How You Get The Girl

Chapter Three • Gorgeous •

Danielle
*Three weeks later*

"You need to fucking leave him Danielle." Jaina said as she bandaged up a cut on my leg.
"Jaina, I can't. If I leave, he'll kill me."
"He's gonna kill you if you stay with him. Every single day you come in with a new bruise or cut. What are you gonna do if he puts you in the hospital?"

We heard a knock on the door, and I quickly covered my leg with a blanket.
"Come in!" I shouted.

Stefania walked in with two coffee's.
"Hey Dani, I brought you some coffee." She said with a smile.
"Thanks Stef." I tried to hide the bruise on my face. Even the makeup artist couldn't hide these.
"Bambina, are you okay?" She quickly put the drinks down and tilted my face up.
"I'm gonna go. I'll talk to you later Danielle." Jaina walked out and shut the door.
"I'm fine. I'm just a klutz." I said with a fake smile.

Stefania

"Did he hurt you?" I gently touched her face where it was bruised.
"No. I fell."
"So you falling makes you have hand sized bruises on your neck?" I tucked her hair behind her ear.
"Stef..."
"Danielle, please let me help you. Let me get you out of this." I begged.
"You can't help me. Nobody can. I deserve it anyway." She looked down as tears threatened to fall.
"Don't you dare say that Danielle. Do you hear me? Nobody deserves to be treated like this."
My heart broke, as I heard the sobs escape her body. I quickly wrapped my arms around her, pulling her close to my chest.

"Shh Bambina. I'm here. It's okay." I whispered as she cried into my chest.
"I can't do this anymore Stefania. I want to die. I'm tired of feeling like this."
"Oh Dani, please don't talk like that. I'm here. I got you." I gently rocked her back and forth.
"Do you want to stay at my house tonight?" I asked her.

"I-I can't. He'll find me."
"He doesn't know where I live. You need to get away. You can stay with me until we figure out something."

"We?" She looked up, and into my eyes.
"We. I'm not going to let him hurt you again." I gently kissed her forehead.

She gripped my shirt, and held me there.
"Danielle. Please, come home with me. I have the extra space. I have everything you could need. Please let me help you." I whispered as I stroked her hair.

She nodded and pulled away from me.
"Okay? Get your things. I'll text Krista and tell her you're not feeling well, and that I'm taking you home."
"Okay." She whispered as she grabbed her bag and phone.

We walked out of her trailer, and Jaina came running up.
"Is she okay?" She asked.
"I'm going home with Stefania. Will you tell Krista I'm sick?"
"Stefania. Whatever you do, do not let her leave your house." Jaina whispered to me as Danielle walked to my car.
"I'll keep an eye on her. I'll text you later and let you know how it's going."

I quickly caught up to Danielle, and the two of us got in the car.

I drove us to my house, and parked my car in the driveway.
"Danielle? We're here." I gently touched her hand. She recoiled, and drew back into her self.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you." I whispered to her.
She nodded and the two of us got out of the car, and walked into the house.
"Ciao Jeff!" I said as Jeff came running up to us.
"I hope you like dogs. I forgot to mention Jeff."
"Hi buddy." She knelt down, and gave her some love.
"Okay Jeff, time to go potty. Come on girl." I let her outside.
"Jeff is a girl?" Danielle asked.

"Of course." I said with a smile.

Danielle sat down on the couch, and twirled her phone in her hands.
"Do you want something to drink? Are you hungry?" I sat down next to her.
"I'm okay."
"What did you eat today?"
She stayed silent.
"I'm gonna order us take out. You need to eat." I picked up my phone, and ordered food from the closest Chinese restaurant.
"Stef I'm fine." She crossed her arms over her chest.

"I'm still getting you something. You'll be hungry at some point."
"I'm just tired. And sore." She rubbed the back of her neck.
"Do you want to go lay down?"
"Not that kind of tired. Mentally tired." She sighed.

Danielle

I watched her as she walked to the bathroom, and came back with makeup wipes.
"Let's get you cleaned up." She sat down close to me, and gently started wiping the makeup off of my face.
I felt her eyes studying my face, as she found bruise after bruise.
"Oh Bambina..." She whispered as she cleaned the makeup off of my neck.
"I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm fine." I felt tears running down my face.
"Hey, you're right. You're okay here. You're safe." She tilted my head, and made me look at her.

I could stare into her beautiful eyes all day.
I jumped and grabbed her hand as I heard a knock on the door.
"It's okay Danielle. It's just the food." She told me as she stood up.

I relaxed as she opened the door, and grabbed our food.
"Are you sure you're not hungry?" She asked as she set the food on the kitchen counter.

"I might be just a little hungry." I stood up and walked to the kitchen.
"Come eat then. You're too skinny." She said as she handed me a box.
I grabbed a pair of chop sticks, and followed her back to the couch.

"Do you want to watch a movie?" She asked.
"Sure."
"Pick something." She handed me the remote, and I chose Hocus Pocus.
"What's this?" She asked.
"Oh my God, you've never seen Hocus Pocus?" I asked.
"No? Should I have?"
"Duh! It's only one of my favorite movies." I started to eat my food.
"Wait, and you know how to use chop sticks?" She asked.
"My mom taught me. Here, let me show you."

I handed her the other pack of chopsticks, and guided her hand around them.
"Hold one kinda like a pencil, and the other between your thumb. Now pick something up."

She tried to clamp them down on a piece of chicken, and successfully ate it.
"See! It's not hard." I said excitedly.
"You're a good teacher." She said with a laugh.
"I'm good at a lot of things."

The two of us fell silent, as I held her gaze.
"Ah... anyway. Watch the movie with me." I awkwardly turned to face the tv.

We ate in silence, and halfway through the movie I felt Stefania start playing with my hair.
I closed my eyes, and became relaxed at her soft touch. It's been a while since I let anyone touch my hair like that.

"Dani? Are you good?"
"Huh? Oh yeah. I'm just getting tired." I said with a yawn.
"Do you want to go to bed? I'm getting sleepy myself."
"Yeah..." I trailed off.
We got up, and I threw our take out boxes away.
I followed her to the hallway and we both stood there, not really knowing what to do.
"Can I-"
"Do you want to sleep with me tonight?" She interrupted.
"Please." I said.

She led me into her bedroom, and gave me clothes to change into.

I walked into the bathroom connected to her bedroom, and quickly changed clothes. I walked back to the bedroom, and got under the covers.
Stefania was texting someone, so I rolled to face away from her.
I heard her set her phone down, and settle into bed.

A few seconds later, I felt the front of her body pressing up against the back of mine as she wrapped her arm around my waist.

"Goodnight bambina." She whispered in my ear.
"Goodnight Stef."