Annie, 
What is going on with you?  I always get letters back from you.  I thought you'd have lots to say about David and I splitting up, or at least something to say.     Did what happened between Kevin and I bother you more than you let on?  Did you lie in the last letter I got from you when you told me it didn't matter about what happened with David and Kevin and I?  You always talk to me Annie, what did I do to make you stop?  Kevin's been gone for two weeks and just told me today that his stay in Orlando has been extended another 2 weeks.  it's lonely here Anns, I've just immersed myself in work, and don't do anything but. I'm scared to go out with friends in case I run into David, and now I don't even have you, YOU, my most cherished friend in the world, the one person I've always counted on to be there, has stopped talking to me, do you even know how that feels?   I don't feel right when I don't hear from you Anns, last time I didn't hear from you for over a week was when the bastard put you in the hospital, and you know how worried I got then, but I heard from you the minute you got out, the last letter I got from you was almost three weeks ago.   Anns I've tried calling, and either I hear Taylor tell me you are out with Nick, or I get the machine, is Taylor erasing my messages or are you ignoring me???   When did I stop being the person you could confide in?  Annie I never figured you for someone who would chose a guy over everything else, even as great as Nick sounded in that letter from Christmas.   WHERE ARE YOU???
Brooke
 
 
 

Annabelle Whitten
this is getting ridiculous I keep writing and writing and still nothing!  Please write me Annie, I'm worried as hell! I called your house and your mother just says 'call her at school' and hangs up before I can get a word in.  But when I do call you at school it says the number has been disconnected.  Is that what you've had to do to stop hearing from me?  Change your number?   TALK TO ME ANNS!!  Even through everything with Paul you never stopped talking to me, in the almost four years we've known each other you have NEVER missed sending me a letter, or calling me back when I called.  What am I supposed to think?  You hate me, you're hurt, you're dead.......all those thoughts have been running through my mind.

It's been almost a month since I've heard from you, and if I've done something so horrible that you have to stop talking to me, shouldn't I at least know what it is?  I worry about you more than any other person in this world and you know I do, I don't understand why you aren't talking to me, and why I can't find you, I'm scared Annie, I'm scared I've hurt you, I'm scared there's something wrong and I'm most of all I'm scared that I've lost you as a friend.  You can't keep doing this to me Annie, I don't know how much more I can take.....this is tearing me apart. and  If I don't hear from you after this letter I'll get the hint, I'll stop bothering you.

Brooke

        “Whitten, what are you reading?” questioned Nick.  Annie was huddled on her bed reading what appeared to be a letter from someone and she was crying.  Nick was used to her crying by now, but it still upset him.

    “Hey,” he said quietly as he sat down on her bed, “Is it from Brooke?”

Annie looked up from the letter and nodded yes.  Nick wiped a falling tear away from her eye and looked around Annie’s room.  It was totally disheveled.  Nick could see the Annie he had gotten to know fade away, and even though he tried his damndest, there was nothing he could do.

    “Nick, why can’t I write her?” Annie asked quietly.

    “Honey, I don’t know.  I don’t know what’s happening to you,” Nick said.  He had to pause because he could feel himself starting to choke up.

    “How many letters has she written to you Annie?”  Annie looked at Nick and then looked down at her bed.

    “Three,” she whispered.  Nick turned to face Annie on the bed and grabbed her hands and said,

    “Don’t you think she’s worried about you?”  Annie bit her lip and nodded yes.  She so desperately wanted to tell Brooke all that had happened, but fear had stopped her from doing it.  Annie had gotten her phone number changed, gotten the locks changed on her door; she barely spoke to anyone, and never went anywhere unless it was with Nick.  She was embarrassed by what had happened with Paul and couldn’t bring herself to tell Brooke that it had almost happened again.  She knew Brooke would understand, but she just couldn’t deal with how Brooke would feel, and she was in a mess of her own according to her letters.

    “Yeah, I think she is,” whispered Annie.  Nick looked at Annie and pulled her into a warm hug.  His chin rested on her head and he began to think.  Brooke needs to know what has happened.  I can’t do this all by myself.  Nick pulled out of the hug and said,

    “C’mon!” He grabbed Annie’s hands and pulled her off the bed.

    “Where are we going?” Annie asked.

    “Well, you, my dear are going to take a shower and put on some clean clothes.  Then…well, the day is ours!” Nick said happily.  Getting out would do them both some good.  Annie stood there and looked at Nick,

    “Carter, I don’t-“ Nick put his index finger on her lips.

    “Ah, ah, ah,” he said, “I don’t want to hear 'Carter, I don’t…' anything! I am getting you out of here. C’mon, Ann, you’ve been sitting in here for days.  Getting out will do you good! Now, go and get showered and dressed!” he commanded.  Annie sighed and whispered, “Fine!” and stalked out of her room.  Nick breathed a huge sigh and said,

    “I thought she’d never go for it!” He began to frantically run around her room looking for a piece of paper and pen to write with.  He found both on her desk and sat down to write a letter.  Nick was nervous, but it had to be done.

Dear Brooke,
 Hi, you don’t know me, but we have a mutual friend in common, Annie.  I don’t know if she’s talked about me to you or not, but I know a lot about you.  Anyway, some things have happened with Annie that I know she hasn’t told you about, and I feel you deserve to know.  It’s not my place to tell you all that has happened, but let me just tell you that Paul has entered the picture.  She is slipping further and further away from me and I don’t know what to do about it.  Everything I try she just rejects.  I try and take her out and make her laugh, but nothing works.  She never goes to class anymore and is on academic probation because of it.  She changed the locks on her door here at school and even had her phone number changed.  All she does is sleep and cry.  Nothing I say helps her pain, and frankly, I’m all out of ideas.  I know it’s not my place to ask someone I don’t know to help me, but I know how much you love her and how much she loves you.  She misses you but just won’t write you or call you.  Every time I ask her about it, she just starts crying.  I don’t know what it is you can do, but I thought you should at least know what is going on with her.  I care about her very much and I’m afraid I’m losing her a little more everyday.  Thank you for your time and I hope you can help somehow.
                                                                            Nick
 

With that, Nick hurriedly found Brooke’s address and scribbled it down on a piece of paper and put into his pocket.  He folded the note and also put it into his pocket so he wouldn’t forget to mail it.  This was his only hope now.  He hoped Brooke could help.

    “Ann, anything you’d like to hear?” Nick asked as he was pushing all of his buttons on the car stereo.  Annie looked at Nick and just nodded no.  She turned her head away from him and out the window.  She didn’t really want to be out of her room, but even she had to admit the shower had felt nice.  However, she thought she could take a million showers and never wash off the grime that Paul left embedded in her soul.  Nick settled on the radio and began singing along with the song.

    ‘What a girl wants, what a girl needs, whatever makes me happy sets you free…’

Nick sang.  Annie turned her head away from the window to look at Nick.  He seemed to actually be pretty into the song and kept right on singing.

    ‘There was a time I was blind, I was so confused…’

He kept singing.  Annie bit her lip in order for her not to bust out laughing loudly.  She let out a muffled giggle.  Nick stopped singing and turned to Annie,

    “What?” he said.  Annie smiled at him and asked,

    “Christina Aguilera, Nick?” She began to laugh.

    “Yeah, so what’s wrong with that?” Nick questioned.

    “Not a damn thing Carter.  You’re just givin’ Chris a run for her money!” Annie laughed.

    “Watch out Christina!” Nick bellowed and then he kept right on singing with the song.  Annie shook her head and looked back out the window.
 
 

        “Excuse me, but this is an emergency,” said the young man excitedly.  The young woman behind the counter looked up from her textbook,

    “Yes?”

    “Could you please tell me what dorm number my sister, Annie Whitten is in?”  The young girl looked back down at her textbook and said,

    “I can’t give that information out, sorry.” The young man ran a hand through his hair and said,

    “Our mother is in the hospital. I can’t get through on the phone, and I NEED to see her NOW!  Our mother is really sick!”   The girl looked up and told him,

    “336F.”  The young man ran up the stairs and searched for Annie’s dorm room.  He saw Taylor coming out of the room carrying her bookbag.

    “Ummm, is Annie here?” Taylor looked at the young man, liked what she saw and said,

    “Umm, no.  I haven’t seen her since this morning.  She might be in class, although I doubt it.”  The young man looked defeated.

    “Is there something I can help you with?” Taylor asked.

    “Well, Annie is my sister, and our mother is really sick…” he trailed off.

    “Do you want to wait inside for her?  She’s going through some weird thing with the phone and changed the locks and stuff.  She’d probably like to know what’s going on,” Taylor said sounding genuinely concerned.

    “Oh, that’d be great,” he said.  Taylor opened up the door and let him in.

    “She should be back later, but if she’s not I’ll be back in about an hour.”   Taylor was about to close the door when she said,

    “Oh, by the way, I’m Taylor!” She extended her hand out to him to shake it.  He returned the handshake and said,

    “My name is Paul,” and smiled at her.  Paul nodded and said thank you again and he watched as Taylor closed the door. Paul smiled and said,

    “Anns, baby you must clean this place up…”
 
 

        “We’re here,” said Nick.  Annie looked at Nick get out of the car and come around to her side.  Annie smiled at Nick’s thoughtfulness as he opened her door, as he always did.  Nick extended his hand out for Annie to take as she climbed down from the Durango.

    “Isn’t this where you took me on New Year’s Eve?” questioned Annie.

    “Yeah,” said Nick as he went to get some other things from the car.  Annie stared at the ocean.  She listened to the waves crash and noticed how peaceful everything was there.  She wished her life could be peaceful.  Ever since the day when Paul attacked her all her old memories and feeling had begun resurfacing.  She didn’t know how to get back to the “Old Annie” or at least the Annie she was starting to feel like before Paul came back into the picture.  Annie began walking towards the ocean.  She wanted to feel the peace splashing around her.  Annie began walking faster towards the water.  She felt the water rush around her feet, and it crept up quickly around her pantlegs and then to her waist.  Her whole body wanted to buckle in the water and just go under, but something in her mind told her not to.  She started shivering and she could hear something in the background.  She stood with her back toward Nick, but all of the sudden his voice felt like it was getting closer and closer.

Nick was dragging some blankets from out of the Durango when he looked over to where Annie had been standing.  She wasn’t there.  Nick’s eyes began scanning the beach.  He couldn’t see her.  His heart began racing.  Oh shit, where is she?  He was still scanning the beach when he saw something in the water.  Nick began to walk closer to the water when he began to make out a shape in the water.  He squinted his eyes a little and recognized the shape.

    “Annie!” he yelled.  Nothing.  Nick dropped the blankets and began running towards the water, screaming

    “Annie!”

Annie turned around as Nick ran up behind her.  Her look was bewildered and scared.

    “Wha-what are you doing Nick?” she asked him.  Nick looked at Annie with surprise.

    “What am I doing, Annie? What are you doing in the water?”  Nick grabbed Annie by her arms and drug her back to shore.  Annie was shaking.

    “Ann, what were you doing?” Nick yelled.  Annie looked at Nick frightened and tried to break away from his grip.

    “Annie! Don’t walk away from me! What were you doing out there?” Annie looked at Nick and shook her head as if to say she didn’t know.  Nick stared at Annie.  He knew she wasn’t going to say anything, but he wasn’t going to give up asking her.

    “Annie, tell me now!” Annie stared back at Nick and her lip started trembling.  She shook her head and said,

    “I don’t know what I was doing out there.”  Nick shook his head ‘no’ and said,

    “I don’t believe you Annie!”

    “Nick, please…” Annie implored as she broke away from Nick’s grip.  She started to run up the beach, but Nick caught up to her.

    “Annie,” he said as he grabbed her to stop running.

    “Whatever is going on with you…”he broke off sadly.

    “Nick,” Annie said before a sob escaped her lips.  She fell into Nick as he held her in his arms.  She wrapped her arms around his waist and they began walking towards the blankets Nick had thrown down.
 

        Nick listened intently to everything that Annie said on the beach.  She sobbed a lot, but finally told him everything that she was feeling.

    “I just can’t look at you and not remember what you did for me, Nick,” she said.

    “Annie, you needed my help.  I’d do it again in a second.”  He was honest when he said that to her, and she knew it.

    “I thought I could just move on with my life, and I hoped I was, but now I know that I can’t ever move on,” Annie said sadly.  Nick looked at her and wiped some hair out of her eyes and put it behind her ear,

    “Annie, you have to move on.  Paul did not make you who you are.  You made you,” he said sweetly.  Annie smiled at him.

    “Hey, you smiled.  I think that’s the second time today!” Nick said jokingly.

    “Shut up Carter!” Annie said kiddingly.  Annie began looking at the ocean again.  There was a longing in her eyes.

    “Nick?” she asked.

    “Mmmhmm?”

    “Why do you care so much about me? I mean, what was it when we first started hanging out together that made you think I was cool?” Annie questioned.  Nick turned Annie to face him and smiled a little.

    “Ann, there’s a lot about you that makes you cool.  I just wanted to get to know you, that’s all,” he said honestly.

    “Yeah, but, I humiliated you at the library that day,” Annie said.

    “Yeah, and my head said to turn and run from you after that, but there’s just something about you Annie,” Nick said.  Annie squinted at Nick,

    “You still think I’m cool?”

    “Ann, why are you asking me this?” Nick questioned.  Annie smiled a little and said,

    “I’m just wondering.”  Nick grabbed one of Annie’s hands and said,

    “Oh yeah, I still think you’re cool.  You make me laugh, and you make me feel special Annie,” Nick said sweetly.

    “That’s it? That’s ALL I do?” Annie giggled.   Nick rolled his eyes and cupped her face.

    “You do so much more than that Annie.  But, when you make me smile, it makes my day.  And, when I make you smile…there’s no better feeling to me than that,” he said honestly.

He was looking into her eyes and suddenly could see himself in them.  Nick ran his thumbs over her cheeks and licked his lips.  His heart started to race and he could feel a sweat break out on him as well.  Nick bent down towards Annie’s face and softly kissed her lips.  Annie put her hands on his face and layed down on the blanket, taking Nick with her.  Nick’s hair fell in his eyes and Annie brushed it out of the way.  Nick kissed Annie’s lips again and opened his mouth a little to take in Annie’s lips a little more.  Annie also opened her mouth a little wider and they both tasted each other.  Nick pulled away from the kiss and looked at Annie laying underneath him.  She smiled at him and pulled him down for another kiss.  It was short and sweet.  Nick nuzzled Annie’s ear and buried his head in the crook of her neck.  He put his hands under her back and rolled over, pulling Annie onto him.  They giggled and Annie kissed Nick again.  Nick put a hand on Annie’s cheek and smiled at her.  She put her head down on Nick’s chest and closed her eyes.  Nick ran his hands through Annie’s hair and rubbed her back a little.  He sighed and closed his eyes; they were both fast asleep on the blanket.