Time brings Change

[Markise Sterling]

Markise kept his arms around Anna, kept his hand sweeping up and down her back to soothe her however he could. "It's okay, Anna," he said again. It was so hard to believe, and yet it wasn't. She was so sweet and so trusting despite how afraid she was to do so. "Was it Chase's?" he asked softly. He couldn't think of who else. The Deputy Headmaster just made the most sense, and if it was him, someone had to know!

[Annabelle Hennessy]

If Annabelle's cheeks hadn't already been red from wiping away the tears, she would have been blushing. Sure, she'd thought about doing that with Chase, and they'd done a lot of things, but she'd never done that with him. It had been a long time after she'd done anything with Chase that she'd found out she was pregnant. She shook her head, "No." She softly answered, "We never got back together after the holidays. Its...." She tucked her cheek against his chest so he couldn't see anything but her hair. "It doesn't matter. You, you wouldn't know." That was the truth, as far as she knew at least.

[Markise Sterling]

"And I won't know unless you tell me," Markise said. He tried to lean sideways enough to look at her face, but she was hiding from him, and knowing her tendency to avoid things, it was purposeful. "Anna, tell me. I... I'll like beat him up or something. Or insult his taste in clothes, I don't know. You'll feel better if you talk about it, right?"

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"You can't." Annabelle said, regret in her voice. She wished he could, wished that something could have been done. "I can't tell you, I wish I could, but I can't." It was so hard and she knew it sounded like she won't, but it really was can't. She looked up at him finally, pleading with her eyes for him not to try and drag it out of her; he wouldn't get anywhere. She looked back down and hesitantly added. "I just don't know."

[Markise Sterling]

Markise's eyes widened again, and he threw a glance toward the door that led upstairs before looking back at Anna, his worry only deepening. "What do you mean, you don't know? Were you..." He just couldn't see Anna getting drunk and forgetting, but his mind wasn't putting together the pieces.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Annabelle shrugged her shoulders before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. You can do this. "I, I just don't know, anything, okay? Like I said, I was sick and went to St. Mungos." Her teeth pulled at her lower lip, her cheeks were drying now that all her tears had fallen. She shuddered, not wanting to think of the unknown. "I, I thought I was a virgin still Markise. I told them they were wrong, that I couldn't be. They did some stuff, and they, they said it was a pretty good memory charm. I don't remember anything, and I'm glad, I don't want to remember."

[Markise Sterling]

Markise stared down at Anna as it all came together. "You were raped?!" he asked in a hushed whisper. "Oh, Anna!" He tightened his arms around her again, trying to absorb all of this. His mind was spinning with it. Anna had a baby! But she'd given it up. She'd been raped, and she didn't know how or when, or by whom, and she'd gotten pregnant and given it up. "Anna, you could've talked to me. You can always talk to me."

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna swallowed the lump in her throat. It felt so comforting to have him holding her, consoling her, telling her that he was there for her. She'd needed that comfort all those months ago when she'd found out, and throughout her self-imposed confinement, but she couldn't seek it. At first she was too shocked and in denial, then it was fear keeping her away. "I, I am talking to you. You're the only person Markise. My parents, the school, they don't even know. I needed time...."

[Markise Sterling]

"Shhh... Take all the time you need," Markise murmured. He knew now, there was no reason to make her keep talking. Her parents don't know. Where had she been all this time? She couldn't have been in her store, he would have seen her at some point, she'd have had to leave to buy food. There were still so many questions, but she'd already told him more than she'd wanted to.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna nodded, letting the sound of silence fill the air while she soaked up the strength and warmth of Markise. She felt almost foolish now for thinking that he might not welcome her back. Markise had always been there for her, even if they'd had a fight of sorts, it was a huge relief to know he was still here for her.

It had been over 3 months since the birth, and much longer since she'd originally found out, but sharing this with Markise drained her as if it was just yesterday. She wanted to fill in the gaps, to share where she'd been, what all had happened. She knew it must be a lot for Markise to take in too, he was taking the news in stride but she knew she'd shocked him. She would finish her story but she needed a break. "Can you tell me what's been going on here, with you?"

[Markise Sterling]

It took a moment for the question to sink in, to make it past everything she'd told him that he was still thinking about. He had to willfully push his mind away from her, to think back. "Nothing's been happening," he said, though it was a lie and he knew it wasn't what she needed. He made an effort to find something to tell her, anything that might help, avoiding things she didn't need to know. "Ariel and I went back to New York this summer," he said. "He was a lifeguard and I got a job in a clothing store. We had a lot of fun." He ran through a few quick stories, fun little nothings they'd done with his friends, bypassing the return of his drinking problem, Ariel finding out, and everything that had come with it. "We haven't been back long. I'm glad we didn't stay longer."

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"Me too." Anna replied, thinking that she probably missed a lot more over the year but only the most recent events would naturaly come to mind first. "Did everything go okay? With you coming out here? I'm sorry I wasn't around for you like I said I'd be." She needed to bring it up and hoped he didn't think she'd abandoned him when he needed her support.

[Markise Sterling]

In truth, not much had happened over the past year. Markise had run his shop after school, he'd spent his nights in Ariel's arms, and he'd returned to drinking to get away from the boredom of it all. The backlash from coming out had been bearable, and he told Annabelle that much, but there wasn't anything of real interest. He gave her what he could, then ended with, "Sorry I don't have anything better."

[Annabelle Hennessy]

She knew that there were things in his life that he didn't discuss with her, but she had always been okay with that. She'd composed herself again as Markise talked to her and his voice during his little stories had reassured her that he wasn't going to judge her for what had happened. "No, I'm glad I didn't miss out on much and that everything went well. I've been worried." It might have seemed weird for her to worry about him with everything else going on in her life, but when she needed to get her mind off of her own troubles she'd always thought of Markise.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise wished he could have helped Anna, that he'd known somehow, but there was no way he could have. He wished she hadn't worried for him, but that was just the way she was. "I'm glad you're back," he said simply. He pulled away to see her better, sitting back a bit and taking her hands again. He put on his most convincing smile.