𝙿𝚞𝚣𝚣𝚕𝚎𝚜

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟸𝟹

"I really don't mind sitting in the back, I promise."

"Armin, it's fine. Really." You tried to keep your annoyance from seeping into your voice, but you didn't do that great of a job. In your defense, you repeated the line at least a million times over the last minute.

He disregarded you again and reached for the car door's handle. Before he could make contact, you breezed by him and took hold of it, nearly swatting his hand away. You were stubborn, but Armin had already figured that out long ago. He decided there was no use in continuing to argue further and conceded to the passenger seat. He amusedly rolled his eyes at you while he waited for Eren to unlock the car.

"Fighting to sit in the back seat, huh?" Eren mused. He had finally moseyed on over, twirling his set of keys around his index finger. "Am I really that awful to sit by?"

He wore a look that told you he had no intention of unlocking the car just yet. You loudly jiggled the handle to catch his attention. Unfortunately for you, your impatience only seemed to delight him further. He casually leaned against the car as if he was ready to wait all afternoon to hear what you and Armin had to say.

But two could play at that game. With not even an ounce of hesitation, you replied, "Only when you start to sing."

That little statement wiped away the relaxed look about him. Eren shot up like you had accused him of something more heinous than humming in the car. "I don't sing!"

Eren definitely did sing in the car. It was under his breath most of the time, but it was enough to count. You had caught him on enough occasions that there was no doubt he knew exactly what you were referencing.

When you stayed quiet, you were picking and choosing your battles. Eren could see that, too, but your smirk told him enough already. He wanted to say it suited you – that he liked that you were fierier than you had initially led on – but he had no desire to be on the receiving end of it. Not wanting to give you a chance to prod the subject further, he unlocked the car and hopped inside, quickly enough that it pulled a giggle from you.

You followed along with him and slid into your spot in the back seat. Mikasa took occupancy beside you, crawling into the car from the opposite side. As she buckled in, you realized how often you had been finding yourself here, almost as if it had become an old habit.

It was always the same, too, down to the very side of the car you chose to sit on. Even down to the friendly banter between you and Armin over who would take the back seat – that happened without fail. No matter how many times you plead with the guy, he always tried to offer you the passenger seat.

Passing up on the front seat wasn't a big deal to you – you actually preferred this arrangement you had going. You liked how Eren would frequently and deliberately check on you through the rearview mirror. It was like you were his welcomed distraction, something he couldn't dare keep his eye from wandering to, and it never ceased to make your heart skip just a little.

It was the first hot day of the year. Like hot, hot. You had been convincing yourself that it had been summer for the last month, and you were certainly buying ice cream as if you were deep into the season, but you hadn't broken a sweat until today. And since it was disgustingly humid and the window A.C. unit in the boys' apartment could only do so much, you were handed the perfect excuse to get even more ice cream. Not that an excuse was needed.

You always went to the same ice cream parlor, too. Surprise, surprise: it was the one that Eren brought you to on your first date. After all, it was his favorite spot.

You still cringed when you thought of the memory – how you embarrassingly stumbled over your choice of words and presumed your time with Eren to be a date.