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𝐓𝐖: 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬. 𝐢𝐟 𝐮 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝟏 𝐥𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐮. 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐦𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐢𝐤𝐭𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚 𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧

Annabelle's leg anxiously bounced up and down, tapping the floor of the sheriff's station where she sat next to Kiara, waiting impatiently for John B to come out of Sheriff Peterkin's office. Shoupe had taken the three of them to the station after finding them by the beach and in doing so he had also taken their phones which was good because it gave Annabelle some time to mentally prepare the thousands of angry messages and death threats that she was going to send to JJ and Pope later for abandoning her by the lighthouse.

Annabelle felt a hand on her thigh causing her to stop her nervous tick. She looked up at Kiara, who sent her a reassuring smile making Annabelle smile back.

Annabelle sat up straight, leaning closer to Kiara, lowering her voice to a whisper. "Did you two fuck?"

The brunette widened her eyes to their absolute limits, her mouth falling open, baffled by her best friend's words. "Me and who?"

"You and Abraham Lincon," Annabelle said sarcastically. "No, you and JB of course!"

Kiara squinted her eyes, shaking her head. "No! What makes you say that?"

"The tension! By the beach. It was so obvious." Annabelle said and Kiara rolled her eyes. The two had the same conversation at least two times a day where Annabelle nagged her about the tension between her and John B but Kiara would always reply with denying it.

"So you're telling me nothing happened?" Annabelle asked. Kiara didn't dare to look her best friend in the eyes, biting her lip as she pondered on what to tell her but she didn't need to say anything as Annabelle read Kiara's expression with ease. The girl gasped, almost jumping out of her seat at the news.

"You fucked?!" She exclaimed a bit too loud, making several heads turn in their direction. "You fucked?"
The girl repeated, more quietly this time.

"No, we didn't." Kiara sighed. "He kissed me."

Annabelle squealed but quickly quieted down, noticing the look on Kiara's face.

"What?" She leaned forward. "That's good news, right?"

"No, it's not. It didn't mean anything. He wasn't in the right state of mind, with his dad and all." Kiara explained. "I pushed him off."

"You pushed him off?" Annabelle's lips separated in shock. "You?... pushed him.... Off? Are you okay in the mental brain? I thought you liked him."

Kiara whipped her head around, glaring at her best friend. "I don't. That's why I pushed him off. It's the rules."

Annabelle sank deeper into her chair, sighing. "Well, I think those rules are stupid anyway."

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Half an hour passed before John was let out of Peterkin's office. Kiara's father had arrived to pick the children up and bail John B out which he wasn't too happy about. The man had more money than Annabelle had seen in all her life in just his back pocket and the economy wasn't exactly his biggest concern but the fact that he had to bail a pogue out was the reason for his enraged reaction. Even though he didn't say it out loud, Annabelle knew that it was why.

"If you skip out on your bail and I lose my money, I'm gonna hunt you down and skin you." Kiara's father Mike told John B as they walked outside.

"Dad!" Kiara exclaimed.

"Cut it." He snapped back at her.

Annabelle looked around anxiously. She was aware that Shoupe had called her father but she wasn't sure if he was sober enough to get into a car which was surprisingly calming for the girl as it meant that she could postpone the scoulding that she would get.

John B and Annabelle followed Kiara to her car, where she handed John B the compass that she had been holding onto. Kiara threw the pair a quick smile before stepping inside her car.

"I told you. You hang out with trash, you get dirty." Mike's words were meant for her daughter but both John B. and Annabelle heard him loud and clear from outside the car. "It runs in the family with people like them."

The words sent a stab of anger into Annabelle's stomach but she knew she couldn't do anything about it. It was obvious that his words were aimed at the two standing awkwardly by the car. As much as Annabelle hates to admit it, his words were hurtful

John b and Annabelle watched as the car drove off. Clearing his throat, John B turned to face the black-haired him in from of him. He noticed her looking around nervously while biting her nails. He knew what she was waiting for, or more like dreading. Her father was supposed to pick her up but he was nowhere in sight. Which was good as it meant that Annabelle could stay in the security of John Bs presence before he had to leave her, and let her walk into whatever waited for her at home. John B knew that Annabelle's father didn't take things like that lightly, not when the cops were involved.

"You want me to walk you home?" He asked making the girl snap her head up at him.

"I'm good." She smiled before a moment of silence fell upon the two.

"You know, you could come with me to work. You don't have to go home just yet." John B offered. Annabelle stared at him knowing that she would much rather go with John B than walk into the scoulding that she was about to get but it was better to get it over with.

"Thank you, John B. Really." She smiled at him. "But I'm fine."

"Call me later?" He said, looking at the girl. He hesitated before hugging her goodbye, knowing that he wasn't going to be able to protect her.

Annabelle nodded, wrapping her arms around him before waving goodbye. She took off toward her house at the far end of the cut. After half an hour's walk, she stopped in front of the one-floor house with the slightly crooked door, located in the middle of the almost empty neighborhood.

Annabelle made a hopeless attempt to silently slip into the house, but she didn't make it past the kitchen before she heard someone come up behind her.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Her father roared.

Annabelle froze instantly, fear coursing through her body as she slowly turned around to face him. The man towered over her and she suddenly felt like the smallest thing on the planet.

"Where the hell have you been?" He asked even though he already knew the answer, he wanted to hear it from her. His eyes were wild with rage.

"I... I uhm.." Annabelle stammered. Her father took a sharp step close to her, making her flinch back.

"Don't stammer! Speak up!" He shouted.

Annabelle sucked in a deep breath, her hands clutching into fists as her fingernails dug into her palms. "The Sheriff's office." She said, her voice low.

"The Sheriff's office!" Her father let out a wicked laugh so hard and loud, it sounded frightening. Annabelle stared at him, baffled and puzzled by his reaction.

"Now tell me, how many times is that now?" He asked wearing a devilish smile that showed nothing more than pure anger. Annabelle stood rigid in her spot, staring at her dirty shoes, doing everything to avoid eye contact with the man who towered over her.

"Hey, you look at me when I'm talking to you little shit!" A harsh hand grabbed Annabelle's face, forcing her to look up at him. "You wanna end up in jail? Is that it? Because guess what, you will! And don't think for a second that I'll pay a single dime to bail you out!"

Annabelle stared up at him in horror, feeling as the grip on her chin got tighter and tighter as he spoke. The pain of her fingernails clawing at her palms sent tears to her waterline, which she tried to blink away.

"You're pathetic." Her father muttered, noticing her watery eyes. He roughly shoved her away, releasing his grip on her chin. Annabelle stared at him through tears, watching him drag his hands over his face, muttering something to himself.

Annabelle refused to believe that the man in front of her used to be her father, the man who would pick her up from kindergarten and drive her home while they sang their hearts out to their favorite country songs. That man was dead. He died the day Annabelle's mother overdosed.

Her father looked up at her. "Don't look at me like that." He said through gritted teeth. "Don't look at me like I'm the bad guy!"

Annabelle flinched backward at his enraged tone and clutched fists that rested by his sides.

"Can't you see? I'm not the monster here! I'm trying to save you god damn it!" He slowly stepped closer to the girl, forcing her to walk backward until her back collided with the wall. "I'm looking out for you, you piece of shit! I'm trying to stop you from ending up in jail so don't give me that fucking look! I'm being a good father! I'm saving you! I'm fucking saving you!"

Annabelle barely comprehended what was happening as her father picked up the closest item, flinging it at Annabelle's head. If the girl hadn't ducked when she did, the vase would have crashed into her head but instead, it smashed into small sharp pieces of glass that rained over the girl. She hissed in pain as the small pieces created scattered cuts over her skin.

Annabelle had squeezed her eyes shut, leaving her to only listen as the shards of glass fell to the floor, reminding her of the sound of rain. But rain was peaceful and sweet and whatever was happening the the living room in the almost empty neighborhood at the far end of Outerbanks was far from peaceful. It was horrific and hurtful beyond repair.

Annabelle had curled up against the wall, too frightened to move a muscle. Her body trembled and ached from the scattered cuts. She looked up slowly, seeing her father collapse to his knees in front of her, tears in his eyes as he stared at her.

"Oh, sweetheart, I'm so sorry." He said, his voice croaky with tears. But his apology meant nothing to Annabelle. No amount of apologizing would ever make up for his actions. It was the same every time. He would let his anger take control of him and he'd snap and do something stupid and then spend hours apologizing and pleading for her to forgive him. But despite that, he repeated the same behavior over and over again.

Annabelle shuffled away from the man, her hands and body crawling over the glass shatter on the floor. She stood and quickly hurried into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

Once she finally found herself alone, she unveiled a suppressed river of tears. She hunched over the sink, sobbing at the sight of herself in the mirror and the piece of glass that had dug into her chin. She heard her father plead for her to open the door but she ignored him.

Her fingers curled around the edge of the sink as she struggled to breathe, tears streaming down her face. She looked up at her reflection in the mirror and gently grabbed onto the small piece of glass that sat deep in her chin. She cried out in pain as she pulled it out slowly. Blood trickled down her cheek, mixing with the stream of tears.

Annabelle collapsed to the floor, where she remained for the rest of the day, picking small shatters of glass from her skin and cried until the sun was about to set over Outerbanks. She patched herself up, placing bandaids over most of her cuts until the package ran out. The cut on her cheek remained visible but if she let her hair down, it covered almost all of it.

𝟐𝟎𝟑𝟑 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬
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𝐀/𝐍
this was awful to write

if u ever need to talk to someone, I'm here. my insta and TikTok is always open
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