𝐌𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 - 𝐀𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧 𝐀.

- Unexpected -

"What?" You say, screwing your face in disbelief.

"Y-Yeah, back in high school me and Annie used to go out." He muttered.

Annie looked a little lost as to why Armin wasn't fully honest until she spoke up, especially since he couldn't even look you in the face. She knew something was up.

It was silent for a second as the three of you didn't exactly know what to say. You were still extremely confused, Annie looked a little guilty and god knows what was going through Armin's head at a given time. Annie cleared her throat before breaking the unbearable silence.

"Sorry (Y/N), I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable... I had no idea you and Armin were together."

That seemed to shock you both awake since Armin started to cough into his fist, and you let out a huff followed by a forced chuckle. Annie looked at the both of you intently as the two of you squirmed around like little school kids.

"Pfft. Armin and I," You say, flicking your index fingers from you to Armin repeatedly, "We aren't together, we're not a thing."

"Oh? I guess I got the wrong idea then." She says while turning her focus to Armin, who's now staring at you.

He looked at you with his eyes squinted and eyebrows furrowed slightly as well as his lips parted. It was almost as if he was... upset at your reply? There isn't any reason for him to be upset, though, since what you said wasn't a lie. You weren't dating or even exclusive.

"Armin?"

He snaps out of it and turns back to Annie, who asks him about how he's been, ecetera ecetera. You begin to feel uncomfortable as you are now third wheeling their small talk, so you remove yourself.

"You two seem to be catching up, so I'll leave you to it, yeah?"

"Oh no, I was just going. I didn't mean to intrude." Annie squeaks, apologetically.

"Don't be silly! You're fine, honestly. I need to go and sort a few things out anyways so I'll just leave now." You insist.

"Oh... okay then. See you!" She says with a smile.

You had nothing against Annie, she was one of your best friends for crying out loud, you just felt out of place, especially since it seemed like they had reunited for the first time since high school, it wasn't any of your business.

You wave and turn to leave, and Annie waves back at you.

"(Y/N)?" Armin says. "Hey, wait!"

Instead of going back you turned the nearest corner, desperate to get away from that sticky situation.

You walked without a destination, just strolling through campus as you thought about why Armin lied about Annie being his ex. You had no reason to be jealous, and you weren't, but it was unusual to see him so flustered over something like that. He had no reason to lie about it since it's not like you were his girlfriend or anything. Unless... maybe he regrets it? No, that can't be. They seemed to have ended on good terms, since they spoke like friends.

Anyway, it wasn't your business, you just felt a pang of curiosity and mistrust since clearly Armin didn't want you to know about Annie.

Mikasa and you haven't hung out in a while, so you decided to see if she was free. It was a late afternoon and the sun was becoming dimmer, and the golden hour was arriving. The warm breeze tickled as it washed past your face while you daydreamed about nothing.

You stopped walking and leaned on a ledge separating the hallway from the garden, taking out your phone to dial Mikasa's number. Before you could ring however, a figure ran up towards you which you sensed from the corner of your eye. Looking up from your phone, Armin approaches you looking a little out of breath.