all i ever knew (eren jaeger x fem!oc)

menace to society

"I don't think you should get rid of all this. You're gonna miss it someday."
- arabella, chapter one, prologue

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My eyes grow ten times bigger, as if grabbing in more of my environment will unveil a lie before me and not the truth that I'm hearing.

"There's no way," I let out.

He was there on that night? He knew why I moved away? He knew what caused the division of your friend group?

He knew all that and he's done nothing.

Suddenly, I'm tackling Armin into the bed and shoving his form with immense force.

"You fucking knew this entire time and you didn't say shit to anyone!" I scream at him. "How vile are you? You're almost as bad as he is. You played along the entire time and now want to talk to me about being the better person?!"

"I know, Ara, I'm sorry," he frantically chokes out, hands over his face. "I-I couldn't say anything on my own because Eren found me after. I was trying to slip away after you left but he brought a girl in. Once he saw me leaving the room, he realized I had heard it all. Because of his money, he threatened to run out my parent's business in the bakery and sell it off to an enterprise. I couldn't let my family run out of all the hard work they had put in, so I was stuck with no one to help me," he cries out.

I loosen my grip, severe hatred coursing through my veins at the thought of Eren controlling even Armin's livelihood.

Relaxing, we move back to sitting cross legged on the bed, but I can tell Armin is still jumpy and afraid from my outburst.

I let out a huff. "Fine, Armin. I'll help you. But how the hell are we going to change anything?"

"I'm glad you asked Ara," he exchanges a concerned smile, "I've had a lot of time to think about this. I want him to be played in the way he's played others so many times."

I give a nod and wipe my hands across my thighs. "So you want me to fuck him and leave him? I can do that tonight."

"No," Armin states with awkward aggression, "If you do that, he'll just repeat the pattern of apathy for other people. Even if you're dominant, he'll still think he has the upper hand. It's important that you don't fuck him whatsoever."

"Then what the hell are we going to do?" I repeat in dismay.

"We're going to make him endure something he's never been through before. We're going to make him fall in love, with you."

I'm already wary of this. I was in love once, with Eren to be exact, and look where it got me. Now, I can't imagine myself showcasing the attributes that would make someone actually fall head over heels in love for me.

"How exactly, Armin? He has a heart of stone, what if love only makes him worse?" I ask.

"Growing up with Eren, I've been able to see how he reacts in situations. From what I've gathered, falling in love to receive nothing in return will break him, shut him down in a way that he deserves. As for how we'll do this, that's where you'll be the key."

Armin continues on his plan, "I need you to keep being yourself. Actually, no. I need you to lean into your dominance like you never have before. That's strikes you as competition to Eren. And whether he likes it or not, Eren is unintentionally drawn to competition. It's a unfulfilling desire within his heart that he has to put those around him in the dust for him to have pride in who he is. It's like he has this internal radar for threats to his ego."

Armin's words reign true in my mind, but I'm still hopeless at the ability for heartbreak to make Eren a better person, I'd suspect he'd become worse. Nevertheless, I continue listening.