Walk Away | Danny O'Donoghue FanFiction

4. Ella

I fucking stink of alcohol. It always aggravates me when I go on nights out and some bumbling drunk spills their wine or their pint or whatever it is they care to drink over me, purely because alcohol smells disgusting when it's all sticky on your skin or your clothes. Thanks a lot, Layla.

I wasn't even surprised that Layla blew her top like this. She didn't even have a real anger issue, she had just been a spoilt little kid and that had affected how she was as an adult. I didn't care, it wasn't worth me getting upset about, and if anything I just felt sorry for Danny for getting caught up in that. Maybe telling him about that joke had been out of order because it could be seen as an embarrassing topic, and I understood why Layla had felt betrayed and mortified by it. Accusing me of trying to steal him though, not justified.

Danny came over to assist me, asking if I was alright. I didn't expect him to help me at all, I didn't even want him to because he was her boyfriend and I felt bad that he was looking out for me right now instead of her. He helped me try to wipe the drink away from my dress and all the while I couldn't help but feel awkward because of the places he was touching me to wipe it away. I did want to know if Layla was alright though, so I asked Danny who then offered to take me home. I was reluctant at first, I could easily make my own way home and I didn't want Danny to feel obligated to look after me just because he was the one who asked for my help with a present that ultimately started this little fiasco. He persisted though, so I allowed him to take me home before he would go back to Layla, giving her time to calm down.

When we get back to mine, I stick the kettle on and go into my room to change out of my sticky, wet dress and wipe off the remains of my make-up. I could tell that Danny was on edge, worried about Layla, but I knew that he needn't be because Layla definitely wasn't anywhere near as bad as he must be thinking right now. When I came back out, Danny put my dress in the washing machine while I made our cups of coffees. We sat down at the table together afterwards, where I decided to tell Danny not to torment himself with worry about Layla's behaviours. I reassured him that she didn't have any issues or problems regarding her anger, and that it merely stemmed from being used to being spoilt and having her own way. I felt uneasy telling Danny these things, worried that my opinion would come across as rude or bitchy because Layla was his girlfriend and we were only acquaintances because of that, but I could tell that Danny wasn't judging me or taking what I said badly. Instead, he confided in me about why he was so concerned about the way Layla had acted. One of our friends had told him before that Layla could be a 'handful', something I thought was unnecessary until I he mentioned that it was Kate who said it. Layla, Kate and I had once been very, very close as a trio so I knew that whatever Kate said would've been out of the kindness of her heart. We continued talking as we drank our coffees, I decided that I really liked Danny as a person. I thought that he was really beneficial for Layla and that he could be the person who'd finally be able to tame her. Danny and I had already become friends in our own right too, although I had been yet to realise it until now, we got along swimmingly ourselves and I could tell that Danny was definitely my type of person. When we'd initially met a little while ago when I had been drunk, there had been the big elephant in the room of Danny being a famous musician and I admit that I made a complete and utter fool of myself in front of him because I thought it was so exciting that my friend was going out with Danny from The Script, but that elephant was no longer there because I could only see Danny as a really normal and genuine person.

When we'd finished our coffees, Danny left for Layla's place. I told him not to worry about her, assuring him that she'd be fine and that they should just enjoy the rest of her birthday together. I guess I had been wrong though, as I got a text from Danny just under an hour after he'd left mine, telling me that Layla blew off at him and he'd left her place, telling her to really think about their relationship. I immediately called him, and he properly explained what had happened.
"I know what she said and did was bad but it's her birthday Dan, nobody wants to be alone on their birthday!"
"Did you just call me Dan?" a slight chuckle escaped his lips, which I could hear through the phone. He'd completely ignored what I'd said in attempt to reason with him about Layla.
"Yes I did but listen to me!"
"I am, and I know it's cruel to leave my own girlfriend alone on her birthday night but I don't know what else to do! It's really messing with me too ye know.."
"What do you mean..?" I ask him. I hadn't realised that this was affecting him as much as it was
"I was really starting to fall for her-"
I cut him off, "was?!"
"Yes, was.. I don't know how I feel right now because I think this means a lot more to me than it does to her..."
"I can't just side against my good friend, Danny.."
"I'm not asking you to! I'm just explaining it to you because none of my friends properly know her, only you do..." he trails off, then asks me something, "Does she ever even talk about me?"
"Of course she does Dan!"
"How much though? Because I talk about her a lot, I bore everyone I know by talking about her almost non stop"
I can't lie to him, I know I can't, so I say what I have to say in the nicest way possible. "If you really want me to be honest with you then no, she doesn't talk about you anywhere near as much as you do about her but I promise you that she really does care about you and really does want to be with you. Just get a good nights sleep and make sure you let her know that you care because I can only imagine how shit she must be feeling about putting you in this position tonight! Talk to her tomorrow and just remember how much she means to you, ok?"
"Alright, I'll do that" he pauses for a moment "Thank you so much, Ella. I've said it before but Layla's so lucky to have a friend like you"
We say our goodbyes and hang up, and I can't help but think about Danny's comment about me. Maybe I'm too nice about Layla, because I know perfectly well that she would never do for me what I do for her. She also wouldn't do for Danny what he does for her. In fact, my conversation with Danny was starting to make me question why I was still putting up with everything Layla gave me.

When we lived in our uni house together, I found her very intimidating in the sense that I didn't want to get on the wrong side of her when we had become friends. I loved her but I wondered if I only loved her because we'd been such good friends before, as I secretly now always felt as though it was a chore or a burden for me to do things with her. I knew that I was currently being a little pressured into the friendship and I definitely preferred Danny as a person to Layla which I found strange. More than anything, I felt like I'd outgrown a lot of my friends but mainly Layla. Layla and Danny already had a fairly large age gap as it was, so if I felt as though I had outgrown her, I could only imagine what Danny must be feeling like now. I just needed to block these feelings out and be a good friend to Layla.

Hi everyone! Another update for you all! I feel kind of 'meh' about this chapter and I don't think it's my best work at all, I was really struggling to put my intentions of the chapter into words so it didn't come out anywhere as good as I wanted it to but the other chapters will be a lot better.
Love, Amelia