Chapter Text
Annabel Lee couldn’t sleep. Hell, she wasn’t able to sleep properly since her engagement was announced.
The blonde sighed and sat up on her king-sized bed, glancing over her shoulder at her husband who was sleeping soundly next to her, she scrutinized at his sleeping face.
Annabel Lee wanted to slap his face.
She knew that the marriage between them was arranged by their fathers and he had no saying in this just like her but she still couldn’t help but feel resentful.
She pressed her lips together so as not to let out another sigh. She should be happy, that’s what her father told her.
“You will be the happiest woman in this country, dearest,” he said.
All Annabel could do was to put a fake smile on her lips upon hearing his words. Her death’s news was brought to her with beaming faces along with an engagement ring and they expected her to accept it with gratefulness.
It was death. A long death which barely started progressing and a death which probably would get worse and worse. A death which she wouldn’t be able to get rid of. A death that she couldn’t win against as if it was a chess game.
She became someone’s wife. Nothing more than a wife. A few years later, someone’s mother. A few years after that, maybe another someone’s mother too.
And needlepoints.
She was going to spend her whole life doing needlepoint. Needlepoint. The blonde stopped playing games the day she got married. She didn’t even touch her chessboard after that day.
Starting from that day she didn’t have space for games, friends, recreations, love, happiness and even for herself in her life.
Needlepoint.
She was always jealous of birds who could fly freely with their own will, so when she was young she wanted to be a bird. However she has found herself as a bird who was chained with a ring and beautiful gowns.
And needlepoints.
She raised her hand to tuck a loose curl behind her ear when a glimpse of light caught her eyes, it was her ring.
She didn’t even care whether it costed a fortune, it was an ugly ring to her eyes. No ring in the whole world could compete with the flower-shaped ring she was gifted a couple of months ago.
The blonde scowled as she buried her face in her hands.
There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance; pray, love, remember; and there is pansies, that’s for thoughts... There’s fennel for you, and columbines; there’s rue for you, and here’s some for me-
Lenore.
Suddenly, the face appeared in her head. She could almost hear her saying, “I told you so”
Annabel felt like she couldn’t breathe.
She threw the blanket off her and got up from the bed, she needed some air. She carefully opened the door to the bedroom’s balcony, trying not to wake her husband up.
She shivered as she stepped on the cold balcony floor with her bare feet. But she didn’t mind the cold, it would help her to ease her thoughts.
She leaned on the railings and focused on her breathing.
Must wear your rue with a difference. There’s a daisy. I would give you some violets, but they wither’d all when my...*
In and out, in and out, in and... blue eyes. She exhaled a shaky breath.
She couldn’t get the image of those blue eyes of Lenore out of her head. Her desperate expression when her eyes were filled with tears haunted Annabel’s mind for months.
Every time she remembered their last meeting Annabel would feel like her heart was set on fire. And that fire of anxiety would travel around her body, making her unable to move, to speak and to breathe.
If only she had listened to Lenore.
She knew that it was a stupid plan, running away. But at least she would’ve been with Lenore.
She huffed and tightened her grip on the railings as she remembered that day.
*ೃ༄ .ೃ࿐
“Is it what you want?” yelled Lenore with a husky voice as she held the blonde tightly.
Annabel Lee told her the news saying that they wouldn’t be able to see each other. And as expected, Lenore didn’t take the news of Annabel’ Lee's engagement well.
Annabel groaned, her long eyelashes fluttering.
“Of course not!” she cried while raising her head to look at the raven-haired woman. “How could i ever want this!?
Dilly dallying around the house all day?? Sipping tea, playing hostess, being laced into corsets, needlepoint, dining, having a child or three, curling hair, sleeping, needlepoint, tea, card games to stave off the madness.”
Her voice raised with each word and with each word she started to lose her temper. With each word coming out of her lips, she looked more and more scared.
Her mask dropped and revealed the feelings that she had hidden underneath her smile for years. She wanted to stop talking and pretend like she was okay as she always did.
But she couldn’t lie to Lenore, not when she was looking at her with those sapphire eyes.
“Needlepoint. Needlepoint. Needlepoint.
Always the goddamned needlepoint.” She said pulling her own hair.
“It’s death, pet!” yelled Annabel with a frenzied look on her face.
Then, she realized what she has done.
She had never even been honest with herself, so saying those thoughts out loud was a surprise to her. She had to pretend. She had to pretend like she was alright with all those things that she has just said if she wanted Lenore to stop looking at her like that. To stop Lenore from coming up with dangerous and reckless plans.
“But it’s inevitable.” She stated with a smile on her lips.
But from the look on Lenore’s eyes, Annabel Lee knew that she didn’t buy that smile.
“We can run away.” Said Lenore. “We ca n run away far from here. We can-“
Annabel interrupted her, “Pet, we can’t. You are not thinking with reason right now.”
“Right now, i am the sanest and most reasonable that i can be! We can, Annabel Lee. We can get out of here, we will have money and i will make sure that we will be safe! Just give me some time and i will get both of us out of this miserable life.” Said Lenore with determination, her eyes slowly getting teary.
Annabel opened her mouth to object but Lenore wasn’t done talking.
“I can not let you go Annabel Lee, not like this. You can’t come into my life so abruptly only to leave again.”
Lenore held Annabel’s hand with both of her hands. Her legs were shaking from standing too long but she seemed not to mind the pain of her hip.
“Before you came into my life, i was dead Annabel. You brought me back to life, you made my life less unbearable. You are the reason why i behave, why i endure the commands of the maids. Just to see you, just to spend some time with you i behaved myself.
That attic was my tomb, Annabel and you pulled me out of that tomb.
I can not let you die, i will not let you pass away with a fake smile on your face. Let me do the same thing that you did for me, please.”
Lenore’s gaze deepened. She couldn’t keep her feelings contained anymore. She lowered her voice as she confessed.
“I love you Annabel Lee. The first time i saw you, your smile captivated me. With your smile, you gave me the foolish hope that everything would be fine, that i could finally feel safe.
I will write you a song if that’s what you want, i will write you a song that will make all my hidden feelings be known.
I will come with you to the ends of this hell if that’s what you want.
My Annie, i love you.”
Annabel Lee was always quick-witted but she has never felt speechless in her life like this. She could hear her heart thudding loudly in her ears. Did she love Lenore? Could she even love her romantically?
She didn’t know the answer to those questions but she knew that when she was with Lenore, she felt things that she has never felt when she was with the suitors that her father found for her.
She knew that her heart never skipped a beat when she was with them.
She stared at the raven-haired woman in front of her, who looked at her intensely. Annabel couldn’t meet her eyes. She felt like she would dissolve if she looked at her blue eyes.
So she looked behind Lenore, at the dense forest behind the window. She forced herself to breathe. Finally, with a calm voice she spoke.
“You’ve been standing for too long, pet. Your hip must be hurting so much right now. Please, sit.”
Lenore looked at her with disbelief. Suddenly, her eyebrows furrowed as she remembered something that she had forgotten. She walked towards the table next to the piano while she held on to things near her for support.
Annabel watched her curiously as she grabbed a little box and looked at her. And when the blonde walked over to her, she held the box to her.
“I don’t expect you to reciprocate my feelings and i will not force my love on you. But at least take this.” She said as she tucked the box in Annabel’s hands.
Annabel stared at the black velvet ring box.
“Pet, i can’t come with you. We can’t run away.”
Lenore looked away in order to hide her tears. “Good luck, Annie.” She whispered and placed a gentle kiss on her hand.
*ੈ✩‧₊˚ ⋆.ೃ࿔
Annabel Lee couldn’t stop her tears.
She sat on the cold floor as she wrapped her arms around herself.
The woman who confessed her love to her was dead. Her pet was gone, burned to ashes.
And it was too late when Annabel Lee realized her feelings for her.