Lost Dad: Dan Smith

Thirty Two: Sharing Scars To Prove It

Again, sorry about the last chapter if you are sensitive about that. I personally am, so it was hard to write. I also heard this song on the radio and have no idea what it's called. There was a lyric I liked that went "I'm committed to dirty dirty crimes that are probably form-fitted" or something like that. If you know what song it is PLEASE TELL ME THE SONG IS AMAZING.

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Dan POV:

As I'm successfully adulting and waiting for Laura to wake up, (by that, I mean pouring a bowl of cereal and staring at my phone) Dick texts me. 

Dick: Hey. I need to call you. Is that ok right now?

Me: Yeah.

"So, what do you need to talk to me about?" I ask. 

"I just wanted to ask if you're ever going to tell the fans about Laura." Dick says calmly.

"Oh! Um..." He had caught me off guard. "I wasn't actually planning on it..." I say

"Someone is going to find out. They're going to take a picture of you with her, tweet it, and your career will be over." Dick says.

"Not exactly over..." I say, sitting on a stump of wood.

"My point is, Dan," Dick starts, using his 'I'm your manager, so I'm pretending I just want to help you but I really need my job' voice. "Someone is going to assume the worst."

"They're going to want answers to questions." I say. "Questions even I don't know the answers to. I can't."

"I know where you're coming from, Dan." He says. A door closes in the background.

"I'll do it if you think that's the only way out, but I would much prefer to not tell over a million people via Twitter that I have a twelve-year-old daughter." I say, slightly louder than anticipated.

"What else are we going to do? Wait for some random stormer to bump into you two at the market and ask why you have a child with you?" Dick says, his tone much less calm than before.

"I understand. I know that I can't just not bring her out in public." I say, pacing around. "The girl had almost never even left Chicago, and you can't bring a person to London and not take them sightseeing." I say, trying a calm tone.

"She knows you're famous around here, so you could wear a hoodie and sunglasses." Dick suggests, now assuming I'll be stubborn and refuse.

"Oh, that's not suspicious at all, some dude with sunglasses and a hood up keeping his head down walking into the Museum of London with a young girl." I say sarcastically.

"Oh my fucking god, Dan." Dick sighs. "You're hopeless."

"I know I'm being stubborn." I declare. 

Laura POV:

I hear Dan either talking to himself or on the phone, so I decide to stay in my room. I grab a fist full of rubber wristbands to slide onto my left wrist to cover up last nights events. The bandage is almost exactly my skin tone, so it's not very noticeable apart from a small blood stain. I use my phone as a mirror and brush out my hair. I notice Dan has stopped talking, so I assume it's safe to go into the living room without interrupting his conversation. 

"Good morning!" He says. "Did you sleep well?" I shrug. 

"I guess." I reply. 

"Did you sleep with all those bracelets on?" He asks. Crud. 

"...Yeah?" I say. 

"I have these," He says, pointing at his wrist. "My mum gave them to me." They're red, yellow, and green. "They're from South Africa. That's where they're from." He says.