Annabel's POV
The road had morphed into a seemingly never-ending stretch in front of us, every few inches illuminated by the headlights to then be replaced by an identical few inches. I found myself shivering, not entirely from the cold, my gaze flitting nervously from Billie to the highway in front of us from under my curtain of hair. The aura in the car was heavy and dark, and as I stole glances at my driver, I saw a sort of determination in his eyes that spiralled into something almost unnerving. Something was eating away at him, I could tell.
"Where are we going?" My voice was very quiet and shook like the rest of me. His head snapped over to me, everything in his face softening.
"Somewhere nice, I promise."
I nodded, something inside me relaxing. The knot of tension was beginning to unravel.
"Are you ok Billie?" My tone had dropped to a whisper, and I found myself staring at my squirming hands. I heard him sigh heavily, putting a hand to run across his forehead, obviously tired.
"Yeah. Yeah I'll be alright."
Silence overtook us again. The radio was a low hum, the wind whistling through the partially opened windows. I dug my hand into my jean pocket and retrieved the cigarettes and lighter. Without even thinking, I stuck one in my mouth and lit it, handing another one to him wordlessly and lighting it also. We watched as the smoke curled and caught on the air, swirling out of the window. Suddenly, without even taking his eyes of the road, Billie asked a question.
"How did you get that mark?"
I felt my heart stop, my breath cease, every nerve on my body igniting.
"Wha..What mark?" The last syllable trembled, shattering any sense of casualty.
"The one on your collarbone, I only noticed it tonight in your bedroom."
He still wasn't looking at me, which I was somewhat grateful for as I felt all the blood drain from my face and my guts twisting as though a knife had been plunged into my core.
Hold still...
I closed my eyes against the blackness, my heart in my ears and choking on air.
Hold still and it won't hurt...
"Stop." I whimpered feebly, begging for mercy to the silhouette dancing behind my eyes.
"Annabel?"
A voice broke through the haze, and I blinked back to sanity. The car had stopped. The headlights were off, but I could hear the unmistakable crashing of surf on sand. We were at a beach.
I felt his eyes on me, his hands still on the steering wheel. I managed a weak smile, as if I had just been lost in thought.
"Sorry, yeah I got it in a car accident when I was little."
And before he could answer that bullshit I exited the car.
The air was cold, whipping my burning face and chilling my shaking frame. I drew my arms tight around myself and walked on to the shore, the sand sinking underneath my shoes. I heard him call my name but I was angry. I was angry at him, for asking the question and for taking me out and for getting involved in my life to begin with, but really I was angry at myself. For everything. For existing.
I came to the edge of the water and stared at the flat, straight horizon. I felt him beside me, and I didn't have to look at him to know how he was looking at me. I brought the cigarette to my lips and realised how much my hands trembled. He seemed to as well, as calloused fingers carefully removed the butt from my grasp and threw it into the ocean. Only then did I look at him.
Those bright eyes were heavy with concern. Concern. How horrible. Concern can only stem from caring, which made me feel sick to the stomach. He couldn't care about me. He couldn't.
"Annabel..." He began but the dam was going to overflow and I couldn't stop it, it was if the barriers inside my chest that contained the torment that was tearing away at me had crumbled, and I felt all the air get knocked out of me in a awful sob.
"Oh don't Billie."
And then I was pulled against his chest, his arms tight around me as I gasped for air, for anything, through the tears. But the crying never came. I was numb to the bone, a statue in a warm embrace.
"Please Annabel..."
I pulled away from him then, my fingers grasping his shirt. The moonlight bathed his skin, his coal black hair tangled by the wind. His eyes were alive with something, some immense energy that I didn't understand.
But that didn't matter, and I crushed my lips to his.
A/N Hey I'm sorry it's been so long and it's such a short chapter but it's the holidays!! Hope everyone has a great new year!
