Harry slept for two days. During the two days that he was asleep and recovering, Annabel checked his wound and cleaned it carefully. He woke up a few times during the day, mumbling incoherent sentences and occasionally her name.

Annabel stayed with him upstairs. He woke her up a lot because he would accidentally roll on his injured side and groan in pain, but she really didn't mind. On the third day, after he had woken up, she made him take medicine and eat a good amount of food.

Harry was surprised by the fact that she had stayed. The notion that she was taking care of him surprised him as well, but the fact that she had stayed is what dragged him further into the depths.

It shocked him even more to see that she was wearing one of his shirts. Annabel never bothered to wear his clothes, even if they were more comfortable. She often just went without them and it was strange and reassuring to see her in his clothing.

The first thing he said was a low and groggy, "Hi." While he felt stupid saying it, he really didn't know what else to say. Annabel didn't seem to mind and offered him a small smile as she pushed his hair away from his face to check his temperature with her hand, "Hello."

They kind of stared at each other for a while, Harry with sleepy eyes and Annabel with a slight glint of humor to the entire situation.

Annabel was the first to break the silence after she'd seen him wince because he moved the wrong way while he was trying to move to a more comfortable position. "How much does it hurt?"

Harry lied, "It doesn't."

She had a feeling that he was going to say that and sighed as she got out of bed, "I'm going to get you some painkillers."

Immediately, Harry protested. "I'm fine, Annabel."

"You're lying."

Harry kept quiet as he watched her shimmy into a pair of jeans. Everything was so fucking weird. It was like he had woken up in some kind of alternate universe and he wasn't entirely sure that he liked it yet.

Outside, the sun was sinking low on the horizon, leaving behind a beautiful array of colors. The dying light hit the trees perfectly and he wanted nothing more than to take a photograph.

Harry tried to get out of bed, but as soon as he tried to sit up pain spread throughout his body. He lied back down immediately.

Annabel took one look out the grand window and she knew what had happened. Considering the fact that it was mostly her fault that he had been shot in the first place, she decided to be incredibly nice to him.

"I'll take some photos on my way out, don't worry about it."

Harry looked at her with wide eyes and a slightly amused smile, "Where is Annabel and what have you done with her?"

This actually got her to laugh and in the process she screwed up trying to pull her hair into a ponytail. Harry stared at the way her eyes crinkled and how her top row of teeth pushed out slightly further than normal.

He'd never noticed her slight overbite before, but he didn't find anything wrong with it at all. The sound coming out of her mouth was the most memorable though. In that moment, he found himself willing to say anything in the world just to keep her laughing like that.

"Says the wounded serial killer."

Harry chuckled lightly and rolled his eyes, "Don't try to rob someone for some painkillers."

Annabel smirked as she finished pulling the hair tie so that her ponytail would stay in place, "No promises."

On her way out, she grabbed one of Harry's newer cameras and shook her head like the entire situation was just too strange to be true. She was normally never that open with anyone, not even her own parents, but for some reason it had just happened. It was like Harry had just flipped a switch and she was suddenly unable to bottle herself up like she preferred to.

Harry was opening up to. The few minutes of conversation that they had just had, had been the most conversation that they'd had since they'd first met. Granted, they really didn't need to talk much because they kind of just understood each other, but it was something that worried her because it meant that their relationship was actually evolving from just partners and fuck buddies, incredibly good fuck buddies at that, to an actual friendship with a weak undertone of something more.

She'd seen it coming for months, but it was easier to just kind of ignore that it was happening, so that's what she did. Annabel wasn't a fan of relationships because she knew that eventually everyone would leave and she tried to spare herself the trouble.

Normally, she would walk away at this point, leave him as just another name in her memory, but for some reason she couldn't seem to do it.

The thought lingered in the back of her mind as she stopped to take photographs for Harry. After taking a few photos, Annabel understood what it was that intrigued him so much. Holding the camera in her hands and lining up shots was strangely relaxing and oddly captivating.

Annabel spent five minutes getting lost in nature's unmatchable beauty before she forced herself to stop. Harry was in a lot of pain and the more time she took, the more chances he had to hurt himself.

It was incredibly nice outside, the temperature cool but not enough to be uncomfortable and the sunset cast a breathtaking shadow of color over the forest, Annabel wanted to walk, but she knew that taking the car would prove to be much faster and she decided to drive instead.

There was this weird feeling in her gut that she couldn't seem to shake. Trees blurred past as she drove and the sun sank lower on the horizon, replacing warm colors with cool ones that beckoned the moon.

Annabel flipped on the headlights and sighed because she couldn't figure out why she felt so strange. It certainly wasn't because she was going back to her parent's house for the painkillers. She never felt really much of a strange feeling around them, only the feeling that she was constantly being judged for every little thing that she did.

She didn't think about it being Harry because there was no way that was possible. It couldn't be. She wouldn't let it be.

As she pulled up the driveway, she saw warm yellow light emanating from the window in the kitchen. There were no other lights on, but that wasn't unusual for her parents, they only liked to have the lights on in the room that they were in.

Harry was the opposite, he liked nearly all of the lights off when he was in a room, unless there was something that he needed to do that required at least a small amount of light, and it had to be that way or else he just wasn't comfortable. He loved the natural light and Annabel actually admired that about him, although it was something she would never admit to him or anyone else.

She stepped out of the car and sighed. Getting the pills was one thing, but having to interact with her parents, who had kicked her out, was another thing entirely. Her father didn't want her in the house at all after he'd caught her having sex with Harry, so it was almost certainly going to be a dramatic interaction.

Her boots made small clicks as she walked up the driveway and to the front door. Standing in front of the door with faded and chipped paint, Annabel couldn't think of a time where home actually felt like home after she was about ten. The strange thing about it was that she'd felt like she was home when she was at Harry's flat and when she was in the woods.

Annabel didn't knock. She walked right in with a determined look and purposeful strides. The door fell shut with a fairly loud click that she was certain her parents had heard in the kitchen.

Her father yelled "who's there" and she gave no answer which prompted him to emerge from the kitchen with a knife in hand. Annabel laughed humorlessly and walked straight past him with a roll of her eyes.

"Hello to you too."

Steven started questioning her with a raised voice but, again, she ignored him as she stood on her toes and started to rifle through the cabinets. Her mother was staring at her with wide eyes, a knife covered in small bits of lettuce in her hand.

They hadn't seen her in months and it looked like her mother thought that she was dead. Which, wasn't entirely wrong of her to think, considering the fact that she left with Harry and he had already tried to kill her once.

Annabel rifled through three cabinets without any luck. Getting fed up with hearing her father rant about her being a horrible daughter, the stare that her mother was giving her, and the lack of medicine in her hand, she finally spoke up.

"Where are the painkillers?"

Her father shut up for a second to think about what she'd just asked, however, her mother beat him to speaking. "Why do you need painkillers?"

Suddenly she had cleared her head and it amused Annabel slightly. The corners of her lips lifted in a small smile as she continued to search through the seemingly endless amount of cabinets, "For Daniel."

Her dad made some kind of a weird snorting noise, "I fucking told you so Claire. She's still with the bastard."

Annabel's expression didn't change much as she replied, "I'm not with him."

"Then why are you getting him painkillers?"

When she didn't answer and continued to move things around, her mother tried again, "Annabel?"

Annabel sighed and let a cabinet slam shut before she moved on to the next, "He broke his arm."

"How'd he do that?"

Jackpot. The cabinet on the far end was brimming with medications varying in size and color. Annabel smiled as she grabbed a bottle of Hydrocodone and turned on her heel to face her parents with a sarcastic smile.

"Fell out of a tree while we were fucking. He doesn't have very good balance."

Her father looked like he was about to explode and it looked like her mother had dislocated her jaw. Annabel found the entire situation amusing and laughed as she walked out of the kitchen. Neither parent made a move to stop her and she was pulling out of the driveway in less than a minute.

Again, the trees blurred past, but this time they were shrouded in shadow and accompanied by the bright moon above and the stars that littered the sky. Annabel was glad that Harry lived so deep inside the woods, because it kept civilization out and it left them alone with nature.

Annabel took a few photographs before she stepped inside to the slightly warmer air and left behind the chaos of sounds that thrived in the woods. She stopped inside the kitchen to get a glass of cold water for Harry and the Chinese takeout menu that he'd taped to the fridge.

When she made it to his bedroom, she was greeted with an empty bed and wrinkled sheets. The bathroom door was open and it didn't look like he was inside.

"Harry?"

A long moment of silence passed before she heard a weak and breathy "Yeah?" from the other side of the room. The idiot fell out of bed.

Annabel set everything down on the dresser that held the TV and walked around the corner of the bed. Harry was sprawled out on the floor and breathing heavily, like he'd been trying to pick himself up for hours.

Harry had his eyes closed and he breathed deeply in an attempt to calm his breathing. Annabel closed the distance between them and sighed softly through her nose. She didn't say anything as she helped him up, not even a complaint at how heavy he was.

Once Harry was in the bed and propped up by a good number of pillows, Annabel asked, "What happened?"

Harry laughed a little at himself, "I tried to reach for my journal on the nightstand and fell out of bed."

Annabel couldn't hold in her laugh and it rang in his ears, "It couldn't wait?"

Harry shook his head and Annabel rolled her eyes. She stepped away from the bed to retrieve the glass of water, the camera, the pills, and the menu that she'd left on the dresser. Harry watched her with tired eyes; he was fascinated by this new side of her.

The faintest trace of a smile lingered on her lips when she handed him two pills and the glass of water, placing the camera and the menu beside him on the bed. He read the label and downed the pills before commenting, "Didn't steal those, did you?"

Annabel laughed as she stepped out of her jeans and climbed into bed with him, "Not technically."

Harry ended up staring at her with a raised eyebrow until she continued with a proper explanation.

"I went to my parent's house to get them. Dad blew a gasket and mom looked like she'd seen a ghost. They asked me why I was there and then why I needed the pills. So, I told them you fell out of a tree while we were fucking and then I left."

Annabel watched as his eyes widened slightly and then relaxed as he started to chuckle, "A tree?"

She nodded, "Yeah. People can have sex in trees. Have you never seen the show Sex Sent Me to the E.R.?"

Harry laughed a little louder and shook his head, "Never, but I will now."

Annabel caught herself staring at the way his eyes closed and the dimples that indented his cheeks. She'd never really paid attention before, but he had a beautiful smile.

They didn't speak much after that, only to mention what they wanted from the Chinese place and to argue over who was paying. Annabel won because she was the one that could properly move around.

As usual, dinner was also fairly quiet, except this time Harry had turned on the television so that he could watch the show Annabel had mentioned earlier in the evening. They laughed and discussed how stupid some of the situations and people were and Annabel made Harry take two more pills.

Much to his pleasure, Annabel showered with him and ended up changing into one of his shirts and crawling into bed with him. She didn't cuddle him or anything, but she was closer to him than she had ever been, leaving as little as a few inches between them. Usually, she slept on the far edge of the bed, far away from him, and Harry really enjoyed the fact that she'd warmed up to him.

Neither one said goodnight.

Harry woke up with a start, sitting upright in the bed and breathing heavily. He'd had a dream where he killed Annabel and kept her as some strange souvenir. It terrified him because he didn't want to kill her. Seeing his hands take her away was horrifying because he wanted her to stay; he liked her the way that she was.

Annabel didn't move, so he figured that he hadn't woken her with his outburst. His side hurt faintly, but he made no move to reach for the pills.

Annabel spoke his name softly, "Harry?"

Harry turned his head to find Annabel looking at him with tired eyes, "Yes?"

He watched as her eyes closed slightly and reopened again. Clearly, she was more than half asleep and his little outburst had woken her. She stared at him for a long moment, her mind foggy and bogged down with sleep.

"Bad dream?"

Harry nodded and ran his hand through his hair, "Yeah."

Her eyes closed again, but this time they didn't open again. Before she could fall asleep Harry found himself asking softly, "Annabel?"

"Hmm?"

Harry let his fingers mess with the top of the blanket and he dropped his eyes to watch them, "Would you mind...uh...letting me hold you?"

A long silence followed and he wasn't certain if she was asleep or if she was just pretending to be asleep so she didn't have to answer him.

Annabel hummed slightly in response, she was too tired to bother with words because he'd kept her up for two nights already. She made no move to get any closer to him, but he didn't mind having to move because he was already so awake.

Harry closed the small distance between them and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her body close as he tangled their legs and breathed in the scent of her lavender shampoo. Again, Annabel hummed, but this time it surprised him because she scooted closer to him and nuzzled her head into his chest.

Suddenly, sleep caught up with him and it became difficult to keep his eyes open, no matter how much he wanted to think about what was happening between them in the moment. Harry closed his eyes and tightened his grip slightly, "Thank you."