By My Side // Dinah x You

Late Nights

In the middle of the night, you were abruptly and unexpectedly awoken by your phone ringing. Groaning, you rolled over in your bed to see who would be calling at one in the morning. Oddly, it was Dinah. You answered, more curious than anything else.

"Hello?" You rasped.

"Y/N?" Dinah asked, sounding panicked and a bit relieved.

"Yeah, it's me."

"Oh, thank God. Okay, I need you to come pick me up."

"What? Dinah, it's one a.m."

You could hear her breathing was short and choppy. "I'm aware of that. But please, come get me."

You sat up on your bed and rubbed your eyes. "Where are you?"

"My house."

"Are you okay?"

She was silent for a bit. "Just come get me."

"If I can sneak out, I'll see you in ten."

She let out a relieved breath. "Thank you."

You hung up and changed into a simple outfit before sneaking down the stairs as quietly as possible. This was one of the few times you were actually thankful you didn't have a dog. Grabbing your car keys, you slipped out the door and silently locked it again, then hopped in your Jeep. The ride to Dinah's was quicker than normal, seeing as there was no other traffic.

When you arrived at Dinah's house, you pulled out your phone to call her, but surprisingly, she was already outside, waiting on you. As she climbed into your car, you saw her puffy, reddened eyes, and her slightly wet cheeks, and you wondered what happened.

"Well," you started, "where to, DJ?"

"Just drive," she said, voice hollow.

You obliged, driving through the town slowly, mostly watching the road, but often stealing glances at Dinah, who seemed conflicted and in thought. You lightly touched her leg to gain her attention. She turned her head slowly, looking at you with her big brown eyes.

"Dinah, what is going on?" You inquired, hoping to get some sort of answer to what the hell was happening.

"I just... I didn't want to feel alone tonight."

"Why? Is this about what happened at the park earlier today? Well, yesterday I guess."

She bit her lip and nodded, now gazing out the window.

"Talk to me, Dinah, please. Who was that?"

She massaged her temples and slumped down in the seat. You pulled over to give her your undivided attention.

"Do you wanna know what happened, Y/N? At my other school?" She questioned in a low voice.

You nodded. "Yeah."

She took a long, shaky breath. "The truth is, I was expelled. Now, I know that sounds bad but you have to trust me. Do you trust me?"

You nodded once more, this time more cautiously.

"My school did random searches in lockers looking for all sorts of stuff- drugs, alcohol, weapons. You know, the whole nine yards," she fiddled with her seat belt nervously. "Well, one day, some dumbass boy brought a gun to school. I don't know why. But he saw they were doing a locker check and I guess he panicked and shoved it in a random locker..." She trailed off, looking at you to finish her thought.