YOU BELONG HERE --

[DENVER CARLOS HURLEY]

but i'll give you all i have
IT ISN'T MUCH, NOT MUCH AT ALL

He got it. He didn’t know if Annie forgot that he was also a shifter or something, but Denny understood. The need to shift, if put off for a long enough time burned its way into your mind, taking over everything it could the way his monster did more and more often lately. The monster and the animal that took vacancy in his mind and body were two separate beings in one; the vulture couldn’t separate from the monster but the monster could separate from the vulture. Annie didn’t seem to have that sort of issue, but then again her control was on a different level than Denny’s. She hadn’t been forced into jail and playing by police rules for countless weeks on end. Anyway, the point was that he understood, and he wasn’t hurt. If she needed her space, he’d give it to her; if she needed to shift, it wasn’t like he was going to demand she didn’t and drag her home by her toes. Denny’s a shifter too; comprehension of shifter needs was a way of life for him. It would be not only out of character but practically homicidal of him to try and take that way from his girlfriend.

He accepted her trembling arms like the good boyfriend he was, held her tightly but briefly, let her kiss him before letting go and letting her leave. Of course he cared, so saying that he didn’t would have been a lie, but he had to just live with it. There would be times when Denny felt too human because of the monster to shift, but Annie would feel completely opposite, and he’d promised her he’d stick around no matter what. Good or bad, Denny was here to stay, and if she knew that she knew he’d follow her rules and be in her apartment by the time she got back. He’d probably have enough time to shift himself if he felt like it, and to some extent he always did. Especially when extra stress was placed on his shoulders. But for now, he was alone with his broken guitar, and he was going to do as he was told.

He found Abby and Boss, said good night, picked up the broken pieces of the only thing he called Baby (because Annie would fucking kill him if he tried that on her), and headed for her apartment. His hoodie was thin, but the temperature of his skin was higher than usual, almost as if he was running a fever. He didn’t feel sick though, just sort of comfortable in this weather. He’d gone out the back of the club to avoid any straggling fans asking for his autograph or a picture or whatever they wanted; Denny loved people that loved his music, but he didn’t have the patience for them right now. Next time maybe, when Annie isn’t out in the forest by herself after getting into a physical fist fight. He had too much on his mind to face fans; the monster would likely creep into his mind in this hour of mental vulnerability and then he’d just seem like more of an asshole than he did in front of the kids that had seen what he’d said to the ginger Witch.

Once he stepped through her door, Denny found a place for his broken instrument. He laid it down carefully like he was an EMT placing a body that had just been smashed in a car accident onto a gurney. Denny couldn’t look at it after that though; he found a towel and put it over the guitar to keep it from his vision. The image of the redhead burned into his mentality as he looked at the towel, forcing him to shake his head in order to get her out. Denny suddenly didn’t feel like shifting all too much for some reason, even though he should have due to the fact that that girl had come right back into his mind. He needed a distraction though, and shifting was all he could think of doing in order to keep himself active enough to not let his thoughts stray back. Denny sighed, moving across the apartment to Annie’s bedroom again. He took off his shoes and socks first, then his jacket, then his shirt and pants before letting his body mold into a smaller, hollow-boned structure right there on her floor. He didn’t feel like stepping out into the cold in the complete nude tonight, especially since shifting hadn’t been the first thing he’d wanted to do particularly. Either way, there was his little vulture body sitting on Annie’s floor.

He spread out his wings, feeling the muscles tense a bit in preparation of flight. Looking out the doors to her balcony, Denny could see the moon and aimed right for it. His body became a speeding arrow then, and with one swift push he was off the ground and in the air. His wings flapped furiously, speeding his body faster and faster through the air until he was out of the apartment and out through her back yard. The night was clear with few clouds, which made Denny smile. He could feel the monster in the back of his mind, he knew it was there, but it was content. He was a vulture, and the monster didn’t need him to be angry or emotional right now. It was just hanging out in the back with its legs up on a table and a drink in one of its hands while Denny reached for the moon. His head was clear and the cold air felt amazing against his warm, ruffling feathers. His eyes dried out easily against the wind, but it bothered him none as he pushed against the wind currents. Eventually though, the atmosphere became too dense for him. It was like trying to swim in a pool that went too far down; his head started to feel too heavy and it became extremely hard for him to breathe. Even at the speed he’d been flying, this was the farthest he could go without pushing himself towards death.

He only stayed there for a few minutes. He hovered above the world, watching everything he could with that eye of his, scouting out small rodents and large cats. None of them looked particularly appetizing since he liked his meat….well, dead, but it was fun to pretend to be hunting. It took his mind off of everything and brought him into the mindset of the thirteen year old Denny, where everything was a game and nothing was to be taken seriously except for his parents’ boundaries. Still, it only entertained him for so long. Eventually he slowly started making his way back towards Annie’s window, and once he was perched on her balcony he turned and gave the moon a quick Vulture wink before stepping down and letting his body transform again. He put his pants and shirt back on, leaving his jacket and shoes plus socks in a neat pile by the foot of her bed. Denny checked the clock on the counter and realized how late it was, but he didn’t care. He was determined to stay up and be here when Annie got home.

After laying down on her bed for a while and staring at the ceiling, Denny almost fell asleep. He dozed off, his eyes forcing themselves closed for just a fraction of a minute before the door opened. Whatever energy he had left forced his eyes to reopen. Denny took in a sharp, deep breath and waited. When Annie called his name, he sat straight up before standing, walking directly from that spot to the threshold of her bedroom. He waited to see if she’d call him again, but she didn’t, and he didn’t know if that was a good thing or not. Worry overtook his entire being; his mind raced with things that could have gone wrong because he hadn’t thought to follow her into the forest. Denny’s feet hurried from the doorway across the apartment, finally finding Annie in a painful position. She looked horrible, like she’d been mugged and beaten to the ground or something. He doubted she would have let that happen; it had to have been something that had happened when she’d shifted. That unnerved Denny to a point he’d never felt before, and quickly his body moved before his mind.

He went over to Annie as fast as he could manage and held her by the arm with one of his hands, pulling that arm across his shoulders. That hand resided gently but tightly on Annie’s wrist as the other snaked around her back to her other hip, pulling her up easily due to his muscular arms and her lack of weight. “God Annie, what happened?” He knew that she’d be able to hear and feel the worry dripping off of every one of his words. He sort of had a right to be worried though; he was her boyfriend and he loved her and had vowed (though that word was way too awkward to use) that he’d keep her safe as long as she wanted him to. He didn’t have time to listen to her answer, didn’t even know if she would….or could answer; he just picked her up until she was standing before rocking the two of them with such a force that her legs swung up. His hand on her wrist let go and caught her legs from under her knees, and although that might have looked like an extremely cheesy pose to be holding Annie in, Denny knew it would be so much less painful if he did the walking for her. He didn’t know what she’d gotten herself into, but he knew he’d have to be the physical one right now.

“Just hold on; I’m here.” Just like he’d promised he’d be. Denver walked at a fast pace but managed to keep his feet light, something he’d adapted to because of the lightweight feeling he got when he was a vulture. Birds have hollow bones, which allows them to fly; sometimes Denny could channel that in his human form. How was one of those times; his dire need to get her to a comfortable surface pushed that trait into this form. He quickly carried her to her bedroom, laying her down on the bed before heading around the bed to get in next to her. Denny stared down at her body, almost too scared to try and lift up her clothing to see how bad the damage was. He didn’t want to know; human instincts would take over and he’d call for an ambulance without even thinking twice about it. But now, because he knew Annie would hate that, all he could do was imagine what was there. From the way she’d been standing at her door, the way her voice had sounded when she’d called him, all he could see in his mind was huge black, purple, yellow, green, and blue marks all over her body, and he didn’t know who – or what – had caused them.

Taking one of her hands, Denny sighed. He pulled his legs up as far as they would go and leaned his face against his knees, trying as hard as he could to keep tears from flowing. Thinking about Annie being this hurt just tore him in two, made him feel like he’d been the biggest idiot in the world for not having gone with her when she’d trembled and left him in the club. He tried to sigh again to calm down the clogging in his throat, but all that happened was his sighs becoming short little intakes of breath. It was useless; his mind would race and wonder and he’d end up breaking down and crying. He tried holding in his breath, ceasing all breathing, and it worked for as long as he could hold in the oxygen. The instant he let out his breath, his body shook once. His hand with Annie’s smaller hand inside squeezed, making sure there was life within her. He could feel her pulse in her fingers – her body was just reacting to whatever she’d gotten into – and it calmed him a bit to know she wasn’t dying.

“Annie,” he said, stroking her hand with his thumb. He looked at her when he was sure he wouldn’t cry and scooted even closer still, holding her up and pushing his legs down so she was leaning against him. He liked this better, honestly, and so he wrapped his arms around her small body and held her hands in both of his. “Everything is going to be okay. I love you.” It was all he could think to say, and Denver just hoped and prayed his heart out that it would suffice.


2144 -- someone on tumblr made the image, i made the rest, but the lyrics go to anberlin duh -- seren/annie -- omfg so long.

[ANNABELLE MARIE HURLEY]

because there's faith in love
IF YOU KISS ME GOODNIGHT I'LL KNOW EVERYTHING'S ALRIGHT.

Annie couldn't decide whether getting up and moving herself would be worth it. This wall was seeming pretty comfortable compared to standing up and walking to bed. Any movement kind of left her sides in agony, a sharp soreness eating away at her sides from the inside out. She didn't realize how much she used those muscles until there was a searing pain every time she did. It left her disabled and useless, the worse thing to be. But then Denny was there, she heard him, but she didn't want to open her eyes. She was just overwhelmingly tired, and didn't have the energy to do anything. She just focused on breathing as he moved her body forward, her arm around his neck, his arm around her waist. He tightened his hold on her sides, pulling her up and against him. She winced, because that hurt it was too much contact for an injury like that. Using the rocking to swing her up hurt more than she could describe. She bit her lip, trying to hold in this shrill moan that wanted to break her lips, because she didn't want to worry him with more than what he was already dealing with. Her arm clutched him tightly, balling up in the back of just shirt. His voice was wonderful to hear. Yeah, he was there, his arms were underneath her, warm and solid, and his chest was next to her, and while she normally would have hated this kind of holding or cuddling because she was oh-so-miss-independent, she had to admit that some part of her liked it, and not just because she didn't think she could move on her own. It was refreshing to know that there was someone else there to carry her and protect her, someone dedicated enough to stay at her house until all hours of the night, and then do all this work when she came home hurt. 

He put her down on the bed and Annie, once again, made no effort to move. (Moving didn't seem like the bet idea at that point, anyway.) She just laid there and kept her eyes closed, waiting to see - or rather feel - what Denny would do because she didn't like not being able to touch him and feel him there. He was solid, a foundation, and it was reassuring knowledge to just be able to reach out and feel him there and he would be so stable under her fingertips. She sighed deeply, and it felt like her lungs were going to explode from the pressure of the breath and the pain of it. Then he took one of her hands and the action unnerved her a bit; it made it seem like she was on her deathbed or something like that. It wasn't nearly that bad, she just wasn't fond of the idea of moving right then. She opened her eyes, and watched him try to breath and she felt very, very bad and guilty. It wasn't fair to put Denny through this and watch him worry himself sick over her when she herself saw this as only a minor setback; in a week the bruises would be the worst, dreadfully tender and black, but by Christmas they would look like gray splotches and be a bit sore to the touch, but not too bad. It was just now and tomorrow that would be the worst, now and tomorrow where she wouldn't want to get out of bed. 

He moved the way he was sitting so now she was leaning on him and his arms wrapped around her, she closed her eyes because she was very content like that. He said her name and she opened he eyes and listened to the comfort she had been wanting to hear. "S'not bad at all." she said, and she probably could have said that better, because she meant that she knew it would be okay, she wasn't dying, it was just bruises, but long explanations would mean lots of talking. She pointed to her left side for means of telling him what happened. "Tree," she said, matter-of-factly, and then pointed to her other side "Antlers." She pointed to her head, and smiled "Beer and bad decisions." She wasn't sure if she had said that to make him laugh, or some thing, but she couldn't stand to see him like this. She thought about running, and how she had reached this weird grounded level by thinking about him, and she missed the traits that had put her there, his smile his words, just all of him. All of him happy. She didn't want him to be upset like this, it ruined the moment and everything and made her feel despicable. She liked the comfort, but she would rather him smile and laugh. 

His arms were warm around her middle and it made her realize how cold she had been. The numbness had worn off, and so now she was really just cold, and she shivered a little against him, but just turned and buried her head in his chest, because she liked to do that. The movement was odd, though, because she didn't want to move her sides, just her head. He was warm and she just focused on him. She didn't really want to talk about what had happened in much detail because it wasn't a big event, really. Not to mention that it might make them take them back to a discussion she didn't want to have about the witch. Talking about the redhead would put her in a sticky depression because it made her feel entirely worthless. If talking a lot had been within her grasp she would have told him how he was better than shifting, how even when she ignored the world she couldn't stop thinking about him. But it would take a lot of breath to tell a story like that, breath she just didn't want to get right then.  It was much easier to just lay there with him and sigh. "I love you, too, Denny."


1,016 - OUTFIT. - lyrics to pierce the veil - ive been having the worst writers count, omg this is sick, will change template when I get on a comp.

[DENVER CARLOS HURLEY]

but i'll give you all i have
IT ISN'T MUCH, NOT MUCH AT ALL

Her stories, or lack thereof, totally unsettled him. He could understand her need to not speak too much, but that understanding didn’t make the fact that she was hurt any easier to deal with. With those little words, Denny’s mind raced. Circles started forming in patterns of his thoughts; he could see Annie hitting a tree from the side, but he didn’t know what had caused it. He could see huge antlers attached to a big black blob of a being hitting her other side, and that was the worst. The huge black blob could have been anything, really, but at the same time all signs lead to one animal. There weren’t really too many reindeer around Cape Cod, but Moose roamed freely all up and down the East Coast of the country. It all just lead to Moose in his head. Denny didn’t really know how she’d gotten into a run in with a moose, but he didn’t want to know. The fact that the animal had even touched her and turned her into this pile of bruises and limbs was enough to drive him insane.

No matter how many circles his mind made, Annie’s little attempt at humor still penetrated through those circles. It was like if they were on the opposite sides of a very busy park with people rushing between them in every direction possible; still Denny knew if he just moved forward he’d find Annie. It was one of those feelings – the little itty bit of a joke moved all the way across his mind and calmed him a bit. He couldn’t help but smile, nearly forgetting everything else about them. It was easy now that it was just him and Annie, the way he liked to be a lot lately. It didn’t matter any longer that she’d so obviously been attacked more than once tonight in so many different ways; as long as he was there with her, everything was okay. His promises that this would get better weren’t empty, which made him grow a sense of pride in himself that was somewhat new to him. The fact that everything felt like it really was going to be okay eventually gave Denny a sense of wholeness, like he was sitting there for a reason and with purpose.

“Only you would try and joke about this.” After all, there was no one else like Annie. There never had been, and Denny highly doubted there ever would be. He knew there would never be another Annie in his heart, and he knew there’d never be another Annie or Frieda or Amber that he’d want by his side ever again. Or in this case, against his chest. This was his Annie, and because of that he knew it was his job to take care of her when she got herself into these kinds of situations. He sighed. “The only bad decision you made was telling me to come here instead of going with you. Otherwise, I don’t hold anything against you. Not even hitting that bitch.” But mentioning her in that derogatory manner just brought on a wave of nauseating emotions. Denny slightly shook and cleared his head of her, remembering that Annie was in pain and he needed to focus on her. “I wouldn’t have said no to going with you, for future reference.”

Denny felt Annie shiver and almost tightened his grip around her to try and warm her up, but he remembered that she was covered in bruises that probably hurt like a bitch. His arms adjusted a bit but for the most part stayed static against Annie. It seemed for a short while they were silent, and for once he was okay with that. As far as he could know, he knew what Annie had gotten herself into, and she knew that if she needed to shift, all she had to do was ask him to tag along. That is, if she wanted him to come with her. It all just ended up going back to his dream he’d had after they’d gone ‘all the way’ where he was his vulture and she was her kalak and he just flew above her until they found each other in a small meadow. The dream, remembering it anyway, brought on some heartfelt emotions. It warmed Denny from the inside, brought him into this mindset that the love of his life and his best friend were one in the same, and where his to hold and take care of.

Then their silence was broken by Annie speaking again. Denny could tell by her physicality that it pained her to say a lot, but her voice was just as clear as he could remember it ever being. Her words meant more than the clarity of them though, and it put the bruises and the pain and whatever else that had happened tonight into the back of his mind. In fact, it was so far back that Denny could only see and feel what was right there – him and Annie and the love they showed each other. If everyone else on the planet died from a massive zombie attack (well, everyone besides Boss and Abby), Denny and Annie would be able to survive. They’d definitely have to kick some mad Zombie ass, but they’d make it through. All they needed was each other, even though that sort of thing was only found in movies and books. Denny whole heartedly believed it though; without Annie he was nothing, and he was pretty sure it was the same for Annie. The fact still remained that if the circumstance came around, all Denny needed was to have Annie love him and all Annie needed was to have Denny love her – and they’d get through anything.

Denny put his head against the top of Annie’s lightly, putting just enough pressure to make sure she knew he was there. He was gentle, knowing that if he made any sudden moves he’d cause her pain. The usual soft feel of her hair was slightly altered, but not necessarily in a bad way. It was like those girls in the movies that had just run for a really long time; her hair was knotted every few inches or so, but it smelled so much like earth that the tangled mess of it didn’t even matter to Denny. It was…..sexy, to be honest, but he didn’t say that. The moment wasn’t right to comment that way. Still, the fact that her hair was even messier than usual just made her all that more naturally beautiful to him – to be honest he liked her animosity so much more than the porcelain, breakable complexion of the girl who’d tried to flirt with him earlier that evening. The knots, the smell, the feel…..all of Annie was more his ‘type’ than any other girl he’d ever seen. All of her meant more to him than anything else in this world.

He kissed the top of her head as lightly as he could before sighing again. His hands gently squeezed hers, holding her as close as possible without pulling. “I love you,” he started, even though he’d already said that, “but if you ever do something like this again, I’m probably going to explode.” He didn’t even sound serious. Denny wasn’t; he wanted to keep the mood light and thoughtless really, because anything else would have just circled them back to the redheaded witch that had started all of this. Yes, Denny was going to blame her – it wasn’t like you were going to find him changing his mind and blame Annie any time soon.


1247 -- someone on tumblr made the image, i made the rest, but the lyrics go to anberlin duh -- seren/annie -- okay i dunno why that sucks so much.

[ANNABELLE MARIE HURLEY]

because there's faith in love
IF YOU KISS ME GOODNIGHT I'LL KNOW EVERYTHING'S ALRIGHT.

But if you ever do something like this again, I’m probably going to explode. Annie laughed lightly, a breathy laugh because she didn't want to over exert herself. He just made her so happy, but her ribs hurt too badly to have a bug reaction to. And she reacted better to his body with her body, his touches with her touches, be it sensual or platonic, just being together was conversation enough. His lips on her head was nice, and his head resting on her's was perfect. Even though that was a strong adjective to give, she couldn't possibly think of anything that fit better. It made then feel real, really real, even if it had only taken a few weeks to get to this. Maybe that was unrealistic timing, but she didn't care about time, she just loved him against her and that light feeling of his arms and head around her. It was warm and comfortable and so familiar like old gloves or something, it just slipped on so easily. It felt like they had already been together for months and it helped ease her discomfort about things not feeling right. Because everything felt so comfortable right then, so undeniably meant to be. 

She could think of plenty of witty replies for him, but she didn't want to say anything because she didn't know if she could. Just sarcasm that bubbled in her throat, but she was happy and saw no reason to let it out. Just quiet, and thankful, ungodly thankful that he was there and hugging her, and carrying about her. Annie just sighed, and relaxed in his arms and his presence. Denver's presence was so warm and just filled up everything; normally Annie's loud attitude soaked it all up, but with her meek and injured, Denny's quiet intensity filled up the room, and she realized then how much of them there really was. This sounded terrible, but sometimes he was easy to overlook. He was in the background, quiet, stable, waiting for when she needed him. And now that he had a chance, he was filling up everything, and he was so evident and there and she couldn't describe it. There was just so much of him everywhere. She felt her breath on her hair and just loved all of it, all of that moment, all of him. She smiled a little to herself, her eyes closed softly. Soft silence roared around them in the room, quaint but persistent, like tv static. Sticking to her in petulance, but still ignorable. She wished she had something to say, but even if she did she had no way of saying it. Silence never really bothered her that much, anyway. 

She felt like she was getting sleepy, and she slouched a little against him, his smell mixing with the sound of his breathing mixing with the sound of his heartbeat and his heat and the lulling silence kind of like a weird lullaby. Annie leaned more of her weight on Denny, lightly though. She yawned a little, and it reminded her of her sides, which she had almost forgotten about. The burn reappeared deep in the sides of her abs and she didn't know what to do. She ended the yawn with biting her lip, and shifting uncomfortably, opening her eyes. "Denny," she whispered, not sure if he was awake and not wanting to really work her voice. "can you see if there's ice or something for my sides?" Sides was a good, all encompassing word, her ribs and her muscles and lungs and everything. Maybe ice could fix that burn and ease the ache of the soreness because she knew she would want to cry from it in the morning. 

She let go of his hands as he moved away, and she felt bad for asking him but she didn't know if she could do it herself. The idea of getting out of bed wasn't appealing at all. When he was gone, though, she leaned up slightly, kicked her shoes and socks off and pulled the covers back. Bed seemed like a good idea, because she wanted to sleep soon, and sleep for a long time. She twisted underneath them painfully, pulling the comforter over, and then she pulled her shirt off, too. It was a task that was probably better left untackled, but she needed to look at the bruises and it would be easier to put ice there without her shirt. Damage needed to be inspected. She winced and flinched when the shirt got to her shoulders because that's when some wriggling was needed and it made her tear up. Stinging her eyes and making her bones twist in her wrists because it was that irritating and raw kind of pain. She knew tomorrow there would be no moving without sobs. There would be no getting out of bed. That wasn't a good idea, anyway. She closed her eyes and fell back down against the pillows in utter defeat to the pain because crying made her so angry and upset with herself. 

She looked down at her stomach and pressed one finger to the bruise, pulling her lip back as she watched her skin go white to red to purple. The colors were sickening and the soreness wasn't appealing, either. Denny walked back in, and her head snapped up because that was vulnerable. She was left for the vultures to swoop over. Her entire stomach was just so... there. It wasn't even the bruises that made her feel exposed; it was just her midsection, laid out for Denny to scrutinize - not that he would, but still. He was a good kid, and besides, Annie had shown this and more, but when she had laid on him before there was so much surprise that she hadn't even noticed, and the other night... well, it hadn't mattered. Only all that fire, only that mattered. Now she scrunched her eyes together and couldn't think of words and just wanted to puke from nervousness and the fact that she hadn't in a week or two. Just gross, she felt gross and undesirable. And scared, completely scared. She knew what she thought of herself; but what did Denny think?


1,040 - OUTFIT. - lyrics to pierce the veil - idek what to think of this post

[DENVER CARLOS HURLEY]

but i'll give you all i have
IT ISN'T MUCH, NOT MUCH AT ALL

Denny knew that if he were in this kind of pain, Annie would at least attempt to do what she was asking of him. Of course, she might have freaked out even worse than Denny had, but the thought remained. Plus, he figured part of his promise to stay was to take care of her and make sure she got better no matter what and no matter at what. It was more of him being hesitant to let her go than him not wanting to go into her kitchen and getting ice. He was just feeling so protective of her that letting her fall out of his arms felt nearly impossible. But she probably needed the nice more than she needed to have him holding her like this right now, and he was just going to have to suck it up and deal. So he sighed, let her move, and nodded. He forced a smile, one that actually came through. “Be right back then.” With that, he slid off the bed and slowly made his way out of the room.

It was like someone had cut an appendage of his off. Okay, that was a bit mellow dramatic. Still, Denny just felt like he was missing something, like a whole part of him was back in that room. He didn’t say anything, stayed very quiet, and moved to her freezer. Denny turned both ways first, looking for some paper towels or plastic bags. The bags might be easier to deal with; if he and Annie fell asleep before the ice melted, paper would end up just letting the cold water seep into her mattress. So Denny dug around a bit until he found two plastic bags - one for each of her sides - before turning back to the freezer. He opened the door, found the ice, and filled the bags until they could hardly close. That should be enough for the night. At least, Denny hoped so. Once they were both zipped closed, Denny placed them on the counter before pausing.

He could hear her. Annie wasn’t trying to be loud, but his sense of hearing was heightened due his vulturistic abilities. Every little breath and movement she made or took, Denny could hear from the kitchen; he could play out all of the movements and breaths in his mind because of his hearing. He could practically stare right into her pained eyes, could see the expression on her face as she tried to make herself comfortable. Denny cringed at the thought, blew it away easily with the knowledge that he needed to be calm and collected for the both of them. Annie was the one that was hurt; he had to be the strong, stable one for the night, not that he wasn’t anyway. He was; he just needed to keep a good, strong hold on his own emotions until she was better. So he sighed, picked up the bags (one in each hand) and moved to her room again. Denny didn’t know if he’d be able to look at her, but with the blanket that far up and from where he was standing, he couldn’t see any of her bruises yet. Good. He moved from the doorway slowly, taking long but hesitant steps towards her. He wasn’t scared of Annie, just of what he might see and how hard he’d have to fight to keep himself from crying or screaming.

When he was close enough, Denny took the time to blink. Really, he thought long and hard and hesitatingly about this wink - more so than the rest of any blinks he’d ever had in his entire life. This moment truly frightened him because he didn’t know what would happen. Still, he had to push himself to get through it; Annie needed him to put the ice on her sides so she could rest and not worry about pain. It’d be cold, but he’d be there to keep her warm if she wanted him to. So that was that - Denny wasn’t leaving tonight. He probably would only leave within the next few days to go home and get some clean clothing, but everything else he could worry about here, while he took care of Annie. Denver sucked up everything and forced himself to be as numb to emotion as he could be for the moment. He lifted one hand up and helped Annie push the blanket away before putting one of the bags on the side farthest from him. He gasped from seeing the bruises - they’d been just as bad as he’d imagined them.

Quickly, but gently, as to not hurt Annie than she was already hurting Denny placed the second bag on her side closest to him. He avoided looking at the blue, yellow, green, black, and purple that adorned her normally rather tan skin, keeping his eyes strictly on the ice. Once the bag and paper was settled, he smiled, still avoiding the colors. But he looked right at Annie and suddenly the colors weren’t even there. The only colors he could see were the hazel-brown-green-yellow colors that shone from the two orbs in her face. He stood up straight, then leaned forward gently and kissed Annie, letting his mind just clear itself. Then he was standing up again, slowly and hesitantly, but eventually he was straight backed and walking around the bed. Gently he got back onto the mattress from the opposite side and, just as gently, crawled across the comforter to Annie. He sat right next to her, holding out his hand for her to take. “You know, because of this you’re stuck with me for at least three days.” His smile didn’t falter and he actually wasn’t worried. As long as Annie was there, and she was alive, he’d be okay.

“But that also means that for at least the next three days you won’t have to lift a finger, you spoiled brat.” He was playing, and his tone let her know that. Denny didn’t think Annie was spoiled, but the fact that he wouldn’t let her get out of bed to get herself a glass of water for the next three days just kind of made way for the joke. Once her hand was in his, Denny leaned over as carefully as he could and kissed the side of her head - the side with a full scalp of hair - still smiling and still pretty easy going. As long as he didn’t have to look at the bruises, he was okay. His mind didn’t wander to them. His train station was static; no trains were leaving and none were coming in, everything was just staying put on the feelings he had for Annie. “So if you need anything, anything at all, just ask.” One of his legs crossed over the other as he let out a huge yawn, even though he wasn’t tired. Worn out, yes, but mentally his mind wasn’t tired even if it was static. “How does the ice feel?”


1229 -- someone on tumblr made the image, i made the rest, but the lyrics go to anberlin duh -- seren/annie -- of course he'd joke like this. denny stop trying to be koala tea.

[ANNABELLE MARIE HURLEY]

because there's faith in love
IF YOU KISS ME GOODNIGHT I'LL KNOW EVERYTHING'S ALRIGHT.

Love was funny in the way it could sneak up on you and just take over all of your body and ideas with it’s immensity. It was such a big emotion that it just demanded absolutely all of you. Maybe it was weird, maybe it was odd and irrational, but that’s the way it was… for Annie, anyway. There was just no room for any other emotions, but it was strange, like it had secretly been taking up space and suddenly she was aware. She had slowly been falling for Denny, and then there had been that huge fall into her emotions that she wasn’t even sure how to comprehend. Annie wasn’t naturally apt at dealing with her emotions in a healthy manner, anyway. And even now, when she knew she was completely in love with him, sometimes it would just sneak up on her, and wash over her like a tidal wave and she had to think Damn, I really love you. It was easy to think things like that about Denny. It was so easy to just fall for him without even trying. Because he tried; she challenged him with her stubbornness and damage, and he just took her on. And he’d won that battle, he had a claim to her, he had so much of her that neither of them could even fathom it, because Annie was a very complex person. Just so much of him was so much to her. It gave her a better idea of what he was going through, because she was unbelievably protective and possessive of all of him, down to every last hair on his head. It was hard to keep straight and hard to understand, but it was there. It was very there, and demanded all of her attention, this affection. She felt it with the pain of her sides, and every breath, and every word, and every heartbeat. Every thing she thought and didn’t think was mixed up with this love for him. And she didn’t mind. She was slowly learning how to show how she felt, and Denny seemed to have all the patience in the world when it came to her. It felt stable, it felt like this would last. And that, that was exactly what Annie needed.


She inhaled sharply when Denny gasped, and it took her mind a few seconds to comprehend that he was worried about the bruises, not her actual body. She was so caught up in her appearance that she didn’t even stop to consider her condition. She could honestly say that for that moment it had slipped her mind. Yes, the incapacitating pain that was attacking her ribcage was forgotten over insecurities. She relaxed then, shifting slightly from the ice because it was fucking cold, alright? It would be numb after awhile and she could ignore it and let it do some healing or whatever ice did, but for now it was just cold. His hands that close to her sides hurt kind of, just from the friction, but it was nice at the same time because she loved him being that close to her. The bruises felt swollen and gross, but his hands felt so nice when he moved the ice to her side. She loved having him touch her, which was good, because he seemed to love too. They could do that all the time, if he wanted. And then he got to her other side, but she didn’t watch him put the ice there, she just watched his eyes, watched him look her right back. He met her gaze unwaveringly, like he was trying hard not to focus on her sides. It kind of took away her breath, and she realized she was in one of those Damn, I really love you moments. She respected that he could be so calm about this, too, because if they were in opposite situations Annie would be panicking beyond comprehension. He leaned forward to kiss her and she lost all of her breath and she felt like he was sweeping her off her feet and she was swooning at his lips. All very non-Annie like things, but in that moment she didn’t care. Because it was just them, she had no quota to meet, no expectations to rise to. She could be herself, and maybe not even that. It was just about being what she felt like being, and she wanted to be this person that was new to her. He made her want to be like that. And maybe that sounded like a bad thing, but to her it wasn’t.


He pulled back from her lips and moved to the other side of the bed, sliding close to her and leaving his hand for her to hold. She grabbed it eagerly, loving his touch. Sometimes Annie was in a more affectionate mood than other times, and right now was one of those affectionate moods. You know, because of this you’re stuck with me for at least three days. She smiled at him, because that sounded like a very good sentence. But she didn’t say anything, because, frankly, there wasn’t anything for her to say accept that she liked the sound of that, but she didn’t want to waste her breath. But that also means that for at least the next three days you won’t have to lift a finger, you spoiled brat. Her smile grew wider and some kind of strangled attempt at a laugh made it’s way from her mouth, and she scooted closer to him as he folded his legs and laid down more. So if you need anything, anything at all, just ask. She shifted again, and it hurt a little, but the ice was kind of a cushion, as weird as that sounded. She wrapped her free arm around his chest, pulling her closer and keeping their clasped hands between them. She rested her head on his chest again, and closed her eyes, yawning. ”I just need you.” Kind of cheesy, but it was simple and true, so it was worth saying. How does the ice feel? Ugh, she wanted to answer but her sides hurt. She pressed her face against him. ”Cold,” she started, testing out talking. It wasn’t so bad, but she had a feeling that would change. The morning after was always the worst when it came to things like this. ” but it’ll pay off.”


After that, Annie was just too tired to talk, even if she was able to and even if she wanted to. She didn’t need anything but that silence and them being together. She just wanted to lay close to him like this, and feel his heat warm up the rest of her body. Annie wanted them to stay like this as long as they could. She never wanted to move again. She just wanted to ignore how sick she felt in her own skin and just appreciate the fact that Denny was there with her, willing to be her shoulder to lean on and her crutch, willing to take care of her. There wasn’t any asking involved, barely any talking. He just knew that she needed them and he was there to help. There weren’t any words to describe the appreciation she had for him doing that. There was nothing that was making her feel more worthwhile than him laying next to her. The ginger’s insults were a distant memory, the moose and bruises were forgotten. Just this moment, she had it in her hands. Maybe there would be so many others like it and maybe there wouldn’t. It didn’t matter though, because she had this one. She had him.

”I’m just so happy you love me,” she whisper quietly, and then she fell asleep against him.


1,304 - OUTFIT. - lyrics to pierce the veil - thank god, IT'S A DECENT POST.

[DENVER CARLOS HURLEY]

but i'll give you all i have
IT ISN'T MUCH, NOT MUCH AT ALL

It was funny how quickly life had gone from being pretty empty and easy to being all about one person. It felt like a whole lifetime ago that Denny had just been Denny and a guitar. It felt like half a lifetime ago that he’d met Annie, and even then she’d encompassed only a fraction of him. It was enough for him to notice, but it wasn’t as great a hold as she had now. It didn’t matter how much time had passed; Denny still sat there and dwelled on how fast she’d overtaken his entire being. Soon enough after meeting, Denny could feel more and more of him being more and more about Annie. He remembered being slightly fearful of that. For one, he didn’t know how Annie would react to him telling her he had a thing for her. For another, he’d never felt that way about a girl before. Sure, attraction had occurred between himself and other girls before, but never singularly like that. He didn’t know how to react to it, didn’t know how to act on it. And as time went on, his entire being just became all about Annie. Every part of him belonged to her, and every part of his mind was always on her movements and thoughts that he couldn’t decode. Even now he had a hard time completely understanding her, but most of what he’d had trouble figuring out when they’d first met were things that Denny could do like simple math in his mind now. Annie had just become this whole section of himself that everything about her was something Denny either adjusted to or reacted to in quite the rational (yet somehow still slightly irrational considering how odd they were to the rest of the world) and logical manner.

Original analogies were becoming harder and harder to create. Denny had said and thought all he felt already, but somehow that just didn’t scare him. He felt like he could tell Annie how much he loved her all day, ever day and all she’d do is eat it up and enjoy the attention he was feeding her. To be honest, Denny was okay with that. It made Annie sound like a goddess when, even though he’d never accept or repeat it, Denny himself knew she wasn’t. He might treat her like one and act like he believed it, but a major sector of his rational thought knew better. Annie was flawed and so human that she was inhuman in her humanity – and somehow, Denny loved her for it. It didn’t matter that she was more animal than human – he could try to be too, though he wasn’t sure how successful at it he would be – and it didn’t matter that they weren’t even the same species within the same kingdom. To Denny, being a Vulture made no difference to Annie’s Kalak. They were equals to him, regardless of his ability to fly or hers to run. None of that mattered. What did matter was that he was there taking care of her, partly because he didn’t know who else would step in and do the same and partly because he couldn’t think of a single thing he’d rather be doing.

He listened to her words get lighter and lighter, softer as time went on. It wasn’t that long anymore, and time wasn’t moving an extremely slow pace, but Denny could tell that moments were passing and the both of them were just getting more worn out as those minutes moved. He could hear her getting more and more tired as the words came through her mouth, but he didn’t say anything on it. So what if they fell asleep? They were there together, holding each other like they’d been doing it forever instead of just over a week or two. Maybe that was what mattered most. Maybe the fact that they felt so natural was what made the most sense and meant the most. Feeling like this could only be good, right? Feeling like this didn’t just end, right? Denny didn’t feel like it would end, and he didn’t feel like anyone else would feel this plainly right for him, against him, around him. Everything with Annie just felt like there was nothing between them that was wrong or dark or blank, if any of that made any sense at all. To anyone else, Denny believed it wouldn’t, but no one else outside of this bedroom really counted. Not even Boss or Abby – they had their own little thing going on these days anyway, and so Denny didn’t even give the differences a second thought.

Denver let Annie move, carefully staying put so she could do it with the least amount of pain possible. He hated seeing her like that and knowing he couldn’t do anything to stop it; it tore him up inside to not be able to defend and protect the one thing he loved the most. It also ticked himself off that he was referring to Annie as a thing, but at least he wasn’t saying that out loud. Annie wasn’t a thing, and he didn’t think she was, so the thought kind of pissed him off. But then he was just pissed off at himself, and quickly he realized how much concentration and time he was wasting on thinking about being mad at himself, and so he ceased all thought and just sighed. He held Annie as close as he could without moving her, cautiously keeping her attached to him the way he liked in a position she’d be comfortable in for the night. He listened once again to her drifting words that drove him to this place of peace and tranquility for the night, which was a stark contrast to that of just a few hours ago. Between then and now, Denny had had the emotional influx of euphoric ecstasy on stage to rage and probably some bit of humiliation behind the scenes to worry to being completely lost back in euphoria and then more worry. So many feelings and thoughts had passed through him since the show had started, and finally he was stuck in this…..this feeling that he never wanted to end even though he couldn’t verbally describe it.

And then, before he could respond to her, Annie was asleep. Denny was hardly tired, but he knew after a few minutes of doing nothing but watching her his eyes would just simultaneously close and he’d drift into an Annie-laden dream sequence for hours until the sun came up and woke him out of the trance. Still, he felt he couldn’t just let what she’d said go without a reply, even if she wouldn’t hear it. He looked at what he could of her from where he was and smiled, somehow loving the sight of Annie asleep just as much as he loved seeing her awake and alive. He didn’t know how that logic worked, but at the moment he just didn’t care. Annie was there with him, safe in his arms and a sense that Denny was the protector for once. He smiled and kissed her head again, holding on almost too long to the feeling mostly because he loved the smell and feel of her hair. But once he was doing being sort of creepy with her hair, Denny just leaned back and forgot about boundaries, not that there really were any anymore between them. He was just…..so relaxed. Nothing about him was tense, which was a completely new feeling honestly.

“Of course I love you,” he said, knowing full well Annie was no longer awake to hear it. He thought maybe that was for the better, for the sake of her not hearing how cheesy he truly could get in a mood like this. “If I didn’t love you, I’d have nothing and no one to believe in. Nothing and no one to believe in me.”


1325 -- someone on tumblr made the image, i made the rest, but the lyrics go to anberlin duh -- seren/annie -- omfg so much denny mind ramble.

[ANNABELLE MARIE HURLEY]

because there's faith in love
IF YOU KISS ME GOODNIGHT I'LL KNOW EVERYTHING'S ALRIGHT.

The first breath of the morning felt like a knife into Annie’s side, slicing right through all of her muscles. She turned immediately, like she was trying to relieve the pressure, and then the other side hurt ten times worse. It ripped through her sides like an earthquake, angry, harsh, unforgiving. She made a sharp, short noise, like a much quieter version of the sound a dog makes when you step on it’s tail; she couldn’t help it, she hadn’t been expecting that pain, so she hadn’t been prepared. She pushed her head back against Denny like that would make all the pain disappear, squeezing her eyes shut as tight as she could and wrapping her arm tight around his chest, her arms and legs shaking a little because adrenaline was pounding through her bloodstream. It made a loud throb in her ear, all that coursing blood that needed somewhere to go, something to do. But Annie couldn’t move, she could barely breath, her diaphragm was on fire. She didn’t know what was going on, at all. She had just woken up and she didn’t know what time it was, and she didn’t want to open her eyes because her head was still sleep-drunk, and she wasn’t sure if seeing would hurt, too. Her mind was at the point where anything was possible.

So she just held on to Denver, reeling from the pain, because even being completely still like this made her want to cry. The intensity of it all was just unbelievable, and it had struck with such surprise; waking up was painful, sure, but this brought an entirely new dimension to that light hearted statement. But, of course, she wouldn’t because… she couldn’t. That didn’t make sense, but that was a vulnerability. Annie hated being vulnerable. The idea of being open emotionally in any way just scared Annie shitless. Couldn’t stand it, even if Denny knew all of her, had all of her, and she was vulnerable every second she was with him. She had shared a lot of emotions with him (she’d admitted that she had loved him, and that was a pretty damn big step). But maybe crying was a step too far, and she didn’t want to cry from pain. People yelled and got violent from pain… or at least Annie did. Crying, that just seemed silly and stupid, and she didn’t even know what she was thinking anymore, she just wanted it to stop. Everything going on around her and in her just needed to stop and it needed to all go back to the brilliant light that was Annie and Denny were nothing else could touch them. All of the peacefulness of sleep, any dreams she might have had… it was all forgotten in the wake of this infuriating soreness that plagued her whole body. She couldn’t pinpoint it; it wasn’t precise and concise. It was everywhere, emanating and painful.

Annie kept her head there, her breathing shallowed by her body and pressed up against his warm side and chest. It was the only thing she could think to do, because it was the most comforting thing she knew how to do. The ice from before was just water trapped in a plastic bag, annoying but still kind of comforting. Like airbags for her sides, but that didn’t stop the hurting. It was like a fire on her sides, but it was inside, and she couldn’t think of anything to put it out. The ideas of the bags of ice, though, that opened up what had happened, and she blinked, opening her eyes. It was like a little mini epiphany for her, and it made much more sense after that. It flooded back, from falling asleep to asking for ice to snuggling to getting home to the moose to shifting to the guitar strings to punching to insults, it all flooded back. Her anger, her hurt, the running, just wanting to be everywhere and no where and somewhere else all at the same time, it all pushed right to the front of her mind, but she just closed her eyes again and pressed her face against Denny again. That was a lot of hiding, pushing her face against him so much. But he was so welcoming and familiar, and she couldn’t think of anything else to do. Now that she had someone to rely on, she may have been relying a bit too much… but he didn’t seem to mind.

She opened her eyes again, and took a deep breath because that’s all she could think to do. Eyes wide open, watching Denny’s face like a small kid, a deep breath that filled her lungs up. When she took that breath, though, it didn’t feel like air was filling them, it just felt like her lungs were swelling up and running into her ribcage which pressed too hard against her sides and then everything just hurt again and she wanted to cry. She felt like her eyes were going to tear up because she had been through pain and injuries plenty of times, but nothing like the immensity of this. It was a weird pain, and a new one, too. She sucked in another breath to try to keep from crying but that just hurt worse and she didn’t even remember how to talk her head was so dizzy from the pain of her body. She didn’t know what to do about all of it, and although knowing what was causing it (the only difference between now and two minutes ago) made it easier to deal with, it didn’t make the pain go away, just the worry. So she couldn’t move and she had to deal with pain to get sufficient air. So she just pressed her face against Denny, and turned her body so she could wrap both of her arms around him, although that required a lot of shifting, and she moaned against him, squeezing her eyes shut as the noise slipped out. She hadn’t wanted it to escape; she wanted to stay silent. But she couldn’t help it. She just hurt so bad right now, and he was the only thing that made stuff better these days. She had to be as close to him as she could.


1,049 - OUTFIT. - lyrics to pierce the veil - that was pretty long for no thought ramble. it was basically all OH MY GOD THIS FUCKING HURTS ramble.

[DENVER CARLOS HURLEY]

but i'll give you all i have
IT ISN'T MUCH, NOT MUCH AT ALL

Dreamless, frankly boring sleep was something Denny was kind of used to. When nothing worthy of anything was happening in his life, his dreams were just the same. Now that he had Annie the way he did though, his dreams were usually filled with her or some symbolism of her. Even still, there were mornings, like this one, where Denny woke up and realized he couldn’t remember what his dream was about. He knew he’d had a dream - the remnants of it were still there in his mind, tugging on his conscious thoughts - but he couldn’t remember any single part of it. He couldn’t honestly say that Annie had been there because his mind no longer held onto the events that had played out; he couldn’t even tell someone that he was the main character of his own dream which was usually the case, for the same reason. His night had been relatively calm after his eyes had closed.

Well, that all ended as soon as he felt movement. Denny couldn’t tell if that was just another one of his vulture instincts to automatically be tuned into any sudden life in a still, stalled world, but in any case the instant Annie was turning his eyes shot open. His mind was still hazy, as per usual after just waking up, but could feel movement and knew he was no longer asleep. His mindless dream was over, and his front brain was so awake it wasn’t even funny. The pupils in his eyes dilated and he stayed as still as he could. What was happening in his mind was out of the ordinary – so much so that he couldn’t even speak because of it. He didn’t know what was going on. It was like that nightmare he’d had the night he’d told Annie he’d loved her, with the fire and the world crumbling around him as he flew through the day. His eyes stayed as still as the rest of his entire body, static underneath Annie’s torture.

That was about the time his mind registered what was going on. The wheels of the factory in his head started turning, the little steam alarm that told the workers to get to work sounded, and suddenly he was functioning again. But he felt Annie writhe in pain against him, and he stayed as still as he could. The hands that belonged to him that were on her were as gentle has he could make them, holding her and supporting her so she a) wouldn’t fall of the bed and end up hurting herself even more or b) lose one of the still cold but melted ice bags. However, his arms attached to his hands were as stiff, as tense as ever. He kept them that way, even though it would begin to hurt eventually, just to keep a stable framework about the two of them, holding Annie as close as he could with cautionary steps. Suddenly everything about him, besides his hands, was stiff and held still. Denny didn’t know what to do or how to move, and his first thought was to just stay as still as he could until Annie was done shifting. He couldn’t tell if she was asleep or not from where he was, but he knew she was in immense amounts of pain. That much was more than evident.

He stayed as still as he could as she held tighter and tighter onto him. The pain in her sides must have been extremely torturous because the way she was holding him felt like claws digging into his skin. But you know what? Denny would let her hold him that way – she was in pain, so who was he as her boyfriend to tell her to stop trying to let the pain out in some outlet? It was better than her trying to rip her sides from her body anyway, so the tension he was holding in his body was paying off. When she gave off a small sound, Denny knew he didn’t have to sit so stiffly. He relaxed and sighed, but didn’t smile or really do anything really. He did, however, carefully move one of his arms to the back of her head, stroking her hair slowly and timely. His fingers worked out all the knots in her hair so gently that he doubted she even felt it (that could also be due to the fact that everything she was feeling was probably protruding from her sides). Still, he was sort of hoping that his fingers in her hair would at least calm her mental state, even if he did doubt it a bit. Pain was pain, and once it was inflicted there was little anyone could do until the pain went away.

His tendency to be known for his quiet intensity settled in. What could Denny say? He couldn’t promise Annie anything since he wasn’t a doctor, and he couldn’t take her to one in fear of her freaking out. Denny didn’t know the doctors too well around here, couldn’t trust them, didn’t know if Annie even liked the white coats, white rooms, cold, dry air and fluorescent lights. Denny didn’t think he could handle all of that himself, so taking Annie to the doctor was out of the question. Plus, she wasn’t sick, just beaten and bruised, which was something he had the confidence in himself to be able to help. For once, Denny knew he could do something, and that something was constantly having to do with Annie a lot these days. He wasn’t complaining; in fact, he was praising the fact that no matter what, she was always there to give him a reason for doing something instead of just moping around with his guitar, trying to find a job in a town where everyone thought he’d try to kill their daughters with his car – even though he didn’t have that car (or any car) any longer.

Denver sighed, knowing he couldn’t do much more than he already was. He just felt like he was being rendered useless because the most he could do was sit there and act as a leaning post. He couldn’t move, couldn’t get Annie anything or do anything for her because all she could do was cuddle up to him and hope that that would take away the pain. It obviously didn’t, which just made Denny more ticked off. Not exactly in a mad way, but he was ticked off in the sense that he really just wanted to do all he could and more to help. The cycle of wanting to help but knowing there was nothing he could do just numbed his mind a bit, and mindlessly for a few minutes all he did was run his fingers through Annie’s long hair. It didn’t matter if half of it was missing; the other half was more than enough for him to get lost in no matter what. He sighed once more, throwing all thoughts out of his mind in that way he was getting so used to in order to start a new train track at the station of thought trains. “Morning.” But not good, because obviously for Annie this was not a good morning. If it was good, she would have woken up in a much different light.

“Need anything?” He was making sure to keep his questions short, sweet, and able to answer with a simple shake of her head. Yes or no, he reminded himself. It would be easiest for Annie, whether that meant he had to sit there and listen to the absence of her voice all day. But in the long run, Denny knew he would do that. He wasn’t some freak that wanted to hear his girlfriend in pain – in fact, he was the opposite. He wanted to try and help her get better so he could hear her in her natural, Annie tone. That just made more sense to him than trying to get her to talk through the pain she was feeling. Denny waited for her to respond before trying to think of something else to say. He honestly didn’t know what to let out of his mouth – he didn’t think she wanted to respond to much with what was taking over the rest of her concentration, so he needed some way to calm her down without really pulling her mind in too many directions. “Everything’s gonna be okay, okay?” It was all that he could manage.


1421 -- someone on tumblr made the image, i made the rest, but the lyrics go to anberlin duh -- seren/annie -- denny why are you so considerate for a guy? just be real okay okay.

[ANNABELLE MARIE HURLEY]

because there's faith in love
IF YOU KISS ME GOODNIGHT I'LL KNOW EVERYTHING'S ALRIGHT.

Annie couldn’t think of anything to say. Her lips were useless, and much of the rest of her, too. Her arms were already latched onto Denver with a death grip, and Annie didn’t think that even she could change that any time soon. All that was there was silence in her mind, and her thoughts were hissing around her head, not waiting long enough for her to focus on one individually. She was stuck in place, but whipped around like a tornado, and just surrounded by this incapacitating pain. It was all spinning around and she couldn’t think of what to say. She couldn’t think of what to do, she could barely even think of what to think. It was like trying to grab smoke; virtually impossible, frustrating, suffocating. She couldn’t think of ways to push it away, or to get out of her head, all she knew was this pain, and Denny. Maybe that was good, though, because the pain was at the fore-front of her mind, but Denver was always swimming around inside her head, sticking to the walls of her skull and heart and ribs. Now he mingled with the pain, but he really did that, he just mingled. He couldn’t fight it, he couldn’t make it stop, but maybe just interacting with it was bringing some sort of numbing on it because he was so calm, and he just stepped into her, and some of the pain just went away because he couldn’t be denied. When he was there with her there was no way the pain could scream like this. He may have been quiet, and patient, but he was stubborn, and so he just shut everything up. But maybe that really wasn’t happening and maybe she was just temporarily going crazy from how much all of this was driving her insane.

All she really knew was that her mind was being dragged in so many different directions.

For one, she could think of a million better things he could be doing with his hands than running them through her hair. Not that she didn’t like him running his hands through it, because she really did. The movements of it were comforting and made her feel a bit better. It was a lovely gesture that did what he intended it to do, and calmed her down a little, pulled parts of her brain from the pain and bringing them back to Denny – really, though, everything came back to him, even this ache in her muscles. He couldn’t help that it was that way, because a lot of things were in this chain of events that he just couldn’t change, but either way he caused him. He had caused Annie to fall in love, which made her possessive, he was totally desirable, which caused the witch to try and flirt with him, which caused Annie to loose her temper and need to shift. He filled her head with frustration, which made her do things she shouldn’t. None of that was his fault though, because she would never take back being in love with him. And so it all just came back to him. But, also, this part of her just really wanted to be kissing him again, rough and wanting, like Thanksgiving. Just lots of heat and ideas that she couldn’t control, and hands that they couldn’t control, but with everything being so unbearably right that it didn’t even matter. It wasn’t that she was even horny or something (omfg why did I just write that, just pretend that wasn’t awkward, okay? Okay.) it was just that not being able to do it made it something she wanted kind of badly. She didn’t want to have to worry about how her sides hurt and she could barely move. She wanted to really cuddle with Denny, and kiss him, and tell him how great he was, not sit here like a vegetable, clinging to him like a life raft.

For another, she just wanted to kick herself. Stupidity, every strike of pain was a reminder that she had been stupid, it was something that mocked her and yelled at her. It was telling her that she should have been content with what she had, she shouldn’t have gone off thinking she needed some fix. Maybe Denny wasn’t her cure, but she was denying something that was very evident; shifting was part of the problem. Annie had a sick fascination with her Kalak body, and wanted to be in it all the time. It wasn’t healthy, like Denver’s shifting. It was grotesque, it was a hiding spot. And this was the universe’s way of telling her to stop hiding. It hurt more than her sides to think that she had to let go of her biggest vice, it hurt more than every pain in her entire life to deal with herself and not find a way around this. To have to face her self-hatred face-to-face was scary, and this was the world’s way of telling her that she needed to stop avoiding it. Purging, shifting… they were both ways out of the same problem, and this was a problem that needed aderessing. It wasn’t something she could creep her way out of. And that was scary, so scary.

Her mind couldn’t deal with all of this, all of the ways it was being pulled. It was almost a shame how easily she ignored his words for that moment because she was so caught up in her mind. Her whole head hurt, like this throbbing pain that just wouldn’t go away. It was like nothing she could do would make it go away. Now everything hurt, but she was kind of getting used to the pain in her sides, although that still hurt too. But she didn’t even know what to focus on anymore, and everything was just a giant blur in her head that she couldn’t control.

”I really just want to go back to sleep.” she whispered painfully, wishing that she could.


1,000 - OUTFIT. - lyrics to pierce the veil - this is shit.

[DENVER CARLOS HURLEY]

but i'll give you all i have
IT ISN'T MUCH, NOT MUCH AT ALL

There were tastes to this day. It was like going to a huge restaurant and ordering a bunch of different items, each with a different flavor. First there had been that mild bowl of whatever you want it to be; there was almost no flavor but Denny could taste the remnants of the food in the means of his dream. Then the second course had come and it was the course that would leave that bitter, painful taste on his tongue. It was like eating a whole basket of the hottest hot wings you could get. It was gross and horrible and really Denny just wanted to drench the whole morning spent with his eyes open in a huge glass of ice cold water. Well, Denny knew that water wouldn’t put out hot sauce flames – he’d heard milk did the trick somewhere. So he just wanted to drown the both of them in a huge blow of milk with a few cheerios thrown in as life rafts. But he couldn’t get up to get the milk to quench the heat; he couldn’t do anything except sit there and attempt to distract Annie, which obviously wasn’t working. All he could think to do was bring out the last course and try to get the hell out of this messy, tasty situation.

But what came after hot? And not hot in the good way, like the flame that ignited and grew every other time he and Annie were on a bed together, one of them shirtless. What came after the kind of hot that literally set Annie on fire from the inside to the point where she couldn’t even speak or respond to him? To be honest, Denny didn’t take offense to that – whether or not she responded to him, that is. He knew if he were in that much pain, he’d probably be balled up waiting for Death to great him or something totally mellow dramatic like that. Still, despite that, he wracked his mind to find some sort of solution, to find an idea as to what he could do to try and cool down whatever pain Annie was feeling. He felt so useless and unnecessary there doing nothing, even if she was clinging to him like he was the last living thing on earth. It didn’t matter how hard she held him, Denny still felt like he was just sitting there doing absolutely nothing. He sighed, kept his fingers in her hair, and just looked out near the balcony.

He sort of wished she was better so they could sit out there and enjoy the day, but obviously that was a far stretch of the imagination. The both of them were just two bodies on a bed, one in physical pain and one in mental pain because of the fact that he couldn’t do anything. He couldn’t say anything or move in any way and make things better; Annie would either ignore what he said because of how intense the pain was, or she’d moan and groan and Denny would just feel horrible for having moved and causing her more pain. It was almost like he had some mental version of restless leg syndrome; his mind wanted him to move so fucking badly but at the same time he knew he couldn’t because Annie needed to be comfortable – or as comfortable as she was going to get. He listened to what she said because that was literally all he could do besides running his fingers in her long, dark hair, and then he just sighed. If he knew how to put her back to sleep, he would try, and he would keep trying until he succeed-

Wait a minute. That gave Denny an idea, and because of that he almost sat straight up. But he remembered Annie’s pain quickly through the sharp feel of her fingers holding has hard as they could to his body. All of his energy must have just refocused itself because suddenly and almost at an all too fast pace, a smile spread so far across Denny’s face he thought his mouth would split in two or something. Suddenly, the sour, bitter, hot taste of the pain was turning into something much cheesier – desert. It was a heaping helping of cheesecake, which could only be examined in his next sentences. “I think I have just the thing.” His voice was so animated compared to his composure, as if a light had gone on inside of his mind but not in the way that signaled an idea per se. This light just made everything brighter and easier to see, making Denny’s ideas broader and narrower at the same time. That made absolutely no sense, but when did Denny’s thoughts ever make sense?

Now the issue was trying to find the right words to say. Denny didn’t want to make his sentences long and drawn out and quite frankly, awkward, because Annie would just tone him out. He wanted her to hear him, wanted her to concentrate on something other than the pain so she could sleep. By tomorrow, the pain would be dull and she’d be complaining about stiffness, Denny knew, but for now he needed something to put her back into a sedated state so she didn’t have to focus on how much her sides hurt. He knew what he wanted to do, but how to tell her is head was the tricky party. “I know this song,” he started, even though he didn’t really have an ending to his sentence just yet. “It just……reminds me of us.” And there’s the slab of cheesecake. Denny honestly hoped it was big enough to fill her appetite and lull her into a state that had nothing to do with pain or being static and doing nothing but concentrating on the pain. Denny cleared his throat a bit, just trying to be able to make sure he wouldn’t give out half way through the song. Then he was singing.

“ I don't know how to make lots of money, I got debts that I'm trying to pay. I can't buy you nice things, like big diamond rings, but that don't mean much anyway. I can't give you the house you've been dreaming. If I could I would build it alone. I'd be out there all day, just hammering away, make us a place of our own,” he started. This song…..he didn’t even know he knew all of the lyrics to it. He knew it was by some band from Chicago, but the words had come and gone to him before. Now, when it mattered most, his memory was committed. His fingers continued to run through Annie’s hair as he went on with the song. “ I will write you a song. That's how you'll know that my love is still strong. I will write you a song, and you'll know from this song that I just can't go on without you.” Denny checked quickly to update mentally Annie’s status of awake or asleep. His smile wasn’t wiped of his face even though she was still awake and in pain. He wasn’t smiling because she was in pain though, and he knew he could only hope she knew that.

“ I don't know that I'd make a good soldier. I don't believe in being violent and cruel, I don't know how to fight, but I'll draw blood tonight, if somebody tries hurting you.” And that was about his favorite line in the whole song. It was real. It was true. If anyone, and Denny did mean anyone, tried to hurt his Annie, he’d be the first one to stand up and beat the living day lights out of them. He should have done that to the witch at the club, but instead he’d been a fucking gentleman and let her shit talk him and Annie. Well, his mother had taught him to never hit a girl, but he swore then and there that if they ever ran into that girl again and she tried to pull the shit she had the night before, Denny would be the one imprinting her face with his fist.

But forgetting about her, Denny went on. “ I will write you a song. That's how you'll know that my love is still strong. I will write you a song, and you'll know from this song that I just can't go on without you.” Denny just kept pouring every part of him into the song, hoping that Annie would fall asleep and forget about being in pain, even if only for a while. “ Now that it's out on the , both of us knew all along, I've got your loving and you've got my song.

[/i]” Denny’s eyes closed at the highest note in the song, but he kept his head close to Annie’s. He leaned down and kissed her head again, keeping the contact he knew she liked for as long as he could before his inner musician-timing freak made him return to singing. “ I don't know how to make lots of money, I don't know all the right things to do. I can't say where we'll go, but the one thing I know Is how to be a good man to you. Until I die that's what I'll do.” Once again, he kissed her head, enforcing the fact that he was there, he wasn’t going anywhere, and he intended to do just as the song said. He intended to be a good man to her until the day he died, always faithful, always loyal, always protective and always in love with her and only her.

“ I will write you a song, that's how you'll know that my love is still strong. I will write you a song, and you'll know from this song that I just can't go on without - I will write you a song, that's how you'll know that my love is still strong. I will write you a song, and you know from this song that I just can't go on without you.” Denny sighed, thankful that the song was over but at the same time he just wanted to go on singing about how much he loved Annie and how much he was hers, and no one else’s. But he had nothing else to sing. His words were all said and hopefully Annie had heard them. He couldn’t tell if she was asleep or not, but he almost didn’t want to know. He just kissed her head again and said, “I love you.”


1767 -- someone on tumblr made the image, i made the rest, but the lyrics go to anberlin duh -- seren/annie -- WE MUST REINVENT LOOOOOOVEE. sorry that song is just on. anyway. cute denny. singing denny. wtfpaigels.[/justify][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[ANNABELLE MARIE HURLEY]

because there's faith in love
IF YOU KISS ME GOODNIGHT I'LL KNOW EVERYTHING'S ALRIGHT.

Sometimes annie forgot about music. She just couldn’t help it, because sometimes there was so much else going on and she couldn’t even remember to think about music. Sometimes she forgot what it was like to sing, and a lot of the time she forgot that Denny could sing. It was like she had been thinking earlier, he had just been part of the background for so long, waiting silently and patiently until Annie needed him. And when she did need him he was always there, without fail. But then when he started singing, that was all she could focus on. His voice was so relevant, so there. He was just there, all around her. Always there when she needed him.

It was insane how much she had taken that for granted.

Annie felt everything starting to slip away, and her grip on him loosened. With that, so did her grip on everything else. When she listened to him, everything was immediately okay. His voice melted away everything that was troubling her, and it made everything okay. It melted away her anger and pain, and her embarrassment. It all just stopped mattering then. His words weren’t even coherent to her at that point, she couldn’t understand the song or the meaning, just his voice was enough. His voice and his arms; the way he was holding her was what really mattered, actually. He was so aware of everything Annie was feeling, held her just right because of that. He knew she was hurting so his hands were loose, but he knew that she needed him so badly, so his arms were still kind of tight and held her close. Because he cared. In that moment, all of his movements reflected Annie. He was all about her then, about making her better, about making her understand what he felt about her. And Annie was so grateful for that, for everything he felt for her. She had never had someone care about her so much, she had never truly had anyone love her the way Denny did. Honestly, she had never had anyone love her at all, so she really couldn’t help it when she got as possessive as she did. She just wanted him to be by her all the time, to hold his hand even when she was being confident, just to have him there.

And that seemed to be what he wanted, too.

As sleep crept on Annie, she didn’t even notice. Her mind was too wrapped up in him kissing her head, the edges of her vision getting black and blurry. And then she gave into her exhaustion and closed her eyes. That was what they had wanted, after all. And so her hands loosened up on him, her jaw unclenched and her lips pursed and her head went slack against him, as compared to the tense hold her neck had been in from the pain. But all didn’t mean anything anymore, m=none of the pain, nothing from the day. She would just sleep, and it might not be long and it might not be worth anything in the long run, but it was good for now. And Denny was there, so it would always be good.


539 - OUTFIT. - lyrics to pierce the veil - WHAT IS THIS SHIT. OMFG. THIS POST JUST. BRB SUICIDE.

[DENVER CARLOS HURLEY]

but i'll give you all i have
IT ISN'T MUCH, NOT MUCH AT ALL

There was no guessing that Annie was asleep. Denny knew it even without looking – one minute she’d been practically strangling his sides with her hands, and the next she was frankly limp and just there. He didn’t quite understand how singing put her to sleep, but it had been the only thing he could think of to render himself useful. Annie had wanted to go back to sleep, and he’d done all he could to give her what she wanted. Like he’d told her the night before, she was stuck with him for the next few days, and that meant she was going to get everything and anything she wanted. Until she was better, it was all about her, and then even after that Denny really didn’t have much of anything to give things to so pretty much it was always about Annie. Some part of Denny knew that Annie was just an attention hog, that she liked everything he was giving her, but even that part knew he was content with knowing that. If anything, it was a means of entertainment – he got to be the guy he should have been to the girl he loved first (and well, Annie was that girl anyway), and she got to be treated as well as he could treat her.

The fact remained that now he was awake and very much not tired, and there Annie was laying all over him, asleep and not being bothered by pain. So he was caught in a corner. He could try and move, but that would be running the risk of Annie waking up. It wasn’t that he wanted to get away from her, he just needed something to do while she slept. After all, he’d just gotten her to sleep before he’d fallen asleep himself, and then he woke up groggy but aware at the same time, and that was only a few minutes ago it seemed. So getting up and going anywhere, in that situation, was just….it would be a stupid move on Denny’s part if he actually went with it. His other option was to sit there and try to lull himself back to sleep. Obviously singing to himself wasn’t going to work. Songs woke him up, brought him to life, made him feel like everything and anything was possible. Trying to get himself to fall asleep would be a challenge, especially since he wasn’t tired enough to just sleep through the day. Honestly, Denny wanted to be outside, spreading his wings under the sun, letting his dark feathers catch the heat from the rays, keeping his body warm and happy even with the cold weather Cape Cod got around this time of the year.

But again, moving would just end up causing some kind of unnecessary pain or drama or maybe both, so Denny stayed still and tried to think of things that would wear out his mind. Well, Christmas was coming up. Not that he was all that religious, but his family just had this tradition that every Christian family had on Christmas (once again, his family wasn’t all that religious). Presents was really the biggest factor of Christmas to Denny. He already knew what he was going to get Annie, he just needed to head down to the jewelers and pick it up. He sighed, moved a hand to dig through his pocket, and pulled out the picture he’d found. It had just been in some magazine he’d passed the other day, but it was perfect. The ring was simple; a silver band with no huge ambiguous crystals hanging from the front side. There was nothing really on the front, and if you just quickly glanced at the advertisement, it looked more like a Lord of the Rings ad in the middle of a fashion magazine. But when you looked closer, when Denny looked closer, he could see the words on the inside of the ring. For ever yours if you’re forever mine. Why such a simple ring was being advertised in a fashion magazine (and why Denny was even looking in a fashion magazine in the first place) was a mystery to him, but Denver knew instantly that this was what he wanted to get Annie.

He didn’t want to ask her to marry him (yet) because hey, he’s only twenty-two and she’s even younger than that. Even though he knew he would never ever love anyone the way he loved and cared for Annie, he wasn’t ready to get married. It wasn’t a I want to explore my horizons type of deal with him (Denny had literally explored enough horizons for a billion people), but more of a we’re young, let’s enjoy being together and make sure that nothing is going to get in the way before we take that leap sort of thing. Even that sounded a bit harsh in a way. Still, Denny meant it with the best intentions. By no means did he think Annie was ready to get married – Denny doubted she’d ever even thought about it. Not that he really cared then, but eventually that might end up hurting him. What if Annie never wanted to marry him? What if she never wanted to marry one, and then when (if) he asked, she’d use the excuse/defense that they were happy, so why did they need to take a step like that? Why was Denny even worrying about that? He knew he wasn’t ready for marriage, so why was he losing this confidence in Annie over something he wouldn’t take the first step too just yet? None of it made sense in the end – but sometimes that was just how Denny functioned.

What made all of that make the least amount of sense was that this ring he was looking at, the ring he wanted to get for Annie so she could wear it and show off whatever she wanted to, it was just a promise ring. This wasn’t an engagement ring, he wasn’t asking her to marry him. He was going to just ask her to believe his promise that he was never leaving. He just wanted to see her wear it and know that she was his and he was hers and this promise to each other wasn’t going to just disintegrate one day and leave them both more broken than they had been before they’d met each other. It wasn’t that he was hoping the ring would just suddenly clear up all of their future issues, whatever they may be, but he just wanted to give Annie a simple reminder that he’d always be there, even through those issues. He wanted her to know that no matter what, he was still her Denny, that it was her fault (even though he didn’t exactly blame her, but rather thanked her) that he was the way he was these days. He just wanted to have her wear the ring and show the world that he was hers, that the void in his life had been filled and that no others need apply.

And yeah, all of that stressing out over a simple little band and how Annie would react to it actually wore him out mentally enough for him to just doze off into lucid dreaming, even though he was sure that wasn’t how it worked. Either way, he was where he wanted to be in every single way.


1237 -- someone on tumblr made the image, i made the rest, but the lyrics go to anberlin duh -- seren/annie -- i didn't even know i could write that much mental ramble and make it an entire post.