Look out for the <>!

I walked through the white front door of my house and tossed the keys on my kitchen table with a smile. I was in such a great mood that I decided to go for a run. Without wasting any time, I changed to a workout outfit and started off on my merry way down the neighborhood road like I often did on Wednesdays.

I knew every car on that street and what everyone did on Wednesdays. People were creatures of habit, and I saw that clearly on the road I lived on. However, one thing stood out as I ran down the road, a black BMV SUV that I have never seen before.

I stared at it as I ran past. The car was running and as I looked at the driver, he stared back at me as if his sole job was not to take his eyes off me. I frowned at him as I ran past. It was nothing. But this got me more on edge as the seconds ticked by. I knew that it was only time until MIA found me, after all, Toby did know where I lived.

No matter how much I tried to convince myself it was nothing, I couldn't shake that he was here for me. So I cut my jog short and ran back home. With shaking hands, forced my front door open then locked it behind me, as if that would help me.

"It's nothing. It's nothing," I said as I paced around my family room. I was having a panic attack. I couldn't breathe. I thought of the words that Zach told me while we were in Florida. MIA is dangerous. They will kill anyone that gets close.

I ran my hands through my hair. They were going to come after me. Zach was right for changing his name and leaving the organization. Maybe I needed to go into hiding myself.

I shook my head as I quickly shot down that idea. I wasn't a runner. I just needed to cool my mind. Maybe it wasn't MIA. I was still here wasn't I? I just needed someone to talk to. With shaking hands I called the person that I knew would help me the most.

"Missed me already?" Auggie asked with humor.

I was silent. I couldn't make a sound. I sank to my knees in fear. They were coming for me. I knew it.

<>

"Annalise?" Auggie asked with worry.

I shook my head, as if he could see it. "Auggie, please tell me something," I said as my voice cracked.

He was silent for a moment. "Breathe Annalise," he said calmly. Almost instantly, his voice started to calmed me down. "Everything will be fine."

I shook my head again. Everything was not fine. "I think Toby is coming after me," I whispered, unwilling to talk about MIA over the phone. "I'm afraid that he'll finish the job Fabien set out to do."

There was more silence. He was thinking. "And what are you going to do if he does?"

I frowned. I don't know. What would I do if I had to stand up Toby? I wanted to believe that I would be strong enough to take him down and bring him in, but deep down, I knew I wasn't. I knew Toby, he would get into my mind. He knew how to make me feel like I couldn't beat him and I would listen to his words. I always did, it was something in his voice.

But right now, I would crumble at the sight of him. He had already done so much to me. He took away everything that I valued and threw it away. He made me question everything. Could I take out my ex boyfriend? No, I don't think I could.

"Do I need to call for someone to watch the house?" he asked after a minute of silence.

I shook my head. "No, I can watch out for myself. I just need to calm down," I said, as if I believed in those words myself. Besides, I didn't need anyone thinking I was more uncappable then they already did.

Auggie sighed, believing my words as well.

There was more silence. "Please just tell me a story," I begged. "Please distract me."

The phone crackled until Auggie spoke, "I've wanted to tell you this for a while. Please tell me if I step out of line. But, Annalise, I like you."

Momentarily, my world stopped. This shouldn't have had the power to dissolve all my fears and issues, but it did. His words echoed in my mind over and over again like a bouncy ball in an empty room. My breathing slowed and I smiled at the wall in front of me. For a second everything was perfect.

"I like everything about you, your smile, your personality, your love for good movies and sarcasm. I started developing feelings for you when I first met you and I dropped my binder. You make my head spin every time you step into a room. You are stunning and you don't see that yourself."

He paused but that gave me enough time to say, "Auggie. I like you too. With everything that has happened, it has made me realized that I care too much about you to let you go." I was ecstatic. He liked me. And I liked him. For once in this crazy world everything seemed to fall into place. I wanted to treasure this moment forever.

"Annalise, if you don't...wait, you do?" he asked with joy in his voice.

I chuckled lightly, of course he was preparing for the worse. "Yes August, I do like you."

"Well then, Annalise Phillips, will you care to give me the honor of being your boyfriend?" he asked.

I nodded. I didn't have to think twice about this. I wanted him. I always have, I was just too blind not to see it before.

He chuckled lightly. "Annalise, you know, I can't see you over the phone. You have to talk to me."

I chuckled back, he had a point. "Yes. Yes a million times over. I would love to be your girlfriend."

"Good." There was a moment of silence then he asked, "Feeling any better?"

I chuckled at him. He always had a way of making things better. He always knew exactly what I needed. "Yes."

"Good." He then went on to say, "I have to go, your grandmother's here."

I frowned, I didn't want to let him go. "Ok. Bye."

"Goodbye Annalise. See you tomorrow," he said and hung up.

I stuffed the phone in my pocked and smiled lightly. It was as if that panic attack was just a distant memory. Right now, everything was ok. I got up from the floor and pushed myself up the stairs to call it a night.

<><><><>

The next day I pushed through mounds of paperwork at my desk and tried my best to finish everything I needed to, but I was distracted. The events of yesterday swirled around in my mind like a breeze on a windy day.

I ran my hands through my hair as I looked at my frozen computer. I had only been at work for a few hours and I already needed a breather. I stood up from my desk and before I knew it, I was at Toby's cubical out of habit. However, there was nothing but blank gray walls and an empty desk within the space. Everything was gone, every paper, every photo. Gone, just like that as if he never even existed.

I frowned. The sight rubbed me the wrong way. Why would they clean it so fast? There was still an investigation into his disappearance. They wouldn't have moved anything unless they closed the case. I sighed in frustration knowing that my grandmother must have done this. She closed the case. She found him and kept that information from my eyes.

I needed to confront her about this. I needed to know where she put him so I could speak to him myself. Anger bubbled in me the more I thought about it. I turned to get out of the cubical but lost my balance and fell to the ground.

I looked around at the empty hall, grateful that no one saw that. Just before getting up, I saw a photo shoved under Toby's desk. I reached and grabbed it. It was me and Toby at comic-con. We looked so happy in the photo. It disgusted me. I wish I knew he was only interested in me because of my connections. I should have expected it, after all, why would he be interested in me who was nearly five years younger. Just when I was about to toss it in the trash, I noticed a note written on the back.

June 15th at 8 at the Loft.

I felt my heart start to race as I read the writing again. I knew This was Toby's handwriting. I had seen it far too many times. This note was for me. He wanted to meet for what ever reason. Today was June 14th. As much as I hated him, maybe this was what I was looking for. Maybe this would give me closer that I was looking for.

I got up form the ground and put the photo in my pocket quickly as I looked around the still empty hall. I frowned, I could feel eyes on me even though no one was around. I shook my head, convinced that I was loosing my mind.

I needed to find my grandmother. Toby's empty desk didn't sit right with me and she would have the answers I was looking for. Without wasting a moment, I marched into gram's office to see that she wasn't there. Not happy with what I saw, I decided to give her a call.

I dialed her number and within two rings she answered with a "Hello?"

"Gram, you weren't at your office."

She sighed, I could hear the tiredness in her voice. She didn't want to talk to me at this moment. She was probably talking to Toby as we spoke. "Sorry, I forgot to tell you I'm out on a meeting trip today in New York."

She had to have placed Toby in New York, far from me to drag him down. "Am I bothering you?" I asked, not wanting to disappoint her.

"I have a few minutes," she said impatiently. She must have been in the middle of something.

I had to make this quick. I nodded. "Where did Toby's stuff go?"

"I don't know. I didn't give orders of clean it up. Why?"

I frowned, something about this wasn't clicking. She wouldn't lie to me. Gram may have hid things from me but if I asked her a direct question, she would have answered. "It's gone. I was there yesterday and it was all there."

She sighed, brushing me off. "I don't know what to tell you. You know that I'm not the only one that says things around there," she said, getting irritated.

I frowned at her desk as if she was there. She didn't think that this was a big deal, but I think she was wrong. If Toby was really with MIA, then they already cleared off any proof that Toby had laying around. They were starting to cover their tracks and this was concerning.

"Anything else you want to talk about?" she asked.

I had to finish this conversation up quickly. She didn't want me bothering her any longer. She didn't see this as important even though I thought it was. She couldn't hear the concern in my voice or maybe it was that she didn't care. "Yeah, your right, I'm sorry for bothering you. I'll talk to you later."

"Ok bye," she said and hung up the phone.

I ran my hands through my hair in frustration. No one cared about how things weren't lining up. They all thought I was crazy or that this wasn't anything to worry about. But this was concerning. I wasn't crazy. I wasn't making this up. Before I lost my temper, I stormed out of the room and ran straight into Carter.

"I'm so sorry Carter," I said as I helped him clean his papers on the ground.

"Annalise, I don't have the time for this," he said and gathered all his papers then stormed pass me with a frown. I watched as he walked away. He was even brushing me off.

I looked around the office floor with a frown, feeling more useless and invisible then normal. No one here was going to listen to me. They would never believe me. They weren't jealous of me, they just saw me as incompetent. Maybe that was why B26 found me, because I was the only one crazy enough to listen to him.

Before I swam too deep in my emotions, I left work to see Auggie. I knew he could clear my mind and put me at easy. I just needed to talk to him and see him.

I drove to the hospital in record timing, letting my anger and frustration motivate my driving. Before I knew it, I was parking my car and walking into the hospital. I stormed up the stairs, still angry as I walked to Auggie's room.

When I got to the doorway, I peeked in to see him in the bed sending a text on his phone. His eyebrows pinched together as they always did when he was thinking about something important. I frowned, suddenly worried that maybe he was too busy for me too.

He looked up at me from his phone and smiled widely as his thinking face faded away. He put down his phone, showing that he would give me full attention.

Suddenly, all my dark emotions faded. He made me feel like I was worth all attention. I don't think I had ever felt like this in my life. "Can I come in?"

"No," he said and smiled, playing with me.

I shrugged at him. "Fine I just leave then," I said and turned around. 

"No, Annalise, come in."

I turned to face him with a smile. "That's what I thought you said." I walked in and once again, I sat on the chair by his bed. Auggie reached out for my hand and intertwined his fingers with mine instantly as if that was were they belonged all this time. I smiled at our hands. I could get used to this.

Auggie smiled at me as if his day instantly got better. "So Annalise, my girlfriend. I like the sound of that."

I smiled back at him. "I like the sound of you being my boyfriend."

He nodded. "Sorry we couldn't go out to commemorate this moment."

I shrugged. "Technically we are out," I smirked.

"You know what I mean."

I nodded. "I'm happy with this. Just us, together, like this," I said as I looked at his hand holding mine.

He kissed my hand lightly. "I'm glad."

I blushed as his lips touched my skin. He made my head spin. Breathe Annalise. "What have you been doing today?"

He frowned slightly. "Being bored." All of a sudden Auggie let out a sharp breath.

I shifted to the edge of my chair in worry. "Are you ok?" I asked with concern.

He nodded then smiled at me as if the pain suddenly went away. "I'm fine as long as I'm with you."

I laughed at his cheesy sentence but I felt the same way. "Want to do something fun?" I asked as I got up from my chair.

"I'm almost afraid to ask. I know what your fun things consist of."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

He smiled. "You can be a bit of a dare devil sometimes when no one is watching."

"But let me guess, you watch?"

He nodded. "I always keep an eye on you, remember."

I rolled my eyes at him and hit him lightly. "Auggie...how about we go for a walk. No danger involved."

He thought about it for a minute then nodded. "Yeah, lets go."