𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒

tangled up in a web of uncertainty

"She smiled at me, and I felt a sudden burning tenderness for this creature so like fruit and roses. I desired her like blue water at dawn."

✉

Leo felt a surge of contentment as he reflected on the progress he had made with Annie. The fact that she was starting to trust him and share her thoughts and feelings was a source of immense joy for him.

Annie occupied his thoughts constantly, her presence lingering in his mind even when they were apart. He found himself missing her whenever they were not together, yearning for the sound of her voice and the sight of her elusive smile, which he wished would grace her face more frequently.

Yes, he believed he had made significant progress with Annie.

𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘈𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘦, 

𝘐'𝘮 𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘣 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘺, 𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦. 𝘖𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘓𝘦𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦, 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳. 

𝘐 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴, 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦'𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥. 

𝘐 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦, 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦. 

𝘠𝘦𝘵, 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘢 𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘵 𝘵𝘶𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘮 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘦𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦, 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘷𝘶𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺. 

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘪𝘭𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳? 

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦? 

𝘐 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘻𝘦, 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘦. 

𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥, 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘦.
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘵𝘴, 𝘴𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴. 

- 𝘈𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘦

Once again, Leo found himself grappling with the enigma that was Annie. Just when he thought he was beginning to unravel the layers of her complexity, he realized he had barely scratched the surface. She was a puzzle he couldn't solve, her depths unfathomable and her scars hidden beneath a carefully constructed facade.

The urge to confront her, to demand answers to the questions that burned in his mind, was strong. Yet, he knew he couldn't risk pushing her away with his probing inquiries. 

Annie's secrets were her armor, shielding her from a world that had wounded her deeply.

Annie, on the other hand, believed that her tumultuous past would drive Leo away. Little did she know, it was Leo's fear of causing her further pain that kept him from delving too deeply into her history.

In Leo's eyes, Annie was a wildfire, fierce and untamed, lighting up his world with her intensity. He embraced her complexities, seeing her scars not as flaws but as testaments to her resilience and strength.

Seeking solace in the numbing embrace of alcohol, he fought against the shadows of his own life.

As Leo lay on his bed, the room spinning slightly from the alcohol coursing through his veins, his thoughts swirled in a hazy fog of confusion and longing. Annie's presence lingered in his mind like a haunting melody, her words from the letters etched into his consciousness.

With unsteady hands, he fumbled for his phone, the screen blurring before his eyes as he struggled to focus. Despite the late hour, or perhaps because of it, the urge to reach out to her grew stronger with each passing moment.

As he pressed the familiar numbers, his heart raced with a mix of anticipation and trepidation. He knew he shouldn't be calling her, especially in his current state, but the pull of her voice was irresistible.

The phone rang, each tone reverberating in the quiet of his room like a distant echo. But there was no answer, only the impersonal beep of her voicemail. Leo's words slurred as he attempted to leave a message, his voice betraying the depth of his inebriation.

Leo's words slurred slightly as he spoke into the phone, the warmth of the alcohol infusing his sentiments with a tender sincerity. "Annie Halden, you're... you're something else. Something special. It's an honor... knowing you. Really." He chuckled softly, his laughter bubbling up uncontrollably. "I mean, you're... you're incredible."

Leaning back against the pillows, he ran a hand through his tousled hair, feeling a wave of contentment wash over him. "I'm... I'm glad you're starting to trust me, you know. You can tell me anything. I'm not going anywhere, Halden. Looks like you're stuck with me." Another burst of laughter escaped him, echoing softly in the dimly lit room. "I'm... I'm glad to have you in my life."

With a wistful sigh, Leo ended the call, the weight of his drunken confessions lingering in the air. He knew he would likely regret his candidness in the morning, but for now, in the quiet solitude of the night, he couldn't help but feel a profound sense of happiness. 

✉ 

The next morning, Leo woke up with a pounding headache and a groan escaping his lips as he reached for his phone to check the time. Squinting against the brightness, he winced as he saw the notification indicating a missed call from Annie.

Regret flooded his senses as he remembered the drunken voicemail he left her last night. Rubbing his temples, he groaned again, wondering what he had said and whether he had embarrassed himself.

With a heavy sigh, he decided to face the music and listen to the voicemail. Pressing play, he cringed at the sound of his own slurred voice pouring out heartfelt sentiments to Annie.

As he listened, however, he noticed something unexpected. Amidst the alcohol-induced ramblings, there was a genuine warmth and sincerity that he hadn't expected. Leo couldn't help but smile at Annie's name being spoken with such affection, even if it was by his intoxicated self.

With a newfound sense of resolve, Leo made a mental note to apologize to Annie for the unexpected voicemail and reassure her that his sentiments were genuine, even if they were expressed in a slightly unconventional manner.

Taking a deep breath, Leo swung his legs out of bed, ready to face the day and whatever it may bring.

✉