Speak |h.s. a.u.|

Chapter 75

For those of you who are upset or impatient, and keep asking when Annabelle will speak, honestly I do not know. This story is based around a girl who does not speak, therefor, without this girl who does not speak, there would be no story to tell. Annabelle has started writing to Harry, which was a big step of trust for her to take. If you are one of the people who are complaining about Annabelle not speaking, then I am very sorry, but she might not speak for a long time. I might even have to make a sequel to Speak, because I am already at chapter seventy-five, and I feel like this story isn't even halfway finished.

^*^

It's been a week since Harry agreed to keeping a stray dog. He posted a few flyers around town, but no one had claimed the puppy, so Annabelle decided she would take care of the little guy. They named him Waffle, which was Annabelle's idea. Harry argued, saying it wasn't a creative name, but he gave up when he couldn't think of a better one. Annabelle was the one to take care of Waffle, by bathing him and feeding him. Harry watched Waffle when Annabelle would go to work, but he wouldn't get close to the puppy or let him get too cuddly.

Harry and Annabelle sat on the couch watching The Office while Waffle jumped up and down, trying to get into the couch. Annabelle watched him with amusement in her eyes, and soon picked him up and sat him on her lap. He calmed down after that, and fell asleep, until Harry's phone rang loudly, startling the puppy.

"Hello?" Harry answered after seeing Gemma's name on the screen.

"Harry, I'm coming over today, what's your address again?" Gemma's voice sounded rushed, so Harry gave her the address without asking questions. "Great! Is Annabelle there? I need to talk to her when I get there."

"Yeah," Harry looked over at his girlfriend who was playing with the little white animal. "She's here." A smile formed on Harry's lips when he spoke the words, being so happy that he was spending this time with her.

When Harry hung up the phone, Annabelle moved closer to him, cuddling into his side and sitting Waffle on his lap. Waffle began hopping up on Harry's chest excitedly, just wanting to become friends with this human with pretty hair. Harry gave Annabelle a look, as if telling her that he didn't want this puppy on his lap, or anywhere near him. She frowned, grabbing her notebook and asking Harry why he didn't like Waffle.

"I'm just not a dog person, I guess." Harry mumbled the last part, leaning back and putting a hand on Waffle's head so he would calm down. Annabelle sighed and reach out to pet the puppy and rested her head on Harry's chest.

Gemma arrived a few hours later, and she looked stressed, as if she hadn't slept in days. She said hello to Harry, then grabbed Annabelle's hand and pulled her into the bathroom, locking the door behind them. Harry yelled after them, telling Annabelle that he couldn't be left alone with Waffle, but she couldn't do anything about it.

"Annabelle, nice to see you again." Gemma lightly laughed and pulled two boxes out of her purse, throwing them onto the sink. She looked at Annabelle with worried eyes, making Annabelle give her a questioning look.

"I think," Gemma took a deep breath, "I think I might be pregnant." Annabelle's eyes went wide with shock and she stared at the boxes of pregnancy tests on the sink.

"I thought I'd come to you, because you're a girl, you could understand, right? It's a long story really, I'll have to find the time to tell you sometime-" Annabelle placed a hand on Gemma's arm to stop her from talking so much. "Sorry, I'm just nervous." Gemma let out a breath and grabbed a box.

"If this comes out positive," Gemma's bottom lip quivered, "See! I can't control my emotions, I've missed my last two periods, I get so sick in the mornings, and my boobs feel like they're going to fall off." Gemma began sobbing. Annabelle quickly took Gemma into her arms, rubbing her back and shushing her.

Annabelle turned to face the shower when Gemma did her business. They stood still, their arms crossed and Gemma's right arm looped through Annabelle's as they watched the small tests that held Gemma's fate. Harry knocked on the door, asking why they were being so weird, just for Gemma to yell at him and make him go away.

Twenty minutes later, the girls exited the bathroom to find Harry sitting on the couch with Waffle on his lap, sleeping peacefully. Gemma sniffled, hugging Annabelle, and grabbed her things. She left the apartment quickly and Harry ask what happened, but Annabelle only answered with the shake of her head. Harry decided to leave it alone, knowing if it were something serious, Gemma would tell him. He assumed it were just girl problems, you know, the kind guys don't like talking or even thinking about.

Annabelle sighed as she snuggled closer to Harry and he wrapped his arm around her. Everything just happened so quickly, how was she supposed to react? She had to help Gemma. There's no way Annabelle would allow Gemma to go through something like this alone. Gemma and Annabelle became close when things with Harry were bumpy. Anne and Annabelle were close as well, but it were different. Anne is an older lady with a life of her own, she didn't need to be hearing about her son's mistakes or his girlfriend's worries.

Harry had noticed Annabelle's melancholy mood, and wasted no time in finding her Peter Pan movie and cuddling her close to watch it. Waffle begged to be fed halfway through the movie, so Harry kissed Annabelle's forehead, allowing his lips to linger on her skin longer than they should have. Harry poured food into Waffle's little bowl, and he immediately began gulping down the crunchy pebbles of dog food. Harry shook his head as he walked back to the couch.

"What should we do for dinner?" Harry asked, pulling his long hair up into a bun. "Doll," Harry looked down after Annabelle never made a move for her notebook, and he realized she had fallen asleep.

Smiling, Harry spread a blanket over her small body that was cuddled up to a pillow. He gave her forehead and cheeks many kisses as she slept, taking a few moments to stare at her sleeping eyes, her soft and tired features. He admired every piece of her, from her toes to the top of her head. He hoped that Annabelle was having peaceful dreams about him as he walked into the kitchen to attempt fixing dinner.