Description:
~ (MODERN) In which Hange and (Name) are preparing for their upcoming anniversary.
I placed myself on the couch beside Hange, putting the bowl of popcorn between us. Hange dug into it without looking, grabbing onto a couple pieces before scooping it in their mouth. They had been completely absorbed in the movie playing on the television that they hadn't even realized they knocked a couple pieces onto the couch.
"Hange," I chuckle quietly. "You're making a huge mess, don't you see?" Hange glanced down to the couch for a second.
"Shit, I'm sorry babe." They nod, picking up the pieces and throwing them back into the bowl.
"Hange," I laugh, rolling my head back as I roll my eyes. "God, you're crazy."
"I'm not!" They chuckle. "Just a bit lazy is all."
"Definitely." I stifled a small laugh before taking a couple pieces of popcorn and popping them in my mouth. I had already forgotten the movie Hange chose out, but it looked interesting. It was obviously a horror movie, which surprised me seeing that Hange really liked science fiction.
"What's this one about?" I question quietly. "I kinda missed the first couple of scenes. Those are usually the most important."
"They're going to this really remote group of people." Hange nods. "I mean, nothings really wrong yet, but those people are just giving off really weird vibes, so I think something bad is going to happen to them when they get there."
"Gotcha!" I nod, squinting my eyes as I at least tried to focus on everything happening in the movie. Whenever I missed important bits at the beginning, I usually just zoned out and tried to make sense of what little I knew. Too bad I actually wanted to understand what was happening in this one; Hange usually liked talking about the movies we watched after seeing them.
"I was thinking," Hange starts, their head tilting to the side as they got a look at me. "About trying that new restaurant down the road, y'know, the really nice one they just finished building?"
"Oh yeah?" I question, nodding slowly. "Why's that?"
"I just think it'd be nice for our anniversary." Hange shrugs. "It looks pretty fancy and I've heard good things about it."
I pursed my lips, my eyes attaching to the Tv as I took in this information. It hadn't occurred to me until now that our anniversary had been a month away. It would have been helpful if I made myself a reminder or something because I usually went all out when it came to Hange.
Last year, I had gotten them so many gifts that it had totaled in about half a thousand dollars. Hange had insisted that I got too much, we laughed it off, and then I forgot about it all. It would have been nice if I was able to plan half a year in advance, as I usually took our anniversary very seriously. I didn't understand how it could have slipped me up this easy.
"Just you wait." I nod. "Wait until what you see what I've got ready for you."
"She looks just like an angel
When she walks across the room
She shines tonight her golden light
Is everything I need"
"I'm glad you could make it." Annie nods, her blonde hair falling over her eyes slightly. "Just before we get started, I'd like for you to let me know everything that you already know about this. I don't really like reciting information to a person who already knows it all."
"Can I be honest with you, Annie?" I sigh, looking between her and the piano sitting in front of us. "I actually know nothing about piano what-so-ever."
"You serious?" The woman sighs, glancing between the giant instrument and me. "And you're telling me that you're trying to figure out how to play this within a month?" She asks, pointing at the sheet music in front of us.
"Yes." Maybe it was a bad idea for me to make this Hange's present. It would have probably been better for me to go shopping and pick out cute little gifts for them, but I just thought that they deserved more than that.
I found the sheet music for Hange's favorite song while scrolling through social media one night, and I had an epiphany. I knew that my gift to Hange would be me playing their favorite songs for them. Maybe it was a bad gift, I'm not sure, but I just knew that I didn't want to spend my money on meaningless presents for them. I just felt that doing this for them would mean more to them.
"Why are you doing this?" Annie sighs. "I mean, you do understand that you're literally going to be practicing day and night to get this right, to even understand half of what you're doing."
"I'm willing to do that." I nod. "There's just someone that I really want to play this for, is all. I can do it, Annie, I promise. I just really need this."
"Fine." She shrugs, glancing down at the keys on the piano. "Let's get you started. You might as well start taking notes because I'm going over all of this fast. Let's start with the notes. This one here is C. It's in the middle of the piano and it's known as middle C. The one next to it right here is D. You see these little black keys?"
I nod. "These are flats and sharps. A sharp is a half a note higher and a flat is a half a note lower. Basically, a B flat and an A sharp are the same note, just with different names. You see how these two notes," She pauses for a moment, pointing out what I had assumed to be A and B, "Can be called both A sharp or B flat. It's the same note, you see?"
"Yes, I get that." I nod. "Just going to be a bit tricky for me when I'm reading it."
"It definitely is." Annie nods. "Which brings me to my next point. You've got two staffs to read for the piano. The top is the treble clef and the bottom is the bass clef."
"Treble and Bass." I sigh.
"Let's just let you have a try." Annie nods. "Tap a key and tell me what note it is, go on."
"Lovers all around her
She wears them like her jewels
My friend said she's all he needs
To feel alive"
I unlocked the door to the apartment, my fingers aching after my fifteenth practice with Annie. The woman really meant it when she told me that she would not give me a break and that I really would have to put my all into learning this instrument.
"There you are." Hange nods, standing from the couch. "Work has been beating your ass recently, hasn't it? You've been staying late pretty much every day now."
"I know, Hans." I sigh, kicking my shoes off of me feet as I placed my bag down. "It'll be over soon, it's just temporary. Erwin told us that he was working things out and changes would be made soon."
"That's good to hear." Hange nods. "I was getting scared that you found someone better. And I'm still trying to figure out why there's a giant piano taking up our entire living room."
"Someone better?" I repeat, my gaze traveling over to them as I placed a hand on my hip. "Now how in the hell am I supposed to do that? You're the best one around here, there's nobody better than you. And don't worry about that piano. Just a little thing for our anniversary."
"I'd hope there's not someone else." Hange shrugs. "Guess I won't ask about the piano. I'm just thinking is all. I can't help it. Guess that's natural since you've been gone for so long."
"I'm sorry, baby." I sigh, holding my arms out as they slowly made their way closer. "I promise, you'll understand everything in a couple weeks, okay? I'm so sorry I'm making you think things, okay? I didn't mean for any of that to happen and I just want you to know that I love you so much. You mean the world to me and I'd never do that to you. You're perfect."
Hange rested their head on my shoulder, letting out a slow sigh. "I hope it all pays off." They nod. "Your company, it has to improve its reach to customers after this, right?"
"Yeah, that's why Erwin planned out this entire mission." I nod. "It's stupid that it's making us work more, but it'll all be over soon. Everything will be better then, but we just have a couple more weeks, Hans. I hope you're okay with it."
"If it's just a couple more weeks," Hange starts. "Then I guess it's alright. I know you're working hard and it's probably not helpful hearing me suspect you of such things-"
"Don't be sorry." I hush, running my fingers through their hair gently. "You've got every right to feel that way. I know how you feel, I know how much I'm probably making you doubt yourself and I'm so sorry. But i need you to trust me. I've got something special for you."
"You work too hard for me." They laugh. "I'd appreciate anything from you, even if you just sat beside me, I'd be happy. You don't even have to get me anything or do anything. You're enough for me."
"That's sweet, Hans." I smiled, placing a kiss on their forehead. "But I really do have something special for you. Prepare yourself."
Hange laughs quietly, placing their forehead against mine before pecking my lips gently. "Can't wait."
"Love songs on the radio
Your sweetheart lies in bed
She's dreaming of the things he said
She's hoping that it's meant"
We stepped back inside of the house, Hange shutting the door as they turned on the lights. We just finished dinner at that restaurant Hange had requested, and it lived up to its expectations. It actually ended up being some of the best food I've ever tasted in my entire life.
"Thank you, Hange." I nod, slipping my shoes off of my feet. "That place was amazing."
"I just have a great eye for restaurants, don't I?" They laugh, fixing their hair as they leaned back on the counter. "You did say you had something big planned for me." Hange nods. "I don't really like forcing people to give gifts, but I will remind you that you promised."
"I remember I promised." I nod, stepping closer to the piano in the living room. I was starting to get more and more questions about it from Hange, but I always told them that it had been connected to our anniversary without providing them anymore information. They started to become worried that I had become interconnected in some illegal piano trade off or something.
"Did you get me the piano?" Hange questions, watching as I took a seat and rolled up my sleeves. "Because I don't really know how to play. Although I will say, it's impressive that you got this thing up here all by yourself."
"Please, take a seat." I nod, turning to face them as they reclined comfortably. "Uhm, can I be honest with you for a second? I wasn't taking extra shifts at work. I was actually somewhere else. I'm sorry for lying to you."
"You what?" Hange questions, suddenly becoming a bit more tense. "Like what? What were you doing all that time? You spent hours each day away. What were you doing?"
"That's my surprise for you." I nod, turning back to the piano. "I've been working on something for you. I wanted today to be special so... I did this."
Hange gave me a chance, nodding slowly as they leaned back into the seat. I let out a breath, hoping that I'd be able to play perfectly in front of them. Considering all the time that I took out to learn piano, I actually became pretty good at it. I could sight read with ease and play pieces that I had recited over and over - which I had done with this one I was about to deliver to Hange.
I scanned over the first line, my fingers finally coming in contact with the keys below them. I was sure that Hange had recognized the tune after they straightened up a bit, their ears finally tuning into the music.
The piece itself had been over after about three minutes, my fingers gliding over the keys with ease as I made music with them, it's melody insanely close to that of Hange's favorite song.
When it was finally over, I rested my hands in my lap and kept my head down. I knew that they'd probably be mad at me for spending all that time away from them just to do this. "That's all I've got." I nod. "I'm sorry I couldn't give you all the things I did last year. I know you were probably expecting a lot from me. Guess that's my bad."
I turned away, standing from the bench as I made my way out of the room. Hange's fingers wrapped around my wrist, beckoning me back into the living room as they made room for me on the couch. I sat beside them, keeping my gaze on the ground.
"This is what you've been doing this whole time you've been gone?" I simply nod. "I can't believe that." They sigh. "You're telling me that you learned how to do all that in a month?"
"Yeah." I nod. "I got this teacher who was willing to sit down with me for hours every single day and teach me everything I needed to know."
"That's fucking unbelievable." I crossed my arms, wishing that I would have just stopped by a store and gotten Hange a cute necklace or a nice book. "You did all of that for me? I mean, I was expecting a small present or a card, but you're really telling me that you learned how to play the piano? You put all that time into something just to play my favorite song for me?"
"Yeah." I nod. "I'm sorry, I know it's a sucky gift - I don't even know if I can call it a gift at this point - and you probably would have just liked a nice book or-"
"I loved it." Hange said, their hands grabbing onto mine, which have been stuck in my lap. "I can't believe you'd do all that for me. I mean, come on, I'm not worth all that. I can only imagine how frustrating it must've been trying to learn how to work that thing in such a short amount of time."
"I-" I sigh, my eyes finally coming to meet theirs. "It did take a while. I definitely got mad a couple times." Hange wrapped their arms around my neck, their head resting on my shoulder as they whispered in my ear.
"I fucking loved it. I can't believe you did this for me. I kinda want to ask to hear it again, but I'm not sure if that's too much of me to ask. That was magical, (Name). You made that song better after playing it for me like that."
"So you really liked it?" I question, pulling away as Hange cupped my face in their hands.
"It was beautiful." They nod. "You're so amazing, (Name). I can't believe you were able to do this."
"Of course." I smiled. "Only for you, Hans."
Word Count: 2625 Words
Song: Love Songs on the Radio - Mojave 3