“after all these years, you still haven’t changed a bit.” colin adams x annie simmons
They finally did it. Kara and Annie finally hosted a goddamn party and so far, it’s the best one of the summer. Or at least, that’s according to these two girls who although are the hostesses of the party, are already drunk on the high of success and two shots of tequila.
Thank goodness John, Sally’s older brother, said he’d be their designated non-drunk host for the night. Leaving his sister and her friends to go a little wild at the best party of the summer. Duh.
So, you can imagine Annie’s excitement when Owen makes an appearance at her party. Sure, yes, he’s come with Birdie who is obviously the one who dragged him to come along, but still. He’s here. And well, after all, he is the one who got away. Perhaps, tonight - in her shiny glory of an amazing party - Owen will finally realize what he’s been missing.
She’s tipsy enough not to care about any awkwardness to follow. All Annie can think about are Owen’s rough hands running through her hair, down her back, and up her thighs. She picks him up a beer and hides it behind her back as she heads in his direction.
“Hey guys,” Annie says overly friend, reaching over to give Birdie a hug - of course not noticing Owen’s change in expression.
“Oh, Birdie, I love the dress!” She adds, looking her friend over as Birdie gives a shy smile and repeats compliments herself. “Listen, you have to have Sally and Kara give you one of our jello shots - seriously,” she adds, giving her a push towards the other two girls.
Of course, never noticing Birdie’s little shrug to Owen as she mouths a promise to be back.
“Owen,” Annie says, as her gaze shifts to him a bright smile on her lips, “Looks like it’s just the two of us,” she hands him the beer she brought him, “For you.”
“Oh jolly,” he mumbles but takes the beer. At least lately Owen doesn’t hate her anymore because she’s not been as crazy; she’s been able to hide the crazy - aka work really hard on making amends with people.
“Oh!” Annie let’s out suddenly, “I have to show you something!”
Without any warning, she grabs his hand and pulls him along her. Annie is too focused to notice Owen isn’t a willing participant, but her sudden movement leaves him a bit too dazed to respond quick enough.
Squeezing through the different people, Annie pulls him all the way into her bedroom and toward her closet to show him – well, they stumble into it and crash into some of her clothes. Annie lets out a loud giggle and Owen, unwillingly, lets out a laugh too.
“You are insane,” he mumbles, while Annie pulls him closer.
“Yeah,” she says cheekily, “Insane about you …”
It’s a weird turn of events because Owen actually seems to be having a nice time and willingly closing the space between them.
“What did you want to show me?” He asks, his voice quiet as if they are in a secret hiding place.
Eyes on his, Annie says softly, “I forget now.”
It feels like the air in the room leaves just as Owen’s lips touch hers. He smells like sawdust, gravel, and dirt. God, it’s everything she thought it would be and then –
“After all these years, you still haven’t changed a bit,” she hears from a familiar voice and instantly pushes Owen away.
There in middle of her room stands Colin Adams. Her best friend Colin Adams. You know, Colin Adams who two days ago, Annie had told she was done chasing after past mistakes. Weirdly, he’d asked her about Owen and she’d told him she was over him. It’d seem to make Colin happy at the time - for a reason, Annie hadn’t been clear about.
The look on her best friend’s face seemed to send a chill down her spine. She’d hurt him. The look he had was one of hurt. And then it got worse because he moved, he turned his gaze from her and left. Annie instantly pushed Owen out of her way, every once of alcohol draining from her system.
Without another word, she rushed after Colin - hearing some vague words from Owen as she left him behind. Nothing made sense other than finding Colin and she had to find him now.
Eventually, she caught him just outside her apartment building. Must not have been going fast, she thought briefly.
“Colin!” She yells at him. “Stop!” He did and turned in her direction. “What happened, what do you mean?”
He’s silent for a while before he shrugs, hands in his pockets, “It’s what you do.”
“What do I do?” She demands.
“Always looking to get loved by the guys who don’t actually love you.” His voice is quiet but steady. Their gaze never leaves each other but Annie is left without words.
Colin breaks the silence, “Look, I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
Before he leaves though, Colin approaches her and places a soft kiss on her forehead. His lips feel warm. Annie doesn’t want him to go but as swiftly as he’d appeared in her bedroom, his figure is out of her sight.
And then, the bright summer sun stings against Annie’s eyes, she wakes up abruptly and she’s not sure if it were all a dream or real.
snowghoul
titsay
yousharknotpass
