#bookward

With a rather lengthy goodbye, Jean and Armin parted ways before the wedding, and got ready on their own. Eren and Mikasa had come to help Armin in the absence of his family, and Jean’s mother had come with his childhood friend Marco.

The tuxedo he had picked out was black with a formal bow tie and tailcoat, even going so far as to have cufflinks. Jean had never even heard of cufflinks before planning his wedding, it was amazing all that he had learned during this process.

"Oh Jean, you look so handsome." his mother cooed as she put the finishing touches on his outfit.

"Knock em’ dead Jean." Marco said, shoving his arm jokingly.

"Well I hope not." Jean replied, causing the two with him to laugh. It was a short trip from there to the church where they were going to tie the knot. Jean had originally wanted an outdoor wedding, but Armin was more religious than he was, and in the end Jean didn’t care either way as long as Armin was happy.

It was also decided between them that Jean would be walking down the aisle, mostly because he had someone that could walk with him. Armin’s grandfather had passed away a few years ago, and both Armin’s parents had died in a car accident when he was a child, he was limited to distant relatives he had hardly met, so in the end his half of the church was relatively small, filled mostly with friends of theirs they had made in college.

Jean on the other hand had a much larger family, filling up the other half much more. Of course his mother would be walking him down the aisle. Despite having a big family, once they heard that Jean was indeed marrying another man, many had suddenly found themselves with other places to be, and couldn’t make it. This had taken a harsh toll on Jean, but Armin and his mother had eased him through it.

Jean was absent for most of the preparations that had been done for their wedding, seeing as he had to be separated from Armin all day, stupid bad luck of ‘seeing the bride.’ Even though Armin wasn’t a bride, and neither was he. Upon walking into the church. They had originally planned to hide Jean in a separate room separate from his soon-to-be-husband, but that wasn’t quite the case.

He must have walked into the wrong room, because in the room he saw, was a half dressed Armin, dressed in nothing but a white undershirt and his boxers. Eren was with him, laying out his suit, but when they saw Jean walking in, they both froze.

"Jean! We’re not supposed to see each other before the wedding!" Armin said, trying to hide his own gaze, but Jean was having a harder time with that.

It’s not that he hadn’t ever seen Armin naked, they had been dating for six years now, but that didn’t stop Jean from eyeing him with darker intentions, dressed in so little. It was tempting, if Eren hadn’t slapped him in the face and shoved him out of the room, slamming the door in his face while he was at it.

Granted Jean had never got along very well with Eren, but he felt like Eren had just done that mostly to spite him. Muttering a few curse words, Jean went to find another place to wait before the wedding. He only hoped that the bad luck of seeing each other before the wedding was just an old wives’ tale.

The time of the wedding finally arrived after what seemed like agonizing pain for Jean. Sitting in a room away from Armin with barely anything to do was worse than torture if you’d asked him.

His mother came to find him first, tears already forming in her eyes, she took him by the arm and led him to the chapel. Jean felt his heart race, everything over the past six months had led to this moment, after this he would be bound to Armin, for the rest of his life. It was finally time.

The doors to the chapel swung open, and Jean heard the sound of the organ begin to play Canon in D, but time seemed to stop when he saw Armin standing at the altar, dressed in a sharp tuxedo, much like his. Jean always loved Armin’s hair, but seeing it pinned back in such a way that it moved your gaze towards his features nearly made Jean's heart stop.

Jean felt a lump form in his throat as he walked arm in arm with his mother, each step signifying a new life with Armin, all the memories they would share, the future they would have together. By the time Jean reached the altar, he was in tears. He crushed his mother in a meaningful hug, before going to stand beside his husband-to-be. Armin gave him a soft smile as he saw the tears of joy on Jean’s face, despite the crying, Jean was as happy as he had ever been.

The minister began the wedding, his voice ringing out as Jean and Armin were bound to each other. Then, it came time for their vows to each other. Jean had practiced his in the mirror more times than he could count.

“Armin, I…” his mind went numb. All he saw was Armin’s gaze, waiting for him to finish. The words that he had spent so long memorizing were gone in a flash, as Jean was at a loss for words. Someone in the pews coughed as they all waited for Jean to say something. Armin seemed to egg him on, but Jean just stared blankly, sweat forming on the edge of his brow.

“It seems Jean is a bit nervous, Armin, why don’t you give yours first then.” the minister said, trying to keep things moving along. Jean was grateful for it, but that did not stop the anxiety from seeping in his mind.

“Jean… I…..” Armin too, seemed to have a hard time finding the right words “I can’t marry you Jean.”

Jean felt his heart drop into his feet, shattering into small pieces as it fell. His vision went blurry, as he thought he was imagining things.

“There’s…. someone else.” Armin confessed. Jean could hardly hear him, he felt a sensation of thousands of knives pierce his chest.

“I’m running off with Eren.” Of course it was Eren, his childhood friend, who else could it be? “I… have other news as well.” What more could Armin want?

“I’m pregnant with his baby and he’s decided to quit his job as a stripper to support our family. Goodbye Jean.”

“NOOOOO!” Jean cried out, as he bolted upright in bed.

“Jean! Oh my God, what’s wrong? Are you hurt? Talk to me!” his worried fiance said, fussing over him.

“I…. it was a dream?” he said weakly, pain still resonating in his chest.

“Jean, what are you talking about? Did you have a nighmare?” his blond boyfriend asked softly, running his hand through Jean’s messy hair.

“Armin, I need to know one thing.” Jean said, his voice hoarse and full of worry.

“Anything…” Armin said, trailing kisses along his jawline.

“You’re not pregnant with Eren’s unborn child are you?”

“Jean, are you fucking serious?” Armin asked, pulling away from his kisses.

“I’m serious! That was the worst nightmare I’ve ever had in my life.” Jean said, his voice still mildly drawled out from sleep.

“Oh my God you’re so hopeless. How I ever fell in love with you I will never understand.”

“But you love me right? You wouldn’t run off with that prick Jaeger would you?” Jean asked sleepily. Armin dropped onto his chest in exasperation.

“Jean you are the biggest idiot I’ve ever known.” Armin said, going back to kissing Jean.

“But… what if he tried to do something to you.”