Hello everyone! As promised, this is the sequel to Delicate! The first chapter starts off a little slow just because a few months have passed and I have to catch everyone up on what has been going on in their lives! I promise the action will start again soon enough (;

I want as many reviews as possible for this story! So let's make it happen (;

I do have somewhat of an idea of where I want this story to end up, but I don't have the minor details figured out, so give me some ideas everyone! I really want your help with this one! :D

The trio of girls go prom dress shopping during this chapter so here are the URLs for the dresses to picture when reading!

Annabelle: images/dress_New_Column_Floor_Length_One_shoulder_ Light_Blue_Pd1220_Sequins_Trailing_High_Slit_Prom_ Dress_

Allison: .

Now, onto Rising Tide Chapter 1:

"Annabelle, you heard what the doctor said...you have to rest, and that does not include cleaning the entire loft and cooking dinner."

"Aiden, if I don't do that stuff, we'll be living like wild animals," she tried reasoning, but was only met by his unamused face.

"The house was spotless already and I could've cooked or gotten take out. Now stop making excuses and lay down," he commanded as he guided her to the couch and got a throw blanket out for her.

After Deucalion fled town and everyone gave up, Annabelle and Aiden had found a cheap loft together. He would've made her go back home to live with her dad if it were stable, but after her mom was killed, her father turned to a life of heavy drinking. There loft now was nowhere near as luxurious as the apartment the pack had previously lived in with Deucalion, but that's because now Aiden had to actually work for money rather than just get it from Deucalion. Aiden had decided to drop out of school and just finish it online to be able to provide for him and Annabelle. He made her stay in school though because he felt this mess was his fault anyway. He didn't want her to suffer too much from it. Ethan stayed in school too, but got a part time job to help pay their bills. All in all, the situation wasn't as horrible as it could've been. They tried to make it as comfortable as possible and evidently, it worked out pretty well. They were their own pack now, and that's all they really needed.

"Hey, how are you feeling today?" Ethan asked as he walked in after getting home from his job at a motorcycle sales business. The job fit him well considering how much he loved his bike and how much he knew about how to pick a good one. His charm helped also.

"I feel fine. I have every day since that night, but Aiden still refuses to let me get back to my normal life!" she yelled, knowing he would hear her. Ethan laughed at her, but still shook his head. "He's just trying to do what's best for you," Ethan said while putting his hand on her tiny shoulder and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"At least someone sees it that way," Aiden joked, walking back in the room with two plates of lasagna in his hands. He handed them to Annabelle and Ethan then walked back to get his. They had a nice routine going so far. Aiden worked overnight shifts then slept while Annabelle and Ethan went to school. Aiden was just glad that Ethan decided to live with them. There was no way he would have gotten a job with overnight shifts if Annabelle would be home alone during the time. Ethan's part time job started right after school, so unfortunately he had to quit the cross country and lacrosse team. He was upset about it at first, sports had always been a good escape for him, but he knew he had to make sacrifices now. Annabelle went to school, but Aiden wouldn't let her get a job for two reasons. One: he felt bad for getting her in this situation and wanted to make it as easy on her as possible and two: he didn't think it was safe in her condition.

About a week ago, Ethan had to rush Annabelle to the emergency room in the middle of the night. Her blood pressure dropped dramatically and she ended up passing out after getting out of the shower. Ethan heard the thud of her hitting the floor and rushed to throw a nightgown on her so he could take her to the hospital. When Aiden got the call at work, he felt completely helpless. He hadn't started the job too long ago, and he didn't want to risk getting fired by asking to leave. All he could do was wait for word on his girlfriend's condition while trying to get his brain to function enough to continue working. It turned out that Annabelle's body was fighting her pregnancy. The doctors don't have a sound reason for it, but they said they do see it from time to time. That's why Aiden was making sure she rested any time she could, which basically meant anytime she was home from school. He didn't even like her going to school that much either. He worried about what could happen all the time. Thankfully, Ethan had four out of seven classes with her and Scott and Allison had the other three.

Even though they didn't remain very close to the members of Derek's alliance after what happened, Scott and Allison were good people and they still watched out for Annabelle's well-being. Annabelle remained close to Isaac, much to Aiden's chagrin. He knew Isaac cared about Annabelle, but that's partly what worried him. He couldn't help, but feel somewhat jealous that another guy was also receiving Annabelle's affections, even if it was in a totally platonic way.

"This is really good, Aid. I didn't know you could cook," Ethan commented as he devoured his lasagna like the wolf he was.

Annabelle grinned at Aiden as he shook his head. "Actually, I made it," Annabelle corrected, sticking her tongue out at her boyfriend.

"Don't flatter her, Eth. If she knows you like her cooking, I'll never be able to get her to rest," Aiden said, slightly laughing at Annabelle's habits.

"Speaking of resting, you better make sure she gets a lot of it in the next couple days," Ethan commented, confusing Aiden entirely. Ethan saw the furrowing of his twin's eyebrows. "Prom is next weekend, dude." Annabelle smiled at Aiden who had clearly forgotten.

"Shit..." he mumbled under his breath at the realization. "When are you getting your dress?"

"Oh, I wasn't even sure if we were going. Ya know with the money being tight and all,'' Annabelle said, sounding a bit sad but trying to hide it.

"Annabelle, we're going. You're not going to lose another normal high school experience," Aiden said, holding her hand to reassure her. "We have enough money, you don't need to worry about that." Annabelle nodded her head hesitantly. As much as she wanted to go, she felt bad wasting their money on a stupid high school dance.

"Anna, stop worrying. You're going whether we have to make you or not," Ethan said, trying to act stern but failing when he started laughing. "Besides, I already worked it out with Allison that you'll go dress shopping with her and Lydia tomorrow."

"You what?! I don't want to be their third-wheel pity friend!"

"You won't be! Allison is happy to have you and as for Lydia, she always enjoys having another person to judge and critique in fashion," Ethan said while laughing.

"Great..." Annabelle mumbled. Aiden squeezed her hand again.

"We just want you to have every normal experience you can, which includes shopping for a prom dress with other girls," Aiden said pleadingly.

"Besides, you can't get out of it now. You know how pushy Lydia is and Allison is pretty stubborn too," Ethan pointed out.

Annabelle couldn't really tell whether she was excited or dreading it. She guessed a little bit of both. But like Ethan said, she couldn't get out of it now.

"No. Take that off immediately," Lydia's high pitched voice commanded to Allison who stood there shocked at her best friend's reaction to a dress she had actually liked.

"But I think it actually..." Allison tried.

"No. It doesn't. Take it off," Lydia repeated, not waiting to hear what Allison thought.

'Jesus, if that's how she's treating her best friend, I'm kind of scared to try on any,' Annabelle thought to herself.

"Well?" she heard Lydia say while she felt her eyes glaring into her.

"Sorry, what?"

Lydia huffed. "I said, are you going to try on a dress anytime soon?"

"Uh, yeah, I just haven't really looked at them well enough yet," Annabelle admitted.

Lydia pursed her lips while taking in their surroundings of hundreds of different colored dresses. Red, blue, purple, orange, pink, every color in the rainbow and beyond. Poufy, sleek, short, long, any style imaginable. It was all too much for the normal mind to take it, but apparently Lydia wasn't normal. She could pick out one dress out of hundreds and it would be the only perfect one of that color or style. "This one," she said, holding up a light green floor-length sleek dress. Annabelle nodded her head thinking 'Ah why not?' as she took it to the fitting room.

At this point, her baby bump wasn't large at all. In fact, it was barely there at all. The only way someone would really know that she was pregnant would be if she told them, and thank god for that because she really didn't want to be that pregnant girl at prom.

Annabelle slipped on the dress easily as it was a tiny bit loose on her. It was nice. Very classy. She walked out of her fitting room just as Allison was about to reenter hers. Judging from the defeated look on Allison's face, Lydia had just rejected the fifth dress Allison had tried on. "Wow, you look great, Anna,'' the brunette commented, taking in how nice the dress made Annabelle look. Annabelle blushed slightly. She never had girl friends like this and it was a new thing to her to be complimented like this. "Thanks, I like it too," she said before walking out to be inspected by Lydia.

As Annabelle stood on the pedestal in the large mirrored room, Lydia circled her like a hawk, examining every angle. Within seconds she had made her decision. "No."

"No? Why not? I actually like it," Annabelle said, turning in the mirror to look at the back again.

"You look like Tinkerbell. If you want to look like that, fine, get it. If not, I suggest you take it off." Annabelle sighed as she stepped off the pedestal and walked back toward the dressing room. "Wait!" Lydia called after her. "Try this one on!"

Annabelle slipped the new dress over her head. The material was so soft it felt like a plush blanket covering her on a cold winter day. When she looked in the mirror, she couldn't believe it was her that she was looking at. The dress was the prettiest blue she'd ever seen and ever would see. It had a long slit going up one of her thighs and a single shoulder strap dazzled with sparkly rhinestones that went across her waist also. It was perfect. She just prayed Lydia would like it too. As she walked out to the pedestal again, her heart was pounding with anticipation. "So...Do you approve?" Annabelle asked hesitantly as Lydia looked her up and down. Finally Lydia smiled. "I love it!" she squealed, proud of her pick. "Aiden will just about collapse when he sees you in this," she said with the huge smile still on her face.

Allison then came out, hearing the commotion Lydia was making. "Oh my God! You look gorgeous!" she said, a little too loud because the sales ladies all turned to look at us. Annabelle completely beamed at their compliments and finally let out a breath she didn't know she was even holding. "Sorry to take the attention away from you, Anna, but how do you like this one Lydia?" Allison questioned nervously. It didn't even seem like Lydia had looked at Allison before she spit out the seventh "No" today. Allison groaned in frustration, "Okay, today is obviously not my day! I'll just come back a different day."

"Hey Allison, what about this?" Annabelle asked, holding up a simple blush pink floor length dress with an embellished drop down back.

"I guess it won't hurt to try," she responded, taking the dress from her hands and walking to the dressing room. Anna went back to change into her normal clothes also while Allison was swapping dresses. As she exited her dressing room, Allison called for her to come in. As soon as she opened the door, Annabelle's jaw dropped. Allison looked perfect. Absolutely perfect. "Do you like it?" she timidly asked, fearing another rejection.

"Allison, it's beautiful. You're beautiful. You look perfect."

"Really?!" She asked excitedly while turning to look at herself in the mirror once again.

"Really! Now let's hope the devil in Prada agrees,'' Annabelle said, winking at her friend.

They walked out to the front room and Lydia immediately started analyzing every angle of Allison. She let out a long, throaty groan, which Allison assumed was yet another 'no.' She went to turn back to go take off the dress, but Lydia stopped her. "Wait! Where are you going?!"

"To change?" Allison responded questioningly.

"Good. Get out of that dress," she said and Allison's face dropped once again. "And go take it to the counter to buy. It's flawless! You look flawless!" Allison's smile beamed radiance. She was ecstatic! The two girls started jumping up and down and squealing with each other like you see in those chick flick movies. Annabelle couldn't help but laugh at their clichéd silliness.

"Wait, Lydia, what about you?" Annabelle asked, remembering Lydia hadn't tried any dresses on.

"Oh, Don't worry about me. I already have something," she said, smiling, obviously proud of herself. Should've known, Annabelle thought. Lydia didn't need other people's advice with fashion. Whatever dress Lydia had bought would look perfect on her. Annabelle smiled at the two girls. She couldn't believe how good this day felt. She forgot what it was like to do normal teenage girl things with other girls, and she loved every second of it.

Okay, did the first chapter of the sequel live up to your expectations?! I surely hope so!

Once again, I'd like as many reviews as I can get! Your words truly mean so much to me, and inspire me to write more! (: