Lovely Affair ||COMPLETED||

||Hold Me||

*Song that I recommend for this chapter; Lonely Day- System Of A Down*

Annabelle had been spending much of her time remembering the many times she and Leo spent without a care in the world, they truly were a pair of great friends. Her one regret during their friendship was somewhat having a slight crush during the first few months, she could never let him know either, maybe they would never speak again and that broke her slightly more, even if she ended it. Chris had been trying to keep her spirits high, he had fought many times with Austin and understood the pains, but they never broke like Annabelle and Leo decided to, he could tell she was hurt. Friendships last as long as you allow them to, that was a lesson well learned on both sides.

Chris recently became the only person Annabelle decided to be seen with at school, she had, unknowingly, abandoned her friends to spend the day with the only person she could truly trust, someone who, since their childhood, always defended her, her boyfriend. He knew their relationship was growing by the second, whenever she was mentioned, or thought of, his heart would beat and his mind often spiraled into various little love stories. It had been nearly a month since Leo's friendship dispersed into the already thinning air and she could only trust Chris as of then.

"If you keep it thinking your brain will burst, and I'm cold, so please get back under the blankets," Annabelle told Chris not wanting to sound agitated.

"Your brothers wouldn't be too happy if they walked in on us, we're doing nothing bad, yet you know exactly how they are."

Annabelle shook her head with a laugh, well-knowing that her brothers wouldn't dare react so badly after she had come to terms with Melissa, she was a new, somewhat old, person in Austin's life and she had to respect it. He had accepted her and Chris, it took small talk to convince him, however, he took it upon himself to accept them both and that's all she could've asked for. Her mother was happy Chris was able to find a way into a, hopefully, permanent stay in their lives, she always joked with Victoria about how they would end up becoming one huge family.

Chris laid under the blankets with Annabelle to his side and took her hand in his, slowly caressing it, he had been wanting to tell her something but didn't know how to work out the words properly. He thought four months into their relationship helped his stance, but he was also afraid of losing her if he didn't paraphrase his words correctly. That's the last thing he wanted. So instead of waiting too long, he turned to face her and smiled nervously, she didn't take much notice until after the gaze became noticeable.

"What's wrong?"

"I want to tell you something," he started, "but please don't freak out because I am already enough of that, I'm nervous, confused, well not confused, just very nervous as to what your response will be."

Annabelle was about to respond when Chris stretched his arms forward and began to tickle her, she laughed uncontrollably and wiggled around trying to get away from his grasp, he had a smile plastered on his face and he stopped while she calmed herself letting out a heavy breath. She asked, "you used my weakness, why?"

"I love you."

The silence that overcame the room felt suffocating for Chris, he knew her reaction would be slow, or maybe even nonexistent if she didn't process it correctly. Had there been a fair warning, or equal exchange at the same time there wouldn't have been an awkward silence held in the room, especially not one at such a nerve wrecking time. As expected, Annabelle sat on her bed with widened eyes not looking him in the eye but seemingly thinking of how to respond. Chris' heart fell, she seemed almost willingly unresponsive, as if she did not want to utter a word to him, that's what broke him, the girl he was sure had stolen his heart didn't have a proper answer to his words, she sat almost motionless.