The Girl Behind The Glasses

Chapter 2: What Have I Done?

Annabelle's POV

I tied my vans and made sure that Braelynn was secure in the car seat before we left. I'm about to meet Mags in the park and Andy is nowhere to be seen. I don't know where he is since there was no note left behind. I know where he's supposed to be, but what are the chances he's actually at the studio and not at some bar getting drunk out of his mind? They're pretty slim.

Luckily, the park wasn't very far from the house, so I parked the car and set up the stroller. Braelynn smiled up at me as I picked her up and strapped her into the stroller. I could see Mags sitting on a bench watching Mavis play in the sand. I walked over and she smiled when I sat down.

"It feels like it's been forever since we've hung out." She gave me a hug and made a funny face to make Braelynn laugh. Mavis toddled over to me and I smiled as I picked her up.

"She's getting so big now." I think she's about a year and a half? Probably closer to two. I sighed as Mags took Mavis off my lap and I pulled the stroller in front of us to pull the top down so the sun wasn't shining in Brae's eyes. "I have quite the story to tell you."

"Uh oh. Is it about Andy?" I nodded my head. She knew about his drinking. Only her and Alexia knew since I was too scared to tell Oli or Ronnie about it. I don't even know if I want to tell Ronnie. He'd probably go all apeshit. I rocked the stroller as I started to tell the awful events of last night.

"So Andy came home like half an hour after I put down Braelynn for bed and he woke her up. When I brought her downstairs, he was already taking a beer out of the fridge. When he was putting the scar cream on or just holding me, I couldn't stop staring at the bottle. He knew that something was up, but I had just told him it was nothing. So after we went upstairs and I put Brae back to bed, we went into the bedroom and that's when things happened." She nodded and slipped on her sunglasses. I guess it is a little bright outside, so I slipped mine on, too.

"Let's walk so I can try and keep myself under control." I nodded and we stood up and started pushing the strollers down the concrete pathway. "Alright, what happened?" I cleared my throat and adjusted my purse in the top section of the stroller.

"He had the now opened bottle of beer and called me out for saying that nothing was wrong. He knew that I kept staring at the bottle, so I told him that I didn't like it when he drank. The crazy thing is that he just started laughing, then snapped at me. He told me that I don't run his life and that he didn't care that I didn't like his drinking. After that was when he pushed me." She froze and her eyes widened. "He regretted it though, so don't go all psycho yet. He apologized, but I made him sleep down on the couch. When he said that he loved me, I didn't say it back. I took all of his beer and poured it out this morning, so he won't be able to get that."

"He had no right to touch you like that. He pushed you? What if you hit your head on something? Have you told anybody else?" I shook my head and went around a puddle in the middle of the pathway. I can't tell anybody except Alex, but I have to make sure when I Skype her to promise not to tell anybody.

"I can't tell anyone because everyone I know is somehow my family. Whether by blood or not. Family looks out for each other, so they'll get all mad and go after Andy. I don't want that to happen to the man I love." She sighed and looked at her phone.

"Annabelle, you have to tell somebody else other than me and Alexia. You have to tell Ronnie. He's you and Andy's best friend. He's been through this before so he'll know what to do." I sniffled and nodded my head. We stopped walking and she pulled me into a tight hug. I'm gonna have to tell Ronnie and I'm terrified of how he'll act. You never know what will happen with him sometimes. "After you tell him, I promise everything will get better."