Chapter Text
Annie cut contact with all her friends at the end of the last semester and while she'd like to say that it was because she was busy over her summer break, the reality of the situation was that she didn't want to deal with any questions or rumors that would swirl in her direction about her break up with Armin Arlert.
After three months of being gone, she found herself sitting on a questionably stained couch, in a random house, ten minutes away from campus. The music played extremely loudly in the kitchen, dozens of bodies cramped around a table full of alcohol. More people scattered throughout the backyard.
Annie was just here for the free booze and because she refused to cower away in her own house in hopes of avoiding the blonde or anyone that would bring him up. She hadn't expected herself to be put on edge every time she saw someone with blonde hair and she sure as hell didn't expect to have so much pent up anger surface after being back for simply one day.
She'd already seen enough of his friends to know that there was a high possibility of him being around. Annie sipped away at her cup as the party moved from room to room in waves. She wasn’t paying enough attention to the crowd to be able to tell who she knew and who she didn't, and she considers herself lucky enough to have been left alone.
But luck was something Annie knew to run out too quickly for her.
"I don't know, he said he'd be here." The sickly sweat voice of Historia cuts through her numbed stupor and before she could stop herself, she glances to the left to see her dressed in a stupidly small sundress, while standing next to her shadow, Ymir. "Should I call him?"
With a scoff, Annie shifts her body to the right, quickly facing away in hopes of not being spotted. The last thing she needed right now was to talk to the reason for her breakup. She lifted her cup to her lips only to find it empty.
"Maybe he's outside, or some shit, I don't know." Ymir's irritated drawl cuts through the air, "Let's go say hi to people- we're late for our own damn party."
There was no way in hell she would have come to the party if she knew the host was Historia. It felt almost like some sort of joke that she hadn't known. But she really hadn't.
Annie takes this as cue to get up and head towards the kitchen to refill her cup. She made it about halfway when she spotted Reiner and quickly turned towards her right- facing the dirty wall in order to avoid the mess that was slowly unfolding around her.
Reiner failed to see her and instead, his attention was drawn towards Armin, as he passed by. "Since when do you have enough time to come out to these parties, Armin?" His voice was so loud that Annie visibly flinched at the intrusion.
"Armin?" Historia's voice echoed in surprise and with a smile, she rushed over to him. "I'm so glad to see you here." The way her voice sounded as sweet as honey made Annie wish she could crumble and disappear. It didn't help that everyone was practically standing behind her and that she wasn't sure how she was supposed to leave without at least one of the four noticing her.
"Have you seen Annie? Sasha said she was here-" Reiner starts.
"-Why are you asking him about her?" Historia's interruption rang through Annie's blood like scorching lava and suddenly, the urge to turn around and punch the stupid girl is stronger than her urge to hide. "After everything she's put him through, it's not nice."
"I-" Armin attempted to interrupt, but his attention was drawn over to Porco, who passed them with two drinks in his hand.
"Who put Annie on time out?" He asks with a laugh, heading towards her. "My girl looked like she could use a drink, here." A cup was shoved towards her and she grabbed it and turned around, frowning at a grinning Porco. "Haven't seen you around babe, how have you been?"
She wanted to spontaneously combust when she glanced at the five pairs of eyes that had suddenly landed on her.
Their eyes met between the others and Armin found his hands curled into fists at the empty unreadable expression she was wearing. As if seeing him after three whole months meant nothing. His throat closed in on itself, as his rage kept boiling over at seeing Porco wrap an arm around Annie's shoulders, sprouting something in his cheery voice, with a smirk wide enough to cover a sea's distance.
Armin turned away, heartbeat racing, but even as he took a step away from them, tiny yet firm fingers wrapped around his arm.
"Armin! Wait, I wanted to talk to you..." Historia's eyes were wide, she pressed up against him, her body warm and soft to the touch, it should have made him feel something - anything - yet Armin felt nothing. He tried to speak, but his body trembled with three months of emotions that had been buried down for their own good.
"Yoo," A huge crackle of laughter came to his right, "Looks like the whole crew is here! What's up boys-hey birthday girl, fuck is that Annie?" Another bout of laughter left Eren's mouth, the cup he was holding splashed as he almost tripped at seeing her, he grabbed Armin's left shoulder to keep upright and once steadied pointed at Annie.
"Armin- Armin look, did you see? Girls, eh? You got some nerve coming here Annie, why did you even come back? You know what, you should take Mikasa with you when you go-" His words faltered as he looked past Annie's head and saw Mikasa standing off to the left of her, hurt shone in her eyes and before anyone could say anything else, she turned away and fled into the crowd, her eyes looking glossy.
"Eren!" Armin hissed and pushed Eren away, "Grow up for God's sake. Historia, can we talk later, I gotta go after Mikasa."
Annie hated how much her chest ached at seeing Historia with Armin. She hated having to blink back the burn in her eyes as she cocked her head back and replaced it with the burning of the alcohol down her throat. Most importantly, Annie hated that she felt, at that very moment, like she had felt three months ago.
Frustrated and heartbroken.
Eren's hostility caught her slightly off guard, but it also surprised Reiner and Porco, the latter letting go of her and stepping towards Eren. "I dare you to talk to her like that again."
"You dare me?" Eren said mockingly, ready to rise to any kind of altercation with the way he was feeling. He didn't like Porco that much either. Matter of fact, he didn't like many of the people he ran around with. "Oh so scary, what the fuck are you going to do about it, bitch? Yeah you're a bitch, why? Cause all you know how to do is bark. Who the fuck you think you are? No one, you're just Annie's new Bitch!" He chuckled, took a swig of his drink, and then spat it all into Porco's face.
Both Annie and Armin seemed unaware of the situation besides them. They were so sensitive to each other's presence, that everyone in the room felt like too much to deal with. Especially when they could barely take their eyes off of each other.
Porco gave her the space she needed to lay her hand on Armin's chest, stopping him as he walked passed in an attempt to leave the situation. She wasn’t paying attention to the loud shouts coming from behind her and when his eyes met her, she made sure to hold his gaze. "You're a piece of shit and so is Eren. I don't know what you've told him about the break up but from the looks of it," Her eyes glanced behind him, at an approaching Historia. "I was right and I do wish you the best in your new relationship." Her voice was dry, piercing and as empty as her good luck wishes.
"I didn't know it was your birthday, Historia. Otherwise I wouldn't have come." She gave the blonde a smile, watched a frown form on her lips and crocodile tears fill her eyes behind her ridiculously long lashes. Historia clung on to Armin's arm and Annie quickly dropped her hands from his chest.
"That's mean, Annie. I'm your friend, why-"
"My God, fuck you Historia." Annie's hand trembled, and her fist tightened around her red cup, crinkling the hard plastic. "It's almost like the two of you were meant for each other." She spat angrily, taking a step back.
But that’s as much as Armin could take before everything comes flooding forward in a wave of rage.
"I'm the asshole?!" He finally said, his hold on his patience slipping, the dam about to burst open, all while people around them were chanting fight fight fight , "Fuck you Annie, you're the one that left me, you're the one that fucking broke my heart, and you have the nerve to come in here acting like I'm the asshole? You know what? I must have been stupid for falling for someone as selfish and hurtful as you."
He took a step forward, dragging Historia along with him, herding Annie back into the wall. "Must have been funny watching me pin after you, following you around like a puppy for years until you even looked my way. Yeah? You had a good laugh didn't you? That's why you left me so fast once we finally got together." Another step, "I despise you, you know that? You think you're better than everyone, Annie's too good to hang out with us normal folk, yeah not anymore if you're fucking Porco." He spat the words and without thinking punched the wall right next to her face with his free hand.
"Don't ever touch me again, I'm done with this." He glared down at her, his body felt steaming hot, his rage kept on piling and piling, he didn't even care of how hurtful he was being, even though he knew later he'd regret every word. He backed away from her, glanced towards the sounds, and saw Eren and Porco going at it, blood was already being shed.
He glared back at Annie, as if she was the cause for all of this, "Nice choice, a real macho man eh." And turned his back away from the direction he had seen Mikasa going, instead going into the fray to save Eren's ass, not for the first time that week. Before getting in between the two of them, he dragged his arm out of Historia's clutches and grabbed Porco's arm just before it collided into Eren's face.
"Enough! You're like fucking kids!" He pushed Porco away with enough force to send him falling back into Reiner's arms and grabbed Eren who was about to charge Porco, "Eren!" He shouted, struggling to push Eren back, "Shut the fuck up!" He told the chanting crowd, "fucking maniacs," he pushed Eren through the masses ignoring his screams to let go of him, until they made it outside.
Porco was heated beyond belief. He felt a strong pair of hands on his shoulders, stopping him from running after Eren. Without thinking, he threw his body around, fist flying up and connecting with the side of Reiner's face. Angrily, Reiner punched back, sending Porco flying into a group of people. Shouts erupted and before anyone could really do anything, the fighting multiplied. Fists flying blindly in the air, shouts rising into an uncomfortable level.
But Annie remained glued to her spot on the wall, oblivious to everything as feelings crashed and stirred up a hurricane in her heart because hearing what Armin had to say, what he really meant to say, hurt her more than anything and anyone had ever done.
Knowing that that's how he felt about her was a hard pill to swallow.
"See what you do, Annie?" Historia's voice cut through the chaos, "Everyone fucking hates you! Even Armin-"
Annie rushed forward without warning, her fist flying up to make contact with Historia's arm as she tried to block the onslaught of Annie's blind rage. Her fist made contact with soft flesh six out of the ten times she swung and she wasn't even sure if she was hitting Historia or someone else who'd gotten in the way.
There was a yell and something flew across the room with a loud bang, Annie fell to the floor, a body with an orange shirt threw itself on top of her, the person making contact with the side of her face before she could even properly block. The punch hurt, her ear burning hot and ringing but before she could pull back to stand up something hard made contact with the back of her head and her world blurred.
Almost immediately she could feel a pool of warmth sliding down her head. But once again, before she could even reestablish her equilibrium, a wave of bodies pushed towards her. The party had turned into an absolute riot and Annie had enough sense to get up and fight her way through the crowd, until she was rushing out the backdoor, tripping with the people who wanted to leave before they themselves got forced into the fight.
Annie stumbled towards the side of the house, her vision blurring slightly when she became uncomfortably aware of the bleeding at the top of her head. She needed to get out of there, but her car was parked up front and she'd be damned if she went back inside just to have to cut through the mess of people.
She rounded the corner, head pounding as she squinted through the darkness. Armin stood there, leaning against the side of the house as Eren leaned forward, puking on the grass. "Do you wanna know why I broke up with you? Probably not but I'm telling you anyway." Her words sounded rushed, slurred even, but she didn't care. Knowing her luck, she probably had a concussion.
"It was my fucking birthday, Armin. You promised to hang out with me but couldn't because you were sick, remember?" The familiar pang of hurt rumbled through her chest and she probably would have sobbed if she was any weaker. "I went and got you that soup you like from that one weird store on 4th and Tabor and I called because I wanted to just see if you needed anything else. Historia picked up."
"She told me you were busy and that you couldn't come to the phone, the tone in her voice made me sick. Then I ran into Eren and you know what he said? 'Oh yeah he's with Historia back in our dorm but he's busy and I wouldn't bother him if I was you. I don't think that's how he'd like you to find out.'"
She laughed, ears ringing still as the sound of sirens echoed through the air. Annie knew that she needed to get to the car before she was attacked by another wave of nausea, the smell of Eren’s puke heavy in the air. Tears stung her eyes and she was more than glad for the heavy shadows that hid her vulnerability from him. He didn't deserve to see her hurting, not after everything he'd said. "So yeah, I broke up with you through a text and blocked your number and I left."
She was rushing now, unable to control the words that rolled off of her tongue. "Thank you for finally telling me what you actually felt. You must have been a miserable piece of shit!"
Armin was quiet, the stale stillness broken only by the sound of the sirens getting closer, then by Eren's laugh. Annie's eyes snapped over to him as he stood up, wiping his mouth across the back of his hand. "The way you're able to twist a story is incredible Annie, and that performance? Man, the pain in your voice was almost believable. You should major in acting instead, you dirty ass cunt."
Armin's head pounded, in one hand he was so angry that he wanted to burn everything in his path, wanted to punch Eren for always having something smart to say, and for never liking Annie to begin with. He wanted to go back and find Historia and tell her she had no right to be answering any phone calls of his and not even letting him know, he wanted to tell Annie to go away and leave him alone once and for all, and on the other hand everything made so much sense now.
"Eren go to the car." Armin clipped out, turning his glare to his first friend.
"What? I'm not missing this-"
"Get to the fucking car Eren, you're the reason for all of this shit, you just cant ever shut the fuck up and keep your smart comments to yourself huh? You're always saying some shit to Annie, always, what the fuck dude? Why the fuck are you like this? If you're not going to go to the damn car, how about you be productive and get Mikasa before the fucking cops get here, or do you not care about her getting arrested?"
"She's nothing Armin, she's never deserved you, of course I don't like her, she almost got all of us killed that night and everyone seems to have forgotten, but not me, so yeah fuck Annie! Say what you want to her and leave her the fuck alone, you were better when she was gone. I'll get Mikasa." He wiped his mouth of any remaining liquids and shook his head at Annie, before heading back into the still chaotic house.
Armin rubbed his eyes, feeling suddenly very worn out, he looked up at Annie and even through the darkness of the night, could see that she wasn't looking too good. Was that blood? He started walking closer to her, entering the shadows, and only paused when he could tell that it was blood. A wave of concern filled him and he tried not to let it show, because at this point, it wouldn't matter.
"I was planning a surprise party for you, I had a few people helping out. Historia, Sasha, Jean. Eren was on his way to buy ice. That must have been when he saw you. Why did you just leave? Why couldn't you come up and talk to me? You chose to listen to Eren? To Historia? Over me? I was sick and I was trying so hard to make it a good day for you, but then you never came and when I checked my phone, I saw your text and it killed me, you broke my heart over what? People playing games with us?"
"You didn't even answer my calls, I sent you so many messages and you never even looked at them." Armin shook his head, chuckled lightly and looked away from her face, his chest hurt enough. "Doesn't even matter anymore does it? We're done, right? You hate me, you're with Porco now, none of this matters so why are we acting like it does? Listen, the cops will be here any minute now. You're hurt, you should get it checked, if you need a ride, I can drop you off somewhere though you'll have to deal with Eren, or you can find Porco but I suggest you go now..."
Armin leaned against the wall and waited for the night to end.
"I know it doesn't matter." She finally said softly, right after Armin started thinking she was done. Eren's words hurt but it was nothing compared to the burn she felt in response to what Armin had to say. "And you and-and everyone are probably right about everything you say about me. I'm just... Happy that people started saying it to my face now. I'm just happy that you finally told me how you really feel about me."
She wasn't happy. She was devastated and it felt like she couldn't even breathe. A lump had formed in her throat and the quivering of her chin had started making its way into her voice. She was hurting, and she couldn't hide it anymore. The best she could do was look down and hope that he couldn't see that she was crying.
She hated it. She hated hated hated these feelings as much as everyone hated her. "But I can't and I refuse to let you think that this doesn't hurt me. It broke my heart too." She let out a shaky laugh, wiping at her face before glancing up at him. The sudden movement made her see double and she stumbled slightly before forcing herself to recover.
"I told you she liked you, didn't I? I told you that I didn't like her and I didn't trust her. That she wasn't as innocent as she seemed. But you kept insisting that she was a good person, and a good friend, and she was always there, and she's just so nice. I... You told me that your friends didn't hate me and that I wasn't giving them the chance. You told me to give her a chance. How many times did we argue about it? Armin, how could I not believe what Eren said? There was always something wrong with me and she was just perfect. Then she'd sit next to you, then she'd start touching your arm or leaning too close or having too many inside jokes and at least she didn’t almost kill everyone- fuck I…”
Annie paused, before continuing after taking a deep unsteady breath. "It doesn't matter now, anyways. I'm glad you found her. Someone who isn't selfish or hurtful like me, hm? It's obvious now that I was just in your way so don't you dare pretend that I hurt you and I broke your heart when you seem to have recovered rather quickly. I hope she's everything you've ever fucking wanted."
Her words were laced with venom and more feeling than she's ever allowed herself to show. "I love you and I'm not with Porco. He does that shit to get under your skin and I'm leaving- no I'm... I'm just going to stay and do the cops a favor since I'm going to be blamed for all this shit anyway." She willed herself to walk forward. One foot in front of the next and she wasn't sure if she was swaying or if the ground had suddenly become like water under her feet.
She didn't want to talk about this shit anymore. She couldn't talk to him anymore, either. so she waved at him as she passed, "I’m also not sorry that I childishly punched your girlfriend.”
His hand shot out without thinking, grabbing her arm to stop her from leaving. Before he could say anything, his phone chimed and he ignored Annie's comment to let go of her as he checked the message. It was from Mikasa stating she'd take Eren home herself and to tell Annie how he really felt. He put the phone back into his pocket and then hauled Annie up and over his shoulder. She was light and he knew having her half upside down wouldn't help with the blood rushing down her head but he didn't think she'd come with him any other way and he wasn't about to have her arrested.
"Just shut up please." he barked at her and took the poundings she gave him on his back as he headed down the street, there were countless people both walking and running away as the sirens drew closer, so they blended in quite well and thankfully didn't see anyone else they knew, he was parked relatively close and soon he was unlocking the car and opening the passenger side door.
He put her down and while grabbing a hold of her shoulder, made sure she stayed sitting. "Annie just stop, you're being stupid if you think I'll let you get arrested for no reason. Put your feet in and chill, I'll drop you off a couple blocks down the road, it's too heated here." He waited until she finally shifted away from him, placing her legs into the car. He shut the door and headed over to the driver side, if she chose to get out and run, he wouldn't stop her.
Opening his door and getting in, he glanced her way and she was still there, facing towards the window, her face dark and angry. He sighed, turned the car on and lowered the radio, before getting on the road. After only a moment of silence, he spoke.
"I'm not with Historia, I've told you time after time that I'm not interested in her like that, we're just friends, just like you're friends with Reiner and Bert and apparently Porco these days. I don't care if you hit her, I honestly don't care Annie, I think it's ridiculous to fight senselessly but really at the end of the day- I don't care!"
"I stopped caring about everything when you broke things off, the only reason why I'm still hanging out with everyone is because I have only two classes left before I get all my credits. Once I'm finished I'm leaving and never looking back. This -us, you, everyone- is too much, I can't stand it anymore, I can't stand how insecure you are with me. With everyone and everything else you're not like this, why with me? You can never fully trust me, no matter what I did or said back then, you were always insecure when you were all I ever wanted, I always reassured you, but you never changed." He turned down the street heading to her house, driving on autopilot.
"So stop acting like I was the one at fault here, I loved you, I never wanted to be with someone as much as I wanted to be with you. I never saw any other girl in that way, you were always the only one. yes we fought a lot about other people because we were insecure, but at least I trusted you when you told me to chill. When all the guys were always touching you and joking around with you, and staying over at your house, I'd come to see you and just see any of them assholes walking out of your crib with a smirk and nod. Like come on Annie, I didn't say shit back then because I trusted you, because I knew what we had was special, was different, and I hoped you wouldn't jeopardize that."
"But you couldn't even trust me for five minutes? Over seven years? Did you really think that less of me? That when we finally got together, I would fuck it up over fucking Historia? Come on Annie, use your brain, that's not me, that has never been me, I would have never cheated on you. Why would I? That's the dumbest thing I ever heard." He sighed and pulled into a spot by the side of the road, they were far enough from the house party that no cops would bother them and he wanted to check her wound.
He put the car in park, flipped the light switch on, and reached for his medical bag in the backseat, majoring in medicine, he was confident enough to patch her up. "Let me see your head-please?"
Annie was silent for a couple of moments and when she looked up at Armin, one of her eyes seemed more dilated than the other. "You're not with Historia? Even when she would-" Her voice was slurred and while he'd initially thought it was because of the alcohol in her system, he wasn't so sure now.
"I said what I said and I meant it." His voice was aggressive and agitated with the whole situation, and with her questioning. "I'm not with Historia- let me see your fucking head."
"Aye, aye, captain." She said sarcastically, leaning her head towards him until she gently placed her forehead on his arm. Sighing, Armin grabbed her head and redirected it, until her forehead was pressed on the dashboard, her head tilted in a way that he could see where the bleeding started. "I think someone hit me with a bottle- it's really nothing to worry about." She said.
"Just stay still, please."
Her head throbbed as he worked on her and she found it hard to swallow down the need to puke. "I trusted you, it was never about that. Everyone hates me and I hated seeing you stressed out about us not getting along. But her… Everyone liked her. She was gentle and kind and so pretty. I started to feel like you didn't deserve someone like me- you deserved someone like her. I didn't understand why you couldn't see what I saw. It- I fucked up, I can at least admit to that."
No amount of talking would fix the damage done to their relationship. "I think I want to transfer somewhere else. I-I can't keep acting like I don't care and I can't keep seeing her by your side when everything is ruined between us. When I still care." She practically yelped when he applied pressure to her head, her hand flying up to stop whatever he was doing.
If she was thinking straight, she wouldn't even admit half of the things that she had said. But the way he said her name struck her so strongly she pulled back up, twisting her body so she could press her mouth against him.
One final kiss, that's all she wanted.
Armin stilled when he felt her lips on his, he was still pressing a gauze to her head to stop the bleeding and felt his mind reel in shock. Tonight had been a crazy mess, he didn't even think he would see Annie again, let alone instigate a fight with her, and then have her kiss him. But here she was doing that exact thing. Armin shut his eyes, he kept applying pressure to her head and grabbed the other side of her head to keep her lips locked on his.
He kissed her back greedily and not as gentle as his kisses usually were, instead nipping at her lips and forcing his tongue into her hot mouth, drinking in her soft mewling moans and sucking on her sweet little tongue. He groaned desperately as she matched his desire and could feel her hands roaming over his chest, gripping the sweater as if she wanted to rip it off.
Common sense and reasoning tried to ram into his head like a bull, but Armin barely registered it, he had been missing Annie these entire three months so much that his pain had turned into anger, but that didn't change the fact that every night he wished he could hold her in his arms just one last time.
It was Annie that pushed against him to stop the kiss, reluctantly he let her go, but not far enough as she wanted because he was still applying pressure to her skull. He stayed quiet as he finished cleaning and dressing the wound, the cut wasn't that deep thankfully and close enough to her forehead that he could apply a large bandage without her fussing too much.
He put the car back into drive and pulled back onto the road. Armin threw the backpack back into the backseat and rubbed at his face thinking. He didn't feel like repeating himself and could only think of what Annie had said, one that she wanted to transfer schools and two that she still cared about him.
If he was honest with himself, the only true reason why he stayed was because he knew she would come back for the new semester and now she was thinking of leaving. The last three months had been hell, even thinking of never seeing her again cut through his anger like a sobering butter knife. How could she say she still cared? Was she lying to him? But Annie had never lied to him before.
Armin ran a hand through his hair, they were coming up on her house now and as he was slowing down, he could see a familiar silhouette. It was Porco, leaning against a car right in front of her steps. Armin chuckled darkly, his anger and jealousy rising to the occasion.
"Maybe we both should transfer," he said sarcastically and pulled up behind Porco's car. The man in question turned, his face showing some bruising and blood, and glared into the car once he noticed Armin.
Armin turned to Annie and felt defeated, "Good night Annie, I hope he treats you right."
"I'm sorry I'm too much for you." She mumbled, repeating it over and over until her throat dried and she registered Porco. His last words stung and she had to focus on the fact that he was waiting for her to get out of the car. Every hurtful thing he said rang true to her. Why would he even love her now? Despite the fact that she'd already confessed to still loving him.
She wanted to tell him where she'd go, if she left. She wanted to have something good back in her life. She wanted him. "Not that it matters, but you know what school I'm going to try to go to. I guess that... This is goodbye?" She didn't wait for him to admit that this was the end. Instead, she opened the door and sighed, turning to look back at Armin with a scoff on her face.
They weren't listening to each other, she knew this, especially if he still had remarks to say about Porco. She gave him a tight smile, "I hope you and Historia live out your happily ever after- I mean, if Eren doesn't try sabotaging that." Sarcasm was dripping from her voice. "I hope she's everything you're looking for in a partner and- I don't fucking know- Live our your stupid Disney dreams with Queen Historia." She gave him a small bow before getting out of the car.
She closed the door gently, despite wanting to slam it shut and turned to look at Porco, who was rushing towards her with a worried expression. "Babe, what happened?"
"Can you... Can you not, please?" Her voice sounded soft. It was enough to make Porco stop and take a step back. He gawked after her, worried about the dried blood on the back of her head but remained quiet and kept his distance as she walked up to her door, and went inside, slamming the door to her home.
Porco turned to look at Armin, glaring at him as he took a seat leaning against the door to her house, as if protecting her. He was giving Armin a challenging look, eyes filled with anger.
Armin watched her go, his throat seemed to be sealed shut, for he couldn't find any kind of words that would help them now. He felt as if everything was over, even if his heart still tried to reach for a sliver of hope. Frustrated, he punched the steering wheel in anger and knew his life would never be the same again if he let her go like this tonight. Was he really willing to let one misunderstanding on both their parts ruin these last few years? Ruin any chance of having a future with her?
He took a long breath that was meant to be calming. But as he looked at Porco, standing in front of Annie’s house like he had all right to be there, that breath did nothing to calm him.