A/N: Hey, it hasn't been a year yet! Awesome!

So ah, if there's anyone left over from last year, nice to see you again! And to new readers, I hope you enjoy this! I don't think chapter one's writing is too dated yet, though Annie's character may be significantly less snarky. She'll get better as the story goes on, I promise.

I'm going to do my very best to update this every Thursday. My other story, Loss, Regret, and Annie currently takes precedence, but that one's (almost) totally completed already. As for Fritz the Ditz here, well, story planning currently has it going past thirteen chapters, so you guys are in for a real treat! Let's just hope I can stick to the updating schedule and all that good stuff.

Not every chapter will be this choppy and segment-y, don't worry!

Thanks for sticking it out with me, guys!

oh and yes, this is an extremely fluffy story. If you don't like fluffy cheese, I don't think you'd like this :P

update: Thanks, Accidentally The Whole Fanfic! Proofreading isn't one of my strong points! Sometimes what sounds good on paper/while typing is very awkward and clunky to read.


Annie sprung herself up from the rock, taken completely by surprise. She wasn't expecting that, to say the least.

"There's no way that's true," she said, trying to laugh it off. It was a good prank, she had to admit. It really had her going.

But Fritz didn't laugh with her. Instead, his brows were furrowed and his eyes held no indication of mischief. He looked completely serious.

Annie gulped, still coming to terms. "F-Fritz, you're for real?"

He nodded.

"Why me?"

"Because I like you."

He could stop saying that any time!

"That... doesn't give me an answer, though," she said, contradicting her thoughts and frowning. "Why me?"

He seemed to take a few moments to think about it, rubbing his neck. His serious demeanor was replaced with a sheepish smile. "Well, I, y'know... the usual reasons for liking someone."

"So I'm just a generic crush?" She knew he didn't mean it the way she did.

"N-no! Not at all!" He waved his hands around. "You're really special, Annie!"

There were so many other girls in town who she thought would come before her. Whenever Fritz got hurt, Angela bandaged him up. Elise disciplined him, probably more than Annie herself did, Agate shared his spunky attitude and love for animals... Meanwhile, she was just Annie. What did she have to offer?

She smiled half-heartedly. "But you don't have any reasons?"

He shook his head. "Not any good ones."

Annie rolled her eyes, though she didn't really have any specific reasons for liking him, either. Maybe it really could work.

...Or maybe she'd make a fool of herself when it blew up in her face.

She started getting frustrated. She had to do this the hard way, then.

"W-well, hypothetically, Fritz," she began, not meeting his eye but feeling the heat of his stare, "if two people like each other, then - "

"Then they go steady, right?"

She blinked, taken aback. Did he really just say that?

Regardless of the old-fashioned way he put it, did that mean he understood what he was saying? Did he realize the implications of his words?

With a deep breath, she closed her eyes, nodded, and smiled. "Yeah. They go steady."

One week later, Annie was pretty used to being around him. Their relationship had barely progressed in its intimacy, though, and she grew antsy whenever she thought of them doing... more romantic things, being closer.

Not that she thought about it often or anything.

The two found themselves at the restaurant for lunch, though Fritz spent most of the time gushing to Raeger about Annie. Neither of them was particularly listening.

"And, and sometimes she'll make me pancakes shaped like little hearts, and the syrup - "

"Fritz," Raeger snapped, cutting him off immediately, "I don't care how often you kiss your girlfriend."

Annie nearly spit out her drink and Fritz backed away. Raeger didn't need to go that far.

She bit her lip. Then again, it wasn't like he could get Fritz to be quiet any other way...

Raeger turned around, startled by the sudden silence, and saw them both blushing profusely. He cleared his throat. "Sorry, you two. That was pretty insensitive of me."

The three of them sat in an uncomfortable silence as Fritz and Annie finished their food.

She wasted no time getting up, excusing herself to both guys. That was embarrassing, to say the least.

She sighed heavily with a hand pressed up against her chest, feeling her heart pound rapidly.

There was the sound of footsteps behind her. She turned around, though she had a pretty good idea of who it was beforehand.

Fritz offered a small smile, obviously still shaken up himself. "Can we keep hanging out?"

Annie's heartbeat grew unsteady. But she couldn't let him know or see that. "Sure."

"Ah, Annie!" Fritz exclaimed. "You're veering off the edge! Veering off!"

"I know, I know! I'm controlling it!" she hollered back.

Annie didn't question it when he'd pulled out the remote-controlled truck, used to him doing the practically impossible at this point. She went along with it, but she couldn't say there wasn't a lingering thought in her mind. Where did he get it?

Because of the instability of the hills she had it driving over, the truck finally flipped over. They both groaned, disappointed. Annie handed the remote to Fritz and walked over to inspect the vehicle.

"Guess it didn't have enough battery left," she mumbled. Maybe she shouldn't have tried out all those stunts.

Fritz stood beside her. "I'm surprised, though. You're really good at steering that thing!"

She rolled her eyes playfully. "That wasn't what you had me believing. But yeah." She smiled. "We used to have one like this back home. It was a helicopter, though."

"Whoa!" Fritz's eyes grew wider. "Do you still have it? Maybe when we visit we can pick it up."

"N-no," she said abruptly. She cleared her throat, realizing she must have startled him. "I mean, it broke years ago. I'm pretty sure my dad threw it away by now."

She felt relieved he didn't catch on or ask more regarding the topic, but then she realized something.

"And what makes you think I'd bring you home?!"

Fritz grinned sheepishly. "I dunno. I thought I was a keeper?"

Her face grew hot and she turned her head away. "We-we'll see."

He seemed unperturbed, though, and picked up the dead truck, tucking it away with the remote into his torso. He looked over at her. "So... wanna do something else?"

For some reason, Raeger's words from earlier flooded her mind. She quickly shook her head to make them disappear. "It's getting pretty late. I should go home – I still need to put food out for the animals."

"Well, lemme help!"

"No..." she said warily, stepping back. "Remember the last time you helped with the animals?" He nearly used up her entire reserve of feed, and she had to keep her animals on a strict diet for a while so they could work off the excess.

"C'mon, Annie! I'm your boyfriend! At least let me walk you home." He set the truck down on a small pile of bricks.

She sighed, not really feeling like putting up a fight. She nodded slowly. "Okay." She bit her lip. "And seriously... you don't need to remind me of that. I'm already aware."

He laughed loudly beside her, eliciting a smile from her. At least they made each other happy. She glanced away in embarrassment. Not that she'd admit that so openly.

"So, uh, if we're dating and all," Fritz started, his tone making her even more nervous, "can I do... this?"

He grabbed her hand tightly and looked up at her, grinning stupidly.

Annie's cheeks heated up. "Do whatever you want," she said softly, looking the other way.

His hand trembled a bit in hers. "Don't tell me that!"

She stifled a laugh and tightened her grasp.

The walk up the winding hills was long and quiet, but they didn't let go of each other's hand. The atmosphere surrounding them was serene and peaceful, comfortably so until they stopped in front of her door.

The air was crisp and clean, the night was quiet except for a few crickets' chirps, and there wasn't anyone in sight on her acres of land.

Fritz suddenly let go of her hand, bringing his own up to rub the back of his neck. He sighed. "Uh, what Raeger said earlier... Sorry."

Annie was confused, and it must have shown on her face. "For what?" Unless he meant all that cutesy, cheesy nonsense about her he was spouting earlier.

"For, y'know... not being very boyfriend-y. I figured you probably wanted me to take the lead and do something 'cause I'm the guy, but the more I thought about it, the more nervous I got. So I just didn't do anything."

She didn't quite know what to think of that. It wasn't that doing romantic things hadn't crossed her mind, but for one, they were both still very young, and so was their relationship yet. She bit her lip.

Just the fact that he'd been thinking about all this, too, though...

So Fritz also had his own insecurities.

She hugged him, wrapping her arms all the way around him. She buried her face in the crook of his shoulder. "Don't apologize... you idiot. I'm nervous, too."

"H-hey!" he protested loudly, then his voice grew quieter with every word. "I know I probably deserve to be called that, but I don't wanna hear it from you..."

She hugged him more tightly. "Sorry," she muttered pathetically. "It just came out."

He wrapped his arms around her cautiously, resting his chin atop her head after fully realizing the difference in their heights.

They stayed like that for a while until an owl hooted from the woods far back, startling them both. They pulled apart, looked at each other, and laughed at the shock on their faces.

Then Fritz finally decided to head home.

As Annie watched him leave, she wondered if he started wearing a new kind of cologne – or just started wearing it in general. His scent, and the memory of it, left her stomach flip-flopping.


~CGA