The Keating One

Part 2. Let It Out

Song of the day: The Other Side - Woodkid

Overwhelmed by the weight of her own thoughts, Annalise walked into her bedroom, her shoulders slumped with despair, her silent tears sliding down her face. With trembling hands, she sorrowfully pulled the comforter off the bed and the pillows. Some pillows went on the floor but she didn't care. She wouldn't care even if the sky fell or the earth sank.

Earlier that day, the police had found Sam's wedding ring in the woods with a fingerprint on it. They interrogated her and asked her if she had known anything about the disappearance of the ring. She'd said no. Nate had been arrested for the murder of Sam, and she had witnessed the arrest at the police station since it'd been her own doing.

Annalise kicked off her heels, even without taking her jacket off she crawled in her bed and under the covers, hugging herself as if to nurse her aching heart. She thought it was like she was trapped in this awful situation and she would never get away. Her breaths came with great difficulty as she started panicking and felt she was suffocating physically and spiritually. Her chest was tight, her body ached with stiffness yet she was numb.

It was then that she heard the front door of her house open and close.

"Annalise?" a voice called.

Annalise's heart thudded and her mouth went dry. Footsteps sounded across the entrance hall.

"Annalise?" the voice called again, with concern.

She perked her ears up after a moment's stillness to try and detect the voice. She climbed out of the bed solemnly as she was still very weak. Wiping her tear-stricken face with the back of her hand, she walked out of her room to the head of the stairs. Slowly, she looked down the stairs with an anxious expression on her face and gasped as she saw a female figure standing at the other end of the staircase, looking up right at her. Annalise almost squinted to be sure of her eyes and as recognition sunk in; her breath she didn't know she had been holding was released in a shaky, intense sigh.

**FLASHBACK**

NINE YEARS AGO AT THE EXACT SPOT

When she heard the commotion coming from downstairs, Annalise got out of her bed walked out of her room to the head of the stairs. Slowly, she looked down the stairs with an anxious expression on her face and gasped as she saw her husband, drunk as a loud, trying to touch his own daughter in an inappropriate manner. Tears cascaded down her cheeks and bile rose in her throat as she watched the scene unfold in front of her.

"Let go of me!" Alex shouted as she tried to push him away from herself, "You're disgusting!"

"No, Alex baby, listen to me!" Sam pleaded.

"Don't touch me!" Alex yelled backing up until her back was up against the wall.

"Come on, Alex!"

"You're drunk! Let go of me! She will hear!"

"Don't worry. She's asleep like a baby. You know, drugs... She won't hear us. You're so beautiful." Sam smiled like a pervert as he reached to touch her waist.

Alex jerked herself from the wall yelling, "DON'T TOUCH ME, YOU PERVERT! YOU'RE MY FATHER FOR GOD'S SAKE. I'M DONE. I'M LEAVING! I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU EVER AGAIN!"

Annalise watched Alex grabbing her briefcase from the floor and storming out of the house, slamming the door as she went.

**END OF FLASHBACK**

"Hey.." Alex greeted with a sad smile.

Annalise's legs gave way under her and she sunk down to the floor, sitting on the top step, nestling to the rails. Her eyes watered again. She swallowed heavily as she tried to calm the fierce pounding of her heart.

Alex dropped her backpack and ran up the stairs. She sat down next to Annalise and wrapped both her arms around her, pulling her close. Her silent tears were worse than any kind of sobbing. Because she knew that Annalise would never let anyone ever see her grieving. Alex murmured nonsense soothing noises, put her hand by her face and tucked her into her own shoulder.

"Let it out," she whispered as she started rocking back and forth, "I got you."

A sob escaped Annalise's lips, her shoulders shuddered and she started crying, hard. All the tears were now leaving her eyes after a long time of suppressing herself. She was venting out all the pain which she was holding in her heart.

Curling her arms around Alex's waist and clenching her hands in her shirt, Annalise kept sobbing and sobbing, until her eyes were too dry to cry anymore.

TBC...