Senior Year! (Armin x Reader)

Chapter 10: Simply. Human.

~♢~

As soon as October came to a close, November practically ghosted by, becoming the shortest month that Y/n had ever experienced.

Armin had celebrated his birthday this year as a group outing, not quite wanting to repeat last year's mistakes by having a house party.

Y/n now kept a close eye on her every action, keeping track of the way her heart would thump against her chest in an all too familiar, fluttery way every now and then when Armin would walk into a room.

'It's nothing,' she would tell herself out of guilt whenever the thought of Porco would flash in her mind.

And then December came.

The teens all took a load off from midterms and Y/n felt like she could finally breathe. She had worked hard and aced every single one of her exams, her sudden surge of motivation to get the top grade in Paradis greatly boosting her confidence and academic performance.

For once, she decided to host a get together, coming to the realization that she had never done so in the past.

Smiling, she placed a vase of pretty flowers onto the coffee table, admiring the vibrant petals.

"What could possibly go wrong?" Y/n asked herself as she tidied up the house.

What she didn't expect was for something to actually go wrong.

As she stood by and watched everything happen in slow motion, witnessing Eren and her boyfriend fist fighting in her own living room and sending the vase of pretty flowers crashing down onto the floor, she came to regret ever planning the damned party.

Bruised faces and scuffed up shirts had certainly not been on the day's docket, and Y/n now sat outside in the cold with a denim jacket placed on her back, reflecting back to see where it had all gone wrong.

~♢~

"Babe, you gotta get this," Porco said as he pulled out a horrendous sweater from a clearance rack that had its own Christmas lights strewn around the bust.

Y/n took one glance at the ridiculous ensemble before throwing the boy a look, shaking her head.

"Sure, I'll get it. But for you to wear," she said before taking another loop around the store.

Pouting, Porco followed his girlfriend around as he grew tired of walking aimlessly on the polished, white floors.

"What are you looking for again?" he asked, bored out of his mind, and Y/n paused in her steps. She hummed in thought.

"Don't really know. A present for Secret Santa."

Raising a brow, Porco looked at Y/n.

"Who'd you get?"

With a dejected sigh, Y/n turned to Porco.

"Ymir."

Porco did a double take.

"What the fuck, how--what-- but I thought you didn't like her! Why's she a part of the Secret Santa?" he asked, clearly confused.

"Though I don't particularly want to hang out with her," Y/n started, bringing her hand up to her face, "I did miss her girlfriend, Historia, so I invited the both of 'em," she explained with a shrug. "They were there when we talked about having Secret Santa and they both wanted to join, and I just...happened to grab Ymir's name out of the hat. Unfortunately."

Porco's lips dipped down as he sighed out, bringing his arm up to sling across Y/n's shoulders.

"Should have traded names," he said and Y/n groaned.