Mr. Grey

Chapter 37

***DANNI'S POV***

I met Sasha and Peter at IHOP at around 11 am. They were already there before me and were at the table when I walked in. Sasha perked up when she looked in my direction and waved me over.

"Hey, Danni!?" She seemed a little too excited, especially on a Saturday morning.

"Hey, guys." I sat across from them in the booth. Sasha's arms was around Peter who was holding her hand.

"We just got here, haven't ordered yet." Peter pointed to the menus as he spoke. We all picked one up and I scanned the options.

"Pancakes?" Peter looked at the two of us who happily nodded. When the waiter came Peter ordered us all coffee and pancakes. We sat in silent for a few moments after the waiter took our menus.

My phone broke the silence and I took it out of my pocket. I was thankful that I was the only one on this side of the table because the name on the screen read Lucas.

I put a finger up to excuse myself from the table as I put my phone into my ear. "Hello?" I said while halfway out the door.

"Hey..." He paused. I still couldn't get over the charming sound of his voice. "...Am I interrupting anything?"

I quickly looked back at Sasha and Peter through the window to see if they were watching me but they were preoccupied with looking at each other. "Just having brunch, nothing special." I hope he didn't feel bad about calling.

"Oh..." Another pause, "Well, I was wondering if you wanted to have lunch later." He chuckled, "Maybe another time?" I could tell he was probably scratching the back of his neck.

"Lucas," I tried to think of what to say without breaking his heart. "Do you think it would be a better idea that we, uh, don't see each other until after I graduate?" I bit my lip, anxiously waiting for his response.

"Yeah, yeah." He sighed, "I'm sorry I called. I know we're trying to be as careful as possible and this was pretty much the exact opposite." He awkwardly laughed. "Danni." His voice got a little more serious.

"Yeah?"

"I love you. Don't forget that, even though we are apart now, don't ever forget how much I love you." The words kept repeating in my head in his voice. "Danni?"

"Yeah, I love you too. I mean it." I wasn't as sentimental as he was but I hope he knew it.

~~~~~~

"These are incredible." Peter said with a mouthful of pancakes. Sasha and I nodded, our mouths stuffed too. I always pour syrup on top of the pancakes as well as a pool on the side. I would take a piece, dip it into the pool and add a small amount of butter. Peter thought it was disgusting but Sasha did the same exact thing and we all laughed about it. I was starting to accept Sasha and I's relationship and I think she was too.

"I'm never going to eat anything ever again." I moaned, practically lying down in the booth with my hand on my stomach. I was surprised it wasn't hurting more now that I ate probably half of my weight. Sasha must have seen my hand on my stomach and her expression changed.

"Is your stomach ok?" I forgot she didn't know about the incident. I shot a quick glance at Peter who kept his head down.

"Uh, yeah. Just ate so much." I chuckled, at least I wasn't completely lying. Peter smiled and looked at Sasha who raised her eyebrows.

"Is there something I don't know?" She looked back and forth between Peter and I. We both shrugged and told her there was nothing to talk about. She dropped the conversation when the waiter came over with the check. I went to get my money out of my pocket but Peter stopped me.

"I'll get this one." He looked directly into my eyes. "Really, I mean it." I nodded and crossed my arms, secretly pressing against my stomach in attempts to lessen the pain.

I walked towards my father's truck when I heard Sasha call my name from the other side of the parking lot. I turned around as she was jogging over to me. "I know we don't have the best history, or not one at all." She tried to catch her breath. "But I hope that we can become good friends." I could tell she meant it.

"Of course. I would love nothing less." I smiled and she hugged me.

"See you soon?" She raised her eyebrows in hopes I would say yes.

"Of course!" I smiled and unlocked the car as she jogged back over to Peter and got into the front seat of his Jeep Wrangler. I did a double take, thinking it was Lucas' car.

I have to get my mind off of him.

I told myself as I drove home. I already had a headstart on my homework but I wanted to finish it today so that I could work on my new app all tomorrow. I checked my phone for any new messages while I was at a red light. After scrolling through a few emails and Instagram likes, I saw that Sasha Barrett had added me on snapchat. I quickly looked up to see the red light then went back to my phone to add her back. Her emoji was her face with a rainbow on top of it and there was a star next to her name. I added her back and watched her story of her walking on the trail with Peter.

The deafening sound of a truck horn made me jump, dropping my phone through the small crack in between the seat and the cup holder. I quickly accelerated on the gas pedal and put my hand out of the window, apologizing for not going on green. I didn't dare take my eyes off the road until I pulled into my driveway. I struggled for a few minutes trying to get my phone from out of the crack then successfully reaching it after i pushed the seat all the way forward and grabbing it from the back seat.

I walked into my house and threw the keys onto the kitchen table. I looked over at the couch, expecting to see my laptop but there was nothing there. I raised my eyebrow and ran upstairs into my room and looked everywhere but it was nowhere to be seen. I tried to retrace my steps from Friday night but I could have sworn that I did my work in front of the tv downstairs.

I went back into the living room and looked everywhere but it was nowhere to be seen.

"Danni?" The voice made me jump practically hitting my head on the ceiling. I turned around to face my father, who was holding my laptop in one of his hands.

"Dad?" My voice was almost silent. I was surprised that I couldn't smell any alcohol, the adrenaline must have cut off my sense of smell. He took a small step forward and I took a huge step back.

"Danni." His expression seemed sad. "I can't even begin to imagine what I've put you through." I raised an eyebrow, his pronunciation was perfect. There was no slurring, he wasn't drunk.

"When was the last time you had a drink?" My body was as still as a rock, despite the fact that my stomach was in searing pain.

He sighed and gently put my laptop on the chair next to him. I noticed he was looking at the outline for my new app. "I quit, a long time ago." He looked down at his feet. "Ever since what happened, at Christmas, I couldn't live with myself." I could tell this was hard for him to say. "I even tried to kill myself, Danni." He looked up and his eyes met mine. I forgot about my stomach and looked right into the eyes of my sober father.

"Dad..." I started but he held his hand up.

"Just let me finish." He took a big breath, trying to find the right words to say. "I joined an AA group." My body started to relax slightly. "I've been sober for three months," He paused, and looked up, as if he was trying to solve an equation in his head. "Four months this Wednesday." I could tell he was waiting for a response. When I smiled I saw his expression change.

"That's really great, dad." I took another step towards him, we were only a few feet apart. "Really, really great."