Senior Year! (Armin x Reader)

Chapter 18: Change

"Hey, Y/n," Eren greeted the girl cautiously one early morning at the beginning of their shift. His eyes darted, not really knowing where he stood with the girl as of late.

"Hey," she responded softly as she languidly placed her bag in her locker. Exhaustion was present in her tone. It weighed heavy on her person, her fluttering lids that she desperately tried to keep open and the bags under her eyes that creased with every blink all coming together to add onto her wrecked state.

"You ok? You look tired," Eren asked as he raised a brow. He imagined that Y/n probably wasn't feeling too good ever since Valentine's.

"I'm fine."

Y/n flitted around for a bit, her memory slipping as she tried to think about what she was just about to do. She blinked before trudging over to the hangers that kept their aprons.

"I'm just tired," she yawned out as her shaky hands reached out to grab the green fabric "How are you Eren?" She murmured slow, much to Eren's surprise, as she put her hair up, not really thinking about much except for how she probably should have called off.

"Good," Eren blinked as he noticed how Y/n wavered in stance. She careened a bit to the side and the brunette next to her flinched forward, almost ready to have caught Y/n if the girl had actually passed out.

"Hey, you sure you're good? You look like you're gonna pass out."

Y/n rubbed at her eyes and stepped back a bit, letting herself lean back against the front counter as she collected herself.

"Gotta get that bread," she said with a frail voice, chuckling slightly out of what seemed to be delirium.

"Did you eat?"

"Nah. Didn't have time."

"Here."

Eren pulled out one of the pastries from the display case and handed it to Y/n. He then placed his hands over the girl's shoulders and herded her into the back, prompting a dazed Y/n to sit down.

"Eat that and then take a power nap. I'll start opening."

"But-"

Y/n groggily looked at Eren, her brows furrowing as the languid thoughts that sloshed around in her mind tried their best to comprehend why Eren was doing this.

"There's a lot to do-"

"Don't worry about it," the brunette said without a single worry. "It's not like Reeves is gonna notice if we forget to bake some muffins or something."

"Eren, I feel bad-"

"Shuddup and eat, dummy," Eren said with a firm stare, crossing his arms. He sighed and eased up, looking away. "I know you're probably going through a lot right now," he said and then turned from Y/n, tying his apron.

At that, Y/n lifted her head.

"Wait—do you...know?"

"Of course I do. He told me."

Y/n immediately felt tears pool in her eyes.

"Oh," was all she said.

Eren heard the undertone of distress and turned back around, pausing for a second.

"It's gonna be ok, Y/n. He just needs time, ok?"

The brunette shifted awkwardly in front of the sniffling girl before taking in a breath.

He calmly stepped forward and placed his arm around Y/n's shoulders as a sort of side hug, patting the girl out of comfort.

"Don't cry, dum dum," is all he offered, not really knowing what else to say.