I'll Teach You, Marianne.

Friends' oath

Anne's hug was getting tighter when the lightning flashed again and it made Aaron feel sorry for Anne, who was apparently not joking when she said she was afraid of lightning. ​​

"Come on in, you will continue to hear the flash of lightning and thunder again if you stay outside, Anne," whispered Aaron softly as he patted Anne's shoulder which hugged him tightly.

"Hmmmm," said Anne softly, she still did not want to lift her face from Aaron's chest where she was hiding her head.

Aaron smiled at Anne's behavior, he slowly invited her into the apartment building. Even though he had a little trouble walking because Anne gripped his hand tightly, Aaron still tried to walk into the building. He did not want Anne to hear another flash of lightning again. With great difficulty, Aaron was finally able to bring Anne into the apartment building. One minute after the two of them entered the building, it suddenly rained heavily accompanied by flashes of lightning.

"Akhhh ..." shrieked Anne again by covering her ears as she crouched down in front of Aaron when a flash of lightning came back and lit up the places brightly.

A moment later followed by a deafening booming sound.

"Anne, let's get into the elevator, we have to get to your room as soon as possible," Aaron said quietly as he tried to warn Anne about the heavy rain.

"I-I'm afraid of Aaron," stammered Anne, the thunder and lightning bringing back the bad memories that Anne wanted to forget.

"I know, let's get on the elevator. We have to get to your room or else you'll hear lightning and thunder again here," Aaron said softly.

Anne nodded her head slowly in response to Aaron's words, she then walked towards the elevator which was not far from where she was currently standing. Luckily, there was Aaron beside her who wanted to accompany her into the elevator otherwise she might have passed out. There was no conversation between the two of them in the elevator. The reason was that Anne preferred to remain silent while lowering her head and leaning on the elevator wall, while Aaron stood beside Anne to keep her from passing out. Not long after, the elevator stopped on the tenth floor where Anne's apartment unit was located, Aaron again followed Anne's steps from behind to her room.

"Hey Anne ... are you alright?" asked Aaron again when he saw Anne almost fell when she had just stepped into the room.

"I'm fine," said Anne softly.

"No, you don't look like you are okay, at all!!" said Aaron quickly while guiding Anne to sit on the sofa in the living room.

After making sure that Anne was properly seated on the sofa, he then went to the pantry to get some water. A minute later, Aaron got back with a glass of water from the refrigerator.

"Drink it, you would feel so much better," said Aaron quickly as he handed out the glass he just took from the pantry.

"Thank you," said Anne silently, she then took the glass Aaron had given to her and immediately emptied the water in the glass.

Aaron smiled when he saw Anne drunk the water so quickly, a flash of lightning returned to Aaron. He then got up from the sofa where Anne was resting and walked to the window where the curtain was still open. Aaron managed to close the curtain hanging on the large window in Anne's neat apartment unit in a single move. Aaron's smile appeared when he saw the very neat interior of Anne's room. He walked back to where Anne was sitting alone on the sofa while staring at the floor and playing her fingers without speaking a word. Aaron acted immediately the second he saw that scene.

"No, Anne, don't be like this, you can't be like this. Everything is fine, you are already safe in your apartment. You cannot hear the sound of lightning and thunder. You will be fine, trust me, Anne," Aaron said softly while holding back Anne's hand movement.

"I'm afraid ..."

"Hey hey hey ... listen to me, you have to fight your fear or you will be forever trapped in this fear of yours. Living in fear is excruciating, Anne. Do you want to live like this for the rest of your life?" asked Aaron quickly, cutting off Anne's words.

"Of course not," said Anne softly.

"It's good if you don't want to live in fear like that forever, that's why you have to fight it, Anne. Fight your fear, Anne," Aaron said briefly.

Anne shook her head slowly at Aaron's words, her eyes already filled with tears and they were ready to fall over her face.

"Why are you shaking your head, Anne?" Aaron asked again, grabbing the tissue on the table and handing it to Anne.

"I-I don't know how to fight that fear Aaron, I really don't know how to do it," replied Anne haltingly.

"Remember the sweet memories when that fear appeared again, Anne, I'm sure by remembering the happy memories that had happened in your life, your fear will definitely go away by itself, Anne," said Aaron excitedly.

Instead of agreeing with Aaron's pleasant-sounding words, Anne started to shed tears profusely as she lowered her face back to the floor as Aaron mentioned happy memories. The reason was that she never felt that she had any happy memories for the past 23 years she had been living in this world. She mostly only experienced traumatic and bad memories that no one wanted, including Anne.

Aaron got confused when he saw Anne started crying, he then took the courage to grab Anne's face with his fingers, and then he lifted her face. Aaron suddenly felt hurt for no reason when he stared at Anne's face which was covered in tears.

"I did not meet you to see you cry like this Anne, would you please share with me about the wounds you experienced in the past that made you feel so scared like this, Anne?" asked Aaron softly as he wiped Anne's tears with his finger.

Anne let go of Aaron's hand that touched his face slowly, she then sat back on the sofa staring at the old black and white photo of his parents. The only thing left by her parents.

"My mother died when I was a child on our worn-out bed at night, it was raining hard accompanied by lightning and thunder in Fussen. It is a Bavarian town near the border of Austria. When entering junior high school, my father passed away after he got ill after he fell in his workplace, my father was a construction worker who had to work every day only to be paid so little it was only enough to be used to buy food for the two of us. My father was willing to endure his pain so that I could continue to study and eat, he did not want to use the money he got from his work to go to the doctor. In the end, he had to give up his hope to treat his illness and died without getting the help of a doctor. That day, my father left me alone with the sound of thunder in the sky. It did not just stop there, I also had to experience the harsh reality. During the time I was growing up as an adult, I had to see a great betrayal committed by my own good friend in front of my eyes. The person I had helped to build her life from scratch after I took her out from the street and brought her to my home. She had hurt me so much that I will never forget it for the rest of my life and it also happened when it was raining very hard in Berlin. Even though all this had happened years ago, but when the thunder comes back the memories come back. Rain and thunder seemed as if they never want to let me go, they keep forcing me to remember all those terrible memories," said Anne softly with a face that was already flooded with tears.

During the time Anne shared her story that turned out to be the source of her fear of thunder and lightning, Aaron could not breathe well, he never thought that the girl who seemed so brave and fun had gone through a lot with unforgettable terrible memory from her past.

"Anne ..."

"I don't know how to get rid of all that, Aaron. The only way I've been doing is running away and hiding to heal my own wounds without wanting to look back," Anne sobbed haltingly.

Aaron was silent to hear Anne's words, he really did not think that Anne had this deep trauma. Aaron slowly grabbed Anne's hand that was sitting on top of both thighs, he grabbed Anne's hand and held it tightly.

"Let's stay as friends, Anne," said Aaron suddenly.

"What?" Anne asked confusedly.

"Friends, do you want to be friends with me?" asked Aaron softly.

"Yes," answered Anne shortly.

A smile appeared on Aaron's handsome face, he then took Anne's little finger and tied it with his pinkie. Aaron made a symbol of the promise that little kids usually do when they want to make a promise to each other.

"As friends, there should be no more secrets between us, as friends we must be willing to share joys and sorrows," Aaron said softly with a big laugh.

"Repeat my words, Anne," added Aaron suddenly in response to his previous words.

"Repeat?" asked Anne, confused.

"Repeat the friend's oath that I said earlier," Aaron replied quickly.

"That's a friend's oath? Why did I just hear about it?" asked Anne, confused.

Crack

"Awww…"

Anne was holding her forehead which was hit by Aaron suddenly.

"Don't talk too much, hurry up and repeat it," Aaron said in a rising voice as he shook his hand which was tying Anne's little finger with her pinky finger.

"Yeah, okay... Sorry, I already forgot it, could you repeat it?" said Anne after giving up on Aaron's request.

A smile crossed Aaron's lips when he heard Anne's words, he was happy because Anne finally wanted to do what he asked. Shortly thereafter, Aaron repeated the sentences he had just composed earlier aloud which was followed by Anne.

"I'll take it slow, Anne, I will make you fall for me," Aaron said to himself as he looked at Anne who was repeating his words.

To be continued