We'll Always Have Paradis
Chapter 11
They woke up in the late morning. Annie found herself still enveloped in Reiner's embrace. After her early morning cry, however embarrassing, her mind felt a bit lighter. For the first time since her recovery, she only now noticed the amount of the pressure that had been bouldering down on her. Although the weight of it remained heavy, pieces of it started to chip away partly due to Reiner and his chiseling personality.
As much as she wanted to deny it, she did find Reiner's warmth and scent comforting. The way he had his body pressed against her back added a sense of security that she didn't realize she was missing. As if on cue, he nuzzled against the crook of her neck and his arms tightened around her. She did not want that feeling to end, but the soothing rhythm of his breathing went stagnant the moment he roused.
"Awake?" He mumbled into her shoulder blade; his thick lashes tickled her sensitive skin of her neck.
"Hrm," was her response. The thought of leaving the coziness of the bed agitated her.
Her mind must have been playing tricks on her when she felt his lips touched her shoulders and his fingers crawling nimbly up her thigh. By the time she flipped to face him, he had already broken free from their cuddle.
He stretched and yawned as he sat upright. "Got plans for today?" he chirped, too preppy for his own good.
She gave him a deadeye stare. She knew that he knew she did not have any plans. Why bother asking if not to gloat at his own popularity? But then her heart skipped a beat, wondering if he was implying something else. She reached under the covers, fingering the hem of her shirt. She brushed her toes up his calf, but he shifted away before she got any further.
"I'm doing a grocery run. Want to join me?"
The budding smile on her lips dropped like an anvil in an antiquated bunny cartoon. Disappointed, Annie rolled out of bed to start the day. But not before taking off her shirt and tossing it at Reiner's head. He pulled her shirt away from his face just in time to steal a glance of her perky breasts and pink nipples as she searched for a bra.
Reiner strutted out of the shower after taking care of the morning wood that Annie contributed to. He liked the casualness of their relationship, whatever it was. She liked to tease him, and he didn't mind her games for the most part, especially since the outcomes were usually in his favor. Despite copulating many times over, there was a naivete about her that he couldn't quite put a finger on.
As Reiner brushed his teeth, his mind drifted to the two men that Annie mentioned that one time on the fire escape. He wondered if she was still seeing them and if they were getting the same treatment that she was giving him. Jealousy reared its ugly horns in the back of his mind as he envisioned Annie writhing in pleasure as she gets double penetrated by two faceless men. Reiner knew that he shouldn't feel this way given the nature of their relationship or lack thereof. He should be the last person to judge someone's history with his checkered past. But still, he could not help thinking about those two mystery men that literally came before him. Why was he thinking about that all of a sudden?
"Annie is a bad liar and an even worse actor. You know that." Bertholdt reasoned, sitting on the wet edge of the porcelain tub.
His long legs stretched across the length of the compacted room as he hunched over in thought. Despite his tall form, he relegated mostly in the shadows. That man could physically fill up an entire room, yet his mild presence would never be overbearing.
Reiner recalled the fearful look she gave him on their first night and how she trembled in his arms. That could not have been faked. She was definitely inexperienced even though she tried to hide it. Being a fast learner, especially when it came to picking up physical movement and technique, she could trick someone who was unfamiliar with her past. But he knew her better after all those years training with her. Even the blowjob last night started off like she was following a step-by-step guide from an internet forum or WikiHow. Then she improvised by analyzing his reaction and improved tremendously along the way. That was how she functioned.
"Annie isn't the type that likes getting involved with a bunch of people. When does she even have the time?" Bertholdt assured him with a sad smile as if he was thinking about his own failing to ask out his high school dream girl. "I mean, she has always been a loner."
Reiner glanced at the brunette through the mirror as the condensation cleared, his jealousy subsiding with it. Bertholdt's right. She had her secrets, but this was not one of them.
When Reiner swung open the bathroom door, Annie handed him the coffee mug that she had been drinking out of as she traded places with him. He took a sip as he walked away and recoiled when the sugar grains assailed his taste buds.
Today was one of those rare fall days when the weather was warm enough to go around town without a coat, so long as they avoided the shade.
Reiner had on a black long-sleeved ribbed sweater that accentuated his very toned upper body paired with some white slim jeans and black loafers. His sleeves were purposefully pushed up to reveal his muscular forearms. He leaned against the wall by the front door with his own cup of black coffee in one hand while browsing through the news on his phone in the other, waiting for Annie to get ready. On that note, the door to the bedroom creaked open.
She stepped out in a loose white wide-necked cropped sweatshirt that hung off her shoulder and she matched it with tightly fitted black yoga pants and white platform sneakers. Her hair was pulled back into a French braid.
"You look like you're going to the gym. Are you sure you want to go to the store like that?" He glared at her partially exposed midriff and the visible outline of her round ass through the leggings.
She shrugged, "I'm not going to dress up to go to the supermarket," completely missing his implications.
Before he could protest more, she threw open the apartment door and headed down the stairs. He sighed in defeat as he followed her to his car.
Annie immediately pulled out a cigarette as soon as she buckled her seatbelt.
"Hey. Absolutely not," Reiner said before she could light it. "I'm still trying to get the tobacco smell out of the leather after Le Chateau."
"I'll have the windows open." She negotiated with the stick bobbing between her lips.
"You and I know that smell is just going to blow back into the car."
She rolled her eyes. "I'll take my car then."
She tugged on the handle as the locks simultaneously clicked shut, earning Reiner a nasty glare from her. She reached for the little knob of the lock, but he snatched her hand before she could pull.
"C'mon, Annie," he asserted, sounding a lot harsher than he planned, "We're just going to the store. Can you give it a break? It's literally less than ten minutes away."
Through the windshield, the sun beamed hotly in the cloudless afternoon sky. The occasional chilly autumn breeze entered through the windows, reminding them to not take this weather for granted. The short, quiet drive to the market felt a lot longer and more agonizing after their little talk. Reiner stole a few glances over at Annie's direction as she looked out of the passenger window with her fingers fidgeting on her lips. She was clearly fuming but she did not make a sound, nor did she look at him during the entire ride.
When the car pulled into a spot in the half empty parking lot, Annie leaped out of the vehicle before it came to a full halt. Reiner chided her on safety as she walked ahead of him. Her cigarette had already been lit and she finished it in a few breathless puffs before making it to the entrance. He followed behind her with a shopping cart.
Reiner studied their reflection from the automatic doors and wished they coordinated their outfits better because it looked like they were trying to emulate Picasso's Guernica, both in color and their dower expression.
The store was relatively large with light gray walls and a waxed concrete floor. The pipes in the ceiling were exposed to give it an industrial feel, but the whole place was lit with a warm lighting so that the food seemed more enticing to the shoppers. The mouthwatering smell of fresh produce and artisan cheese permeated the air.
"Is there anything you want to eat this week?" Reiner asked, taking off his sunglasses as they sauntered through the produce section. "I'll make it for you." It was his way of making peace.
Annie shrugged, still a bit angry about the incident in the car earlier. So, Reiner picked up his usual fruits and vegetables but adjusted for an additional serving.
He quickly wheeled pass the bakery section to avoid temptation, but she stopped him. Her frown lifted away as she ran over to the pie display, practically drooling. She remembered how disappointed she was at the nasty pastries in the roadside diner. This more than makes up for that discontent. She picked up an eight-inch blueberry pie which smelled like heaven through the paper box. Grinning, she imagined tasting it.
"That's a lot of sugar and carbs, Annie." Reiner tried to discourage her.
Placing that pie back on the table, she reached for the seven-inched one instead. He sighed, watching her gingerly place it in the baby seat of the shopping cart.
A lewd grin crossed his face as he witnessed her change in mood. He wiggled his eyebrows and joked in a low voice that only she could hear, "You still want pie even after all those creampies I've been filling you with?"
And like that, Annie's foot connected hard into his shin, deservingly so. He hobbled in pain, remembering how much he did not miss her swift kicks.
"Sick bastard," Annie huffed. Her frown returned as she marched ahead.
This place was one of the few chain stores in the city that sold live seafood along with freshly frozen ones. The store managed to relegate the fish odor to one corner of the building. Annie stared at the lobster tank almost trance-like.
"Do you want lobster?" Reiner asked.
Submerged in cloudy water, hopeless, beady eyes stared at her through the green tinted glass. Bound pinchers tapped weakly against the barrier of the all too small enclosure. Shelled bodies stacked on top of each other in the cramped tank until the giant gloved hand of the fishmonger picked them off one by one.
She turned to Reiner with a stony expression, "Imprisoned, giant sea bugs… sounds delicious."
"Right. No to lobster then." He steered her and the cart away before the stench of fish could soak into their clothing.
As they entered the meat and poultry section, Reiner's phone rang. "I need to take this. Go pick up whatever you want. I'll come find you."
About five minutes later, he located Annie at the breakfast aisle. She stood on her toes, struggling to reach for something on the top shelf, while a crouching shop clerk, who was supposed to be restocking, gawked at her butt. Reiner stomped down the aisle and stood between Annie and the worker, who immediately returned to his job. Reiner easily picked the cereal box that was almost within Annie's reach. A look of disgust crossed his face when he read the label.
"This is all sugar." He grumbled, but he threw the colorful box in the cart anyway. He also picked up a large filet of salmon and a pack of chicken breasts while he was on his call. When he checked the cart's inventory, he noticed that Annie had picked up several flanks of steak.
"You shouldn't be eating so much red meat. It's not that good for you." He removed a few slabs from the cart until they were down to two.
Annie crossed her arms. "Sure, dad." She said sarcastically, rolling her eyes in an exaggerated matter so that Reiner noticed.
"Hey, unless you're calling me daddy, you should cut that out." He pinched her nose teasingly. She swatted his hand away.
"Daddy?" she questioned. Reiner didn't bother explaining it to her.
Annie carelessly tossed a box of pop tarts into the cart, and it knocked over a slim, rectangular bottle of olive oil. She bent forward to fix it. The neckline of her slacked sweater drooped revealing cleavage and the lace of her bra. Reiner pushed her back upright, adjusting the bottle himself. Annie glared at him but did not say anything.
They zigzagged around the store with him grabbing healthier alternatives like chickpea pasta, steel cut oats, and plain Greek yogurt, while she stocked up on instant noodles, syrupy orange juice from concentrate, and frozen tater tots.
Annie got progressively more irritated as their shopping journey continued. She thought back at the food they had in the past week. Outside of the things they had at restaurants, Reiner insisted on healthier options. For example, she found out recently that he had tricked her with low sodium turkey bacon, depraving her of the real thing. Yesterday, he made his own recipe for those ridiculously spicy chicken wings and removed all of the skin and fat from the final product. Since when did he become this boring health nut? They used to get brain freezes from slushies at 7-Eleven and stuffed their faces with whatever was available on the grill that day or stocked up on the greasiest fried snacks from various food trucks parked at the plaza near their school—all junk that they were not allowed to have back in Marley. Four years later, he acted like he was too good for that with his yuppie lifestyle. It was almost like he was too good for her.
Her fingers slipped into the center pocket of her sweatshirt, clutching the cool metal lighter like a lifesaver. She needed another smoke break.
The wheels of the cart squeaked as they strolled into the alcohol section. Reiner grabbed a bottle of Macallan from the upper shelf without a second thought. It was Annie's turn to criticize.
"Don't you already have a lot to drink at home?"
"I'm out of this one." Reiner inserted the glass bottle between the bagged broccolis and a hand of green bananas.
After that one night's dinner at Le Chateau, Annie took notice of her flat mate's drinking habit. He never got quite as sloshed as that time, but he drank almost every day she had been around him, usually deep in thought. Unlike his sober self, he rarely smiled when he drank and the smiles that he did make came across as bitter. Perhaps the alcohol revealed his true self and not the chill bro image that he tried to enforce.
Spending over an hour at the grocery store, they finally made it to the end. Reiner's routine shopping trip normally would take about fifteen minutes without deviation before he hopped into the self-checkout lane. But he thought he should let Annie explore the supermarket today. Though now he wasn't sure if it was a great idea.
There were no lines at the checkout. While Reiner placed items on the checkout counter from their full cart, Annie ran off without a word. 'Slacking off from doing work again,' he thought, shaking his head.
He assessed the items that Annie picked out. She still possessed the palate of when they were teens. Seemed like very little about her had changed since he last saw her, both mentally and physically, like she had been held in suspended animation in the last 4 years. She barely grew an inch.
As he finished bagging the groceries, he felt light tug on his sleeve. Looking over, the tall blond found a skinny cone of ice cream waiting for him.
Sitting on the bench outside with their cart full of groceries, Reiner took a bite from his vanilla bourbon gelato while Annie lapped on her blueberry lemon sorbet. The sun shone brightly above them without interference from any clouds. They took refuge under a striped awning as pigeons and a lone seagull squawked around in the parking lot.
He eyed her pink tongue and how it dipped into the frozen dessert as he recalled what her mouth was doing to him last night. He held his cone to her face to see if she wanted to try, but under her strict abstinence to alcohol, she declined.
"May I have a taste?" He asked.
Annie pointed her cone towards him. Instead, he leaned over and licked her chilled lips. Taken by surprise, she parted them slightly. Reiner took that opportunity to slip his tongue into her mouth as he sucked on her lips. He caressed the tip of her tongue with his. She tasted sweet and tart from her sorbet. As he probed further, her teeth glazed against his muscle. Knowing Annie, she might bite down. He separated from her instantly only to discover that her eyes were closed, and a rosy blush had bloomed on her cheeks. Her vulnerable expression riled something within him.
Correcting his ruminations from earlier, he realized that his presumptions might be a bit off. It was subtle, but there were a few things about her that were quite different now. For one, this Annie had become less rigid and, dare he say, more beautiful compared to the one from four years ago. Her violent tendencies had diminished significantly outside of the occasional punch and kick (in which he could not agree nor disagree were all warranted except for the one she dished at the man from the hostel—he totally deserved it.)
If it weren't for the forced mission, the chances of them being acquainted were zero to none. For a small girl, she had a prickly personality and was a little intimidating. She took any and all opportunity to kick his ass and demean him. To be fair, he did enjoy provoking her. It was akin to sticking one's arm into a hungry lioness's cage. The rush of adrenaline gave him the drive to survive through tough times. Going through adolescence together, along with Bertholdt and Marcel—until he died, had been challenging. She had started to develop a great body but thinking anything beyond that would get him beat. It wasn't an issue though. Her acidic personality burned any sort of physical attraction he had for her.
However, this woman before him, he couldn't stop thinking about her. Everything she does drives him mad, both the angry and crazy kind. His heart thrashes against his rib cage if he thinks about her too deeply. Her scent makes his mouth water. Some of her small actions, like how she flips her wrist when she eats spaghetti with a fork, he finds irresistibly adorable. Her rare smiles, the ones that do reach her eyes, gets his dick wet. If someone told him four years ago, that he would be banging Annie every night at his own volition, he would laugh at their face. And then young Annie would kill them for even insulating. Now, he craved her rough touch. It took a lot of restraint on his part to keep his hands to himself every time she was in his presence. Perhaps he had changed a lot more than he realized.
Annie opened her eyes to find Reiner staring intensely at her. Her heart raced in her chest and her cheeks burned hotly even after ingesting the cold dessert. Perhaps it was from the sugar rushing through her veins and spilling into her head because her mind was whirling with dizzying thoughts. From that impromptu kiss, the taste of vanilla bourbon clung to her tongue. She blamed her wooziness and breathlessness on the lingering taste of alcohol. Despite her aversion to booze, she wished he had deepened the kiss so she could have more of his sweet lips. She jutted her lips and leaned closer until their noses nearly touched.
Sticky, gooey liquid dripped down her arm from her raised hand, waking Annie from her daze. Her ice cream had melted completely and started leaking from the tapered end of the cone. Already steps ahead of her, Reiner took the cone from her hand and tossed it into a nearby trash receptor. In exchange, he handed her a napkin as he rolled her sleeve back.
Annie studied the man with the five o'clock shadow who attended her arm like he was dressing a wounded animal. His gentle fingers held her wrist as the other hand guided the wet wipe down the length of her arm and rounded to her elbow.
Who was this caring man? What happened to the selfish coward from years back?
From physique to mannerisms to lifestyle, he could've fooled her if he told her he was a complete stranger but then remnants of his old self would leak out every so often to shatter the illusion. Prior to her falling into a coma, Reiner was a year her senior but lacked the maturity level. After losing years of her life to sleep, she woke up to find Reiner five years older than her frozen mind. She envied all of the growth and development he had in the last three and a half years that she had lost. He was her closest confidant, but she barely knew him. Like Rip Van Winkle, she woke up to a strange new world with no place to call home because her world had outgrown her. Suddenly she felt an emptiness in her stomach that was not caused by hunger. A damning realization settled in.
She was alone.
And this man in front of her was a stranger. A stranger whom she was actively pursuing for intel, nothing more.
Her hand tightened to a fist as she wrenched her arm away from Reiner's grasp. The corners of her lips dropped to form a slight frown. Her icy blue eyes stared off into the distance as her hand groped for the packet of cigarette in her pocket only to realize that she probably left it in the car.
Surprised by the abrupt reaction, Reiner looked over to see Annie's lower lips quivering while her arms crossed around her chest protectively. He wondered if she was feeling cold after eating ice cream. A loud "WHEEEEEEEEEEE!" distracted him before he had a chance to taunt her.
The two blonds on the bench watched a mother and a child wheeled pass in a rattling cart. The small child's gleeful laughter rang in the air while his mother pushed the trolley quickly with him standing in it. The family eventually disappeared into one of the vehicles in the lot, leaving Annie and Reiner back to their thoughts.
Reiner grinned as he turned to her, "Want to give that a try?"
She kicked the floor and lowered her arms flushed to her side defensively. "I'm not a kid anymore."
"Yea, but we never had a childhood growing up," he said, removing his sunglasses from the neck of his sweater.
Annie opened her mouth to retort, but she couldn't respond because Reiner had a point. She reluctantly admitted that it did look like a lot of fun.
"Fine," she sighed as she walked over to the packed shopping cart. Reiner followed her lead and aligned himself right behind her.
She perched her feet on the platform that sat on top of the wheels, underneath the basket. He planted his steady hands on either side of her, bracing her between him and the handlebar. She rolled her shoulders back.
"Ready?" Excitement practically oozed from his voice.
"Just do it." She responded begrudgingly.
"O.K. But first," he grabbed her wrists and extended her arms on either side of her. "Spread your fingers wide apart like you're a bird," he instructed.
Skepticism crossed her face, "Why?"
"Remember that one scene from Titanic?" He offered as an explanation, but her expression remained unchanged. "…we'll watch Titanic when we get back."
Reiner hunched forward as he gripped tightly on the bar, revving it as if it was a motorbike. Without another word, he charged down the parking lot like a linebacker chasing to tackle. The force caused Annie to fly backwards, thrusting hard against Reiner's sturdy chest, not dissimilar to a coerced trust fall. She widened her stance, pushing her feet deeper into the metal tray.
The grocery bags in the cart jumped enthusiastically and glasses clanged under the sudden momentum. Loose pieces of asphalt popped under the wheel. They form a low rhythmic hum under the sharp rattle of plastic and metal. Gray pigeons flew out of their way as the startled seagull cawed, undignified by their disrespect.
Annie's heart drummed with exhilaration. With her arms wide to her side as they cut through the wind, she felt free. Her cheek glazed his stubbles when she turned her head slightly to watch the determined man. His eyes looking straight ahead as he ran down the lot, locking her securely in place with his body. She closed her eyes, allowing herself to be engulfed by his presence. A fuzzy feeling bubbled within her, replacing the emptiness from before.
He halted when they reached the edge of the lot. Annie straightened herself and leaned forward while remaining on the cart.
"I'm going to push you to the car," Reiner announced. "This time, you'll have to let all that stress and anger out."
"What do you mean?"
His knuckles tightened on the bar. "Like this." He started pushing the carriage again. Once catching speed, he let a loud animalistic scream rip out from deep within him. It was so loud it reverberated in the lot.
Annie joined him. Shouting off the top of her lungs. Projecting the sound forward as she gripped the side of the cart for balance. She felt another ton of pressure drop off her and the knot in her chest loosened.
As they made their rampage to Reiner's car, an elderly woman purposely took a longer route to avoid them. They probably sounded like two rambunctious pterodactyls, wreaking havoc on patrons of the store.
Annie tried to hide her disappointment when the ride was over. Reiner's chest rose and fell rapidly as he tried to catch his breath. His cheeks and the tip of his ears were red, but his grin was unchanging. She couldn't help but smile too.
She stared at their reflection off his black SUV. He towered over her in his fitted black knit and sunglasses, while she was packaged in his center with her baggy white sweater. Together, they look like a stupid panda.
There was one thing Reiner and Annie neglected to consider after their grocery trip—the four flights of stairs they needed to brave with their bags of groceries. After the two trips to and from the car and up the stairs, the two were exhausted. Immediately, removing their mismatched sweaters and outdoor pants, they spooned on the couch, spending the rest of the day idly watching Titanic.
They had to watch the long movie twice because another activity distracted them from the first viewing. Ironically, despite their efforts to obtain groceries, they still ended up ordering takeout.
A/N:
I didn't think I was going to make it before going off for the holidays. I wrote this chapter at the beginning of 2021 when all I did was go to the grocery market every two weeks and played The Sims 4 every day due my city's strict lockdown. I'm an introvert, so I didn't mind too much but it made me want to write this grocery shopping chapter. I have nothing against lobsters or eating lobsters btw. Though seeing animals in captivity makes me a little sad. I grew up in an Asian concentrated neighborhood where supermarkets had live seafood and fish on display. I never realized how weird it was until a big Korean market chain opened in the center of the city. 2 of my non-Asian coworkers freaked out about it when they went there—mostly on the lidless live crabs container.
Also, when I was working on this chapter, I made Annie and Reiner 2 years older than their canon counterpart post-time-skip because the idea of Annie being mentally 16 in the body of a 20-year-old while getting it on with Reiner who was 21 seemed a bit weird. I know the age of consent is different in other countries and even other states and that 18 is not that much older, but it bothered me a bit, so I had to change it. Luckily, I wrote this chapter before posting chapter 5 when their age was first mentioned, so I was able to correct it before posting.
UPDATE ON UPDATING: I want post chapter 12 to 17 in weekly or biweekly updates due to what happens in those chapters; however, I hit my writer's block/burnout in the beginning of summer as I was working on 15. Those chapters are also in a bad state and needs to be reworked quite a bit, so I don't know when my next update will be, but hopefully it won't take me too long.
The truth is, I was a little stressed from work because my workload increased this year (but I just found out that I got a promotion. Yay!) I decided to work on a different ReiAni fic during the summer to take a break from this one. It was originally supposed to be a smutty, plotless one-shot but now it has about 6 to 7 chapters long and is canon based. It's actually a bit challenging to write so I came back to this fic. I don't know when I will post that one, but I plan to complete it before posting it.
Have a wonderful holiday (whatever you celebrate, if you celebrate) and a happy new year! I'll see you after the start of season 4 part 2!