Valedictorian | Armin Arlert

satisfaction

You welcomed him into your house. Like you had back in November. His hair was wet, from teaching swim lessons, but was rapidly drying in the warmth of the May sun.

"So what brings me here?" he asked apprehensively. When it came to you, his self-preservation instincts were non-existent. It could be plausible you beckoned him here for revenge. At least that is what any normal person would think. Or maybe it isn't normal. 

"I'm going to listen to you," you told him. "Don't make regret it."

Armin's eyes widened. "Listen to me?"

"You can't be this big of an idiot," you muttered. "The fact is: you hurt me, Armin. If it was just you being stupid, I'll listen... and we'll go from there. But if it was on purpose, that makes me stupid. And I'm not stupid. I'm not, you hear me?"

He nodded. "Of course," he said. "That makes sense." 

You threw him a blue Nintendo Switch remote. "Mario Kart. To make this less painful."

Armin shrugged, twirling the device in his fingers. "You're a genius."

"I know." You selected the 150cc TriForce Cup. You played as your favorite character and Armin chose Kamek. The cutscene played until the Lakitu hovered over both sides of the screen, counting down and cueing the race. 

There was a whole lap that passed of silence, just quiet competition. You and Armin exchanged first and second place through out the first race. Even in a simple videogame you found no ends to your competitive nature.

"This is fun, but you have to start talking." you said, shooting Kamek with a fireball.

"After kissing you, I couldn't sleep that night. I was fixed in my thoughts and determined that I was going to end things with her the next morning," Armin explained. "I walked up to Emilia's doorstep, ready to tell her that I was not taking her to school. But her mother answered the door, telling me to come in and share breakfast with the family. I complied, waiting for a chance to break the news to Emilia, but it never came."

Your lip was hardened into a firm line. You acquired a red shell and shot it at the Kamek. "What changed your mind?"

"I didn't," he insisted. "But her parents..." he said, pausing. "They always treated me like I was their son and I ate it up every time. I decided to wait until the end of the day but it was too late."

You bit down on your lip, and a small piece of your heart broke for him. "I know how that feels," you admitted. "To be a place with people who care about you, for the first time in a while, you're  a home, not alone this time." Your mind drifted to the dinner at Jean's house. Mrs. Kirschtein is like a mother to you. It made sense to take a knife to the back for love like that. "You're still an idiot, though."

Armin nodded. You won first.

"Did you confront her about Floch?" you asked.

He shook his head. "There's been others before him. She'd always keep my messages and whereabouts under strict surveillance. Not to mention the frequent PDA she subjected me to." It was her projecting, you pieced together.

"What a disaster," you shook your head. The first lap of the second race came to a close.

"I still don't regret kissing you, though," he said confidently. "Maybe that makes me selfish and I know it makes me an idiot because look at me, I'm the fool that took Disney films too literally; following my heart. Following my dreams. It led me to grasp the barbed wire of being in Emilia's family and then led me to... you."

Warmth radiated in your cheeks. You finished the second race in first. "And you expect me to believe that corn on the cob speech."

Armin sighed. "I guess you're right. There not much I can do to prove it." You didn't realize it was sarcasm until he set down his controller and braced his lips to yours.

 A gasp was stifled in your throat. You could taste the savory flavor of adoration in the way his mouth fluidly massaged into yours. Excitement brewed in Armin's chest, evident by his hands surveying down your waist, his arms bringing you flush against his chest. The closeness made heat ricochet between your two bodies; you swore the beating of his heart was pounding against your ribcage.  

Hot breath moistened the soft skin around your lips and nose and his tongue molded itself against your teeth. You kissed him back, pulling him into your mouth with your fingers sliding through his silky blond hair. His lips were soft and dewy; like freshly distilled ambrosia dripped from them. The saccharine flavor reeled you in, initiating your lips into an elegant, indulgent moonlit waltz with his. 

In sync, you both briefly come up for air.

His swimming blue eyes glistened with affection and adorable yearning. His fingers were placed delicately behind your head and under your chin. Redness flushed his lips like the pinkish flesh of an apple peel. He was breathing heavily, and messy damp locks hung around his face. How enchanting his boy was. If only he wasn't so stupid.

"Do you believe me?" he asked, a devilish grin forming on his lips. There was a pleasure to be found in your hot, flustered demeanor. He did that to you.  

You nodded and reluctantly smiled. You turned the television off. "Sh... Shut up."

Armin would've been giggling and kicking his feet if he was alone. Drunk on the freedom of being able to be completely infatuatedly obsessed with you.

"You know you're like a really good kisser?" Armin casually said.

You cringed. "I learned from the best," you quipped.   

He crossed his arms. "What does that mean?" 

You laughed and took a deep breath. "Finals are in two weeks. From what I know, that's the deciding factor in who is valedictorian, yes?" 

Armin paused, bewildered that you changed the subject so quickly. He nodded, ruffling his hair to make it look somewhat neater. When he wore polos, it was like knowing the sun would rise if his hair looked neat. "Yes."

"Good observation," you said sarcastically. "I was wondering if you wanted to study with me. We probably won't get much time to since school is ending soon." 

"That's a good plan." Armin smiled, tilting his head to the side he bobbed his head. "I can't think of anyone else I would want to study with." 

"Exactly," you said. You got up and gathered your school bag. "There are just not that many people whom I'm compatible studying with, you know?"

"Um, yeah. That's what I meant." He scratched his head. 

You and Armin took things downstairs to a small library you kept. A small rectangular table, with four bookshelves lining the perimeter of the wall. There was a small wooden fireplace but since it was May, you hadn't a reason to use it. In unison, you and Armin put your laptops up in opposite directions. 

"Let's do some Latin vocab first, okay?" you suggested, taking a seat. 

Armin scooted closer to you, delicately lifting your face to his. Instead of kissing you, he said, "Let's study, and every time we get a question right, we make out?"

Your face was feverish, and spine like gelatin. It was your turn. Your fingers laced under the collar of his polo and pulled him into a brief, chaste kiss. Plainly, you look at him and shrug. "We'll see."

×××
to be continued

a/n

So the next chapter is like 95% sure to be the last chapter. I already have it halfway written. Anyway I'll do my best to finish it. I'm like wayyy behind on my own studying so I'll try my best to have it out in exactly a week.

Anyway who do you think will be valedictorian?

Lastly go get some fresh air, drink some water and don't forget to eat. Thank you all for being so patient and understanding this story has been so fun to write and I would love to do another one like this in the future.