Count On Me (Armin X Reader)

"Armin!" You called, furiously storming your way over to the blonde who was calmly sipping some soup. He jumped at your voice, and the spoon clattered to the floor, spilling some of the soup on his leg. He gave you a wide-eyed (slightly irritated) look. "How could you do this to me?" You said.

He gave you a curious look. "D-Do what?" He asked, trying to rub off the soup stain on his leg while keeping his gaze on you all the while. You could see Eren, Connie, and Jean snickering in the corner. Everyone said that you and Armin were almost like husband and wife, but that wasn't necessarily true. You were best friends, and never fought the husband-wife way that Jean and Eren did. You simply kept each other in check, as a mother would do to her child. All while being close friends and helping each other through easy and hard times.

You slammed the book you held behind your back on the empty spot beside him on the table, the spot reserved for you. "You give me Flowers In The Attic, which was an astounding book,-"

"Yes?" He said, interrupting you while urging you to the continue.

"Then you give me it's sequel, Petals On The Wind without telling me that I was quite possibly going to bawl my damn eyes out!" You said, sitting down beside him.

He sighed and rolled his eyes with a soft smile, knowing it was your habit to be over-dramatic when it came to books he lent you. "(f/n), don't exaggerate, it wasn't that bad." He said, casually lifting another spoonful of soup to his lips.

"Not that bad?!" You said, slapping the spoon away from him. "You could have warned me that all of Cathy's lovers died! Julian killed himself by cutting the IV cord, Bart jumped into a fire to save the godforsaken grandmother, and Paul died because he was old. And I personally thought Cathy, a girl of nineteen, shouldn't have accepted Paul's first request to marry him, when he was already forty-two!" You said. He stared blankly at you. "Don't you think that's a little pedofile-ish for a man who's over twenty years older than a girl he's harboring as his daughter, to propose to her? And don't even get me started on how Cathy had sex more than forty times in that entire book." Armin's face flushed at this, and you heard the boys behind you burst out into laughter.

"It was true love." He said with a shrug, cleaning his spoon with the end of his shirt.

"But it wasn't because she truly loved Bart, even when she didn't know it, and then she ended up with Chris! I think she should've stayed with him in the first place, then none of this nonsense with all these lovers dying would have started." You said. You casually grabbed Armin's water canteen and took a sip. He smiled at you.

"You could've asked first." He stated with a small tint of pink on his cheeks.

"Don't act like you're not used to it." You said with a smile, taking another sip.

"Anything else you'd like to rant to me about?" He asked, taking the book away from you and placing it on his other side where you wouldn't harm it with another slam.

"Yes! Carrie's death! Why didn't you tell me?" You said angrily.

"That would've spoiled almost the entire book, (f/n)." He said.

"Yes but I just... She wasn't supposed to die like that! She poisoned herself because she felt she'd never be loved, and died just as Cory did!" You reached for Armin and pulled yourself towards him, then wrapped your arms about his neck and buried your head into his shoulder. "Armin, why didn't you tell me she'd die and her father and Cory would take her away? And her last words would be of how happy she was to finally leave? Do you know how much I was crying?!" You asked. Armin's face turned scarlet at your touch and he wrapped his arms about your waist hesitantly. Eren, Connie, and Jean were "oooh"ing in the background, but you ignored their calls.

"I didn't think you'd take the book so seriously." He said.

"How could I not take the book so seriously?" You retorted.

"You sometimes remind me of Cathy and her fiery ways to strike back with an intellegent retort." He said with a small chuckle.

"Except I'm not a damn slut like her." You mumbled.

"Well you can count on me to never let you read the third book." He said.

"There's more?" You asked excitedly.

"No, no, before we get into that, I've been wanting to show you something." He said, pulling away from you. You sat normally, but turned enough to see him.

"What is it?" You asked.

He leaned in with tinted cheeks and whispered against your ear, "You'll have to follow me to see." You felt your own face heat up. He grabbed your hand and led you out of the mess hall. Behind you, you could hear a loud wolf-whistle and a, "GO ARMIN!" from Eren.

"Alright, here we are." He said. He opened the door to reveal a mostly-empty room, except for a grand piano in the middle, with a few other instruments gathered around the walls. "I've been told that you sing, am I correct?" He asked, walking around and scanning the walls for a certain instrument.

"Partially, yes." You answered.

He turned to you. "Partially?" He asked, slightly confused.

"Don't tell me I'm the only one who sings in the shower." You said. His cheeks flared at this, and he turned back to the wall to continue whatever he was searching for.

"No you're not." He said quietly. He finally stopped walking around the walls and picked up a... guitar?

"I've never taken you as a musical person, Armin Arlert." You remarked, seeing him fling the guitar's strap over his shoulder. He smiled and idly strummed it.

"Really? Well then there's not a lot you know about me (f/n) (l/n)." He said in the same tone as you. He pulled out a few sheets of paper from his pocket and handed you a few. "I found this while I was looking around here earlier. And I thought... Maybe we could sing it together?" He said, cheeks flushing.

"Just you and me? Not in front of anyone right?" You asked, slowly looking up from the paper.

"Just you and me." He said with a smile.

"Count On Me?" You asked, looking at the bold title at the top of the page.

"Yeah. It looked like a good song, and I learned -or memorized, I guess- the chords and lyrics, so all I needed was for you to sing along." He blushed, and looked down at the guitar. "So, um, I'll start, then I'll tell you when it's your time." He said with a small smile. He sat down on the Piano's bench, so his back faced the keys. You sat down next to him. You held out the paper with the lyrics in front of you, as Armin began strumming the guitar. Something fluttered in your stomach when he began. A weightless feeling that was like his voice could lift you away into the clouds and up into the stars with it's freedom. It was... enchanting.

"If you ever find yourself stuck in the middle of the sea...
I'll sail the world... to find you...
If you ever find yourself lost in the dark and you can't see...
I'll be the light... to guide you...
Find out what we're made of,
When we are called to help our friends in need..."

He paused and looked over at you. You had a growing blush on your face that made him blush as well. Finding some confidence, he stood up with the guitar and looked down at you with gleaming blue eyes as he continued.

"You can count on me like one, two, three
I'll be there...
And I know when I need it
I can count on you like four, three, two
You'll be there...
'Cause that's what friends are supposed to do, Oh"

As he hummed slightly, he nodded towards the paper, signaling it was your turn. You didn't notice that your mouth was slightly agape, and you shut it, and stared down at the words, a bit self-conscious of how you were to compare to the blonde. You took in a deep breath and picked up where he left off.

"If you're tossin' and you're turnin'
And you just can't fall asleep...
I'll sing a song... beside you...
And if you ever forget how much you really mean to me
Every day I will... remind you..."

You softly blushed at the words, but stood up nevertheless in front of Armin, regaining some confidence.

"Find out what we're made of,
When we are called to help our friends in need...
You can count on me like one, two, three
I'll be there...
And I know when I need it
I can count on you like four, three, two
You'll be there...
'Cause that's what friends are supposed to do, Oh"

You hummed quietly as he smiled and continued strumming. Something felt so... natural, with it being just you and him, together, alone. Something inside you felt that he wanted you to sing together. So with the silent communication of your eyes, it was done. You quietly backed away towards the left side of the piano, and he followed you as he strummed on the guitar.

"You'll always have my shoulder when you cry!"

You both paused after each word, giving it it's own emphasis, but how you decided to do so without actually talking, was unknown. By this time you had backed all the way around to the other side of the piano, and you sat yourself up on it to look down at Armin.

"I'll never let go, never say goodbye
You know..."

You both paused, just staring into each others eyes. Dead silence. Then, in your once again unspoken language, it started again, and you held onto Armin's shoulders as you jumped off the piano.

"You can count on me like one, two, three
I'll be there..."

You made your way around the right side of the piano, simply backing away from him as he followed you around. Your eyes never left his, and his eyes never left yours.

"And I know when I need it
I can count on you like four, three, two
You'll be there...
'Cause that's what friends are supposed to do, Oh"

You both hummed softly in unison, following along to the soft strums of the guitar. Somehow, you made your way back to the front of the piano, and you were close enough that you were almost pressed against the guitar that hung off his shoulders. Once again, that soft unspoken language was between you as your eye contact never seemed to falter.

"Count on me 'cause I can count on you"

It was finished. You both held out the "you" as long as you could, holding your gazes as the final strum of the guitar faded away. All that was left was silent, and slightly heavy breaths.

"You were sensational." You whispered lightly.

"Me? You were somewhere other than here, because your voice was fantastic." He whispered in return. He was partially correct. You were somewhere else. In a different world, but it was just you and Armin. You mentally slapped yourself. He couldn't possibly feel the same way. You were best friends. Isn't that what the song said? 'Cause that's what friends are supposed to do, were the words.

"Armin?" You whispered.

"Yeah?" He whispered back.

"Do you think I'm like Carrie?"

"Carrie?" He asked, slightly stunned by your off-topic question.

"Carrie, from Petals On The Wind. Do you think I'll find love like Cathy? Or that I'll never find it because my imperfections would get in the way, then die all alone?" You whispered.

"(f/n)." He said, almost in a stern manner. "Those words from the song was... partially true." Boy did you two like saying the word partially. It was an inside joke between the both of you, though no one would understand it. "True, counting on each other is what friends do... but..." He held on to both of your hands, and his cheeks turned red. "I want to be more than friends with you."

"Armin?"

"I want you to count on me, and I want to count on you. And I want to make you proud, and I want to give you all the love that... All the love that Carrie didn't get." He said with a small laugh. You smiled. He raised a hand to cup your cheek. "I've been waiting for a way to express my love towards you, and I thought maybe I'd drop some hints with the romantic novels and such, but... that didn't seem to work." You laughed at this. "This song is from me to you... without the friend part." He added with a small blush.

"Armin..." You whispered. You smiled and draped your arms around his neck. "Of course I'll be a... more-than-friend to you." You said. He smiled and hesitantly pulled you against him, before pressing his lips to yours gently. You smiled and pressed back before grunting softly. He pulled away and looked at you slightly concerned. "The guitar is stabbing me." You said. He smiled and quickly took it off, gently setting it aside on the piano bench. He then turned back to you and held your waist as you pulled him down a little so his lips met yours.

He finally pulled away and set his forehead against yours. "Wanna run through it again?" He asked.

"In exchange for book three." You said.

"I don't want you to be mad at me." He muttered.

"Well if I cry, I'll need you to give me a big hug and lots of kisses to calm me down." You whispered. His face tinted pink and you laughed, placing a small kiss to his lips before picking up the sheets of paper again.

"Don't worry, you can count on me." Armin said from behind you. He wrapped his arms about you from behind and kissed the top of your head. "And I can count on you."