A New Life

fourty five.

I would have to look into that further...

Danielle's POV

Thursday, January 29th

"Why are you looking at the emancipation laws in California?" Stefania asks me as she looks over at my computer screen. The two of us are cuddled on the couch watching the end of the newest Grey's Anatomy episode.

"I want to talk to Abby about filing a petition for emancipation from her mom," I exhale deeply, my eyes still trained on the document in front of me.

"Wow," Stefania says, raising her eyebrows a little. "That's actually a good idea if she's willing to do that."

"It's worth a shot," I let out a sigh. "From what I've read, it doesn't seem like it will be that hard." I tilt the computer screen towards Stefania so she can read it more clearly. "She makes a stable enough income to show that she can support herself financially, there's evidence of her mom mismanaging her money, and there's abuse and neglect going on in that household. And if I make a statement saying I'm willing to provide housing for her, there shouldn't be any reason why a judge wouldn't deem this necessary in her situation." Stefania's eyes scan over the information on the website I'm looking at.

"Look," she points to a paragraph on the screen. "It says that child actors do this a lot to avoid the child labor laws, since they're considered adults once their emancipated."

"I just don't know how to bring it up to her," I say.

"Don't you think she'd be excited about having an opportunity like this?" Stefania asks me.

"I mean, she's told me before that she wishes she could just run away from her house, but I know she gets nervous about doing anything that might cause a reaction from her mom or stepdad," Stefania rests her head on my shoulder, listening to me intently. "I've brought things up to her in the past like getting CPS involved or having her just live at my house without telling anyone, but she was always too scared of the risks. But I feel like this could really work." I rest my head on top of Stefania's.

"I think you should talk to her about it," she tells me.

"I will...I'll figure out a way." I say, getting up off of the couch and walking into my kitchen. "Do you want to go to bed soon?" I ask as I grab a water bottle from the fridge. "I'm exhausted and we have to be up early for set tomorrow," I walk back into the living room and lean against the back of the couch.

"Si," Stefania looks up at me. "Can I borrow clothes to sleep in?" She stands up from the couch and walks over to where I'm standing. "I didn't bring anything,"

"Of course," I lean in to press a delicate kiss to her lips. "Come on," I walk her into my room, and open the top drawer of my dresser to grab a pair of shorts and a big t shirt for both Stefania and myself.

...

Friday, January 30th

I wake up the next morning to my phone's alarm going off, and reach across to my nightstand to turn it off. When I roll back over, Stefania is looking at me and smiling softly.

"What are you smiling about?" I ask playfully, laying my head back down on the pillow so our faces are just inches apart.

"Just the fact that I get to wake up next to the most beautiful person in the world. And thinking about the fact that the most beautiful person in the world is my girlfriend." I feel my cheeks heat up at her words. "You'd think you would be used to me saying things like that by now," she giggles. "You still blush at everything I say," she reaches her hand up snd caresses the side of my face.

"It's because everything you do gives me butterflies still," I say quietly, grabbing her hand with mine and bringing it up to my mouth to kiss the back of it. She pulls me into her body, and my head rests on her chest, listening to her steady heartbeat while she holds me tightly in her arms.

"I just want to stay like this forever," I whisper.

"I know bambina," she kisses the top of my head. "Me too. But we have to get up soon or we'll be late. And aren't we meeting Jaina and all them for lunch today during our break?" she asks me, and I groan because that completely slipped my mind.

"I forgot about that," I say, releasing myself from Stefania's arms and dragging myself out of bed. I feel Stefania's eyes on me as I walk towards the bathroom in my short shorts and t shirt that doesn't quite cover everything up.

"Do you not want to go?" she asks, referring to our lunch with the rest of the cast today.

"No, it's not that," I say, walking out of the bathroom with my toothbrush in my mouth, taking it out briefly to speak. "I was just gonna try to talk to Abby today about filing for emancipation."

"Ohh," Stefania replies. "You want to talk to her already?"

"Yeah, as soon as possible." I reply. "If this works, I want her with me by the time we break for the summer, and the whole process can take a few months."

"I'm proud of you, bambina." I look over at Stefania and she's smiling warmly at me.

"Why?" I ask, a mouthful of toothpaste.

"Just everything you're doing for Abby. Even if this doesn't end up working out, you're changing her life more than you know." I walk back into the bathroom quickly to spit and rinse out my mouth before returning to the side of the bed where Stefania is sitting.

"I just..." I trail off a little, and Stefania wraps her arms around my waist, standing up from the bed. "I love her. And I don't know what made me get so attached to her in the beginning, but I'm so glad I did."

a/n: short and sweet again for today:)) but there's some pretty intense chapters coming up kinda soon...so prepare yourselves!!

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