Speak |h.s. a.u.|

Chapter 79

Visions of Anne yelling at Harry filled Annabelle's mind as she slept. Not only were her dreams full of arguments, but images of Harry crying again, and a moment where he found out that Annabelle had been hiding information from him- like his mom dating someone, or Gemma being pregnant. Harry's words were harsh and his tears were continuous as he shouted at her, telling her that falling in love with someone like her, someone who wouldn't speak, were a mistake. She seen Harry with Alice after weeks of being separated from him, making Annabelle fall into a deeper depression than she had been in, in such a long time. She could see the way Harry looked at Alice, with eyes full of love and compassion, and the way he kissed her and pulled her closer, just like he used to do with Annabelle. In her dream, she decided it'd be best if she run away, just like she'd always done when something went wrong, or someone put too much pressure on her. Only this time, when she ran away, Harry wasn't the one she were running to, and he wasn't the one who caught her and brought her to safety before she got too far. This time, he let her go, because she had messed up and hurt him too many times.

Annabelle woke up with a small gasp, quickly sitting up and looking around. It were hardly past four in the morning, and Harry's snores were as loud as ever. His arm was slung across her stomach, his face smushed against the pillow beside hers. With wide eyes and hot ears, Annabelle got out of bed and tiptoed to the kitchen. She leaned against the cool counter, trying to clear the images of Harry crying, and Harry seeking comfort in Alice from her mind. Watching the digital clock on the microwave change from 4:13 a.m. to 4:20 a.m., then 4:32 a.m., and she still wasn't ready to rest. She still felt the tightening feeling in her chest, and the ache in her heart, all from a silly dream. Annabelle did her best to rationalize her thoughts, but it made her start to overthink, which mixed her exhaustion with her confusion.

"Annabelle?" Harry's raspy voice was quiet, coming from the bedroom. Annabelle looked up, not seeing Harry. He was still in bed, hardly awake, when he realized his girlfriend wasn't sleeping peacefully beside him. Moments later, she heard his footsteps and watched as his tall figure swayed into the kitchen. He wore only his boxers, his hair sticking up in random places, as he rubbed his eyes with his fists, like a child.

"Are you alright?" Harry spoke, reaching out to hold her hand. She nodded, pulling her hand away. As much as she wanted to know Harry wasn't upset, and wasn't leaving her for Alice (which seemed to be a pretty irrational thought), she needed to be alone for a while.

"Why aren't you in bed? Was is snoring too loud?" Annabelle shook her head, looking down to her bare feet. Harry took a deep breath and turned to open the fridge, grabbing a water bottle. "Hm," he looked around and cracked the lid open. "Did you hear a noise? Is that what woke you?" Annabelle grinned slightly at Harry's patient guessing. She shook her head.

"Did you fall out of bed? Or maybe Waffle woke you? Where is the little rascal?" Harry chuckled and Annabelle smiled, keeping her head down.

"I'm just joking. Did you have a bad dream?" Annabelle nodded and sighed, rubbing her face with her hands. Harry's finger hooked under her chin, making her look up.

"'Twas only a dream, doll." Harry's lips pressed against Annabelle's forehead. She leaned into his touch, the feeling of wanting to be alone disappearing into his warmth. Harry pulled Annabelle closer to his hardly clothed body and began to gently sway. Her head was tucked into his chest and his chin rested on the top of her head, as he hummed and swayed, hummed and swayed, pulled her closer, hummed and swayed, kissed her head, hummed and swayed.

Harry finally lead Annabelle to the couch, telling her to lay down and close her eyes. She shook her head, staring up at him as if she would crumble if he stepped away for even a moment. He assured her he'd be back, only being gone long enough to grab blankets and a pillow, and Annabelle's teddy bear. They cozied up on the cushions, but Annabelle wouldn't sleep. She wouldn't close her eyes long enough to fall into slumber. It was then when Harry realized, she had been comforting him so much lately, with his mother being completely awol and all, that she was in desperate need of some comforting.

"Just sleep, love." Harry whispered, running his fingers through her hair closest to her scalp. Annabelle continued to stare at Harry, not keeping her eyes closed longer than to blink. "Please, baby," Harry let out a deep breath through his nose, "I'm not going anywhere. I'm right here, for as long as you need me, and even after that. Rest, Annabelle."

Then Annabelle's eyes were full of tears as she frowned and hid her face in Harry's neck. He could feel her release a breath as a bit of warm water leaked onto his skin. Harry wasn't sure why Annabelle was crying- maybe she was too exhausted to control her emotions, maybe she was on her period, or maybe her nightmare was worse than being chased by the boogie man. Either way, Harry was bound to dry her tears and help her peacefully fall asleep.

Without making a sound, Harry's fingertips lifted up Annabelle's jaw, making her sit up completely. She tried to get away, but Harry gripped her waist and pulled her back down.

"No, no, don't run from me." He pleaded, sitting up and letting her sit on his lap. He held onto her back as he leaned over to grab her notebook from the coffee table. Opening to a new page, he asked her to write to him and tell him what the nightmare consisted of.

I don't want you to go

Harry read Annabelle's words, which only added to his confusion. Why would she be worried about being alone, about him leaving, when he was right here? Harry watched as Annabelle grabbed the pen between her fingers again, continuing to scribble letters onto the paper.

Annabelle kept her focus on the pen in her hand, while Harry read the words over and over. He tried to understand why she felt like this.

"Does this have something to do with the bad dream you had?" Harry asked quietly, watching her slightly nod.

Do you ever regret falling in love with someone like me?

Harry let out a sharp breath after his eyes scanned the paper. Of course he didn't regret loving Annabelle, he never would.

"Never have I regretted loving you, not for a mere second." Harry whispered, his forehead wrinkled from his eyebrows being drawn together. "I will never stop loving you, I will never regret loving you, and I will never do anything to harm you. You're not alone anymore- loneliness isn't an option as long as you're with me. I can promise you that." Harry felt as if he needed to reassure Annabelle of all of his promises at this moment. She must have been doubting them, or doubting herself, and that bothered Harry. Not only was he telling her everything she wanted to hear, but he was promising all of these things over and over again. Never would he allow Annabelle to feel alone, unwanted, or unworthy of love.

Harry grabbed the pen and notebook from Annabelle's hands gently. She released her grip after looking up at Harry's eyes, and he sat the items on the table. Harry's fingers started rubbing away the few tears that were still on Annabelle's cheeks, before bringing his lips to hers and whispering how much he loved her, which was more than the ocean is deep.

Annabelle allowed her heart to swell as she kissed Harry, as well as allowing her eyes to close, and her breathing to be put on hold, while her fingers pushed Harry's hair away from their faces. She wasn't worried about the possibility of having morning breath, and neither was he. She wasn't worried about what would happen when they wake up again in the morning, because Harry would be right here to comfort her and protect her as soon as her eyelids opened, and all the while her eyelids were closed. All Harry ever wanted to do is make sure Annabelle is smiling and content with their relationship.

Harry pulled Annabelle to lay down on the couch with him, and she tucked her nose closely by his. He grinned at the close proximity she decided to make, holding the rest of her body close to his.

"I love you more than the number of stars in the night sky." Harry whispered, making Annabelle grin at his cliché choice of words as she lightly rolled her eyes. She pressed her lips against his chin, giving him a kiss, then moving her lips to the words, "I love you," without making any sounds.

They fell asleep that way.