Another story set in between series' :)

Annie was busy dusting the boys' rooms like she usually did when they were both at work; she'd started with George's, tidying the cold cups of tea away and putting his muddy clothes in the washing basket and then she'd moved on to Mitchell's room. Mitchell's was the worst; it always looked like some form of clothes-bomb had been detonated in the centre of the room and it was always dark, he never opened the curtains.

Annie started by fishing t shirts and jeans off the floor and throwing them into the hallway to make some room to walk. She then moved onto gathering all of the random cigarette ends and shoving them into a black carrier bag; the smell of old smoke hung in the air like a damp blanket and so she opened the curtains and prised open the window. The smell of fresh air wafted round the room and sunlight flickered in through the glass. It made Annie smile.

When she'd finally gotten around to tidying up Mitchell's chest of drawers Annie cleared the old magazines and empty cigarette packets from the top of them and plonked them on the bed. She sat down next to them and crossed her legs beneath her, filtering through what Mitchell would want to keep and what was just junk. As she was riffling through the small pile of odds and ends she came across a small, crumpled photograph. On the back of it was written, Lauren at work. Annie turned it over carefully and looked into the eyes of the girl Mitchell had turned into a blood sucking murderer.

"Lauren", Annie whispered.

She placed the photograph back onto the chest of drawers and flopped back onto the bed. She felt odd, like someone had just told her that they'd seen her boyfriend flirting with someone else. She knew it was ridiculous to feel jealous of a dead woman but the feeling was there, itching inside of her. Annie wondered why Mitchell had kept the photo, was it just because he felt guilty about turning Lauren? Or was it that he still had feelings for her?

The ghost in grey sat up on the bed and tried to remove the thoughts of Mitchell from her mind as she sorted out the rest of the knick-knacks. Once she'd finished she took Mitchell's clothes into the spare room and shoved them in the washing basket with a heavy thump. She stood there in the silent house, listening to her own thoughts as they swam around behind her eyes. She felt torn: she loved George and Mitchell both, as friends, and she didn't want to ruin that. She knew that if she told Mitchell that she felt a little more that friendship towards him that their bubble would burst and everything would come crashing down around them. She knew she could never reveal her true feelings for the vampire.

*****

The front door opened at around quarter past ten and a wet Mitchell and George plodded into the hallway. Annie appeared and took their damp coats and draped them on the radiator. She forced a smile and started to chat as the boys flopped onto the sofa in the living room,

"You boys have fun at work?"

Mitchell shrugged indifferently and George answered whilst ringing out his drenched socks, "Oh yes, I thoroughly enjoy wheeling people around in them weird little wheelchairs all day".

Annie's eyebrows raised and Mitchell jabbed George in the ribs with his elbow. George dropped his sodden socks to the floor and raised his hands, palms-out, to Annie,

"Sorry, sorry. Just tired that's all".

Mitchell nodded and started to get up, "Yeah me too, think I'll hit the sack".

Annie's bottom lip jutted out slightly and Mitchell noticed. He flopped back onto the sofa and smiled weakly, "Or I could stay down here for a bit".

Annie brightened and squeezed in between the boys on the sofa. Mitchell slapped a cold hand on her thigh playfully and rubbed her leg as though it was a good puppy. George rolled his eyes and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Mitchell asked as George strolled towards the staircase.

George stopped and answered in a breathy voice, "I was just going to make some toast, is that okay?"

Mitchell shrugged and Annie sank lower into the sofa. George turned to walk into the kitchen and make his toast but Mitchell stopped him in his tracks,

"Do you smell that?"

Annie turned to him and George sniffed the air and shook his head, "No, what?"

"Its smells like…" Mitchell grinned widely, "-like wet dog".

Annie "popped" into the kitchen as George charged towards Mitchell. He landed on top of him and they fell onto the living room floor in a laughing heap. Annie peered through at them thinking, Nope, definitely not going to burst that bubble.

Thanks for reading!

Please review it makes my day!

More stories soon :)