Annemarie’s POV

Sarah and I made it back to LA in no time, moving into her apartment and finding jobs as soon as possible. Old Navy didn’t take her back, seeing as they weren’t hiring, but a coffee shop agreed to have us both work as bakers, something I was really good at. I had changed phones, getting a new number and it finally felt like I was away from Josh.

“Bet you didn’t hear the news.” Sarah spoke, turning her phone on silent and pocketing it, going back to the dough.

“What news?” I asked, wiping my forehead with my wrist.

“I talk to Rob, a crew from the tour back with the band and he said that after we left, Austin hasn’t been himself. He only leaves the bus to perform and that’s it. He says he’s been snapping at people and at one point yelled at Alan so bad, he almost left the band.” I stopped kneading the dough, processing the whole thing Sarah had just said.

“Are you serious?” I whispered. Sarah nodded, seeing the two other bakers walk in for their shift and stopped kneading the dough.

“Let’s go home, we’ll watch some movies and forget everything I said.” She smiled and I nodded, cleaning ourselves up and leaving to our apartment. I couldn’t help but think of Austin and the band. I left my best friend, the person who was there for me since high school. I left all of them; they were all my best friends. We got to the apartment, going up to our floor and I hit the showers.

I remembered the hurt in Austin’s eyes, the pain he felt. I felt the pain too. It hurt me so much to leave him. I was in love with that man. I sat on the floor of the shower, letting the water run over me as I cried. I felt so selfish, and I hated that feeling. I got out after a bit, putting on a pair of black pants, a black shirt and some flats.

“I’m going out, call me if anything.” I said to Sarah, grabbing my phone.

“Sure, take care of yourself.” Sarah said, walking to the bathroom to take a shower. I walked out of the apartment, taking the short way to the cemetery; might as well see my parents since I haven’t spoken to them in a long time.

I pushed past the gates, walking in and taking the little trail up the hill to their resting place. I saw their tomb, sitting in front of it and sighing heavily.

“All these things happen to me, and I don’t understand why. I’m sick of all these things stopping me from being happy.” I spoke, looking at the grass. “Why did you both leave me? I feel so alone, if it wasn’t for Sarah, I wouldn’t be here right now.” I felt tears threatening to spill and I wiped them away. “I lost my friends, my boyfriend, I lost the one person who was there and helped me get away from that animal.” I choked out. “But if I didn’t leave, he would kill them. I would rather watch them live without me, than have them die and live without them.” I sniffed a bit, curling into a ball close to the tomb and took deep breaths, calming myself down.

“Annie, why didn’t you tell us?” My eyes snapped open, sitting up and looking up at the one person I didn’t expect to see.

Aaron’s POV

We got back to the band house, seeing as we were all still recovering from Annie’s harsh leaving, especially Austin. He wouldn’t leave the bus unless we were performing, and even then he would go back and go straight to his bunk. We tried talking with him about it, but her would ignore us or just politely ask us to leave him. I set my bags on the floor by my closet, laying on my bed and deciding to go to sleep, seeing as it was almost 4 in the morning. I pulled the warm blanket over me, thinking about the harsh words Annie’s words when I remembered something. I sat up in bed and grabbed my phone, searching many addresses before finding the one place that rang a bell.

I woke up in the morning, taking a shower and getting ready. I wasn’t going to tell the guys where I was going, they were bound to follow me and try to get her to come back. I figured that they would pressure her too much and that’s the last thing I need. I walked down the stairs, hearing the voices of the guys in the kitchen and I took a deep breath. I walked down, ignoring the looks they gave me as I grabbed my car keys.

“Where are you going Aaron?” Phil asked.

“Out, I’ll be back out later.” I answered, looking at them. “I need to think about some things, maybe grab a few drinks. I won’t be out late and if I don’t answer, send me a text.” I walked to the door when Austin called me. I turned, looking at him and he was looking in his coffee.

“I know you’re going to find her. Please tell her that I want to apologize to her in person.” I continued to look at him before nodding. Austin turned away, leaving his hot cup of coffee in the sink and go upstairs. I walked out of the house, getting in my car and turning it off. The trip to the cemetery was roughly 2 hours and a half to three; I could make it there easily.

The entire ride there, all I could think about how broken Annie was when I first met her. She had just suffered from her parent’s death, so she didn’t say anything. She had plenty of friends at the time, but when this happened, instead of them helping her cope with her loss, they turned their backs on her. I shook the thoughts out of my head, parking my car by the entrance of the cemetery. I walked through many paths, trying to remember which way were the tombs when I turned my head, seeing Annie crying. She cried, telling her parents about the awful things Josh forced her to do.

“Annie, why didn’t you tell us?” I asked her, stepping closer. She sat up, her head turning to me.

“What are you doing here?” She gasped. I took a few steps forward until I was in front of her. My arms reached out for her and she threw herself at me. “I’m sorry!” She cried, repeating the words over and over until I shushed her.

“You have nothing to apologize for.” I assured her. She relaxed, holding me tightly before her phone rang. She pulled back, taking her phone out. Sarah’s name was on the screen and she answered. Her eyes grew, hearing the voice and I wondered what happened.

“Let her go! Don’t get near them please!” She screamed. She pulled the phone away, seeing the call end.

“Annie, what happened?” I asked, worry filling my voice.

“That wasn’t Sarah. Josh has her, he’s on his way to your house.”

Notes

Title Credit: Black Veil Brides

I'm sorry that I'm late, I had to edit the chapter. I hate college. The fact that the school gives me false info makes me beyond pissed. I don't even want to go to college. ._. Oh well, hope you guys enjoyed!! cx