I know there was no need for the Authors Note chapter. But I'm that kinda person, I like to give people information on why I might or will be silent. It's a bad trait, my bad. Anyway I got a lil' time to do this. So anyway, lets get on with it shall we?
Chapter 7: Opened eyes
The time she spent at the Jaeger's farm was...interesting. They mostly did chores. But afterwards Armin read a story. The story was interesting. The book was called "Wonder" from a male authors whos name she did not remember. It was about a deformed boy trying to get through school. The story was good, she enjoyed good books and this one made her charts of good books. Armin even offered that she should take it to read before she got out of the car to go in home when he dropped her off.
But she insisted she'd prefer listening to him reading, which for some reason made his face flush red and her cheeks heat up. This feeling she enjoyed, it confused her but enjoyed it. It was 6:30. She had half a hour before dinner at seven, so she took this small bit of time to go upstairs and change into fresh clothes since she stunk of manure and farm smells.
She ran up the stairs after greeting the Hoover's. Bertoldt and Reiner were out so she got no abuse from them this time about why she was with Armin again. Getting into her room she sighed out happily. She had a fun day dispite the work involved. Mikasa and herself had chatted girls talk, something Annie hadn't done in a while. She'd grown to like Mikasa, she was pushy sometimes, but none-the-less a great friend.
She yawned after changing into an oversized hoodie and trackpants. She sat down at her computer desk and looked down at a copy, reaching her left hand out to get the copy to check, again, if her work was completely done. Then had a heart-attack, literally.
Annie grabbed her hand and frantically looked around her room, panicing and throwing everything her hands came in contact with. Her ring was gone. She half ran to her beside locker, opening it forcefully and taking out a small ring case, fumbling it open she nearly dropped and cried. The ring was gone, it was gone, where though she didn;t know. It could be at the farm, but she literally walked all over the farm so finding it there would be next to impossible.
Slamming the ring box on her beside locker, Annie flopped on her bed and curled into a ball, holding her knees to her chest and placing her forehead on them so her face was concealed, the blonde girl let out sobs of both sadness and anger. Anger towards herself and sadness because the ring was the last thing she had of her mother before the accident.
Dinner thankfully was postponed to half eight, Wendy had come up to Annie room at eight to see if she was alright. Bertoldt and Reiner were home and were argueing and shouting in their room over some stupid game. Wendy had thought it was upsetting Annie but when Annie explained that she was 100% perfectly fine Wendy dropped the subject and left her be.
Looking out her window, Annie sighed and sniffled once more. She gave up, she felt empty. That ring was all that was left of her mother, the only memory she had, the only thing she could look at and remember her mothers sweet face, her crystal blue eyes and long blonde hair, her sweet voice and pink cheeks, her large nose. Thinking about this only made Annie feel more numb inside. It wasn't a feeling she had let in for a while now, except on her arm.
She had already ruined her arm by scratching it to death, it was so badly scratched that the old scars became twice the size, but luckily had scabbed over before Wendy came in that evening.
After not eating much for dinner, Annie went and showered. She needed the hot water on her skin, to breathe in the steam and to get rid of the stinky farm smells. She trudged out of the bathroom, into the hall and entered her room. Locking the door, Annie put on the oversized hoodie again and put on a pair of sleeping shorts.
Curling up into a little ball in her bed, she bit on her thumb and cried herself into a restless sleep of nightmares of the accident. Fire, so much fire. And explosion, screaming, a crash. So much was happening not everything was registering right with her. She dreamt of her mother unbuckling her and throwing her out before the explosion. She couldn't remember what she was thrown out of but it resembled a vehicle.
It had been five days since she lost the ring. Her group of friends noticed her dramatic change in personality and tried to help out, but not even Eren could help with his hyperactive fun which usually got the whole group hyped up. Mikasa had tried talking to her too, but although her intentions were good, Annie did not see Mikasa as being an understanding person, Armin though was a person she could talk to, but she wasn't sure about it.
"Annie, are you sure you're okay?" He asked softly, his eyes were fixed on hers now. They were alone while Eren and Mikasa went into Topaz to get food.
"I'm fine" She lied trying to break eye contact, but failed miserabley. She stared deeply into his ocean like eyes, they were so full of different variations of blue that it fascinated her. He stood right beside her, looking down at her, their arms brushing off one another. Though it was only a soft brush every once in a while, Annie flinched due to the pain in her left arm.
She had been at it again, almost every night.
"Are you sure?" He asked again, with a soft voice that put an electric shiver down her spine. It felt so good, the shiver, the heat in her cheeks, the drop in her stomach everytime he spoke with a soft or husky voice. She leaned over, pressed her whole side on him and resting her head on the side of his shoulder. She breathed in his scent and closed her eyes.
"Annie?" He was flustered again, what was she doing? He looked down and took in all her features like he'd usually do. Her face was tingled with a pinkish colour, she looked beautiful.
Annie couldn't anymore. The empty feeling on her finger broke her again. She turned her head and dug her face into his shoulder and sobbed slightly. She couldn't hold it. Armin was quick to react, quickly lifting his arm to wrap it around her shoulders and bring her into an embrace, shushing her softly and saying 'its okay' repeatedly into her ear as he dug his head into her neck, She held his jacket and continued to sob into him.
Eren and Mikasa had seen the scene and stayed back, chatting to themselves before Armin gave them a look saying they should go. Without any arguements though, they left silently. Pulling back from the embrace after Annies sobbing had subdued a bit, he wiped away her tears. His deep ocean eyes were filled with concern and worry. She didn't like the look but she understood why. She broke down for no real reason.
"Annie, come on, talk to me" He begged in a soft voice, he held her hand, rubbing it softly. She took in a deep breathe and exhaled heavily.
"I l-lost a ring..." She began, with yet another sob. "A ring that belonged to me m-mother" Her eyes were tearing up again, Armin never cut the eye contact they had, she did a few times when he'd rub some tears away. "Its the only thing I had belonging to her..." She bit her lip, wanted to scream. She had lost the anger she felt on Saturday, all she felt was sadness and loss.
Armin pulled her into another embrace, she held her close and rested his chin on her head before whispering "I have a little surprise for you then"
Pulling away, Annie rubbed her eyes again and looked at him with a confused expression. He put is hand in his pants pocket and pulled out a small silver band. She wanted to keel over and disapear there and then. He had it? But how? And why didn't he give it to her on Monday? She looked to the ring and back to him, his expression was unreadable, but it did have a smile.
He grabbed her hand and put the ring on it and smiled. "I forgot I had it, it fell off your hand sometime in the car trip and I found it while cleaning it out on Sunday, I meant to text you and tell you but I forgot. I'm sorry, you must've been dead worried" He apoligized quickly as he dropped her hand carefully back down to her side.
Annie had a mixture of emotions, she wasn't sure to be mad because he forgot that he had it, happy that he found it, or happy to have it back. Instead she pushed them aside and hugged him tightly. "Thank you!" She squawked into his chest before breaking the hug. She looked up at him, the pit in her stomach was there again, the feeling she had before she broke down came. And then she realised, she hugged him and he hugged her back.
This put new emotions into her head. They walked back to the school together, her mind was full of different emotions. Happiness due to having the ring back, embarresment for breaking down, anger for not asking before ruining her arm again and one she did not understand. Everytime she looked to Armin on their way back to school, she wanted to hug him again, for longer.
No, she wanted HIM to hug her, she wanted to feel his gentle touch, his breathing on her neck, his scent, his warmth. She shook her head pushing those thoughts to the back of her mind. But no matter what she did, these thoughts stayed with her for the whole day.
I experienced writers block for the first time. Thats why it didn't come out as soon as I liked. Most likely another chapter will be up tomorrow! Again sorry for the Authors Not chapter. Its a really bad trait I have. Its like I see everyone who follows/reviews my stuff as a friend and I feel the need to inform them of why I may not be around. Its confusing. I'll try not to do it again, its not a promise though since I'm annoying like that ^.^"