𝙿𝚞𝚣𝚣𝚕𝚎𝚜

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟽

Eren had it all planned out. Even more than that – he also devised both a Plan A and a Plan B. Whichever way it went, whatever plan he would have to choose, there was no way he was getting out of telling you how he felt.

Plan A was flawless. He would text you to come over, and you would arrive once Armin was out of the apartment. Every other week, Armin would leave just before 5 o'clock to meet up with some of his friends to play Dungeons & Dragons. Armin even tried to bring Eren along on one occasion. Bad idea. Now, Eren consistently referred to those evenings as 'Armin's big nerd night out.'

That was beside the point. Anyway, Armin was supposed to be gone that night. You would come over for a night filled with watching movies on the couch and stuffing your faces with takeout. Nothing out of the ordinary for the two of you. Eren hoped that it would give him just enough time to build up the courage to confess his feelings for you. And with Armin out of mind, you would have the entire apartment to yourselves, meaning that no one could eavesdrop on his shameful spew of emotions. This factor was exceptionally important to Eren on the chance that you rejected him.

Plan A was shot down at 4 o'clock that afternoon. Armin told Eren that their dungeon master was out with a cold. Eren had not a clue what that meant besides the fact that Armin would be home all night. Plan B already felt shaky, and Eren wanted nothing more than to bail on the entire plan together. Unfortunately for him, he had already texted you asking you to come by.

He stayed calm. Well, Eren's definition of calm. Plan B was the backup for this exact scenario; one in which Armin stayed home that night. Eren absolutely did not want his nosy friend to know what was going on, especially if things ended up taking a turn for the worst. The sheer thought of Armin witnessing Eren's rejection made him want to throw up. So Plan B entailed getting you into Eren's bedroom or getting Armin into his own room – the former seeming more doable.

Eren conjured up the ridiculous plan of cranking the air conditioning to full blast before you were to arrive. Inevitably, you would get cold (you always got cold at his apartment, this just ensured it) and then Eren would offer to get you one of his sweatshirts. You would follow him to his room then, bam, the two of you were alone.

This all sounded crazy, didn't it? Eren swore it sounded better in his head last night at 3 o'clock in the morning.

Obviously, you had no indication that any of this was going to be happening tonight, not a single worry about a Plan A nor a Plan B. That was why you weren't surprised when you received your usual text from Eren asking if you wanted to come over.

You took just fifteen minutes to get ready before leaving for the evening. Going over to Eren's meant that you had to do your reverse getting ready routine. You stripped from the outfit you wore all day, changing into a pair of cotton bike shorts and a sweatshirt. You always chose your comfiest outfit since you knew you would be gone for longer than you would want to wear jeans.

And while you may have appeared like you put little effort into your appearance, there was a certain science to your effortless look. Tying your hair up in just the right way, putting on a hint of mascara and a dash of lip gloss. You always made sure you smelt nice, too, selecting your favorite jasmine perfume.

All of those little touches were near invisible to anyone but yourself, but they made you feel confident. That's all that mattered, right?

Eren swung the front door open just seconds after you knocked. Just as you predicted, he greeted you in the doorway with a cartoonishly large smile. He always seemed so excited to see you as if your arrival was a surprise, like he hadn't just texted you to come over.

His starry-eyed expression was short-lived. It dropped into a look of confusion as he saw the puzzle box you held just below your eyes.

"Is Armin here?" you asked, unable to hide the eagerness in your voice.