Annabelle’s POV

Today had been a long day. Between juggling with work & the whole moving thing, I barely have time to think. So when Michelle called me & told me all the girls & her were going to go with her to see wedding dresses, I thought it was the best way to get out of my crazy life lately. So here I am, walking through the sidewalk with a bottle of water in one hand & a huge burrito on the other. It’s a good thing I don’t have a dress code & wearing my favorite House of Syn tee, some jeans & my converse are all I need to go to work. I see the bridal shop & walk in. I’m already an hour late but I’ve never been known for my punctuality anyways. I start wondering around the huge store, looking for them, eyeing the thousands of dresses that are here. “There you are” Gena exclaims, making me turn to see them sitting down with a couple of Michelle’s friends & her family, Michelle looking at me from the small plunk she’s standing at wearing a dress.

“Don’t even think of getting closer” Michelle warns me as I start walking to them. “I mean it, Ann. How could you think you can walk into a bridal store, filled with white expensive dresses eating?” She scowls at me.

“Excuse me but some of us have jobs & sometimes we don’t have time to eat” I say & she rolls her eyes. “Besides, I would make you a favor by ruining that dress” I say, sitting on Lacey.

“What is wrong with it?”

“What is wrong with it? What are you… 50? That’s the ugliest most unflattering dress I’ve ever seen in my entire life. I don’t even think my Mom would wear that & she’s 50” I say while the girls start to laugh & I see Michelle trying not to laugh. “Syn would definitely not want to do you in your wedding night because of that dress so why don’t you walk your skinny ass to the dressing room & let us see something different?” I say, still eating. She nods & a lady helps her get down & walk away from us. “Where’s Leana?” I ask Lacey.

“She had to take baby Wren to the doctor. Routine check-up, don’t worry. Her & Jimmy will be coming later” She answers.

“Listen, Lace, I need to tell you something” I say, after making small talk with everyone & deciding to tell her about me moving now that Val & is distracted with Michelle’s friends & her family & Gena is helping Michelle with the dress. “I’m m…” I started but stopped when I saw Michelle walk back with an amazing dress & a tiara on her head. Everyone just stared. She looks good.

“So… what do you guys think?” She asks.

“I think gloves are so 90’s” We hear someone says & I smile when I see that it’s Leana & Jimmy, who is carrying baby Wren on his arms. “The dress isn’t that bad, but just take out the gloves” Leana says again & Jimmy & I snicker.

“You think so?” Michelle asks again, looking at her reflection on the mirror. “I don’t think this is the dress. I don’t feel pretty in it” She says, turning to see all of nodding. “& I’m tired” She whines.

“But that’s the 2nd dress” I say & Lacey turns to look at me.

“Since you’ve been here. This is the 10th one” She says, a bit annoyed.

“I’m actually a bit tired myself” Val says, her brother’s girlfriend agreeing. “We can do this some other time. I want to go home” She says & Michelle nods.

“Lucky you. I still have to go with the boys to make sure they get the right suits” She mutters.

“I can go” I say.

“Really?” Michelle asks, stepping down from the small stand.

“Yeah. I’m not tired at all & I just got here” I say with a shrug.

“Ok. Just remember… black suit, white shirt & red tie for the groomsmen. Black tuxedo for Brian” She orders me & I just nod.

“Are you coming?” I ask Leana, while I grab my bag that’s lying on the floor.

“Nah, I’m gonna head home” She says so I say goodbye to everyone & head with Jimmy out the door to our next stop… the tux store.

Jimmy’s POV

“For the billionth time… NO” Annabelle says, frustration in her voice. The guys are over an hour late so she has been stuck with me, alone, for that long. Of course she’s going crazy.

“Why not?” I whine… for the billionth time.

“You can’t wear a red suit” She says, her eyes rolling. “Black suit, white shirt & red tie” She repeats Michelle’s instructions.

“Le is wearing a red dress. I wanna match hers” I say, looking at myself.

“Then paint your fucking hair red or something” She replies.

“I look like a pimp”

“You look like an idiot” She mutters & I turn to look at her.

“I’m definitely not gonna miss that…” I say, pointing her to make myself clear. “When you move to New York” I say, turning to look back at my reflection, but fixating my eyes on a pair of hazel ones. I see Annabelle follow my stare, locking eyes with Matt.

“You’re moving to New York?” He asks, shocked.

“Uh…” She hesitates, looking at me before looking at the floor. She nods, sucking on her bottom lip.

“When?” He asks & I stare at him. He seems a bit… blushed? But why?

“Right after Brian’s wedding” She mutters, not looking at him. I see Matt nod.

“Where you ever planning on fucking telling me?” He says & I see he’s not blushing… he’s angry. “Or where you just gonna wait until Michelle threw her bouquet to let us know that you’re moving across fucking country?” His voice is a bit louder & I see Annabelle cower a bit, but she doesn’t say anything. “Say something” He says, walking to her.

“I, uh…” She lets out a sigh & I can see her eyes water a bit. “I didn’t know how to tell you” She says, looking at him. Matt laughs.

“You didn’t know how to tell me? What a load of crap” He says & I see Annabelle starting to cry. “I didn’t know you were so selfish. Do you even give a fuck about us, Annabelle? Do your friends really matter to you at all? Are you that tired of us?” He says & I can see Annabelle’s breathing becoming more ragged with every word Matt spilled. “What did Syn said about it or are you keeping him in the dark too?" He asks & Annabelle bites her bottom lip. "Not even him? Wow. I thought you were different" He says. "How can you move? Why do you feel the need to move, huh?” He asks & I see Annabelle swallow hard. “Are we not good enough for you?”

“Matt-“ I start but he cuts me off.

“No. That’s it, right? You’re better than us so we don’t even deserve the right to know you’re moving” He says, leaning a bit to look at her eyes, even though her eyes were cast down. “What was it? What makes you all of a sudden move? Is it a guy? Money?” He asks & Annabelle turns to look at him.

“It’s a job” She whispers & Matt laughs mockingly again.

“So it’s money” He says & I can see Annabelle’s heart breaking. Of all the persons I thought was gonna throw a fit, Matt wasn’t definitely not my first choice. Hell, he wasn’t even on my list. He’s like another brother to her. I’m sure her blood family reacted better than him. What is his problem? “How much did they offer you?” He asks, & you just can hear all the anger in his voice. His words were meant to hurt… & he was doing a pretty damn good job. “How much did it cost to sell yourself? To sell us?” He asks & Annabelle let out a sob. “Don’t you fucking cry. You have no right to cry. You wanted to move, move then. Don’t cry about it. Move tomorrow if you want. You won’t be missed here”

“Matt, I think that’s enough” I say.

“No, it’s ok” Annabelle says, passing past Matt to grab her bag & sunglasses. “I think I’m…” She get’s chocked up in her tears. “I’m just gonna go” She says, placing her hair behind her ears, something she does when she’s nervous & she’s about to have a fucking nervous breakdown.

“Ann-“ I start but she cuts me.

“No. Umm…” Pausing to breathe. “Just remember… black suit, white shirt & red tie” She says, walking away from us. What the fuck happened?

Johnny’s POV

The guys are gonna kill me. I’m too fucking late. If I’m lucky, they haven’t left already. I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn’t notice that someone was walking right at me, until we crashed together, it stumbling back a bit while it sunglasses went flying from the crash. “I’m so sorry” I say, crouching to pick the sunglasses. “I wasn’t looking…” I turn to look at the person & see a crying Annabelle in front of me. She was a mess, you could see from the tears that fell continuously from her eyes… & I don’t think it was from the crash. “Are you ok, Ann? What’s wrong?” I ask, I’ve never seen her crying like this. Her whole body shook & she kept fidgeting with her hair & the hem of her shirt.

“I’m fine. I have to go” She says hurriedly, grabbing her sunglasses & running past me.

“ANN” I scream but she kept going. I turn around worry. What could’ve happened to make her cry like that? I walk into the store & immediately see Jimmy’s tall figure, wearing a red suit. His face is matching his suit & he looks angry. It’s then that I notice Matt almost in the same state Jimmy is. I walk to them & none of them acknowledge me. I see Jimmy sending death glares to Matt & Matt was clenching his fists. “Hey, guys” I say, a bit weary of the situation. “Is everything ok?” I ask.

“Why don’t you ask this douche?” Jimmy says, motioning towards Matt. What the fuck happened?

“I just ran into Annabelle. She looked like she was about to have a panic attack. She looked bad. Do you, guys, know what happened?” I ask.

“Wanna tell him, Matt, what happened? Why Ann was crying her eyes out? Why I wanna kill your ass right now?” Jimmy semi-yell at him. I turn to look at Matt.

“Did you know she’s moving?” Matt asks me.

“Who’s moving?” I ask confused.

“ANNABELLE. She’s fucking moving to New York right after Brian’s wedding & she hasn’t told us, any of us” He says & I let out a small laugh. “Am I the only one that sees how wrong that is? She can’t move” He says, standing up.

“Yes, she can” I say & he stops to look at me. “I don’t know why she came back after she graduated in the first place. Huntington Beach is no place for an artist like her. She should’ve stayed in New York. I know I would’ve” I say & Matt just huffs, bumping into my shoulder as he storms out of the store, leaving me with an angry Jimmy.

Valary’s POV

Matt & I were in the kitchen when the doorbell rang. I went to open but didn’t need to as Leana was marching her way at me. She’s furious, I can tell. “Where is he?” She asks through clenched teeth.

“Val, who is it?” Matt appears from the kitchen & I see Leana’s eyes switch to him instead of me. She walks to him & smacks him hard on the face. I gasp & Jimmy pulls her away. What the hell is going on here?

“WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?” She starts to yell at Matt. “DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW HARD THIS IS FOR HER?” Who is her? “DO YOU THINK IT’S EASY FOR HER TO WATCH EVERYBODY LIVE THEIR LIVES & SHE’S STUCK IN THE SAME OLD RUT?” She screams & pries herself away from Jimmy. “Did you ask her for permission when you married Val?” She says, poking him on his chest. “Did you even let her explain to you why she’s doing this?” & I turn to look at Matt. I don’t know what is going on, but I don’t understand why he doesn’t answer either. “OF COURSE YOU DIDN’T. YOU WERE TO BUSY ALL OVER HER FACE”

“Can somebody explain to me what the hell is going on here?” I ask. Leana’s eyes flicker to mine for a moment, before darting over to Matt’s again. I can see the tears start to build on her eyes.

“Ask the asshole you call husband” She says & I’m shocked. Leana has never lost her cool, but right now, she looks like she could kill Matt. “Don’t you dare come near her again, you hear me, Sanders? I will fucking kill you if I find out that you hurt her again” She says, before turning around & storming out of the house, Jimmy hot on her trail. A minute passes over & I turn to look at Matt, who’s looking down, his left cheek red.

“What was that all about?” I ask him. He sighs & swallows hard. He has this guilt face.

“Ann is moving to New York” He says & I’m shocked. “& I might’ve said some things that were out of place” He finishes.

“What type of things?” I ask, having an idea of what those ‘things’ might be. Matt doesn’t know when to stop when he’s mad. He can't control himself. I just let out a scoff & cross my arms over my chest as he remains silent. “I don’t know what you told her, but from the way Leana reacted or the way Jimmy didn’t even look at you, I’m guessing you screwed up. I don’t care what you did or what you said, but fix it”

“But she’s leaving. You should be mad… she didn’t tell you either. I had to find out because I walked in on Jimmy & her talking about it” He says.

“I am mad. I am fucking pissed that she didn’t. She should’ve told us, but I’m sure she was going to. I’m sure she was waiting for the right opportunity. & I'M SURE I WOULDN’T MADE HER FEEL LIKE SHIT FOR IT” I say the last part yelling at him. I’ve never yelled at him before & I see him shocked. “It doesn’t matter the choice she made. It doesn’t matter if she’s wrong or right. We are her family. You stand by your family, Matt. No matter what you think or feel or if you know they are screwing up, you are there for them"

"She should know that too. You don't hide things from your family" He replies & I scoff.

"It’s Annabelle for fuck’s sake. Do you really think she wasn’t going to say anything? Are you that idiot?” I say turning around to leave, pissed off by the way he's acting, but I stop by the staircase, looking at him. “You better find a way to fix this. I don’t care what you do. You fix this, Matt… or you’ll be the next one moving” I say before walking upstairs.