Valedictorian | Armin Arlert

frontier

April storms bombarded the heavens on a typical Wednesday morning. It had been consistently raining for the past several days, all of which Armin had been absent for.

You had figured why. Armin wasn't one to miss school obviously. The raw, red color of his eyes, framed by dark purple circles that sat underneath, and the smooth irritation of the tip of his nose told the whole story. He was completely alone.

Sympathy was hard to come by now. He toyed with your feelings, even if it was unintentionally. He made you look like a fool but in the same respective metric, Emilia made him look like an even bigger one.

In homeroom, he hadn't spoken, nor made an effort to so much as look someone in the eye. Next week the announcement for Valedictorian would be coming out.

You were looking forward to volunteering at the hospital, but they had down-staffed you. Now, you were free for the night and in no rush to get home.

Since you had parked on the other side of the parking lot, waiting for the rain to subside wasn't much of an inconvenience.

At first.

"See ya, (Y/N)," Bertholdt waved as he ran out into the pouring rain.

The wait was dragged out longer than it needed to be, but the rain relented. You pulled out some homework as you sat on a bench in the school foyer. Since you were focused, you hardly noticed the opening of the heavy metal door. You didn't even look over to see them.

It was the voice that got you. "(Y/N)."

You looked up to see the beautiful-eyed, blond boy looking over you, disguised as an angel of light on a rainy day. As if it was a reflex, you began to pack up. "I'm sorry for your loss, Arlert," you said coldly.

He flinched at the use of his last name. "Don't go."

"Armin, we are on different pages," you said. "It was silly crush. I'm over it–" You choked a little before turning on your heel, rushing out into the rain. At least the rain would hide the fact you loved him so much it hurt. Your stomach sank as the sound of the door opening from behind you clashed with the constant shower that hailed from above.

"(Y/N)," Armin called out, rushing over to you. "God, (Y/N), listen to me."

"I don't wanna hear it, Arlert," you bit down on your lip, your voice pleading. "Just fu– fuck off." You wondered if he could even hear you with the downfall cascading into the pavement.

"After losing my grandfather... (Y/N), I can't lose you," He said. You looked over at him, pathetically reaching toward you, his hair matted with rainwater. He wore a cotton polo that was transparent in the shower. "Emilia's history," said Armin.

No amount of preparation could have allowed you to truly brace for the impact of his words. Only two of them. It was as if the rain had poured down harder, the goddess of the rain joyful and celebratory. But you felt more disquieted.

"Why... why are you telling me this...?" He flinched at the stinging sound of hurt in your voice.

"Because, (Y/N), I'm so helplessly in love with you!" He cried in the roaring downpour. "I'm so in love with you it makes me feel stupid! We're so young, and I thought I shouldn't know what love is at this age, but despite it all, I can't shake the feeling!"

He marched up to you, putting his sopping hand on your sopping shoulder and pulled your lips into his. Your back pressed against the driver's window of your car. You indulged in the foolishness. The hurt melted away for a second as the addictive taste of his lips sent your brain into a blissful spiral. Rain poured from all around. His breath on your face thawed your heart in the refreshing April rain.

It was spring. 

"Armin," you said with a raw voice. Your tears were masked by the rain.

"I can't imagine you forgiving me, (Y/N), but I love you and I can't handle it."

You drove off. In your rearview mirror, you saw the shelled out boy. Water dousing and darkening his golden hair.

×××
To Be Continued...

a/n

I graduated highschool like three months ago and I'm a freshman in college now. lol. anyway. im going to finish this story if it takes me until I'm 40.

ask me anything if youre curious about my hiatus.