Make Me Believe You
Can't Let Him Win
“Katie I don’t know what to do anymore. I’m constantly worrying that Brendan’s gonna come home one day and pack his bags or I’m gonna come home and he’s just not gonna be here anymore. I’m making myself sick Kay.” I cried over the phone to Katie as I sat on the dock. The boys had gone fishing around 11 this morning and wouldn’t be back for a while so I decided to call Katie and catch up but it had turned into a sob session like it usually did. “Anna, you gotta stop worrying. They’re empty threats; Gabe’s too scared of your brother to do anything.” Katie scoffed over the phone. “No he’s not Katie. They looked like they were going to tear each other apart last week except our dads were there and they would have had a hard time explaining that one.” I retorted as I felt the tears starting again. “Anna, you gotta calm down. It’s gonna be okay.” Katie soothed as I put my free hand over my eyes and continued to cry.
“Babe?” I heard as I looked up to see Brendan standing there. Shit I thought as I wiped away the remaining tears on my face. “Kay, the guys just got back so I gotta go but I’ll talk to you later.” “Alright Anna… stay strong and I’m always here if you need me.” Katie answered before I hung up. “Babe why are you crying?” Brendan asked as he followed me down to the fire pit and we sat down. I looked at the ground, not saying a word as I could feel his stare burning a hole in my forehead. “Bella, talk to me.” He said kneeling in front of me and grabbing my hand…and that’s when I lost it and the tears came free. He hugged me tight and rubbed circles on my back as I continued to cry into his chest, soaking a spot on his t-shirt. “It’s Gabe.” I cried as I pulled my face away from his chest. “What did he do?” Brendan asked getting angry. “He wants me back Brendan… and he’s willing to do anything.” I answered as I bit my lip. “Baby, he’s never getting you… you’re mine. This,” he said pointing to the ring on my finger, “means you’re mine. I’m not gonna let him take you away. Nothing he says is going to change how I feel about you Annabella. I love you, okay?” He said as he cupped my chin in his hand. I shook my head before he gave me a kiss. “I love you too.” I said as he pulled me up and we walked back towards the house hand in hand.
The rest of the day I kept worrying, just like I had every day since the barbeque. Whenever Brendan wasn’t with me I worried that that was when Gabe was going to make his move. It was a constant battle to not tell him he couldn’t leave me alone. I had walked into the kitchen in the middle of another one of my awful thoughts about what could happen when I started to hyperventilate and everything around me started to become a bit fuzzy. “Annabella?” I heard my mom yell as she rushed over to me as my body started to become really heavy. “Bonbon s'asseoir.” (Sweetie sit down.) My mom said as she pushed me down onto a chair in the kitchen “Annabella, quel est le problème?” (Annabella, what’s wrong?) She asked as she sat down next to me after getting me an ice pack for my head. “I think it’s my anxiety.” I answered remembering how I had awful anxiety when I first started at Briarwood and needed medication for it. “Honey your anxiety hasn’t been bad since you started at Briarwood… we don’t have any more pills left.” My mom answered as she held onto my hand. “I think I’m fine now. I’m gonna make an appointment with Dr. Blarck to get a new prescription for it just in case.” I said as I slowly got up and started to head for my room.
Once up there I sat on my bed and rummaged through my end table drawer until I found the card for my doctor. I grabbed my phone off of the table and dialed the number and heard it ringing. “Hello, Dr. Blarck’s office.” The receptionist picked up. “Um yes, my name’s Annabella Lapierre, I’m an old patient of Dr. Blarck’s and I’m home for the summer and was wondering if I could make an appointment.” I said as I bit the inside of my cheek. “Yes Miss Lapierre, does tomorrow at 2 work for you?” She asked as I heard her typing on the other end. “Yes that’s perfect.” I answered relaxing a bit. “And what is the appointment for?” She asked. “I used to have really bad anxiety and needed medication for it but it’s subsided but recently it’s been coming back and it got really bad this morning and I almost passed out.” I answered. “Alright well it’s good that you called then. We’ll see you tomorrow at 2.” She answered and I smiled. “Thank you.” I responded before hanging up and falling back onto my pillow. I shut my eyes and let out a breath. At least my meds will keep my calm I thought as I heard murmuring downstairs. I reluctantly pulled myself off of my bed and headed down the staircase and into the family room.
“Matty.” I said like a five year old as I rushed towards Matt and hugged him as he laughed at the nickname I had used to address him since I was about 5. “Hey sugar cube. Can I talk to you outside for a minute?” He asked before I nodded and we headed for the door to the dock. “What’s wrong?” I asked as we got to the end of the dock and sat down. “It’s Gabe…” He said as I sigh. “What now? He’s already got me scared shitless… not that I’d ever let him know that.” I said with a snarl. “We were playing street hockey this morning- me, him, Brendan, Jake, and Scott- and Gabe was… well he was getting kind of rough with Brendan so Jake stepped in and.. well… they got into a fist fight.” He finished as my eyes got wide and my mouth formed an O. “Oh my god! Is Jake okay?!” I asked terrified as I stood up. “Well um… Brendan got involved too.” He added and I became even more terrified. “I swear to god if he hurt Brendan I’m gonna kill him.” I said as I felt tears pricking my eyes. “Oh Annabella…” Matt said as he enveloped me in a hug. “Please tell me they’re okay.” I sobbed. “They’re both fine. They’re down at the end of the trail waiting for us.” He said as he grabbed my hand and started leading me towards the gap in the bushes.
As soon as we hit the trail I started running as Matt called behind me. “You two are so stupid!” I yelled as I got to where Brendan and Jake were sitting. When I actually looked at the two of them I winced and walked towards them. Brendan had a busted lip, his knuckles were bruised and he had a cut on his forehead while Jake had a forming black eye, busted knuckles and was had a small cut above his eyebrow. “Why did you guys do that? Why are you letting him win?” I cried as I sank to the ground and broke. “Whoa, hey, Bells what’s wrong?” Jake asked as him, Brendan, and Matt rushed over to me. “You can’t let him win. You can’t… you can’t.” I continued to cry on Brendan’s shoulder as he sat down on the ground next to me, pulled me on his lap, and rocked me back and forth. That was one of the reasons I loved him, even when he really didn’t know what to do, he actually did. “Bells, you need to tell us what’s wrong.” Jake said as he stared at me. There was a long pause before he asked, “Is it your anxiety again?” He asked as his eyes widened a bit. Jake knew I had had awful anxiety when I first came back here and was always terrified of what it did to me. “Anxiety? You have anxiety?” Brendan asked in a confused tone. “I had it when I first went to Briarwood… like really bad and I had to take medication for it but it went away after a few months and I stopped taking the medicine because I didn’t need it anymore which is why I never told you… it hasn’t been a problem for like 3 years.” I answered after I had calmed down a bit. “Bells what did you mean when you said we can’t let him win?” Jake asked after a few minutes.
I sigh and looked at Matt as he let a sad smile on his lips. “At Matt’s party Gabe pulled me aside and we started arguing as usual but then he got really quiet and sad and said he wants me back and he’s gonna get me back whatever it takes because he still loves me and always will. And then the other day when you guys went to help Nate with the burgers he did the same thing but when I said he’d never have me he got pissed and said I’ve always been his girl and always will be and there’s nothing he isn’t willing to do to get me back.” After I finished there was silent. “He’s not gonna have you. You’re my girl Bella.” Brendan said as he squeezed my hand a little tighter and I closed my eyes. “We’re not gonna let him do anything Bells.” Jake said as he looked at me followed by Matt saying the same thing. “I love you guys.” I said as I got up and hugged each of them.
We sat around talking for a little while longer before going inside for dinner. “Matt!” My mom said excitedly when he walked into the house with us. “Hi Andrea.” Matt responded as he hugged my mom. “Are you staying for dinner?” She asked as she went back to stirring something on the stove. “I’d love to.” He smiled. “Fantastic. Annabella can you help me chop the vegetables?” My mom asked as she pointed to the island in the middle of our kitchen that was covered in various vegetables of various colors. "“Sure mom.” I said as I headed over to the island and started to wash the vegetables. “You’re gonna make a great wife someday sugar cube.” Matt teased as he punched Brendan in the arm and Brendan started to blush. “He’s just jealous because I’m not marrying him.” I teased as I stuck my tongue out which earned some ‘oohs’ from Jake and Brendan. “Now go play Xbox or something.” My mom scolded while trying to hold back her laughter. “Yes ma’am.” Matt answered with a salute and they all ran off to go play video games.
