𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 | 𝐉𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐊𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐢𝐧

𝐗𝐈 : 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐬

You waved to the carriage from the road's edge until the sound of the turning wheels kicking up rocks was hardly audible. Long after the dust had settled, your remaining guest returned to the house's shady shelter, and a mile or two separated you and your two blondes, you lingered in the front yard of your quiet home. For the first time, you were in charge of the house, all on your lonesome.

Father rarely left you alone; when he did, he would drop you off with the Yeagers until he returned. You would sleep in Eren's bed, and your best friend made a makeshift pillow-and-blanket nest on his floor, even though his house maintained two perfectly-good guest rooms. During the three times that Sasha and Niccolo had left you, they tasked the Springers with watching you instead, as the family of five lived much closer, and Sasha trusted Mrs. Springer with her life. You would steal the eldest son Connie's old room, as he was never home when you visited, and you wasted time on all sorts of activities with his two younger siblings.

The second oldest, Suzannah, Sunny for short, was two years your junior. This made for great fun, as you had plenty of mutual interests. You taught her all sorts of hairstyles you picked up from Mrs. Yeager and baked cookies until there was no place to store them all. You only failed to see her like a best friend as you did Hitch and Eren; Sunny was a little sister you doted on and spoiled rotten when you had the monetary means.

Martin, the youngest of Springers, celebrated his sixth birthday in early March. Each time you stayed over, he spent more time being coddled by his mother than playing with you. The child had deeper feelings than an average child and hysterically sobbed when things did not go his way. Regardless of his emotional nature, you always read him his bedtime stories no matter how much trouble he got you and his sister into for not always including him in activities.

It had been quite a while since you had spent serious time with any of the Springers. The last proper conversation you had with Mrs. Springer or Sunny must have been Hitch's wedding, and that was months ago. You were due for a visit, and since you had nothing better to do, you decided today was the perfect day.

Obviously, you could not show up empty-handed. Martin would never forgive you for passing through the front door with nothing sweet to offer.

You entered the kitchen and began working on simple sugar cookies since they were always a favorite. With the oven lit, the cookie dough spooned, and the tray inserted, you waited patiently for the confections to spread and cook. The sweet smell permeated the house in less than ten minutes, and you still had another batch or two to bake before you could wrap them up and head off.

The floorboards creaked as you opened the oven door and used a mitten to grab hold of the metal. Two sets of eyes watched you from the kitchen door as you placed the next set of cookies into the oven and allowed the first perfectly golden batch to cool.

"What are you doing?" asked Mr. Kirstein with Lucy wrapped in his arms.

"Baking."

"For what?"

"For friends."

"Yeager?"

"No."

"Finch?"

You picked up your head to shoot Mr. Kirstein a confused glance. "Finch? I don't believe I know a... Hitch? Do you mean Hitch?"

"The banshee, no?"

Confusion transformed into annoyance in the blink of an eye. "You can say whatever you want about me, but she's done nothing to warrant your cruelty. She was more than pleasant to you when you visited."

"What would you have me say? I hardly know her."

"Virtually anything would be better than calling one of my best friends a banshee."