"It's Not Love If It Hurts" //5sos

/147/

A.K.A. I meant to publish this chapter a really long time ago but forgot until now oops.

One Week Previously

When Annie got into work that day, she knew she would have to make a decision.

Johanna was at her computer, as usual. If Annie hadn't been to Johanna's house before, she would almost think that Johanna lived here. She was always at work early, and when Annie left Johanna stayed, finishing up some last things. She was a complete workaholic. Even during lunch, when Annie went and ate in the cafeteria with the boys, Johanna stayed behind, eating at her desk as she worked.

So it was no surprise that Johanna was at her computer. The sense of dread Annie felt wasn't about the computer- it was about the webpage.

"Are you going to Aussieland with the boys?" Johanna asked.

"Hmm?" Annie asked, setting her stuff at her desk incredulously.

Johanna spun around her chair, sizing Annie up. "What are you trying to avoid? You know what I mean."

It was true. Johanna didn't waste time with extra words. She knew Annie, and she knew that Annie saw that she was buying airplane tickets online for Christmastime. The full question was obvious; "Are you going with Calum to Australia for Christmas so I know whether to buy you a ticket?"

Johanna didn't waste time with extra words, but she didn't mind wasting time analyzing people. "It's not a waste of time to know your opponents," she would say. Annie would argue that she wasn't Johanna's 'opponent', but she was insistent. "Maybe not now," Johanna would say with a grin.

Annie wished she would be grinning now. Instead, she was looking Annie up and down intensely, trying to read her. Annie did her best to remain impassive.

"You don't know whether you are going home with him for Christmas," Johanna decided. "Not relationship issues. You'd be more of a mess if something was wrong. And you don't have any plans with your family, obviously, so that must mean-" Johanna crossed her arms, looking offended. "I don't like you that way," she exclaimed. "You have a boyfriend!"

Annie facepalmed. "I don't like you, it's my family. They contacted me."

Johanna had a smug look on her face, which didn't match what she should be looking like. Johanna's mind moved to fast to keep up with. "I knew that would get you to spill." Her expression changed once again- to an almost sympathetic face. Johanna didn't really have a sympathetic expression, because she wasn't exactly a sympathetic person, but she appeared to be trying. "So, your parents contacted you?"

"My sister," Annie agreed. The experience had been more than strange. Annie's sister, who she hadn't talked to in five years, had found her on Twitter and messaged her.

It's Karen, the message had said. You're invited to stay with us over Christmas.

Not exactly 'long time no see' or 'you're family misses you!'- not that Annie would expect it from then. But it was weird that Karen reached out to her. Karen had always been really meek, like Mom, and never ended a sentence without the words 'right away' 'I'm sorry' or 'my bad.' It may not seem like much, but just the fact that her sister reached out to her at all was strange.

Who's us? Annie had responded. No 'good to see you too!' Or 'I miss you guys!' Just, 'who's us?'

Mom, Aaron and I. Nigel might come, I don't know.

Not dad? The divorce was dirty then?

Well yeah. But he died, last year. They found him in the ditch a mile away from his apartment.

That was how Annie found out her dad had died. Her stupid, drunken father who hit her mom and was the bane of her existence for the first eighteen years of her life. Dead. In a ditch. According to Karen, with a bottle in one hand and a syringe of heroin in the other.

He'd been dead for a year.

Not that Annie had known until just earlier that week. She'd assumed everything was fine back at home. It was easier that way- ignore it and pretend that she didn't mind. That's how she managed the guilt and pain that followed her around after she ran away. And that's what she had to do now.

Annie explained this all to Johanna. How her sister had contacted her. Her dad's death, a year ago that she just found out about that week. How she knew being around them for Christmas would be miserable, but she couldn't help wanting to see her family again. Her entire family was misshapen and messed up, but she cared about them. And, okay fine. She felt guilty. Her dad was dead. Her mom was likely a mess, trying to support herself and two kids. Who knew where Aaron was, how he was doing. She let it all out, and Johanna was a surprisingly good listener.

When she stopped, Johanna hit her with questions. "Who's Nigel?" She asked.

Annie didn't know.

"What was on Karen's twitter page?"

Obviously, Annie had tried to stalk her younger sisters Twitter, but there was nothing on it. She must use it only for messaging- maybe she made it for the sole purpose of just messaging Annie. Either way, it made Annie uncomfortable.

"How old is she?"

Annie had done the math a while ago, but she had forgotten. "Karen's 18. Aaron is a little younger, maybe 16?" Either way, it felt far too young.

Present

That was a week ago, when it was still creeping up on them and they lo thought they had loads of time. Now, work was coming to an end, and before Annie knew it she would be leaving Calum.

She'd found out who Nigel was, also. Apparently, after the divorce her dad had remarried his dealer, and according to Karen, Nigel was her son. A little older than Annie, and apparently he was an ass. Both of his parents were dead- his mom died first, drug overdose, and his step-dad followed suit a few months later. But by then he'd already accepted himself into the family, and no one was about to tell him to leave.

Great, Annie had thought when she found out. Cause what I really need is more drama in my life.

But she decided to just deal with it when it became relevant, which, at the moment, it still wasn't. So Annie cuddled closer to Calum, because eventually she'd have to leave him and she wasn't remotely ready yet.