hard | daniel seavey

chapter thirty-two

   After Daniel had dropped me back off and left to go to the studio, I decided to go shopping. Although it was California, the weather was starting to cool down and all I had was shorts. I had asked the girls if they wanted to go, all but Tate were busy. It was nice getting to see her, especially since she was the only Girl friend besides Christina I didn't really talk to outside of our groupchat.

  "I am so glad you asked, I'm going a photoshoot next week and am in desperate need for new clothes." She laughed as we walked through the mall. We went through most of the stores before finally deciding to get something to eat.

  "So I see things between you and Daniel are becoming serious," Tate said while showing me her phone, playing the video from Daniel's story. "Jonah and I still haven't really came out and said we were together. The fans are well aware at this point, but we just never really said that we were together."

  "I knew not telling them was killing Daniel, so I said we can drop hints for the time being." I responded, smiling to myself at the remembrance of his smile this morning.

   "Just be careful, Hun. Some of their fans are ruthless." She sighed and shook her head a bit. "Take my advice and don't take the comments seriously. Not saying they're all gonna be bad, but not everyone's gonna be nice. That's probably the main reason Jonah and I haven't publicly said we were together yet."

    The comments hasn't even crossed my mind until Tate said something. The only social media app I used often was Snapchat and that was really just to keep in touch with friends from back home, other than that I rarely used it. But since she said it, I had the sudden urge to check everything to see what people were saying. I quickly changed the subject, wanting to push it from my mind so I wouldn't think about it. As Tate and I were talking about her photo shoot, my phone vibrated against the table.

   Daniel: Hey Pretty Girl:) Just wanted to say I miss you and I love you

  I instantly relaxed at the text, forgetting all of my worries. It amazed me how Daniel gave me new reasons to love him even more without even trying. Corbyn was right, we still were in the 'honeymoon phase' and couples usually break out of that after a while, but with Daniel, it seemed like we never would.

  After Tate and I finished shopping, she had to run for a meeting, leaving me to myself. I figured I'd go home and finish working on putting my apartment together. I was always at work, school, or at Daniel's that I never really got to make my own place feel like home.

  I put up the decorations and small things I've bought throughout the weeks, the place finally coming together. But there was one thing missing, all my family photos. I searched and searched for what seemed like forever until I finally remembered.

   'I found another box of your things..' Aaron's voice from the night he proposed replayed in my head, sending a wave of fear over me. I didn't want to go over there, I never wanted to see him again. I was finally breaking away from that, but now I'm getting sucked back in. Sighing, I gave in. I had to get those pictures. But I was too scared to go alone. Before I knew it, my phone was against my ear and was connecting to the other line.  

  "Hey, Babe. I'm at the studio now, what's up?" Daniel answered the phone, the background noise fading as he spoke.

   "Okay so I guess when I was moving out, I left a box of my family photos at Aaron's. And this is literally the stupidest thing ever, but I need to go over and get them. If you're not too busy can you come with me?" I rambled on in a rush. Daniel was quiet for a minute. I could see his face in my head, the face he always did when he was thinking.

  "I really don't want you going over there at all, Madison." Daniel sighed, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

   "Trust me, I don't wanna go over there either. That's the last thing I wanna do. If they weren't important, I would just leave them there. But I need those pictures." Daniel was silent again. I could hear people quietly talking in the background.

   "Okay, fine. Zach says he's coming too." Daniel's tone was still a bit off and I could see him eyerolling through the phone.

   "Thank you so much," I sighed in relief. If Daniel hadn't agreed to come with me, I'm not sure what I'd do. "I'll be there in 10 minutes, I love you."

   "I love you." Daniel said before hanging up. My hands were shaky and my nerves were already through the roof. I never thought I would have to see Aaron again, let along go back there. Jack and Daniel were still the only ones who knew about him hitting me. It scared me knowing that that's the first thing that's going to come into my mind when I see the building. And it scared me even more that I was going over there with Daniel, where literally anything could happen.

  What have I gotten myself into?