Unchained Melody (Daniel Ricciardo)

Breaking down the walls

Daniels jaw drops when he hears Ayla's confession.
It feels like somebody has just punched him in the gut and his heart shatters. Not for him, but for the women sitting next to him who is completely falling apart.

"Oh Ayla" he sighs.
He moves closer to her, unsure if she would want him to hold her or not.
Seeing her clench her hands together he decides to take them into his. Hers seem so small compared to his, it makes him feel extremely protective over her.
He can see the imprints of her nails in her skin, and rubs them with his thumbs.

"I told him no, but he wouldn't listen." She sobs uncontrollably.
Daniel is speechless, he wants to take the pain away from her, but he knows he can't.
He wishes he could hurt that bastard, but apparently he's already dead. All he wants to do is make it better, make Ayla feel good again.

It explains everything though. If Axel had indeed only pushed her and caused her to hit her head, she probably wouldn't have been so closed off. She would have been pissed off, but now she was heart broken.

He was so afraid that this would eventually come out, it means that he didn't make it in time to prevent it from happening. Which means he failed her when she needed him to be there the most.

"Ayla can I hold you?" He asks her and she nods.
He moves even closer to her. He lets go of her hands and opens his arms for her. Unexpected she falls into them and against his chest she can finally let out all of her pain, her trauma and her despair of what happened all those weeks ago.

"Oh baby, I'm so sorry this happened to you." He whispers as he strokes her hair. She feels fragile against him, especially with her body violently shaking from the sobs.

He has never heard anybody cry like this, it's like a primal, almost animalistic crying.
It's good that she is finally crying though. So far she has mostly kept it all bottled up, but now in Daniel's arms she can let go.

Ayla knows she is destroying Daniel's shirt, she has the fabric clenched in her fists, her make up is probably staining the black cotton, but Daniel doesn't seem to care about it.
She needs him right now and she can destroy whatever she wants if that makes her feel better.

"Let it all out baby, let it all out." He whispers in her ear.
He can feel some tears running down his face, his heart is broken for Ayla who had to endure the most traumatic experience anybody could ever endure and she tried to cope with it all alone.

He wishes she had told anybody sooner, not that it would have changed the outcome, but then she wouldn't have suffered all by herself for all these weeks.

Ayla's body is turned in a way that can't be comfortable for her.
"Ayla I'm going to pull you a bit closer and on my lap, I don't want you to hurt yourself sitting like this. If you don't want that please tell me because then I won't." He tells her, giving her the chance to say no if she doesn't feel comfortable being so close to him.

"Ok." Her squeaky voice is barely audible, but she gave him permission.
He pulls her up and then moves her on to his lap, this way he can put his arms around her better and she buries her face in the crook of his neck.

"I'm so sorry baby, I'm so sorry." He says choked up.
How could anybody hurt another person so much? Why are there such animals just walking around? This guy hurt the one woman Daniel has never been able to forget, he has never stopped thinking about her. And now she is here with him and she has just revealed the horror she had to endure.

"I said no Daniel. I swear I said no." She sobs.
"I know baby, he had no right to do this to you. It's not your fault do you hear me? It's not your fault." He hopes to get through to her.