A/N: Sorry for being completely MIA. It's still not that long, but it's enough to feed your craving, I suppose.
Analise
Brian steps back and massages his forehead with his fingertips, as if I'm exasperating him.
"Are you sick of me too? Go ahead and leave me here," I demand, my voice wavering as more tears begin to fall.
"I'm not sick of you, Ana. I'm sick of the way you see yourself," He says, and then leans down to pick me up. "Touch me and I'll scream," I weakly threaten. "I want to be alone."
"I'm not leaving you out here. Especially with Kade's friends on the loose. You're coming back to the house." "No."
"Why do you have to be so stubborn? I'm calling Liam." "Don't," I plead as he whips out his phone, "I don't want to see him."
He sighs and runs a hand through his hair, "Just come to the car, alright? We can go home."
"I told you I don't want to!" I fire back, pushing myself to my feet and pressing my sweaty skin into the prickly brick behind me for stability.
"You don't have a choice!" "I'm eighteen, I'm an adult. You cannot force me to go anywhere. Just--leave-me-alone!"
With the last word, for good measure, I shove him backwards. He stumbles a couple feet away; I'd caught him off guard.
"Fine!" He raises his hands in defeat, "but if something happens to you, it's your own fault!" He shouts and storms back down the block towards his car.
A sense of warm relief floods me, but soon the cold truth slaps me back into reality-I'm not with Liam anymore. I'm-free? Yes. Free.
Free to do whatever I want, to be with whomever I want, and to act however I want.
With a breath of fresh air cycling through my lungs at that thought, I begin to walk in the direction of The Stratfords.
You could go back to Prom? Ha, not after that dramatic exit.
No, what I need is a good bath, spandex and a large t-shirt, and Netflix.
Yes, that sounds perfect. As I pass a particularly sketchy building, hands suddenly wrap around my throat and mouth before yanking me into the darkness.
My nerves tingle when I'm slammed into the side of the cement building and I press myself closer to the wall and squeeze my eyes shut.
Don't show them you're afraid. "Annie," Comes his gruff voice and my eyes fly open. "Elliot?" My voice is barely a whisper and his features begin to clear up in the dim light.
"Why are you walking alone at night?" I become so ecstatic, that I begin to answer honestly, but an overwhelming thought consumes me, He didn't want you before.
"Why do you care?" Leaves my lips instead, the harsh reality settling over me again.
"Because," He runs a finger down my cheek, "I'm sure if I rescued you that means I want you safe. This is not safe."
"Why? Kade and Wilder are in jail." "Devon too." "I've spoken to him. He isn't out to get me. He actually said-" "That he'd keep Wilder away-I know." "How do you know that?"
"I just know things, alright?" "How are you alive?" The burning question flies from my mouth and right here and now is the moment of truth.
His hands slide from the wall behind me and onto my shoulders.
"I can't tell you that," He murmurs, his eyes finding a spot in the brick.
"Hey," I firmly say and grab his face with my hands, forcing him to look me in the face. "Since when do we keep secrets?"
"Since Devon shot me," He spits back. "Which was all a rouse, wasn't it? Just a fake thing to make me believe you'd died because you don't want to be with me.
"That's what it all comes down to with everyone! No one wants to be with me because I'm nothing-" He cuts me off when his lips descend upon mine in a violent manner, effectively shutting me up.
It's brief but passionate and when he pulls away I'm breathless. He presses his forehead onto mine and whispers, "You're priceless to me."
My eyes are glued shut and I slowly feel him pull away, and when I open my eyelids, he's disappeared, almost as if he was an apparition pent on haunting me one last time before moving on.
I sigh and lean my head against the brick behind me, taking a moment to process what just happened.
I kissed Elliot for the last time-which I used to think was sometime a year ago. "Take me with you," I whisper to no one in particular.
And with a last exhale, I completely give up on a life with Elliot, a life I thought I'd already released, and I walk away.
...
After a four block walk back to The Stratfords, I find myself face-to-face with Ian and Liam, who're both seated side-by-side on the front porch of their house.
I muster up as much dignity as I can, patting down my bewildered hair and pinching my tear-stained cheeks, and approach the front door with purpose.
"Analise!" They both fly to their feet as Ian calls out my name. "Hello boys. I thought you'd be at Prom?"
With these words, my eyes linger on Liam's disheveled tie. I look away, however, when I find his gaze is implanted on me.
"You fled the building, Ana. Of course we were going to come after you!" Ian speaks, adding volume and a step forward with his words.
"Well," I bob my head up and down, "I need a bath." I push between their bodies to get to the door, but before I enter, I turn back, "Oh, and Liam, we're done."
I don't wait to see his reaction. Instead, I continue through the door, past the other brothers' faces, and up to my bathroom.
Before even starting my bath, I open the medicine cabinet above the sink and pop two temazepam into my mouth and down them with sink water.
I flick the hot water knob on the luxurious tub and pour in stress relief bath salts before removing my clothes.
After a small struggle with the zipper, I pull the restricting dress off-- along with the rest of my garments-- and ease myself into the steaming water.
I allow all my problems to sink to the depths of my mind as I soak in the relaxing feel of the water and stress relief scent.
My eyes flutter closed of their own accord and I find myself slipping deeper and deeper into the soothing waves.
"She walks in beauty, like the night of cloudless climes and starry skies, and all that's best of dark and light meet in her aspect and her eyes,"
Elliot enunciates in a romantic tone, adjusting the book in front of my face as I rest in-between his legs with my back to his chest.
He nuzzles his chin into the side of my neck, causing me to giggle. "That's you, you know. My beautiful girl," He says proudly with a peck on my head.
I laugh and turn over to rest my head on his chest. Instead of seeing those familiar blue eyes, I'm met with the gray irises of Liam.
"Huh? Where'd Elliot go?" "Elliot? He's gone, baby. Relax," He wraps his arms around me and tries to cuddle me but I resist, "No, Liam. I broke up with you, remember? We aren't together anymore! Bring back Elliot!"
I elbow him hard in the stomach, causing a short exhale to escape his lips.
"What was that for?" The voice has shifted again and I stare up into the eyes of Ian. Oh, Ian.
"B-but Liam was just-" "Hush now. Let's not talk about him. It's you and me, yes?"
I reluctantly nod my head and shift back to a comfortable position, encircled in his warm arms under the oh-so-familiar willow tree by a quaint pond that Elliot and I used to lounge under.
"All days are nights to see till I see thee, and night's bright days when dreams do show thee me."
...
Liam
"Oh, and Liam, we're done," Analise speaks, her voice void of emotion, and continues to walk into the house, not even giving me a chance to explain or try to change her mind.
I can feel Ian's stare burning into the side of face and I grunt, "What?" "That's it? You're not going to do anything? Go after her?"
I shrug, "If she doesn't want to be with me, she doesn't want to be with me. I can't do anything about it."
I saunter into the house, the smell of Analise's perfume still lingering in the air.
"What happened? Ana didn't say anything," Brian questions as I enter the kitchen.
"We're done," I mutter out whilst beginning to unbutton my shirt and take off the restricting tie.
"She broke up with you?" Brian asks again and I confirm with a short head nod. "Well," Jameson chimes in with his two-cents, "you did tell her that you didn't blame her ex for abusing her."
"And you were eying Angel all night," Jeremy comments as he walks past from the living room.
"So you really can't blame her," Ian adds in as he walks by, also stripping himself from his tuxedo.
"I was going to break up with her anyways," I play it off with a wave of my hand.
"She was getting annoying." "Is that why you dated her for, like, six months?" Ian cuts in, his voice harboring a newfound severity.
"Look man, don't get your panties in a twist because I dated her first," I shoot back and he scowls. However, I continue,
"We all know you have a thing for her. You wouldn't have been angry at us for so long if you didn't."
He's quiet for a moment, taking a pause to compose himself before calmly letting out, "I don't know what you're talking about."
My eyes widen at the audacity of him to act like he didn't have feelings for her. I mean, ex-girlfriend or not, we're still brothers.
"Really? You're going to lie to my face? I saw you two at pictures! I may have been drunk but I remember!"
"Remember what?" He grits out through clenched teeth. "You tried to kiss her. Not once, but twice! I saw you. And it's okay, Ian. You know why? Because I don't feel that way for her anymore. I love Angel!"
I basically shout and it's similar to having an eureka moment.
I exhale sharply and take a step away from the surrounding faces. Wow, it feels so good to get that off my chest.
"I love Angel," I murmur again, my features widening. "I'm in love with Angel!" I shout, my eyes flying around to meet every single person's eyes.
"I-I have to go!" I jump into action, buttoning my shirt back up and carelessly winding the tie back around my neck.
"I have to tell her!" "You're not even going to check on Analise?" Ian seems affronted and I push past him.
"You're the one that loves her. Why don't you do it?" I call back as I race for the front door. This is how I get the girl.
...
Analise
Drowning-it's a funny thing. I mean, I didn't even realize I was drowning at first-until I felt the water fill up my lungs.
However, I can't wake myself up. Temazepam makes sure you stay asleep, and since I upped my dosage tonight, per self-prescription, its making it even more difficult to force my eyelids open.
As I feel the darkness of death really beginning to take over, I'm pulled from the now freezing bathtub water and onto the cold tile floor.
Along with being violently shaken comes a voice appearing through the haze, "Ana! Analise! Wake up!"
I force myself to open my eyes and I start to cough and splutter up water onto the bathroom floor. Once I regain my clear vision, I stare up into the fearful expression of Ian.
He's disposed of his suit coat and rolled up his shirt sleeves.
The first three buttons are undone messily and a strand of his perfectly-style hair has fallen down into his face.
At first, all I can see is his mouth moving, but my hearing soon tunes back into the world and his words find me, "Ana? Are you alright? How do you feel?"
I open my mouth to respond, and then I remember-I'm naked. "Towel," I choke out through my burning throat.
"Of course," He yanks a fluffy towel from the cabinet, sits me up, and wraps it around my shivering form.
Squatting in front of me, he examines me once again. With easygoing fingertips, he strokes the wet hair out of my face.
"Were you trying to kill yourself?" His voice remains soft and I shake my head, "I accidentally took too much insomnia medicine."
"I thought you only took that sometimes?" "I thought I'd need it, for-" "Nightmares," He finishes my sentence and I nod, before coughing so hard it feels like I've coughed up my esophagus.
He soothingly rubs my back and hushes me. "I think I drank some bath salt water," I mumble out through a hoarse voice.
"Yeah," His eyes are narrowed as he looks me up and down, "well you coughed it all out. You should be fine."
I try to push myself into a standing position, but my arms give out and I fall back to the ground, anxiously gripping the front of my towel to keep it from opening.
Ian grabs my arm to steady me and lets out a slight chuckle, "You know, I've seen a naked girl before."
"That's reassuring," I mutter. "Excuse me?" "Nothing." He scoops his arms under me and hauls me from the slick floor.
I can feel his muscles bulging as he exerts them and I allow my head to flop on his shoulder from exhaustion. Moments later, he's laying me on my bed and approaching my drawers to find clothes for me.
He shuffles around a little, but soon tosses a big t-shirt and underwear towards the bed. "Put those on and don't get up," He commands and then leaves the room.
I do as he says, pushing my stiff and tired muscles to function properly. After the struggle that is clothes, I can hear his footsteps approaching the room.
He appears seconds later with a tray holding a teapot and cup. He places it onto my nightstand and then sits down on the side of my bed.
"It needs to brew a little before you drink it." "Chamomile?" He nods in response, stares at me for a minute, then pats my leg, "Scoot."
"Why?" "You'll get sick with wet hair," At this point he stands and exits into the bathroom, coming back with a dry towel.
I shift forward and he makes himself comfortable behind me.
With deft hands, Ian begins to rub my sopping hair dry, both of us silent. I gaze off into space, wondering why he's doing this.
"Why're you doing this?" I eventually ask, as he throws the towel into my dirty hamper. "You need someone to take care of you," He shrugs, reaching over to check how the tea is brewing.
The light from my lamp casts odd shadows onto the contours of his face and I believe that I've never seen Ian so disheveled.
He's always so put together and organized. However, now, he's almost exposed for who he truly is-just a normal person like anyone else.
Not an Olympic god-on-earth, but a man. I watch intently as he pours me a steaming cup of the chamomile and adds a swirl of honey into it.
"You're staring," He says as he stirs the concoction and places the cup onto a saucer.
"Yes. I am," I retort and allow him to place the saucer in my hands. "Careful, it's hot," He ignores me and continues to play doctor, pulling the sheets up around me and tucking them under my body.
"You need a doctor." "No. They'll think I tried to kill myself. I'm not going back to Wisconsin-I won't."
"This isn't a discussion. Dr. Brennan does house-calls. I'll phone her in the morning." I groan at the prospect of seeing that woman.
"Less complaining, more drinking," He prods me and I roll my eyes. Nevertheless, I do as he says and begin to feel the effects of the leftover sleep medication and the tea.
"Finish it," He demands as I go to set it down half-full. I gulp down the rest and shakily hand the saucer back to Ian, who places it on the table.
"Let me help," He insists and eases me down into the bed, readjusting the pillows and sheets around me.
"Look, if you need anything, call me. Don't get up by yourself." I nod, too weak to argue, and sleep begins to overtake me.
"Goodnight," And like it's a natural thing to do, he kisses my head and stands to his feet.
With a bewildered look upon his face, he flicks off my lamp and leaves the room.
My phone buzzes from the nightstand and I check the message:
Sweet dreams, Annie. -E
And with that, I fall into the best sleep I've ever endured.
A/N: Hope you all enjoyed! Vote, Comment, tell me what you think!
xoxo,
IC Judah