Angel [Ereri/Riren]

Chapter 14- Eren

Ever since I experienced that past life with Levi at my place, I haven't really been able to get a hold of him. We've texted some, had a short phone call here and there, but I haven't seen him in two, almost three weeks. Which sounds like nothing, but it's the longest we've gone without seeing each other since we started seriously seeing one another. 

I'm laying on the couch, drinking a beer and watching some documentary on Netflix. I keep pressing the mouth of the bottle absentmindedly against my own, trying to distract myself from my own thoughts and turning up the TV. 

I'm snapped out of my stupor by the shutting of the front door. I lean up, and my eyes meet Armin's, who's looking at me with an unreadable, but slightly exhausted,  expression on his face. He just got in from the coffee shop he works at. He's in graduate school, so he usually works late shifts to be able to balance his studies, while maintaining a steady income. 

"Eren?" My mind had wandered off again, and I refocus my eyes so I can see him; he's moved closer. 

"Hm? Yeah?" I respond, flopping back down on the couch, so that my head rests on the arm rest. 

"Is everything okay? You've been acting weird." He sets his bag down and begins to untie his apron, draping it over a kitchen chair before sitting down on the couch. "Is something going on?" He probes gently. I only offer him a shrug as I press the bottle to my lips once more. 

"Is it Levi?" Armin has always been impossibly perceptive. 

"Maybe." I admit, placing the now empty beer bottle on the floor to join its friends. 

"What's happened?" 

That is one thing I've always liked about Armin. He never tries to push me into saying anything, and he is always as neutral as he can be in tense or chaotic situations. When we were younger, he always initially thought with his heart more than his head, but now he is pretty much the complete opposite. If I told Mikasa about any of this, she would probably get mad and threaten to beat the ever-loving shit out of Levi. But, to be fair, if either her or Armin came to me about someone hurting them, I'd probably act the same way. Mikasa is my adoptive sibling, after all, so it only makes sense.

"Nothing really happened. I just think he's been avoiding me." I hate that sentence the minute it leaves my mouth; it sounds so immature. 

"Why would he be avoiding you?" 

"That's the thing, Armin. I haven't the slightest idea. Nothing happened, in my opinion, that would warrant it. Actually, the last time I saw him, everything was as it normally is." 

I sigh and sit up on the couch, my head leaning against the back of it. I place an arm over my eyes, shutting them tight, and my other hand sits limply at my side on the couch cushion. 

"Hm, that's odd. You know him better than I do, does this seem like standard behavior for him?" 

"Honestly, kind of? I don't know. He's a really big introvert, but we got over that awkward phase after our first two or three dates." I pause for a moment, removing my arm from my face and looking over at Armin, who's looking at me expectantly. I sigh before going on. "Like, if this had happened a month or two ago, it would make more sense. But now, it just feels sudden." 

Armin nods his head in thought. "So, things have been going well up until this point?" I hum in agreement. "Maybe, he's afraid." 

"Afraid? Afraid of what?" I sit up now, looking directly at Armin. 

"Well, if he's the introvert you say he is, he's probably not used to being this emotionally available and vulnerable to someone. Maybe he's afraid of how he feels about you." Armin says, offering me a shrug. 

"That's bullshit. He's a grown ass man in his thirties, we should be past this high school 'I'm afraid of being emotionally vulnerable' shit." I can feel my muscles tensing as anger flares within my core. 

"Everyone is different, Eren. You don't know what interactions he has had with romance or love in the past. Maybe everyone he's ever loved has only left him? Maybe he's never been truly loved before? Maybe he's just been out of the game for a while?" Armin pauses, "And, alternatively, maybe he's just been busy. Like you said, he is a grown ass man after all." Armin offers me a small smile; it dampens my anger and I uncurl my fists. 

"I guess you have a point." I mutter. 

"I think you just need to talk to him. Maybe he really wants to talk to you, or see you, but he's stuck. Maybe he's not feeling well and needs a little help in initiating things. And also, maybe work just has him tied up; you said he's a professor, right?" I nod my head. "Well maybe he has a lot going on with that. I know that can be stressful." 

"Thanks for talking me off the ledge, Armin, I was starting to over think it." I say, flopping down so that my head is in his lap. 

He looks down at me, a bright smile spreading across his face that reaches his eyes. He ruffles my hair with his hand before just resting it on the top of my head. I close my eyes and fold my hands over my stomach, my feet kicked up and crossed at the ankles on the arm rest. 

"You said he's in his thirties?" Armin asks. I open my eyes and see a mischievous smirk has replaced his genuine smile. 

"Yeah, he's thirty-two." I state. 

"I didn't know he was that much older than you." 

"What can I say, I have a thing for older men." I shrug playfully, and Armin laughs. 

"No you don't." He says, through his laugh. 

"Yeah, you're right. I just have a thing for him." I close my eyes again. 

"I'd like to meet him someday. He sounds really interesting." Armin says, his voice sounding far away, like he's thinking about something. 

"I'd love for you to meet him. I think you'd like him alright. He can be kind of cold in terms of first impressions, but once he gets comfortable with you and comes out of his shell, he's really nice to be around." I can feel myself getting sleepy from all the beer I drank. 

"Him and Mikasa though, that's another story all together. They are eerily similar." I say, yawning after. 

"Oh, I'd love to see that." Armin chuckles. 

"Me too. Hey, I'm tired and kind of buzzed, so I'm going to call it a night. I'll see you tomorrow though." I stand up, stretching, before heading off to my room. 

I reach my door frame, bracing myself against it. I turn around and see Armin still on the couch, staring out the window on the opposite wall, behind the TV. 

"Armin?" 

"Mhmm?" He doesn't look away from the window. 

"Thank you, for everything." Now he turns around and looks at me, a shy smile on his face. 

"Of course, Eren. Anytime." 

I nod at him, feeling a smile slip onto my own lips as I turn around and flop onto my bed, shutting the door behind me.