hurricane.— [annaliese/taxxon]

She hated to admit it, but Taxxon was right. Her being mad at him and screaming and yelling wouldn't fix anything. She took a couple of deep breaths and slowly felt her anger leave. But, it was replaced by something else. While she no longer felt anger, she instead was being hit with all of the stress of the day and she felt the urge to cry. Annaliese Belrose was not one to cry, she doubted anyone other than family had ever seen her cry. And she definitely didn't want Taxxon to see her like that so she tried to hold it in.

"I'm sorry... I shouldn't yell at you. I've just had a really bad day and don't know what to do. I... I should probably start by telling you I'm late. Like the I might be pregnant kind of late. And I have no clue what to do, Taxxon. I can't see a doctor or my mother will find out. I can't be seen buying a pregnancy test or the world will find out. And if I'm positive, what then? My mother would probably disown me. I just... I have no clue what to do anymore."

And that's when it finally happened and she broke. Tears began to run down her cheeks. She tried to wipe them away but more instantly formed. All she could think was how pathetic she must have looked to him right now. Here she was, crying on his front lawn. But, she didn't know what to do anymore. At this point there was nothing she could do but cry and hope. She was lost. For the first time in her life she felt truly and utterly lost.

Of course, there was more. There was her interaction with Visser that had resulted in her wandering aimlessly around the district until she ended up somewhere more familiar. There was the fact that she still had no idea what was going on with Taxxon and she was tired of being lied to about that. And then there was the fear that Taxxon would just cut off all contact with her here and now. Leave her to handle everything all on her own. She knew the possibility was there.

And she knew that Taxxon was lying to her just as his father had. His father would have just said something if he was over with Barrsy. Why couldn't they at least get their stories straight if they were going to lie to her face? Did they think she was stupid? Probably. She was nothing more than the stupid girl that Taxxon had potentially knocked up. An insignificant part of their lives. She didn't know why she had it in her head she might be special to him. After all, Taxxon had plenty of hookups. She wondered how many girls before her had shown up with pregnancy scares at the Kandrona's doorstep.

annaliese belrose

Taxxon asked her the one question she feared the most right now. She knew she would have to do it. Her mother would kick her out if she ever found out and it would be irresponsible to have a child right now. That didn't make the prospect of going through with that any less terrifying. Annaliese did want to be a mom some day. She wanted to fall in love and settle down and be a mom. It's just always something she wanted to do. So the idea of throwing that chance away? It hurt, even though she knew she would have future chances.

She didn't see Taxxon asking it as an asshole move, it was a valid question from someone in his position. She couldn't say the answer out loud though so she simply nodded. As she spoke, she had to fight through the tears and the sobs. Taxxon had seen her in a way no one else had. He had seen her at her most vulnerable and she really hoped that she wouldn't come to regret it.

"Let's not talk about that right now, please? I just need a test right now. That's all I need. You had an equal part in causing this mess. Can you please find a way to get me a pregnancy test? Buy it yourself, have one of your friends bring you one. I just can't do it myself, please. Then we'll figure everything else out later. I've had a really fucking bad day, Taxxon. And your asshole dad didn't make anything better. In fact, he made everything worse."

She almost forgot about what had happened with Visser. She wasn't going to question Taxxon about all of that yet though, first she needed to make sure she could get a pregnancy test without having to reveal to anyone else what was going on with her. Then she'd bring up what had happened with his father. And she'd bring up the lies. She was going to get to the bottom of whatever the Kandrona family was hiding and she was going to find out today.

The fact that they tried so hard to hide it from her made her that much more set on finding out what it was. Taxxon hadn't bothered hiding his drug dealing from her - or anyone really - and had even broken the law with her through petty vandalism. What was so bad that he refused to show her? The idea of getting to the bottom of this both excited and terrified her. What if whatever it was, completely ruined her perception of Taxxon? What if she found out he was this horrible person? She tried not to think about those scenarios.

annaliese belrose

When she had showed up today, she was ready for so much. She was ready to tell Taxxon about everything his father had done. She was ready to call both of them liars. She was deadset on finding out the truth of Taxxon's whereabouts - not taking no for an answer. But, she didn't want to do any of that right now. She tried to speak, to say all of that, but none of it would come out.

"I- He- Visser- Just forget it, Taxxon. It's not important, just thank you for not being like him."

And with that, she hugged him. After the panic faded she thought about the whole situation again. Yes, the most obvious scenario was that Taxxon was doing whatever the Kandrona family does to get their money and that's why they both lied. But, that wasn't necessarily the case. Maybe Taxxon had therapy or a doctors appointment for some illness he didn't feel comfortable telling her about or a family member was sick or maybe he was even at another girls house. Whatever the case may be, she felt as though Taxxon wasn't hiding it from her to hurt her - but to protect her. And right now, she felt fragile for once. She welcomed the warmth of his protection.

As she held him, the last few tears escaped from her eyes. Boy was she glad she wore waterproof makeup today. She realised something else too. The Taxxon who had laughed at her with his friends wasn't some other Taxxon from the one she had went home with the other night. When he laughed at her, he was doing the same thing he was doing right now and he had done after they almost got caught. He was protecting her. By not even considering the notion of selling to her, he was protecting her from himself.

She trusted his judgement that night and she would trust his judgement now. She wasn't going to give up on finding out whatever the secret to their wealth was, but she wasn't going to push it - at least not right now. But, she wanted to make sure whatever Taxxon was off doing was safe. Annaliese cared for him - maybe as a friend or maybe more - and she didn't want to see him hurt to line his father's pockets. Then her and Visser would really have to have a talk.

"I don't need to know what you were doing. I would like to know, but I understand there's thing you don't want to tell me. There's things I haven't told you. I just have one question, are you safe? Whatever's going on, please tell me you're safe. You're my friend and I want to make sure nothing's going to happen to you."

annaliese belrose

She couldn't believe what she had just heard. Taxxon really wanted to end things with her? Was it because she had shown weakness by crying? Or was it because she brought up the possibility of pregnancy and that scared him away? Or was he telling the truth? It was obvious he wasn't good for her, but was he really ending this for her benefit? Or did he just want to see her squirm, to say he was the man who broke the heart of Annaliese Belrose?

Well she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry because of him. After all, girls like her didn't fall for boys like him and she had no intention of doing so. But why did her chest hurt so much? Why did she suddenly feel like breaking down? Why did she want to convince him to stay with her? Maybe he was right, maybe he was bad for her. Maybe he was bad because he was making her feel the emotions she promised herself he would never feel towards him. And he could tell she felt that way.

She didn't beg for him to say or lash out in anger or even question him further. He may have broken her heart, but he wouldn't break her pride or her mask. She simply took a step back and dried off her face from the earlier tears. Her voice was shaky at first, but as she spoke it stabilised. She didn't make eye contact with him, but she still looked at his face.

"Sounds acceptable Taxxon, I'll send you my address so you can drop off what I need. Also, I won't bother telling you what the results were. Not like it makes a difference in your life as it is. It was fun, but it's not like either of us really cared about the other. It was nice speaking with you, Mr. Kandrona."

She watched him for a reaction or any last words before she turned and walked away - out of his life. She thought that this was it - her final goodbye to Taxxon Kandrona. But, she had no idea how wrong she would be. Their fates and lives were forever intertwined the moment that she approached him at Barrsy's house. And fate had alternative plans for the two of them.

She believed that that night with Taxxon was her first taste of freedom and possibly her last. Now she knew it was just that, her last taste. Even Taxxon was on her mother's side. He wanted her to settle down with some man she didn't love, but would keep her family wealthy and connected. He wanted her to raise her kids the way she was raised and keep living a life she hated. At least this way she could keep being a career, if their relationship had ended due to her mother finding out that would be over too.

Once she was in her home, outside of the gaze of Taxxon and citizens of the district she broke. She knew her mother wasn't home so as soon as the front door closed behind her she sat down and began to cry. She had betrayed herself. She promised herself she wouldn't fall in love, but now she knew that she did fall in love. And now her heart was breaking. And she knew no one could be blamed for this but herself. She broke her own heart by trusting it to a boy like him.

annaliese belrose