I'm Gonna Get Through to You

"Annabelle! Annabelle, wake up!"

I groaned, reaching my hand out for whoever it was that was yelling at me. I was exhausted and it honestly felt like there was a ton of bricks on me.I felt...I felt dead.

"Annabelle! Come on! You need to get up! Shaant's missing!"

That woke me up real fast. I sat up, rolling out of the bunk and opening my eyes to see Cassie looking at me. I ran my hand through my hair, shaking it out afterward.

"Say what?" I asked, reaching over next to me to grab a pair of shorts, pulling them on. I sleep in a cami and my underwear sometimes. So what?

"He texted someone really early this morning when we pulled in, left his phone battery. Not the whole phone, just the battery and then left," she explained. "No one knows where he could have gone. We've checked the venue and all the other buses." I groaned, grabbing a shirt out of my half open duffel bag Jack had brought me last night after the hoard offan girls left.

"And you're telling me, why?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at her, putting on the plaid shirt, buttoning the first couple of buttons and standing up, putting on the flip flops I had just been sitting on.

"Because you obviously care," she said, giving me a look. I rolled my eyes, bending down to grab my phone and then jogging passed her and off of the bus. Right in front of me was the venue and the other buses on the other sides of the Maine's. I looked at them both, seeing Jack looking at me from one of the windows. I waved at him and he waved back, giving me a look. I shrugged, guessing he knew I was off to go looking for Shaant.

"Annabelle!" Cassie shouted. I spun around, looking at her.

"Just...be careful. This venue is old," she told me. I nodded slowly, turning around to head into the venue. I looked around as I headed in, not really sure where Shaant could have gone. As soon as I got in the door, I saw a hallway and to the other side of me, a ladder. Of course, anyone who had gone looking for him probably went down the hall so it only made sense for me to go up the ladder. I climbed up it as fast as I could without losing my shoes until I reached the hatch door. I pushed it open, clinging to the ladder for dear life with my other hand as I did. I pulled myself up through the hatch, scrambling to my feet quickly and looking around.

"Shaant?"I called quietly, looking around. I made a face, walking around what seemed to be the air conditioner to see Shaant sitting there. He looked at me and I stopped dead in my tracks. He had that look that I don't think I've ever seen before in his eyes. That look people get when they...give up.

"Shaant," I sighed. "You know they're looking for you, right?" He nodded.

"You know I've been waiting for you?" he asked me. He stood up, rubbing his face. "Annabelle, I'm done with all this bullshit, okay? I'm done fighting with you, I'm done...watching be with that Jack guy," he told me, "What do you even see in him anyway?" I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms.

"He hasn't lied to me," I pointed out, "Pretended to love me." Well, that was a half lie. We never said I love you and no one thinks we're in love but we're pretending to be together. "I'm not some toy you can put aside when you get bored with it, Shaant. Jack knows that and he treats me like I'm not. He's a lot better to me than you ever were." That's when I noticed he was suddenly a hell of a lot closer than he had been.

"Annabelle," he sighed. "I do love you, okay?"

"Bullshit," I snapped. And that's when he kissed me.