Making Memories Of Us
Chapter Four: Friend
For the longest time, friends were all they had been. Neither had thought of crossing the boundary – perhaps a distant thought here, or a strange dream there, but Auggie sure as hell hadn't known he would initiate the dominoes.
It seemed strange to him – how were they going to proceed from here? He had no idea what was going on in Annie's mind, or if she even remembered…who was he kidding? He had been the sober one of the two, and he remembered every detail. Maybe she didn't remember…
Some part of him desperately wished that she wouldn't – that nothing would change. He had been pushing down his feelings for months now, eager to bury them and maintain a friendship with her. He didn't want her to know, not yet, at least. He had been hoping to plan a giant romantic gesture – something so spectacular that she'd confess her undying love for him.
Auggie snorted out loud. He heard chairs turning around, no doubt to look at him in curiosity, but he played dumb – with his headphones over his ears, they probably thought he couldn't hear them or feel their questioning glances.
She hadn't been drunk – at least, Auggie didn't think so. But, she had been, at the very least, quite buzzed – maybe enough to wipe out any and all memories of the night before…sometimes he wished he could just run away from all his doubts and troubles. But even then….he'd come back for Annie.
How many times had he had that dream?
Annie – he could see her in his dreams, beautiful, blonde, with big brown eyes…she would run after him when he threatened to leave. She would beg him not to go, and then she'd kiss him…and then some, after that.
He'd usually wake up in the middle of the night, sweating and panting, almost like a nightmare, but entirely the opposite. He'd feel his hormones thrumming against his skin, and the evidence thereof unmistakable beneath the covers.
He hated those nights. The dreams were nice, pleasant, even perfect he might say, but the ending – not so much.
He cleared his throat, trying not to draw more attention to him. Luckily that small little action didn't earn him any looks – at least, none that he could feel.
Was Annie avoiding him intentionally? Usually they met up at the front doors of the secretive building, but today she had left him a voice-mail (had she avoided even talking to him?) that was hurried but had enough details – she was running late and not to wait up. And she had a hangover.
That last piece of information was the one that had him curious – if she'd had enough to drink for the aftereffects to show up, had she had enough to completely eradicate all the actions last night?
She hadn't dropped by the office like she usually did at 10am to let him know if they could grab lunch. Sure, sometimes she was late, but it was already 11:30 by his calculations and Stu had already invited him out, so he'd said yes.
And today he hadn't even caught her lingering scent or heard her heels clicking away to even remotely place her somewhere in the building…Auggie came to a conclusion.
She was avoiding him, and with that, he made a decision – two could play at that game.
Annie sighed as her mind replayed the events of last night. No regret thrummed though her conscious, sober mind, however, so that was a good sign.
She had kissed Auggie. And he had kissed her back. And they had kissed and probably would have done much more if he hadn't had amazing self-control. In fact, she had pushed him to do more, but he had stood his ground.
She sighed and thrummed her fingers against Joan's desk.
"Agent Walker?" Joan questioned, her tone sharp and strict. Annie winced, knowing she had given her lack of attention away.
"Yes ma'am?" She looked at her boss and almost winced in real life. Joan's lips were pursed, her arms crossed, and a strong look on her face. "I'm sorry – it's just…so much to take in…again. And only in a span of a couple of hours…"
"Well, considering this is all related to you being back on missions, it would be in your best interest to focus and listen." Joan's look softened and she continued. "I know it's a lot, but if we don't get it done now before more missions start, I won't have any time. You're a novice, but one of the best, and I want you out there as much as you want yourself out there."
Annie nodded, and Joan went back to explaining. This time, she tried not to make it so apparent that her mind was elsewhere.
She was secretly hoping that she could just burst out of this office and run to Auggie's desk and…and what? Kiss him? Slap him? Slap him and then kiss him? Even though everything had been spurred because of her actions, she felt the need to blame him.
Had she not still been "paying attention" to Joan, she would have chuckled at her own special brand of madness. She wondered, briefly, if Auggie would be up to the task of dealing with that…
"Okay, I'm just going to need some signatures and a witness…I'll go ahead and call Auggie since he's your handler." Joan started as she started rustling some papers and picking up the phone. Luckily Annie had been tuned in partially – despite having been mostly lost in her thoughts.
A quick phone call and a few minutes later, Auggie was at the door, looking as dapper as ever. Annie felt heat rise to her cheeks, but she calmed herself down – controlled emotions were better, especially in front of Joan. As soon as he entered and realization dawned upon his face, a stoic look fell on his features. So he knew she was here. But that look didn't bode well for her.
The room was tense, and all Annie really wanted to do was reach for him and hear him tell her a dorky joke that she could laugh at. But this wasn't the time or the place – especially considering the tension that was rising in the room. Joan indubitably could feel it, but she didn't call either of them out on it, luckily.
In a matter of minutes, everything was signed – over and done with. Joan ushered both of them out of her office, undoubtedly eager for some alone time after so many hours spent with Annie.
"Umm, Auggie?" Annie started, not entirely sure whether she was going to insult him or hug him. Either one wouldn't have been appropriate in the workplace, however, so she continued. "Do you want to just…grab some coffee instead of the tavern today?"
The continued walking down the steps, Annie's arm looped through Auggie's. Despite everything, she wasn't going to leave him high and dry. She still enjoyed walking him in and she had missed it this morning.
"I don't know Annie. Considering you've been avoiding me…maybe it's best we –" Annie had to cut him off at that moment, despite it being rude.
"I haven't been avoiding you. Please don't say that. I was busy with Joan all morning…otherwise, I would've shown up at your desk first thing this morning…we need to talk."
"You want to do this right now?" He questioned, brows furrowing as they walked into his office. It was empty now, Annie noted, except for Stu, but with one look at the two of them, he got the hint, stood and left.
"I'd prefer we didn't do it now, but if that's what you're suggesting, then yes. Let's do this right now." Annie pouted, knowing it was childish, but used it to her advantage despite Auggie not seeing it. "I know what I did…was beyond the boundaries of our friendship…but…I don't know…I don't know, Auggie. I don't know what to do after this…how to continue."
Auggie was pleased to a certain extent – she remembered. But this confusion…it wasn't a good sign either. He wanted to tell her to just be with him – the option was there and it was simple and it was for the best – for both of them…but he hesitated. He didn't want to force her into a relationship she may not have wanted.
"I'm not going to tell you what I think, and I'm not going to tell you what to do either, Annie. But know this – I kissed you back and I wasn't even moderately buzzed. The decision is yours though – you can either do this, or we can forget about it and go back to being friends. It's yours, and I will not interfere with your choice." Auggie said, facing her, though not directly looking at her. That would've been too eerie, but either way, as her heart thrummed against her chest and butterflies exploded in her stomach…Annie knew her heart had already made the choice for her.
"Aug….I want to do this. I do. In fact, if I weren't so sure there were eyes everywhere and ears listening, I'd…well, I'd do something not exactly appropriate for the work place."
Auggie broke into a huge smile and leaned in closer. "Well maybe this afternoon, you can do whatever you want to do when we get coffee."
Annie leaned in further and embraced him. It could've easily gotten them in trouble, but she didn't care.
Nothing about what anyone thought mattered at the moment – only Auggie mattered, and that's what was important. Him.
A/N: What's this? I finally decided to update? Shocker, right? Well, ladies and gentlemen (maybe, haha), I am not back completely, unfortunately - but I am trying so hard to make this work, I really am.
Between, work, an internship (that's right, both. Internships don't pay for school, unfortunately...no matter how good they look on resumes), and school, I have been busier than I probably ever have been in my entire life. Plus uni classes are kicking my butt.
Nevertheless, I jammed out this chapter after such a long time because I finally got sick of the sticky note sitting on my desk that says "Don't forget to update!" I didn't necessarily forget, but either way - time to dedicate to fanfics has been reduced...a lot, as I'm sure you can clearly tell...
Anyways, enough talk from me! Let me know what you think, I'll try and respond in a timely fashion...oh! And reviews are always lovely for the muse. ;)
-Audrey
