Darling (Harry Styles)

chap 16

HARRY STYLES
Annabelle's Apartment

  Anna stared blankly at everything she picked up and put into either the boxes to go to Louis' or the boxes to go to donation. A word hadn't escaped her lips since she claimed that her brother was the one to murder her parents, but I don't know what I would've expected her to say.

She was definitely good at picking things up easily because the second I told to her to take control of her emotions and focus on something else—she was able to. I wonder what she focused on. And I worry that she's become too enthralled on focusing to, well, focus on anything else.

Cooper laughs, looking down at a photo frame but it hardly catches her attention. "Look at little teeny tiny teacup." He turns it, showing it to us, "Braces and everything."

The picture shows Annabelle smiling widely with teal train tracks over her whiteish teeth. Her dark hair is in pigtails with her blue eyes hidden behind shut eyelids. She has cute little baby fat still on her cheeks.

"We're definitely keeping that." Louis laughed, continuing with his pile to deal with.

Annabelle gave us the gist of what was necessary to keep while she went through the clothes and left us with most everything else.

There was a lot of photos from the past, while several newer ones resided smashed in the trash can. It was easy to see that her smile had changed drastically from what it once was, she looked pained to see it too. Slowly in the photos, the corners sagged and her eyes didn't light up like they once did. Her eyes don't light up like they once did even now.

But, still, I looked at all these photos and one thing came to my mind... Annabelle was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen.

She was kindhearted and bright, plus she listened to just about every word anyone said. Even if it wasn't to her. And I mean this girl seriously listens as if you're telling her something she's always wanted to hear. Even with the most seemingly insignificant things.

But, still, inside she's not the same person she was in these photos. When I catch her while she's alone, there's always an almost dead look in her eyes. Her face turns blank and she doesn't look real at all, like a mannequin.

It would pain even a stranger to see the look.

So, I stopped doing the picture frames and left that to Cooper and Niall. Louis barely even touched them as we did the other little niche things she had laying around. The apartment was.. bland. Like something you'd see in a catalog, not in real life.

None of it seemed to have anyone who lived there and I was honestly expecting it to be a mess. Louis told us that she lived her for a little while after Jacob, so she was obviously having the nightmares back then and such but it was probably even worse then — I thought the space would've been messier.

Usually, when someone has their mind a mess, their space is a mess too. Gemma showed me that.

I wonder how I would feel if I found out that Gemma was secretly alive. And had secretly killed our parents.

I think I'd be a bit like Annabelle — zoned out with not a day where I didn't cry. Which is surprising considering I don't even like crying. I think the last time I actually did cry was a month or so after Gemma's funeral, but never again.