Lightweight

Chapter Seventeen

*Warning: Mature Content*

Annie unwillingly got out of her soft bed, the covers disheveled and strewn about from Niall, and made her way to her dresser to fetch a bathing suit. The only bathing suit she had worn so far had been her plain black one, never really needing an occasion to wear the others our mom had forced her to bring along with her for the summer. Now, Annie was grateful for our mother's pushy, yet unfruitful, attempts at making Annie wear clothes that made her stand out. I remember Annie's face when Mom showed her the green bathing suit she had bought her, all strings and dangly bobbles; there was even touches of sparkle that Annie detested originally. Her face was not amused and unwilling to cope with the charade but she stuffed the fabric into her luggage to appease our mother, she was now thankful for that.

She slipped into the small amount of fabric and stood back from the mirror to take a good look at herself. While a normal person would have said that Annie looked smoking hot, Annie was nowhere near that mental state. All she could focus on was how her hip bones poked out a little too much and the faint trace of her abs was nothing compared to what she once had. It was downright disappointing. Thinking that taking her hair out of its braid would cover her up more and distract from her disappointing body, Annie untied the elastic and let it fall in waves over her back and chest. Sure, it worked a little but not nearly enough to make Annie feel comfortable. The waves of disappointment and self-loathing were about to set in full force when a short knock on the door halted the action.

"Gee, Natasha," Annie said sarcastically when Natasha didn't wait for her to answer the door and opened it herself using her copy of the key, "why don't you let yourself in?"

"Holy shit!" Natasha exclaimed and circled around Annie eyeing her up and down.

"What?" Annie asked awkwardly and held her hands over her stomach.

"Niall is gonna go nuts," Natasha whistled, "I mean, who wouldn't? You look freaking incredible."

"Well, thanks," Annie muttered uncomfortably and looked at what Natasha was wearing. Her long legs were bare up to a point at her mid-thigh where a light dress covered her body, the light fabric allowed for the outline of her red bathing suit to show through and Annie could only imagine how it would look with her flaming red hair. "You look nice too," she returned the compliment awkwardly and Natasha laughed.

"You haven't lost your way with words," Natasha teased and Annie rolled her eyes.

"I didn't know you were coming," Annie admitted, she didn't even think of Natasha when she heard the news of a boat ride and for that she felt overwhelmingly guilty.

"You have been so busy, I'm not surprised you forgot all about little old me," Natasha pouted dramatically and fanned herself with her hand.

"Shut up," Annie grumbled and put on a pair of shorts and a black tank top.

"And I thought I told you no fighting," Natasha glared through squinted eyes and crossed arms.

"I didn't fight," Annie retorted and then remembered lasts night's events, "Oh yeah. I mean, I didn't fight on purpose."

"Yeah I know, I'm just pushing your buttons," Natasha smiled and sat on the messy bed, "Speaking of fighting, what happened here?"

"What?" Annie choked, caught off guard by Natasha's inquiry, "Nothing happened," she tried to recover, hoping her voice didn't give her away.

Apparently it had, Natasha's eyebrows raised in suspicion and a small smile danced on her accusing lips. "Oh my god, Annie. What happened here?" she demanded.

"Nothing, now shut up," Annie lied with a grumbling voice and she turned her back on Natasha trying to hide her blush, knowing it would give away her secret.