Chapter Text
Armin knew he could endure the middle seat for four hours. Sure, not being able to stretch his legs or rest his head was going to take their toll on his overall well being, but the middle seat was all he could afford. Despite what many people thought, just because he played college tennis did not mean he was rich. While yes, most people in the team were rich, it didn't mean that he was.
It took a lot of convincing Coach Ackerman to let him do a semester abroad. Levi always wanted them on campus to practice beyond the stipulated NCAA hours. In fact, when they reached the limit of permitted practice hours, he forced Mikasa and Marlo to coordinate team practices, which were usually at 6am five times a week.
With a coach like that, it was a surprise really how he managed to weasel himself into a semester abroad. Eren and Mikasa always used to say he was a manipulative bastard, but he didn't think that was at all true. But it turns out that he was either very manipulative, or simply a burden on the team. Either way, everything was going according to plan.
The flight was apparently full, which meant that he would be stuck between two people for four hours, no working around it. It sucked really, but he didn't expect any better for a flight going to a year-round tourist destination.
Hopefully his seat neighbor was a small person so he could invade the leg space if even a little bit.
"Excuse me, I'm in that seat."
He froze when he heard the voice. It was too awful to be true, and what were even the odds of this happening?
His prayers had been answered but in the worst way possible, because standing in the aisle asking for passage, was Annie Leonhart.
She looked exactly the same as he had seen her a few months ago. Wearing her hair in that same low bun, with the same black sweatpants, and annoying Marley University hoodie.
Her eyes widened in shock as they met his, and for a moment neither moved. Really, what were the odds of having Annie Leonhart, the traitor, sitting next to him on his semester abroad trip?
"Are you sure?" he asked before he could stop himself.
"Yes. Twenty three A."
She shoved her ticket in his face and he stopped a groan of annoyance coming out. He stood up from his seat and allowed he to take her seat. She did so quickly, only carrying a small backpack with her.
Quickly taking back his seat, he put on his headphones to try ignore the presence to his left. From the periphery he noticed her doing the same.
Knowing that he would perhaps not survive the next four hours, Armin took his phone out and opened the one place he knew people would understand him.
The Levinators
You guys are not gonna believe who's next to me
Connie: Young Sheldon!
Sasha: Say hi to him for me pls!!!
Connie: or maybe it's Clavicular…
Ymir: airplanemaxxing
Connie: vacationmaxxing
Ymir: economymaxxing
Sasha: poor armin, getting mogged this early in his trip😔
Connie: yeh not even two hours in
damn
Mikasa: Who's next to you armin?
Annie
Sasha: huh????
Connie: 😟😟😟
Yeah
Connie: why?
Ymir: I bet that was planned by our great leader
Levi
He wants to make sure nobody plans for study abroad ever again
Sasha: Lowkenuenly that sounds like smth he would do
Connie: Lowkirley ymir might be onto smth
Eren: WHO IS NEXT TO YOU?!?!?!!
Mikasa: Annie
Historia: Ask her why she's going there?
Sasha: Pleaseeeeee I need to know🙏
Fine, I'll ask her
"Umm, Annie?"
The blonde girl brought her right headphone back.
"What?"
"What brings you here?"
"I'm going to Puerto Rico. Thought someone as smart as you could've figured that one out."
Armin almost rolled his eyes, but didn't. "Well yeah, but why?"
She sighed. "If you must know, I'm doing my study abroad there."
That surprised Armin. Back when they talked, Annie never expressed any interest in doing a study abroad. In fact, back then tennis was her only priority. To take a semester off was simply unthinkable.
"Me too."
"Didn't ask." She pulled her headphone back and closed her eyes, effectively ending their, if it could even be called, conversation.
The Levinators
Connie: This is so insane
Ymir: Armin must've done smth to piss off God
Historia: Don't say that
Maybe this is a blessing in disguise
Jean: …
Eren: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Sasha: 🤨
Connie: mAyBe itS a BleSSiNg in dIsGuIsE☝️🤓
Mikasa: lol
Historia: ok fine maybe not a blessing
but maybe it's not all bad
She's going to study abroad
In Puerto Rico
Sasha: say sike rn
That's what she told me
Eren: And you believed her?
Why would she lie?
Eren: bc it's annie
Ymir: to mess with your brain
psychological warfare type shi
Sasha: wow that's so evil
Connie: 👹
Jean: fitting
I don't think she was lying
she's literally on this flight
to san juan
less than a week before classes start
Eren: so?
Nevermind
I have to go
I'll text when I land
Ymir: We'll assume the worst if you don't
Armin didn't think it was possible for someone to go to the bathroom nine times in a four hour flight, but somehow Annie did it. Wether she did it out of necessity or to simply never let him rest was out of his scope of knowledge, but it was annoying as hell. She should've picked the aisle seat if she knew she was going to stand up every twenty minutes.
Besides that and a bit of turbulence in the beginning, the flight wasn't too bad. The selections of movies was great (not that it mattered since he just watched Crazy Rich Asians for the hundredth time), and they had ginger ale on the flight.
Before he knew it, they were descending onto the San Juan airspace. Annie opened the window and he was able to see outside. It was his first time outside of the mainland US, and to say that he was excited was an understatement.
Sure, he was a bit apprehensive about his Spanish, but that was also why he was doing this immersive experience. He would improve his Spanish one way or another.
Half the airplane clapped when they landed in San Juan, which made Armin smile a little in hopeful expectation of what his semester would look like. He could go to the beach, meet new people, see the 16th century fortress…it was going to be an amazing experience.
Annie sighed in annoyance next to him. Right, she was also studying abroad in Puerto Rico for some reason. But that didn't matter, the campus was supposed to be big enough that they wouldn't see each other, and they didn't even study the same thing. Hopefully this airplane was the last time they would see each other before next semester at their tennis meet.
It seemed Annie had the same idea, because as soon as they got off the airplane, it seemed like she was walking away from a nuclear radiation site.
They walked in the same direction—fifty feet apart—towards the baggage claim. It didn't take long, and Armin made the conscious decision to stand as far away from Annie as possible.
Taking out his phone, he noticed that his lack of update had scared his group chat.
The Levinators
Mikasa: @armin let us know when you land
Historia: I just checked and his flight landed 15 minutes ago
Sasha: ARMIN
ARE YOU SAFE
Historia: Maybe he doesn't have internet yet
Jean: He's going to PR not north korea
Connie: Lowkirkley north korea would be safer for him🙌🇰🇵
Historia: Connie please stop saying lowkirkley
Connie: Why?? You never let me be myself :(
Historia: that's not true! :(
Ymir: APOLOGIZE CONNIE😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡
Connie: What why?!
I spoke the truth!
I spoke my truth.
Ymir: I give two shits about your truth
You made Historia sad
Now you gotta pay
Sasha: there's nothing more beautiful than an alpha defending her omega🥰
Connie: she made a statement so lesbian 😼👩❤️💋👩 even her gang scissored her👩❤️💋👩✂️😍
Eren: stop joking around! my best friend may be dead!
I'm alive
sorry, just took my phone out now
Eren: never scare us like that again!
Connie: you had daddy worried kitten😿
yeah i can see that
Miksasa: how was the flight?
not bad
went by pretty fast
couldn't take a nap however
Sasha: what time is it there?
it's the same time
Sasha: wait really?
Connie: yeah i thought it was four hours
four hour flight, not time difference
Connie: 🤯🤯🤯🤯
gonna pick up my bag now
text you guys later
Mikasa: Please do
Eren: Godspeed brother🫡
The bags took around twenty minutes to come out, in which time Armin went to the bathroom and splashed some water on his face. It hadn't been a long flight or a bad one, but something about it had been draining. Maybe it was the tense atmosphere with his seat neighbor that didn't allow him to relax, or maybe it was that he didn't eat a good overpriced airport lunch.
While waiting for his bag to come out, he saw from the corner of his eye Annie picking up hers and leaving.
Finally. Hopefully that's the end of that.
But of course that wasn't the universe's plan.
After grabbing his suitcase, he walked towards the exit, where his host mother had said she would be waiting for him with a banner. And she hadn't lied. There she was, with a banner that read ¡Bienvenidos a Puerto Rico Annie y Armin!
And of course, Annie stood next to the woman with a face that could kill a thousand men.