It was bitterly cold outside, the streets were covered with ice and snow but Annie was unable to feel it. She was numb. The blonde just couldn't stop thinking about what she had done, and also the mess she was in. Being around Armin had made her truly happy at times and given her relief, but she was alone again now. Not to mention she would no longer have a job, because Armin probably wouldn't want her to work at his grandfather's shop anymore. Annie stepped out onto the road ready to cross the street and that's when she heard the horns of a car sounding loudly in her ears. Her eyes widened and she stepped back quickly, just missing it.
"Watch where you're going!" she heard the driver yell and watched as the car disappeared down the road. Annie's heart was hammering against her chest; the incident had completely snapped her away from her chain of thought. She was shook up. I could have been killed just now…would that have been a bad thing? Annie's thoughts were scaring her, and left her feeling very uncomfortable. After all that had happened in the past, she had not once thought of ending her life and the fact that it was suddenly crossing her mind really proved how bad things were. Cut that out right now. I've already come this far, if I was to just die at this moment, everything I've been through would be for nothing.
When the blonde reached for the key in her bag, she noticed that her hands were shaking vigorously. The numbness had disappeared the moment she was almost hit by the car, and adrenaline was still rushing through her veins even a good ten minutes after the encounter. When Annie got inside, she noticed that her father wasn't in. A wave of relief washed over the blonde and she went straight to her room. She didn't care where her father was, or what he was doing, she was just thankful that he wasn't here to witness what was going to happen next. After all that had occurred, Annie knew she had reached her limit with what she could deal with.
Annie violently chucked her school bag across the bedroom causing all of her books to spill out all over the place. She let out a scream in frustration and started to kick the chest of drawers. The girl then brought her arm to smash all of the contents that was on top of the drawers to the ground, and pulled the blankets from her bed. She threw them to the opposite side of the room and closed her eyes. Annie breathed in and out heavily for several seconds and when her eyes opened again, she went towards the window and ripped the curtains from the railing. Annie flung them along with the blankets, she stopped again and looked at the state of her room. Annie sighed and collapsed onto her bed; she stuffed her head into her pillow and screamed again. This time tears spilled from her eyes and she began to cry like she never had before. Annie curled up into a ball and continued to sob her heart out, her fingers instinctively made their way into the top of her hoodie and she pulled out the necklace from around her neck. The blonde clutched the silver ring that was attached to it in her hand. The ring was the last thing she had of her mother's. Everything else had been thrown out by her father after her death, there were a few photos Annie managed to salvage but a part from that, there was nothing.
Annie continued to cry and exhausted by her emotions, she drifted off into a deep sleep.
As soon as the last bell rang, Armin practically ran out of school. Eren offered to go to Annie's house with him, but Armin said it was probably best that he go alone. After all, Annie probably wouldn't want to talk in front of Eren and after today's incident she probably didn't want to see him either.
Heck, Armin thought, she probably doesn't even want to see me. She punched me…obviously she's angry and hurt. But I know I did the right thing. Miss Ral has already reported everything to social services. They will get to the bottom of it, and whether or not Annie wants to be my friend or girlfriend after it all, at least she will be safe from harm. That's all that really matters. Then again, if she really does hate me now, I'm not going to lie to myself and pretend I'm okay with that. I'd be heartbroken but…I can live knowing that she's okay.
Armin found himself standing opposite the familiar block of apartments. He had to go and see Annie, even if she didn't particularly want to see him. The blond decided to take the elevator and his stomach twisted and churned as it rattled it's way up to the fourth floor. After stepping out, Armin had wished he had just taken the stairs because the way the elevator creaked and shook unsettled him even more. The boy just felt so nervous, he wasn't even exactly sure why. He knew what to expect: Annie would be angry with him, she'd most likely hurl some insults towards him and either slam the door in his face or she might, just maybe, except his apology after he explains himself. He figured he should apologise for not talking to Annie about it before hand, but, he just hoped she would understand and accept why he had to do what he did. The uneasy feeling escalated as he got closer and closer to Annie's front door, he removed his winter gloves and when he finally went to knock, he noticed that the palms of his hands were drenched in sweat and they shook. Calm down, Armin swallowed. He started to think of all the other scenarios that could have taken place earlier and what could end up happening now. What if Annie had harmed herself in some way? What if her father had beaten her senseless when she had returned from school? What if she wasn't even here and had run away? Stop it. She's fine, she's safe inside there. She's just going to be really mad, that's all. Armin finally mustered the courage to place his hand against the door and knocked twice. There was no answer, and his heart began to hammer against his chest. He knocked again, and again, and nothing. He pressed his ear up against the door after some time to see if he could hear if anyone was inside but there was nothing but silence. Oh god.
"ANNIE!" Armin shouted and banged his fist against the door. He was not going to give up that easily. "Annie please, it's Armin. Please talk to me, Annie!" The blond repeated the action several times while calling her name, until someone's voice addressing him snapped him away from doing so. Armin's heart skipped a beat and he turned to the source of the voice.
"Who the hell are you?" a tallish man spoke gruffly. He had bags in his hands and Armin could see through the semi-transparent plastic that they contained several bottles of some kind of alcohol. The blond boy gulped as he quickly realised who this man was. He was Annie's father, and he was clearly put out upon seeing Armin banging on his front door. "Looking for Annie? Have you come to steal my daughter away from me?" he sneered. The man's harsh blue eyes narrowed at the younger boy and Armin could not help but feel down right intimidated. Annie's father looked down on him as if he were a mere insect who could be stomped on with one foot.
"Y-yes." was all Armin's reply. He had been pretty much rendered speechless, a mixture of emotions flooding him. He was frightened, but he was also disgusted and angry. This man had been hurting Annie, he had inflicted those bruises on her small body. Wasn't he supposed to care for her and love her? He was her father after all. Armin frowned deeply and took a step back from the door to allow the man access, he couldn't help scowl a little at him.
"Hey brat, want to wipe that look from your face? Or do you want me to have to do it for you?" the tone in his voice turned low and threatening. Armin felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. What if he was going to attack him?
"No, I'm sorry for looking at you that way. I didn't mean to." he felt pathetic for apologising, but it was definitely the intelligent choice.
"So what business do you have with my daughter? You want to get into bed with her?" his eyes were like two slits.
Was he drunk? Armin was certain he could smell the alcohol permitting off of the man. That would make sense, if he was an alcoholic then that would explain why he was so violent with Annie, and at this rate it looked like he was about to turn violent against him, too. The blond boy shook his head fiercely in response to Annie's father's absurd question, and began to panic even more. If the man believed that was his intention, it wasn't going to end well for Armin. Maybe he was strangely protective over Annie? Even despite beating her. How hypocritical.
"I don't ever want to see your face around here again. Do you hear me, kid? You're not wanted. Now scram." This was the man's final words as he inserted the key into the lock and opened the door to his apartment. The door slammed shut rather harshly, and Armin let out a breath of relief. He wondered if Annie was in or not, he was beyond worried about her now. It was a shame he didn't have her cell phone number, then again he wasn't sure she even owned a cell phone.
Armin stood outside the door for around five minutes, just waiting, listening, and wondering if anything was happening on the other side. All he could hope for was that social services would be on their way to sort this problem out. Armin had now come face to face with villain, and it made him realise how bad the situation really was. It was even worse than he had imagined. Especially since alcohol was involved. After some time, Armin decided to walk back home. It took him forever because he was walking at such a slow pace, he was hoping he would maybe bump into the blonde girl on the way back but he had no such luck. When he finally arrived home, his grandfather asked what was wrong. How could Armin begin to explain it to the old man? In the end, he decided to just keep it brief and avoid details. He didn't want to lumber his grandfather with the problem. Most likely he would begin to worry about Annie too, and that wasn't something Armin wanted his grandfather to have to deal with. Later in the evening, Eren called Armin to see if everything was okay. Armin was glad that his best friend had decided to be supportive. Eren was a good guy, Armin always knew that. His heart had been in the right place the whole time; he had only been looking out for him. He knew he could rely on Eren to be there for him and Annie now.
Annie was awoken abruptly by her father. The room was almost pitch black, the only source of light was from the street lights that shone through the window that was now bare without curtains. Annie was groggy, she had no idea what was going on. How long had she even been asleep?
"Come on Annie wake up!" her father sounded strange. He sounded desperate, as if he was in a rush. Was the house on fire? What had he done this time? Annie's mind was all over the place and she rubbed her eyes. "Annie!" her father raised his voice and grabbed hold of her arm, pulling her from the bed. He proceeded to drag her out of her room, almost tripping over something on the floor from her fit earlier on. When they got out into the hallway, Annie was temporarily blinded by the light. She really had no clue what was going on. Why was her father pulling her to the living room? Was he going to hit her? She hadn't even done anything…except trash her bedroom.
Annie swallowed hard and realised she must have been asleep for hours and hours. She suddenly remembered the dream that she had while asleep, and it made her feel extremely uncomfortable. It must have been the strangest dream she had ever had in her life. She could hear Armin's voice calling her in the dream, he was pleading with her. "Annie please, it's Armin. Please talk to me, Annie!". It sounded so vivid and real, it was almost as if he was really there. That wasn't the weirdest part of the dream however, because what disturbed her the most was the fact that she was completely naked; it was by no means a sexual dream though, and she had tried desperately to cover herself because she was completely exposed in front of Armin. Her hair was loose and it hung over her eyes obscuring her vision and hiding most of her face. She had refused to look up at Armin so she had no idea what his facial expression was and Annie knew he stood quite some distance from her by the way his voice had echoed. He continued to beg her while she was standing by a cliff, and she knew what that implied. She was standing right by the edge and she was going to fall. Armin was trying to save her, but in the end everything seemed to fade away. Armin disappeared and so did the scenery around her. She was no expert on dream analysis, but she knew exactly what this dream meant. It represented how Armin had seen right through her all along. He had seen through her façade and her lies, and all he had wanted to do was save her, but she hadn't let him.
"Annie," her father brought both hands to her shoulders and was looking straight at her. She had been thinking so deeply about the dream and had spaced out because of it, but she was brought back to reality now. "Annie…"
Why was her father saying her name over and over? What did he want? Annie looked to the empty bottles of vodka on the coffee table and then back to her father. His eyes were blood shot and he was beyond out of it. She wasn't even sure if he had ever drunk so much. His grip tightened on her shoulders and she could have sworn she saw tears in his eyes. Looks like he's upset that his alcohol ran out already…
"Annie I'm sorry." Annie's eyes widened suddenly, what had her father just said? His grasp tightened even more so on her shoulders and it started to hurt. She squirmed uncomfortably underneath him and opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. "Look…you want to see mom, right?" his voice sounded so odd. Annie's face twisted in confusion.
"…What?"
"I know you miss her. I miss her too. It will be the same again, all three of us." Her father stumbled a little and wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace. The smell of alcohol coming off of him was strong enough to make Annie feel nauseous and her father's behaviour was terrifying her. She found herself unable to breathe properly. He spoke of the impossible, how would the three of them ever be together again? Her mom was dead and even if by some miracle which gave her mother a second chance to live, all the wrongs and unforgivable things her father had done to her in the past months would never be forgotten. It would never be the same. They would never be a happy family like they was once. Annie's face scrunched up in pain and confusion, why was she even contemplating this? "I can't lose you Annie." her father mumbled, he sounded almost incoherent, but he had managed to put together that sentence. Not that it made much sense.
Annie could not talk. She could not breathe. She couldn't even think. For months, almost a year, her father had treated her like the dirt on the bottom of his shoe. Despite being his only daughter, the only family he had left, he had acted as if she was the bane of his existence. The physical and verbal abuse she had endured was something she wouldn't even wish upon her enemies. Suddenly now, out of nowhere he was apologising to her and saying he didn't want to lose her? Maybe this time he really had had too much to drink. Whatever the reason for his sudden apology, it was too late. He had already lost her. He lost her the day he had turned his back on her mother and her.
"Forgive me, okay?" his voice cracked and Annie's eyes quickly met two containers full of pills on the table along with the empty vodka bottles. At that very moment, she knew what was going on. Before she was able to act, her father had pulled himself away from the embrace and had his large hands tightly around her neck, choking her.
