In My Veins

I Never Knew Daylight Could Be So Violent

“Well isn’t this cute?”

Danielle tries to tell herself it’s all a dream at the sound of Este’s voice but when she slowly opens her eyes, she knows it’s reality. She jumps at the sight of her grinning older sister and nearly sends Alana flying off the couch. The younger girl is still passed out in her lap and Dom is fast asleep against the arm of the couch.

“What time is it?” Danielle asks groggily. She carefully sits up and rubs the sleep out of her eyes.

“Ten,” Este whispers, still smiling at the sight in front of her. “Hope you guys didn’t do anything in front of the baby,” she jokes, gesturing to Alana.

“We fell asleep,” Danielle says with a yawn. “That’s all.”

“Sure,” Este teases. She leans down and scoops Alana up bridal style and gently carries her into the bedroom.

Danielle stands up and stretches. She debates whether or not to wake up Dom but Este does it for her when she practically stomps into the room like a dinosaur. Dom nearly shoots up off the couch and takes in his surroundings.

“Morning, dude,” Este greets cheerfully. “Your pal Nick is-”

“Okay, enough, ew,” Danielle groans. That’s the last thing she wants to hear first thing in the morning. “Nobody needs to know what you and Nick did.”

Este chuckles and looks at Dom. “And what did you kids do?”

“Nothing,” Dom says quickly. His voice is raspy and laden with sleep. Danielle can’t help but giggle at it. “We, uh, we watched a movie.”

“Then fell asleep,” Danielle says with a glare.

Este still isn’t convinced but decides to let it go. “You should at least spring for breakfast.”

Dom laughs nervously and rises to his feet. He checks his watch. “I have to run,” he says, giving Danielle an awkward side hug. He does the same with Este so she doesn’t suspect anything. “Bye guys.”

When Dom’s gone, Este turns to Danielle. “Okay, he’s gone. Spill.”

Danielle just rolls her eyes and collapses back on the couch. “We watched a movie. Am I not saying it right?”

“Fine,” Este relents with a dramatic sigh. “We’re only here for two more weeks. You better get on that d, D.”

Two weeks. Danielle had forgotten all about that. She bites her lip and turns on the TV, hoping it will tone down Este and her twenty questions. Thankfully, it does. But the lack of conversation makes Danielle think about the two weeks they have left in London. There’s a few more shows coming up in the next few days, which is going to make them very busy. Is it even worth it to pursue things with Dom?

Danielle sighs and Este looks up from her phone. “What?”

“Nothing,” she mumbles dejectedly.

Este turns back to her phone and opens her Twitter app. She scrolls through her feed and quickly decides to check her mentions.

The first tweet she sees is a picture of Danielle and Alana arguing. She turns to Danielle suspiciously. “Did you and Alana get into a fight last night?”

“Why?” Danielle asks nervously. She peers at Este’s phone and sighs. There are tons of different angles of the same picture. There’s even a video of Danielle dragging Alana out by the wrist. “She got wasted and then some girl threw a drink on her-”

“What?” Este interrupts with a shout. “Did you kick that bitch’s ass?”

Danielle rolls her eyes. “No. I didn’t see it.”