Pleasant fragrance is what I wake up to. It's very flowery and fresh, and I feel like one of those sleepy girls that star in advertisements for fabric softeners. I slowly open my eyes, but not with terrible difficulty. I am a bit disoriented at first because I wake up in a place that is not my own, but once my brain switches to second gear, I recall how last night ended.

I'm lying on my side and Annabelle is right by my side, looking in my direction. She's still asleep and I figure I ought to do the same thing if there is no emergency. I could easily close my eyes for a couple of more minutes, maybe an hour or so, then be on my way. I pull the cover over my face and block the daylight out of my sight. That's when I'm overwhelmed with that fragrance once again, so it must be that her sheets smell so amazing. Weirdly, I didn't smell anything particular last night.

Once I'm safely tucked under the covers, I close my eyes, relax and let myself doze off again, but then I hear a sleepy and a little raspy voice say, "What are you doing?"

I remove the cloth just enough so I can see her. My nose and my mouth are still under the duvet. Her hair is a bit messy, but somehow everything managed to stay braided. "I'm trying to sleep."

"You're doing a very poor job if you're awake." She mocks me a bit and then sinks down into the mattress and pillows as well. "How did you sleep?" She asks me after she gets herself comfortable.

I don't think I've slept that good in a long time. I remember a small fragment of dreams I've had and even that fragment only consists of knowing there was May on her wedding day. It was hard to fight off tears on that day. "Really good. You?"

She shrugs under the covers, her face radiating with uncertainty. I guess she just feels guilty for sleeping with me in the same bed where she used to do it with Mason, her Hawaii-engagement asshole.

"When I fell asleep, I slept really good as well, but I was awake for quite a while."

"How is that possible?" She was completely immobile once we were done. The only time she responded to something was when I wiped her thighs, and even that was an automatic response of a body when something unusually cold is pressed against it.

She shrugs again and it doesn't look like she's going to say anything more on the topic. She then yawns widely, and closes her mouth with a smile on her face, "I'll just say I'm happy you fixed my AC."

I chuckle to that, feeling pretty happy about it myself. "Hyah, since then, this one has been working over time."

Annabelle visibly shivers and cringes, "I know, but I was too lazy to turn it off. I had you to squeeze to, so I think I managed the situation perfectly."

"I definitely wasn't mad about it," I laugh and stop to admire how relaxed this morning is. I don't feel like packing up and leaving, I want to lounge here and later have a coffee in peace.

She sits up and holds the duvet close in order to hide her nudity from me. Last night she was very confident being naked; maybe now she's more reserved about it because she's bathing in daylight.

She looks back down at me and sees me observing her, "What is it? Feeling lazy?"

I grin and nod slowly. I just want to pull this thing over me and cuddle under it. The temperature under the duvet is perfect, just about right, everything is so soft and cozy, who wouldn't feel lazy in an environment like that?

She yawns widely, another indicator that it took her a long time to fall asleep last night. She lies back down and cuddles next to me under the cover. "You mind if I join you?"

I stretch out my arms, so she can get closer to me, "Not at all."

When she crawls close to me, we have a silent eye-contact moment going on before she buries her face into my neck. Being like this I can feel every breath she draws, and feeling the steadiness of it and how it's slowly calming down, it has a tranquilising affect on me.

I close my eyes, even though it's most likely I won't go back to sleep. My hands that are around her, hugging her, touch her hair that are still braided, and I run my fingertips over them. All the commotion from yesterday and it stayed like this.

"This feels nice," she mumbles against my neck then puts her hand over my abdomen to hug me as well.

"It does, huh?" I smile softly and embrace how good this feels. It's Saturday, I might as well spend it like this, rolling around in bed with someone like Annabelle.

I've gotten so used to getting up soon after I wake up that staying in bed for a while is a thing I just don't do often. That mostly started in college when I had my part-time job, my studies, and May and Daniel to worry about, then, I guess things just stayed that way. But before that, when Patty and I were still a thing, she'd be actually late because I refused to let her leave the bed.

"You have no plans for today, right?" I ask just to make sure being this lazy today means I get to stay here and not painfully drag myself out.

"Nope, none. Except for staying in bed, that is."

I stretch my limbs after a good night's sleep only to be ready to rot in this bed the entire day. I want to be so inactive I'll develop a process of photosynthesis.

I close my eyes and each of my senses strengthens. What I probably heard before, but didn't really consciously register it now comes to me as clear and even as Annabelle's breathing.

Her hand on my stomach becomes heavier and warmer once I focus onto it, and the duvet we're covered with makes me feel like I'm underneath a blanket of snow that is lightly but surely concealing me.

The fragrance becomes stronger, more apparent, maybe to the same extent as when I woke up.

With the daylight shining through the window and onto us, when I close my eyes, the darkness gets a warm undertone, and it's a sensation that reminds me of many picnics I've had with my dad before and after he moved out.

I don't realise that I'm smiling until I hear some kind of rattling in the distance and my face expression changes to a pretty concerned one.

"Do you hear that?" I ask Annabelle next to me who seems to be completely careless and laid-back.

She puts her leg over mine and relaxes her shoulders. "It's probably Devon playing with his rattle or one of his toys. We'll check up on him, don't worry. If anything was wrong, he would've cried."

I know he would. He cries about every single damn thing.

I accept that and lie back down. With closing my eyes again I hope to return to the state of zen I was in a minute or two ago, but right before I manage to succeed at it, the rattling ends with a click that seems very loud to me compared to the previous rattling sound.

And then: "Annie, it's me."

Both Annabelle and I jump in bed into a sitting position. My heart drops and I get lightheaded, but Annabelle just stares at the door of her bedroom aimlessly.

"It's Caitlin," she breathes, and then she exclaims: "Shit, shit, shit!" She gets herself out of bed, bending down to fetch the underwear and a shirt or something of the same kind to cover her upper body.

I roll over and down from the bed on the other side. She tosses me my clothes, but according to the sound of footsteps I don't have enough time to put it on.

"Go, go, go!" She ushers me.

I peer at her, as in: Where the fuck do you want me to fucking go!

She gets the hint from my face and in panic starts looking around, then she points at her closet, "Go there!"

"Oh, hell no! I'm not some second-rate lover-boy!" I fight her back and try to untangle the clothes in my hands.

"I swear to God, Nathan, go in the freaking closet or come up with something that will explain to her why are you standing naked in my bedroom!"

I don't get a choice to object. I'd rather Caitlin see me naked, I don't hide my body, I'm fucking gorgeous! But Annabelle pushes me into the closet like I'm a pile of toys she needs to hide from her mother, but for which she doesn't have enough time to clean up.

Annabelle closes me in, and I believe she even locks it. Does she really have me for such a liability that I would walk out of the closet casually? Why the fuck would I do that? I wonder what would be harder to explain, why am I naked or why am I residing in Annabelle's closet from time to time.

I can't even put my clothes on. She has shoes on the floor, shoes of immense height. If I step on that and fall over, that lock Annabelle used to ensure I will stay inside, would be for nothing. I would end up naked, falling from a closet, and Annabelle would end up with... a broken closet, I guess.

Annabelle pulls a baggy shirt over her and calls out, "In here!"

Moments later, Caitlin emerges in. Looking at Annabelle was much more pleasing, the older sister can leave now, thank you.

"You're still in bed?" She asks and inspects her sister's face for a while.

Annabelle, as confused as one can possibly be, looks around for anything that could give her some stability, "Yeah, I was tired yesterday from the party."

She told her?!

Caitlin smiles widely, almost creepily, but it's probably just me because I don't like her. "How did that go?" Before Annabelle makes any sense, Caitlin looks at her with a strange, but gratifying smile. "You brought someone home, didn't you?"

Annabelle stutters and I close my eyes in pain. Here I go, ruining Austin for her.

"What kind of a party was it anyway?"

I stop fussing for a moment and look up. So... Annabelle hasn't told her she met my family; in fact I was nowhere close to being mentioned.

Well, thank fuck for that.

"Just a regular birthday party, it was nothing special. Why are you here, Cait?" Annabelle crosses her arms, but instead of looking tough, she ends up looking like an uncomfortable little bunny. It's probably not every day she is hiding a naked guy in her closet. At least I hope so.

"I just wanted to check up on you. Things have been rough for you, and I want you to know I'm here."

"I don't need to be babied. Sure it wasn't easy, but I'm not half-dead."

"I know, Annie, but you're the sensitive one. I hope you didn't get attached to the guy from the night."

I narrow my eyes a little bit as I see Annabelle walk up and down her bedroom nervously. "It was just... I don't have to explain that to you or anyone."

Caitlin chuckles which sends a shiver down my spine. She looks incredibly pleased with Annabelle's answer and I'm not sure why; she's hella uncomfortable! "Okay, now you just have to tell me everything! You haven't had your coffee yet, right?"

Oh god... How long is this gonna last?

I don't... I don't want to stand here for hours! And no, I can't sit down, unless I want a heel up my ass, which I don't!

Annabelle throws a glance at the closet, but just for one mere second, then she leaves the room.

Thank you for acknowledging me!

Caitlin follows her. I can't understand what she's saying once she's in the other room because I'm in a fucking closet! Then I catch Austin's name a couple of times and strangely, from the tone of her voice, it sounds like she likes him much more than she shows when we're all piled together. But does she show that to Austin? I suppose she does if he finds her as intriguing as I think he does.

Annabelle is silent throughout her monologue, probably busying herself with making coffee.

Caitlin's voice dies down only to emerge even louder. "Is that a baby?!"

Oh, this is just fan-freaking-tastic!

"Uh, uhm, it's Nathan's, remember?"

You might as well just open this closet and let her see me!

Caitlin sounds distrustful, "Yeah, I remember, but why is he here?"

Maybe because Nathan is in my closet, hiding from you after we've had sex. And by the way, not the first time, we've done it before and I've also met his entire family and drank cocktails with his ex!

Annabelle, say anything, but this. Please. Don't incriminate me!

"I'm babysitting. He had a family emergency and dropped Devon off. It's not like I have anything to do anyway. The coffee is ready, by the way. I'll be right back."

She scurries into the bedroom and back in the line of my sight. She closes the door first, then opens the closet, only to beam at me. "Why aren't you dressed!"

"I can't move in this place!" I bark and start putting on my clothes once I step out of the closet.

"Just hurry!"

"Where would I leave anyway?"

"Through the window. I can have Devon until Caitlin leaves."

I furrow my brows. "I hid in the closet and now I'll leave through the window?"

"Do you have any better idea?"

"When Caitlin goes to the bathroom I could just g-"

The door opens and the same moment Annabelle pushes me back in the closet and locks me in again. Caitlin walks in without a worry in the world and without detecting any suspicious activity.

This is humiliating.

"I just need to change, Cait. I'll be right with you."

Caitlin puts two mugs of coffee on the nightstand and then jumps on the bed. "We're sisters, we can drink it in bed." She brings the duvet over her knees and then sniffs quickly. "The guy sure does smell nice."

Thank you.

"We can drink it in the kitchen, in case Devon will need anything."

"He'll cry," says Caitlin and shrugs when she takes a sip of coffee.

Since I'm trapped here you could've at least brought coffee for me too!

"Why are you so tense?" Caitlin asks her, rightfully so. Annabelle looks like a complete nervous wreck. "Come over here, we'll chat about Mr Yesterday!"

Please don't.

Annabelle walks to the bed and sits down as well. That's when Caitlin scoots closer to her with a big grin on her face. "Come on, what was he like? Annie, this is the first guy you've been with after Mason."

She shifts uncomfortably and starts fidgeting with her fingers a little bit. Caitlin will kill her. "Just, uh, tall and handsome. You know, my type."

Do continue.

"Everybody likes tall and handsome men. Give me something more! I need details! How was it yesterday? Did he sex away your worries?"

Poor choice of words, but I sure as hell did.

Annabelle coughs a couple of times and gets her legs up on the bed. She folds her knees and takes a cup as a shield from Caitlin's interrogation. "It was good. There was lots of kissing, more than I expected."

"Ooh, passion, yes!" She laughs and bites her lower lip in anticipation for more.

"Yeah... Very passionate." Annabelle smiles lightly. "It didn't feel like completely mindless sex, I guess that was the best part of it."

I smile to myself as I listen to her. That definitely wasn't mindless sex and it felt good. It was almost nurturing.

Caitlin breaks the moment by making a humming sound of contentment. "Go on, go on."

What do you even want her to tell you? She liked it, I liked it, we're both happy about it. Now, get out so I can leave this place like a decent human being.

"It felt pretty good to be with someone else, though. For six years there was nobody else but Mason, and if I thought about being intimate with anyone, I could recall exactly how he touched me. I couldn't get rid of it, but after..." Annabelle looks up at the closet, but Caitlin doesn't find it strange in any way. Then she continues: "After with him, I guess I started piecing myself back together."

I huff when I see she isn't even talking about last night, but about every time we were together. The first night was hard for her, not just because she must've missed him like crazy, but because that was the first time that it wasn't Mason who was with her. Now, I guess she is adjusting to that, slowly accepting it and moving on.

Caitlin hugs Annabelle over her shoulders and squeezes her. "This is great! Maybe you can hit him up again for round two! What's his name, again?"

I furrow my brows and grit my teeth. Annabelle wouldn't betray me, I know that, but this is all so unplanned and all so weird, I don't know what to expect anymore.

Thankfully, we are saved by Devon. He cries out like half of his leg is missing, and I normally wouldn't say this as a saviour's call, but strangely that's exactly what this is right now.

Annabelle sets the mug down and goes to the living to tend to Devon. Caitlin meanwhile gets up just as well and walks around the room. I don't know what she thinks she is going to find, but alright. As long as she leaves Annabelle alone, I don't care much.

"Have you gotten rid of his clothes yet?" Caitlin then asks, and the question even makes me stop in tracks, wonder what it does to Annabelle.

"He said he'll come and pick them up one day," she replies, but her voice isn't shaky. Perhaps she is just trying to appear tough before Caitlin who likes to take every sign of weakness as a reason to treat someone with pity.

She scoffs and comes dangerously close to the closet I'm hiding in.

This never ends does it...

Until I'm dead in the ground, there will be people coming after my closet!

"Let's clean it up together. If he didn't get his clothes by now, he never will."

Erhm...

I think Patty still has some of my shirts somewhere in her family home. I just never wanted to pick them because I'd have to confront everyone there, especially her.

Only now that Mason is not with her anymore has he probably realised what a mistake it was to leave her. And it was; friendships are broken and trusts betrayed between guys for a woman like her. And the idiot goes dumping her.

Annabelle comes back in the bedroom and without slapping Caitlin's hand away or something of the same non-stealth level, she gets her to back away. "I'll leave it as it is for now. Maybe he'll actually come by. Then I can at least tell him to go fuck himself."

Both Caitlin and I beam at her. I don't think I've heard Annabelle cuss before, but Caitlin seems to dig it even though she finds it a bit strange. "That guy sure did something good with your hoo-hah, Annie, look at you go!"

She doesn't reply anything, just sits down on the bed with Devon sucking on his bottle of milk. She is holding him like he's her own baby and the way she is looking at him radiates so much love and care. Some women are complete naturals with babies, but this looks more like she adopted the kid and not me.

Caitlin observes her as well, but I don't believe that in the same manner. I notice how Annabelle smiles at the baby whenever he blinks up at her.

Her sister, on the other hand, scoffs at the scene. "You know, when Austin said he could introduce you to someone, I didn't exactly see you as becoming a babysitter to his kid."

"I think things worked out the best way they could."

"Are you going to say you didn't like Nathan when you saw him?"

Caitlin, of course she did.

Just look at me.

I'm a stallion.

Annabelle chuckles knowingly. If it were just us, she would have said something about my ego, I know that for a fact. "I never said that. I did like him, but... I'm perfectly happy with the way things are now."

I bet that she is. I am too. Getting down on each other every now and then fits us quite well.

"I don't know why don't you just ask him once to do it with you. He'd do it no questions asked, like some moron who jumps off a bridge when someone tells him to do so."

Okay, wait one fucking minute, you psycho bitch!

"It's so obvious you don't know him." Annabelle laughs, which would normally freak me out, but who the fuck does Caitlin think she is?

'Like some moron.' Are you fucking serious?

I will make a solar cell so faulty that when she'll have it installed, her entire restaurant will burn down. Who'll be the moron then, you pale ogre!

"I'll tell you that again, Annie, he's ideal if you just want sex. He'll do the deed and when you're sick of him, he'll be fine with it."

No, I fucking wouldn't be!

"Please," sighs Annabelle and steadies Devon in her arms, "I know you don't particularly like him, but he isn't like that. Trust me, I've spent a lot of time with him, I know what I'm talking about."

Caitlin rolls her eyes, and I wish I could gauge them out. She could've said I'm an asshole or selfish, which I am - kinda. But a moron!

"You're right that I don't like him. He's too full of himself."

Annabelle barks back, "Well, he doesn't like you either."

Defend me, princess!

"He only said one or two things about you, but I know there's more on his mind, yet he kept it for himself because I'm your sister. Do the same thing and be done with it. I like spending time with him. Unlike Austin, he is actually funny."

At that Caitlin beams at her a little, and I just want to confidently slick my hair back.

Hear that, Caitlin? I'm fucking bomb!

She is not happy about Annabelle insulting Austin. I'm not either, but he has to take one for the team every once in a while.

Caitlin then just smiles out of nowhere. "You want to bang him so bad. It's written all over you."

She continues to laugh and Annabelle just blushes dark red. Really, really dark red, and quickly looks at the closet for a moment. If I can say anything, is that the feeling is mutual; Annabelle and I want to bang each other really bad over and over again.

She swallows hard and keeps on feeding Devon. "He is... attractive and... he's intelligent and really makes me laugh, but... But that's all there is."

Is it, now?

Caitlin's grin drops suddenly and starts shaking with her head. "No, no. No, no, Annie, this is bad. You got it bad! Get him out of your head this very moment."

She needs to get me out of her closet first.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Don't fall for him, Annie. You've met him, you know he is no good. If you want to get over Mason, sleep with him, but that's it."

"I can't fall in love with someone if I'm still crying about the other guy, Caitlin. I miss Mason, I do. I want to call him so badly just to hear him and to talk to him again. I don't have feelings for Nathan, not in a way you think that I do, so please, back away from this."

Caitlin eyes her from top to bottom, like she finds it hard to believe.

It's all clear, she doesn't have feelings for me, it's... it's exactly as it's supposed to be.

"Okay, fine. I don't believe you entirely, but fine."

Fuck off, then.

Devon coughs a bit, so Annabelle takes away a bottle of milk and wipes his mouth.

"I don't have any diapers for the rest of the day, could you maybe go and get them for me? I'd go myself, but he gets fussy when he's left alone with someone he doesn't know."

Caitlin eyes her strangely yet again. I don't believe she's buying any of this bullshit, but I also don't think she's willing to take the risk of Devon shitting everywhere and with no diaper in a close parametre.

Annabelle keeps her eyes fixated on Devon. Maybe finally someone is thinking about me!

"Sure, I'll go," she says as simple as that. She's so holding back from asking her more about last night, about me, about Mason. But she just goes to the kitchen where I suppose she's left a purse, and then leaves.

Thank fucking God!

The moment we hear the door closes, Annabelle leaves Devon on the bed and rushes to the closet. She sighs heavily when she lets me out, "I'm so sorry about this."

With my clothes in my hands, I stagger out and start dressing up. I'm comfortable in my body, especially if I'm naked, but standing in a closet completely helpless doesn't fit me that well.

"It could've been worse, like Caitlin actually finding me."

She lets out a soft and nervous chuckle. "I didn't know she was gonna come by, believe me."

"I believe you." I frown. "You know, like a moron."

Annabelle laughs, cringing at it, then looking at me with bright twinkling eyes. "It was hard not to laugh at it. I knew you'd lose it completely."

"I had you to protect me." I smile gently and button up my shirt, which she observes very carefully. I wouldn't mind she wanted to do it, I'd let her. "So, Annabelle," I start and from her face I see that she knows I'm up to no good. "I'm attractive and intelligent, huh?" She blushes dark, so I push it a bit further. "You want to bang me?"

At first she closes her eyes tightly, and I expect her to smile playfully, but there is no such reaction from her. She just looks back towards the door. "I think it's best if you leave before Caitlin comes back. Unless you like my closet that much."

"I would have liked it more if it had women's underwear, but whatever." I grin, and again she doesn't smile back. Two times in a row, something is not good. Usually she'd at least give me a brief smile, but now with every joke she looks more concerned. "Is something the matter?"

Annabelle looks up to meet my eyes, and I can almost see her struggling to appear as if everything is as it should be. "It's nothing. I guess when I talk about Mason it can still mess me up a little."

I inspect her face and observe her carefully as she speaks. I'm not sure if she's being honest or not, and it's irritating. I want to know if it was something I've done.

"I'll trust you on this one. But if there is something, you can tell me." At least I hope she will. If I can do anything to make her smile or if she needs a shoulder to cry on, I want to know about it.

She gives me a weak and short smile, something you give when you're too tired of faking how everything in your life is perfect. "I'm fine, I really am. You better leave Devon here, since I sent Caitlin for diapers."

"You're right. I'll be at home most of the day, so just drop him off whenever you get the chance?"

"That works for me, yeah."

It's like there's this wall up between us now. I know there's something wrong, it's written all over her. She's avoiding eye contact, she keeps looking down, her answers are shallow and empty, and it looks like she just wants me as far away from her as possible. What if Caitlin's words got to her?

"I'll, uh, go, I guess." I nod, hoping that maybe that will make her stir. Then again, why should it? I should scatter away as soon as possible, it could be she's just nervous about me not leaving.

Before I leave, I try to clarify a few things with her. "Annabelle, I'm... I'm not completely heartless." I sigh, realising these words are hard to roll off my tongue. "If you do get attached, just... tell me about it. I promise I won't slap you or laugh at you."

Annabelle glares at me without blinking, like she's awaiting something. It looks like that's not what she expected from me to say. "Just because I was talking to Caitlin and hiding you in the closet doesn't mean I was lying. There is no attachment, you don't have to worry about it. And if there ever will be, you'll be the first one to know. That good?"

"That sounds perfect," I say back. "Anyway, uhm, see you later, I guess."

She gives me a small wave and then goes to play with Devon. I make a quick stop in the kitchen where I left the keys on the counter, then I'm out of the door.

I get into the car without knowing how I got there, and as I sit there, it doesn't feel like I had sex. I usually feel freaking fantastic, euphoric even, a man content with himself for emptying his balls properly, but this feels weird. I'm just sitting here in my car, feeling casual about myself, there is no euphoria or anything alike. That's the weird thing because sex with her is like entering the garden of Eden - fucking paradise. Not every sex is a good one, but even then I felt more ecstatic than after being with her for the third time.

Maybe I'm just getting used to her and it's showing like this, but it seems so highly unlikely. My monkey and human brain agree on that one.

I felt much better before Annabelle's mood darkened, for which I have no explanation. It probably is what I've thought of before - this was her and Mason's place to do it, and if I was the first one she slept with after she had broken up with him, then I'm also the first one who slept with her in their bed as well. That tends to give it some emotional colouring no doubt.

As I start the car I scour through my memory, looking for significant clues. In the morning she was lazy, playful, in a good mood, everything was good. Then there was panic and obvious nervousness, so I can cut her some slack.

She then said about this not being mindless sex. If I hadn't felt the same things, I would say she made it all up, but I know how it felt. It wasn't just another night when two people get together to have some fun and have sex. We were two people who know each other, what one likes and doesn't like, and that changed everything. It didn't feel mindless because it wasn't. That's why we were kissing, we were touching and feeling each other, not just banging into the third dimension.

I guess that could be the thing to get her in a bad mood, getting all gentle with someone, but when she told that to Caitlin, she didn't look like she regretted it or that she felt particularly bad about it. Maybe it's just her fear of getting attached to someone. She just got rid of Mason, probably someone she'd describe as a love of her life; it would make sense the fear of intense intimacy is there while the wounds are still fresh.

But we've done it three times already and every time the feeling was different. Last night was definitely the most intimate of them all, but surely that would make her feel some sort of attachment. Even if a person has a fuckfriend, there's some attachment present. What if she really isn't attached to me?

As Caitlin's said, she needs to have sex with others to forget about Mason, for some reason she finds me as an ideal guy for the job. Maybe Annabelle turned off all feelings when she took off her clothes for me, but that hardly sounds like her at all! She's someone who falls in love with children that aren't hers, she has been crying for at least half a year because of her ex; I can't even remotely imagine her emotionally distancing from anything ever.

Well, it could be that she lied about attachment.

...

I would've noticed that. Surely, I would. And the way she looked at me when she said that, it didn't sound like a lie. It was too serious, too firm, too stable to be a lie.

'I don't have feelings for Nathan, not in the way you think I do.'

Could be that she cares about me as people that know each other do, so she was just referring to one type of an attachment. Is there any other type of an attachment? I think there are just levels of how deeply you can get attached to someone.

If what I think is true, then how the hell did she not get attached? If not anything else, we've been seeing each other every day.

Okay, so she wanted to ensure me? Maybe I sounded paranoid and she wanted to put my worries to rest completely, that so far makes the most sense.

But I don't like it.

She said if there will be any sort of attachment, I will be the first one to know, but... she claims she feels nothing. Maybe I should've told her I got a bit attached and then she'd find it easier to say what exactly is on her mind? How does any of that connect to her getting in a bad mood? I guess it doesn't, and I don't know why this is such a big issue for me. I'll see her again today anyway, it's not like that was the last encounter we'd ever have.

Right, I'll see her again, so I can ask her if her bad mood had anything to do with this and if she feels at least something of a little thing for me.

I know that I do, but it's not like a bit of feelings and a little bit of attachment ever hurt anyone.

A/N: I think this chapter changed its mood for like three times, but I couldn't help it - I just had to write it like this. After Annabelle's POV, do you understand her behaviour differently than before? Share your thoughts 😊

Do you ship Nate and Annabelle? We need a ship-name for them! Do you have any suggestions for it?

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~Blackie