𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐄𝐓𝐇

ii. ongoing progress

Annalise Beau was no ordinary woman, she liked to be in stressful situations and constant action until she can feel her breaking point.
Even in the twenty years, she has lived she hasn't felt this much excitement that has pushed her past her limits like an ongoing dart game. Annalise wasn't a forced to be provoked with, but when she has been she pushes more into the pain until she succeeds in the suffrage of her actions. 

Until one day the most stressful situation she has ever been in the cafe was this young woman with platinum blonde hair and long boney fingers that seemed to always be constantly moving, and her eyes were just a beautiful ombre where the sun and moon meet on a special day and dance till the sky explodes into oblivion pieces of pinks and blues.
This was the day that Annalise finally felt the strands of love prancing at her doorstep.

"I want a Mocha with a muffin." The woman with white hair ordered with the softest but croaky voice, like she had been crying the night before and this was her first human encounter. Annalise felt like crawling to her feet and kissing them with passion. "Okay... What size would you like?" Even without the woman looking up to bobble her head strangely at this new request, she tilted sharply in an un-godly manner towards the size chart on the boards behind Annalise and scanned the size names and the cost.
"A tall." The woman confirmed and was about to drop her money onto the counter when Annalise held her hand out and stopped her,

"Would you like anything else added to it? Less milk? Two sugars? Your name?" Annalise tried to crack a simple joke to make the woman laugh as she scanned her face for amusement, but she just tilted her head back down to the tiled floor. "Meredith. I'll have it."

Annalise Beau was no ordinary woman, but this woman excited her to the point she knew this new desire was unrecognised to the public eye.
She will admire this woman from afar how many times she comes into the small cafe, and every time she will do what the woman says. She rings her order up and quickly gets to work at the coffee and mentioned to Meredith that she could sit anywhere she wanted, hence to the fact it was a slow day today.
Annalise watched as she sat in the farthest corner of the cafe, perfectly situated to quickly run out the door if anything had gone horribly, perfectly situated to see out the window (and perfectly situated to see her perfect complexion). 

Annalise studied her features like an archeologist spectating an old fossil, she gazed wondrously at her brown starry freckles as she froths the milk. But due to this she accidentally tips the froth sidewards and has to start again. 

"Here you go, Meredith. One tall Mocha with less milk and two sugars with a blueberry muffin!" Annalise chirps cheerily as she places her small order in front of her with a wide smile, but instead of returning it the woman lifts the brown cup with a trembly hand and takes a sip before looking back out the window.

It was the final hours of the cafe and Annalise was cleaning up the floors, chairs and tables around the place. Restocking and clearing shelves on the walls and cabinets, throwing the laundry into the washing machine and starting the dishwasher.

 The cafe was always dead at this hour and it wasn't unusual to start packing the store up early, most of Brooklyn was out partying or busy in their tidy homes making Friday their day. Annalise sighed tiredly and let out a breathy puff of air before continuing her second mop in the kitchens, watching the cars go by the large windows and counting how many street-walkers there were. 

Just as she was cleaning the counter a quiet 'ding' of the doorbell caught her attention and standing therewith tired beady eyes and large dark eyebags rotting underneath them. Annalise quickly stopped what she was doing and straightened herself up, sure it was unexpected for usual customers to come in around the early noon but since it was a five am to nine pm cafe, they had the occasional customer come in at eight pm every day. Especially Meredith. 

Annalise started her conversation in the most professional way she has said each time. "Hi there, welcome to Fergs' cafe! What would you like to order-" but Meredith always seemed to cut her off in the most special way to her. A simple straight-on order.  She rang up her order and decided to start on the muffin first instead of the coffee, Annalise placed the blueberry muffin into the baking oven and warmed it up for five minutes as she frothed the cream.

Miss. Beau was well, in a short term, deeply infatuated in the charms and look Meredith always seemed to flutter around with. How mysterious she was and just so- merlins beard might she say this in peace- so hot. Annalise could feel her cheeks rising at these silly but true thoughts perking in her mind, the thought of Meredith accepting her love back wouldn't be just the first break-through of her undying quench for action; finding why she could tell Meredith was a familiar face. 

Annalise came to quickly realise that not everything is all cookies and cream to her, not every flirt or charm can roll off the tongue so quickly unlike how she's seen others do it so carelessly. Annalise doesn't realise how petty she sounds every time she speaks to Meredith, instead she thinks she sounds wondrous or a flirt. Meredith on the other hand thinks she's a brat. Or a long time friend. 

"How come I've seen your face before I even met you?" Annalise finally broke the long wavering silence between them. By the time Meredith finally met her eyes again with Annalise, it seemed the world finally clicked into place for her she had sat down to really appreciate her beauty. The whole galaxy seemed to fall into place and it was right at Annalise's fingertips to explore and it was just waiting for that secret word to appear.  But of course, Annalise had to push it for her own enjoyment.
"What do you mean by that?" Meredith bit back suddenly in regards to Annalise's bratty question (which wasn't really bratty but Meredith didn't want to answer it yet). "I've come to this cafe for a month now, maybe you just recognise me too much." She added on with a huff. 

But Annalise could feel something else lying between them, it was a broken memory or a forgotten one. Maybe it's the reason why she has been getting these weird chaotic dreams ever since she's met, Meredith.
Why did she wake up in a cold sterile white hospital room with no recollection of what happened previously before she had woken up? Why did she have long thing bruises and scars along her body and arms? And why did the doctors hold back certain information regarding herself?

Annalise bit down on her plump aching lips as she tries to piece the chunky information she has gained over the past year leading up to this very moment, but as she does she ignores the shaky irritable movement coming from Meredith. 

Her palms are sweating terribly and the fork she once held was dropped on the floor with bits of muffin still stuck to it, her fingers were shaking terribly like tectonic plates colliding with each other and pummeling through the layers of the earth.
Meredith felt like she was going to have a heart attack at this sudden attention from her, she hesitantly picks up her cup and steals a quick sip before placing it back down to avoid looking back over to the girl sitting straight ahead of her. 

"Well, if you're not going to help me then I suggest you to leave and find your way back to wherever you're from." The lady bitterly uttered as she popped up from the chair and retreated back around the counter with Merediths heating gaze following her movement. 'God dammit, just say something!' She screamed into her mind as she fights back the monochonly tears rolling down her cheeks.

She hesitated and bit the sides of cheek as she ran the different scenarios in her head, but she knew she had to say something soon. "My name- my name isn't Meredith and your name isn't Annalise. We're more than that." 

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w/c; 1437

hello hello! thank you for reading the next chapter of Hiraeth! If you liked this chapter then please vote and maybe give me a follow? thank you for the support and I'll see you in the final chapter!