A/N I don't own Osmosis Jones, or its characters; they are owned by Warner Bros. The rest, I DO own.

Devilgirl123: True that.

Chapter 13

For the next month of dating Jason, Annabelle was sure that he wasn't warming up to Thrax, much less the Frank Quadric.

Reason one: every time she mentioned any of their names, Jason would scowl or groan, toss his head in an exasperated manner, or simply change the subject, not wanting to talk about them. She understood him not liking Thrax, with him being a virus. But she didn't understand why he wouldn't like Ozzy, him being a regular white blood cell, or Drix, being a cold pill, designed to help the immune system.

Reason two: whenever she and he were walking around the streets of Hector, and they met up with any of the Frank Quadric, Jason would either try to "subtly" hurry her on, or simply ignore the guys as she talked with them. But he made it known that he didn't like it after.

Most people would either tell Annabelle she was thinking too much into it, or believe her, and wonder why she stays with a man like that. Annabelle had thought she was overthinking it at first as well. But an event happened that made her change her mind about that.

She and Jason were at the boardwalk one afternoon. Soon, they came face-to-face with none other than the Frank Quadric, including Almira, who was sporting a new dog harness and leash. The dog harness started under her collar, and ended between her stomach and ribcage. There were Immunity badges on both sides of the harness on her arms, and the rest of the harness was light-blue with various dark-blue amoeba designs. Her leash, which was attached in the middle and on the back of the harness, was also dark-blue; the person holding the end was Thrax Muerja himself.

"Hey, how's it going?" Annabelle greeted, ignoring Jason tugging her arm slightly. "How's the harness working out?"

"Pretty good," Thrax smiled. "She didn't like the leash at first, but she's gettin' used to it. Plus, she looks real good in it, huh, Mira, baby?"

"Wuff-wuff!" Almira barked in agreement, smiling slightly, wagging her flame-like tail.

"Yeah, she looks nice," Annabelle said. "Plus, everyone knows she's an Immunity dog."

"She didn't like the harness either." Drix remarked. "But that's to be expected, as she's used to only wearing a collar."

"For once, I agree with Thrax. She looks real good in it." Ozzy added, scratching behind Almira's ear.

"Yes, she looks nice," Jason said. "Anna, shall we continue on?"

"We borin' you?" Thrax asked, grinning.

"We just have someplace to be." Jason answered, gritting his teeth slightly.

"Well, we won't keep you," Drix said politely. "We'll just be on our way. It was nice seeing both of you."

"Nice seeing you too." Annabelle agreed, smiling. But as she and Jason passed the others, she glared at her boyfriend. "Why were you so rude?"

"I don't like being stopped." Jason said simply, and remained tightlipped about the subject for the rest of the day.

After that, Annabelle knew she wasn't over thinking. Jason definitely didn't like her male friends for a reason. Again, she could see him not liking Thrax, but why dislike Ozzy and Drix? Granted, Ozzy had that attitude that made him a guy who played by his own rules, and was a sucker for praise, but Drix played by the book, and rarely went against the rules.

Sighing heavily, Annabelle grabbed her phone off of the coffee table, and began dialing a number. The phone on the other line rang a couple of times before there was an answer. "Hello?"

"Hello, Aunt Evelyn." Annabelle greeted, sitting in an arm chair.

"Oh, hello, Annabelle!" Her aunt said cheerfully. "How are you, sweetie?"

"I'm fine. I was wanting to talk to Uncle Peter. Is he home?"

"Yes. What's wrong?"

"It's nothing too serious, I just want to talk to Uncle Pete about it."

"What is it?"

Annabelle rolled her eyes, biting her lip to not groan. Her aunt had always wanted to know every little problem Annabelle had. She didn't really blame her, as her aunt was her "mother-figure" in half her childhood, but there were some things her uncle understood better, and were easier to talk about. But Aunt Evelyn always thought she should be the one her niece should go to.

"Fine, he's here," Evelyn said, sounding a bit exasperated.

After a few seconds, there was a slightly-gruff male voice, "Who is this?"

"It's Annabelle."

"Annabelle who?"

"Annabelle, as in your niece, Uncle Peter." Annabelle laughed. Her uncle was always the joker of her family, and played tricks like this ever since she could remember.

"Oh, Annabelle!" He laughed. "How are you?"

"I'm fine. I was wanting to talk to you about something; something I could ask without getting criticized."

"Of course," Uncle Peter agreed, knowing all about Evelyn thinking and making it loudly known that their niece was never perfect. "What's going on, Bunny-Rabbit?"

Annabelle smiled at the old nickname her uncle had for her as a child. "See, I'm dating this guy—"

"Oh? Who?"

"He's from school actually: Jason Radcliffe."

"Radcliffe? Never knew he saw anything in you."

"Me either. He said he had a crush on me in high school, but his peers wouldn't like it if he talked to me."

"'Course," He scoffed. "So he decided to make his love for you known now?"

"Pretty much."

"And how is he treating you?"

"Fairly, for the most part. But there's this one particular thing." She moved in her chair so she was lying horizontal across the arms of the chair. "See, a couple months ago, I met these three guys, and their pet hyena."

"Three guys?" Peter joked.

"Not like that!" She protested. "They're just really good friends. They're all in the Immunity."

"Nothing wrong with making friends with good officers."

"True," She nodded. "There's Osmosis Jones, a white blood cell, a cold pill named Drix, and a virus-turned-vaccine named Thrax. The hyena is a germ named Almira, who's mainly Thrax's pet."

"Sounds like quite a slew of characters. How do they treat you, friend-wise?"

"Pretty good. There was one argument Thrax and I got into when I revealed 'the secret'."

"What happened?"

"He just doesn't like Ebola. It's a private family matter. But back to the main subject. Jason met these guys—Martha, Ursula, and I call them the Frank Quadric, as they came from this other body named Frank—and he…eh, Jason doesn't really like them."

"What do you mean? Does he know they're in the Immunity?"

"Yes. He couldn't believe Thrax and Almira were in the Immunity. The thing is after he met them, he told me he'd rather I hang out with my girl friends, including Drix's girlfriend, Maria, who's also in the Immunity."

"What? Why would Jason say a thing like that?"

"I don't know, he never specified. He kinda dances around the subject. My friends and I think he either doesn't like them, he specifically doesn't like Thrax—which I can understand, with him being a virus—or he thinks one of the guys are gonna steal me away, or I'm gonna cheat on Jason with one of them."

"Would you?" Peter asked sternly. Annabelle could just see him raising an eyebrow.

"Absolutely not. Besides, Ozzy and Drix already have girlfriends."

"What about Thrax?"

"Maria told me that he said he seriously dislikes any kind of abuse, rape, and cheating. So, he's not a cheater."

"Sounds like quite the gentleman."

"I know, that's what Maria, Ursula, and I said." Annabelle giggled.

"So let me get this straight: you're dating a guy who doesn't want you with any male company?"

"I'm only assuming that family's an exception. Now…I'm starting to wonder if it's worth it to stay with him." She spun some hair around her finger on her free hand. "I like him, but I don't like that he's basically trying to control what friends I have."

"I see." Peter sighed. "Well, Annabelle, this may sound incredibly cheesy, but I think you'll have to go with your gut and heart, metaphorically-speaking. If Jason doesn't sound like he's the right guy, then he probably isn't. That's all I can say."

"Thanks, Uncle Pete," Annabelle smiled. "I think I needed to hear it. I'll think about it. If Jason doesn't change, I'm gonna break up with him.'

"Be careful, Bunny-Rabbit, some people don't take breakups so easily."

"I'll be careful. Plus, like you said, I've made friends with good officers."

"True that," Peter laughed.

The two talked longer, and Annabelle talked with her aunt as well, but remained tightlipped about the conversation between her and her uncle. When she put the phone back on the table, she felt a little more confident that other people didn't think she was over-thinking about Jason's attitude towards her friends. She decided that in the next few days if Jason didn't change, they weren't meant to be.

A/N I might draw Almira in her new harness sometime; plus, it'll have her now-canon scars from her dog-fighting days.

Looks like Jason really doesn't like Annie's male friends. It's not just Thrax; he doesn't seem to like Ozzy and Drix either. Does he seem worth it to stay with?

This is only a voice-intro to Annabelle's aunt and uncle. Because of her aunt saying Annie wasn't perfect and never would be (is that verbal abuse?) Annabelle is closer to her uncle, and goes to him for advice the most out of her family.

I think Annabelle's childhood nickname, Bunny-Rabbit, is kinda cute. Since it'll be a while before she explains it in the fanfic, it's like this: like a rabbit, Annabelle has the appearance of a sweet person, which she is. But get her angry, or threaten her, and the claws come out...sometimes literally. Even though a rabbit may appear cute and cuddly, they can defend themselves. Watership Down wasn't exaggerating with the rabbit violence.