I'm a Keeper (Gally and Thomas Fanfic) [#Wattys2016]

Chapter 16

"When did she wake?" Annabel asked curiously, while following Newt to the Med-Jacks'.
"I'm not sure. Gally told me about it half an hour ago. I think he's with her now," Newt answered.
Annabel nodded impatiently. Even though she was happy that her best friend was awake again, an uneasy feeling settled in her stomach. What if she had changed? What if she wasn't the Manon she used to know?
Newt opened the door to Manon's room and walked in. Annabel followed hesitantly. She looked around the room, and it took her a moment before she realized something was wrong. The whole room was a complete mess. The sheets were torn apart and a pillow lay on the other side of the room, as if someone had thrown it against the wall in frustration. A vase, which had been standing on a dresser in the corner, lay shattered on the ground. And the worst of all was that Manon wasn't there.
"What happened?" Newt said, his voice full of concern. He looked at Annabel as if she would have the answer, but she knew just as much as he did.
The uneasy feeling grew stronger when she looked around the room. Had she been right? Had Manon really changed?
She jumped when a cold hand was placed on her shoulder. "Is everything okay?" Thomas asked.
Annabel slightly shook her head. "Manon is gone."
"Gone? I thought this door was locked?"
True. Then who had opened it?
Gally.
"We have to find Gally," Annabel said, ignoring the questioning faces of Newt and Thomas.
She walked outside and nearly bumped into Chuck in the process.
"How's Manon?" he asked eagerly, assuming she'd just visited her.
"I was actually wondering if you'd seen her. She's missing," Annabel answered.
Chuck gaped at her. "Missing? How can she be missing? The door is always locked."
"I know," Annabel said, a bit annoyed. "But Gally must have left it open. You don't know where he is, do you?"
Chuck nodded. "Yeah, I just saw him in the woods. But he was acting – strange."
"Strange?"
He shrugged. "Yeah, I don't really know."
Annabel was growing impatient with him. Why couldn't he just answer her questions? "Chuck, why was he acting strange?"
"It looked like he was crying," Chuck finally said. "But I must've seen it wrong," he hastily added.
Crying? That certainly doesn't sound like Gally, Annabel thought. Even so, she had the feeling Manon had something to do with it.
"Thanks, Chuck," she said, while stalking off in the direction of the woods. Suddenly she remembered Thomas and Newt hadn't followed her. She shrugged. She would find them later.

It didn't take long for her to reach the edge of the forest. It had been a hot day, so the cooling shadows of the trees were welcome.
Annabel leant against the bark of an old-looking tree, doubting about her next step. Where would a hurt boy go to? She thought for a moment before she found the answer. Bingo. The Deadheads.
She wasn't really sure where they were exactly, as she had never been there before, but from the maps they had in the quarters of WICKED, she thought she had to go east.
She walked for a couple of minutes, but soon found out that she was going the wrong way. Crap, she thought. Which way is it then?
She decided to head north for a bit. This time she was in more luck, as she, all of a sudden, heard someone softly sob. She froze in her tracks and listened intently. She thought it was a male voice. Was it Gally? It didn't sound like Gally, but as she'd never heard him cry before, she wasn't sure.
She moved closer to the sound, careful as to not place her foot on any twigs that might break under the pressure.
She took another step, when suddenly the sobbing stopped. Annabel peered around a tree, but saw no one.
She jumped when she heard the crunching sound of leaves behind her.
"What are you doing here?" a harsh voice demanded.
She turned around and saw Gally standing there, with puffy and bloodshot eyes. She felt sorry for him, even though she didn't know him all that well. Manon had been the one able to break down his walls, and he hadn't let anyone else in besides her. And from what it looked like now, he regretted that decision deeply.
"What happened?" Annabel asked, taking a step towards him.
"Just leave me alone," he snarled through clenched teeth, slightly backing away. Even though he tried hard to retain his attitude, Annabel saw flickers of despair cross his face. She knew that deep down he wanted to talk, but was afraid of letting her in.
"Gally, it's alright. You can tell me. I won't tell Manon."
"What makes you think this has something to do with her?"
"I'm not blind, Gally."
He grunted in frustration before turning around and walking away.
Annabel hesitated for a moment before going after him. She had to run slightly to catch up with him, but soon was close enough to grab his wrist. "What happened between you two?" she asked, turning him around.
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Then talk to Manon."
"Certainly not to Manon."
"She is missing, you know."
Gally opened his mouth, but abruptly shut it when the meaning of the words sank in. He looked at Annabel in astonishment. "Wha-what?"
"What happened?" Annabel asked again.
"Fine," Gally said defeated. He placed his head on the palms of his hands and took a deep breath. "I just don't understand. One moment Manon seems to care about me, and the next she doesn't. It's just so shuckin' frustrating."
"Gally, I think you're mixing things up. You're the one who's been acting like that, not Manon."
Gally rolled his eyes. "If you're here to scold me you can just go away, ya know."
"I'm sorry," Annabel apologized. "Continue."
"Well, there's really nothing more to say. I kissed her when she woke up, but she pulled away. And after she told me what she'd done, she said she loved me and kissed me herself, like she could make up for all the hurt she put me through."
"Gally, I don't think she did that on purpose. She just did what she thought was right. Not for her, but for you. And trust me when I say she was telling the truth when she told you she loved you, because she does." Annabel waited for a second, but no response came. She sighed. "I'll leave you to it then. But really, you should give her a chance."
"Just don't tell her I'm here," he said before Annabel turned around and walked away.

~

A/N

Okay, so first of all, thank you so much for voting! I can't express how happy that makes me!
Then, secondly, I'm sorry for taking so long to update. 
Things have been happening lately, and I'm trying to deal with it, but it's been (and still is) hard, ugh.

Hopefully you're not mad at me for making you wait for so long <3

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