The Country Boy: Annie X Reader

Chapter 10: Chaos

Ever since I was young, Bert has always been a good friend of mine. Although we both excelled in sports, he was always one step ahead of me. Basketball, soccer and baseball, he was always regarded as the king at each sport he played. But even then, I never gotten jealous of him because we were a team.

But this all changed in an incident about 5 years ago

On that day, I wanted to tell him that I was moving to another city that was pretty far away from where we had always been. So I decided to wait for his game with his friends to finish before approaching him. When he saw me there, I could feel that he started to play more seriously. His dribbles, ball handles, were all getting faster and faster. And to top things off, he started to dunk ball after ball. He was simply untouchable. Eventually, when his friends were all tired, he held the ball to his waist and approached me. 

"Hey Anne (short form for Annie), fancy seeing you here at this time of day?" 

"Yep. It's just I wanted to talk to you about something." I said as I brushed a piece of hair behind my ear. 

"Oh?" He questioned as he dropped the ball onto the floor and shifted closer to me. "Everything alright? You look slightly pale?" "Yea. I'm alright but it's just that..." I scrambled for air as I said those words. "I'm..." But before I could finish, he cut in and said, "Hey, I've been thinking of something important and it can't wait any longer..." 

Bert's POV: 

"Anne, I've always wanted to say this but I never had the courage to. And you know since I'll be moving to a new school after this break ends, I figure that I'll say it right now..." I shifted nervously in my place as I held my fingers together tightly hoping that it'll give me the courage to say this. "I've...always liked you...and I...um... wondering if maybe you'll... go out with me?" I muttered nervously anticipating a shock or disgusted response from her. But all she did was just sat there silently with her face covered in her hair. "Hey...Is everything-" 

It was only seconds later when she suddenly got up from her seat and whispered under her breath something incoherent before taking off. "Wait hol-" But it was too late, she was nowhere in sight. And that was the last time I saw her. 

Ever since that day, I decided to forget about her. She didn't contact me and the worst thing was that I heard her family had moved out of town. She was essentially missing. Looking back, I should have been more attentive to her feelings that day. It was clear that she was trying her best to tell me something but I didn't listen and probably drove her away with my weird confession. 

It was extremely painful for me to accept it at that time and even though I was in a new school, I could not stop thinking about her. I tried to go back to my old school a couple times to ask around for her new address but it seems that no one knew. And she was pretty much alone in school except for me so clearly no one had an idea on where she'd be. It felt as if the whole world had crumbled on me. My dreams and goals seemed insignificant in comparison to losing a friend or potentially a lover. Feeling heartbroken from there on, I locked myself in my room everyday I was at home. It was either me playing sports by myself at the crack of dawn or laying in bed with my blankets wrapped around me. There were times, I really used the blankets to choke myself but after a few seconds, my body instinctively responded by kicking away the sheets. No doubt that it was painful for me but I knew that it also dealt a huge blow to her. Having a friend suddenly confessed to her probably made her feel weirded out or even scared. 

Fortunately, a couple of my basketball friends noticed my absence and decided to hang out with me. Each time, I locked myself in my room, they would try their best to force me to go outside. As much as I hated them for trying to disturb my peace and quiet, I knew they only had good intentions. Spiders in my room, screaming my name from my window, pelting my window with small rocks. After suffering from their relentless pestering, I decided to return to the court and play with them. Over time, they started listening to their problems and ultimately helped me moved forward. 

Annie's POV: 

"Anne, I...really need to talk to you." Bert's eyes looked bloodshot as if he could kill me if I stared at it any longer. "Um...um...-" My words were cut short when Mikasa suddenly spoke up from behind me. "Hey, I don't know who you are but she's late for her date so buzz off" She said mercilessly trying to defuse the situation. "A date?" He said as he scoffed. "You left me alone all these years just to get a date?" He changed. Not only from his demeanor, his height, his face, but his tone towards me had changed a lot. "Hey, for the last time! Leave! My friend is not comfortable with you around!" Mikasa raised her voice sternly. "Hey woah, woah, you're not involved in this so I suggest you to leave." He said while cracking his knuckles. "You may be a girl but I won't hesitate to hit you." After a moment of silence, "Please, just let us talk in private." He composed himself and gave a look of pity to Mikasa. She glanced at me once before walking indignantly back to my room. 

"So Bert..." I stuttered. "How have everything...ing been?" On the verge of tears, I held my head in shame away from his prying eyes. 

"Hey, are you crying?" He asked in the sweetest voice I've ever heard. He placed his hands on my shoulders and brought me inside, away from the cold. 

After he closed the door behind us, he began. "Look, I just wanted to know what happened that day?" He paused to check if I was alright. "That day when you left, I didn't know what exactly happened so I wanted to find out the truth. I kinda...understood why you'd leave in that situation especially since I confessed to you but-" His words were cut short by my mumbling.

"Sorry" I cried as I buried my face in my hands. Tears were rolling down my face as I choked on my words, "It was too much. Back then...I" But before I could say any further, I was in his arms. "It's ok. Don't force yourself to talk." He said giving me the tightest bear hug I've ever felt. Being in his arms felt like being in my warm blanket. It gave me that warm and fuzzy feeling and reminded me of the days where we would embrace every time we won a particularly tough game together. For the first time in a while, a heavy burden was lifted off of me. 

But this was all interrupted by a loud clanking sound. A bowl of cereal was splattered every where and the bowl shattered into bits and pieces. Fortunately, all the itsy bitsy pieces of cereal didn't land on me but it got all over Bert.  All this followed by a lecture from Mikasa. 

"Woah, seriously, you're tryna steal her away from Y/N?" "And you Annie...you should've known better. You don't go hugging random people, especially one that said he would hit a girl..." I groaned as I listened to Mikasa ranting on and on. Bert immediately let go of me when she flashed a disgusted look towards him. 

"Don't think because you're like 2m (6"6) tall that I won't kick your butt." She bellowed. "Back off from her, you're too close!" "Well technically I'm 2.1m (6"10)" He said with a grin before walking towards her. When Bert got too close, she gave him a low blow to his knees. "Mikasa, stop this!" I screamed as I saw Bert hesitating from the pain. "He's an old friend of mine. So stop treating him rudely."

She raised an eyebrow, "Old friend, or crazy ex-boyfriend?" "Well, technically" He chuckled, "Anne hasn't responded to my feelings yet"