Why Can't We? / Daniel Seavey

26|mission impossible

"So I have to tell you something that is probably going to make you less stressed out." Daniel said turning in his seat and looking at me.

I glanced over quickly and was greeted by his adorable face. "What?" I asked laughing a bit as I turned my attention back to the road. 

"My aunt has a house in San Diego, and I asked her if we could stay in it and she said yes." 

I sighed with relief. "Thank fucking god." I said smiling. Daniel still hadn't taken his eyes off me. "Can you stop you're distracting me." I said playfully pushing his face the other way. 

Daniel grabbed my hand and kissed it. He then rested our now intertwined fingers on the center console, where he caressed my knuckles with his thumb. 

"You know I'm in love with you." I said quietly. 

"I'm in love with you as well." He said, "But we have to talk about you for a moment." 

"About the baby you mean." 

"Yeah, I know I said I wanted to keep it but I want this decision to be up to you." 

 I bit my lip. Truth is I didn't want to have this kid, I didn't want to end up like my parents, or like a shitty mother. I'm only eighteen, and It's crazy to think that I could in eight or so months be a mother. And I knew in my mind I wasn't ready for that. I wasn't ready to become a greater good, I wasn't ready to take on responsibility. I was barely an adult, I had just lived by myself for a few short months, I knew I couldn't do it. But a little part of me wanted to try. 

"Daniel what do you want?" I asked

"I'd love to keep it, but the decision is up to you. You're the one carrying this child, this is your body, I don't have a say." 

"I really don't think I can do it."

"Then thats okay-"

"But I want to try Daniel." I said glancing over at him.

His face was plastered with joy, I had never seen him smile so wide. His eyes were so bright and full of love. 

"Oh my god, Alaska. We're going to be parents." He said joyfully. "We're going to be parents! Wait oh my god can I call my parents? I have to tell my mom." 

I laughed. "Of course, just don't tell her I'm here."

"Anything you want." Daniel replied pulling out his phone. 

He typed in a few things then the phone started ringing. My heart started racing. Daniel muted the radio as his mom answered. 

"Hi Mom." Daniel said 

"Daniel what's wrong?" 

"Does something have to be wrong for me to call?" he asked squeezing my hand. 

"No of course not, what's up?"

"Mom I have something to tell you. And I don't know how you're going to react but I think I'm ready." 

"Alright Daniel what do you need to tell me?" Keri asked

"Alaska's pregnant." He said

"Oh my god Daniel!" Keri said. "That's so amazing! I know I should probably be telling you sex is for marriage but I know you, and I know her. You two are made for each other. I'm happy for you." 

I smiled and looked at Daniel. 

"Hey mom I hate to cut this conversation short but I'm getting a call from Jonah, I'll talk to you soon okay?" 

"Okay, love you Daniel. Send my best to Alaska." 

Daniel hung up the phone and answered the call from Jonah. 

"Where are you." Jonah said.

"We're about an hour out from Los Angeles whats wrong?" Daniel asked.

"The cops just showed up at our house asking for Alaska."

"Wait Jonah tell me everything that happened." I said taking a deep breath. 

"The cops showed up and showed us your picture asking if we knew where you were. We said no but they had a search warrant and they searched the house. But apparently theres a private investigator working with the police trying to find you. Alaska apparently you stole 10,000 dollars from your parents, that's a felony." 

I paused. "Jonah I didn't steal 10,000 dollars from anyone, it's my parents being fucking manipulative." 

"I believe you but there's more. You've been followed since your parents reported you missing, they have a tracker on your car, you need to leave it somewhere and get the fuck out of the state." 

And for what it's worth I thought this was going to be easy. And I thought that I'd just have to avoid everyone at all costs for a few weeks before my parents laid off. Clearly it was time to get creative. 

"Alright thank you for letting us know, we'll keep in touch." Daniel said before hanging up. "What do we do now?" He asked. 

"We're going to stay the night in San Diego, park my car a few blocks away from your aunts house. Then in the morning we are going to take the amtrack back to Los Angeles then to Phoenix. And we're going to hope it all stops by then." 

"We're going to get through this," Daniel said 

I believed him, his voice was so believable. He made everything about this situation okay, just because he was there. I didn't deserve someone so great, Daniel was beautifully souled and beautifully minded. I love him and i've said it so much but I really do. And when you find someone like Daniel, keep them close. Because they're hard to find. 

I looked over at Daniel, who had his head up against the glass watching the cars go by. He twiddled his thumbs. For some reason I felt guilty, I had brought Daniel into my terrifying life. I didn't want to be this burden on him and his friends. I didn't want to ruin it for him. I couldn't ruin his life, it would haunt me for the rest of my days.