the football journalist || declan rice

chapter ten

It had been a few weeks since Declan and Dani last spoke. Which, to say the least, did not end well. But Daniella was confused as to why really. Somehow she'd pissed him off even though he had no right to be mad, and she didn't really care for dramatic people. And Dec definitely seemed dramatic in Dan's eyes. At least this weekend she was not at the London stadium or at a west ham game. Thank fuck for that. In fact, she wasn't going to be at work at all. She'd been given the weekend off for her hard work so far, and she was definitely not going to argue with the chance to rot on the sofa for two days straight.

It was a Saturday night, and Dan was flicking through the TV channels to see if there was anything worth watching, but it was very late. Very late. She couldn't sleep, and she tried to convince herself it was because of the amount of tea she'd chugged all day. But, she knew it wasn't that. She was thinking about Declan. Like she had been most days since their 'little argument' if you can even call it that. As Daniella was turning off the TV, she decided to call it a night even thought she knew she probably wouldn't be able to fall asleep. But her phone began to ring.

"Hello?" said Daniella

"YAY! You're up" replied Kaci excitedly through banging music.

"God, Kaci. It's so loud i can barely hear you"

"WHAT?! Dan i can't hear you! hang on a sec."

Dani waited for Kaci to do whatever it is she was doing on the other end of the phone so that she could hear here more clearly, until Daniella could finally hear Kaci.

"Is that a bit better?" asked Kaci

"Yes it is? Is everything okay?"

"Everything thing is good. So good. I just think life is so good you know?"

"How many drinks have you had" laughed Dani.

"Only one."

Surprisingly, Dani actually believed her. She would sound way worse if she'd had more drinks and Daniella had first hand experience with an extremely drunk kaci.

"I miss you. Boo you for not coming out with me." said Kaci sadly.

"I'm sorry, i just love my sofa."

"Actually, it's probably a good thing that you're not here."

"Why" replied Dani confused.

"There's a reason i rang you." Kaci suddenly sounded slightly more sober.

"Okay kaci you're freaking me out a bit."

"Declan is here."

"Oh"

"Yeah. Oh.

"That man gets around doesn't he?" chuckled Dani over the phone.

"That's not all..." said Kaci.

"What's not all?"

"He asked about you Daniella."

"He what?"

"He asked about you! aren't you excited?"

"Not really"

"Shut up it's me! don't lie."

"What did he say?" asked Daniella eagerly.

"He said 'where's Dani'..."

"WAS THAT IT?"

"YES WHY ARE YOU YELLING?"

"You got my hopes up a bit there, Kace."

"Sorry" Kaci laughed. "I still had to tell you straight away."

"He can go fuck himself for all I care."

"He really pissed you off, didn't he?"

"No. Not really, he's just one of those people that you want to... i don't know... just... ugh. You know?"

Kaci didn't reply and instead chuckled under her breath over the phone.

"What are you laughing at kaci?" she asked.

"You."

"Me?" she responded in a shocked tone.

"You clearly like him, Daniella! I'm not stupid."

"No I don't!"

"Yeah yeah" laughed Kaci.

"I'll hang up the phone. Don't test me."

"Okay sorry."

"Be safe, okay. And text me when you get home." Said Daniella.

"Yes mum."

"Shut up. Bye Kaci."

"BYE DANIII!" screamed Kaci and Dan hung up the phone.

Dan made her way to her bedroom after dragging herself off the sofa and into bed. She was slightly temped to get dressed and go to where Kaci was and see Declan. But that really gave off desperate vibes and Daniella was in no way desperate to see him. Not after his ridiculous manner last time. So Daniella put all thoughts about Declan aside. For now. And she put her head down on the pillow, and fell asleep after half an hour or so.

KNOCK KNOCK

'Who the fuck is that?' thought Daniella as she slowly lifted her head off the pillow and rubbed her eyes. She looked over and tapped her phone screen to see the time. 3am.

"Who the hell is at my door" said Dani aloud.

She was slightly alarmed as yesterday she binged about 10 serial killer documentaries and the situation she was in was getting a little too familiar to the circumstances of the shows she's watched.

'A serial killer wouldn't knock on my door. Would they?' she thought.

KNOCK KNOCK. For the second time.

Dani made her way to the front door and heard muffled talking, and as she got closer she could hear a drunken laugh that seemed to belong to Kaci. This but Daniella at ease, but after she realised that there was not a killer at her door, she now realised that there was a drunk Kaci at her door. Which arguably could be worse. Dani put her hand out to open the door, and as she did she spoke.

"Jesus Kaci I thought You were a serial killer...Oh"

Kaci was not alone. And unfortunately, she was not with a serial killer. It was Declan.

"SUPRISE!" shouted Kaci as Daniella stared at Declan in complete confusion. Kaci lunged in to hug Dani and she reeked of vodka. As she let go, she stumbled backwards on her heels and began to fall.

"Woah woah, okay. Stand up." said Declan as he stopped her from falling.

Dani continued to stare at Declan in utter confusion as to why the fuck he was at her house at 3am.

"Sorry" he said. "She was black out drunk and all of her friends disappeared. I tried to call her a taxi but she can't be on her own like this."

"AWHHH. What a Gentlemen." said Kaci drunkenly. "Isn't he lovely Daniella?"

She didn't reply to Kaci's comment and instead opted to watch Declan struggle to keep Kaci upright, which was quite entertaining to her. The tiniest smile appeared on her face as she watched Declan's struggle.

"A little help would be appreciated." said Declan.

Daniella reached out at grabbed Kaci's arm to keep her stable. "Come on, let's get you inside."