Mikasa decided to leave her questions about the so-called "blackmail" Annie was facing for later. For the time being, she was taking Annie to get some food before going back to Mikasa's house, which was a good change since they were always holed up in Annie's house. Mikasa also saw it as an opportunity to introduce Annie's presence to her parents. They both knew Annie since their parents were good friends, but they didn't KNOW her, you know? Annie was never that social at the parties her father threw, which would do them some good, especially since they had bigger things to tell their parents later on.
Mikasa parked her car in the driveway right next to her mother's and went around the side to help Annie out. She opened her door and offered her hand to the blonde, which Annie reluctantly took as she turned to retrieve their bags of food. However, when Annie turned back around, Mikasa took the bags from her hands and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. Annie's brows knitted together in slight annoyance; she wasn't helpless, she was just pregnant. She knew Mikasa meant well, but Annie was more than capable of doing things on her own. Instead of lashing out, however, she remembered the conversation that they had a few days ago. 'Don't get angry at her, just talk about it.' Annie let out a breath she didn't know was held in and looked up into Mikasa's eyes.
"I'm three months pregnant, Mikasa. Not nine. I'm able to hold a couple bags of food." She snatched the bags back from Mikasa's hands and sighed.
"If I need your help with something, then I'll ask. I'm not helpless, okay?" To not come off as too harsh, Annie stood on the tips of her toes and pressed a gentle kiss to Mikasa's lips.
"Well, well, well. Now I know the real reason why you didn't come home last night. I knew there was something between you two!"
The two teens parted from each other's lips to stare at Mrs. Ackerman staring at them, a small teasing smirk plastered on her face. Annie felt her face immediately heat up with embarrassment upon being caught by Mikasa's mother of all people. She pushed Mikasa away and kept her eyes glued to the floor. Annie was already a mess about the whole ordeal and she'd be damned if everyone was going to see her this way. Annie nearly pushed herself past Mikasa to start walking home because she was too overwhelmed. However, Mikasa gently grabbed her wrist and kept her where she was. The Alpha pumped her pheromones onto Annie right away and pressed a sweet kiss to her forehead. It helped calm Annie down a great deal, but she was still embarrassed that Mikasa's mother caught them.
"We just started dating, Mom, so don't go scaring Annie off." Mikasa let out a soft chuckle before releasing Annie's wrist to wrap her arm around the girl's waist.
Annie molded to her side and nearly buried her face in Mikasa's neck. However, hearing Mikasa's words towards Mrs. Ackerman made Annie soften up. She hoped the older woman would take Mikasa's words into consideration since she wasn't sure if she could handle being teased any further. After some of her embarrassment simmered away, Annie held her head up high. She was somewhat functioning normally once more and even pulled away from Mikasa's grasp for a moment to shut the car door. From there, she returned to Mikasa's side, not being held anymore but still sticking close.
"Oh, it was just a little bit of teasing, Mika! I won't bother you two too much!" Mrs. Ackerman smiled as the couple ever so slowly walked towards her.
When they got into close proximity, Mrs. Ackerman leaned up and kissed her daughter's cheek and sent a loving smile Annie's way. Thankfully, Annie felt herself relaxing more and more, especially when Mikasa's mother exuded enormous amounts of motherly Omega pheromones. She even felt herself smile in return, feeling extremely welcomed in this environment. Something in the air seemed to shift, however, and Mrs. Ackerman's loving expression turned into a confused one. It sent Annie into a whirlpool of fear and her mind began to race with so many thoughts. 'Did I do something wrong? Did I somehow make her angry with how I reacted? Crap! Shit-'
Mrs. Ackerman's face then swapped back to a loving expression, confusing Annie even more. She unconsciously shot her hand down and grabbed Mikasa's hand with her free one, looking for any comfort that she could get from Mikasa. Mikasa's mother turned around and began walking back into the house, expecting them to follow. They didn't, not at first. Mikasa took a moment for Annie to relax, sensing that she was still a little tense before the two proceeded forward hand in hand.
It felt rather odd to see Mrs. Ackerman do practically everything for Mikasa, especially since Annie grew up so independently. Annie had to cook, clean, and take care of herself at a young age because her father was consistently working. She didn't have her mother waiting on her every move or plea. Perhaps it made her a little envious, but she didn't want to focus too much on the feeling. It wasn't Mikasa's fault that she still had her mother. Although, Annie now knew why Mikasa was incompetent to cook herself some food that one day. The incident still caused Annie to chuckle, but now it was a little embarrassing for Mikasa since it just proved that her mother did everything for her. It did somewhat help Annie figure Mikasa out a little bit better, however; she now understood why Mikasa expected her to drop everything and be a stay-at-home mom. It was all the Alpha had ever known about Omegas from her personal experience. It still wasn't a good excuse, but at least Annie would continue to educate her correctly.
"So, Annie, how's everything going with school? Your father says you have a lot of offers from certain colleges! Mikasa does too! Any chance that you two might end up going to the same school?"
Mrs. Ackerman asked as she picked up their discarded wrappings from the table, further proving Annie's point that she did everything for Mikasa, even the simplest tasks. Annie kept her mouth shut about it and instead replied to her question.
"Well... Mikasa hasn't really spoken about her school plans with me. She's rather private about everything. I don't have any plans set in stone myself, but I am interested in Eldia University. I've already been offered a scholarship to go play for them. I just... I need to work some things out before I actually take the offer. It's just a small issue, but I'm not sure how they'll react to it, so I'm just taking my time to ensure everything works out."
Annie felt Mikasa's hand gently grab her thigh under the table, almost to try and reassure her that everything would be alright. She appreciated the small gesture and sent a gentle smile towards Mikasa before looking back up to Mrs. Ackerman. She was met with a worried yet knowing look and Annie felt her stomach drop yet again.
'Why does she keep giving me these looks? What did I do? Am I in danger? Is she going to make Mikasa stop talking to me? Why would she do that though? Does she think I'm troublesome?'
Mrs. Ackerman's expression changed once again, almost as if she sensed her distress. She instead smiled at Annie and nodded her head.
"Eldia University? Eren's brother is the sports advisor, so maybe he'll put in a good word for you! Zeke may be able to work out your little problem without putting the scholarship at risk!" she said while completely clearing the table of its clutter, even taking Annie's mess.
"Possibly, but this is a rather big issue. I'll just see how it works out. I have another game soon and Zeke is going to be there, so I hope that that solidifies my scholarship."
Mikasa gave her a rather unloving stare, obviously not a fan of Annie going back to finish up her season. She hadn't spoken to Annie about what Eren had told her, so she would bring it up when they were alone. Hopefully, this stare would be somewhat of a warning to Annie, showing that Mikasa didn't want her to play anymore. Annie noticed the stare but brushed it off. It was just one more game. It wouldn't put her at THAT much risk. She'd just be careful and tell her coach that she needed extra breaks between playing times. That's how Annie saw it anyway. Mikasa, on the other hand, was a bit paranoid after the information Armin had shared. She respected Annie's choice to make sure her future was ensured. However, this woman was still carrying her child and she didn't want them at risk.
"Well, I'm sure it'll work out. Things seem to work out a little easier when you already have connections. I'm going to leave you two alone now. I need to start on dinner. I'll make extra for you and Mikasa if you two get hungry later on. See you girls."
With that, Mrs. Ackerman left the two teens to themselves. They were silent at first before gathering their stuff and going up to Mikasa's room. Annie wasn't sure if they would address the tension between them from earlier. It wasn't a big issue in Annie's eyes; again, it was only one game. Nothing too extreme would happen. All she needed to do was play this one game so that Zeke could watch then tell her coach she wouldn't be able to play the last two games. Once that was done, then there was nothing else to worry about except for the pregnancy itself. Mikasa thought otherwise, and while she could keep quiet and let Annie start the conversation, she did it herself instead. Mikasa closed the door to her room and locked it, not wanting her mother to walk in. She took in a deep breath and began speaking quietly.
"No more, Annie. I don't want you to play in this game. It's a fifty-fifty chance. You could either be okay or get hurt in every way. I respect your choice in wanting to make sure your future is secured, but you're still pregnant and you need to think of the baby. There are other ways to work this out. Safer ways. Eren already told me that he'll work everything out. I believe him, and you should too."
Annie rolled her eyes. Part of her hoped that Mikasa wouldn't bring up the issue. She knew it was risky, but she wanted to show her worth to Zeke. Annie wanted to make her father proud of the fact that she got her scholarship through hard work and not because she was dating someone who was friends with someone's brother. It would throw all her hard work out the window and she wasn't about to let a pregnancy ruin it all. She knew the danger that might come from it, but at this point, everything posed a threat to Annie. If she wasn't playing, then she was stressing, which was just as bad. As if things weren't bad enough, she still had Hitch threatening to tell everyone. There was no way around this mess. At this point, Annie couldn't find it in herself to care anymore.
"Mikasa, I'm not going to let someone hand me a scholarship just because I have connections. What if he speaks to Zeke and makes the situation worse? Ever think of that? What if I lose my chance with them? I'm sorry, but I really don't have any faith in him, even more so now that he might spill my secret to Zeke. If that happens and I don't play any more games, then I might lose other offers that other schools have! So what do you want me to do, Mikasa? Do you want me to just sit on my ass and wait till something good shows up? The longer I take putting this off, the deeper the hole I'm digging myself into becomes! Not to mention I'm not sure if Hitch is going to randomly decide to tell everyone or not! So that just pushes me further to finish all of this before she gets the chance!"
'Hitch is the one that's black mailing her. Noted.'
Other than making that quick mental note, Mikasa took her time to understand Annie's words and form her own. Annie had a point; they both didn't know how Zeke would react to the news. That was if Eren did fill him in on the ENTIRE situation. Yet there was still a chance that everything would work out. She also understood why Annie didn't want to have things handed to her. On different occasions, Mikasa would be more supportive of Annie putting in hard work to get her scholarships, but this was different. There was a baby involved, and their safety came first. Right now, everything was a risk. Mikasa was choosing the path that WOULDN'T harm their baby head-on. She knew stress was still a risk, but that was easier to deal with than Annie losing the baby due to a soccer game. Mikasa knew Annie was going to get mad at her for what she would respond with, but she just hoped it wouldn't do too much damage to their already rocky relationship.
"Annie, I'm all for you trying to earn your scholarship, but that's not safe to do in your current condition. I understand that whatever Eren is going to do is not a guaranteed amazing outcome, so we'll just need to wait and see. Annie, I know that you think that it doesn't matter what you do since there will always be risks, but you need to see that playing games is ten times as dangerous than just sitting and waiting. You're being selfish and putting our baby in immediate danger by doing that. I hate to do this, but if you don't sit out, then I'm going to tell your coach you're pregnant to keep our child safe."
Mikasa immediately felt the shift in Annie's mood right then and there. Annie was furious, and her pheromones were nearly suffocating Mikasa. The Alpha stood her ground, however, and sent her own pheromones onto the Omega. Sadly they didn't work at all. Mikasa took a step away before anything could happen and picked up her car keys.
"I'll take you home. I know you want to be anywhere BUT near me right now-"
A loud smack echoed through the room and Mikasa felt her whole face erupt in pain. She bit her tongue to hold back any words of anger that wanted to spill out. This was expected. Mikasa knew something would happen. She didn't think it was okay, but she also knew Annie was dealing with a lot. It wasn't an excuse to hit her, but Mikasa pushed it aside just this once. She didn't want to make the situation even worse than it already was.
"I don't want you to fucking drive me home. I'll find my own way back."
Annie gathered her things without another word and took her leave. Mikasa didn't chase after her this time, deciding that it was better for Annie to have some time to herself. She raised a hand to her aching cheek and sighed. Mikasa would be surprised if their relationship wasn't completely over by this time.