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samanthaualani Vice Captain
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 Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 1:34 pm
Annah had pulled the covers over her head by the time Brandon came back over to her. She thought he was just going to leave, run away and leave her in the bed crying.
But when she heard his soft voice she peeked over the covers and looked down at her bandaged arm as she slowly sat up. "I don't want...I don't know what I want." She sighed.
"I just know that I ... I mean, an abortions scare--pricey." She shook her head, "We can't afford it."
Annah bit her lip.
"What would you think of... of keeping the ... it?" She looked up at him, though his eyes were casted away from her.
Her eyes were distant, her heart thudded in her ears. She was terrified in this moment.
What was she saying? That she wanted to keep the baby? Raise it?
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Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 2:49 am
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l o n e r A baby isn't cheap either. He thought to himself. So what was she suggesting they do now?
Brandon looked at her as she spoke again. What, so now she wanted to keep it? He knew she was prone to confusing the ******** out of him but this was getting too much.
"What? So you want it now?" he asked, his confusion coming across as anger. "God, damnit." he muttered to himself, getting up off the bed and pacing slightly.
"I don't get it Annah. We find out, and the first thing you want to do is have to taken out of you asap, and then that failed so you try to off yourself to solve the situation, and now?? Now you want it?"
He shouldn't be getting angry at her in this state. Now wasn't the time or place, but his words wouldn't stop coming out.
"Am I like some sort of toy to you? A game to see how long till I break?" he asked, stopping his pacing and facing her now. "-Look, I know it must be hard for you, really, I can't imagine how it feels, but to know I'm the cause all of your pain and regret? To know that you've hurt the person you'd die for? I.. I just don't know what to do anymore."
Brandon ran out of words and shook his head before leaving the room and grabbing the car keys. Leaving her now was far from the right thing to do. But he had to go and sort this out. She might not get it, but hopefully she would when he got back.
"I'll be back after the weekend." he called out colder than he meant, assuming she was still in the bedroom. A small thought at the back of his mind hoped she'd let him back into their apartment after the two days, but this was the only solution he could think of.
What he ought've done before storming out of the apartment, was tell her that he'd love more than anything to raise this kid with her. And that he'd be honored to have a child with her. And that'd it'd be pretty ******** fantastic. But no ones perfect.
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samanthaualani Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 11:02 am
Annah really was not liking this side of Brandon. Any other time she might have found it exciting. Maybe even a turn on. Watching him take charge like this.
But this was definietely the wrong situation for anything like that to happen.
"Yeah Brandon. Thats so ******** it. I'm just playing with your ******** emotions until you fall to pieces. Thats what I've been planning since day ******** one. Glad you finally caught on, cause I planned every bit of this to the T." She leapt off the bed, getting in his face.
"I purposely got pregnant too. Can't believe you haven't thrown that one in my face. Or maybe its not even yours. Who knows, right?" She seethed, but he continued. "Die for me?" She instantly wanted to eat every word that had just flown from her lose lips.
She was struck silent.
But he was too, and grabbing the keys.
Annah ran after him, what else could she do? He called out, saying he'd be back after the weekend.
Wait..what?
The door was slammed in her face and she was upset at first. Her first instinct was to cry, which wasn't Annah at all. But she wasn't really herself today, obviously.
She just stood there, not sure what to do, staring at the door.
Honestly, she wanted him to come flying through the door screaming, "APRIL FOOLS!" Or something. But that didn't really seem likely at this point.
Was it even April? God, what month was it, anyway? Did it even matter?
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Posted: Sun Apr 04, 2010 2:58 am
t h e
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l o n e r Man he was a douchebag. When did he turn into his father?
He hummed some random showtune in his head as he walked down the stairs of the building and out the front door to distract his better self from forcing him to run back into the apartment and shout out "APRIL FOOLS!" or something silly like that.
Sitting in the driver's seat, he slammed the door of his car shut and quickly started the engine before speeding down the street and making his way out of town. Ironic as it was, he was doing something his father would do, yet he was doing it to go see the man.
He pulled out a folded up bit of paper with an address scribbled on it and pictured where it was on the map he looked up earlier in the week.
Brandon hadn't seen his father in years. Hell, he couldn't remember what he looked like. All he knew was that he was some rich ********, high up in the media business and as far as Brandon was concerned, that waste of space owed him.
He didn't know how many hours had passed but it was already pitch black outside, and being a friday night, or rather now, early saturday morning, the streets were near empty. Brandon kept eyeing his phone on the seat next to him, for some reason hoping for a call from Annah, or maybe a text. But then again, why would she do that, he was the one who left. Ahh. What did he know about how this kind of thing was supposed to go. But it didn't matter anymore as his battery gave in and the phone turned off.
Eventually tiredness took over him and he pulled up at the side of the road and fell asleep for an hour or so, until at least the sun was starting to make it's appearance again.
An hour had barely passed and he was already in the next town, and next thing he knew, on his dad's street. He slowed down as he drove along the street checking the house numbers. Brandon tapped his fingers on the steering wheel anxiously as he came upto number 26. He pulled up in the space in front of it and killed the engine. It was one of the biggest, if not the biggest houses on the street.
He didn't know how long he had been staring at the front door, but he jumped slightly as it burst open and a girl no older than 12 maybe came skipping out, dressed in jeans, a pink shirt, a baseball cap with an oversized baseball mit for a hand. She called out towards the house something inaudible to Brandon on the inside of the car and not long after a man walked out bearing a striking resemblance to himself, except maybe twenty or so years older. Suddenly he felt guilty, for thinking of blackmailing this girl's father, and everything in him told him to turn around and leave. But instead, he opened the car door and stepped out, his eyes briefly meeting with the girl's, before looking at his father.
"..David Lane?" he spoke up, slightly hesitant, causing the man to look towards him with a confused smile.
"Yes?" But as soon as he spoke the smile faded and then came a look of shock. "-Oh my God," he whispered. "..Brandon?"
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samanthaualani Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Apr 09, 2010 2:56 pm
Annah stood there for what seemed like hours. She didn't have a car. She didn't know where Brandon went. They didn't have much food, she hardly had any cash.
He had left her with literally, nothing. And she wasn't even entirely sure he was coming back.
What was she supposed to do?
Eventually, Annah snapped out of it. And she was pissed. She stormed around the apartment, throwing various items (which were mostly things that belonged to Brandon), she also tipped over the little bit of furniture they had. She packed all of his clothes and things she hadn't broken into a battered bag and tossed it against the door. If he came back, she didn't want to see him. She didn't want to talk to him. At all.
How could he leave her like this? She had just ******** found out she was having his kid, and he left? She told him she wanted to keep it, and he left? HE LEFT.
And she didn't take s**t from people in general, but especially not guys. He left her. That just didn't happen. Oh, no.
All she could think about was how she didn't want to be reminded of him at all.
Sure, he had said he'd be back after the weekend was over. But what did that matter? He left her when she ******** needed him most! That was just bullshit! Who did that?!
Annah was in a fit, a bind. She had his kid growing inside of her. But she didn't even want to think, she just wanted to die. She hadn't wanted that in so long.
But instead, something inside of her brought her out of the house and made her walk to the bar. She walked inside, crying her eyes out. She was a complete mess. The girls rushed up to her, Tiffy and Tabby (who were identical twins), Lucy and Regina, and their boss, Loreli, surronded her instantly.
"We thought you were sick..?"
"Whats wrong??"
"Did something happen?"
"Are you okay?!"
And finally, "Was it Brandon?"
Of course, they were forming assumptions and ignoring the usual customers. But most of them were so drunk out of their minds right now. It was Saturday morning. Fairly early still. And she looked like hell.
Her arm was still wrapped up, her hair a mess, makeup ran down her face, and her clothes were still bloodied.
Yeah, she looked like something really really bad had happened.
They all sat around a table as Annah spilled her guts. She was never like this, though. Normally, she'd tell stories of the kinky sex her and Brandon had, but that was about as personal as she got with these girls. Or anyone for that matter.
Not only were they shocked, but they were very understanding. They took care of her all morning, closing down the bar even.
They cleaned her up, listened to her cry, and told her what a d**k Brandon had been.
But when she asked, "What do I do about the kid?...whether he comes back or not...?" They were pretty silent.
Regina was the pregnant one, nearly seven months along. Single mom.
She was even silent. No one was sure exactly what to say.
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Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2010 2:45 am
t h e
r a n d o m
l o n e r In his life Brandon had never, ever, pictured himself in this situation. Ever.
He was sat at a long rosewood dining table with fancy looking candlesticks in the mirror, opposite his 11 year old half sister, who he just met, who was staring at him so intently without blinking for the past minute.
Brandon felt uneasy, and uncomfortable, but feeling as he had to keep eye contact. He blinked and all of a sudden the girl opposite him beamed and broke her stare. "I win! You blinked! I win, I win, I win!" Brandon looked at her, confused for a second, but then attempted a smile at the girl. "Yeah, you win."
His father appeared in the doorway with two mugs of coffee, and as he approached the table, the girl shot up and ran up to him, tugging on his shirt, causing the man to bend down and let her whisper in his ear, before skipping off out of the room.
David Lane smiled and took the place opposite Brandon and pushed the coffee towards him. "She likes you." he said smiling at his son.
"So.. how are you?" the older man asked, looking over Brandon's face as if he were trying to imagine the baby he saw grow into this young man.
"Fine." Brandon replied quickly, taking a sip from his coffee. His father frowned slightly and put his mug down. "So you just found me to have a coffee?" Lane Sr. said, not believing Brandon's quick answer for a second.
Brandon stared at his hands on the table in front of him and sighed before slowly beginning to explain to him what mess he was in. He told him about Mother's several boyfriends, and how he ended up in Aspens, and how he got out. He told him about Annah, and how she started talking to him, and eventually escaped with him. He told him their situation now, about their crappy apartment, and s**t jobs, and that now she was pregnant, and he didn't know what to do. And he told him that originally he planned on blackmailing him, telling him to pay up or have his secret child come ruin his happy family, but now he couldn't do it. Not once while he was speaking did he look at his dad.
Brandon finished talking and silence filled the room. He thought about getting up and leaving, but David broke the silence. "Look at me, Brandon." he said, almost sternly. Brandon obeyed and looked up. He got his eyes from his dad, he realised. "I'm sorry." the man said, with a genuine look of sadness on his face. "I'm sorry about everything you've gone through, when I've been living here." he said, indicating the luxury of a house they were in. The older man stood up and walked towards a chest of drawers and opened up the top shelf, pulling out a pen and a checkbook.
"I want you to take this, as an apology, and sort a life out for you, your girl and your baby." he said, as he scribbled out a sum on the rectangle piece of paper. "I only have one condition." he said, holding it out to him. Brandon stood up and walked towards him, stopping as he saw the sum written down.
Oh.My.God.
"And that condition is, that you stay in touch. That you get to know my family- your family here. And that you don't make the same mistakes I did." Brandon felt his eyes sting a little, but he stopped himself from giving in. Hesitant to take the cheque, his father took his hand and put it in it before pulling him into a tight hug. "Now, go home to your girl."
Brandon had never driven so fast in his life.
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samanthaualani Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat May 01, 2010 3:21 pm
Annah and the rest of the girls were opening up the bar again. It was a new day, and she hadn't heard anything from Brandon. Her phone was probably at home, she hadn't been back there since she left anyways.
She was cleaning off a table, trying not to interact with anybody, and keeping herself together as best as she could. Every so often one of the girls would pat her on the back, or kiss her on the cheek. They'd tell her everything was going to be okay, and that they were there to support her no matter what.
But by noon she was starting to unravel again and Regina could see it. She pulled her out back and sat her down on some of the wooden crates before taking a seat next to her.
"Okay, ask me whatever you need to. I know you must be going crazy."
"I don't need ... I'm fine."
"Annah. I know how hard it is to ask for help. Believe me, getting thrown out of my parents house.. with nobody there to lean on. That sucked. I don't know where you're from, or who you've been. I have no clue what you've seen or anything about your past. But I know that right here, right now, we have something in common at least. I didn't chose this." She sighed. "And I know you didn't either. By the time I realized that I was pregnant it was too late to do anything about it. Sure, adoption has always been an option, but here I am, ready to pop and knowing that I'm going to be taking care of this kid all by myself."
Regina looked over at Annah, who was already tearing up. "Brandons a good guy. He isn't gone for good. He'll come back. But you both have to make this decision. Aborting your baby may be in your best interest. It wasn't for me, and I realize that now. She's gonna save my life. Hell, she already has. I have something to live for now." She was rubbing her tummy and closing her eyes. "You're a strong girl. But don't just do anything on a whim. Think this over. You have time."
"I wanna keep it." Annah was chewing on her bottom lip. "I told him. And he left." She sighed. "I mean, that wasn't all that happened. But ... Reg, I can't kill my own child. I see you and I admire you so much for what you're doing. That little girl is lucky to have you as a mom. But I'm scared, I'm not as strong as you."
Regina rubbed her back. "Go home. I have a feeling Brandon will be back, okay? Don't ask me why, but I just have this feeling. Go wait for him. Don't fight, don't scream or yell. Just talk to him."
"We don't have the money for a child.." She muttered.
"You'll figure it out." Regina got up and walked inside. "I'll cover for you, now go home." With that, she shut the door.
It took Annah a few minutes, but eventually she stood up on wobbling knees and made her way home.
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Posted: Sun May 02, 2010 2:00 am
t h e
r a n d o m
l o n e r Brandon was that one car on the freeway driving like an idiot. You know, the one everyone hoots at when it passes, and angry drivers swear at like they mean it. But he didn't care. In one hand, he had a tight hold over a cheque with his name written on, for the sum of $5,000,000. FIVE MILLION DOLLARS.
It was like they won the lottery, it was unreal, unbelievable, but he wasn't going to question it.
All the assumptions he had about what his father was like would be proved wrong, and it made sense. His mother was always so bitter, not because his father was a drunk violent loser who left her for another whore, but because he actually was something of a decent guy, who left her for another decent woman.
Oh man. Would Annah believe this? Would she even be at home? He was about to find out.
Brandon pulled up in front of their apartment and folded the cheque carefully before putting it in his pocket. He got out and went to run into the apartment before stopping in his tracks recognising a figure coming up the street in his direction.
"Annah?" he asked, quiet and a little out of breath from excitement. As she got closer and her face more visible, Brandons heart dropped and he felt as though he was seeing her after a long break of being without her. It was ridiculous, but he had missed her, and seeing her, he just wanted to hold her. If she'd let him.
Brandon walked towards her slowly and walked a little in front of her, and looked at her eyes, searching for a feeling. "Annah, I'm sorry."
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samanthaualani Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun May 02, 2010 9:59 am
Between the way Annah was dressed and the way she looked in general, she probably came off as a two cent whore that was just leaving some Johns house with a good forty bucks tucked into her bra.
Well, anyone who actually thought this could suck a big one, cause she wasn't even wearing a bra!
But none of this mattered. She just wanted to get home at this point and curl up in a ball. She'd probably look at the clock every four minutes, awaiting Brandons return. Hell, if he ever did actually return.
Wait, what was that?
She heard her name and looked up, she had to squint but she could see Brandon coming up to her. She wasn't sure whether to be angry or happy.
Or cry in his arms.
Maybe a combination of all of those emotions, and more.
Annah looked away, biting her lip as he came right up to her and apologized. "Is that supposed to make everything better?" She crossed her arms over her chest, already feeling the brick wall building itself. She wasn't letting her guard down. She was going to be a hardass.
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Posted: Sun May 02, 2010 12:34 pm
t h e
r a n d o m
l o n e r Brandon watched as she bit her lip and looked away from him. "No, but, I'm trying." he replied, treading on risky ground.
"Hey, look at me." He said quietly, expecting a slap to come his way any minute now. "Or don't. Thats fine too. Just listen."
Brandon took a deep breath and put his hands on his hips, looking around, trying to think of what to say. How to announce the news that they were now millionaires, to some extent. The air was particularly chilly, and upon realizing this, immediately looked to Annah, worried.
"I went looking for my dad." he said, looking at her for a second before laughing a little to himself at how ridiculous that statement itself even seemed to him. "And I found him."
While re-telling the story, he was looking around, not really taking in everything, but just thinking about how surreal the last couple of days had been. It was unreal.
"I told him about this girl I met a couple of months ago. And how I've never been happier in my entire life." he said, pausing slightly as he felt into his pocket, making sure the cheque was still there, and he hadn't dreamt up the whole sequence.
"I told him I was scared that I wouldn't be able look after her, and our baby. But that I wanted to be a good man, and a good father." he carried on, the last word giving him goosebumps, the hairs on his arms standing on edge. "And then he gave me this."
Brandon looked at her now and pulled out the cheque, still folded so the sum remained unseen he took her hand and placed it in her hand, keeping his hand over hers.
"Now we don't have to take this money. Because I don't want to look at this as charity. Or suddenly change how we are or how we think because of it." he said, smiling a little bit now. "But this'll get us out of this shitty apartment, and out of full time jobs." He finally let go of her hand and looked at her again.
"This is our ticket out of her, An." He bit his own lip as he waited for a reply, and for to read the number scribbled neatly done on the bit of paper in her hand.
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samanthaualani Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun May 02, 2010 1:27 pm
"Well stop trying, okay?" Annah couldn't look at him, she just couldn't. Instead she bit down harder on her lip and tried to keep her breathing even.
She had half a mind to go off running in the opposite direction. Screw listening to Brandon. What he did was s**t, complete s**t. Leaving her after not only finding out she was pregnant but after she pretty much tried to slit her wrists..again.
Can you say STUPID?!
Wait, what was that? His dad?
Annah looked over at Brandon now, as he continued on with his story. He held her hand and she tried to pull away but there was something in her hand now.
"You don't have to worry about being a dad. I took care of it." She lied straight through her teeth, her eyes deflecting downwards.
"Wait, what?"
Annah swallowed. Money? It didn't feel like money.
Her breathing quickened as she looked down at her closed hand. She slowly opened it, then opened the piece of paper.
A check.
For ...
Her eyes bugged open, her jaw dropped. "Let me get this straight." She said after a moment. "You went and met your dad for the first time and he gave you five million dollars because you told him some sob story about knocking your girl up?" She couldn't believe it.
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Posted: Sun May 02, 2010 2:01 pm
t h e
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l o n e r "I know it sounds ridiculous. I'm half expecting that thing to bounce. But-" he tried to reason with her. "All I know, is I went to see him to kick s**t up and maybe weasel some guilt money out of him, but instead he was happy to see me and just handed this over."
Brandon raised his eyebrows and shrugged. "He said the only condition was I stay in touch, and let him be my dad again or something." he said simply.
His brows dropped when he recognised the tone in her voice, and that hardass expression on her face, then he rewound a few seconds.
"Wait, what do you mean you took care of it?" he asked, almost sternly.
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samanthaualani Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun May 02, 2010 3:45 pm
Annah shook her head. "This can't be real. This is ridiculous. I mean, you go meet daddy for the first time and he pays you five million bucks? He doesn't even know you! That whole thing coulda been a scam and you could be some drug addict and.."
She inhaled sharply before shaking her head slowly. "I need to sit down or something. This is too surreal." But then He went backwards.
Back to her little slip of the tongue.
"I.. forget I said that, okay?" She started off towards the apartment, but not before placing the check into her pocket. She was shaking. This was crazy s**t.
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Posted: Wed Jun 02, 2010 1:30 am
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l o n e r Brandon shrugged. "He recognised me straight away. I don't get it either."
He scoffed and shook his head. "All of this is too ******** surreal. I'm waiting to wake up any second now." he said, letting a little bit of the bitterness in him spew out.
Brandon watched as Annah stumbled on her words, before going towards the apartment. "Well. Whatever you want to do, it's just there-" he said quietly, his voice trailing off as she walked away.
So what, she had already gotten rid of the baby? Or had decided to? Booked an appointment? What?
He couldn't decipher anything of what she was saying. Or of what was going on. It had been a long ******** weekend and he had never been one great at understanding such social dramatics.
He trailed behind her and followed her up the stairs and into their apartment. He walked past the bathroom, which still had a faded red tinge on the linoleum, and dropped himself down onto the couch. He figured whatever was gonna happen now, this was his bed until further notice.
Maybe they just needed to cool down. Sleep, and then kick-start the conversation again tomorrow, refreshed and calm. But heck what did he know.
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samanthaualani Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Jun 02, 2010 11:46 am
Annah had left the door open when she entered. She went into the bedroom, where she assumed she'd be followed. But when she peeked out the door, Brandon was sitting on the couch.
She shut the door and moved to sit back on the bed again. She crossed her legs, uncrossed them. She twiddled her fingeres and then sat on them to relax.
Annah stood up, walked around the room, took off her clothes and put on some lounge shorts and a tank top, placing the check on the dresser.
Five million dollars.
She just kept reading the numbers scribbled on the paper.
Annah turned to leave the bedroom, but she felt like if she left that paper out of her sight, it'd disappear.
She snatched it and went out into the 'living room', standing in front of Brandon.
"We could get a good place to live." She started rambling on. "Food everynight, we'd have nicer clothes, maybe even a ******** car. But we can't live on five million forever. There's payments... for nicer things. We'd have to get better jobs - Way better jobs. And and.. the baby." Her hand had been resting on her stomach and she hadn't even realized it.
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