Premonitions | ✓

fourteen

"Carolina" -Harry Styles

Anna's mother lays in a plane hospital bed, sharing the room with two others, for her family was too poor to afford a room for her own. Her mother, Michelle, watched reruns of a reality television show on an old tablet as it leaned itself upon the rolling table provided by the hospital. 

    There were tubes and machines hooked up to the older woman, but they did nothing to make Anna's mother look any better. If anything, they added to her pale skin, making the woman look close to death.  

     Lars stopped abruptly behind Anna, almost running into the back of her when the short woman caught sight of her mother through the glass window. The large family was already inside, but Kat was downstairs, having her after-lunch cigarette. Lars wrapped a muscled arm around Anna in a comforting manner, trying to calm her nerves before they got any worse.

     The short woman suddenly took in a sharp breath, spinning on the heel of brown leather boots as they let out a squeak on the linoleum. Lars followed Anna as she stomped down the hall, around a few corners, and back to the elevators. He held her hand tightly so as to not lose her. He remembered her like this only a few times since he'd known her, how worked up Anna could get that she would forget her surroundings. 

     Her green and blue eyes were galaxies away while one of her small hands rubbed her chest aggressively, pulling at the pearl necklace she had bought herself one year. A congratulations to herself when she received her master's.

      Anna wore a burgundy-colored turtleneck, the short sleeves went to the top of her elbows, giving the woman easy access to the tattooed skin of her arms as she picked destructively at the skin. 

     Lars sighed, yanking lightly at her hand to bring Anna into his broad chest. The top of her head reached only to his shoulders, paying no mind the bend. Sometimes his back would ache, but he let it if it meant being in her arms. Anna stopped rubbing at her skin when her large chest hit his vast one. A whimper left her just as her lips began to tremble.

    "Stop, Anna," Lars said in a whisper. He was soothingly commanding her out of her distress. It worked some when he heard her take deep breaths. 

     Calming herself down. 

     "I... I don't know why I'm upset," she admitted.

     "Are you nervous?" Lars supplied.

    Anna cleared her throat with a nod, "That and maybe because I haven't seen her in so long. She's lost weight and looks so...so sick, Lars." She stopped to catch her breath, "There's also this selfish voice in my head, saying that she'll be disappointed at the sight of me."

     Lars shook his head before his arms fully encased around her, his cheek lay atop her head, "I don't think so. From what Scott said, she's been asking for you."

     The only response given was a hum, snuggling into his arms for just a moment before they had to face the music. Or, more specifically, before Anna had to face her mother. Lars' arm was around her waist, a hand on the plaid-covered ass cheek. The trousers fit her just right, that Lars was able to see every curve of his woman where he had no choice but to revel at the sight of her. 

     He loved it when she took initiative, for it wasn't often, but it just showed him how much bravery and spunk Anna possessed. The large Viking knew how hard it was for her to be herself, for they had known each other and been close for years. 

      It was only recently that she began to open up, showing her true colors. And when she did, he couldn't help but find her even more ravishing than before.