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"Has he come to bother you yet today, Ar?" Eren asked, finishing his apple from lunch and throwing the core in the trash. Armin, typing away on his computer outside, rolled his eyes and hit enter, watching his code play and roll out before his dark screen.
"Surprisingly, he's been pretty absent today, but you don't have to keep worrying about me like a scared dad, Eren." Armin spoke up, fixing his glasses as he began typing out the next few lines of code. "It's been years Eren, once we graduate, we're out of this joint, and we'll never see that bully guy Jean again." Armin remarked with a grin.
Eren chuckled, sitting by Armin and peeping over his shoulder, eyeing the project he was working on before a shadow loomed over them, and Eren groaned, already knowing who it is.
"Well, if it ain't Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum." Jean teased, looming over both the boys below him. "When did Alice let you two run around alone? Isn't she usually up your ass right around this time?"
"She's not here, she's with someone she actually likes, trying to send the message for you to go fuck yourself." Eren spat, glaring up at Jean with annoyance.
"Eren, don't feed into it." Armin hushed his friend, shutting his computer and sliding it into his backpack. "In fact, before your dad picks us up, I want to grab a snack at the vending machine." The blonde stood up, not even bothering to look at Jean before walking past him, the bully eyeing him with a strange look, as if he was confused why he was being ignored.
"H-Hey! Get back here, blondie!" Jean went to reach for Armin's backpack, holding him back from walking, but Eren got up to grab Jean's shirt collar, snarling in his face. As the boys got into a fight, many gathered around to watch, and Armin only rolled his eyes.
'One day they'll learn…' Armin thought with a heavy sigh, reaching the vending machine. Looking at the limited options, he grabbed his wallet and went to place the dollar in before he heard a hand slam on the glass of the machine, scarring the blonde half to death.
"Well hello there, girly." The boy smirked, his red hair swirled to the side, his eyes thin and cat like. Armin immediately got bad vibes with this guy, similar to Jean's bad vibes, but it felt almost more...personal, like this guy could read him unlike anyone else. "I'm new here, so I don't know the area very well, care to show me where I could find your heart?"
Armin felt his stomach turn, but he couldn't help but just think this guy was awkward with making friends, that or he was blind. Armin liked to think he looked pretty masculine despite his hair, he didn't look that girly. Maybe he was hard of seeing? He didn't look it despite him having thin eyes, and this guy seemed to have his friends behind him laughing.
"Well, sorry to break it to you buddy, but I'm a guy." Armin stated first and foremost. "And scaring me half to death is a bad start to getting into my heart. Maybe try a different tactic, like buying me a book, or leaving me alone."
"Wait," the bully pulled back. "You're into guys?"
Shit.
Shit.
Armin put his dollar away, shoving it into his pocket with his eyes glued to the path back to Eren. Armin tried to turn around and book it, running as fast as his legs could carry him, but it was too late. The red headed bully grabbed a hold of his backpack, pulling him back and shoving him against the brick wall of the building.
"Where ya off to? You didn't answer my question." He held Armin to the wall, his friends gathering around with big, menacing smiles on their faces as they blocked out Armin's view of the schoolyard.
Armin looked up with a snarl. "What does it matter to you?" He barked out with annoyance. The little leader of this bully troupe laughed, as did his friends.
"Usually the fags are the easy ones to pick on, yknow why?" The new kid leaned in, making Armin pull back and move his head to the side, avoiding his gaze and breath. The bully didn't care, and only chuckled under his breath. "Because even if you got a teacher, they wouldn't give two shits. Ain't nobody in this school gonna care about the queers, they deserve a knock in the head or two."
"Ah, so you're doing it cause you're too much of a pansy to hurt anyone else?" Armin bit back, turning his head again so he was eye to eye with the bully, his glasses slanted and askew. "Or maybe you're just letting it out on me 'cause you're ashamed you like guys yourself?"
Armin didn't remember much of what happened next, it was all like a blur of white and red. He remembers getting back to the Jaeger household with a bloody nose and (more) broken glasses. Eren was eager to leave the house and punch the shit out of the bully, but when he asked Armin for his name, Armin said he didn't remember, or he's sure he didn't even get the guy's name- only what he looks like.
The next day, Armin walked to chemistry on his own, grabbing his books out of his locker before switching a few folders and books out. Eren has had yet to see him today, and by the looks of it, he wasn't seeing Armin before next period.
Of course, he had a reason to avoid him…
It spread like wildfire that Armin was gay, the new kid posting his findings to a school chat Armin was unaware of and it only took hours after school let out for Armin to get weird personal messages with slurs and pictures that gave the blonde a sick stomach. This morning he found a dick drawn on his locker with Sharpie, and he could hear the whispers of gossip pass behind him as people covered their mouths and galred.
He's kept that secret for so long...why? Why now? He was almost free, highschool almost over, he had made it so far-
"Well if it ain't Alice out of Wonderland… or should I say Harry Potter out of the closet?"
As everyone in the hallway laughed, Armin refused to look at the redhead from yesterday, 'Floch' as his Instagram says. Apparently he learned from Jean about his stupid fantasy puns that he'd compare he and Eren to. It made Armin want to vomit, and he knew he had to leave quickly. He felt everyone's eyes on him, snickers and laughter being heard as Floch walked closer, cracking his knuckles with a shit eating grin.
'Shit, help!'
"Hey! Don't steal my jokes, ginger!"
An arm wrapped itself around Armin's shoulders, nudging his glasses down his nose a bit with a faint blush. Before he could even speak, Armin could smell the expensive cologne and the citrus scent of Jean.
"Oh, well my apologies, didn't know you owned the rights to certain catchphrases. Did I steal your thunder?" Floch put his hands on his hips, walking a bit closer to the pair, and Armin could hear his heart in his ears, his knees shaking at the sight he was seeing. He felt Jean turn his body towards Floch, holding Armin away from the new kid.
"Nah, no harm no foul, but if ya don't mind, it's almost 10, and before chem, I like to catch up on my little buddy here, isn't that right, blondie?" Jean wrapped his arm tighter around Armin's neck, making the boy squeak under his breath, grabbing a hold of Jean's arm with a tight grip. Armin was about to kick the bully, seeing a way to escape, but something stopped him suddenly in his tracks.
The moment Armin let out the squeak of pain, Jean led up a bit, giving Armin more room to wiggle and breath, as if he was trying not to hurt him.
"Aw c'mon man, let me have a chat with him, we had fun yesterday, didn't we?" Floch grinned at Armin, holding his hands out as if he were going in for a hug. "Right by the vending machine, you remember?"
Armin opened his mouth to speak, but only to once again be cut off by Jean pulling him back away from Floch with a snarl. "Go pick on someone else your own size, Forester, maybe go find Hitch to harass again."
"Fine fine, but I get to have my fun later." Floch spat with a cheesy grin, waving Jean off before walking away, the bell ringing throughout the hallway, signifying class was starting in 2 minutes. As the bell stopped, Jean let go of Armin, the blonde pushing him away with a quick jolt of energy against the lockers.
"What was that about!?" Armin asked, fixing his glasses and his hair, reaching for his books he dropped when Jean grabbed him.
"What did it look like, pretty boy!? Don't act all stupid on me, I know you've been top student for 3 years in a row." Jean pushed back, almost sending Armin back to the floor, though thankfully he was able to catch himself. As Armin steadied himself, Jean got a good glance at the bruises on Armin's neck and face, his eyes falling.
"What? Jealous he could throw a harder punch or something?" Armin huffed, noticing the way Jean had his eyes on his bruises like a hawk seeing prey, and it made Armin's stomach turn and throat tighten. Before Armin could push Jean out of the way, heading to class, Jean gabbed Armin's shoulder, stopping him with a smirk.
"Hey...wanna help me prank him back? I have a few ideas up my sleeve." Jean whispered, Armin turning around to eye his bully with a bit of confusion, before seeing the honesty and passion for payback in his eyes. It sparked something in Armin, and he wondered what it could have been, but after a few seconds of thinking, Armin nodded.
"Yeah...let's get him back.