A/N: Been a while hasn't it? Sorry about that :S this chapter contains swearing due to Alex Vause, but she's great, so no one cares ;)
Disclaimer: I don't own St Trinians. Only my plot.
The day was warm as a lone figure trotted out of the big school doors of St Trinians with only a slight stumble in her step. She made a beeline for the forested area which surrounded the school, stepping over the booby traps and dodging around the hidden cameras. She needed some time alone, for a while at least.
It had been anything but calm since she had arrived back to the mad school after six weeks, she still shuddered at the thought of her lost time, they had all been somewhere near when she came back with Kelly from the hospital.
Actually, it was seven weeks, the last week was spent in that damned hospital in physiotherapy, trying to get her used to walking about and being normal.
Anyway, back to the point. She had come back with Kelly in her slick black car and the entirety of St Trinians was waiting for her, cheering when she had stepped out of the car.
Tears sprung to her eyes as she looked over the girls and teachers, reaching out of windows, standing on balconies and rooftops, cheering for her, the loudest being Miss Fritton who was leaning out of her office window with a whiskey clutched in her hand.
She hadn't felt so proud, and so joyful like that in months, as they girls started to chant 'BB Fritton' over and over.
She felt an arm wrap around her shoulder and she turned her head to see Kelly smiling softly at her.
"You're home now, okay?" she squeezed her shoulders gently with her statement to add effect.
Annabelle felt a small blush blossom on her cheeks and she smiled back at the older girl, her heart fluttering against her ribcage as she leant a little closer to Kelly.
"I know."
Kelly had been great, screw great; she had been amazing, caring, and patient with her. In that last week in hospital she had held her when she cried, which was a lot more than she would have liked, let her talk, distracted her when she needed it, and even got her to laugh a few times. Plus she never pushed her about the cuts on her arms, they hadn't even spoken about it, she was waiting for Belle to come to her about it.
But now she was back here, she had to build her walls back up, she could let Kelly see her vulnerable side sure, what was the point in hiding it from her if she had already seen it many times? But the others, the others she could not show weakness too. They were like animals in a way. They cornered you, and if you showed even the slightest sign of distress, they would pounce. She had to be higher in the 'pack' before they really got to know her.
And now she needed some alone time, things had been eating at her for a while now, the most prominent thing being guilt for her ever growing crush on a certain Head Girl, after what had happened with Chrissy…
Annabelle groaned and threaded her hand in her hair, resisting the urge to hit the nearby tree in anger.
She looked around where she was and quickened her speed, she was close now. She used to go to this place when she was little and would visit her Aunty over the holidays.
Finally the trees thinned out and eventually the path was clear. She stepped out of the trees and onto a rock which was suspended above a lake, its water pitch black. Normally she would prefer to come at night as the moon's rays would sparkle onto the water and seem to make it dance. But she had been too tired to care about the time of day, and besides, it was darker today for some reason.
She made her way to the tip of the rock, which reminded her somewhat of the shape of Pride Rock, and fell down onto it, dangling her legs over the side so that they were only inches away from the tip of the reflection.
Annabelle looked down at her reflection, the mirror image of herself. She felt somewhat disgusted at what she had become. Last time she had come to this place, three years before, she was a cheerful, young aspiring girl with the world at her feet and a dozen directions she could take with the love of her life standing by her side.
And now she sat there, three years on, no hope for a happy future, crosshatching scars all over her arms, an anger problem that could rival the Hulk, and no lover by her side.
What had gone wrong?
"Sitting alone again Fritton?"
Annabelle looked over her reflection's shoulder and rolled her eyes at the figure that stood behind her.
"Vause."
"Ohh, last name with no snarky comment, I must have intruded on something real deep." Alex smirked and sat next to the girl, leaning back on her palms and lifting her head up to the slowly dimming sky.
Annabelle sighed, "What do you want Alex?"
"Well I was bored, Piper had to go away for the weekend and she won't be coming back until Monday," her voiced lowered in her humour at the thought of waiting two days to see the blonde again, but she quickly masked it and continued with her small talk, "besides, I wanted to see my favourite Britt recently out of Hospital."
"Yeah, why weren't you there last week? Piper wasn't either."
Alex coughed and pushed her glasses up her nose.
"Well, you see, there was this storage cupboard, and we sorta got a little bit carried away in there, the Janitor found us and we were kicked off of the premises."
Annabelle rolled her eyes again and cast an amused glance to Alex.
"Damn, you two have the absolute biggest sex drives I have ever seen." She snorted.
"Bitch please; you were no better with Chrissy than Piper and I."
Annabelle tensed and turned away from the other girl, putting her arms around her knees and resting her chin on them.
She heard Alex sigh and shuffle closer to her, awkwardly resting her hand on her shoulder.
"Sorry, I forget sometimes." She mumbled.
Annabelle shrugged and muttered something back, her eyes glued to the lake.
Alex shook her head and pushed Annabelle's shoulder, making her face her. She trapped the girl in her intense stare and put her other hand on the girl's other shoulder, forcing her to face the older girl.
"You have to talk about it. About her." She said evenly. Annabelle's eyes hardened and she slapped Alex's hands away, jumped to her feet and turned to leave. Alex was faster however and caught her hoodie sleeve, yanking the girl back and standing in between her and the only exit.
"I don't want to talk about her Alex."
"It isn't healthy for you too keep all these emotions bottled up Annabelle. If you do then soon you will just burst."
"So what if I 'burst' as you so adiquetly put it? Its not like anyone would care if I did spontaneously combust and die." She mumbled the last part, tilting her face away. Her head was soon snapped back and her cheek stung with the force of why it had been moved. She rubbed it and glared at Alex who had crossed her arms over her chest, her face a blank slate.
But Annabelle knew her well enough to tell that she was angry.
"How fucking dare you. Don't you dare say something like that again."
"Why! It's the truth!" Annabelle shouted, her voice echoing in the small area.
Alex took a step closer and grabbed Annabelle's chin, pulling it up so she could stare directly into her eyes.
"Bullshit. You know for a fact that Piper and I care greatly about you, as does your Aunty and I also know that the Head Girl at this place has a raging lady bonder for you. We care about you. So don't you fucking dare suggest that no one cares about you again. Got it?" she growled out the last part, anger leaking through her impenetrable mask.
Annabelle dropped her gaze and stepped away guiltily.
"You're right, I'm sorry, that was a dick thing to say."
"Damn straight it was." Alex huffed and fell back into her original seat besides the brunette who had also fallen back on the rock edge.
"But, I don't want to talk about her."
"You do B, you're probably just afraid."
"Afraid of what?" she scoffed, raising a single eyebrow to the girl besides her.
"I don't know, maybe because it would make everything seem much more real? Permanent perhaps?" Annabelle didn't answer, she only frowned harder into the still surface of the water, "Or… maybe it's the thought of how she would react that scares you?"
Annabelle froze and slowly looked up at Alex, who was looking at the sun.
"I've been in that position before." Alex mumbled and pushed her glasses further up her nose again.
"When?" Annabelle asked softly.
Alex smirked, "When I had to tell Piper about my… business, if you will. I thought she would freak out; admittedly she did a little, but not nearly as bad as I thought. And eventually, she accepted it as part of who I am."
"But Alex, I think telling Kelly about my past is a bit different than you telling Piper that you are a Drug Trafficker."
"Meh, potato patato. Whatever. But you know what? I felt so much better after coming out and telling her after months of agonising over it, and feeling that I was, betraying her somehow. Like a weight had been lifted off of my shoulders."
She took a breath and ran a hand through her hair.
"If you talk to Kelly about her, I think you will both feel better about it and you will feel less guilty about it. And who knows? Maybe then you two can finally get over yourselves and fuck already."
Annabelle chocked on her own saliva which made Alex let out a bark of laughter, the American then stood up and offered her hand to the British girl and hauled her to her feet. She brushed off her trousers and grinned at Annabelle.
"I gotta go kid, don't want to be too late back at Cheltenham."
"Hey, how did you get in here without triggering any of the traps?"
"Yu should know my now, but I have my ways, what with being awesome and all."
Annabelle snorted, Alex grinned and tapped the side of her face, "Remember what I said Belle, and you'll be fine."
Annabelle said goodbye to Alex who waved and sashayed off into the forest, soon disappearing from sight.
Annabelle looked over the lake and sighed.
She knew she would have had to have spoken to Kelly soon anyways, but apparently all she needed was Alex to kick her up the arse a little to get her kick started into actually doing it.
A small smile wove itself on her face, and she left to go back to the school, planning on lying on her bed for a while to plan what it was she was going to say, and then she would do it.
She would talk to Kelly about Chrissy.
A/N: like? Please review :)