forkedroad | BONER AU: DAY AFTER

Annabelle had always been a decent sleeper, but whenever she and the Tanners were due for some excitement, she often slept restlessly. The previous night had been different, despite her excitement; she'd pretty much fallen asleep the second she'd flopped onto their bed into a deep, hard sleep, soon drooling pretty ungracefully.

And the next day, they all awoke more or less frantically—or at least, Lauren and Annabelle certainly had. Lauren, out of anxiety, and Annabelle out of excitement. The three of them had done their thing, aiding the nice town they were in with their talents.

Now that all the excitement is over, the three of them have been paid for their efforts. They've been invited to a boundless meal, as well as wine and ale, in the evening, because the town, frankly, loves to party, and has a great reason to celebrate. But that invite, though accepted, doesn't help them soon enough, and so they've found themselves at a pub for some lunch.

They're seated at a communal bench table, and the brothers are sitting next to each other across from Annabelle. Annabelle has been desperately trying not to look at Lauren more than she would normally, which has made her realize she has no idea how often she does or doesn't do that kind of thing. Right now, her jaw is set against her palm, thin fingers curled into her dark, wild hair while her eyes are lid downcast at her food, which she's kind of just. stabbing relentlessly (but not so frantically so as to make a pub-wide scene) with her fork.

It's not that she's in a bad mood, or anything—she's been quite chipper, if somewhat stilted and odd. At the moment, she's just lost in reminiscence. She's trying to find what the hell had come over here the night before. She bites her lip, and the fork slips, causing an unpleasant squeak against the porcelain.

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"Then, why are you acting weird? I thought you two had a fight or kissed!" Now he's even more confused, and he doesn't understand why apparently something he said is enough to laugh and choke about.

Edited 2017-02-07 02:12 (UTC)

"Susan!"

Annabelle shoots up, her face bright red from laughter. She reaches over the table to gently take Susan's hand, still clearing up her giggles, using the knuckles of her other fingers to gently wipe at the corner of her eye.

"Susan, only women get periods. A lot of men are uncomfortable about them! Lauren is uncomfortable about most things, so he's amongst them; that's why he's being weird.."

Edited (I KEEP FORGETTING TO SPECIFY WHICH BOY SHE'S INTERACTING WITH ) 2017-02-07 02:16 (UTC)

He wasn't being weird! He was just startled!

But.

"Yeah... Sorry."

He just looks down at his plate. He doesn't like lying to his brother.

Susan frowns, still confused and a little concerned, but he nods slowly at the explanation.

"Okay... I guess that makes sense." Maybe. He still doesn't really know what a period is but he does know that Lauren gets uncomfortable about a lot of things, so it isn't obviously a lie to him at least.

Annabelle stares at Lauren. She's not even trying to—she's trying to step around this, but she just feels like she's bullying Lauren. Which is fine when it's on purpose, but. Where she's trying to be careful, or helpful, it's frustrating. She's not sure what the hell's going on, and she knows she's being weird.

She stands up kind of abruptly. She smiles kind of unnaturally, pushing her hair behind her ear.

"Anyway, I'm going—to go deal with that. Have a bath or something. You know. Get ready for the bonfire."

Which was in like...what. Seven hours.

She moves past them, glancing anxiously at Lauren.

"Sorry," she says awkwardly and uncertainly, barely above a mumble, and lifts her skirts to go hurry up the stairs.

He looks up as he hears her chair pull away from the table. He's surprised she's leaving. Idly he wonders if he should stop her. He thinks about reaching out to her with his hand, but doesn't. Maybe she simply needed some time alone. In the end he looks to Susan as Anna's footsteps echo up the stairs.

"Sorry for frustrating you."

Susan watches her go, confused and surprised as he still doesn't quite understand what's going on. Lauren's words only make him frown, and he looks down at his plate.

"You aren't frustrating me. You just aren't making sense."

Lauren sighs, looking at the table. He feels just as confused as Susan, to be honest.

"I don't get it either." Maybe she was mad at him? Did she regret what happened? Was he acting weird towards her? He'd been trying to act normal, but it was hard when you couldn't necessarily remember what normal was.

Susan doesn't know what else to say, and so he just keeps looking down sullenly at his food as he tries to figure out what to do. Now he is getting frustrated, now that it seems his brother won't tell him or doesn't know what's going on.

He stares at the table, studying the grain of the wood as he tries to make sense of the situation and his own feelings.

"...I think I made a mistake."

He looks over at Lauren, still a bit frustrated looking but also curious.

"What do you mean?"

He hasn't the faintest clue how to explain this to someone like Susan, and he knows he shouldn't share the bigger details.

"You sort of were right, about me and Anna."

He looks a little surprised, but not too much - he thought he was, but Anna's words made him wonder.

"But, did you fight, or kiss?" It was kiss, right? That's what he guesses at least.

His blush is answer enough, though he can't force himself to say so out loud.

"...Don't tell her I told you."

He grins at Lauren's blush before nodding.

"I won't!"

He looks at Susan, feeling more glum than ever. Susan's cheeriness is just a sore reminder that he's somehow messed this up.

He frowns again after a moment, leaning against him.

"Are you okay...?"

He looks away again.

"I don't know."

"Maybe you really should just talk. I think it'll help..."

"I don't even know what to say."

"Well... Was it a bad kiss?"

Lauren laughs.

"I'm positive she liked it."

"...Oh." He looks away again, trying to figure it out.

"I don't know why you guys are being so weird then."

Helpful. He just sort of slumps onto the table.

He's quiet at first, thinking it over, before he gets an idea.

"Do you want me to talk to her? Maybe I can figure out what's wrong!"

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mylastchance - 2017-02-09 15:43 (UTC) - Expand

wild_magic - 2017-02-09 17:16 (UTC) - Expand