hard | daniel seavey

chapter twelve

   The sound of girls laughing filled the house as soon as I opened the door. I stepped in the kitchen and saw all the girls surrounding the island. Kay's face grew when she saw me, settling my nerves down a bit.

   "Madison, you're finally here! It can't be a girls night if all the girls aren't here!" Kay welcomed me, pulling me to them. "This is Tate, Gabbie, and Anna."

    "Nice to meet you all," I smiled at them.

   "Okay, now we need your opinion on something," Tate said and leaned over the counter. I lifted an eyebrow at her. "Do you think Gabbie and Jack are going to get engaged by the end of the year?"

   "I mean," I thought for a second. "I don't know Jack as well as the other boys, but I could see it."

   "See!" Tate said and shook Gabbie's shoulder a bit. "Its gonna happen. Just wait."

   The next hour or so was followed with us making jokes about the boys and just getting to know each other more. They were all so welcoming and kind, I don't know why I was so nervous. Gabbie had went upstairs to put Lav to sleep and Tate and Kay went outside to take pictures of the sunset. Leaving Anna and me in the kitchen.

   "Sooo, you and my brother?" She dragged out and leaned over the island.

  "I guess I could've seen that ojd coming," I sighed and laughed to myself. "If I'm gonna be honest, it's.. complicated, I guess."

   "I like you, I really do. Just from today I can tell you're a great person. And from what my brother has told me, I can tell he does too. I just want to make sure he's not going to get hurt. He hasn't been so lucky in the love department," She laughed a bit and played with the rings on her fingers.

   "Trust me, your brother isn't going to get hurt. He's safe with me." I smiled reassuringly at her. Just as she was about to say something, the door clicked open and the boys walked in. They all looked tired and drained.

   "Hate to be party poppers, but we're all heading up to bed. Today has been exhausting," Jonah explained, the boys all nodding with agreement.

  "I have to get going too. We're leaving for Washington early in the morning." Anna went over and gave her brother a quick hug. She looked over at me and nodded. "It was nice meeting you, Madison."

    We all said our goodnights, and soon everyone else was off to bed. I waited for Daniel in his room, but when he didn't come upstairs, I went back downstairs to find him. The back door was cracked open. I parked out and saw him sitting on one of the far chairs.

    "You okay?" I asked, sitting next to him. I wrapped my arms around my body for warmth. Daniel kept silent. He sighed heavily and looked at the stars beginning to show in the sky.

    "Today was just long. Interview after interview. It was only 3 o'clock and I was ready to pass out." He laughed a bit and pulled his hand through his hair. The roots were starting to grow out with peeks of brown.

   "Yea, apartment hunting wasn't the best either. I did find one though. 5 minutes from here, 15 minutes from campus. It was too great to pass up." I looked up at the sky with him. The palm trees swayed from the slight breeze passing by.

    "That means I can come over when I feel like it, right? Just incase I can't sleep one night?" He joked again. I rolled my eyes and stood up, holding my hand out for him. "C'mon, let's go to bed."

    "I need to stay up, though. I need to work on the finishing touches of this song." He sighed, but took my hand. We walked into the dark house quietly.

     "Well then I'll stay up with you, I need to catch up on some things anyways."

     We went up to his room. Daniel sat at his desk, editing away. I changed into a pair of fleece shorts before sitting on his bed and pulling open the document that I used for my writings. Right now, I was working on a book, but it wasn't really going anywhere. Writersblock had become my biggest enemy since moving to LA. But for some reason, sitting her in Daniel's room gave me the inspiration I was in need of. Words and ideas came to me so quick, I got so lost in what I was doing.

    "Whatchya up to, pretty girl?" Daniel said, taking his shirt off and laying next to me. I rubbed my temples and looked at the screen. I had gotten a lot done in such a short time.

     "Just some writing." I went back over and did some minor editing.

     "Could I read some of it?" He asked, rubbing my bare legs gently. I looked over it once more. I never let anyone read my stuff before. But when he asked, I knew I wanted him to. It wasn't perfect and it needed some work, but I felt like it was good enough for someone to finally read. I scrolled up to the beginning and handed him the computer.

   I watched as his eyes scanned the screen. He read in silence, which worried me. He began nodding towards the end and looked up at me. "This is really good!"

    "Thank you," I blushed and closed the computer. "I haven't been able to work on it much with everything going on."

    "I love it. And so will the publishers whenever you take it to them," He smiled and rested his hand over my leg, drawing little circles. "Speaking of, are you ready for tomorrow? First day at the new job!"

    "I'm nervous, but all I'll be doing is reading over unpublished stuff, so it can't be that bad." I rolled over on my side so I could face him. I didn't mention the fact that I was going to Aaron's afterwards. Our eyes were locked as we sat here, something I was now so familiar with. I felt myself falling for him more and more with each little moment like this. His thumb rubbed over my cheek as he sighed softly.

   "Promise me something?" He said flatly, not disconnecting our eyes.

   "Anything," I responded and held his hand to my face.

    "Promise that no matter what happens between you and Aaron, that you'll come back to me." There was no hesitation with this one. No second thoughts, no objections.

     "I promise."