In Love With A Monster (Armin X Annie)

~Chapter Twelve~

"Annie, Annie..."

Annie woke up to the sound of her name being whispered to her, she was still in a state of not knowing wether she was awake or asleep. She almost thought it was a dream but opened her eyes to Armin kneeling in front of her side of the bed. He was clearly trying not to wake her up too much but only a little so he could say what he needed to then let her get some more sleep in. Armin had been letting her sleep in the past few days, he would start her morning chores and do what she was usually supposed to do so she could rest more. It was his way of saying 'I love you' and she always appreciated it, even sometimes returned the favour by finishing his chores so he could relax. The couple had been thriving the past few days and were both happier then ever now after finally revealed their true feelings to one another. They were able to be more open, they were more playful and couldn't seem to spend time away from each other. To everyone else in the village, they looked like a married couple, even though all they were was a couple of lovestruck runaways. Annie could barely give out out a 'what' she was so drowsy and instead just mumbled out a 'mmm?' in response.

"It turns out I have to go into Trost again." His tone was sad, he didn't want to leave her. He wanted nothing more than to stay in bed with her all day, warm and cosy and never let her go. She wanted nothing more than that either.

Annie groaned out a 'why'. This was the second time Armin had to leave and go into the city this week and the last time he left, Annie was filled with anxiety the whole day that he would be recognised and turned into the scouts. That she would be on her own again. One of Armin's chores this week was to sell some of the village's crops in exchange for money, usually this was done by someone else in the village but this time, Armin was asked to do it. When Armin came back from Trost the night before he told Annie about how there were missing posters hung all around the city with his name and face on it — like there was for Annie a few months back — and that they had a cash reward for finding him. This only made Annie ten times more nervous now knowing he had to go back, she knew that people wouldn't think twice if they could get money out of handing him over.

Her anxiety jumped her awake, she was no longer tired and instead was full of adrenaline and panic. "Why don't I go instead, aren't you tired?"

He shook his head, "No, go back to sleep. If they catch you then who knows what will happen, if they catch me the worst I'll get is stuck in a cell for a little while and asked a few questions." Armin really didn't get too nervous about going into the city, in fact he was excited to see Trost after spending so long in a small village, seeing the same faces again and again. He also always made sure to never show his face and keep his head hidden underneath his hood, he never even saw a single scout yesterday.

Annie huffed, that didn't make her feel any better but she knew that she could trust him to be safe and he'd be back just after mid-day. She knew that she could easily persuade him to stay, to spend all day together but she'd feel bad not just for distracting him from his chores but also the village wouldn't get their hard earned money, which she'd feel worse about.

Armin pushed a strand of her hair behind Annie's ear, moving his hand to caress her face. His touch always calmed her nerves, it never failed to. "I'll be back soon as I can and I'll be careful no one sees my face."

She just nodded and gave out a small "Okay." He kissed her forehead and off he went for the day. Annie moved to the window to get a final glimpse of him before he was out of sight. She watched him speak to a couple of villagers, they instructed him, gave him the sack of crops he was to deliver and he got onto his horse. Armin looked up at the window to catch Annie looking back at him. He waved goodbye and she waved back before finally watching him disappear through the trees. Annie didn't have much to do during the day that could distract herself or keep herself busy. She had to replace the water and food in the stables, she had to clean the house but that was about it. Annie decided to start right away and start cleaning the house.

After cleaning their room, kitchen and the sitting room Annie decided to take a peak into one of the rooms she'd never taken much notice to before. The upstairs of the house wasn't big, there was a hallway and there was the room and that was about it but before the door to the room, there was another door. As Armin had been told, the woman who lived here before had children and Annie wasn't shocked to find a nursery when she looked into the room. There wasn't much left behind in the room, assuming the woman had taken it all with her when she moved, and all Annie found was a cot with a mobile hanging over it. She couldn't help but imagine only for a moment what could happen if the two of them decided to stay here permanently. This nursery could be theirs too.

But she didn't let herself drool over the thought for too long because at the end of the day they were still just teenagers. Annie left the room and closed the door behind her. She was just about to turn and go down the stairs when she suddenly heard the sounds of the floorboards creaking. Someone else was clearly in the house. She didn't think it was Armin nor Rosemary, both their steps were quieter, the footsteps she heard were noisy and heavy. They pressed down hard on the flood boards.

"Is someone downstairs?" Annie called out. No response. She wasn't too nervous though, she knew just about everyone in the village and none of them were dangerous or hostile in any way. She also knew that it couldn't be anyone outside of the village considering it was hidden away and hadn't been found very often by outsiders. So she made her way down, she was still careful, making sure that she couldn't see anyone before she fully made her way down to the bottom floor, which there wasn't when she took a peak down. All she saw was her regular house, no one else.

The front door was wide open however but all she assumed was that she had accidentally bumped it open while cleaning, the door had been known to be unstable, swinging open from time to time. Annie went to go and close it, making sure this time it was properly shut.

And when she turned back around she saw where the sound of the creaking floorboards had come from, because they were standing right over her. She saw the boots she heard and the scout regiment jackets. They came out at her as if they were hiding in the shadows of her own home, despite them both being extremely tall they had always been good hiding away in the shadows unnoticed. She was stuck in place, petrified as she looked back into their piercing eyes, she couldn't move and she could barely breath. It was like her worst nightmare was coming to life and she could do nothing but just watch. They had finally found her, and they were here to complete the mission they began so long ago.

Reiner and Bertholdt.

//sorry this chap is shorter than usual, it was mainly a filler before we get into the good stuff :p

Sadly, school will be starting again for me soon so the chapters may come out later but they will still come

Thank you for all your love and support, I look forward to your comments. I love you all so much.

-Isadora <3 \\