2:08 • Daniel Seavey

Eight

December 16th
11:04 p.m.
California Time

Although Daniel knew that Harper was probably sleeping, he still wanted to FaceTime her and apologize for today. Yes, he did read all her text messages, even the good night one, but he got too scared to reply. When they FaceTimed yesterday, that was the first time in a long time where he felt something. He got scared. The last relationship he was in, he was the one who ended up getting hurt; she cheated on him multiple times with the same person without him ever finding out. How he even found out was through the other guy himself, confessing everything they have been doing for the past four months. Even though that was almost three years ago he's still scared it'll happen again. Sure, he's met other girls who had sparked something inside him but nothing like Harper. He's not really sure why or how because he only met her a couple of days ago- but she's just different, as cliche as that may sound.

All the other boys were in their rooms while he was in the dining room, propped down on a chair and staring down at his phone. Even though Daniel doesn't want a relationship, he wants to still talk to her. She was easy to talk to, she got his jokes and he got hers. He grew some balls and unlocked his phone, going to the FaceTime app and, without hesitation, clicking on Harper's name. It rang, and rang, and rang. He was hoping she wasn't too mad at him, but he knew she just might be. Plus, she might even be sleeping considering it's around two in the morning for her.

Harper groaned in annoyance when she heard her phone buzz continuously. The one night I don't put my phone on airplane mode, she thought to herself. She turned over on her bed and picked her phone up from the corner of her twin sized mattress. She couldn't read the name considering she was still half asleep, but she just pressed the green accept button. The days she does decide to not to put her phone on airplane mode, she never gets notifications so she figured this was important.

When Daniel saw she accepted, a stream of happiness came over him and he couldn't help but smile. It was a bit dark, but he noticed her reach over and put on a light. She grumbled and squinted her eyes for a few seconds. "Hey Harper!" Daniel spoke up, a smile still plastered across his face.

Harper's eyes opened, maybe a bit too wide for comfort, when she heard Daniel's voice. When she saw his face, she felt both pissed off that he ignored her all day but also relief that he's okay. "Dude, what the hell. You ignored me all day and it's," she checked the time on the top of her phone screen quickly, "two o'four in the damn morning. Are you okay? Are the other boys okay?"

Daniel chuckled, feeling embarrassed and like a jackass. "Yeah we're all fine, don't worry."

"Then how come you ignored me all day?"

He paused for a moment, not wanting to lie to her but also didn't want to tell the truth to scare her away from him. He enjoyed her company. "I don't know, to be honest. I'm truly sorry about that. I won't do it again though, I promise."

Harper laughed lazily and shook her head. "It's fine, I'm just glad y'all are okay and doing well. So what's up? Why'd you call me so late?"

"I didn't want to go to bed and not see how your day was. I hear you almost got in trouble for texting someone during class. What a badass you are." Daniel jokes as he holds back a small laugh but she does it for him.

"Yeah, I did. How cool am I?"

"Cooler than I'll ever be."

Harper couldn't help but smile; she loved talking to him. Even though she really wanted to be pissed with him, she couldn't help but not be. She's not even mad that he woke her up at two in the morning while she was in a deep sleep dreaming about floating pizza. She's just glad she's talking to him.

"Hey," she spoke up. "I would love to stay up all night talking to you but I have work in the morning at eight."

"Where do you work? If you don't mind me asking." He replied, feeling kind of sad she has to go but understanding.

"I work at Subway." She rolled her eyes, grumbling in annoyance yet again.

He smiles softly, noticing her annoyance. "Do you not like your job?"

"Well, I do but not as much as I used to. Don't get me wrong, I love Subway and working there is really chill, but I'm just so sick of eating Subway all the time. I'm kind of getting sick of it by now."

Daniel nodded, obviously not agreeing but just showing her that he was listening to her. He's never had a job, he wish he had though just for the experience. "Alright, well I'm gonna let you get your rest. I'll text you in the morning."

"Will you really though, Seavey?" Harper replied teasingly.

"Yes, I promise."

She smiled and said a quick goodnight before hanging up on him. She put her phone on airplane mode before putting her phone back on the corner of her mattress and fell back into her deep sleep, the dream of the floating pizza continuing.

Daniel got up off the chair after she hung up and shuffled back to the room he shared with the curly headed boy of the group. He heard music coming from one of the other boys' room but silence from all the others, including his. He quietly opened his bedroom door and noticed Jack was fast asleep from a long day of recording and working out. Daniel quickly threw off his shirt and changed into his basketball shorts for once. He put his shoes under the nightstand next to his side of the bed and slipped under the covers, pulling him up to his shoulders and falling asleep with a smug smile on his face. He was just glad she wasn't as mad as he thought she might be.