I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin or its characters.

Chapter I – Didn't Have to Go

"You never answer on the phone,

With your nicotine lips and heart of stone…

I look for you by the underpass,

Looks like this love wasn't meant to last."

Funeral Suits -

'All Those Friendly People'

Annie looked ahead and finally saw her destination down a long gravel road, down said road sat a two story mansion that was Reiner's "house". The house was secluded by farm country and surrounded by tall pine trees, which was why Reiner had a reputation for throwing parties; there was no better place. She walked listening to the crunch of gravel under her boots and the on-going party in the distance as she pulled out a cigarette, lighting it, and inhaled. Last she'd checked the time it was 2:45, it'd probably been ten more minutes since then and Annie was just glad she didn't have to walk anymore. Her thoughts kept drifting back and forth to the party she was about to walk into, to what had occurred the hour before. Why is this world so cruel? What did he do to deserve something as horrible as this? The thought of her father made her feel sick to her stomach, partially from the impact from his blow earlier, but mainly because she couldn't believe the person that she loved was doing this to her, and it wasn't even his fault. Who could she blame? She felt fresh new tears fall onto her angrily rubbed her face with her free hand.

She got to the front door and knocked once, but it just swung open. She walked in, bombarded by the smoky atmosphere and dancing bodies everywhere. Hearing the blasting music in the background she recognized the familiar song to be one by Crystal Castles, which was in fact one of her favorite bands. As she walked through the dark rooms, only lit up by the bright lights flashing in every direction, she passed several people she remembered from school. That too-nice guy Marco, who always followed that one guy with the temper… What was his name? Oh yeah… Jean something. She saw Ymir in a corner watching her every move with a petit blonde girl sitting on the chair next to her, Annie quickly turned away before she gave her an excuse to come up to her. Navigating through the sea of people she looked around for Reiner or Bertolt, and finally spotted Reiner dancing against a girl she didn't know. She had black hair that was in two pigtails and grey eyes. Annie squeezed by a couple sucking each other's faces and tapped Reiner's shoulder. He looked upset that someone had just disturbed him and his 'friend' until he saw who was responsible.

"Annie!" Shock was evident from his face and Annie guessed that he had never seen her text message.

"Yeah… hey."

"I-I can't believe you're actually here!"

The song overhead changed songs to something she didn't recognize.

"Mhm… could we go somewhere a little more quiet?" She felt uncomfortably warm and needed to get away from the mass of people.

He nodded and led her to his large kitchen, after he told the girl he'd be right back. It was definitely quieter and didn't have anybody there except them and a maroon colored girl raiding the food cabinets. Annie looked at all the red cups and alcoholic drinks that littered every counter and Reiner must have seen her looking at the liquor because a minute later he asked her "Can I get you a drink?" to which she nodded and watched him pour vodka into a new cup and handed it to her.

"Where's Bertolt?"

"Oh, he got so fucked up he ended up passing out. He's upstairs in my room right now sleepin." He told her while fixing his own drink.

"What about you? You don't seem that fucked, not like everyone else I passed by." She was now taking sips of the beverage in her hand.

"Aha, well… I don't look it… and I guess I don't act it, but trust me when I say, I'm feelin pretty fuckin great right now."

Annie smirked at her drunk, and most likely high, friend and undid the zipper on her coat, taking it off in one swift movement and draped it over her forearm.

"Hey! I remember that shirt! Man, I can't believe you kept it."

"It's comfy…" Annie told him silently; embarrassed that she'd forgotten she was wearing it. Reiner just chuckled to himself from her behavior and kept drinking from his cup.

"So what's with the bag? You didn't just come here for my party did you?"

He looked suspiciously at her lip and she shook her head no and looked down at her shoes. "I wanted to see… if I could stay here, for a while?"

A minute passed when he finally spoke up. "Annie, you know what my answer is."

She looked up at him to see he was smiling. A second later she couldn't help her own small smile make its way on her face. "Thank you, Reiner."

"You can take any of the guest bedrooms, you know where they are." Then he walked out of the kitchen back to the living room. Annie sighed and watched the maroon haired girl munch on a bag of cookies furiously. Annie then gulped the last of her drink and put it on the counter, then opened the door that kept the single staircase which curved and winded and led to the second floor.

As she climbed she looked at the many pictures on the wall, one was of a younger Reiner and his little brother, Riley, standing in front of their old house. Annie missed that house, there was a tree house in the back that Reiner's grandfather had helped build before he died. It was Annie, Reiner and Bertolt's secret place, a place they could go to get away from all the shit in the world. That was until Bertolt moved away, then it was Reiner, and now it was her. But now that they were back together it just wasn't the same as before, too many bad memories where the good ones should be. She got to the top where the door was closed and opened it to reveal a large hallway where even more pictures hung on each wall.

She spotted one of herself, probably ten, with the two boys arm and arm and giving the camera below them the biggest smiles she had seen in a long time.
We look so happy… She reached out and touched the cold glass.

When Annie had finally chosen a room, she left her backpack and coat on the bed and proceeded down the main stairs, back into the raging party. She felt a little off, it had been a long time since she had been to a party, but soon enough she was moving her body to the rhythm. A little earlier Reiner had shared a joint with her, and it wasn't long until she felt it kick in. Reiner had left for the upstairs, with the same girl Annie had seen before, after introducing her to a few of his friends whose names she couldn't recall right now. She was now on her second red cup, dancing in the middle of the crowded room. Her bangs were sticking to her sweaty forehead and her back was drenched from all the dancing she had been doing, but she didn't care. She was feeling too good to care. That was until she saw a certain person across the room and froze.

He was swaying to the music next to an Asian girl, who looked oddly familiar to Annie, and a taller boy who had his arms draped over the girl for support. The taller guy was yelling really loudly about beating the shit out of Jean, who had obviously done something to offend him, and Annie guessed he was really drunk from the slurring in his words. She was watching the blonde, intrigued; until she noticed she was being watched by the exact person she was watching and quickly turned her gaze.

Shit. She glanced back at him and saw he was saying something to his friends, and then he started to maneuver his way around the bodies towards… her. Ohh… no. Not good. She looked around for any type of exit and remembered the back door in the kitchen, but her legs wouldn't move. She was frozen in place watching him slowly approach her, that was, until a girl wrapped her arms around him trying to get him to dance with her. Annie felt her legs obey her and hastily walked out of the room leaving the blonde boy to pry the girls grip off him.

Escaping outside, Annie felt the chilly wind blow through her hair and shivered from the drastic climate change. Tiny rain drops dotted her face and bare arms as she walked through Reiner's backyard. His back yard was a large hill that sloped down into a giant lake with a dock. Thinking that that would be a good place to go and hide for the time being she walked along the stony path. Fuck it's cold. Her stomach still ached and she was sure, along with the cut on her lip, she had a bruise on her jaw. After a couple of minutes she made it to the end of the dock and sat down looking up at the almost full moon. It was even windier down here and she shivered even more, deep in thought.

What is it about him that… intrigues me? Annie had noticed Armin earlier in the week when she had passed him in the hallway; she thought he was cute, in a nerdy-bookish kind of way. Not that she would ever admit that out loud. But no matter how many times she passed him he never seemed to notice her before today. Something about him intimidated her, something she couldn't explain when she looked at his eyes. Feeling they only showed the surface of…

Of what though? I don't know … Maybe that's why she felt drawn to him.

Not that he would believe me, especially now from the way I treated him at school. He'll probably never want to talk to me again.

"Hello."

Annie quickly turned around, in shock, at the intruder. "A-Armin…" She looked up at him and noticed he wasn't looking her in the eyes. "What are you doing here?" It came out more rudely than she had meant it to and she saw him flinch, looking more nervous than ever.

"I was looking for you, s-sorry. I'll just leave."

But as he was turning around she realized she didn't want him to leave, whether because she was just tipsy… or maybe something else. "Um, actually… please stay." Her voice was almost a whisper but he seemed to have heard, despite the ongoing party in the back ground, because he stopped and turned to face her again.

"O-oh… alright." And he sat down next to her, both of them feeling extremely awkward.

"I'm sorry you think–"

"I just wanted to say–" They both said at the same time.

"Um… you go Annie." He said while scratching the back of his head.

She took a deep breath and after a minute, she began. "I'm… ah, sorry. For lunch and…" She felt stupid apologizing. It was the one thing she never let herself do, but she felt like he deserved one. He was only trying to be nice to her. "For snapping at you after school… and I guess snapping at you during school too." She watched him smirk at her. Good, now he probably thinks I'm stupid too. "I-I guess… what I'm trying to-to say is." She took another breath, trying to get herself to stop stuttering. "I'd like to start over… uh, if you want." She looked to him and his smirk had turned into a smile that reached ear to ear. Then he did something that surprised Annie, he laughed.

It was carefree, the kind of laugh that could light up a room. And she blushed because she kind of liked it. Great, now I definitely know I'm not thinking straight… "Wha-what are you laughing at?"

"I'm… I'm really so-sorry!" He said in-between chuckles. "I'm not… not laughing at you. I swear!"

"Then what is it?" She felt herself becoming more and more impatient.

When he calmed down he spoke again. "I guess I've never really been on the other side. It's usually me getting so flustered it's hard to speak. But here you are apologizing… to me. I just think it's one of the most unusual things." He sighed and looked past the lake. "But thank you, Annie." And when he looked back at her with his cheesy smile, her stomach did a somersault and she felt something she hadn't in a really long time.

She felt appreciated. Like he enjoyed that she was with him in that moment.

"And if it's still alright with you. I would also like to start over." She gave him a small nod and watched as he extended his left hand. "Hi, I'm Armin, what's your name?" She accepted the odd handshake and couldn't help but smile too.

"Hi Armin, I'm Annie Leonhart."

Armin's smile got even bigger, if that was even likely, and they sat like that, shaking hands. Him grinning like an idiot, her not really sure what to make of the situation but felt happy, she didn't even know it was possible for her to smile again and even if it wasn't a big smile, it felt incredibly foreign to her. It was a minute before he finally let go and awkwardly scratched the back of his head again. They both sat in silence watching the cars pass on the highway across the lake.

"You should do that more often."

"What's that?"

"Smile" He turned his head to face her once again. "It looks nice on you." She blushed crimson and ran a hand through her shoulder length hair.

"Oh… ah… thank you." Annie didn't know how to react, she was rarely complimented and the fact that it had come from this blonde boy made her even more confused about how to react.

"So why did you move here, Annie?"

Even though she was glad that he had changed the subject, it seemed it only changed to one more uncomfortable for Annie to talk about.

"It was my father's decision, kind of a quick one too." She knew she hadn't fully answered the question, and Armin raised his eyebrow suspicious, but was smart not to press on about it. "Armin, what did you want to say? Before?"

Armin looked at her and she saw something sad, solemn, in his eyes but it was gone as fast as it appeared. "You look cold… here." She had been so busy trying to decipher what his eyes meant that she hadn't noticed that he had taken off his cardigan to give to her.

She shook her head 'no'. "But, then you'll be cold." She hated to rely on others, if she was cold she would suck it up or deal with it herself.

"I don't mind, I'm still warm from the party anyways."

After minutes of him insisting, she finally accepted the cardigan and slipped her arms through, already feeling the warmth from the previous owner's spread through her. "Thank you."

All she got in response was a small smile and a nod.

Annie awoke in her bed still wearing Armin's cardigan and looked up at the ceiling, thinking about the events that occurred the night before. She and Armin had gone inside shortly after he had given her his cardigan and decided that it was time he took his friends home, he had told her that his grandfather had let him borrow the car and she wondered why he said grandfather, not mom or dad. Where were they?It wasn't really her business though, considering they'd only just met. But, thinking about the possibility that his parents might not be in the picture, made her sad. She gripped the collar of the cardigan in her right hand and brought it up to her nose. It smelled like coconut conditioner and the brand of cologne Armin used. It strangely comforted her and throughout the day she caught herself doing it but quickly stopped in case Reiner or Bertolt noticed. It was a side of her she never let anyone see, especially her closest friends. At the moment they were all sitting in Reiner's car waiting for the rest of their food at a drive through.

"Reiner, who was the girl from last night?" Annie asked while she sipped on her Dr. Pepper.

"Oh, she's just some junior."

"Does this junior have a name?"

"Mhm… don't worry about it."

Annie raised her eyebrow, suspicious, and looked back to Bertolt who only gave her a shrug in response so she decided to drop the subject. Finally the rest of their food arrived and they started driving to Bertolt's house.

"Annie, weren't you talking to Armin last night?" Bertolt spoke up from the back seat. "I saw you guys down at the docks from my window."

"Yeah… how do you know him?"

"We have fourth and eighth hour together. He's a good friend… he tutors me sometimes too, it's kinda embarrassing to admit though." Bertolt was now munching on his fries and stuffing food in Reiner's mouth whenever he asked for more.

"Why?"

"Cause he's a grade below us, aha…"

"Oh…"

"So you and Arlert are a thing now, huh?" Reiner gave her a sly smirk.

"Wha!?" Annie could feel her cheeks burning up. "Fuck off Reiner. Course not…" She gave him a punch to the arm as payback for his comment.

"I only tell it how it is, Annibella." He kept on driving, completely unfazed as he received yet another punch from the furious blonde; she hated it when he used her full name.

Armin woke up and looked over at his clock. 11:15 am, a normal time for him to be waking up. He hated getting up early, a trait that seemed to run in his family, and it took all of his effort just to wake up in time for school.

"Good morning, Beatrice." Armin told his pet boa constrictor while he stretched. He looked at the snake in her cage. "You know… now that I think about it, you remind me a lot of this girl I met yesterday." A rustling next to Armin got his attention and he looked over to find a sleeping Eren. Oh, right… Eren wanted to spend the night, considering he was so shitfaced he couldn't even stand up straight. Armin always thought it was crazy that they both managed to fit into his twin bed whenever Eren stayed over.

With a sigh Armin got out of bed and put his sweatpants on, then headed to the bathroom for a much needed pee, plus he thought it would be nice to get some painkillers for his best friend. After putting two tablets down on the bed-side-table, he walked down the stairs and into the kitchen where his grandfather was reading the morning paper.

"Morning" Armin said as he walked past his grandfather to the cupboards, where the bowls were kept, and put one on the table, then opened the fridge to take out the milk, and finally, grabbed the already open box of fruit loops and a spoon and sat down.

"Good morning, Armin. Did you have fun last night?" His grandfather folded the newspaper and put it down in the middle of the table. Armin wondered why his voice sounded hoarse, like he'd been crying. All he could do to respond was nod his head yes as his mouth was now full with his third spoonful. He looked down at the page his granddad had left off at and read the caption.

Annual Memorial for Scientists of Shiganshina District, to be Held Next Week

He slowed his chewing to a stop and felt like throwing everything he'd just eaten back up. His eyes traveled down the page and looked at the picture of his mother and father.

His mother's hair, blonde, like his own, her eyes closed as she gave the camera a big smile and a wave, his father's arm around her shoulders and the other hand in his coat pocket. Behind his glasses was a pair of brilliant blue eyes with a few wrinkles from smiling, which only added to his handsome features.

"They were too young... too full of life." Armin looked up at the sound of his grandfather's voice. Armin watched as he reached out to touch his daughter's face, but his hand only hovered over it like it would burn him if it got too close. In the end he removed his hand and rubbed his eyes behind his spectacles. "Why? Why?"

Armin knew the question wasn't directed at him, so all he could do was continue to watch in silence.

After his grandfather left the room, Armin didn't feel all that hungry anymore so he opted to take a shower instead; maybe the warm water would get his thoughts in order. On the way to the bathroom he bumped into Eren, who had obviously just woken up because he was clutching his forehead in one hand and brushing his teeth with a spare toothbrush in the other.

"Why do I drink, Armin?"

"I've asked you the same question before, Eren. You always say 'cause it's fun' until you wake up the next morning." Armin smirked when he saw his friend roll his eyes and walk past him back in his bedroom. When Armin got to the bathroom he shut the door, and turned the nob of the shower until it was on hot. While he was waiting for the water to warm up; he leaned against the counter and looked through his contacts.

Annie Leonhart

He couldn't believe she had given it to him when he asked. When he first met her, it seemed like she hated him, but now he had her number. What a weird night… maybe she'll want to hang out today? Deciding that he would text her after his shower, he stripped off his clothes and jumped in, feeling the warm water trickle down his neck, shoulders and back, he already felt more relaxed. After finishing up, he put the same clothes back on and walked back to his room while patting his hair dry with his towel. There he found Eren lying with his back against the headboard/bookcase, texting.

"Eren…"

"Hm?" He said without looking up from his phone.

"Showers open... Also, what time do you want me to take you back home?"

"Hmm… why? Do you have somewhere else to be?"

"I… might."

At that Eren gave him a mischievous look.

"Annie?"

He got his response when the blonde turned the color of a cherry.

"It's not what you think, Eren!"

"Hey! I'm not like Mikasa; if you want to like her, go ahead. It's been awhile since you've liked anyone anyways…"

He looked back down at his phone and continued the sentence he was working on. Armin went over to Beatrice's tank and watched her sit in content.

"T-thanks… who're you texting anyways?"

Eren sighed as put his phone down "Guess"

It wasn't even a question. "Mikasa…"

When Eren and Mikasa were together, it was like they were conjoined at the hip. When they weren't, she was always checking in to make sure he was ok. I guess I don't blame her though… anyone would be like that if they went through what she did.

"She's like my second mother!" He got up from the bed, obviously too quickly because a second later he was holding his head and silently cursing to himself. "Damn hangover… where the fuck is my shirt?"

Armin walked over to where Eren's shirt was thrown carelessly in a corner, next to where his jacket and jeans were, and picked it up. "Here… wait, this is mine!" Armin looked up and down at the Guns N' Roses t-shirt that'd been missing for two weeks now.

"Sorry… aha"

"Just give it back at some point, yeah?" Armin threw the shirt at him and pulled out his phone. With one final deep breathe of courage he pressed send.

Annie, its Armin. I just wanted to know if you were busy today.

He set his phone his on his bedside table and changed into a shirt and jeans. When he heard the familiar buzzing, he unlocked his phone and read the message.

What did you have in mind?

He couldn't help but smile to himself for his tiny victory.

Where should I pick you up?

A minute later he received a text with an address on it, it happened to be no other than his friend Bertolt's house.

"Eren, can I take you home now?"

He looked over to a now fully-dressed Eren.

"Sure… I've got Connie coming over anyways."

Armin grabbed his coat, hat and wallet and followed behind Eren as they walked down the stairs. After taking the car keys off its hook he threw them to Eren.

"I'll meet you in the car, gotta tell granddad."

Armin first looked in the book study; his grandfather was nowhere to be seen. Then he walked in the living room, again he wasn't there. Finally Armin approached the back door and saw him outside Of course you'd be there… He opened the back door to reveal a small screen-in-porch where his grandfather was currently spacing out, obviously deep in thought.

"Granddad" No response so he tried again. "Granddad?"

This time he seemed to hear him, because he turned around trying to find the intruded that broke his train of thought.

"Hm? Wh-what? Oh Armin, what is it my boy?"

"I'm going to take Eren home now."

"Alright then" His grandfather turned back around, facing the yard.

"And, I was wondering if it'd be alright if I came home later? I made plans with a friend…"

"A new friend?"

"Ah, yes… her name is Annie." Armin scratched the back of his head.

"Oh, ho, ho! A girl? Good job, sonny." He clapped Armin on his shoulder, a little roughly.

"So, you don't need the car?"

"Oh, no! I let Marco take over the shop today. So, I'm fine if you hang out with her; just make sure I get to meet her someday. Got it?"

Armin smiled "Yes sir." He turned to go back inside, when his grandfather spoke up again.

"And Armin?"

"Yeah?"

"I… I love you, son. Don't forget that." He watched as his grandfather's eyes fill with sorrow for a second time that day. Armin walked over to hug him.

"I know. I love you too." He felt his grandfather's tears dampen his shirt. After a minute his grandfather pulled away and wiped away his tears.

"Sorry, last thing you want is an old man breaking down."

"No, Granddad it's alright… just… you know Mom loved you."

Armin's grandfather sighed.

"I know… my biggest regret was never telling her enough… but, you get going now. Don't keep Eren or your lady friend waiting any longer."

Armin nodded and left his grandfather, taking one more glance back at him before joining his best friend.

Thank you so much for reading!
Sorry it took longer uploading than originally planned, I've been busy with work, graduating, etc.
Next - Chapter II : I Am With You