After the pair decided to call it a day with the tutoring, Armin asked Annie to stay for dinner. She strongly protested against the idea at first. It took a lot of persuading from Armin, but eventually she gave in. He was pretty good at manipulating her mind-set, but it wasn't only Armin's pleading that made her stay. She figured that she could do with a proper meal. After all, she had been surviving off of canned soup and ready-meals for a long time.

When Armin's grandfather had arrived, he greeted her pleasantly and as they sat together at dinner, she couldn't help but think what nice people both Armin and his grandfather were. Despite saying little to nothing at the table, Annie didn't feel the slightest bit judged for it. After finishing dinner Annie announced that she had to leave, Armin of course was quick to offer to walk home with her.

"No. Don't worry about it." she wondered why he was asking, it wasn't even dark yet. Annie collected up her books and placed them into her shoulder bag. She walked out into the hallway and put on her shoes, Armin followed her.

"It's no problem at all, really." he smiled while putting on his shoes, the blond then grabbed his jacket.

"You're not going to take no for an answer, are you?" Annie sighed and rolled her eyes at his persistence. First dinner, now he wants to walk me home…what next…

Armin was slightly embarrassed by her comment but laughed softly, "Nope."

"Well, alright." Annie gave in once more and headed out of the door. The blond boy smiled and followed behind.

After walking side-by-side down the street in silence for about five minutes, Armin turned to the blonde girl, "Where exactly do you live, Annie?"

"Around twenty-five to thirty minutes from here. I told you, you didn't have to walk home with me."

"And I told you that it's no problem." he reassured her.

"Why are you always so nice to me?" Annie suddenly asked, "It's not like I've ever returned that kindness, in fact I've been the opposite."

Armin studied her facial expression, he couldn't quite make out what she was feeling but he noticed that she had furrowed her brows, obviously thinking deeply about something. "Well it's just that, despite what others and you may think, I actually think that you are quite nice."

Armin was telling the truth, he really did believe that Annie was a nice person. He knew that she was hiding behind a wall that she had built up, for reasons that he would get to the bottom of eventually. Over the past month he had managed to get her to open up, even if it was just a bit. She had even approached him for his help. Armin was sure that she wasn't as bad as she pretended to be, it was just a barrier she had put up to protect herself from the world. He was smart, and he really trusted his gut feeling and judge of character, especially concerning Annie.

"Huh?" Annie was confused, why did Armin think she was nice? Maybe he is one of those types who want to see the good in everyone. Yeah, that must be it.

"I think you're just scared of people. And that's okay, because there are a lot of horrible people out there to be wary of. You act tough in an attempt to ward off others to avoid being hurt. But in reality, you really do care and you want to make friends, just like any other human-being." Armin hoped he wasn't pushing it by saying this to Annie's face. He expected her to get mad, tell him to shut-up and throw it in his face that he didn't know her, but instead she remained silent.

How…did he come to that conclusion? I was right before in thinking he was dangerous. He's smart and unbelievably so. I don't even know what to think, but he's right. I don't want to be completely alone, I'm human after allAm I being delirious in thinking that I would like to be a good person to him?

Annie really didn't know what she was thinking anymore. She didn't even know what she was feeling, either. She looked to Armin who was facing forward and she felt a strange sensation in her stomach. What the hell is this?

They continued to walk in complete silence and Annie avoided looking directly at Armin again after that. He on the other hand, glanced at her several times out of the corner of his eye. He knew that his words had got her thinking, and he also knew by her reaction that he was right.

Eventually Armin ended up in a part of town that he wasn't exactly familiar with, it didn't look as nice as where he lived. Annie came to a stop in front of a huge tower block of apartments and Armin raised his head to look up at the tall building, she lives here?

"Well I live here so…bye." Annie mumbled, looking to the ground. She didn't want to look at him again, not after that feeling she got the last time. Annie proceeded to make her way to the entrance of the apartments, Armin followed her wanting to know exactly where she lived in this building. When Annie noticed that Armin was still beside her, she looked up at him confused and vaguely annoyed, "What?"

"I'll take you right to your door." Armin stated, smiling down at her.

"That's pointless." No. No, this is not happening.

"Not really, I've already come this far."

Annie knew she wasn't about to get rid of him any time soon so she just let out a sigh and entered the building, allowing him to follow behind. She approached the elevator, not wanting to take the stairs and pressed the button. The elevator made a horrible rattling sound as it reached the ground floor, it sounded like it was ancient. The doors creaked loudly as they opened, obviously in desperate need of some oil. Annie stepped inside and Armin did the same. She could feel her heart thudding hard against her chest as she pressed the button with the number four on it. There was silence as the elevator slowly worked its way up to the fourth floor. It seemed to take longer than usual, but that was probably only due to the awkwardness of the situation. When the elevator arrived at its destination Annie stepped out. Armin followed the small blonde, not really knowing what to say. He didn't expect her to live somewhere like this.

Annie stopped in front of door number 422 and reached into her bag for her key. By this point she was almost shaking. Her heart had continued to race the whole time and she just hoped that Armin would leave before she opened the door. He didn't though, and was still standing right there. What if he tried to push her further and wanted to come inside? Like hell that's going to happen.

"So, should we do the same tomorrow?" Armin enquired.

Annie nodded her head and went to put the key in the lock, "Bye." she twisted the key and just before she opened it, Armin spoke again,

"I'm looking forward to it. See you tomorrow at school then! B—" before he could even finish his sentence, Annie had opened the door and within a few seconds, the door slammed shut in Armin's face and she was inside.

"…bye." he finished his sentence in a quiet mumble. He was slightly taken back by her actions, but then again, it was Annie after all.

Annie let out a breath of relief once she stepped inside, but it was short-lived. Her father had heard the door and had already made his way into the hallway. He stood about a metre away from her, resting his arm against the wall for support. He was drunk again, obviously.

"Where have you been?" his eyes were blood shot and he looked and sounded completely out of it. God only knew how much alcohol he had consumed this time. Not that this was a rare occurrence, it had been going on for months and months now, ever since mom died. "Answer me!" he shouted so loudly that it made Annie jump and hurt her ears. She wanted to make a run for it to her bedroom, but she knew it was hopeless. Every time she had tried to do that in the past he had ended up grabbing her.

"School." the blonde said quietly.

"You're a lying little bitch." he snarled and approached her quickly. He swayed from side-to-side, unable to even walk in a straight line.

Annie backed herself up against the door and turned her head away from him. He wasn't having any of that and grabbed hold of her jaw. He yanked hard, forcing her to face him, "You're my fucking daughter…I'm your father! I have a right to know where you've been!" he slurred and Annie could smell the strong scent of vodka coming off of him. She was surprised he was even able to form a coherent sentence considering how drunk he was.

"I may be your daughter but that doesn't mean anything anymore, does it? You turned your back on me, no, us, when mom became ill!" Annie immediately regretted what she had said, despite feeling so angry. Her father looked absolutely furious at her. He released her jaw but only to give her a harsh slap across the face. The impact was so hard that it knocked her to the ground.

"I've told you before, time and time again to not speak about your mother to me!" his voice was so loud that she was sure the people living in the apartment next to theirs and above could hear everything. She curled up into the fetal position and covered her hands over head, preparing for another beating.

He kicked her once, and once only. As he left her curled up in the hallway, she heard him muttering something that was incoherent. She guessed he would go and collapse in the living room for the rest of the night.

Annie let the tears fall from her eyes and run down her cheeks, she didn't even make an effort to move from the floor. Instead she retracted into herself even more and hugged her knees tightly.