The Boy She Illegally Brought To The Lavender Field (bwwm)

Page 59

They arrived at Daniel's home and travelled towards the back.

"Okay, stay right here, on top of this. I'm gonna go inside and upstairs then pull you up through the window."
"Okay." Annie climbed on top of the large metal box in the back of their house.

Daniel took her bag and hurried around to the front of the house.

He walked inside and shut the door.

His father was there and about to head upstairs.

Stephen looked at his son over his glasses hanging on his nose.
"What?" Daniel asked.
"What's in the bag?" Stephen questioned.
Daniel looked at it then back at his father. He shrugged. "Some stuff."
Stephen sighed. "Alright." He continued walking up the stairs.

Daniel walked behind him and tried to seem as inconspicuous as possible.

"Goodnight, Daniel." his father said monotonously.
"Night." Daniel replied then rushed into his room and shut the door.

Stephen stared up at the ceiling. "Why couldn't the boy have been normal? Was it me?"
He opened the door and saw Nancy finishing placing rollers in her hair at her vanity.
"No, it wasn't me." Stephen answered quietly.

Daniel put down Annie's bag and opened his window.

"Raise your arms!" he commanded quietly.

Annie lifted her arms for him and he hung out of his window to grab onto them.
She jumped and he caught her then began to pull.
He struggled since he had a bad grip and really wished he had time to plan this delivery properly before they attempted.
He continued pulling her further into the room.

"Ow, Daniel!" Annie whispered.
"Yea, remember that the next time you wanna plan stuff on a whim!" he whispered back, sassily.
Her top half was finally through the window and he grabbed onto her waist and pulled her all the way through.

Only for them to fall onto the wooden floor, him on his back and her on top of him, commensing a loud thud.
"Aw, fuck..." Daniel groaned.

Stephen forced Daniel's door open with Nancy walking behind him.
Annie and Daniel looked at it.
Stephen immediately slammed it shut.

He looked at his wife with wide eyes.

"What is it?! Did he break something?!" Nancy asked. "DANIEL, ARE YOU OKAY?!"
Annie quickly began to panic and Daniel covered her mouth with his hand. "I'M FINE!"
"Open the door, let me see him." Nancy demanded.
"No, it's a...father and son matter. I'll handle it." Stephen stated.
"What?" Nancy questioned.
"You know...he's...doing things..."
Nancy gasped. "Oh...you mean like...when he was 14 and I walked in on him while he was-..."
"Yes. Yea. That. Give him his privacy. I'm just gonna tell him to lock the door next time."
"Okay..." Nancy agreed. "DANIEL, IT'S PERFECTLY NORMAL! TELL DIANA TO WASH YOUR SHEETS TOMORROW!"

Daniel's brows furrowed in confusion. "What...?" he asked quietly.

Nancy went back to her bedroom and Stephen rolled his eyes then entered Daniel's room.

Annie panicked and quickly scurried to the side of Daniel's bed where she began to cry.

Stephen shut the door behind himself and stood against it.

"Have you lost your goddamn mind!" he whispered.
Daniel looked at him. "What?"
"You bring the girl here with your mother in the house?!"
"What did you tell her?" Daniel asked and got up.
Stephen shrugged. "That you were...you know...yanking your chain."
"DAD!?"
"What?!"
Daniel began pacing with his hands on his head. "Why would you tell her that?! And why would she respond like I'm 15?! Did she say it's normal?!"
"Well it is!"
"OH MY GOD!" Daniel yelled.

The two men finally stopped arguing and could hear sniffling.

Daniel looked at Annie in the fetal position next to his bed. Eyes closed as she murmured church songs to herself.

He walked over to her and crouched down.

Annie flinched when she felt a hand grab hers.
"Relax, you're alright." Daniel kissed it. He used his other hand to wipe her tears. "He's not gonna do anything, I swear."
"Uh...I'm not gonna hurt you..." Stephen swore.

Daniel began pulling Annie up.
She hugged him and he wrapped her in his arms.

Stephen sighed as he looked at them.

Annie turned around to face Daniel's father.
"I'm sorry for entering your home unannounced, sir. It won't happen again and I can leave if you prefer."
"That's quite alright, sweetheart. I know what it was like to be young and in love, and it's not like the boy's a saint. I've grown used to it. The only one you've gotta watch out for is his mother."
Annie nodded with a soft grin. Stephen's kind demeanor and use of the word 'sweetheart' relaxed her.

"I am a saint." Daniel believed.
His father and his girlfriend both looked at him.
He looked back and forth between them. "What?!"
They both rolled their eyes.
"Y'all have a good night. Don't make too much noise. The woman's a meddler. And lock this damn door."
Annie snickered as Stephen left.

She began walking around Daniel's large bedroom while Daniel went to lock his door.

"It's beautiful in here..." she admitted. She wasn't used to a bedroom having so much space. "Your father is nice."
"To you." Daniel scoffed.
"He's not nice to you?"
"I mean...I guess he kind of is now. He didn't used to be."
"Hm."

She climbed onto his bed and sat on her knees. She was in awe of how comfortable it was. She pressed her hands to his mattress.

"You alright?" Daniel asked.
"Yea, why?"
"You didn't seem that eager to sleep here earlier today. Now you want to?"
Annie took a deep breath. "My mama upset me."
"How?"
She kept her eyes off of him. "We made a deal..."
"And?"
"It was about the protest. I told her that you were goin' with me and so...we made a deal that if you didn't go...I'd stop talkin' to you."
Daniel's eyebrows furrowed and Annie saw.
"But I told her that if you did, I'd stay with you! And she'd have to accept it! I knew you'd go so I was okay with making it." Annie explained quietly.
Daniel couldn't be upset. Especially because he did question whether or not he was going to go. Something he'd never tell her.
"I told her you went. I was hoping if I told her, she'd be okay with us. And...maybe she'd be like your dad and be nice and we can at least be together around my house instead of just my bedroom. But...when I told her she refused to believe me. She called me a liar and said I didn't have proof."
Daniel stared at the floor.
"And she wouldn't even listen to me. She told me to stay away from you. But you were there. She never told me I needed to bring back proof. But she didn't care." Annie explained sadly.

Daniel sat on the bed in front of Annie.
"It's alright. I'm okay with only bein' together in your room or in that flower field. It doesn't matter to me. I'm still with you."
"But..."
"Shh. It's alright. We know I was there. And I'd go again. I don't care if she knows. I just want you knowin'."
Annie laid her head on his shoulder and he kissed it.
"It's not gonna be that easy for people to accept us. We got lucky with my dad and Jenny."
"I wish it was easy..." Annie stated.
"Yea, I do too."