The Time You Were Gone | Eremin Story

To the birthday girl

~chapter 6 of part 2~

Summary
Armin, Eren and Annie plan a surprise party that was a surprise even for them

"What's wrong with her?" Armin slowly leaned closer to Sasha's head, trying to act natural and not be too obvious. The girl turned her head around, even though he never said who he was talking about.

The loud blasting music and the colorful lights, together with the dark atmosphere obviously didn't cheer up everybody in the room. Like it wasn't enough to make the blonde's ears bleed, the disgusting smell, that probably not everybody found disgusting, was way too much.

Looking ahead of them, they wondered what had ruined the mood so suddenly. Hitch was sat on the other edge of the round sofa in the corner, she mournfully stared at the crowded dancing in the center, not letting out a single word. Armin wondered, how did they end up like this?

----

The bad part of waking up early was that you wake up before everyone else. And in this case, it'd mean you'd have to make the breakfast.

At least that's what they agreed to. Armin, who was usually an early bird, groaned while rubbing his eyes and realized it was his problem now. Putting quickly on some random clothes and brushing his teeth, he hoped that maybe one of the girls had already woken up and started making it. But his hopes got crushed when he saw the empty kitchen. He sighed, taking out some ingredients.

He noticed the kitchen had a waffle maker, which seemed to solve the problem of what it should be. He could quickly make the mixture.

He crouched down to open the drawers in the bottom, looking for the flour. His eyes scanned quickly the different packets with all kinds of food, making him furrow his eyebrows.

"Morning." Somebody silently had climbed down and entered the room without him noticing. Armin turned around to see Annie, approaching him.

"Oh, good morning." He answered with the same amount of energy and noticed she was still in her pyjamas. Maybe she didn't expect somebody else to be awake so early. Soon he found the thing he was looking for and placed it on the counter.

Yet, she didn't seem to care single bit, found her way towards the other person in the room. "What are you making?"

"I thought of waffles. It just seems easy to make." The blonde shrugged and cracked the eggs, watching the slimey liquid fall into a bowl.

"Do you need help?" She suggested and Armin offered her to take the waffles out of the maker when they were ready.

When the silence fell upon them, it became awkward. Armin coughed, trying to start a conversation, looking slightly towards her. After the mixture was ready he didn't have anything to do except stay and watch her.

"So," he cleared his throat, receiving a meaningful glance but short glance. "Hitch? You haven't told us how you two met."

Annie answered calmly, without giving it much thought. "She offered me help about something, then asked me about my number. Since then she just kind of comes sometimes to talk." She shrugged casually.

Sounds like her. He leaned on the counter with his elbows and she looked back at him after taking out the first waffle. "Why do you ask?"

He shrugged. "It's just that my sister acted kind of weird when I mentioned her." He came back to yesterday, when he told her the girl's name. He wasn't sure if he wasn't just seeing things, but no, there was definitely something.

But Annie seemed as confused as he was. "I don't know about anything. There are many people going by that name, you can't be sure it was her for sure." She took out yet the next waffle and suddenly quieted down, looking directly at it. Armin decided to wait just in case. ".. Although, I haven't heard her talk much about herself. Except of the wealth her family holds and some interests that are too obvious." She looked at him, waiting to see a nod to continue. "But she might just want to keep her secrets, I don't know."