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When Annabelle woke up the day after the party, her head pounded. She pulled herself out from under the pile of people on her couch, all of which had apparently fallen asleep in the same place somehow.
She wandered around the house, trying to locate Dom. Matt found her first, grabbing her arm silently and dragging her out to the backyard.
"Matthew, what the hell are you doing?" Annabelle asked as soon as the glass doors shut behind them, and Matt looked at her with a concerned look on his face. "Matt..." she said his name again, trailing off and taking a step towards him. She reached for him and he gave her his hand.
"Belles..." he trailed off, his concerned eyes darting to the door behind them. Before he could say anything else, Dom stepped outside, stretching and squinting in the morning sunlight. He looked at Annabelle and Matt with a confused look, cocking his head to the side.
"Why do both of you look like someone's died?" Dom asked, and Annabelle turned her head back to Matt, who was looking between Annabelle and Dom like he was trying to figure out who to address first.
"Matty, you're scaring me, okay? Whatever you're trying to tell me, just come on out with it," Annabelle said, reaching up to put her hands on his shoulders. He studied her, looking once more at Dom standing behind them.
"Last night... I didn't drink nearly as much as everyone else, y'know? I was actually pretty sober, and I... I walked in on..." he trailed off, looking at Dom again. Annabelle's eyes darted over her shoulder and then locked back onto Matt. "I walked in on Dom and Nora... together," he finished, and Annabelle immediately let go of his shoulders and turned to Dom, who was looking at her like Matt was speaking Japanese and he had no idea what he'd said.
"I'm sorry, you walked in on WHAT?" Annabelle asked, her voice steadily rising.
"Belles, I..." Dom started, trailing off and closing his eyes like he was trying to think.
"I've been up all night, trying to decide what to do, but I saw it. I know I did. I didn't say anything to them because I kind of just blanked and stormed off, but it was them," Matt said to Annabelle, being very careful not to avert his eyes to Dom's.
Without another word, Annabelle turned and walked into the house, waking people up and telling them it was time to go. People started emptying out pretty quickly, and as they did, Annabelle started to scream.
"Nora Woods! Nora fucking Woods, where the hell are you?" she hollered, and a few moments later, Nora wandered out of the guest room. Annabelle cornered her at once; pushing her up against the hallway wall. Nora looked at her with wide eyes, obviously a little bit afraid.
"What the fuck are you doing, Annabelle?" Nora demanded, glancing over Annabelle's shoulder to see Dom and Matt standing nearby, both of them watching with their mouths slightly open like they weren't sure what to do but watch.
"What did you do with my fucking husband last night?" Annabelle questioned, and when Nora looked up into her eyes, she was suddenly terrified. Annabelle looked like she might actually kill her. Nora closed her own eyes for a minute, and when they opened again, they were wide. She started shaking her head immediately, panicking.
"Oh my god. Oh my god, Belles," she said, repeating it over and over. "I can't... oh my god. We... we only kissed, I swear. I'm so sorry. I was... I was so drunk. I don't know... I don't know why I would even do that. I wouldn't do that," she said, and Annabelle shook her head, her eyes still full with rage.
"You wouldn't do that, but you did do that, didn't you, Nora?" Annabelle asked, her voice quiet and controlled in a way that made Nora shrink just slightly in fear. Nora closed her eyes, shifting her face downward. She nodded slightly and Annabelle unexpectedly released her, turning on Dom. She cornered him, pushing him roughly.
"And what do you have to say?" she asked him, looking at him like she was definitely about to explode on him.
"I... Belles... I don't remember, okay? It might've happened, but if it did it was only because I was too drunk to even know what I was doing. I probably thought she was you," he said, and Annabelle rolled her eyes dramatically, shaking her head.
"I'm sorry, you thought she was me? We don't even look that much alike, Dominic! What the fuck do you mean you thought she was me?" she screamed, punching the wall beside his head. He cowered just slightly, looking at her like he had no idea what to say to her. There were tears in his eyes and he raised a hand to place on her face and she slapped it away.
Before she knew what was happening, arms wrapped around her and picked her up. She recognized them at once as Matt's and kicked against him as he carried her away.
"Listen to me! Listen to me, Annabelle, okay? I'm pissed too! I'm pissed too, but nothing is going to come of us screaming at each other, right? Not a goddamn thing. So, just come with me. We'll go to my apartment and have some breakfast and try to calm down a little bit. Annabelle! Fucking listen to me! Come on. We're leaving. We'll calm down and we'll figure this out later, once we've all cooled down!" Matt screamed the words at her, fighting her as she kicked at him and tried to pry his arms off of her. Finally, he planted her on the floor and held her shoulders tightly, studying her eyes.
As he watched, he could almost see her soften. Her eyes filled with tears and she focused on him for the first time, nodding slowly. He nodded back, leaving one hand on her shoulder as he led her toward the front door.
"Come on," he whispered, leading her through the door and out to his car. As they went, he glanced over his shoulder to see Dom standing in the doorway watching them, tears rolling down his cheeks.
