chapter eleven: jc pov

63 0 0
                                    

"Hey, Dani, I think you're ready now, come on out," I bite at my top lip, my arms behind my back as I shift from foot to foot. Crawford sat down, but I can't sit still. I'm confused.

"Cara, why is she just in there?" I snap, making Cara turn, sighing,

"She had a freakout, and then she just went... completely, like dead, calm and walked out of her room and in there. I think she's like, preparing, I don't know." I close my eyes, about to suggest something, nothing drastic, just breaking the door down, but all of a sudden the door opens and I look up and see someone walk out. My eyes take a minute to adjust, only because my brain struggles a bit to recognize the girl who looks like my sister. Her hair is the same, long and thick with curls randomly scattered throughout, and her body is still short and thin, but somehow she looks even smaller. Her face looks... hallow, and there are bruises under her eyes that if I didn't know better I would swear someone hit her. The usually most signature thing about Dani, her bright green eyes, are dull, and I can see how red they still are from crying earlier. I swallow, watching as her eyes slowly trail around the room. Crawford stands up, opening his arms,

"Dani, whats good?" I roll my eyes with a smile, watching him move to hug her. I narrow my eyes though, noticing her flinch at the contact of their bodies but she does loosely embrace him. As they pull away, she takes in a weird, deep, breath before looking at him,

"You?" She looks incredibly uncomfortable as she speaks, her hands fiddling around before eventually grabbing her opposite sides in obvious discomfort like she's hugging herself, "Cause, not me?" She words it like a joke, giggling to herself, but I frown at the sadness in her eyes. Her head turns toward me, and she doesn't say anything, just steps forward and wraps her arms around my torso to cling onto me. I widen my eyes at Crawford and Cara, Crawford smiling while Cara gestures at me to hug her back. I just look at down, pressing a kiss to the top of her head as I wrap my arms around her.

"Hey," I smile, and she pulls away a bit, looking up,

"You're here," she says, and I see the confusion in her eyes so I raise my hands to her shoulders from her back,

"Dani, I wasn't going to find out you were struggling this much and not be there for you. I didn't even know before today. And I called people, and I flew out here so fast, all in one day!," She purses her lips looking down, so I ask, "Did you think I wouldn't come? I wouldn't want to help?" She looks at me and shrugs,

"I think you're way over concerned if you're out here I guess," I scoff,

"You think I'm over concerned? Really? Because I think I seem to have spent a couple of years way under concerned, Dani. I knew nothing, and then you call me in a paranoia fit, according to mom, who also called me, and then when I-"

"She told you?!" Dani interrupts me, taking a step back, making me sigh,

"Yes, but Dani, she didn't know what to do anymore, yo-"

"That has nothing to do with you though," Dani says quietly, her voice still a little scared but I know it's her legitimately trying to be firmer than normal, making me stop and close my eyes.

"Dani, you're my baby sister, and you're failing out of school, not sleeping, not taking your medicine, none of it. Doesn't that all sound like something everyone should be worried about?" She shakes her head, hugging herself tightly now, "Really? So you disagree? You think I shouldn't pull you out of school, and have you come live with me in California for a while?" her eyes widen, and I see the change in her breathing but she blurts out,

"No! No, no, no, that, that's not, not necessary, JC, I promise, I-I'm fine, I'm working on it, I-I've just been st-struggling a bit, y'know," She looks me dead in the eye, "Please don't make me g-go there, th-they know now, a-and it-it'll go so bad. I-I-I can't. Okay? I just can't. P-Please, JC, I don't even want t-to leave th-that door ever, I-I can't go t-to Calif-fornia," Her stuttering is showing all over her body, her hands shaking like crazy. I know my sadness shows in my eyes as I glance between the other two in the room, but I move forward and pull Dani to my chest as tightly as I can,

"I know you're scared Dani, I do. I know this is all scary to you, but you falling off the edge like this is scary to me, y'know, and I just think you need some help and you need some people looking out for you right now. And we can't really expect Cara and Chloe to do that anymore, can we?" She struggles to breathe as she listens, but after a few seconds it calms down some and she looks up in my hold,

"Are y-you sure y-you guys wa-want me? I-I'll j-ju-ust get in th-the way of f-filming, a-and I still do-don't wanna be i-in it, y'know, like I don't know if I-I can handle th-that yet, so..." I sigh, squeezing her one more time,

"I've got you, Daniella, okay? I promise. We will take this day by day, and it'll all work out, I promise. Can you take that face value, at least for now? And come with us?" She thinks, turning her head and looking at Crawford first, who is back on the couch and so is Cara but at the other end, watching us carefully. Crawford offers her a hopeful smile, trying you encourage her, but as she looks at Cara, he gives me a shocked look and I just nod, knowing what he means. It's not good. Dani looks at Cara, before walking away from me and slowly wrapping her arms around her, leaning down to do so. Cara looks shocked, and I tilt my head. Dani has always loved physical touch, she always wants to be sitting next to someone, or hugging them, or whatever, does she not do that here? Cara sits in stunned silence for a minute before hugging Dani back,

"I want you to be okay, that's the only reason I had him come, okay? I'm gonna miss you so much," Cara whispers and I smile as I see Dani tighten the hug. Crawford clears his throat, making Dani shoot up, looking alarmed,

"Woah, woah, woah, sorry, just I wanted you to know Brian, Nezza, and um Chloe? Right? Yeah Chloe are in your room, getting your stuff," Crawford awkwardly explains, Cara nodding to confirm Chloe's name, making me shake my head with an eyeroll, but Dani hugs herself again, nodding slowly. I swallow, taking a step forward,

"Why don't you go help them for a second, Dani, they're probably almost done, you can just check that they're grabbing all the right stuff," I prompt and she nods, silently turning and slowly walking down the hallway. I watch her go as Crawford stands,

"Nezza'll be so excited to see her," I nod, chuckling as we all hear a squeal from down the hallway, Crawford laughing too.

-

thank you guys so much for reading, this one gets cut off but it immediately gets continued next chapter :)

ocd || knjWhere stories live. Discover now