YOU ARE THE MOON

[DENVER CARLOS HURLEY]

Finally, they were out of New York. Denny didn’t know how, but he managed to get out of the record contract (he managed to get the entire band out of the contract) without being sued for money damages and the time they’d nearly wasted in the studio. Part of that was due to the fact that he had witnesses to what Cheyenne had done to him, and part had been because of Annie’s idea for releasing a Drawing Blanks EP. What was even more amazing was the fact that the label was almost happy to let them go. He figured their train of thought went along the lines of Oh cool, one less flop we’ll have to pay for!, but Denny didn’t put too much thought into that. It only took a couple of hours stuck in a conference room for him and Annie to talk the executives (or maybe their representatives, Denny didn’t know the difference) why they needed to be taken off the roster for the label, why they just wanted to be paid for the EP (whatever little money they would get for it), and why they just needed to go home and maintain their former piece of mind. It had been a lot easier than Denny had thought it would be.

It had taken him until he was on his way home to realize he hadn’t shifted in quite a long time. They’d been in New York, what, a month? Had it really been that long? How had Denny gone that long without standing on top of the hotel, spreading out his arms, and just letting his body become smaller, more feathery, lighter, able to fly? Denny couldn’t say, which was why he was so surprised ad his calm collectedness the entire time they were in transit between New York and Cape Cod. Maybe it helped because of the free flight the label had so conveniently paid for. Denny was close to the sky at 30,000 miles above the ground; he could see the clouds and though he wanted more to be among them, he was content because Annie was inside with him. The flight was short because the distance between the two places was miniscule, and from the time they got off the plane to the time Denny’s mom picked them up from the air port, things were quiet. Instead of sitting in the front of the car with Donna, Denny sat in the back with Annie. His arms itched, but he ignored it. The whole ride home, Donna was congratulating them on the marriage, on the courage she swore it took to leave the label behind and come home, and on actually being home, because apparently Donna was the only person in the state of Massachusetts that missed either of them.

By the time they got to the apartment and talked Donna into going home because they were both tired, the sun was ready to go down and Denny felt like he’d been starved. Obviously air plane peanuts and a small cup of soda wasn’t enough for the entire day, but now that he wasn’t living in a hotel, he couldn’t just call down for room service. Now he had to scrounge whatever his mother hadn’t thrown away (because it would mold and rot) just to put together a small meal. He found a bag of stale chips, but for the moment that would do just fine. He only wasted about ten minutes munching away before his arms itched so badly that he couldn’t resist anymore. The apartment was so familiar and comforting, and Leo attacked them as soon as they walked in (Beast looking on at the dog as if saying ‘What an insolent little fool). It was all nice, but Denny needed to strip down and shift, even if he didn’t go anywhere. He played with the puppy and greeted the cat quickly, standing back up to tell Annie just to relax, that he’d be up on the roof for only a few minutes. He actually thought about inviting her, but Annie didn’t much like the roof. Still, if she said she wanted to come with him, he wouldn’t have said no. He would have helped her up, kept her steady, made sure he could let go just to let his fingers and arms become wings for a few minutes, just to stop the itching.

Annie didn’t really say anything though. They both headed into the bedroom and took their shoes off; Leo followed, Beast stayed in the front room. Denny figured, at least with Leo, Annie had company while he was just a few feet away, letting his toenails become talons, his nose and mouth a beak. It only took him a few seconds to be out of his clothing, and before he even stepped out onto the makeshift balcony with a fire escape that he missed so much, he was already covered in feathers. His whole body felt ten times lighter. His head cleared up. The sky started to get really dark, but his eyes quickly adjusted. He took a look up at the sky and sighed, but not in a disappointed or let down manner. He was happy. He was home. He felt wanted, needed, urged for by this sky. The sky in New York had been desolate, almost pushing him towards the ground, knocking him off his feet. The sky here, in Cape Cod, it felt right. It pulled him up, made him feel good, and once he was on the roof, he felt its full power just engulf him for the night. Being there felt so natural, so good, so earthly that Denny couldn’t think of anything else. He felt the stars and the moon, he felt the outer space above him rotating, and it felt so good.

Only a few minutes later though, he came down. It felt right to go back when he did. His wings felt too small almost, but not in the same exact manner that his arms had itched. It was just time to stop being a bird and start being a human again. He missed Annie, he realized, even if she was just below him. He could feel her too – it was like the energy of the world was pointing straight at him tonight because he was home and he was doing the actual right thing, not what he thought would be right. Either way, he jumped from the room and landed on the railing of the balcony, then jumped again and glided into the room from the open window. Gently, Denny picked up a pair of boxer shorts and headed towards the bathroom, but stayed in the small hallway in front of the door. He didn’t care what Annie saw; she’d seen him at his worst, his best, and his most naked, so what was there to hide from her? Nothing, so Denny just let his body grow, his feathers grow back and his skin grow forward. He let his talons turn back into toenails and his arms and fingers grow out of wings again. Once he could move his fingers, he pulled the boxers on, then laid down in bed next to Annie, even though Leo seemed to be persistent on laying between the two of them. For the moment, he was okay with that, but that would all change soon. For a few minutes, Denny played with the puppy, but never forgot that Annie was there; he held her hand the whole time because he could, because he knew they were going to be okay again, now that they were home.

Finally, he looked at the puppy and shook his head. “We need to get you your own bed, kid,” he said to the dog, refraining from using the term ‘mutt’ because he’d made sure from day one that Leo was, in fact, not a mutt at all. The puppy just grunted a bit and squirmed in that cute puppy way, then licked Annie’s hand, then Denny’s. Denny chuckled, but shook his head again. “It’s mommy-daddy time, Leo. You gotta move!” Somehow he knew Leo understood him. It was just like…..animal connection or something, just the fact that Annie was part wolf and Denny was part bird – Leo was just like their little baby, or rather a toddler at this point, and he could understand everything they said because of that connection to inner animals that they had. Leo just sneezed, sat up, and suddenly turned his head towards the door. Denny saw the puppy turn his little eyes towards Annie, but didn’t move his head. Denny smirked at the dog, patted his belly once, then whispered in a very action-movie tone, “Go get ‘em!” Instantly Leo was in action; he ran at top speed out of the room and into the next, to do whatever it was he wanted to do. He heard Beast meow from the other room, then Leo sneeze again, but he didn’t mind it. The cat thought the dog was below him but would entertain the puppy for his own source of entertainment; the dog thought the cat was uptight and loved to mess with him, but neither of them really got in a fight with the other. Denny had nothing to worry about.

That meant he had time and attention for Annie. Once Leo was for sure out of the room, he moved closer until he was pressed up against her, still holding her hand. He smiled and sighed at the same time, laying his head so close to hers that he could feel her breath on his face. It felt nice to be here, to be in their own bed with…..with clean sheets, no doubt thanks to his mother. “It’s nice to be home,” he said, subliminally thinking about how he had to go back to the book store tomorrow to beg for his job back. The money from the EP would do nicely, but it wouldn’t be enough. EPs didn’t make half as much money as LPs did, and the artist only got a fraction of the profits no matter what label they’d been signed to. Denny didn’t worry about it for too long though; he was out of New York, out of the grasp of the label, and back in his own bed with his wife and their pets. He let go of her hand just to wrap his hand around her and slide it up her back, just to the space between her shoulders and her back. He tilted his head forward and kissed her, loving the familiarity of kissing Annie in this bed, in this room, in this apartment and this city, this state. Everything felt so right, and with that thought his arms both wrapped around her and got a bit tighter, just enough to hold her closer to him because space between them was space wasted.

He didn’t know why – maybe after losing touch with intimacy in New York? – but all of the sudden he felt that old flame. It just started up, let him know that something was going to happen tonight, all because they were home. They had reason to celebrate, right? Between the last miscarriage, then the label and the relocation, Denny felt a bit…….deprived, if that was the right way to put it. It wasn’t that he thought Annie owed him anything; it was just one of those human emotions driven by human hormones. So the flame felt good. It warmed up his body, though he hadn’t noticed if he was cold or not. The flames brought meaning to his muscles and made him feel alive right there, in bed with Annie. He honestly didn’t care if things went that far, but he knew they’d go somewhere. Whatever; he just kissed Annie and held her close, letting his one hand that wasn’t around her back trace up and down her side and arm. He pulled back just enough to speak, though with that familiar amount of space so that he was still close enough that every word left a physical impression on Annie’s lips. “I love you, Annie.” He smiled again and kissed her, attempting to move closer just because the flame made him want to be closer to Annie, but actually going nowhere. He was already so close that her body left that same physical impression on his that his lips had left on hers. Still, Denny wanted to be closer – he wanted to be so close that they’d just morph into one person. He didn’t know why he wanted that, but the desire was there, and he didn’t ignore it.

2111 words -- annie/cora who else? -- i made everything. lyrics to jack's mannequin -- denny's outfit is described -- deer god it feels good to be back here.

[ANNABELLE MARIE HURLEY]

Being home was something Annie had long been wanting. New York had, honestly, terrified her. She felt boxed in, and she didn’t even want to shift because she knew she would go crazy being in that place in a wolf form. Sure, the urge had been there. Annie had felt it every time she would get dressed, and her nails would get caught on a small thread of fabric. In her mind’s eye she’d see her nails protruding from paws instead of fingers, digging into dirt and the decaying leaves of the forest floor instead of something so mundane as a sweater. Every time she took a breath, she thought of her lungs expanding inside a smaller rib cage. Everything just gave urge to shift, but breathing air with a metallic bite, walking on concrete that somehow hurt her feet even with boots on, trees that were sickly compared to the all-encompassing forests she was used to... none of that made her want to shift. She felt as if a piece of herself would die when she did. And where would she go, anyway? She wasn’t Denny, who could fly unnoticed. She was stuck on the ground and stuck in this skin. Maybe that’s what had made her feel like she was going crazy.

But home was someplace very different. Home was where the salt settled in the air instead of metal. As soon as she had stepped off the plane she could smell the ocean, and it made her eyes seem a bit brighter, made her hold on Denny a little less desperate and a little more loving. The forests were her home, and when Denny’s mom picked them up she couldn’t even pretend she was listening to the conversation; she looked eagerly out the window, and her hold on Denny’s hand was a little too tight. Being home just felt so good. It was literally something she could feel. It was like her heart beat differently here, her blood circulated a different way. She could breathe easier. Suddenly, all of her worries fro New York were gone and she felt completely peaceful and happy here. Denny was here and his skin was warm where it touched her, even if it was a very modest kind of touching. And when they opened the door to their apartment, Leo and Beast were there, which made Annie even happier. She had missed that puppy horribly and she basically scooped him up in her arms, letting him plant puppy-kisses all over her face. The cat was a cat, and naturally Annie wasn’t inclined to like it; she didn’t even understand that cat’s motives for living with them, from the day it had followed her home to now. It had overseen the entirety of their relationship, so she didn’t see any reason to mention this. More or less, her excitement to see the puppy overweighed anything she felt for the cat.

Even being home though, behind the excitement of actually being home, there were still problems. The actual even of being home overpowered them all, but for how long it would keep doing that, Annie didn’t know. Because she had known they were going home, Annie hadn’t had a reason to dress up; she just wore one of Denny’s v-necks and some sweatpants. Her hair was up and she didn’t have makeup on. Honestly, Annie wanted to dress that way for the rest of her life. She didn’t need anything else. But as far as shoes went she was wearing the boots that Abby insisted she get - “no friend of her’s was going to walk around in sneakers with holes in them!” was the basic reasoning in that. And although they were out of place with Annie’s normal clothing choice, she liked them. But in these clothes, it was hard to find Annie. If you looked hard enough, anyway. The shirt hung in a way that suggested she was smaller than she had been last time she had worn it. Her caller bones poked precariously through the gap around the neck. Was she going to fix this? Was she going to start tying the drawstring of these sweat pants looser? She didn’t want to think about it, but really only time would tell. Annie was in a constant quest to feel good. She didn’t know why, but Denny seemed to be a good excuse for what for. She would never, ever, verbalize that though - he would kill himself over the idea of being a reason for her self destruction. Annie really wanted to stop, but... only time would tell.

When Denny said he needed to shift, Annie didn’t say anything. She understood that. Sometimes she envied Denver for how easy it was for him to shift; a building, and you’re off, a quick fly around and you’re done. Annie needed to make an ordeal out of it and trek to the forest, spend time looking for a place no one would see her and then carefully fold and hide her clothes under a bush. It wasn’t as easy for her. And she also couldn’t just shift indoors like Denny did when they walked into her bedroom. It was a sacrilege for her. She worked very hard to keep the wolf and human parts of herself as separate entities. And to be honest, it was unsettling to watch Denny shift, nearly. She watched her husband turn from a body she loved to something very different. Annie was sure she loved the different thing too, but it was... strange. Annie wondered how Denny would feel if he saw her shift. Would he feel the same kind of strangeness, the same conflicting emotions? She was engrossed by the ripple of black feathers, the color of his hair. Her inner shifter skittered from side to side, trying to understand what was going on and her skin felt like it was going to rupture because Annie just wanted to leap out over the balcony with him. But, you know, she would plummet to her death, so she just slowly walked to the bed and Leo happily jumped onto it.

Annie realized how lost she felt without Denny, then. Him going to work again - which is what she assumed would happen because she really couldn’t do shit for bills and stuff - would take a toll on her. She had gotten used to having him with her every second of the day, to working with him. It had been rough when she had been sick, but he was all she thought about when she was alone and sick in bed. Leo whimpered because she wasn’t paying attention to her, and he wiggled around in a puppy way. Annie kissed his nose and then he licked her’s. She pet him quietly and closed her eyes, waiting for Denny to be back in the room so that he would just be close to her again. Through that waiting, she knew how much it would hurt when he had to leave her in the morning. But who knew - with her renewed dedication and motivation for this marriage, she could be up with him, crawling out of bed when it was dark and maybe cooking him breakfast when he got dressed. It was a farfetched idea from what someone would expect of Annie, but that was the thing; she was so different than when she appeared. Denny was the only one who knew that though. He was the only one who knew that this seemingly wild girl, untamable, unexplainable person was also someone who wanted to have a family so horribly. She wanted to be a good wife and make Denny happy, even if it somewhat shifted her into a housewife role no one would have expected of her. As barren as she could appear, Annie wanted to be a mom and she wanted to nurture and just have all of these things. But that was simply because Denny was in the equation; if he wasn’t, Annie would still be hooking up in bars and smoking cigarettes for lack of anything else to do.

Finally, he was back in, but still a bird. Annie closed her eyes when she noticed that, just because it set her off in a weird way that she couldn’t really put words to. She opened her eyes when she felt a new weight on the bed. His slipped his hand into her’s, and she just watched quietly as he played with the puppy between them. This was what she got, and suddenly it weighed a lot on her. She got this entirely loving husband, who bought her puppies and held her hand. He helped her take showers when she wasn’t feeling good, and he never thought she was wrong. He took her away when she didn’t want to be places, and he really just did anything she asked of him. She was so lucky. And yet she had doubted him. There was this huge tidal wave of guilt that washed over her when she thought about that. She quickly banished it out of her mind as Denny banished Leo from the room and then he was coming closer and Annie’s breathing seemed to get quicker with ever centimeter of space he closed.

Kissing Denny felt amazing to Annie. It made time slow down but speed up, and she just had to get the most out of it. She had missed it more than anything she could think, and yet... she had still done it. Kissing hadn’t been totally gone from their relationship, but it had felt like it. She remembered kissing him against the elevator door and against the bathroom door, and it had been great. Outside of those moments it, it felt further than far. In those moments Annie made noises and she didn’t even mind because things felt so good, but they sooner than later puttered out and she was just left leaning against him while he ate, or something like that. Obviously, that’s not what she had been wanting. Annie just liked his hands on her body, his lips against her’s and his heat against every part of her. His hands on her body just felt... too right. No matter where they went, it felt right. She wasn’t self conscious. The burns that she had so desperately hid in New York meant nothing when his hands glided across them; the blemishes were just like any other part of her body, just any other simple span of skin. Everything was so simple when it was brought in front of her like that. The constant battle of “not good enough” was always ended by him when he silenced her by his lips or calmed her down with his hands. She liked to close her eyes and see how fat she could press her body against his, just how much they could get close and every time she ended up surprising herself with just how much she loved those feelings. It felt perfect to let him hold her that way and with his hand between her shoulder blades, and Annie just closed her eyes.

”I love you s-so much,” she studdered as his hands slipped up her shirt. Annie didn’t really mind that at all, and she tried to kiss him more because that’s just what felt the best. Getting closer felt good, and Denny was already half naked but Annie still had all these clothes on, and suddenly they seemed more cumbersome than clothes had ever seemed to her. She pulled her hands from his chest (and she hadn’t even really noticed that she’d done her usually thing of slowly pulling them across his skin like their were magnets in her hands and in his heart) and pushed at the waist band of her sweat pants. A shirt would be easier to take off, but her legs felt much hotter with the way these pants were. Her lips felt clumsy as she stupidly untied the knot and she was almost certain she could hear Denny chuckle as one of his hands moved from her back to help with the whole escapade surrounding the pants. When she finally kicked the sweats off her feet, she felt much better and moved both of her hands to Denny’s jaw, and kissed him with much more effort. She could feel the fire too, and as their relationship matured, so had it. It wasn’t the same as it had been on thanksgiving, and now she could feel it less in exchange to feel more. She could focus more on Denny being there than the feelings that came from him being here. The feel of the heat was just a pleasant reminder of what great chemistry seemed to be flowing between them.




2142 words -- uns uns uns

[DENVER CARLOS HURLEY]

There was nothing in the world that Denny wanted more than this moment. Everything was different in a familiar way. He was different because he knew what worked and what didn’t work for them now. He knew how to deal with big shot executives. He knew what New York was like, what being in a signed band was like – at least for him and Annie. He knew what missing home was really like. He couldn’t for sure say what Annie knew now, but he was sure things were just as different for her. They just had a new appreciation for home. It wasn’t that they’d taken this apartment for granted, but being in a place where they’d nearly both lost their minds (Annie closer than Denny, undoubtedly) caused them, upon returning to the place they called home, to have a greater appreciation of the small, mostly unkempt space. And now that they were back, they all had the time in the world to appreciate what they’d left for that span of time they’d spent elsewhere. Now they knew how to properly appreciate what they had, even though that deal had practically been forced into their laps. The label had been just as eager, however, to drop them as they had been to take them on.

There was nothing more on his mind than this. Just Annie. He smiled at her little attempt to get herself out of the pants she’d been wearing, but helped when she seemed to be taking too long for his liking. Old feelings were flying around the room, tinted with something new, something Denny didn’t necessarily have a name for. He didn’t mind it though; these feelings were good. They definitely made him feel at home, at the very least. It helped him enjoy the kiss more than he would normally, probably just because of the thoughts that never seemed to stop floating through his mind. For a quick second, he reminded himself he was far from that secretary, though all of the sudden he didn’t know her name anymore. It didn’t matter; knowing that he was here and the only person that was going to assault him this way was the one person he wanted to assault him. His hands slid up the shirt, pulling it up over Annie’s head, glad that it was gone. The less they had between them, the more comfortable Denny could get, and he smiled into the kiss with that feeling.

Denver almost stopped in awe for a second. There seemed to be absolutely nothing wrong with this expanse of time. Denny was almost stunned because nothing was wrong. He was there with Annie, his wife, the only person he would ever trust with himself like this. It sounded almost too vulnerable of him to think that, but he knew it was true. He couldn’t say he didn’t know it, because he did, but he also knew that the whole knowledge of how perfect this was almost made him static. He pushed through it, turned the energy that came from the thought into physical energy. He hardly remembered the boxers being thrown, but he opened his eyes long enough to see them fly through the air a short distance before dropping to the floor. Seeing that, Denny chuckled, but closed his eyes and turned back to Annie. Besides the fact that there was nothing else to really focus on, it was obvious that the only thing in the entire apartment – scratch that, ever – that Denny ever really wanted to focus on was Annie. He’d argue that she did deserve it, just on the basis that no one else had ever given him the looks she gave him, and no one had treated him the way she treated him, but was that enough? Denny didn’t really care; he gave her the attention she craved and she gave him the commitment and reassurance that he wasn’t a complete monster that he needed.

But that didn’t mean he couldn’t be a little……devious. They needed fun. They’d had the fun sucked right out of them, even though anyone else would have thought going to New York would be one of the most fun experiences of their lives. That didn’t really work for Annie and Denny – what went for normal people and couples didn’t necessarily hold relevancy to them. Well, either way fun needed to be hand; Denny had to stir things up a bit, but he needed a method. He couldn’t just totally turn things around off hand and try to go from there. He didn’t really know why, but Denny wasn’t just going to act on impulse. He wasn’t really willing to risk this mood, this event with a possible visit from the monster. He had to be spontaneous, but safe at the same time. And suddenly, he had at least part of his plan in place. Annie was light, and Denny was physically strong in the arms thanks to his flying (though he might be a bit weak at the moment considering he couldn’t remember the last time he’d flown, but nonetheless he was just going to try and pull this off).

So, Denny took a gentle hold of the both of her arms, lifted her up quickly, and turned the both of them, putting Annie directly below him. He let go of her arms, but held her sides and smiled, not really wasting too much time before kissing Annie again. His hands traveled up, and down, then back again once more before he slowly moved his arms around her, just pulling her closer again because space between them was inexcusable. Denny wanted to be as close as he could be; he wanted to really feel every part of Annie. He quickly helped her out of anything else she had on, just so that there really just wasn’t anything between their skin. He lost track of time then. He could feel the moon shining through the window, but it wasn’t really making much of a psychological difference. He was focused on Annie, on feeling better than he had in a long time, and it was a lot easier than he remembered. It had just been too long. New York had been a short ride, but even then it was too long. So for Denny, this celebration was refreshing, almost liberating. It just….felt really good.

And the night…..it brought him peace. Through the window, when his body felt tired but Denny had never felt more awake, the stars shone right into the room and centered his mind. He’d all but forgotten what this felt like. He felt so unbelievably good, and he couldn’t describe it. Both of his arms were still around Annie, only now he’d rolled onto his side again and faced her, rather than laying above her. He was still smiling because this feeling was just so overwhelming. Home had never felt so good. Home had never held such a meaning. Denny was never more ready to start a family and be as happy as he was then, but now that he knew that, he couldn’t stop his smile from warming up, spreading so far he thought his lips might split down the middle and bleed until he had to be taken to the hospital. He kissed Annie again, only pulling back a short while later far enough so that he could speak; any closer and they’d just be kissing again. “If I do say so myself,” he started, kissing her quickly again. “That was the best house warming party I’ve ever been to.” Denny left out the part that it was the only house warming party he’d ever been to. He didn’t think it was necessary to put that in, so he kept it to himself and just smiled, holding Annie because she was the only thing that mattered.

1309 words -- annie/cora who else? -- i made everything. lyrics to jack's mannequin -- denny's outfit is described -- so i had to force that all out of me but it's not too disappointing.

[ANNABELLE MARIE HURLEY]

Denny was the best thing that had ever happened to Annie. She didn’t really have words for just how much he meant, but it was something that she wouldn’t want to put into words anyway. She didn’t want to share it with anyone. It was a selfish thing that she just wanted to herself. She didn’t want anyone else to feel the feelings she had. She didn’t want Denny to feel that way about anyone else. She wanted their emotions for each other to be completely unique and not part of anything else. All Annie needed was him, and these feelings for him. She just wanted to have him there, and be able to keep his existence and his feelings for her wrapped up in her chest. Denny was all Annie thought about anymore. He was all she dreamed about, too. She needed to have him with her all of the time. She really did love him. Even when she didn’t understand what love was, she loved Denny. To be fair, she still didn’t know what love was. She couldn’t explain it to anybody. But she could explain it to herself, and that was what mattered. To Annie, love was the way that Denny was the only person who could make her cry, and that didn’t even make her upset. He was the one who broke down all her walls, and now she was almost too weak... but the idea that he was the one who could protect, be his own kind of wall for her, that idea made it worth it. Love was the way she just wanted to kiss him all the time but didn’t mind when she didn’t. Just being close to him, touching him, being held by him... that was enough, too.

HIs hands pushing up her shirt felt almost too good. That was the thing about this; it all felt so good. It turned Annie into this kind of girl she had never pictured herself to be. Annie was always the one who controlled things, and she barely felt anything from anyone. In her past, nothing felt good, really. It just kind of... was. She had gotten used to it though. She had gotten used to the way that things were just things. There were no special occurrences, and that was when Annie had started caring less and less. It wasn’t really anyone’s fault, to her. That was just the way the world seemed to work. And how could she argue with things she couldn’t control? She couldn’t. So she didn’t. But with Denny, things were very different. She didn’t have to settle for “that’s just the way it was”. Part of her wished that she could sneak a peek into his chemical make up to pinpoint just what he had that made her react this way. But that would also be ruining a very goo secret. So Annie instead just enjoyed all the things Denny could do to her, like how he could make her feel weak in a good way just by taking her shirt off. He made her everything but strong, but it wasn’t a bad thing, like it sounded. Annie thought it was a very, very good thing and she kind of liked it a lot.

When Denny turned them, so that he hovered over her, Annie didn’t mind. She was finding it increasingly difficult to focus on anything, even him. Her brain was going haywire and she wished that she could rein it in. Her thoughts would be on one thing, but then very shortly be on another. The length of her attention span was ever diminishing and she most definitely detested the idea that she could not control it. She should be focusing on what his hands, slowly gravitating up and down her sides, were doing to her - because they were doing some things. But her mind was as inconsistent as a bird in a cage, and was fluttering half heartedly all over the place, beating it’s wings in some kind of rebellion. His arms slowly moved around her, and while that was more cage like, Annie didn’t resent it at all. The opposite of resent, really. And when he pulled her so close that there wasn’t any part of her that his skin wasn’t touching, Annie’s mind finally seemed to decide that this is what it was going to focus on. It overwhelmed her in a way, when she thought of just how kind of perfect this was. Flawless. They could be perfect, and happy. And when he held her like that, Annie just kind of felt the immensity of it all.

It hit her like a tidal wave. All at once, when she was kissing him and they were impossibly close, Annie felt like her eyes were wide open, even if they were closed. Things she had been avoiding seemed to clear, suddenly. Things like if she was it. Annie just... the compassion that seemed to be bottled in this moment stretched on forever to her, even when she wriggled out of the last few pieces of clothing stuck to her skin. Annie just wanted to stay this close forever, kiss Denny forever, feel this important... forever. Because Denny made her feel important. In moments like this, she lost her insecurity and felt what she should have been feeling all along - she mattered. The idea that someone cared so much about her was almost too much for her to understand. And not just someone, but Denny. Someone Annie clearly cared for almost too much for her own good. Someone who understood her, could predict her, could hold her back from hurting herself and others. Honestly, he was the only one who could do that. He was the only one who made her feel guilty - unintentionally, she supposed - when she did the things that made her crumble. He was the one who could build her up, even if he had done some demolition on his own. But Annie didn’t blame him for that. How could she when, without that, she never would have been able to love him the way that she did? Opening Annie up to her own personal monsters, making her vulnerable to her self, sounded like a horrible thing. But, you know, Annie didn’t mind it so much when she had Denny there to protect her, when she was able to love him the way that he really deserved to be loved.

And when Denny moved so he was on her side instead of over her, Annie moved too, rolling over in her arms so that she could face him. One of her favorite things about this room was the window over the bed. It was so big that every part of the moon could shine through wholly, lighting up things in the dark. She liked the way moonlight painted everything a monochrome kind of color. It was something Annie constantly thought about in moments like this, in the sweet kind of aftermath. Everything was an ivory kind of color and things that were normally dark, were darker. Shadows were deeper. She could barely see Denny’s eyes with the way the shadows were, but his cheekbone stuck out brightly in the light. It made her feel good to be home. Because home was here, laying in bed with Denny kissing her just bring wrapped up in each other. She shifted her legs so they were tangled up with his, and kiss him back lightly. She didn’t ever want to leave his arms, let alone this bed. It was so perfect to stay there against him, kissing lightly now and then.

Annie didn’t like the idea of his talking. She felt like she would lose the moment if she said anything. So she kissed him again lightly, and said ”Sh,” Before moving her head so that she had it tucked under his chin. She just wanted to be close, and the heat coming off his skin felt nice, and comforting. That’s what Denny seemed to be for her; a source of comfort and contentment. And she was so lucky, and thinking about that made her throat close up a little bit. She thought about Denny helping her shower and just smoothing her hair back when she didn’t feel good. And the sheer patience he’d had when she fell into a depression after the last baby. Other people might have given up, might have taken her to the one place she hated for help that would only hurt her. But Denny, he stuck around and slowly coaxed her out of that wretched state. Annie felt her eyes water and she sniffled a bit. She just kissed the hollow of Denny’s throat, because that’s were her lips were, and tried to get a bit closer.




1479 words -- uns uns uns

[DENVER CARLOS HURLEY]

Denny took a moment to just assess what he had. Take inventory. He had a life. He’d gone from having a very little amount of superficial things to his name to having something he couldn’t even put one emotion to in just under a half a year. Sure, all of that had gone through trial and error, but that was life. He’d gone from dark depths of the apartment that he had never dreamed of exploring, to bright abysses that he couldn’t see into, but he knew they would hold a greater meaning for him. It was almost a religious experience, if he even believed in religion. Denny hadn’t really ever gone to church; he’d never really gotten on his knees and prayed, and he and Annie hadn’t even gotten married in a church or by a priest or pastor – which ever, but none of that held any meaning to him anyway. Even if things had been different (at least, speaking about the wedding), the religious setting wouldn’t have held any more or less meaning than the means that they actually had gotten married. Still, that light that his life had been filled with gave his whole outlook on living a different perspective. As to where before he had hid from the outside world, where he’d kept his body and thoughts confined to his bedroom (and occasionally, the area around the apartment, or the kitchen if he had been in the mood to eat), now he actually liked to get out of the room, look at the sun, be a part of something bigger than himself.

That was something Annie had given him, even if he would never have the right physical words to describe how she’d done it. Denny blamed it on the fact that she hadn’t turned him down. She hadn’t lifted a hand in his face and walked away that first day. She’d embraced his attention, and though sometimes he did think that maybe she had other intentions than just befriending him that night, she hadn’t made any move to get him in bed until Thanksgiving of the next year, and mostly that had been a mutual understanding between them. The light, the meaning that had suddenly flowed into Denny’s mind was all because, as he understood it, Annie hadn’t made him feel like a lesser being. It was still weird to think that this time last year, he and Annie had still just been friends, but with a seemingly wavering level of sexual tension. He remembered it being said in high school that a boy and a girl could be best friends, but eventually one would fall for the other – or maybe they’d fall for each other; he hadn’t believed it when he met Annie. Then again, he hadn’t believed that anyone would fall for him. He still believed that people thought of him as the kid that tried to kill his neighbor.

And then things had begun to change, and once he’d subconsciously grew a pair and told Annie how he really felt, everything became a huge snowball. It all grew and grew as he tumbled down the path that had been so cleverly mapped out for him and Annie. And now he had everything he could ever ask for. Because of his solitude years ago, he had to appreciate whatever it was that he had, and you could bet your bottom dollar that he appreciated everything that was in his name these days. He had the apartment (that his mother was now paying for again, considering Denny had been living for free in New York for a month, give or take a few days). He had a dog (that was technically Annie’s because he’d bought Leo for her birthday) and a cat that cohabitated without really causing any real worry between their owners (though most of the time, Beast liked to think he was just renting space instead of living with people that ‘owned’ him). Denny had a wife that filled him up with feelings that he couldn’t name most of the time. He had a best friend that he was married to – there were so many people that spent thirty, even forty years searching for something like that, anything like that, but Denny was laying right there, at twenty-three, with his best friend, his wife, the only woman he would ever be able to love as deeply and as wholeheartedly as he loved Annie. Despite being his best friend, she was kind of like his only friend. Denny was sort of a loner since the accident; every one of his friend that he had now he only knew through Annie. She was literally everything to him; he had everything in bed with him, right where it needed to be.

Despite having everything, the night wasn’t so young anymore, and the trip back home was long and tiring. He hadn’t been so tired before, especially not after shifting (mostly because he hadn’t used energy and flown; he’d just stood on the roof with the wind blowing against him), but in the aftermath he was drowsy, in the most pleasant way possible. Though he’d tried to make a joke and keep conversation going, just to keep himself awake and entertained, Annie wasn’t having any part in it. He could understand why, to some extent, but he decided silence was better than ignoring Annie anyway. His arms gently tightened around her a bit. He snuggled closer, nuzzling his face into whatever was against it. Mostly Annie’s hair and the pillow next to him, which he was totally fine with. Nothing could really bother him right now; euphoria was a bit of an extreme, but the word was a close to meaning as Denny’s feelings at that moment as he could get. He was simply happy, simply content, simply a simple man that just enjoyed being home with his wife, his pets, and anything else that belonged to him. But the silence only made him sleepier; even through the happiness and that smile that didn’t seem to be able to be removed from his face, Denny grew sleepier by the minute.

Soon enough, even through Annie’s (almost) distracting kisses against his neck, his eyes closed and his thoughts started to become sporadic and in eight different directions. Thoughts became short, words became incomprehensible within his thoughts, and images started taking the place of sentences and written out stories. He didn’t feel or notice it, but Denny’s breathing started to even out slowly and his nose itched for a minute, but he took care of that with a simple little scrunch of his face and he was once again peaceful. And for once, he couldn’t detect any prophetic disaster within his dream. Actually, this dream was a lot like the one with the little kids, the tanks and cages along the wall with animals that he hadn’t been able to clearly see or differentiate to whatever was in the tank or cage next to it. At least it was like that dream in an atmospheric sense. They were on a beach – the beach. The water was clear; the sun was out, but hidden by some small clouds. Denny only knew that much because of the rays of shine that poked through every few feet. Someone called his name and he turned around, looking out at a crowd of people that he only knew a few faces from. Well, most of the people were too blurry to see, as if they were just imaginary place holders. But he could see his mother, standing right behind him in one of those dresses that looks as if she’d bought it in Hawaii even though Denny couldn’t recall his family ever going to Hawaii on vacation or anything. The Hurley Birds didn’t really tend to fly south for the winter, as odd as it seemed.

Denny could see his sister, but she was all the way in the back of the crowd. He realized they were all sitting in white chairs, flowers everywhere – on the canopy around him, on the sand, back on the shore floating out into the water. Purples, blues, reds, pinks, whites, yellow – every color flower you could imagine was there. Denny looked down and saw he was standing on a white stage – he was wearing shoes nicer than he’d ever have in his closet. They were black, shiny, pointy but rounded instead of triangular at the end. His pants were looser than the jeans he usually worn, but he didn’t feel uncomfortable. When he looked back up, there were vines hanging down from posts that were keeping the canopy up, and on the vines sat little white blossoms and pink blossoms, just dangling freely as breezes came and went through the canopy. Looking right beside him, he saw Boss in an outfit that he assumed looked identical to his own, and for a minute he wondered if he were witnessing Abby and Boss’s wedding or something. But Denny came to his senses – Abby getting marred? He knew there was definitely a relationship between Abby and Boss – anyone with eyes could see that – but Abby didn’t really come across as the type to get married.

And besides, she was already standing under the canopy directly across from him and Boss. Next to Abby stood Evan, and for a second Denny wondered where Levi was, but he realized he had other things to worry about. Like where Annie was. If he were here in this penguin suit, where was she? He frantically searched the crowd, as if something might be totally wrong and he was under this canopy for the wrong reasons – and oh, there was Levi, sitting in the front aisle adjacent to Evan (as Denny would expect) – but he couldn’t find Annie anywhere. He started to panic, and he could feel a sweat breaking out across his forehead. Boss reached out and placed a hand on Denny’s shoulder, smiling a small smile because apparently everything was going according to plan. Denny was supposed to be there, and Annie wasn’t just yet. And then it hit him. This wasn’t Boss and Abby’s wedding and Denny wasn’t the best man; Abby was the maid of honor, Boss was the best man, and his mother was standing in front of the canopy taking pictures. Thankfully, Eric Hurley was nowhere to be seen – and then the music started playing. Denny knew the tune, but couldn’t name it, and suddenly he was shaking. A small white form turned from behind one set of seats and stared down the aisle; Donna turned, threw the camera at her seat, and hurried down the aisle. She took the white form by the arm and slowly, agonizingly slowly at that, led it down the aisle again, letting go to let it walk up the steps.

He realized the white form was a bit round in the front. The white flowers it was carrying were too bright, and apparently too heavy or something because the white form let them hit the sand. No one seemed to notice – or maybe no one cared. Either way, the form moved to stand right next to Denny and pulled the huge white veil off of the top of its stature. Denny watched as Annie’s hair was exposed, then her face, then her hands as she took the stupid veil and chucked it out at the sea. She ran her hands through her hair and sighed before closing her eyes quickly. Then she looked up at Denny and smiled so brightly, the sun nearly sucked itself into outer space so far that it would never be seen again. Pieces fell into place and one after another Denny had realizations. This was his wedding. This was his and Annie’s wedding. This was the wedding they’d forgone for a trip to the courthouse; but that had been what Annie had wanted. If she’d wanted this, Denny would have scrounged pennies for it – he would have sewn the freaking canopy himself if he had to. But it wasn’t what she’d wanted; truth be told, it was really what Denny had sort of wanted. He wasn’t regretful that they hadn’t gotten this, that they’d chosen to just go down to the courthouse instead, he just knew that he’d wanted to make the spectacle. He wanted everyone to know that he was marrying Annie for all the right reasons; that despite their ages, they were ready for that commitment to each other. Everyone knew that by now, but it would have been easier to show off if they’d had this white, flowery beach wedding.

No one moved and nothing was said except for the movements and words between Denny and Annie. They took each other’s hands, smiled widely and brightly, and in tones that no one else needed to hear, said simply, “I do,” to each other. And that was the end of the dream. Slowly the world started to fade and the voices and thoughts and words started to reappear in Denny’s mind. Though the mental wedding was cut short, Denny still woke up with a smile on his face. The sun shone through the window now; it illuminated Annie’s features when his eyes opened and that smile couldn’t help but grow a bit. He knew he’d have to get out of bed and beg for his job back today, because they would need the money desperately, but Denny didn’t have to leave right away. He didn’t need to get out of bed before Annie was awake and he didn’t need her to worry about him leaving for the day. He could lay here for a while, talk her into getting dressed and going with him; maybe they’d go to the beach after they went to the book store. They could bring Leo (Beast would probably be out already anyway; he’d find a nook or cranny to crawl through and get down from the top floor without a problem); they could take the puppy for a walk on the beach and just enjoy really being home again.

2350 words -- annie/cora who else? -- i made everything. lyrics to jack's mannequin -- denny's outfit is described -- yeah so that 'round in the front' was supposed to be HELLO ANNIE'S PREGNANT. in his dream anyway.

[ANNABELLE MARIE HURLEY]

IN the grand scheme of things, Annie and Denny’s relationship was simple. Sure, they both had their individual problems, but together, they were fine. They knew they were in love, and they accepted it. They didn’t have any problems seeing that; love was love and there was no reason to get it confused with something else. And Annie knew that she loved Denny. She had never known anything with such a certainty. There were so many things she didn’t know. Annie was blinded by her own personality, and, inside, she was brash and thoughtless and rushed things. She didn’t like to listen to people and she preferred to use brute force to reason. And she had never seen herself changing for anyone. She would never try to change. It was so stupid, and silly, the idea of changing for anyone. But then she came across Denny, and she changed without even noticing. It wasn’t so much changing as... adjusting. She got acclimated to being around him. He allowed her to be weak, so Annie became weak. But just for Denny. Just because he had adjusted to protecting her, and letting him lean on her when she was weak. And Annie took advantage of it. She wasn’t one to pass up a free over like that.

But that sounded so shallow, and shallow wasn’t something Annie was when it came to Denny. She was very far from it. She was this person who said things she wouldn’t even think around other people. She liked to stay in bed, and trace patterns on his chest, pull his lips between her’s and just stay quiet. Annie had never had such an appreciation for being quiet as she did when she was with Denny. With him, silence had a different meaning than it did with anyone else. She wasn’t sure if he enjoyed the silence as much as she did, but you know, she didn’t care. It wasn’t that she was ignoring his feelings or not acknowledging what he thought... it was just, in the grand scheme of things, it was silence and pivotal moments that created everything Annie was. Like now, as Denny fell asleep before her and she was still curled up against him with her breathing and her lips up against his neck. It was a strange moment for her that inspired a kind of vertigo that made Annie need to scrunch her eyes shut real tight.

She felt kind of alone. Annie didn’t like that feeling. Was that what Denny felt when she fell asleep before him? She wasn’t sure but she just stayed close to him and breathed. For some reason, Annie wondered what it would be like to have a pack, or something like that. She hadn’t shifted in such a long time that she felt like half her brain was doing a crazy waltz down her spinal cord. But she breathed stiffly against him and tried to see how close sleep was. The simple action of him falling asleep without her had kind of set off the good feelings, and she was wishing she had spoken instead of silenced him. But she sucked it up because that’s what she had to do. She lifted up her hand and a bit of moonlight shown through into the cave her face and hands were in, the cave created by limbs and Denny holding her tight. It picked at the ring, and Annie just watched it. This was all her’s. This was her ring, and her husband, and her dog, and the cat that had followed her home, and her sheets, in her bed, in her apartment. Well, really only the husband and the dog were her’s. The cat was itself - because no one can control a cat - and everything else was their’s. Sharing things had never really been Annie’s forte; in preschool and elementary school, she had been the kind of kid to wail on others before letting them touch something she was playing with. But there was something different about this. She wanted to share with Denny. She wanted to show him everything she had and she wanted him to be impressed. She showed him her body, and her heart, and the inside of her head. She let him know everything that was going on with her, and it was a scary thing to share.

Sometimes she didn’t know what he thought about what she shared with him. She wished he would talk to her more often about things like that, but he didn’t, and that’s what ate at Annie the most. It was like when you worked on something you’re entire life, slowly building it up for one person to look at, and when you finally present it to them (with the most grand of flourishes), they just smile and nod a bit. You bite your lip, you bite your nails, you bite your tongue. What could they possibly be thinking? That’s how Annie seemed to be stuck in her life. She liked the attention that Denny gave her in any amount, but she just needed to hear things from him. She liked how often he told her he loved her, but she was too scatterbrained to always return the civility. That was how Annie was; love was reserved for moments when it was at the forefront of her mind. Of course, she was always in love with Denny and her emotions for him never ceased, but it just wasn’t worth speaking if it wasn’t consuming her entire being.

Finally, Annie relaxed against him. In her sleep, she didn’t dream, but she did sleep a fairly long time. Staying awake made her more tired, added in with leaving New York and just the immensity of being home and the fatigue of not shifting weighing down into her muscles, deeper than she ever thought it would go. She just stayed curled against him and her breathing was was light as the day diluted into the night. Annie could only sleep that way, tight and curled against him. It was the only way there was. She slept much later than he did for reasons Annie wasn’t really aware of. When she woke up, she opened her eyes, but that was basically it. She didn’t move further from him because she didn’t want to. It was awesome just to hear him breathing, even if it was in an awake way. Just to stay close and feel his heat and remind herself that she was married, and this was her husband, and she got to sleep with him like this for the rest of her life. It was hard for her to comprehend and push into her mind. She wasn’t sure why but it was.

Finally she yawned and that kind of made it known that she was awake. She kissed his throat again because that’s what was close to her. She pressed her head closer against him before pulling back from that embrace a bit so her head was resting on a pillow instead of his chest. She closed her eyes and kissed his lips. She kept her eyes closed when she pulled back, and just relaxed. She didn’t want to move for hours. There was something on the tip of her lips but she didn’t know what it was. Annie felt the need to say something but she wasn’t sure what it could be. She licked her lips but kept her eyes closed, and, slowly, a small smile formed on her lips. She giggled a little, lightly, shortly, just kind of an exhalation of air. ”I get this... forever...” she said, and it brought the vertigo back from the night before. It was like when you spun in circles for a few minutes and when you laid down you could feel the earth rotating like you had lost a sense of gravity. It was a dizzy feeling but a happy feeling, which was made evident by the smile on her face.




1340 words -- uns uns uns

[DENVER CARLOS HURLEY]

The world didn’t seem real. Denny was starting to have that feeling that people sometimes get, where you can’t tell if you’re really you, or if maybe you’re just a figment of someone else’s imagination. Like what if his entire life had just been some imagined event, or what if he was just a dream? Everything felt real. He didn’t feel like he wasn’t really there; he could hold Annie and feel her there, but did that necessarily mean that someone bigger than himself couldn’t? Maybe they were the cruel fate that kept them from having a child, or maybe that was really something that was happening to them. Maybe Denny was just taking his imagination too far; he was real. Right? He had flesh and skin and bones, but he could do things that, just a few generations ago, the humans that couldn’t do these things were blind to. It was like X-Men in that way; there were genetically altered beings that lived mostly in secrecy, no one really believing they existed, but then something huge came about, marking the existence of these beings. That was hardly realistic, right? Or was it actually reality? Actuality?

Whatever questions Denny had, the sun made them disappear. The sun was real, and of that he was positive. The rays cast across his skin made him feel awake, alive, at peace. It made a world that might just be imaginary and unreal more real and tangible than any other time of the day. It was true that Denny didn’t much care for mornings, but when they were filled with sunshine and Annie and warmth and home, he felt more meaning than he ever could have otherwise. When he had mornings like these, he didn’t see a point in wondering if his life was real or not; he had all he could ask for, so even if he wasn’t real, at least he got what he wanted. Denny didn’t need proof that his world was the world as long as he could shift, as long as he had Annie, and as long as the sun woke him up to wonderful mornings like this. The world was ready for him, real or not, but Denny would rather stay there, in bed, with Annie and the sun. It was nice to feel something other than remorse, loneliness, resentment. It was nice to wake up thinking, ‘Today’s gonna be awesome!’ in comparison to, ‘Damn, I actually have to get up today.’ Denny didn’t need to get up just yet; he could stay in for as long as he felt necessary before he went down to the book store to work out a deal. Since he didn’t have to be there at opening and work nearly ‘til closing, he didn’t need to get up at an ungodly hour and leave Annie alone in bed. Knowing that he was the reliable one once again made Denny feel useful.

Knowing that Annie was awake from her yawn merely made Denny smile. He didn’t really move because, for once, he saw things the way Annie usually did. Silence was nice, calming; staying still had the same effect. He felt her move, but Denny still didn’t really do anything except smile. He closed his eyes and sighed when she kissed his throat, and then again when her lips found his. His arms around her tightened just enough to keep her close, just to make sure that she was as real as the world around them. Well, Annie passed that inspection, leaving Denny’s mind in a calm state where everything was just so….sublime. It was beautiful. It was wonderful – all feelings Denny had missed when they’d been in New York. But now that he thought about it, he hardly remembered most of the trip/slight career change. He remembered helping Annie when she was sick and he remembered that last day, in the bathroom on the floor, crying because he’d just lost all that he’d had except for Annie. That he was grateful for, no doubt about that. He just sighed, not wanting to think of what had led to that time spent on the bathroom floor. It ruined the morning, tainted the beautiful feelings and glorious colors that he was looking at, studying, trying to become a part of. Denny suddenly wanted to be something larger than himself, but when he realized how metaphysical his thoughts were becoming, he stopped and sighed, but still smiled because Annie was right there, and she was definitely real.

Her words had him chuckling wholeheartedly. Denny kissed Annie again quickly, just to somehow reassure her that her words were one hundred percent true. “Yup,” he said simply, smiling wide because of the truth her thought brought into his thoughts. His was theirs; this was all Annie’s for as long as she wanted it. If that lasted forever, then so be it. Denny would always be hers; he would never feel the same way about anyone else because no one else cared about him the way Annie did. No one let him in the way she had; no one broke down for him, and no one would ever admit to him the way Annie had that she was broken, needed fixing, wanted him to be that one person to fix everything. There was no one else that gave him purpose to do something with his life. There was no one that he wanted to work with for the rest of his life. There was no one else that Denny wanted to come home to, no one else that he wanted to start a family with. Everything he had, everything they shared, it would all be theirs, it would all be Annie’s as long as she wanted it. Until the day she changed her mind, if that day ever came, though Denny liked to hope that it never would, all of it would belong to Annie. Of course, collectively with Denny, but to stay relevant to her thought, it was safer to be possessive in Annie’s favor.

“All yours, forever.” Denny picked up Annie’s hand with the ring on it, looked towards it for a few seconds, then closed his eyes and kissed her again. His fingers laced between hers, the smooth metal cold between two of his fingers, and he just smiled. There was no other physical way to show how he felt right now; all he had was a smile and the mind of a man that might be in over his head without really caring. Forever was a heavy promise with a heavier price to pay if it all fell through, but Denny had never felt more certain of a promise of forever in his entire life. ‘Forever’ with Annie was forever with his – as cheesy as it sounded – soul mate, the one person that would always get him, always understand how he worked, no questions asked. This forever was something Denny was willing to risk his entire being on, not to say that he’d gamble it for something potentially larger, maybe worth more. He didn’t care what the face value of this marriage was; he only cared that Annie was his wife – it was still odd to call her that, in that newlywed type of manner – and that she loved him for who he was, not someone he pretended to be for his sister’s sake.

Once he pulled away, Denny only leaned far enough away so he could really see Annie. He felt that he needed visual evidence that this wasn’t just a dream, that his world and his wife were really there, really his. Once he was sure of that, he pulled Annie close, just holding her there because he could. He thought about the sensation behind her words. I get this….forever. Awe, almost baffled. He couldn’t believe it either; all of this was his forever, so long as the fates had it planned that way. But did Denny really believe in fates? Did he really believe in a grand design of his life, or did he rather believe in himself making things happen for he and Annie? Honestly, Denny leaned more towards the latter, but for the moment it didn’t matter. The fact that he got this just as much as Annie did for as long as she got it…..that was what made the whole thing really real. The realization that he was a husband, he was married, he was loved made the world around him extremely tangible, almost conquerable. It was almost too easy to feel that, but Denny didn’t regret a single thing.

1432 words -- annie/cora who else? -- i made everything. lyrics to jack's mannequin -- denny's outfit is described -- hi.