"Also the purpose of life isn't death, it's paying taxes...you're a living profit for the government."
He broke into quiet laughter. "You're so random."
I shrugged and folded in my arms. "It helps keep me distracted though," I murmured. He leaned o...
We sat down at the coffee shop where we came across each other the second time. She had a latte and a muffin. I had a cup of black coffee.
"A bit of deja vu, no?" She asked sarcastically. Dani sat in front of me, smiling widely. It had been a few days since her breakdown. She had explained it vaguely, but she told me she would tell me more later. Later was now. "Just a bit," I laughed lightly. She took my hand, rubbing circles around with her thumb. Her gaze seemed to be distracted in a day-dreaming mood. "His name was Eric, he was uh...Lauren's younger brother," She began to explain. "Dani, you don't have to if you don't want to," I protested. As much as I wanted to know, I didn't want to force her into this. She nodded, her wide smile dimming to a faint one. "I want to."
She sniffed a little, and looked over to the skatepark, never removing her hand. "We met in seventh grade, started dating freshman year. We graduated, moved to LA with Lauren," she continued. Her words were numb, they weren't full of sadness. "He seemed so happy," she mumbled, not whining but had a tone of hurt. The only emotion she knew, probably. "One day Lauren and I went out to shop, it had been her late birthday present to me," She scoffed gloomily, a smile of reminiscing memories. "We came back...we both had a drug issue...he, um, he overdosed."
Guilt punched me harder than I had ever felt before. Drugs. I put her back into an old habit. An old habit that killed her late boyfriend.
She squeezed my hand, looking back at me. "I know what you're thinking. Stop it, I chose to snort that crap."
I shook my head. I should have never let her do that, all she wanted to do was impress me.
She laughed, "I got better once. I can do it again, maybe I'll drag you along."
A minute or so later, the doorbell rang to notify someone had walked in. Danielle's smile dropped, then reappeared. "Oh my God, Beau?"
I looked behind me to see a blonde, a similar face to someone else I knew. "Where have you been?" She scoffed as he slid into a seat next to her. He glanced my way, with a awkward smile. "Around, just away from cops is all," he said sheepishly. He pulled down his sleeves, then went in for a hug.
I was too confused to be jealous. Never heard of a guy named Beau, but I swear I've seen his face. "Izzy, this is Beau...he's um...an old friend," she failed to seem convincing. Dani wasn't lying, when she lied she would tilt her head. This was more of a 'not so sure what to say' tone, she rubbed the back of her ear. Beau laughed, "Old friends? That's what you call your drug friend?"
She shushed him, slapping his arm. "What? Like he doesn't know?" Beau began to give me Charlie vibes. The way he talked and held himself...Duff told me she had a brother. They continued to go back and forth. They were comfortable with each other. Comfortable enough to rest her chin on his shoulder. They could talk for hours.
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Once the confusion rubbed off, I began to feel jealousy. A lot of it too. Danielle noticed, and gave me a wink. It gave me a sense of reassurance, so I sat and stayed quiet.
Time passed by, and I had a studio to get to soon. The question I lingered to ask seemed to have lost an opportunity so I decided to just rip it off like a band-aid now. "Dani, the boys and I got invites to the MTV awards. You wanna join me? I think all the girls are going."
Her bright smile only got bigger. "Izzy, I..." she glanced over to Beau, who seemed unfazed. He smiled as he studied her smile. There was no way they liked each other like that, or else that smile would have disappeared. I was overreacting. This was sibling love. "Yeah, when?" She said. Rollercoasters swarmed in my stomach. I had just asked her on a date, didn't I? "A few weeks, on the 6th."
"I'm gonna go pay, I'll be back," she exclaimed. She almost jumped from her chair, she was so excited. Beau turned to me, "She seems to be really happy, I haven't seen her like that in years."
"Years?" I quizzed. He nodded, "They all moved here when she was seventeen, it's been ten years. Seven since she lost Eric."
"You knew him?"
He nods again, sighing and looking down at his cup. "A good dude, just really fucked up," he laughed stiffly. He shifted in his seat, his smile turning into a smudged grimace. "He loved her, no doubt...but sometimes you could feel the tension, the way he grabbed her and talked to her," He stated lowly. "Did he hit her?" I asked instantly. He shook his head, "I don't think so, I don't think she would have let that happen. I don't know dude, something about their relationship seem so unstable. Maybe it was just the drugs, I have absolutely no idea."
It definitely made me wonder. She seemed so broken and obviously disturbed with Eric's death. Dani talked like drugs was her choice, that she chose to try it and created a bad habit out of it. Now that I knew Eric was also an addict, that sort of changed things for me. Was she hiding something, or did she introduce Eric to the habit? It wouldn't bother me, to be honest, if she had brought Eric into that scene. But maybe she blamed herself, like I blamed myself for helping her relapse. That's a lot of blame she was carrying, if that was the case, especially for seven years.
Beau shifted his seat again, clearing his throat. "She's been texting me and calling, I'm guessing you know about her...habits," he said quietly. I nodded, "We both have that habit."
He huffed a laugh, shaking his head. "She's come a long way, man. She's been sober for a while now, she has a good life now so if you love her like I think you do..."
His gaze lingered to her, worry filling his eyes.
"Take care of her. She needs someone to finally care for her."
