Hello strangers!

I haven't written Annie in a while so here u go.

Happy reading!


Chapter 4. Sunny thoughts after rainy days.

Annie's pov:

Soft piano music echoed pleasantly into her ears as she moved slowly through the assigned positions. And Annie, for what was probably the first time since she entered this new existence, felt a semblance of peace. There was just something about moving with the music that made her nostalgic and Annie found a sense of comfort in the fact that she didn't have to over think any of her movements. Here, in this studio, she could allow herself a moment to simply submit to the flow of the rhythm and it was here that she could let herself become numb to the people around her and just be.

It helped a little that the ballet studio was a beautiful and so what familiar place. The studio itself was one long hall with pale wooden floors and a high ceiling. A standing piano stood right by the entrance of the hall and there was another set of doors at the very end of it where props and other materials were kept. Each of the long sides of the hall presented a wall of mirrors with ballet barres and along the right side stood a row of pillars just a little ways away from the wall. There were also a couple of movable mirrors with ballet barres stationed in the corners of the room which were especially useful if there were dancers around who wanted to stretch but keep away from a class being taught. Overall it was a lovely place with an a bit of a vintage vibe that Annie was just in love with.

Annie could remember a time where she would pass familiar studios at Julliard while she was on her way to the next class, she remembered slowing her pace so she could catch a glimpse of the dance students at work... She also recalled the handful of times where she visited Kurt at NYADA and chatted with him whilst he was practicing his plié's… Remembering, seemed to hurt a little less the more time passed- something Annie found herself both relieved and horrified by.

Nevertheless, Renée had done an okay job at picking a hobby for both Bella and her… Though it seemed like Bella wasn't having as good of a time as Annie was. Ballet was a beautiful show of grace and strength- but Bella apparently didn't possess the best motor and coordination skills necessary- nor the desire to do well in Ballet. Before long, it was as if she was physically repulsed by that pastel pink leotard. It didn't matter how many times Renée or Annie checked her bag the day before- Bella was always missing something right before the three of them left for the studio. Be it a slipper, her hair piece or her entire bag- Annie had to wonder when Renée would finally get the hint and have Bella pulled for the class. She was sure that there were still plenty of other hobbies Bella could find herself in- but ballet? She hated it. Bella, Annie had long since learned, couldn't stand the monotonous continuity of the dance routines nor the so what painful stretches that needed to happen before and after. She would complain and half-ass those most of the time- and would then get promptly scolded by Ms. Mendoza.

It was quite difficult to watch honestly, since nobody was allowed to talk while Ms. Mendoza was speaking and since the other girls couldn't do much more then stare in those moments- Annie just hoped that Bella would eventually learn to ignore the attention… Though even she had to admit that that had to be difficult. Annie knew that there wasn't anything hostile about the way Ms. Mendoza spoke to them- even when she was particularly angry or upset. There was no ill intent meant- but that didn't make her any less of a strict teacher. She was meticulous and it was something Annie actually appreciated about her because she didn't just teach them cutesy dance routines to show off to their parents but she also sneakily snuck in some good work ethnics along with the muscle memory. Annie doubted any of these girls realized that- not at this age anyway.

She'd tried to explain it to Bella before- that, even though Ms. Mendoza wasn't nice, she wasn't mean either. But Bella wouldn't have it. She was convinced that the woman had it out for her specifically. Annie thoughtfully refrained from pointing out that Bella wasn't even trying to keep up anymore.

"This is sooo boring." Bella whined across from her and Annie sighed. The two of them were stood in one of the corners of the studio, taking up space at the barre as Annie lead her older sister through the routine. They had arrived early to class today- courtesy of their overly excited mother who'd made plans to hang out with some of her coworkers for the afternoon- and Annie had somehow managed to talk a miserable Bella into making a head start into their practice.

"We could go back to stretching again?" Annie offered and Bella's answered, expectedly, with an overly dramatic and pained groan. Annie chuckled under her breath as she watch Bella all but drop to the floor- apparently more than done with the demi-plié's they'd been doing.

"Ballet stinks. It's so boring." Bella went on to complain from her seat against the mirror, Annie moved on to grand-plié's to more easily meet her sister's eyes.

"You said that already."

"I don't like Ms. Me-oza. She hates me." Bella's stated, glaring at the smooth wooden planks worked into the floor. "She's always mean."

"I think it's because she wants us to do well." Annie tried to comfort.

"I don't like the dancing either- it's so slow and it makes my feet hurt."

Annie sighed, realizing that Bella wasn't going to stop anytime soon and decidedly settled herself next to her on the floor- the studio was mostly empty aside from them and a couple of older dancers making careful chaîné's across the center space of the studio.

"Ms. Me-oza makes me lift my legs very high but says it's not high enough- I can't go as high as the others. But she still thinks I can."

Annie hums noncommittally.

"And the arms thing? I think I do them right but she says I don't and then she gets upset again and makes me do it over and over and over-"

"You really hate this, huh?"

"Uh-huh." Bella pouted and I sighed, letting a silence fall over the two of us as we watched the older dancers taking their delicate steps and quick spins. Bella had grown a lot over the years. Not so much in size- the both of us were still very much pipsqueaks. But very much in person.

Annie's 'older' sister was a kind but stubborn girl. She didn't get along very well with her peers- or, well, she did actually. A lot. Most girls and even some boys their age liked Bella because they thought her to be sweet and funny. Bella liked sharing the things she played with and there was always something to giggle about with how clumsy she tended to be… So knowing that Bella didn't reciprocate that interest in friendship kind of bothered Annie. Annie and Bella had always done things in two. It just made things so much easier for everyone around- mostly their single and very busy mother- for them to have a constant play buddy around… But Annie knew better than to fully demand all of Bella's attention. She'd read plenty of child development books while she'd been pregnant with Izzy to know that a young girl like Bella needed friends her own age to play and learn with. Having her hang off on Annie all day, every day, was sure to leave some sort of mark on the poor girl's social skills. And Annie just wasn't having any of that. So she decided to play nice with the other kids and simply dragged Bella along for the ride- sure that eventually someone had to budge…

"Maybe we should talk to mom then-"

"We already did that," Bella all but whined, apparently more than comfortable to wallow in her own misery. "She said I'd 'thank her in the future' but it's been ages already and I still hate it!"

"That wasn't what I meant." I told her calmly, noting how she all but spat out the last of her words in frustration. "Mom just wants to fill up our scrapbooks and send cute video's to dad. You know, maybe we could strike a deal with her… That you'll dance in the coming dance recital-"

"I-"

"But only if you get to quite ballet immediately after." I watched with raised brows as Bella snap her little mouth shut as she pondered my suggestion.

"In front of everyone?" Bella's voice sounded pinched.

I moved to rest my arm across her shoulders in comfort, "I'm sure Ms. Mendoza could make you a very pretty tree in the background."

Bella pushed me over onto the floor and giggled despite herself.


Charlie's pov:

The police cruiser drove slowly but surely through the night and hailing rain. A familiar experience really- he'd gotten into the habit of doing overtime at the station. Picking up after his colleges- most, if not all, men that he'd already know since he himself had been a young kid. They'd often joked around and called him brownnoser- and Charlie found that he didn't mind so much. They all joked about each other for different things- it was just something they did. Honestly, he'd be more worried his he didn't hear anything at his expense.

He enjoyed working at the station even if it sometimes got a bit boring. The stories the older officers would tell him over paperwork and yet another cup of coffee were of interesting cases they worked on, what hilarities they'd gotten up to with their old coworkers in the past and whatever went on within their families. Charlie listened to all of it- most of the time with half an ear- and sometimes things stuck and he'd talk along or grunt in a tone which he knew showed them that he'd been listening.

The drive home was always the hardest part of the day. He'd go to one of the dinners along the highway and have his usual. He'd talk some with the people on the table next to him or chat with the waitress' on their rounds. There was always a familiar face around for him to share his meals with. The staff didn't minded that he often stayed well until closing time- rather they appreciated that the young officer ensured that the even younger waitresses could get to their cars without being bothered by whatever self important biker jackass of the week decided he might get 'lucky'. Charlie was just happy to help. He liked being around familiar faces. He liked how connected the people in Forks felt- everyone knew everyone and Charlie liked being known.

At home things felt different. There was too much space- too many indicators that there should be more than one person living in the house, but there wasn't. Sometimes, when he forwent turning up a game of the television, he'd hear noises from the other rooms in the house. He'd walk into the kitchen with cabinets so bright that they clashed with the rest of his house and he'd see Renée hunch over into the kitchen counters, all but crawling into them to find that one pot that made it near impossible for her to burn the food. Then later on in the evening, he'd walk past the bedroom of his girls and see them pouring over one of their picture books either laughing or arguing about something silly…

He avoided his bedroom on those days in fear that the empty and cold would pull him under. Instead, he slept on the couch- where he could see the pictures he'd been sent by them over the years. He'd forgo getting out of his uniform- it was too easy to lose focus- and would simply sit there until he either fell asleep or managed to convince himself to turn the television on.

He did it on purpose sometimes too- leave the silent to fill his ears, desperate to hear something…

He doesn't know how Billy always seems to know when he had one of those days- his old friend would just shows up out of the blue and drag Charlie out to babysit his kids or to go fishing with Harry. And he rarely experienced trouble asking for that free day at the station as plenty of his colleges owned him for taking over their patrols on sunny days so they could spend it doing whatever with their family. The least they could do was allow him a moment of peace on his rainy ones.


I'm sorry. I wanted to write Charlie but got hurt instead. :')

Also note that I might take some time on following chapters (I wrote the past few chapters before deciding to post them online).