.

"Wanna go back tonight or are we staying here?"

"I don't know, it's up to you. It's your house, after all. I don't want to overstay my welcome."

"I think we should go back because people might be starting to wonder where you are. We can make my cabin all cozy and stuff."

Armin agreed. I asked him if he wanted to bring anything back with us and he pointed at a fuzzy pink blanket on my bed. He asked if we could take it and I said we could. I got a big bag and put the blanket inside. "We can take whatever you want. I'm bringing my comfy pillow," I said. I grabbed the pillow and shoved it into the bag. I asked if there was anything else he wanted to bring and he shook his head, so we decided it was time to go. He grabbed his clothes and put them in the bag I was carrying. I held his hand and drew out a portal. I looked back at him and pulled him through. We ended up in my cabin. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. The air was so crisp and clear there. All of a sudden, the dinner bell rang. I asked Armin if he wanted to go to the mess hall for dinner and he stood where he was, just thinking for a minute, then shrugged which I interpreted as a 'why not?'.

I threw the bag I brought on my bed and we left the cabin. We ran down the hill towards the mess hall when all of a sudden someone called out, "Hey, Armin! Where've you been?" We stopped and looked back. Eren was running down the hill towards us. He caught up to us and gave himself some time to catch his breath. "Armin, I swear I haven't seen you in forever," he panted. "I've been gone for a day, Eren. That's not forever," Armin replied. "Well, we haven't hung out in a while. Wanna sit with me and Mikasa for dinner?" Eren asked.

"Can Y/N come?"

"Sure," Eren said, "but don't be surprised if I embarrass you." "Have fun trying to," Armin joked. I walked into the mess hall behind Eren and got my food. He brought Armin and I to a table where Mikasa was already sitting. "That took long," Mikasa snarled. "I saw Armin and Y/N so I invited them to sit with us," Eren responded.

"Fine."

I could tell she didn't like me. Was she into Armin and acting out of jealously? Maybe she saw him as someone she needed to defend and she was just being over-protective. I sat down at the opposite side of the table form her. Armin sat down beside me and Eren sat beside Mikasa. "So, where've you been? You haven't slept in our cabin for a while now," Eren stated. I butted into the conversation before Armin could answer, out of impulse. "He's been sleeping in mine," I said proudly. Armin sat in silence looking horrified. I shouldn't have said that. Eren propped his elbows up on the table and moved closer to me. "Why? You haven't been doing anything, have you?" he interrogated.

"Eren!" Armin yelled.

"What?"

I could recognize the hint of care in his voice. Eren wasn't just asking Armin about his sex life as 'one of the boys' kinds of gossip, he was asking because he cared about Armin. "We haven't done anything, Eren. I just sleep better in her cabin so she said I could stay as long as I needed. I literally get harassed by the other guys in our cabin so it's a place I can actually get some rest," Armin explained. Eren looked over at me with a look of mischief in his eyes.

"So, have you heard his annoying screaming thing yet? You know, in the middle of the night."

I didn't understand. Armin whispered in my ear, "remember that time I came over and, you know, I woke you up and stuff?" So he was talking about that. I began to feel angry. How could he just openly joke about this kind of thing? And I thought he cared. Maybe Armin was right in saying that he really didn't have friends who'd miss him in this time. Maybe I was thinking that out of rage.

"What, Eren, his panic attack? Is that really something to bring up at the table? His anxiety? You seem to call it annoying but that's really fucking rude of you to bring up considering he's unable to control it. I don't know how you call yourself a friend of his when you say shit like that. How would you feel if I brought you down every chance I got? It's not friendly poking fun, it's just being an asshole," I yelled. I completely lost it. I smashed a fist into the table and went back to eating. The tables of people around us looked at me but I didn't seem to care. Eren and Armin looked at me, startled.

"What are you talking about?" Eren asked. "Panic attack? I'm talking about Armin waking up in the middle of the night and yelling," he said angrily. "That's a panic attack you idio–" I yelled, interrupted by Armin telling us to stop. "You guys are my friends. Please don't fight over me, I don't like seeing you guys like this," Armin said. Armin's hands were pressed firmly against the table and tears were welling up in his eyes. He hadn't looked this upset in a while. Eren acknowledged the matching bracelets you and Armin had. He grabbed Armin's arm. Armin yanked it away and Eren yelled, "stop just let me see!" He grabbed Armin's arm again and looked at the engraving. He looked at me. "Do you have one too?" he asked. I showed him the shiny chain around my wrist. "What, are you guys acting like you're married now?" he laughed. "N-No!" Armin stuttered.

"Fine I'll lighten up the mood. Okay so..." Eren began. He looked at me in the eyes. "Since you guys seem to be so close, I might as well tell you a bit about Armin when he was a kid. So when Armin was younger, he thought he'd marry me, one day. He said we'd have 3 kids and do couple things together and obviously I told him that'd never happen," he chuckled. I looked over to your left to see Armin with his hands covering his face. "Eren please stop..." he whimpered. "Eren, I think that's enough," Mikasa harped in. Unfortunately, Eren ignored their requests.

"Oh yeah, and there was this other time where we were changing at a sleepover and he came over and–"

Eren was interrupted by Armin standing up and running out of the mess hall.

"Eren, what is your problem? Your friend starting to feel happy for the first time in his life and you purposely try to ruin it. You're a shitty friend, you know. I can't imagine how much of a disappointment you are in his mind. Shame on you," I countered. I stood up and ran out of the mess hall after Armin. It was getting dark and I couldn't see him anywhere. I ran up to your cabin. Of course, it took a bit of time because it was through the forest and up the hill. I walked up to the cabin and saw Armin sitting with his head in his knees, on the porch. I sat down beside him and put my arm around his shoulders.

"I didn't think Eren would make such an embarrassment of me to you. How could you ever stay with me after that?"

"I couldn't just leave you after making this promise."

"What promise?"

"Our bracelets, remember?"

"Oh..."

I asked him if he wanted to go back to the mess hall to eat and he said he didn't want to and that he'd rather go to bed early. I got up and held my hand out to him. He grabbed it and I pulled him up. From what I could see in the moonlight, his face was stained with tears. I took the sleeve of my sweater and wiped his tears away.

"Don't cry," I whispered, "I don't like it when you're sad."

He apologized, wiping away his already-wiped tears with his hand.

I opened the door to the cabin and he ran inside. He lay down on my bed, kicking off the bag. I grabbed my lantern and lit it with a match. I lay the blanket down over his body and gave him the pillow I'd brought.

"Thanks Y/N. You really know how to make me feel better."

"I'm glad."

I sat down beside him and he held my hand.

"Just stay with me until I fall asleep."

"I'm not going anywhere," I promised.

__________________

* Y/I - Your Initial