Chapter 6
-
My nerves were everywhere as I stepped up on the porch of my old home.
I slowly brought my knuckles up to the door and knocked four times.
I stepped back and was met by Beth.
"Why'd you knock?" She asked.
"Is dad home?" I asked.
"Yeah, come in." She ordered.
"No. Tell him I'd like to speak with him out here." I replied.
She slowly nodded her head before leaving to find our father.
I stood by the steps before my dad walked out onto the porch and closed the door behind him.
"I know you hate me. I know you don't claim me as your daughter anymore, and I know I messed up. I made mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes. I'm so sorry. If you want me to leave and never come back, I will. If you want me to fire me at work, do it. I'm sorry I disappointed you." I explained.
He looked to me before looking out to the fields.
"We warned you about Blake. He got you into this." He replied.
"I know. I should've listened. I should've done a lot of things." I mumbled.
I stepped off of the porch and looked down at the ground beneath me.
"I'll pay for what I've done, believe me, I'm paying for it right now." I replied.
He walked back inside and let the screen door slam behind him.
"I've tried talking to him. We all have." Annette stated as she walked out.
"It's okay. I won't be back." I replied.
"He's just having a hard time with it." She replied.
"Can I get some clothes?" I asked.
She nodded and let me inside.
I immediately walked upstairs and walked into my room.
-
I threw my suitcase in the back of the car and slammed the trunk shut.
"If you want to be mad at someone, be mad at me!" Maggie yelled at her father.
I opened the car door and sat down in the driver's seat before turning the car on.
"I knew the entire time! I knew and I didn't tell you. I even went with her once!" Maggie yelled.
I closed the car door and drove off down the dirt road.
-
It felt weird being homeless. To not have anywhere to go at the end of the day, no shelter, no family.
It hurts when your father doesn't even want to talk or look at you. It hurts that he kicked me out and basically kicked me out of the family.
"Hello?" I asked, opening my flip phone.
"Hey. Where are you?" Jake asked.
"I'm at McDonalds." I answered.
"I stopped by the farm, Annette said Hershel wouldn't let you back." He replied.
"Yeah. I guess people can't make mistakes." I mumbled.
"Which McDonald's are you at?" He inquired.
"I'm actually not at McDonald's." I replied.
"Where are you?" He interrogated.
"Outside.." I mumbled.
"Dani, stop shitting around." He ordered.
"I'm outside of your apartment building." I answered.
"Why didn't you come up?" He asked.
"I didn't know if you were home." I replied.
"You could've called." He replied before hanging up.
Minutes later he walked out and came to my car.
I opened the car door and got out.
"Holy shit, you're actually crying." He replied.
I nodded and he wrapped his arms around me before I put my head on his chest and started crying even harder.
"It's okay," He mumbled while rubbing my back.
"Maybe I will go smoke some weed, snort some cocaine, and get high off my ass." I stated after a few seconds.
"No, definitely don't do that." He replied after I pulled away.
"I'm homeless. I'm family-less." I replied.
"You can stay with me." He stated.
"Just until I find a place." I replied.
-
"Do you order pizza every night?" I asked Jake as I sat down on the couch beside him.
"No, but is that a problem?" He asked.
"Not at all." I replied, taking two slices from the box.
"Have you talked to Blake?" He inquired.
"No." I replied.
"Do you miss him?" He asked.
"Do I miss staying awake and knowing he was at a bar and cheating on me? No. Not at all." I answered.
"He's stupid." He stated.
I vigorously nodded my head before stuffing a large bite of pizza in my mouth.
-
I quickly curled my hair before pinning back two pieces.
I unplugged the curling iron and quickly slipped my shoes on before pulling on my jacket.
"Why are you in a hurry?" Jake asked from the kitchen.
"I'm late!" I yelled before grabbing my phone, wallet, and keys.
I ran out of the apartment and down the stairs before running to my car.
-
I ran into the clinic, startling people in the waiting area.
"Good morning!" I greeted before running to my office.
I should've came in the back way, but that would've wasted more time.
"You're late." My father stated as I pulled my jacket off and pulled my lab coat on.
"I know, I'm sorry. It won't happen again." I replied as I nearly knocked into Stacy as I left my office.
-
"Is something wrong with Max?" I asked Rick as I walked to the front of the clinic.
"No, he's alright. We need to talk someone private. As a police officer to a civilian." He stated.
"Okay, we can go to my office." I replied before turning and walking down the hall to my office.
Once we were both in my office, I shut the door.
"We arrested Justin Mason this morning. He's one of Merle's right hand man, you obviously know that." He stated.
"Okay." I replied.
"You and your family need to be careful. If they find out that it's you that came to us, then they'll try to harm you and your family. Take extra precautions." He replied.
"Okay." I mumbled.
"Jake has a meeting with them tonight, I think you should go just so they know you're not the one that turned them in." He replied.
"Okay, yeah." I replied.
"Jake will tell you everything later." He stated.
I nodded before he opened the door to my office and left.
-
I got in Jake's truck that he always used before I knew he was an undercover cop.
"What if they know?" I asked.
"Do what I do. Play the part. Take the pills, spit them out when they're not looking, whatever." He replied.
I nodded and rolled down the window.
-
I pulled my jacket off as I walked into our meeting place.
"Where's Merle?" I asked Daryl who was currently skinning a squirrel.
"He'll be here in a minute." Daryl grumbled.
"You need to leave." I stated.
Jake hit my back with his hand and I stepped forward.
"Daryl, you need to go. Now." I ordered.
He slowly turned his head to look at me and I was scared that the police were going to show up and they would arrest him too.
Daryl never done anything. He's probably more innocent in this situation than I am, he's just always with us because of Merle. Everything was because of Merle.
"Go." I ordered.
The door swung open and Merle walked in, staggering across the floor.
Daryl grabbed his squirrel and left the building before Merle threw himself on the couch.
I looked to Jake who glared at me before sitting down on the couch.
"Holy hell. It's been a long day," Merle mumbled.
He was obviously too high to give a shit, but I sat down on the other couch.
Suddenly Jake walked up from behind Merle and hit him against the head.
"Were you supposed to do that?" I asked.
I stood up, watching as three police officers bursted into the room- including Rick.
"Wasn't there supposed to be a large meeting tonight?" I asked Jake.
"Change of place." Jake answered with a smirk.
"Where?" I inquired.
"Jail." Rick replied.
I watched as someone handcuffed Merle and pulled him off of the couch.
"You got all of them?" I asked.
"This is the fourth one." Rick stated.
-
"Are you crazy? Why'd you let him get away?" Rick asked as he began walking towards me.
"He never done anything. I think this is a great chance for him to get away from Merle." I replied.
"He helped. He deserves to be in jail like the rest of them." He snapped.
"I helped." I stated.
"You were threatened." He replied.
I rolled my eyes and turned to walk to my car when he grabbed my wrist.
"Come inside." He mumbled.
I looked up at the hotel lights before he moved closer.
He put his lips on mine and I pulled away.
I knew what was happening was out of emotion from his relationship with his wife.
He didn't even know me, and I don't know him.
I got in my car and drove away.
-
I sat on Jake's couch and struggled to open the box to my new phone.
I finally got it open and found the iPhone 3, that would apparently "change my life", says Beth.
The door to the apartment closed and Jake walked over looking distraught.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"I'm in love with you." He answered.
I dropped my new iPhone and it hit the coffee table before landing.
I was so shocked I couldn't even look down to check it.
"I've been in love with you for seven months. I know you don't feel the same, but I need to get this off my chest. I almost died today, and I literally dodged a bullet. All I could think about was you. All I think about is you." He explained.
I slowly stood up and walked over to him.
I don't feel the same. I never thought about him like that, but I couldn't tell him.
I've had an attraction to him, but that's all it was.
I knew what I was doing was wrong, but I had been waiting so long for someone to say those words to me. It felt nice.
I crashed my lips to his before he kissed back with the same force.
-
I felt the tears fall out of my eyes as I slowly left Jake's bed.
I grabbed my clothes from the floor and quickly pulled them on before grabbing my things and leaving his apartment.
I felt so bad that I felt sick to my stomach. I'm a horrible person.
Now he thinks I feel something for him and when he finds out I don't he'll be hurt.
I got in my car and drove to the nearest hotel which happened to be the one that Rick was staying at.
-
I got the Dunkin Donuts and drove off to the police station.
Once I arrived, I walked inside.
"Hi, can I help you?" The lady at the front desk asked.
"Um, I brought breakfast for Jake Chadwell." I replied.
"Okay, go down this hall and it's the third door on the right." She explained while pointing to her left.
I nodded and walked down the hall and found his office.
"Danielle? Everything okay?"
I looked up to find Rick walking down the hall with Shane.
"Yeah. Everything's fine." I replied, walking into Jake's office.
"Get out." He ordered.
"Jake, shut up and listen to me." I demanded.
"Get out." He mumbled.
I threw the bag of Dunkin Donuts at him before crossing my arms.
"I'm sorry. I know what I did was wrong. I didn't want to hurt you. You're a very handsome, nice person, and you're one of my closest friends. I love you, but not like that. I never heard those words before, and when you said them, I felt different. I felt like, I don't know, I was actually worth something to someone? Maybe we can try this, and maybe I could fall in love with you." I replied.
"Leave before I have someone escort you out." He ordered.
I huffed and walked behind his desk.
"I just got out of a relationship. Did you really expect me to feel the same about you?" I asked.
"No." He mumbled.
"So shut up and let's try this. Take me on a date, I'll bring you breakfast again, we can have lunch dates, we can go to the movies, whatever." I replied.
"You don't want to, Dani. You just feel bad and you're trying to make things right." He replied, trying to stand up.
I placed myself in front of him, leaned over, and grabbed his shirt collar.
I crashed my lips to his before pulling away soon after.
"I'm going to be late for work." I replied.
I walked to the door and left his office before leaving the station.
-
I took my hair out of the falling bun it was in before walking to the front desk of the clinic.
"Long day?" Annette asked.
"Yeah, and it's just now lunch time." I groaned.
"There's Jakey!" She exclaimed.
I looked to the door, watching as Jake walked in with flowers.
Jake walked up to the desk and greeted Annette before looking to me.
"So are we going to Olive Garden or what?" He asked.
"Definitely." I replied with a smile.
________________________
ship names:
Rick and Danielle:
- dick (personal favorite lmfao)
- rani
- ranielle
Jake and Danielle:
- Jani
- Janielle
- Dake