Armin x reader
ss4 Armin
College au
Inspired by "stupid song" by Olivia Rodrigo
Chapter: 1/3 (omg idek how many chapters i will write, sorry)
wc: 2.7k
ps: idk why it took me 1 month to get this part done
Armin is out of your league–you know that, or at least you convince yourself that. So often, you would see him in class–the only class you guys share–marine biology. He is just so talented, and smart, and witty, and charming, and cute, and magnetic, and attracti- stop, gosh, you are in love. He is always the top of the class, teacher’s pet, and everyone’s favorite nerd. You’re just an ordinary girl who signed up for marine biology only to see him and to complete your college profile.
In your eyes, everyone’s attracted to him-the prettier girls, the smarter boys, you know that no way in hell you could have a chance with him. You tell yourself it’s merely his charisma that lures you in.
You tried to deny the feelings the best you could, barely surviving college and dealing with this helpless crush on Armin.
Somehow Armin keeps popping up in your mind, you dream of him every single night–sometimes just a flicker of him that lingers, sometimes it’s a whole love story between you and him, or sometimes it’s a reminder that he might never be yours. These dreams are having their effects on you, you spend days contemplating whether to take actions or not, you want to take the initiative.
You start looking for his socials, asking friends, searching his name on any platform–it’s kinda funny how you weren’t bothered by the fact that you didn’t have his number before, considering the fact that you are classmates, and now you don’t have the guts to ask him directly. Eventually, you have his socials, but you are a loser who is too shy and embarrassed to text her crush. You begin stalking him instead. You are captivated by everything he posts, the local coffee shop near his house, game night with his friends, study sessions in the library, the marine creatures he apparently is in love with, occasionally you wish that you are a squid or something. Carefully, without being too suspicious, you watch his posts on tiktok, his stories on instagram, you listen to his favorite artists, you repost things that you know he likes–solely to catch his attention, anything but text him. The love towards him starts to dominate you, you can’t even control your emotions, it’s like someone bewitched you.
One Sunday night after finals, you want the night to be perfect, all by yourself, binge watch movies, reread your favorite books, listen to music, pizza delivery, diet coke, trying to relax after all those stressful days of college, wanting to start summer break as soon as possible. You’re just about to settle your cozy, comfort space when your friend–Sasha calls you.
“OH MY GOSH, I HEARD THAT EREN IS HAVING A PARTY AT A NEARBY BAR, HE RENNNNNNTED THAT THING, DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH IT COSTS? BTW IM PICKING YOU UP IN 5 MINS, BE READY, WE’RE GONNA HAVE THE BEST NIGHT EVERRRRRRRRRR.”
You don’t even have a chance to respond when she hangs up, she’s screaming into the phone, clearly she wants you to be there. You know you’re not stepping out of your dorm tonight. 5 mins later, Sasha calls again,
“WHERE ARE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUU, BABE I MISS YOUUU, PLEASE COME DOWN.”
A male voice interrupts her,
“For god’s sake, I'm gonna rip your teeth off if you keep howling like a lone wolf like that.”
“Y/n, i promise it’s gonna be fun, bruh, live life, stop reading books, just this once, go out of your little shell and dance, drink, hook up, idk please come with us.”
He sounds like your dad, you don’t like that, but it’s making you reconsider: should you get out of your comfort zone and live college life like you’ve never before? Maybe you could hook up with someone and push Armin to the back of your mind for tonight, or maybeeee, Armin could be there too, he is Eren’s best friend, after all.
“Okay, gosh, I'm going.” You give in.
“YESSSSSS” the two scream, your face spread into a slight smile.
Arrived at the bar, there are crowds of people, you spot some familiar faces–freshmen, seniors, your friends. Your eyes stop at a particular figure–a spark in the dark–you would recognize that blond hair, ocean blue eyes, and angelic face anywhere. A deep blush bloom across your face as you can feel your face heat up before Sasha and Jean sweep you to the bar. Connie is already there with empty cups, he’s drunk. You decide to get yourself some alcohol to loosen up as well.
You know that alcohol is not for you, so after one drink, you are already tipsy. You squeezed yourself through the crowded bar filled with drunk guys, girls making out, smoking, dancing, partying like it’s the last day on Earth, feeling the overwhelming sense of suffocation as you try to blend in and live life. You really want to live the moment like everyone else is doing and be the cool girls people keep talking about. It’s never been the thing that you could do your entire life. It’s like somebody put a weight on your chest. You already regretted this decision.
Things are moving increasingly slower for you, almost freezing in time as you chug down more drinks with your friends, obviously not fine. After so many drinks and discomfort, you want to go outside and have some fresh air.
To your surprise, Armin is already sitting on the porch, leaning against the railing, scrolling through the phone, his face showing displeasure, unease that you yourself are experiencing, as if he’s been dragged along to this party, too. Not being able to think straight, partly because of all the alcohol you consumed, plus the fact that now you are standing closer to him than you’ve ever been, you try your best to gather your courage, fix your composure and sit down next to him.
He acknowledges you with a soft hum and a nod while putting down his phone, then awkward silence–one of the things that terrifies you the most as an introvert.
“Hii, I’m y/n, ya prolly know me from marine bio class, it’s soooooo nice to talk to you for the first time. You are like reaaaally cool, and smarrrt, and cuteeee. Have you tried the drink here? They make really good drinks. This place is like so huge and vibrant and there are so many people.” you ramble, the words are slurred, you don’t even know what you are talking about anymore, gosh, you are wasted.
Armin watches intensely as you keep on yapping about pointless things, sometimes giggles quietly. The sound drifts gently to your ears when you stop and stare at him, nothing, just… stare, like you’re studying the face you swear that you could spend your whole life knowing.
“You are really drunk,” Armin comments, you can hear a hint of amusement in the tone, holy cow, his voice is incredibly velvety, angelic, that you literally melt hearing it.
“You think so?” you replied with a raspy voice from screaming too much a moment ago. Your body eases up when you’re around him, no longer the intensity before. “Why are you here? Why don’t you go in there and partyyy? It’s extreeeeemely fun.”
“Partying’s not for me, Eren convinced me to go, that dumbass, I got one drink, which was my first drink ever, and it was sickening. The music is blaring, I’ve felt nauseous since I set foot in this place. I went outside to get some air, and you’re here.” He smiles softly, which makes you ascend to heaven seeing it.
You broke into laughter, his eyes widen slightly then you say: “You should really give it another try, Sasha dragged me here, too, and look, I’m the best version of me, right now.” Obviously, you’re not, you look like a damp towel that just got used and discarded carelessly. He laughs, “Yeah, right.”
You both fall back into silence, comfortable this time. Your eyelids are getting heavier as you fight exhaustion, you want to keep talking with him, you’re scared that this moment might never happen again. But slowly, you drift into sleep, your body relaxed entirely, luckily you didn’t throw up just now with all the alcohol you consumed. You swear if you throw up on Armin, or he sees you throwing up, you’re gonna kill yourself in under a minute.
What felt like an eternity ends when Armin wakes you up, “Hey, sorry to wake you up, but it’s not clean out here, y’know? Do you wanna go home, I can call Sasha, or I can take you somewhere safer, if you prefer?”
You find yourself leaning on his shoulder, you mumble something that sounds like “want you”, but he doesn’t quite catch that. Still sleep drunk, and drunk, you nuzzle deeper into his shoulder, your body completely pressed against his. That, of course, caught him off guard as he uncomfortably shifts away inch by inch, then his body stills, not wanting to wake you up again. He pulls out his phone to call your friends, his friends, anyone, to pick you up, and save him from this awkward situation. No one picked up, like he expected, since almost everyone is at this party, and the others are probably sleeping by now. ““Ohh kay, um, we’re gonna stay here for a while, I guess…” He murmurs.
The next morning, you wake up, your body and mind utterly drained. You aren’t aware of where you are now, just the fact that the bed sheets smell incredibly fresh, with a hint of flowery scented candles. You’re sure you look like a mess, still hungover from last night, which you can’t recall a thing, you trudge out of the bedroom. Carefully examine the room, you nearly faint when you see Armin sitting on the couch in the living room, he looks up from the book he’s reading. “Oh hi, how are you feeling?”
Oh my god, this must be Armin’s dorm, and it’s beautiful, things are arranged neatly, you love how his dorm has a white and blue theme, it’s pulling you deeper in love. Your face is bright red, “Um, oh god, I’m so sorry, why am I here? What happened last night? I’m terribly sorry, I can’t remember a thing.” You blurt out quickly, praying this humiliation is not real and it’s just an awful dream.
“Woah, slow down, relax, I didn’t do anything, yesterday you got heavily drunk, you fell asleep next to me, I tried calling your friends but coincidentally no one picked up, and I just couldn’t leave you there alone, so I brought you back to my dorm, as I didn’t know where you live.” How can someone talk so articulately? Embarrassment is slowly drowning you, “I am so so so so so so sorry. I’m leaving now, thanks for helping me.” You gather your bag and things hastily. “Wait, do you wanna eat anything? You don’t look well.” He calls out.
“I’m good, thank you for asking. Nice talking with you, I’m sure we can meet up again some time. I have to go now.” You just keep on blabbering, you aren’t sure if he could catch that.
“Oh, um, o…kay, if you insist so. And I hope we can chat some other time, too, you’re very interesting, in a good way, of course. Byee.” He smiles, your heart stops for a second at his smile, you swear you have to memorize that smile, the slight curve, the rosy lips that you’re dying to kiss, no, just being able to feel it would be enough.
Then, you dash back to your dorm, not believing anything that has happened is real.
Back to the dorm, your mind is a messy whirlwind, you tried calling Sasha, hoping she would pick up for you to spill everything that happened last night. Thank god, she picks up, “Herlooou, y/n?” Her voice is still groggy, even though it’s already noon, you wonder if it’s because of the drinks last night, or she hooked up with someone.
“Where are you, can I please come over?” you beg. “Ugh fine, I’m at Niccolo’s, if you don’t mind that.” Okay, so she did hook up, it’s kinda weird, but you couldn’t care less. Niccolo’s is quite near, you’re there in 3 minutes. You practically jump through the door out of excitement and the shock which still lingers, “SASHAAAAAAAAAA!!”
“OH MY SCRAMBLED EGGS, where the hell did you come from?” You must’ve startled Niccolo. You glare at him, then jump on top of Sasha sitting on the bed. “I HAVE TEAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!”
The next hour went by with breakfast (or lunch?) that Niccolo made, exclamations from Sasha, and giggles from all three of you. You have to admit Niccolo is quite an expert when it comes to gossiping, Sasha chose the right guy after all. They encourage you to text him, but you still need time to pluck out the courage.
The next weekend comes with a surprise, Armin texts you. Armin. Texts. You. Oh my god. He asks if you want to go on a double date with Mikasa and Eren, and your date? Him. You can’t help but wonder if someone is trying to set you up with Armin, maybe Sasha is the one behind, or it’s Armin who considered you to be his date in the first place, either way, it’s an honor. It takes you a whole 0.1 second to say yes, almost too long for your liking.
You take this as an opportunity to talk with him, your conversation continues until late, you yap about little things, your hobbies, the movie you’re watching, you even discover his favorite book is the same one as yours. Talking with him is strangely easy, it’s so natural you forget all about time, like you’re chatting with your lifelong friend, it’s pulling you two closer together. You both snap back to reality when it’s already 12am.
After that, you get ready–in advance, everything shower, ironing your clothes, fantasizing about conversations you’re going to have with Armin. You really really really hope this goes well.
Armin picks you up at 9am. That morning is beautiful, golden rays of sunshine fill up the air. It's coming into summer now, but it’s not burning hot, it’s perfect. But what’s even more perfect? Armin, who is standing in front of your dorm door, dressed casually, but still appears like an angel on the walls of Versailles.
“Hi, you look good.” He smiles sweetly.
And you look magnificent. You thought to yourself. “Thank you, you too.”
The car ride is comfortably silent. Are you in a fantasy right now? THE Armin Arlert, right next to you in a car, on a date? It’s too good to be true. “Where are we going again?” You realize he never told you anything about where you’re going, and you never asked him.
“Oh right, shit, I didn't ask you, um, we’re going to an escape room, is that okay? I’m so sorry, I totally forgot to ask for your opinion, we can change plans if you’re uncomfortable, yeah? And after that we’ll grab lunch, is that fine?”
“No no, it’s perfect. I’ve never been to an escape room before, so I might as well try this for the first time, and lunch is nice, too.” To be honest, anything with him would be perfect.
“Really? Thanks. I’ve always wanted to try out the new escape room nearby, and I actually fell to my knees begging Mikasa and Eren to try escape rooms, then I was so drowned in victory that I forgot to ask you…” He laughs nervously, the sound trails into silence again.
A chuckle slips out of you, breaking the silence, “That’s cute.” NO DID YOU JUST SAY THAT? THAT’S CUTE? Omg you’re literally dead inside as your face burns with heat. You quickly snap away, hoping he has bad hearing and didn’t hear that. To your surprise, he bursts out in laughter, eyes still concentrate on the road, “You’re cute.”
DID HE JUST SAY THAT? YOU’RE CUTE? You’re officially dead inside. “Oh, um, thanks.” Excuse you, you suck at receiving compliments.
