Darcy and her father return back to their old stomping grounds of New York City. With her, Darcy brings habits of being reclusive. She is perfectly content spending most of her time within the walls of her father's café and sees nothing wrong with t...
hi, friends <3 it has been a while, i know. i usually struggle to update during the semester, but it was a very challenging semester to transition to online schooling with the pandemic. more about that later. i hope you're doing well. please read the author's note at the end. kindly point out any typos or mistakes, and i hope you enjoy xx
RECAP: darcy asks chris to be her partner in recreating the wedding dance of her father and late wife, evellyn. he accepts because he's cute like that. ben and darcy talk about her time in california and the strained dynamic she and richard had with suzie, evellyn's sister. she ponders what makes home a home and wonders what life would've been like if evellyn and gray hadn't passed. overwhelmed by her thoughts and feelings of guilt and pain, she calls jessica.
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"If you focus on what you have left behind, you won't see what lies ahead."
- Gusteau, Ratatouille
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I was pulled into the tightest hug the moment the door opened, revealing Jessica in a loose cami top and polka dot pajama shorts. I let myself melt into her embrace. For a moment, neither of us spoke. I held her just as tight and felt the strain in my chest slowly slip away.
It's a feeling I've begun to recognize again now that we've been reunited. Jessica was not only the big sister of the orphanage, but she was the best big sister any of us could've asked for. She looked after us, made us feel welcome, played with us, took care of us. She was the first person I took to when I first came to the orphanage. I'll never forget the week I came to the orphanage and I awoke sobbing from a nightmare of my dad. The girls in the room with me didn't know what to do with the new girl, but Jessica came in and took me to her room for the night. She held me until I was lulled to sleep, and I felt every terrible feeling slip away.
"Thanks for inviting me over," I murmured.
Jessica pulled back to look at me. "I'm glad you called. You know I'm here for you always."
Tears welled in my eyes knowing that I had Jessica's light on my side to fight the monsters tonight. She smiled and pulled me into her arms again, gently stroking my hair as I allowed the tears to fall freely. She's a guardian angel, if I've ever had one.
Then, I felt a heavier hand rest on top of my head. I raised my head from Jessica's shoulders to see Reece hauling my backpack up from the floor. He wasn't in his pajamas like Jessica, instead wearing a fitted black workout shirt with orange and black running shorts.
"Heyo, kid. Welcome to the abode. Jessica was shouting at me to clean up before you came by and I just finished."
"You had dishes and clothes all over the place!" Jessica shot back in defense. "I don't want Darcy sleeping with your work shirt lying near her nose."
