i n s c a p e. // one direction //

{ t w o }

T w o.

"Come on, I'll be right here with you."

Dannie gaped at her cousin, unable to contain the emotions swelling inside of her. There was no way Jess was actually going to make her do this. There was absolutely no way. But here she was, right back where she started, only a few feet away from the home she had easily walked away from, the home that held a surely angry step father and dangerously angry mother.

She couldn't understand why Jess actually thought that bringing her back to this Hell was a good thing; who was Jess to decide what was best for her? Besides, Jess had seen the marks, had heard the stories; how could she possibly think for a second that Dannie would want to come back? Unless...unless she didn't believe her.

"You don't believe me," Dannie spoke, and Jess froze beside her.

"Dannie's that's not what I-."

"Hello, Danielle, Jess."

Her mother's friendly tone cut Jess off and the older cousin smiled widely at her aunt. "Hey, Aunt Jenna. I'm sorry to barge in so unexpected."

Jenna waved it off like it was no big deal and smiled. "Oh, no it's quite alright. Phil and I have been worried sick about Dannie all night long. We just don't know what's gotten into her lately."

Dannie froze and watched the exchange in anger, her fists clenched at her sides. Jess shook her head solemnly and eyed her cousin before returning her gaze to Jenna.

"She's been acting up quite a bit, wouldn't you say?" Jenna continued, ignoring her daughter's presence completely. Dannie wished she'd ignore her more often; it'd be easier than dealing with all the pain.

"Yeah, she came and stayed with me last night. Apparently, you and Phil were harassing her. I knew that couldn't be true though, right?" Jess arched an eyebrow, looking as if she was subtly trying to get answer.

"Oh, my!" Jenna laughed. "No, no! It was nothing of the sort. We sent her up to her room for being disrespectful at the dinner table, and she went simply crazy. She started throwing things and even managed to hurt herself in the process."

Jess nodded her head, and Dannie seethed. Exactly how stupid was her cousin? This was all so obviously a lie; her mother wasn't even that great of a liar! She was a people person, though, and that's what it all came down to in the end. Dannie didn't say anything, though, because she knew it wouldn't do anything. She knew that no matter what she did, she would always be stuck with her vicious mother and step father.

"I'm so sorry for all the trouble," Jess apologized on Dannie's behalf. "It won't happen again."

"No, it won't," Jenna agreed, finally glancing at her daughter in what looked like pure disgust. Jess nodded her head and began to back up, and Dannie instantly wanted to grab her and make her believe all the stories, make her see the truth, but that wouldn't happen. Her cousin shouted a quick goodbye to both Dannie and Jenna, and it wasn't long before she was long gone. Dannie didn't dare look at her mother, the anger now replaced with fear. She was certain that whatever punishment she had dealt with in the past would be nothing compared to this.

She distinctly heard her mother's quiet chuckle before everything went black.