What Should Have Been

Part Three: Fitting In

Fanfic: What Should Have Been

Part Three: Fitting In

Daniel spent the rest of the morning in his bedroom, exploring his own space. He had a large closet and nice wardrobe, that included plenty of clothes perfect for college. He had lots of books ranged in several bookcases, plus an amazing large globe that looked antique, standing in one corner. Daniel discovered a state of the art laptop, clearly used primarily for schoolwork. He started looking through various files and found documents for his classes, plus extensive notes about both his extracurricular activities and the numerous sports he was involved with. He was pleased by the detailed information, which gave him an immediate overview of his life as a student. He also found a folder specifically dedicated to religion, which indicated an obvious interest in theology, as well as his involvement with the Church.

Daniel only skimmed through the actual documents, deciding he could peruse these more carefully later on. But he was fascinated with how clearly organized he was. This was certainly more so than in his 'other' life. He also noticed that he was taking more than one writing class, wondering what his parents felt about that. He imagined there would be an interesting discussion about college at some point.

Daniel went into his email, glancing quickly over a few items, delighted to discover he actually had interactions with several of his professors, and other instructors. There were numerous emails carefully filed away from his sister and his parents, along with some from friends. He didn't recognize all the names, which made him somewhat nervous, but he decided he'd deal with who he did and didn't know when the time came.

Finally he took time to google several subjects. He started by searching on both of his parents in turn. Conrad was, as before, a successful businessman. But he also headed a non-profit charitable foundation, and was a pillar of the Catholic Church in New York State. (There was even a photo of him with the Pope.) Daniel was surprised to learn that Victoria ran a gallery with her son, Patrick, though it seemed she wasn't very 'hands on' with the business -- she was too involved with various charities and Church groups to be able to hold down even a part time job.

Googling his sister produced information about her stellar scholastic records, and her involvements with volunteer work. She was obviously following in her mother's footsteps. Daniel decided to check on Patrick, as well. His half-brother was slated to have a show of his work in February. Daniel also saw several photos of Patrick in public with the family.

Daniel avoided googling himself, content with the smattering of information he'd pulled while checking on the rest of the family. But he did decide to search on David Clarke. He soon learned that David had gone his own way when Daniel was a toddler. Having left Grayson Gobal, David was now an executive at Nolcorp, so he was obviously close to Nolan Ross -- which probably meant Nolan was close to Emily (just as he had been in the 'other' world). But WHY was Emily not using the name Amanda Clarke? Plus David had a house some distance from Grayson Manor. Why didn't he still live in the house next door? Finally, Daniel wondered if he should check out Emily. He'd be seeing her later that day. Maybe it would be best if he waited to search about her online after he came home again...

Daniel found himself alone in the kitchen when noon rolled around. Just as he opened the fridge and peered in, his father entered the room, humming and smiling.

"Hungry, Dad?" he asked, smiling in return.

"You bet," Conrad said, patting Daniel's shoulder. "Can we whip something up, do you think? Or should I call the cook?"

"Whatever you think," he answered. "I'm starved!" And suddenly he realized he was really hungry.

So Conrad made small talk while they sat watching the cook prepare their lunch. Then they ate together. And they talked, and spent time laughing over Conrad's humor.