My Clock

Just a short one shot examining how Mitchel has come to see Annie

There's a smile he saves only for her. One that he pastes on his face as soon as he reaches their pink house. No matter how bad his day has been its there, a bright, half crooked, smile. At first he wasn't sure why he tried so hard to make her happy, why he strived to make her laugh. Normally Mitchell didn't really care. Before the pink house it had been just he and George. They cared about each other, the hell with the rest of the world.

Then there was Annie. It shocked him how much he adored everything about her. He loved the way she would hand him a cup of tea, no prompting needed. He loved the way she laughed, and the way she babbled on when she was nervous or happy. He lived by those giggles. Without him even realizing it Annie had become part of him. He got out of bed every morning, not truly awake until he was sitting downstairs with her. During his work day his mind strayed to her often, wishing he was home with her, sprawled on the couch beside her. At night he laid awake listening for her. Not even his vampire hearing could pick up any sign that she was still there in the house, but that didn't stop him from trying every night.

So it was that Annie had wound herself into him. The two were friends. Two people who understood death, dealt with it every day. Mitchell liked to tell himself that was all it was. Nothing more then simple. The truth was it hadn't been simple for a long time. Not when his clock had become a pretty girl all in gray.