Work Text:
The heavy wooden door creaked noisily as Lenore stepped into the apartment she shared with her fiancée.
After living in this exact apartment for about two years, Lenore had gotten used to most of the groans that came with the place. Most, excluding the ear-piercing creak of their front door.
She winced outwardly from the loud noise, throwing out her hand to shove the door closed to stop the wretched sound.
The door responded with a loud thud instead. Which was infinitely better than the strange wailing it was emitting.
She managed to lock the door without jamming her fingers, or toes, or the door itself. A single win in a sea of losses to this door. Not that she was counting, but the score was definitely not anywhere near being in her favor.
To celebrate her win, Lenore made her way over to the couch and collapsed against it with a sigh. She propped her cane against the side of the plush furniture and tried her best to relax. Unfortunately, the stubborn tension in her shoulders was solid even as she let her body sink into the squishy sofa.
Work had treated her rougher than usual, successfully adding to a long list of things that would eventually give her premature grey hair. This time it was a sudden change of assignments that had left her cleaning up someone else’s mess, which she would normally have no problem taking. The only issue was the holiday that was rapidly approaching: Valentine’s Day.
Most of the people in her company were men who were bound to be single for the rest of their lives, so they had no qualms with working on the holiday. Lenore, however, was not a single man by any means. And her amazing fiancée was always two steps ahead of everyone meaning their plans for Valentine’s Day had been set in stone the second the month of February began.
To be honest, Lenore should have taken vacation time off before she got strung into anything last minute, but she’d just assumed that wouldn’t happen.
Obviously, she’d assumed incorrectly since here she was, on the eleventh, assigned to a project that would fly her to a completely different state and have her working through Valentine’s Day completely.
She’d barely been wallowing in pity on the loveseat for a minute, when the cushion next to her shifted from a change in weight. Lenore drew her attention away from the ceiling to face the culprit of the shift – none other than Annabel Lee, her fiancée.
The woman in question sat close enough that their noses were nearly touching when Lenore turned to face her.
Her hair was void of its usual updo, blonde curls spilling past her shoulders. She had been home for a few hours longer than Lenore given the faded blue pajamas she wore. A stark contrast to Lenore’s button down and slacks.
Annabel’s lips dragged up into a contagious grin as she burrowed herself into Lenore’s side akin to that of an owl returning home. As per usual, she looked thoroughly pleased to see her fiancée.
“Hi” Annabel said, before she leaned in and pressed a kiss to Lenore’s lips.
It was short and sweet, but it left Lenore grinning like a madwoman, her troubles thrown out the door from just one kiss from her soulmate.
“Hi, Angel.” She murmured back, her voice soft and low, as if she were trying not to spook a cat.
Annabel’s face lit up at the nickname, practically melting against Lenore as the smile on her face somehow grew more bashful. She let out a soft giggle, then curled into Lenore even more, cheek pressed against her lover’s shoulder.
Any tension that strung Lenore’s muscles taut suddenly released, turning her into mush in front of Annabel. So far gone that she couldn’t even remember what she was stressed about a few minutes prior.
“How was work?”
Scratch that.
The image of her day poured back into her memory so quickly that she actually let out a long groan, tossing her head back against the back cushion with a soft thud.
Annabel let out a soft noise of amusement, taking Lenore’s hand in her own.
“That great?” she asked, letting out another giggle that cleared the fog in Lenore’s brain.
Her thumb rubbed against Lenore’s knuckles. The gesture was soothing, practiced. It virtually asked Lenore if she wanted to talk about it.
Lenore held the silence for a brief moment, staring down into the rose-colored eyes of her partner. If she were any weaker or any less caring for her workplace, she’d completely ignore her job and spend the remaining week in Annabel’s embrace. Unfortunately, she quite liked her job, so the thought would have to wait. Maybe some other time.
She heaved a soft sigh before she began speaking again.
“I got assigned a new project.” Lenore said, trying to keep her voice as neutral as she could manage.
Annabel nodded gently, urging Lenore to go on, her full attention on her fiancée.
“It’s smaller than usual, I’m not worried about the work.” Lenore let out another sigh, dragging her free hand through the loose strands of her own hair.
“Then what’s the issue?” Annabel asked politely.
“Well for starters, the project’s not in New York, it’s in Pittsburgh.” Lenore responded.
“Oh.”
The reply sounded so dejected; Lenore almost called her office to quit right on the spot. She just barely managed to hold off, grounded by the soft touch of Annabel’s hand on hers.
Annabel dragged her attention down to their joined hands, no other words leaving her mouth as she fiddled with Lenore’s fingers. It’s obvious she was trying her best not to look upset but the unhappy little frown on her face said a thousand words.
Lenore’s job was not one of unbearable hours or even working weekends, the only setbacks being frequent business trips. At the very least, the trips were paid for, but terribly mundane and always longer than necessary. Being physically apart for long was harsh on the couple in a way neither of them could have predicted. Hell, if her trips were any longer, the two would likely start writing Shakespearian sonnets confessing their undying love to one another.
In an attempt to make Annabel’s frown lessen, Lenore kept talking, stumbling over her words a bit.
“To make matters worse, I leave tomorrow for 3 days and they just told me today.” Lenore said, against her better judgement.
In a way, Lenore did get Annabel to feel less sad, only because the emotion was replaced with something else completely.
Annabel’s fingers froze against hers. Her head slowly tilted up to stare into Lenore’s eyes, except this time, those pretty eyes were filled with thinly veiled rage.
The rage was reserved for someone else, that someone likely being Lenore’s boss.
Her boss was an awkward man named Ed who Annabel had affectionately described as a “Soft spined Duke of Limbs” before. And although Lenore never asked either about the other, Ed himself had openly admitted his fear of Lenore’s fiancée on multiple occasions.
With the dangerous expression on Annabel’s face right now, Lenore can’t really blame him.
“You leave tomorrow, as in the 12th tomorrow?” Annabel asked with the most calm tone. Her lips stretched into a smile, one that failed horribly to meet her eyes.
Lenore nodded.
“For three days?” Lenore could hear her teeth gritting.
Another nod.
“Which means you’ll be back on 15th, correct? You’re working on Valentine’s Day?”
Lenore doesn’t dare speak. She nodded a final time and felt a shiver climb up her back when Annabel’s smile got even wider.
“Interesting.” The blonde said.
Not a word more, not a word less.
Yup, Lenore definitely just signed her boss's death certificate.
The poor fool will mysteriously disappear one day, and Lenore will have to pretend it was an unsolved case. If anyone could get away with murder, it would be Annabel Lee. The thought alone produced a different, quite possibly more concerning emotion to rise in Lenore’s chest.
She must have been wearing an evidently concerned expression on her face since Annabel suddenly laughed. Her eyes suddenly back to being soft and sweet. Her laugh wasn’t even malicious or maniacal, just pure amusement. It was as if the moment never happened, which almost worried Lenore more.
Annabel paid no mind, instead she brought her hands up to cup Lenore’s face, a genuine smile on her lips.
“It’s okay pet” she said sweetly. “We can have our Valentine’s Day on the day you get back. It’ll be a holiday just for us.”
An indescribable amount of love inflated in Lenore’s chest. Maybe it was from the way Annabel cradled her cheeks or spoke in a gentle tone but something that could only be described as giddiness overtook Lenore’s body.
Her hands met her fiancée's waist, gently, fingers brushing against the soft texture of her lover’s pajamas. She’d tilted closer before she knew it and Annabel met her halfway, joining their lips in yet another kiss.
The kiss was longer than the first, but just as gentle and sweet. By the time they broke away, the heartwarming feeling in Lenore’s chest had expanded so much that it felt like her entire body was buzzing. Annabel must feel the same, because she had a loving little grin on her face.
She leaned forward as if she was about to kiss Lenore again, but instead, she pressed their foreheads together.
“I love you,” Lenore whispered, breaking the silence of the moment.
Annabel’s lips split into a smile filled with adoration.
“I love you too” she whispered back.
---
At 6AM on the 12th, Annabel drove Lenore to the airport early enough for them to spend a bit of time together before the flight.
By noon, Lenore was in Pittsburgh doing absolutely nothing .
The most she did was discuss work plans with her coworkers and drive past a few tourist spots. The rest of her day was spent napping in a hotel room and calling a bunch of people in her phone – mostly Annabel – so at the very least she’d have someone to talk to.
In the early hours of the 13th, she headed into her company’s office with a bunch of her coworkers who had never been in the Pittsburgh building before either. After getting lost a few times, everyone eventually got to their designated area - a nearly empty meeting room where they all got to work.
She was in the middle of scribbling down a plan of action, surrounded by coworkers when Ed – their boss - walked in. No one really paid him any mind, considering the man was always late, but he got hard to ignore when he stopped in front of where Lenore sat and gasped loudly.
The lanky man looked so terrified; Lenore was almost worried she’d accidentally came to work in her boxers. She could swear the man was shaking like a leaf, his face pale as if he’d seen a ghost.
“...Lenore?” Ed finally said, staring directly at her.
“Yes? That’s my name.” Lenore responded, more than a little confused.
He frowned.
“What are you doing here?”
She stared at him in disbelief.
If it were anyone else, she’d have believed this whole conversation was a huge prank, but her boss looked so genuinely distressed that it made her worried as well. She cleared her throat nervously before speaking again.
“Um, I was assigned to be here?”
Unfortunately, that didn’t put Ed at ease. If anything, he looked even more anxious.
“Are you sure?” He asked nervously.
Lenore almost laughed at the question. There’s no way she’d be able to even get to Pittsburgh or past the security in this building without being assigned by the company to be here. Although, by the horrified look on Ed’s face, he must have realized that as well.
“Pretty sure” She responded. “I’m covering for Toby”
Her boss looked downright crestfallen.
If there weren’t so many people around, Lenore was sure he would have dropped to his knees and started bawling.
“Oh no” He whispered dejectedly, his shoulders dropping. “Your wife is going to kill me.”
Something fluttered in her chest at the word “wife.” She doesn’t dare correct him. Especially since he’s partially correct, there is a good chance Annabel may really kill him after this.
For a second, her boss looked like he was going to say more. Maybe an apology or an even more nervous announcement, but instead he stopped altogether, sighing and walking away as he took a sip of coffee.
Assuming the conversation was over, Lenore went back to doing what she came to Pittsburgh to do i.e., her job. She did quick work fixing a few mistakes and everything was revised by the time 8pm rolled around.
On the positive side of things, Lenore being so great at her job meant she had no real work to do for the remaining days of this trip. But, more negatively, no work meant she’d be stuck in Pittsburgh, on Valentine’s Day, for no apparent reason.
She was halfway through formulating a plan to take a six-hour drive back to New York when her boss reappeared in her line of vision. The man looked just as nervous as before, but he steeled his voice and held out a slip of paper to Lenore.
“Please go home.” he said shakily, once more looking utterly afraid.
Lenore glanced at the paper in his hands to see a few familiar symbols. She held out her hands and let the paper fall into her hands, to see the sheet was none other than a plane ticket for New York.
She looked back up at Ed questionably only to see the man physically jump.
The lack of audible response must have been too much for him, because he suddenly started to ramble like his life depended on it.
“You did great work on the project and y’know, we really shouldn’t keep any of you here for longer than necessary.” He started.
He shifted on his heels.
“The flight’s scheduled to get you home by 10 AM tomorrow, which was the best I could do on short notice. Sorry if it’s not good enough.”
He paused for a moment, then stared up at Lenore nervously.
“Please tell your wife to spare me.”
What the hell did Annabel do to this man?
She made a mental note to interrogate her fiancée later, but for now she focused on easing this poor man’s troubles.
“I'll make sure to tell her.” She paused for a moment then remembered her manners, and added a short “thank you.”
The man’s entire body relaxed. It seemed as if he gained back a couple years of his life likely from the first statement alone. He nodded his head happily, then turned on his heel and trotted off.
With that, she set out back to her hotel room, only managing to talk to Annabel on the phone for a few minutes before the day started to wear down on her body. She decided to keep her early return a secret, not telling her fiancée much more than the gist about her day.
By the time their conversation ended, she just barely had enough energy to set an alarm to wake up for her flight before she passed out against pristine sheets.
---
Keeping the secret of her arrival was unbearably nerve-racking.
Lenore was nervous for the entire flight. Nervous as she picked out a bouquet of assorted flowers. Even more nervous when she bought the fancy chocolate’s she knew Annabel liked. Overwhelmingly nervous on the drive home, and quite possibly the most nervous she’d ever been as she approached the door to their apartment.
Between her luggage, flowers, chocolates, and her cane in her hands, she was almost positive her coordination would be so poor that the door would make the most heinous squeak and ruin her entire surprise completely. She pushed her fear away, shaking away jitters as she opened her long-time enemy with more confidence than ever.
The door barely made a sound. The quietest the old wooden thing had ever been in its entire life.
Relief flooded through her system and before the Valentine’s Day miracle had a chance to change its mind, she entered her apartment and closed the door as quietly as possible.
The first thing she noticed was the smell.
The entire apartment smelt vaguely lemony and a hint of something else, maybe mint?
One good look further in, told her what she needed to know. The kitchen and living room were completely spotless, the only thing not put away being the vacuum near the wall.
Annabel Lee had cleaned their entire apartment.
But where was she now?
Lenore moved her luggage out of the way, depositing it in a corner that didn’t block the walkway. Then, maneuvering slowly, flowers and chocolates still in hand, she tiptoed towards their bedroom.
She found the girl very quickly. As it turned out, Annabel was in their room, enjoying the most comfortable looking nap.
Her fiancée was curled up in a little ball, wearing an oversized button up and clutching at the sheets as she slept. Upon further inspection, it became apparent that the shirt belonged to Lenore, considering the long sleeves that were made for a much taller person.
Annabel’s hair was splayed out against the sheets, free of the binds she typically used to curl it. As a result, her hair was also frizzier than usual, likely mused from sleep. Judging by the peaceful expression on her face and soft snores coming from her lips, Lenore would say Annabel was definitely enjoying her nap.
Near where she slept, on the bedside table sat a suspiciously neat gift bag that was definitely a Valentine’s Day gift for Lenore.
In order to avoid ruining the surprise, Lenore averted her eyes from the bag just as quickly as she’d glanced. Instead, she walked closer to the bed and took a seat near where Annabel was resting.
She was almost positive she’d made no noise but somehow Annabel stirred anyways.
The blonde’s eyes fluttered open sleepily as she turned to look directly at Lenore.
A look of confusion passed over her face as she sat up and reached out her hand to pat Lenore, as if checking that her fiancée was real.
“Pet?” She whispered, voice still heavy from sleep.
She moved closer and patted her hand against Lenore’s chest twice before she looked content. Without batting an eye, she climbed into Lenore’s lap and let out a dramatic sigh as she wrapped Lenore up in a hug.
It was a little hard for Lenore to return the hug with her hands already full, but she tried anyways, leaning the bouquet away so it didn’t get caught in Annabel’s hair.
Apparently, that was enough for Annabel to finally notice the gifts, because she pulled back and looked at Lenore’s full hands questioningly.
Lenore could virtually see the gears turning in her lover’s brain.
“How long was I asleep?” Annabel asked, looking a little concerned now.
A little laugh slipped from Lenore’s mouth at the question.
“Not long, I believe. It’s still the 14th, I just go home early,”
Lenore sat the box of chocolates on the bed carefully and brought the bouquet to rest between their bodies. Annabel’s gaze focused down on them.
“So, um, Happy Valentine’s Day?” Lenore muttered out.
Annabel didn’t respond for a few seconds, her attention still on the flowers. She carefully but wordlessly took the bouquet out of Lenore’s hands, then looked up with the most smitten look, a pleased smile on her face.
A cute noise passed from the woman’s lips, frying something deep in Lenore’s brain. With her mind scrambled, she started rambling nervously.
“I got those chocolates you like and um, peonies are out of season right now so instead I-”
Annabel carefully placed the flowers to the side and then tackled Lenore with kisses. She pressed her lips to every single possible area of Lenore’s face until they were both a heap of giggles.
After what must have been ages, their laughter died down a bit, and Annabel leaned up and kissed Lenore once more on the lips, short and sweet before she spoke again.
“This is perfect pet,” she whispered. “You’re perfect”
Yet again, an unbelievable amount of warmth spread through Lenore’s body, so intense it was practically oozing out of her pores.
Their bodies meshed against each other like two pieces of a puzzle, limbs tangled gently. The world suddenly faded away and nothing mattered but the two of them.
Seconds later without moving too much, Annabel handed Lenore the suspicious gift bag from earlier and excitedly pulled flowers from seemingly nowhere. She chattered excitedly about anything and everything, happy to be in the presence of her fiancée again.
They spent the rest of the day together, nothing too special, but Annabel was absolutely right.
It was perfect.