Shattered (Aruani Highschool AU - AOT/SNK) ✔

Twenty One

"Armin! There you are!"

"I'm sorry mum. Eren and Jean got arrested last night. I had to see them."

"Sweetheart, what's wrong? What happened?"

"Annie, she bailed them out. I'm fine mum. It's nothing."

"She what?!"

"Bailed them out mum. I don't know why," I half-lied. Mum smiled.

"She's a good person. A Leonhardt, after all. Oh, that reminds me. Take these flowers to the graveyard. It'll mark the New Years for them."

"Must I go alone?" I moaned. Mum sighed.

"Darling, I'd join you, but Jeffrey is coming over to discuss business any minute. Ask Annie to come with you, I want that girl to be happy after all."

"Alright. I'll go. But I don't think she'll want to."

"Oh, whatever darling. Just do that for me." She was busy, and I left with the big bouquet in my arms.

I started to walk down towards the graveyard , when I heard someone yell.

"Armin!" Sasha almost screamed. I blushed as the guys from the station came running towards me.

"How did it go?" Mikasa asked. I looked at the floor sadly.

"Not good. I don't want to talk about it."

They all looked at each other. Jean and Eren weren't there. I quickly changed the subject by asking where they were. Mikasa smirked.

"Where do you think they are? They're in trouble, not allowed out. They have to go and apologise to Leonhardt's aunt."

"Oh."

Connie moved towards me. "What are the flowers for?"

I looked over at Mikasa, who mouthed "sorry". She had obviously told them about Annie. I shook it off, smiling slightly.

"To put them on Annie's parents graves," I whispered slightly. The atmosphere turned sad, sending a shiver down my spine. Marco was the first to speak.

"Mind if we join you then?"

"Oh, really? You don't have to."

Sasha grinned. "Yeah, I want to! Lets go!" I smiled thankfully. We all made our way down the path towards the graveyard, finding them standing tall in the middle of it. I placed the big bouquet on the ground next to them. We stood in silence for a minute. All of us.

After a while, after reading the words and watching the flowers, paying respects to people we hardly knew, we took one look at each other, and started to leave. As I did so, I turned back to check on the flowers, and I noticed her in the distance.

Annie stood there by the entrance in her thick coat, a face of shock and disbelief. Sasha looked back to see where I had gone, and smiled. Telling the others to carry on, before leaving herself.

I walked closer to her. She began to walk towards me. I sped up, until we were both on the same path, on opposite ends. And we ran. She ran straight towards me, and collided straight into me, wrapping her arms around my waist.

"Armin, I'm so stupid, Armin. I'm so sorry. I really am. I am such an idiot," she muttered into my chest. I placed my hands on her back, pulling her in tighter.

"You are not stupid. You don't have to apologise for anything."

"You are just amazing. I bailed them out of jail using a some of my inheritance, because I was given that money to use on something I cared about. And you are the only thing I care about. Your happiness is what drives me. I had to, that's why I did it. For your happiness. I'm not afraid anymore, not with you here. I, I..."

She stared up at me. I pulled her up, my hands on her shoulders. Our eyes didn't leave where they were.

And then that protective crystal she had been hiding under shattered.

"I'm in love with you Armin Arlert."

It's as if my whole life had been waiting for this moment. My heart beat faster. I took her hand in mine. Her breathing stopped.

"You are?" I asked, unbelievable.

"Yes, extremely, madly, truly in..."

She didn't finish her sentence as I had pulled her into a kiss. Her lips were soft and sweet against mine. She tensed for a second, before relaxing into it. The kiss wasn't long, but it was meaningful.

"I've wanted to do that since the moment I met you," I said. Her mouth formed a small smile. She was completely lost for words. I smiled, watching her.

"Armin... I..."

"Its okay. You don't need to feel bad anymore."

She smiled softly, shaking her head. "You are incredible."

This time she leaned up and kissed me. It was longer this time. My arms pulled her in. It was perfect. Once we pulled away, grinning at each other, I placed my hand in hers again, and we started to walk away to the path leading out. As we walked, she stopped at her parents graves.

"Hi mother, hello father. This is Armin. I love him very much. I'll be back, okay? I'll be going back to school next week. I love you, goodbye." I squeezed her hand, she took a deep breath, turned towards me and smiled.

"Lets go?" She asked.

"Yeah, lets go," I answered.