Amaranth

Chapter 11: Goldenrod

"Annie!" her father yelled as he knocked on her door, "Your friends are here!"

"Huh?" she asked, disoriented. She slowly lifted her head off her pillow and rubbed at her eyes.

"Nice to see you too," Bertholdt teased as he entered the room, Reiner following behind him.

Annie just grunted at them, still too tired to formulate proper words. "It's Saturday," she mumbled, "Why are you here?"

"Eren's having a get together at his place to celebrate Ymir and Sasha's win," Reiner explained as he pulled the blanket off Annie, causing her to squeal as the cold air hit her, "Speaking of, why aren't you with them?"

"Our other goalie wanted to play," Annie told them sleepily, "so I stayed home."

"Ah," Reiner sighed in understanding.

"They haven't even played yet...?" Annie said groggily as she got out of bed to grab a hoodie, immediately laying back down, "How does Eren know they're gonna win?" 

"Eren thinks they're gonna win, so he's having the rest of the group meet him at his house to surprise them," Reiner explained, "If they lose, then it's gonna be a party to cheer them up."

"Do I have to go?" Annie groaned as she hugged her pillow, still trying to warm up.

"Yep," Reiner said as he scooped her up easily.

"Hey! Put me down you whore!" she exclaimed as she kicked around.

"If you say so," he smirked as he dropped her on the floor, not bothering to make the landing painless.

"You little shit," she winced as she rubbed her back that had hit the ground.

"Love you too," he assured her with an arrogant smile.

"Fuck yourself," she hissed as she stood up and stretch a little, trying to wake herself up.

"Anyway, I think everyone's gonna be there," Bertholdt updated her as she changed. Hr and Reiner had turned around respectfully, but Bertholdt didn't like the odd silence.

"I think he said Mikasa will just hide in her room as well, so you're good to go," Reiner assured her.

"I hope she's okay," Bertholdt mumbled.

"You two seem close," Annie pointed out.

"Yeah, when did you guys get all buddy-buddy?" Reiner teased as he bumped into Bertholdt playfully.

"It was definitely when they shared a room at the lake house," Annie decided.

"What? We're not even that close," Bertholdt defended himself, "We just talked a couple times. Same as you and her. You just hate her for whatever reason."

"I don't hate her," Annie said as she rolled her eyes.

"Then why are you so vicious to her?" Reiner asked, obviously believing Annie hated Mikasa as well.

After a few moments, Annie answered, "It's easier to ignore her than to make friends."

"Why are you so adamant about not being her friend?" Bertholdt asked, "I think you'd actually get along if you could get past this.... Whatever it is."

"She asked me to leave her alone," Annie revealed as she pulled her shirt on over her head, "I'm only respecting her wishes. If she decides she wants me in her life, then maybe I'd consider it."

"Well aren't you respectful," Reiner said sarcastically.

Annie tapped their shoulders, silently telling them she'd changed, and they could look. The boys turned to face her, and their jaws dropped. "Trying to impress someone?" Reiner teased.