Can't stop the rain (open)

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna rushed into the shop, relocking the door behind her. She went over to the counter and flung her planner against the wall. It made a satisfying thud, loose papers scattering across the floor. She picked up the nearest one and turned it over. Seeing the hearts doodled around Michael’s name, she quickly crunched it in a ball and threw it across the room. One piece had managed to land upright on the service counter and she leaned in to get a better look. Owl Him.

She figured she might as well end his suspense, and picked up a quill. She quickly scribbled a few words on a store memo pad, and sent widget, the bookstore owl off to deliver it to Chase.

Don't Worry. It's Done.

She went behind the counter to pick up the rest of the mess, most of it being doodles similar to the first. Unable to deal with it, she sat on the floor and cried until no more tears would fall, then sat there motionless for a while longer. She had no concept of time, but when it started getting darker in the store because the sun was setting behind the buildings, Anna finally dragged herself to her feet.

[Chase Firebrand]

Chase had gotten the cryptic owl some time before, and despite the fact that it wasn't signed, he'd known immediately who it was from. He didn't, however, know what it meant. He'd debated for a short time; did she want him to come? He'd intended coming to visit her either way, so he decided not to try guessing, and just to go.

It was dusk by the time he got to the bookstore, the only place he could be sure of finding her. Chase moved to push open the door, but it was locked. He could see her inside, though. He knocked, but would she let him in?

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Annabelle looked up at the sudden sound against the door. Seeing Chase, she went and opened the door, hoping she didn't look too horribly messy. "I guess you got my note then." She said, ushering him in and closing the door behind him. She wasn't sure what he was doing here, and took a guess. "So what, you wanted to be the first to hear the latest gossip or what?"

[Chase Firebrand]

Chase was watching Anna, trying to reconcile the girl he knew with the one at the masquerade. Her question threw him off-kilter, and his brows knitted into a light frown. "I'm not into gossip," he said. He only bothered to read the gossip column so he knew what rumors he was working with. "I wanted to know you're all right." He wanted to know more than that, but it was a start.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna shook her head. She hadn't meant to sound so snappy, but just didn't feel like herself. "I guess I have to be." She had no idea what to say or how to act. It felt like she was empty inside, all her personality gone along with the tears. "I just don't know what to do." She looked up at him with tired eyes and shrugged. "It didn't go at all like I thought it would."

[Chase Firebrand]

Chase's eyes met Anna's and searched, but he didn't know her well enough to have any clue what was going through her mind. "How did you think it would go?" And how did it go? He had to assume that Michael didn't know it was him, or he was sure Anna would have warned him off, rather than invited him in.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna rubbed her cheeks in frustration. How DID she think it would go? "I don't know, not how it did that's for sure. I guess I thought he'd be crushed." Like I was when I saw that he cared for the Raven. She started pacing back and forth across the store, trying to sort out everything. "I didn't know he'd already given up on me and pretty much moved on." That's what hurt so much, that he wasn't comfortable enough with her to come and try to talk things out before disgarding her. She felt like their relationship had been cheated, like they didn't get a chance to grow or die on it's own.

[Chase Firebrand]

Chase's brows rose with that admission, and in the back of his mind, wheels started turning that he wasn't even aware of yet. What he was aware of was the knowledge that Michael wasn't after him, and Anna was single. And, though she hadn't known it then, she had been single the night of the masquerade, too. Any guilt he'd been harboring faded away, and perhaps his gaze grew a bit more intent as he watched Anna. "But you hadn't moved on," Chase said, though the statement was a leading one. It was a subtle suggestion that maybe she had, or that at least she was now.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna shook her head. "No. I didn't know that just because we hadn't seen each other, the relationship was over. I guess I'm not good at this whole dating thing." She thought breifly that it was weird talking to Chase, the lady's man around school, about her problems, but it was better than talking to herself. "I love him, and I know he says he still loves me. You'd think that would be enough to keep us together. It's just not fair." She paused her pacing, her back currently facing Chase. She took a few breaths, refusing to let herself cry in front of him.

[Chase Firebrand]

Chase let out a long breath that sounded suspiciously like a long-suffering sigh and turned to lean back against the nearest counter. He rested his elbows agains the flat surface and made himself comfortable; if she wasn't kicking him out just yet, he wasn't leaving. "The whole dating thing takes practice," he said. "And exclusive dating is even worse. Hell, I still haven't figured that one out. And love..." Chase made a low noise or mixed disgust and exasperation, then left his opinion at that.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna turned around to look at Chase. "Exclusive dating? Isn't all dating exclusive?" She knew that he was known all around campus, but she wouldn't consider what he did with girls dating. "Well I've certainly learned a lesson or two today. If you don't see them often enough, they won'd stay exclusive as you put it."

[Chase Firebrand]

Chase shrugged. His eyes met Anna's, glad to have something to focus on other than the back of her head. "It's not like he could read your mind," he said. "If a guy disappears, he's probably hiding out, or he's moved on. What else was he supposed to think? And as for the rest, no. You go out with someone, hang out, have a good time, you're dating, but if all it is is going out, there's no reason not to go out with someone else. If everyone's just having a good time, who cares what's going on when you're not around? It works both ways. You go exclusive, and you're cutting out a hell of a lot." He'd been bored half the time and miserable the other half.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"Wouldn't that just be called being friends though?" Anna didn't understand Chase's concept of dating at all. "I mean, if you're dating, there's feelings involved, you're supposed to care for the person at least, and how could you see other people without compromising your feelings for the first person? Are you trying to tell me I should have kept dating Michael even though he's also dating someone else? That would lead to nothing but pain."

[Chase Firebrand]

Chase gave a low groan at Anna's question. "When you start throwing feelings into things, you get a mess. It's a hell of a lot easier, and more fun for everyone involved, if you just don't let it get that far." And that was why he was in the mess he was in with Dru. She'd developed feelings and insisted on exclusivity, and he'd been stupid enough to go for it. Then, when it had all been called off, he'd been afflicted too, though he preferred not to think of or acknowledge that aspect of things.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna couldn't believe how cold-hearted Chase sounded. Her eyebrows narrowed slightly, for the first time actually seeing what was behind his pretty face and smooth words. "I think I'd rather be alone, truely alone, then be with someone without allowing myself to have feelings for them. That's the whold point of relationships, whether they're completely platonic or not."