Bertholdt strolled along the aisles of one of the many department stores in Mall Sina; practically the largest shopping center in the country. Surely within this giant cluster of stores, vendors, and illegal dealers he would be able to find Annie a suitable birthday present. But as he spent countless hours rummaging through knick knacks ranging from stuffed bunnies to fake nose rings, nothing appeared to be special enough to give his dear friend. He wanted this gift to be memorable, but not overly expensive. The last thing he wanted was for Annie to feel indebted.

For Annie's past birthdays, Bertholdt's presents were, quite blatantly, lacking. He never could figure out what to buy the woman, despite knowing her since they were kids. Reiner was never any help; he always managed to buy Annie the dumbest things, which she would later toss in the trash. She didn't even keep it a secret anymore. On her fourteenth birthday, Reiner gave her a CD of 'Springer's Best Hits'. Annie took one look at the short bald man on the front cover and tossed the package into the trash, claiming that Reiner's visit put enough stupidity in her house for the year, even without the CD. As for Bert, his gifts were usually set out of sight on a high closet shelf only to be forgotten and collect dust.

Not that his gifts were any better than Reiner's. That same year, he gave Annie a sweatband with matching sweat bracelets, or whatever they were called. It seemed like a good present at the time, she looked so athletic and fit that she had to work out. Long story short, Bertholdt was glad she didn't kick his ass after receiving the unwanted gift. She probably thought he was trying to tell her that she was fat or something. Which was in no way true. But even if Annie put on some weight, he would still like her as much as he always had.

Bertholdt exhaled deeply; the shoppers nearby gave him a questioning look, and then moved on. This year he had to give Annie the perfect birthday present. If only he could ask someone for help. Other than Reiner and himself, Berthold didn't think Annie had any friends. The three of them lived in a small farming community, and if Annie made any new friends, word would get around quickly. She had a town-wide reputation for being a tad cold. At the very least, this made Bertholdt feel good about himself. He was one of the two people Annie allowed herself get close to. Although, there were times when he swore she hated both him and Reiner. Usually, this was due to Reiner doing something stupid, but Bert could easily make her mad if he wasn't careful. Which means, to stay on Annie's good side, he absolutely could not fuck up her birthday this year.

To make matters even worse, Bertholdt was on a time limit. Today, Annie turned eighteen. To make her birthday special, Reiner and Bert planned a surprise party. It would only be the three of them, but that was all the people they needed. The inseparable trio, or so he wished. The surprise party was Reiner's idea, he was the most outgoing of the three. But the party was planned to take place at Bertholdt's house. The surprise party seemed like a bad idea to begin with, but if Reiner hosted it the entire town would be invited and he'd force Annie to wear a silly hat. That would end badly. So instead, Bertholdt took upon the responsibility of throwing Annie a party. If she hated it, it would be at Bertholdt's expense, but at least it would make Annie feel better.

Since there wasn't a shopping mall in their town, Berthold had driven into a neighboring city to buy a gift for Annie. It wasn't too far out, but the twenty minute ride back home gave him less time to figure out what to buy. And this left him in his current predicament.

He stumbled through the aisles, florescent beams engulfed the room. In his search, Bertholdt had ended up in the middle of the hair care department. The air smelled of harsh chemicals, masked with the scent of flowers and fresh rain; not that water actually gave off a scent. He picked up a sleek purple bottle and rolled it around in his hands. Annie seemed to be more of a purple kind of girl, but she didn't seem big into hair care; most of the time she put her hair up in a clip. But everyone had to use shampoo to keep their hair clean, or at least some kind of soap. If anything, this would save Annie from a future shopping trip. Bertholdt uncapped the bottle and took a whiff of its scent; this is what Annie would smell like, so he had to be meticulous in his decision... If she actually used his present, that is. His senses were engulfed in the aroma of fresh apples. It smelled better than the typical floaty flowery crap that every other girl wore, but it didn't seem real enough for Annie.

Annie is the type of girl who smells like apples, because she was in the orchards all day. Not because she bathed with some fake smelling chemicals. And that's one of the things Bertholdt loved about her; other than that she was totally fine with the smell of manure. Nothing in any of these chain department stores seemed real enough for Annie; how could he buy her something that millions of other girls also owned. But there wasn't enough time to make her a present by hand, and he wasn't particularly skilled at anything either. Bertholdt swallowed his pride and eyed the bottle of shampoo. "Are you good enough for Annie?" he questioned. Before he could get a reply from the inanimate object, a vibration tickled against his thigh. Loud ringing shortly followed. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. The face of a certain blond man appeared on the screen.

"Hello," Berthold mumbled into the mouthpiece of his phone, which was held in place by his shoulder, as he continued to examine the hair care products. He didn't have time for another interruption, at this rate he'd be stuck buying Annie the shitty shampoo.

A bit of static rang out from the phone, followed by the gruff voice of a party boy. "Dude, it's Reiner," said the man on the other line. Bertholdt's body tensed at the sound of his friend's voice over the phone, he knew the news that would be coming next. "I am right outside of Annie's house. She thinks I'm giving her a ride to our MMA class."

"Well, it's good that everything is going as planned, for you," Bertholdt said, putting emphasis on 'you'. Things were definitely not going as planned for himself.

"I know, right? Look, I'm telling her that I am pickin' you up too. Is everything all set up at your place?"

Bertholdt gulped and tightened his fingers around his cellular. "Um, yea. I am ready. Just take the long way there, okay… So Annie doesn't know where you are headed."

"Bert, did you even listen to me? I told her that I'm picking yo-"

"Oh, right. Well. Gotta go, Bye!" Bertholdt said, interrupting Reiner.

"Ber-"

Bertholdt flipped his phone closed, drowning out Reiner's voice. So much for that conversation.

Bertholdt's house was close to Annie's, no more than a five minute walk. But knowing Reiner, he would 'chill' at Annie's place for at least half an hour before they both got into the car. Reiner had the reputation of being a bit laid back and untimely. If Bertholdt quickly rang up his purchase and sped home, there was a chance he could make it to his house before them, and maybe even set out a few balloons or something.

Outstretching his long legs, Bertholdt dashed across the linoleum floors and over to the check out lanes. Thankfully there was no line, but there was a less-than-happy cashier with a gruff voice similar to Reiner's. Her name tag read Ymir; it sounded vaguely familiar, but Bertholdt didn't have time to think much about it.

"Thank ya' for shopping at Market Trost, please set your item on the scann-"

Bertholdt shoved the item into her arms, "Okay thanks, just scan this up please." The woman proceeded with painstakingly slow actions. Bertholdt nervously drummed his fingers upon the counter. "A bit faster maybe?" he asked.

The woman sighed, obviously less than happy to be there, "Your total is fifty dollars."

Bertholdt gasped, "That much for a bottle of shampoo!?" He looked down into his wallet, it held only a twenty dollar bill and a few coins. "damnit damnit damnit" He quickly scanned the nearby products for something— a lighter, some gum, condoms. All products were useless, and the last one was... well... Bertholdt blushed, he didn't want Annie to get the wrong idea.

"On second thought..." Bertholdt shoved his wallet down into his jean pocket and backed away from the counter, "I think I'll be leaving." He walked out of the store, lowering his face down, hiding from embarrassment. Now he really looked like some country hick who couldn't even afford a bottle of shampoo. But to be fair, the price was almost ten times greater than what he paid for his own personal hygiene products, and he considered himself to be a very cleanly type of guy.

Not looking where he walked, nor paying much attention to his outer surroundings, Berthodlt felt a small figure bump into his lower half, with enough force to make him teeter a bit. "oof," said the voice of a girl below him, as she fell to the ground with a slight thud. As she fell, a small bundle escaped from her hands and onto the floor. Bertholdt abruptly stopped walking and took a step back. In front of him, lying on the mall's dirty floor, was a petite blonde girl. She couldn't have been an inch over 5 ft. Scattered around her were multiple photographs of herself and a familiar looking, tall brunette.

"A...A-" Bertholdt stuttered.