collision × jay park (wattys 2018)

14

APOLOGIES | fourteen

     silence.

      that was the only sound heard between the three people in the room. though, jay's heart pounded in his chest after he heard those words leave danielle's lips. his eyes began to have the all too familiar burning sensation he remembered having when his learned of his sister's death.

    danielle felt horrible. first she kills her best friend, and now she finds out that shinlee's brother is her mate. what a great day! you can almost sense the sarcasm.

     "jay, it was an accident—" danielle started, but jay stormed out of the room before she could explain. the teen looked at her mother with a frown. "dani," the luna began. "you knew that shinlee was his sister, didn't you?" dani asked in disbelief.

    luna nodded her head.

"why didn't you tell me?!"

     "i didn't want you to be upset." her mother answered quietly. "so, you thought that by keeping this from me would keep me from being upset?!" dani shouted angrily, "mama, i killed my mate's sister — i deserved to know!"

     her mother's eyes widened slightly. "your what?" she asked in disbelief. danielle shook her head and began to get up from the bed. "danielle, where are you going?" the luna asked as she rushed to her daughter's side.

    "nowhere."

     danielle's mother gave the teen a stern look. "danielle gorgianna foster." she stated. dani turned around and gave the older woman a glare. "don't do that mama." danielle said angrily, "you were the one that said 'no secrets, no problems', but you were keeping one from me."

    the teen ran out of the infirmary away from her mother. when she got home, danielle didn't feel like seeing anyone — but the odds weren't in her favor when she bumped into gray.

     gray's eyes widened. "dani, what the hell are you doing out of the infirmary?" he asked in concern, "you should be resting." the older man continued. danielle shook her head, "i don't want to talk about it." she mumbled as she began to walk away from him.

    she felt a hand grab her wrist, and she turned around to see gray. "dani, what's wrong?" he asked quietly. danielle looked down, "i killed her." she said quietly, making the man confused. "killed who?" he asked in confusion.

       "shinlee."

    danielle rushed away from gray, and ran upstairs to her room. she locked the door after she closed it behind her, and slid down.

×××

"dani, open up."

     still in the same spot she was in, danielle started at the wall with a blank expression. the teen had been sitting there for the past two hours. she didn't want any social interaction with anyone she knew.

     though, danielle did know that she would have to face some of them sooner or later.

    "roland, i'm worried about her — your sister has been up there, locked in that room for two hours." her mother's voice stated. "well, if you would have told her, then she wouldn't be locked in there." roland retorted, a bit angry with his mother as well.

       "i was protecting her."

   "protecting her from what? the truth?!" roland scoffed, "mom, she's not nine anymore — hell, she's not a kid anymore. dani is about to be nineteen, and you need to be more honest with her." the twenty three year old scolded.

     the front door opened and they saw jay walk into the house. his eyes were a bit red from crying. "where is she?" he asked once he saw them. gray sighed, "she won't come out of her room or open the door for anyone." he said as jay approached them. the man looked at the door, "how long has she been in there alone?"

    "two hours."

   jay sighed and walked up to the door. he knocked three times, "dani....can you open up?" he asked softly, "i want to talk to you." he continued. danielle shut her eyes tightly when she heard his voice and took a deep breath.

     a click could be heard between the four people, and jay turned to look at the others before walking into the room. the man closed the door behind him and leaned against it. "dani...." he started.
   
      "i'm sorry."

   danielle looked at him with a frown, and that frown deepened when she saw his red eyes. "dani, you were only nine." jay reasoned quietly. "i know, but i still killed her!" the teen shouted. "she wanted to help me gain control, but a couple of rouges showed up." she explained.

    "dani, you don't have to—"

   "i snapped, and next thing i know, she's staring right up at me.... the life fading from her eyes." danielle finished, and her eyes made contact with jay's.

      "i know that you hate me — hell, i hate myself." she stated with a humorless laugh. jay frowned, his heart ached seeing danielle like this — he was so used to her joking around.

   "i'm sorry that shinlee and i met. i'm sorry that i took away your baby sister." she began to apologize.

    "i'm sorry that we met."

  jay began to walk over to her.

     "i'm sorry that you are stuck with me as a mate." dani continued. the older man pulled her close. closing the distance between them, jay kissed her lips and pulled away.

    "well, i'm not."

×××

yoo! chapter fourteen is finished!!! i'm surprising myself — i wrote this within two hours. since spring break is this week, i get to update like i want!

luv y'all!
-kp 💕