I head down to the mess hall, dreadfully. The sunlight burned my fresh morning eyes, as I kept my gaze towards the ground, walking carefully down the steep, rocky hill. I felt a pair of warm hands on my shoulders and I turned around to see who it was. It was Armin, looking happy as ever. "Good morning, Y/N!" he practically squealed. I wondered why he was in such a good mood. "Good morning. What's with you?" I asked. "I'm excited," he told me. I asked him why and he replied, "well, it's your birthday. Happy birthday, Y/N." He remembered my birthday. He was the only one, besides myself, who even knew. Even my family had forgotten about me, I felt. Armin didn't. I thanked him for remembering and wishing me a Happy Birthday, I appreciated it. I resumed walking and he matched his pace with mine. Armin asked me whether or not I had anything planned during free-block and I told him I didn't. I asked why he was asking and he said, "I-I was wondering if you'd like to do something with me, I mean, for your birthday and all."

I looked over at him. He watched his feet as he crushed pebbles beneath them, letting his stringy blond locks hang over his face. I couldn't see his expression. Why not? I mean, I had nothing better to do. I figured since he was the only person to remember my birthday, I at least owed him some quality time. Besides, we hadn't hung out in ages. I could barely even remember the last time we did.  "Sure, sounds fun," I said. He looked back at me and his face lit up with excitement and joy. He grabbed my shoulders and pulled me in for a hug. Shocked, I stood there. "Oh, thank God. If you said no I wouldn't know what to do!" he exclaimed. 

Armin let go of the hug and we started walking again. I noticed that there was a bit of a pep in his step. He walked with his arms crossed behind his back. As much as I didn't want to admit it to myself, I thought he looked kind of cute. Armin wore a white blouse under a tan vest, topped off with a pair of nice, clean grayish-black dress pants. It reminded me of something, I just didn't know what. Once we entered the mess hall, it was time to depart. Just as I was about to go to my table, Armin grabbed my wrist. I turned back to look at him. "Can I sit with you?" he requested. I couldn't say no, so I told him he could. 

Once both of us got our food, I chose to sit at an oh-so-familiar table. The bench squeaked as I sat down. Had it always been like this? I wasn't sure. All throughout the meal I felt Armin's eyes on me. He admired every aspect of me. The way your messy hair framed my face and how my long lashes fluttered, complementing my complexion. Oh, how he wanted to kiss me, but he knew it wasn't the right place nor time. It would happen soon enough, he hoped.

The bell rang, indicating that it was time for class. Everyone rushed out of the mess hall, including Armin and I. Armin sat with me during our classes. I had forgotten how boring classes could be, over the summer. I looked over at Armin who was practically jumping out of his own seat. He tapped his feet and fidgeted with the hem of his blouse. I wondered what had him so worked up. About an eternity later, the bell rang, indicating that classes were over. Armin burst up and out of his seat. "Y/N!" he yelped. "Armin!" I yelled back, jokingly. 

"Let's go, I wanna take you somewhere," he exclaimed. "What about lunch?" I asked. "It's fine, I have everything sorted out," he said with the biggest grin possible across his cute little face. 

"So please, will you come?"

I let out a sigh and nodded. He grabbed my arm and yanked both of us out the door.

"Woah, where are we going?"

"It's a surprise. I know you'll recognize it!" he assured me, not looking back even once. I didn't feel comfortable not knowing our destination. To be honest, I'd always been a bit afraid of the unknown, but I kept going regardless. We ended up at the stables. He let go of my wrist and started quickly tacking a horse.

"These are expedition–"

"It's fine," he interrupted, "I've got everything sorted out. Don't worry, Y/N." I quietly stood to the side as he finished tacking the horse. He brought the horse out of the barn and I followed behind him. Armin spent a couple of minutes attempting to get onto the horse, failing. He was too short for a thoroughbred. I started giggling and I asked him if he needed some help getting on. 

"No, but thank you," he replied while finally getting onto the horse. He lent me a hand so I could get on. I sat down behind him. 

"I'm gonna go fast so please hold on. I know last time I didn't warn you, so I figured I would now."

"Last time? How should I hold on?"

"Here."

He grabbed my arms and wrapped them around his waist. I could feel my cheeks reddening and the sexual tension between us thickening. The sexual tension was a combination of me being somewhat into him and him loving me, as well as the fact that we were just horny teenagers. It felt good to hold him like that. Armin kicked the horse and we went off flying at a quick speed. I held onto his waist tight and cuddled up to him. I closed my eyes. I inferred that this would be a bit of a trip.

We'd been riding for a long time and I began to feel my stomach rumbling. Maybe we shouldn't have skipped lunch. Our horse came to a stop in a dark forested area. Armin got off and helped me get down. He tied the reins to a tree. I recognized this place. Wasn't I here with Eren before, or was it Armin? Armin led me to a hole going under a large wall. "In there?" I exclaimed. "Yes, I'll go first," he said. 

"You sure it's safe?"

"It is, Y/N. I promise I would never make you do something that would hurt you. I love you too much to lose you," he reassured me. Every time he told me he loved me, even though I couldn't reciprocate the feelings, it made me tingle. "F-Fine..." I stuttered back at him. He entered the hole and helped me down into it. It was so dark. I held onto his arm. "It's okay," he told me, "you'll be fine." Being with him made me feel so safe.