Snow On The Beach | AruAni highschool fanfiction | Attack on Titan

7

TW: Abuse/self harm 

~Armin's POV~

The snow falls soundly but swiftly. It's coming down, no sound, it's all around. It's the first snow I'm actually paying attention to. The first snow I witness in 10 years. It's the 7th of December, which means there's three weeks until New Year's Eve. And I'm gonna have to relive everything all over again, just like every year. The cold air prevents my eyes from watering. I try to think about anything else, anything that will distract me from the events of 10 years ago, when I was just a scared little boy holding onto my grandfather's hand. I shake off the thoughts and stumble towards the gate of the school. Annie and I are a bit closer now. It's been a week of endlessly working on that project and she's warming up. Maybe speaking to Ms. Nanaba that day was a good thing... I still haven't seen Annie smile but I'm sure we'll get there. I'm happy, really happy, that she's warming up. I haven't seen her talk to a lot of people. She seems lonely. I still think I owe her for saving me but I keep it to myself. I don't wanna burden her with that right now. 

I watch as Annie's silhouette in the distance moves with the wind. She's making her way towards me. Her footsteps are light and soundless in the snow. The snow makes her look bejeweled. Her hat is freckled with gentle snowflakes, her face, scarlet from the cold. I smile and wave over at her. "Hey!" I greet. 

"Hi." She stops a few steps in front of me. My grandfather came down with a cold last night so we can't exactly go to my house. He's resting in the living room since that's the warmest room in the house and the last thing I want is Annie getting sick. I have to explain to her why we can't work on the project at my house but I have my laptop with all our files packed in my bag. She seems understanding but hesitant when I ask her if we can go over to her house. She said there's construction there a week ago but that shouldn't bother us. She seems to wanna protest, her lips part as if she wants to say something but they seal again and silence falls. I can see in her face that she's thinking about it. I don't suspect she's hiding something drastic but maybe she isn't comfortable with the idea of us staying at her house. Especially when there's already people working there. Finally, she takes a deep breath and stuffs her hands into the pockets of her coat. "Fine." 

I smile reassuringly. I feel guilty inviting myself over to her house. Going to a cafe is also an option but by the time I realize that, we're already on the way to her house. She's silent the entire way there. She seems somewhat distant and I wonder how severe my mistake is. Should I have never suggested it in the first place? We approach her porch. The pavement on the streets is wet from the snow that has been shoved away. 

Annie fidgets with the key, taking her time to open the door. She struggles to push it open but finally, she shoves it open with full force. She stands at the doorway as if she didn't just practically throw herself at the old door. "It's easier to open from inside." She remarks. Good to know. "Come in." 

I nod and step inside the house. Immediately I'm met with the stale smell of alcohol.  The entire house reeks of it. There's bottles piled up on the sides of the tiny hallway. There's no sign of renovations anywhere but I brush it off. No wonder Annie seemed hesitant on coming here. But I decide not to say anything about it. It's her home and she doesn't seem too happy about it either. There's no point in making her uncomfortable about it. Or even offending her. I clean my shoes on the doormat before taking them off. 

"Don't take those off. There might be glass on the floor." She warns. I nod and put my shoes back on. She beckons for me to follow her and just as I'm about to, there's a grumble coming from behind one of the doors. Annie doesn't pay any attention to it and instead removes her coat from her shoulders. "Give me your coat." I nod and take off my own coat. I hand it to her and she opens one of the four doors that the hallway leads to. She steps into the room and beckons me. I follow after her and right off the bat, the atmosphere starts to feel different. There's no smell of alcohol, no bottles, no dullness and no grumbling old men. All there is is Annie's furnished bedroom and a friendly looking ball of fur with gleaming yellow eyes.