𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 || 𝚌.𝚖.𝚋

014; you're forgiven

'listen, we either clear this up or we're gonna ignore each other for the rest of the year,' daniel said, sitting down as he put his milkshake in front of him on the table.

hope looked up from her phone, raising one eyebrow. when she realized daniel was being serious, she put down her phone and looked at him with a questioning look.

'look, i'm sorry for the things i've said. i was just looking out for you and my inner protective self took over,' daniel continued.

'you know i don't like letting you go out alone with someone i don't know well. and i'm sorry for that, i'll work on that,' he added, watching the girl eating carrots out of an little plastic sac, like she usually did.

'i know that. it's just,' she began, but trailing off right away since she didn't know how put the words in right sentences, 'i was so happy that finally a boy asked me out and then immediately i'm being held back.'

'im sorry, i shouldn't have done that,' daniel sighed, hope nodding in answer.

'no, it's okay. i'm glad you're looking out for me. just,' she said, a smile forming on her face, 'be a little nicer about it next time.'

'i'll work on it. am i forgiven now?' daniel replied, a frowning look appearing on his face.

'you're forgiven,' hope smiled before she ate her last carrot that was left. the boy let out his breath he was holding and relief was seen in his eyes.

'now tell me how the date was because i'm dying to know since the day you went,' daniel said, causing hope to force a smile on her lips.

'it was quite amazing, i must say,' hope began, and from then on she told daniel how they were nervous at first with each other, but got comfortable as time passed by.

she didn't include the fact that she had to leave the coffee shop, also not mentioning corbyn and her had some going back and forth about whether to take his car or not.

it was the best to leave out the bad things for now, she would tell him later. maybe it wouldn't even be necessary, since she hadn't seen corbyn the last two days. the chance they would meet again was minimum.

but while hope was expecting the least from corbyn, the dark haired boy had been thinking about her often. he was home the previous two days since he had to take care of ashley, who had been sick.

'corbyn?' ashley said his name, while she was laying on the couch. an light orange blanket was covering her a little.

'yes ashley?' he responded, taking a seat on the chair near her.

'can i go to school tomorrow?' she asked, tying her hair together with a scrunchie. corbyn watched her forget a few strands of hair and pointed at them, causing ashley to grab the hair that was left as well.

'how are you feeling? i can't let you go to school when you're not feeling good,' he answered, placing his hand on her forehead to know if she still had fever.

'i'm good. still having a cold i think,' his little sister replied, drinking some water from the cup that was placed besides the couch.

'alright. if you're getting worse just tell me, but for now i will let you go to school tomorrow,' corbyn decided, standing up from the chair to go the kitchen.

although it was already around 2 pm, the two still needed to have lunch. quickly corbyn made two slices of bread with cheese, seeing that there wasn't much food left in the fridge anymore.

'can i get a dollar for a candy at school tomorrow, corbyn? they're selling special ones, it's an one-time-thing,' ashley asked as she sat down at the eating table with her brother.

'i'm gonna look for one, ashley, but i can't promise. i still need to buy food and pay for the electricity, plus we don't have that much money at the moment,' he sighed, running his hands through his hair.

'i'm sorry corbyn, i won't ask again,' she said quietly, her lips forming a thin line.

'no ash, please, it's fine, don't worry,' he reassured her, standing up to look in his wallet for a dollar.

aside from the many bills he still had to pay, his wallet was empty. he let out a frustrated sigh, debating whether he should open his spare box or not.

there wasn't much money in the spare box either; twenty-three dollars counted. but the urge to give ashley what she needed was big, and without thinking another second, he grabbed a dollar.

'don't loose this, okay? keep this close to you, and only use it for the candy tomorrow at school,' he said, pressing the dollar in her hand as he looked at his little sister urgently.

she nodded, keeping the dollar in her fist which she then hold close to her heart. corbyn's soul crushed at the sight of his little sister, hating that they had to live like this.

it was such a huge contrast; at school people adored him and he never had to worry about anything. the moment he came home, bills needed to be paid and some times water wouldn't come out of the shower.

ashley lied down on the couch again, playing with her barbies. corbyn remembered the moment he gave those her, she wouldn't leave the wide smile of her face.

corbyn had bought those at the good-will store, but they still looked like new to him. seeing his little sister play with the barbies made him happy.

'i'm in my room, playing guitar, okay? if you need anything, just yell something– i'm not that far away.'

author's note:

opinions on the book so far ☺️☺️

also this has 1k reads ??? thank you so much 🥺🥺🥺