Annie stalked back up the stairs to her bedroom, her carrots in hand. A frown etched onto her face. Annie sits on her bed and pulls open her photo album and sifts through the various photos.
Crunch, was all that was heard in her room, along of the flip of a page.
Annie stumbled upon the photo she had been looking at for days, a picture of when they were 12 years old, a joined family vacation. There in the picture stood the Combs family and the Hawthorne family, but the particular reason why she kept going back to the photo was because of the one extra person in the picture.
Ethan's father- Raymond.
His father had to have passed months after the picture was taken, Annie wondered if perhaps the Hawthorne's would appreciate the picture.
Once she was finished with her carrots, she stood, closed her curtains and got to work on her paintings.
*~*~*~*~*
Hours later Annie is almost finished with her third and final painting. She was always able to do them fast- if she carved out a day for herself, she could finish one entire painting- depending on its size of course.
The sun had set long ago, bathing the sky in a veil of darkness where only the moon shined in the sky. The darkness outside felt like it seeped through the room despite her lights being on.
Bing! Annie's phone chimed
E. 🤍 –
"Seven hours away and I've already decided the scenery inside my home is overrated and it's quiet over here, so I'm sending some of that silence your way in case you need it. No need to reply, just wanted you to have a smile in your inbox."
​
The Pebble Target 🎯📖
​"Seven hours and you're already bored? I'm flattered I made the 'overrated' list of things you'd rather be thinking about. I think I'm using some of that silence you sent is exactly to finally breathe. Its exactly what I needed. Thank you for thinking of me, Ethan. Goodnight. :)"
Annie was staring at her phone, the light of Ethan's message reflected in her tired eyes, when a second notification banner dropped down from the top of the screen.
​Unknown-
​"EMERGENCY. And by emergency, I mean I have snacks and a desperate need to be social. I'm five minutes away from your place- please tell me you're decent and ready!"
​Annie looked at her paint-stained fingers and the messy bun that was barely holding onto her hair by a prayer. She looked back at her finished painting, then at Ethan's message. The "silence" he sent was about to be very loudly interrupted.
The stillness of the room was shattered by a sharp, rhythmic knocking at the front door. Annie jumped, her heart hammering against her ribs. She took one last look at Ethan's message, before tucking her phone into her pocket. By the time she reached the door, Ellie was already trying the handle.
​"I saw the lights on, so don't even try to pretend you're 'sleeping' or 'contemplating the void,'" Ellie said, breezing past Annie as soon as the door cracked open. She was a whirlwind of brown hair and oversized fleece, clutching a grocery bag that crinkled loudly.
​"Ellie, it's late," Annie said, though a small, tired smile tugged at her lips. She crossed her arms, her paint-stained hoodie standing in stark contrast to Ellie's pristine loungewear. "And I'm covered in half of a sunset."
​"You're covered in beauty, shut up," Ellie countered, dumping the snacks onto the coffee table. She turned, her brown eyes scanning Annie's face with a softness that bypassed her usual sharp wit. "But seriously. You've been locked in here for three days. Riley keeps asking if you've moved to a commune, and frankly, I needed to make sure you hadn't forgotten what human speech sounds like."
​"Riley needs to find a new hobby," Annie sighed, leaning against the doorframe.
​"I tell him that every day. I think he likes the rejection. It's a twin thing- he's a glutton for punishment," Ellie joked, though she moved closer, her tone dropping. "But really... howareyou? I know the house feels... big. Especially tonight with everyone gone."
​Annie looked down at her hands. The grief for her mother was a quiet, constant hum, sometimes a dull ache, sometimes a roar. Tonight, after the marathon of painting, it felt like a heavy fog.
"It's quiet. Or it was, until you showed up."
*~*~*~*~*
​Seven hours away from her in spirit, but only thirty feet away in reality, Ethan stood by his bedroom window. He had been staring at his phone, his thumb hovering over the screen.
​The darkness of the neighborhood was broken by the warm, golden glow spilling from Annie's room. Through the glass, he saw the silhouette of a girl with a messy bun- Annie. But then, a second shadow appeared.
​He tracked the movement, recognizing the energetic bounce of Ellie. He saw the two of them settle into the space, Annie pulling a pillow into her lap while Ellie gestured wildly with what looked like a bag of chips.
​Ethan leaned his forehead against the cool pane. He felt a strange tug in his chest- a mix of relief that she wasn't alone with her thoughts and a sharp, stubborn pang of frustration that he wasn't the one making her laugh right now. He watched Annie's silhouette duck her head, likely shyly reacting to something Ellie said.
​He knew Annie was fragile, still healing from a hole in her heart that no amount of paint could fill. He was trying to be the "patient neighbor," but seeing her through a window felt like watching a masterpiece he wasn't allowed to touch yet.
​Back in Annie's room, the girls chatted away. ​"So," Ellie said, popping a popcorn kernel into her mouth and nodding toward the window. "Has the brooding gargoyle next door checked in on you today? Or is he still playing the 'I'm too cool to admit I'm obsessed with you' game?"
​Annie felt her cheeks heat up, her blue eyes darting toward the window before she could stop herself. "I don't know what you're talking about, Ethan is... he's just being thoughtful, Ellie. He knows I'm not ready for... much."
​Ellie tilted her head, her silver tongue sharpening just a bit. "Annie, honey. That man is barely civil to the rest of the world. He's the first one to shut a door in someone's face if they're wasting his time, but he's basically a different person when you're in the room. He isn't 'thoughtful' by nature- he's thoughtful because it's you."
​"He sent me silence," Annie whispered, a small, genuine smile breaking through her fatigue.
​"Silence?" Ellie snorted. "God, he's got it bad. That is the most 'Ethan' thing I've ever heard. Use it while you can- because once he decides to be bold, we both know he's too stubborn to let you hide."