#arminarlertxreader

It was about two years into training, and he had major feelings for you that just kept forming and growing stronger. You had feelings for him too, but you never told him because you were afraid you’d get rejected. It was easy for you to hide your feelings for the most part. Armin, on the other hand, blushed anytime you spoke. Eren and Mikasa started to pick up on this and would tease him for it.

The three of you made it into the mess hall and sat at a table after getting your food. The three of you talked for a while before you finished your food. You felt tired that day, so you decided to just go back to the girls’ cabin.

“I’ll see you guys tomorrow, I’m going back to the cabin for the night,” you stated.

They said bye to you before you walked off to the girls’ cabin. After you were out of the mess hall, Eren looked at Armin with a small smirk on his face.

“You and (Y/N) seem to get along really well,” Eren remarked with a smirk.

“Y-Yeah, we’re pretty good friends,” Armin stammered.

“Friends? You definitely like her,” Eren let out a small laugh.

Armin’s face turned red and he just shook his head.

“N-No, you got it all wrong, we’re just friends,”

Eren just looked at him.

“I have to agree with Eren, you do seem to act...different...around (Y/N),” Mikasa agreed.

Armin got even more flustered before letting out a small sigh.

“Okay, m-maybe I have feelings for her...”

“I knew it!” Sasha exclaimed from the other table.

“How did you even hear what we were talking about?” Eren asked.

“Don’t ask,” Sasha stated as she moved over to the table Eren, Armin, and Mikasa were at.

You and Sasha are also pretty good friends, you became fast friends within a month of joining the scouts. You always admired Sasha’s energy and you found her fun to be around. She probably knows the most about you out of anyone.

“You should just tell her you like her,” Sasha smiled.

“No offense, Sasha, but that’s not a good idea,” Armin murmured.

“It is a good idea, I’m pretty sure she likes you too, plus she’ll admire that you had enough courage to tell her even if she doesn’t like you,” Sasha encouraged.

“I agree with Sasha...for once,” Eren shrugged.

Armin looked at Mikasa, and she just simply nodded.

“I-I guess I’ll tell her...tomorrow though,” Armin nervously stammered.

“Great! Tell me how it goes!” Sasha exclaimed before going back over to the table she was originally at.

---

It was the next day and you were walking to the mess hall. Armin walked over and walked by you.

“Good morning,” he smiled as pink tinted his cheeks.

“Oh, good morning,” you smiled back.

Armin’s heart was pounding, it felt like it was about to burst out of his chest. He was practicing what he wanted to say last night before he went to bed.

“Can I tell you something?” he asked you.

“Sure,”

He went to speak, but he couldn’t say the words. His mind went blank and he couldn’t think of what to say. He’s the smartest person in the Training Corps and you made his mind go blank. 

He became more flustered than he already was and you just looked at him with a confused expression on your face.

“Armin, are you alright?” you asked him with concern in your voice.

His bright blue orbs met your (e/c) ones and he just let out a cough. He noticed you guys were approaching the mess hall and he just decided it would be best to tell you later instead. He let out a sigh and nodded.

“I’m fine, I’ll just tell you later,”

“Alright,”

He mentally slapped himself across the face. All he had to say were three simple words: ‘I like you.’ and he couldn’t even do that. Why were three words so hard to say to you? Why did he struggle so much when trying to form the right words around you?

You two walked into the mess hall and sat at your usual table with Eren and Mikasa. Eren gave Armin a look, basically asking if he confessed to her. Armin shook his head and Eren facepalmed.

---

It was after breakfast, so everyone was heading to training. You decided to walk to training with Sasha and Connie while Armin walked with Eren and Mikasa as usual.

“Why didn’t you tell her?” Eren asked.

“I-I just froze up, my mind went completely blank,” Armin stuttered.

“You really should try to tell her at some point today,” Mikasa softly spoke.

Armin nodded.

---

It was after lunch and everyone had free time for the rest of the day. You were talking to Sasha and Christa outside.

“There she is, just go tell her,” Eren motioned towards you.

“In front of them?” Armin asked.

“No, just ask if you can talk to her privately then tell her,” Eren nudged the shorter blond.

Armin nodded and walked over. He had butterflies in his stomach and his heart was beating really fast again. He already felt his face turning red. He always became such a mess around you, and he highly disliked it.

“H-Hey, (Y/N), can I talk to you in private?” he asked you, blushing.

You turned and faced him.

“Sure,” you smiled.

She turned back to Sasha and Christa and said bye before walking off to a more secluded area with Armin.

“I-I need to tell you something,” he looked down.

“Alright,”

He looked up at you with fear in his eyes. You looked a little concerned, you literally thought something was wrong. You couldn’t figure out why he looked so terrified. His face was red and his pupils were really dilated.

“I-I,” he began to speak, but his mind went blank again.

“Armin, are you alright?” you asked him, raising an eyebrow.

He nodded.

“You can tell me anything, just breathe,”

He took a breath then looked into your (e/c) eyes.

“I like you,” he confessed.

You felt your cheeks heat up and you just let out a small laugh. He looked at you with a sad face, he thought you were making fun of him and you didn’t like him back.

“S-Sorry,” he quietly spoke.

“No, don’t apologize, I like you too, you just didn’t have to be that nervous,” you smiled with pink tinting your cheeks.

“You do?” he asked, his sad face immediately turning into an elated one.

You nodded with a smile.

He pulled you in for a hug and you hugged back with a smile on your face.

“S-So, do you want to be like a...thing...?” he asked after you both pulled away from the hug.

“Yeah, of course,” you smiled.

You’d usually reply with a “Yep!” and walk away or just simply roll your eyes and walk away. You tried to not let it get to you, but words can hurt sometimes. It’s not like you heard comments like that all the time, but when you did, it really cut deep.

Another thing is that Armin would tend to make jokes about science, math, or physics around you since he’s a nerd, and you often didn’t get a lot of the jokes. Yet, you laughed along and pretended like you got them. That for some reason really got to your self-esteem too, you didn’t quite know why it’s not like anyone else got those jokes.

He’d also like to go to the library with you and read books on your days off, which you didn’t necessarily mind, but you weren’t too keen on the idea of reading for several hours on end like he was. However, you did find it adorable how he would be sitting by you with his face dug in a book with an interested and focused look on his face.

When it came to expeditions, he’d often be asked to help create battle plans. He’d ask you for your opinions on them before he brought them up to the Commander, and you often didn’t know how to reply. Knowing how bright your boyfriend was, you knew his plan would already be fine, so you’d usually just say something like.

“That seems like a great idea!”

He’d then smile at you and nod before walking off to explain the idea to Erwin, almost always getting it approved.

The only thing you were really proud of yourself for is the fact that you were more helpful on the battlefield. You weren’t nearly as talented as Mikasa or anyone in the Levi squad for that matter, but you were still pretty talented and helpful. Armin would often look at you in awe as you trained with ODM, similar to how you would look at him as he was writing up a battle plan or reading a book.

You still wanted to be smarter so you could get Armin’s jokes, help him more with battle plans, enjoy reading more with him, and not get compared. Plus, it would just boost your self-confidence a lot. So one day, you decided to start reading a bunch of books about physics, science, math, history, etc. Armin didn’t really notice at first, he just thought you wanted to read about something considering you did occasionally read a book.

“Hey, (Y/N)! What’re you reading?” he’d ask you, noticing you were reading something in the mess hall.

“Oh, just a book about ODM and titan physics,” you’d answer with a smile.

“That’s nice, but since when do you read about stuff like that? You usually aren’t too interested in informational books,” he asked you with a puzzled look.

“I-I just wanted to read a new genre, I finished the book series I was reading,” you choked up a lie.

“That makes sense...I guess,” he smiled but mumbling the last part.

More time passed, and you were beginning to learn things, but you weren’t enjoying it at all. You were starting to feel smarter and you even got some of Armin’s nerdy jokes and you could listen to his battle plan ideas and understand what he was talking about.

He soon grew suspicious about why you’ve been reading books anytime you weren’t busy. You were both sitting in your barrack, reading books.

“(Y/N)?” he asked you.

“Yes?”

“I mean, I think it’s good that you like reading, but that’s all you’ve been doing for the past few weeks...” he quietly stated.

“Is something wrong?” he asked.

You looked at him and took a deep breath.

“I-I just feel really dumb sometimes,” you sighed.

“Why? You’re not dumb at all, you weren’t even close to dumb before you started reading 24/7,” he frowned.

“It’s just...” you began to speak, trying to find the right words.

“It’s just you’re so smart and I feel dumb sometimes because you talk about a lot of things I don’t understand and you often ask me for my opinions on things I don’t understand,” you explained, looking down.

“I just don’t want you to break up with me or something because I’m too dumb for you,” your voice lowered down to almost a whisper.

“A-And sometimes people say that I’m too dumb to be with you,” you added.

Armin looked at you with a sad look on his face and grabbed your hands. There was a pink tint on his cheeks because of how shy he is and how flustered he gets from affection, but you always found it adorable.

“(Y/N), you’re nowhere near dumb and I’d still love you if you weren’t intelligent,” he smiled at you.

You smiled back at him and felt your cheeks heat up.

“I-I love you too,” you smiled.

“And you shouldn’t want to change yourself just because of those...” he paused.

“Assholes,” he said.

You’ve never heard him swear before, so you giggled. He smiled at the sound of your laugh and let out a small laugh as well.

“Please talk to me the next time you feel like that,” he said.

“I will,”

He hugged you and felt better. You no longer tried to look smarter and you just ignored the dicks who made fun of your intelligence from that day on. Of course, you still did feel insecure time-to-time, but Armin was always open to talk to.