Reborn: Chapter Twenty Seven "Goodbye"

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Chapter Twenty Seven

The following day they all slept in, then eventually made their way to the lake for the cleanup, which was surprisingly less daunting than Anna had expected. Some kind souls had taken it upon themselves to gather up most of the cups and other party debris.

Once they'd finished up she suggested they rent some videos and veg. They ordered pizza and watched movies, Nate and Jess curled up on one recliner, Jenna on the other, M&M stretched out on the floor, she and Austin tangled on the couch. It was a truly cozy scene. The party had been fun, but this was the life she was really going to miss.

"Are you petting me?" Austin asked with a smile in his voice.

She had been absently stroking him, first his hair, then his arms as she snuggled in lower, then his chest, "Yeah, I think I am."

"It's nice."

She continued it, her chest tightening up at yet another "last" moment. She felt the tears trying to well and squashed them. Still not ready for this to end, she thought. But it had to be tomorrow. She'd called Will and Josh earlier in the day and told them she'd be ready to meet them in a day or two. Josh had joked that it was a good thing since Will was tempted to bail his "baby" out on his own. They were currently on the outskirts of Manhattan and Anna had expressed concern over them getting caught. "Nah," Josh had assured her, "we know how to disguise ourselves and blend in with the surroundings. Besides they don't expect to find us around here, they figure we're long gone."

Tomorrow. Her breath hitched and she curled herself into Austin, pressing her face in the crook of his arm. "Tired?" he asked and she nodded slightly. The idea of just drifting off and letting go of her tomorrow whoa's was appealing, but she had to drink. She peeked up at him, and he caught her expression.

"Come on," he said.

"It's okay, finish the movie."

"Nah, not that interested in it, let's go upstairs."

Once in her room she put on some mood music and joined him on the bed. She kissed him long and slow, savoring what would be their last time in any kind of intimacy. Her stomach clenched with guilt and she held him tighter. She broke away from him and whispered, "I want to be naked with you.”

He drew in a sharp breath as she stood and slowly took off her clothes. His eyes traveled her body greedily and she could smell his arousal. When she was fully unclothed he said what she knew he would say.

"You are so beautiful."

He stood and undressed himself and she returned the compliment, taking in his muscle-toned body and finally dropping her eyes to his jutting erection. She felt her face heat and he pulled her closer to him stroking his hands slowly down her neck and finally stopping on her breasts. He massaged them gently running his thumbs over the tips. She kept eye contact with him as she explored his body, bringing her hands between his legs and gently massaging the hard length. He kissed her softly and tugged her towards the bed.

They lay facing one another, skin to skin and she placed gentle kisses down his face and neck, her teeth elongated and throbbing by the time she pierced his vein. She started to caress him with her hand but he stopped her, rubbing up and down on her intimate place instead. She started to pull away but he put a gentle hand on her face and whispered, "It's okay, I'm not trying to go in." She relaxed, a strange tingly feeling building in her lower stomach.

It wasn't long before he cried out, and she could tell his release was powerful from the way his body jerked against her. She pulled back and laid her head over his heart which was beating hard.

"That was incredible," he whispered. "Indescribable."

She kissed his pec. "I'm glad."

He leaned over and grabbed something to clean them, then pulled the blankets over them. She lay awake for a long time after he'd slipped off to dreamland, just listening to the sound of his heart, praying that it would recover from the blow she was about to deal it.

The next morning she woke to him caressing her. His hands were stroking up and down her arms and the first thought she had was ‘It's tomorrow’.

"You awake?" he breathed into her hair. She nodded slightly. "You hungry?" She shook her head. "Coffee?" Another shake. "Just wanna lie here then?"

She sighed and turned away from him then sat up to retrieve their clothes from the floor. She dressed, feeling his eyes on her back. She continued to look across the room after she was done and she heard him pulling on his own clothes. She couldn't turn and face him. She could feel the sorrow pooling in her eyes.

He chuckled, "It's safe to turn around now."

He thought she was being shy. She felt a sob welling up and choked a little.

"Anna?" Concern and alarm in his voice now, she turned into him, wrapping her arms around his chest. She broke down completely, something she'd been doing a lot of lately it seemed, and he pulled her tightly against him as she cried.

He rocked her murmuring in a soothing tone and she kept thinking I can't do this, I can't do this. But she knew she had to, so she slowly pulled herself together.

"What is it?" he asked when she stopped shuddering. "Come on talk to me."

She looked up at him then, hot tears still leaking from her eyes. "I want you to know, that you are the greatest person I've ever known. That I love you and I always will." The guarded look that came over his face made her lose her momentum and she looked down.

"Anna, what are you doing?" His voice was strained and fearful.

"I'm so sorry," she breathed, "I wish it could be different. I wish it so much."

"Anna, look at me."

She forced herself to meet his eyes which were filling with pain.

"There's no reason for you to do this, we can figure this out, we...." he stopped as she shook her head. "Why now? Why this moment?"

"Because I have to. Because it won't get any easier." Her voice was shaky but her tone held a resolve that he heard.

"Did you plan this?" He searched her eyes and got his answer. He put her off him onto the bed and stood, looking around like he was lost.

His voice, God his voice sounded so broken when he spoke. "So you thought we would have one last night huh? Wanted to make it perfect? Did you think it would soften the blow?"

"I don't know," she whispered, "I just wanted to be near you."

"So it was about you. Of course," he started shaking his head and just kept at it like he could deny what was happening.

She tried to go to him, but he warded her off with his hands, the look in his eyes making her want to scream.

"I know deep down you know this can't be. You have to know, Austin," she pleaded with him to understand, but his expression was turning hard.

She felt anger bubbling up, not at him but at fate and the world and everything in general. "You're going to grow old and I'm not, don't you get that? Don't you understand that I'm TRAPPED in this place, that I'm FROZEN in time! It's not fair, I didn't ask for it! I saw us getting married and having children. Taking them to baseball games and out for ice cream, and all the holidays, and growing old together, I saw it so clearly and I can't have that! Not with you, not with anyone!" She sunk down on the floor and buried her head in her arms. She was shaking out of fear and anger and sadness, and she wondered if she would be condemned to this kind of recurring misery.

She thought he might just leave the room, she heard him head in that direction. If he did she wouldn't stop him, if he needed to hate her she would let him.

But then he halted. After an endless moment he crossed the room and sat down beside her. He put a hand on her shoulder and she heard him take a shaky breath, and then another, and she knew that he was crying. She turned to him and he pulled her in to his body and hugged her tightly. Her chest hurt so bad she could barely breathe as they cried together. After awhile he pulled away wiping his face across his sleeve.

"Christ, I haven't cried since I was a kid," his voice sounded terrible. He looked at her, and his eyes held sorrow and pain, but also an acceptance that made her feel a little better. "You're going to uh..." he looked away, then back, "the McClaron brothers," he finished.

She nodded. "I have nowhere else to go."

He drew in a shaky breath. "You were right. I did know this was coming. That's why I hated them so much. I knew that it would happen that much sooner because of them." He closed his eyes tightly then opened them and sighed. "When are you leaving?"

"I need to go soon. I can't bear this, it hurts too much," she broke into another sob and he put an arm around her pulling her close.

"I'll miss you like crazy," he told her in a shattered voice kissing her hair.

She looked up at him. "I don't know what I would've done without you."

He smiled weakly. "You would have been fine. You're strong Anna. You will be fine." He took in a deep breath and let it out. "Look, for a little while I think it would be easier for me if we don't communicate. Just for a while. When I can handle it, I'll call you. And I will handle it eventually." He attempted another smile. "I know down the road I'll want to hear all about your adventures in demon slaying."

She smiled a little at that. He stood up and pulled her to her feet, wrapping his arms around her in what she knew was goodbye. He kissed her head and then gripped her face gently. "Take care of yourself."

She nodded, the tears coming again so she couldn't speak. She grabbed his hand and kissed it, rubbing it against her face, then let it go and went to her bed where she curled into a ball. Hugging her pillow against her chest she listened to the sound of his footsteps all the way out to his car.

-This is a sneak peak of PART TWO, I'm adding for the awesome @jedau. From this point on the momentum truly picks up, can't wait for all of your inspirational comments my friend!_

Anna played with the car radio, snorting in frustration. Nothing but static, wasn't there any radio towers? She would think so since she was only about ninety minutes from the fringes of the Big Apple.

She finally landed on a station playing tolerable soft rock.
Her mind was in a hyperactive state. She kept jumping from one thing to the next, thinking about what her new future held, wondering if the brothers would let her tag along with them, especially wondering if they'd accept her once they knew what she was.

She'd packed only one suitcase full of clothes and a bag with necessities figuring she could always pick up what she needed along the way. Not for the first time it occurred to her that it was convenient to have an abundance of money.

Her thoughts drifted to the girls, picturing them waving to her as she left. After the gut wrenching emotional break up with Austin she'd been far too drained for another weepy goodbye so she'd opted for the see ya later alligator version. It wasn't like she was leaving them forever anyway, not the same as the split with Austin.

She marveled at how well she was now coping with the change. This morning she’d felt like she was being ripped apart and her world was coming to an end but right now she was feeling antsy and chipper. Moody, some people would call that. Or bipolar like she sometimes felt she was.

Actually, she preferred to think that it was inner strength. Austin had called her strong and at that moment she would've begged to differ, but the truth was she did have strength. She had dealt with tragedy in her life. Her mother's death had been sudden and terrible, especially because they'd been so close. Yet she had been able to go on and after a bit she'd been back to her normal, enthusiastic, cup half full self.

Her life was in upheaval, once again, and honestly there was no place for a lingering depression over the fact. It wouldn't do any good, wouldn't change anything, just leave her feeling hollow like she'd felt for the couple of hours after she'd said her morning farewell.

Her mind wandered back to Will and Josh. Apparently Will had tired of waiting for her to appear, or rather disappear for him and his "baby", which she'd learned was a black 1973 Plymouth Barracuda. Late last night they'd successfully broken into the impound lot and rescued it and right now it was parked in a dark corner of a car garage. She was a little disappointed, she had relied on her rescue of his car to further endear herself to them, but at least they hadn't told her to “shit in her hat” since they didn't need her anymore. Of course at this point they thought her intention was just to learn more about herself, not tag along.

She saw her exit up ahead and felt her heart kick-she was almost there. She was going back and forth on the subject of her true identity, wondering if she should tell them outright or wait until they'd gotten to know her a bit. If she was even given the chance. She imagined that with her abilities they would see the potential asset she could be, so if dishing was her only choice, so be it.

I have no place to go if they turn me away, she thought, so I better convince them one way or another.

She turned onto the ramp and hung a left, spotting the motel sign up ahead. The start of a new life, she thought, for better or worse.

Generously created by @son-of-satire