𝗔𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀

Chapter 2: Forever grateful

The picture above is Sky's mum with Sky when she was little.
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I'm running and running, I'm sweating but also freezing cold, I'm shaking and trembling, he's coming for me I know it! I look behind me to see if anyone is following me and before I know it, I run into someone!
"I'm so sorry!" I say, shaking uncontrollably.
"Hey, don't worry it's fine, are you okay hun? You look anxious"
"Oh yeah I'm fine, just fine" I answer trailing off quietly at the end of my sentence. I'm still looking all around me nervously to see if my so called dad was following me and it doesn't go unnoticed.
"You don't look okay hun, you can tell me what's wrong"
"H-how do I know you aren't t-trying to catch me for h-him"
"Oh hun"
She wraps her arms around me tightly and tells me,
"Your safe, I promise"

I quickly back away from her and my breathing quickens.
"N-n-no you're lying! You're helping him! Leave me alone please, please don't hurt me..." I frantically shout.
Tears start uncontrollably falling down my face and I'm sobbing.
"Please just come back to my flat to warm up hun" she begs for my safety.
"O-okay" I stutter, still crying.
"Follow me" she tells me with a reassuring smile.
I give a small smile back to her
"Thank you, y-you don't know h-how much this m-means to me" I thank her.
Even after that outburst I just had, she still persevered and looked after me. I will be forever grateful, who knows what could've happened, it was getting dark after all.

After about a 20 minute walk, we arrive at her flat on the near to top floor. She unlocks the front door and I step inside admiring my surroundings. The flat is a girly mix of rose gold and white , I absolutely adore it. I didn't realise my jaw had dropped before she said,
"You like it then hun?"
"Oh, I really love it"
She giggles loudly.
"I'm glad"
"You look freezing!" She gasps with concern in her voice.
"I am q-quite c-cold" I stutter because of the shivering.
"I'll get you a blanket and you can sit in the sofa and watch TV"
"Thank you, that would be lovely"

She wonders off somewhere in the flat to get me a blanket while I go to the sofa and make myself comfortable.
"I'm back!" She says in a sing-sing voice which makes me laugh.
She throws the blanket over me and passes me the TV remote.
"Put whatever you want on TV, I really don't mind"She reassures me.
"I'm just about to put the dinner on, would you like to stay for dinner?" she asked.
"Are you sure? I would hate to intrude."
"Don't be silly! I wouldn't of asked otherwise!"
"Thank you so much, what are we having?"
"I was going to do a roast actually which is better now Your here for dinner because it seems a bit pointless cooking for myself!"
"Oh lovely!"
"I just realised, I never asked your name?"
"It's Skylar but call me Sky"
"That's a lovely name, I'm Daniella but call me Dani"
"That's a lovely name too!"
"Thank you"

She walks off into the kitchen pottering about getting everything ready to cook. I flick through the TV guide to see what catches my eye. I see Netflix so I flick through there to see if there's anything worth watching, I put on Little Britain to remind me of home. I look down at my locket again and a tear escapes my eye.
"I miss you mum" I whisper, then kiss the picture of us. I long to see her again, she's so kind hearted and doesn't deserve to be abused by that poor excuse of a man. I feel myself start to work and know that a panic attack is starting to come on.

Again, my breathing quickens, my throat goes dry and I start crying, I try to breathe in and out slowly but nothing is working. Dani must of heard me crying because she rushes out of the kitchen and comes and sits next to me, she puts her arm around me and tells me to breathe in and out slowly. Everything that she is saying is going in one ear and out the other, I can't process anything when I'm in this state. She leaves my side for a minute and comes back with a glass of water, I take it from her and sip it slowly. It is slowly but surely calming me down. When I get back to my normal state Daniel asks,
"Are you okay sweet?"
"I-I think so, just a bit shaken up that's all"
"Do you know what brings your panic attacks on?"
"Well, I started thinking about my mum and then yeah"
I completely forgot for a second that she has no idea what happened before I left home, she doesn't even know I left home, it feels like I can trust her so I guess I could tell her.

"Do you mind if I tell you what happened just to get it off my chest?"
"No, I don't mind at all, I'm here to listen" she said with a smile.
I filled her in on everything from when my mum first had me to earlier today when I left home. She didn't mock me or anything like that, she had a serious but understanding look on her face the whole time and she nodded when she needed to too make sure I knew she was listening. I don't know why but I feel like I can trust her with my life and I haven't even known her a day. I can tell that we are going to be friends.
"That sounds awful hun"
"Yeah, it is awful, I miss her so much"
Then off I go crying once again! Why do I make myself look like a wuss all the time? She gets me some tissue and she doesn't seem to mind that I'm crying every five minutes.

"I'll leave you be and finish dinner" she said comfortingly.
I gave her a small smile and she sauntered off into the kitchen again. I let out a small sigh over all that's happened today, I never thought that my 'father' was a danger to us now. I wish mum would've just told me then I could've prepared for the worst, like this.

Not long after, Dani came back in with a spring in her step carrying two trays, one in each hand.
"There ya go hun"
"Thank you Dani, it looks absolutely delicious"
"Aww thank you, your such a sweetie" she giggled.
I ended up giggling as well and we were both just hysterically laughing at each other for about five minutes!

The dinner Dani has made is amazing and she offers that I can stay here until I get back on my feet because I told her I didn't have anywhere to live. For the rest of the night, we sit watching TV and have a few glasses of wine, just endlessly chatting for hours on end and I find out that she is eighteen, like me, and she works at the same diner my mum used to work at! She obviously hasn't met my mother because she was just a child when my mum worked there. Soon enough, our eyes are getting dreary and we go to bed to feel refreshed for whatever tomorrow brings.

I open the door to the guest bedroom and step inside. Wow. Just wow. It's rose gold and white just like the rest of the house, there's fluffy pillows on the bed, a big desk and dressing table. There's also the biggest flat screen TV I have even seen placed on the wall opposite the bed. The desk is underneath the window and the dressing table is on the opposite side to the desk. I pace around the room admiring everything when I see two more doors. Opening the first door I see, there is a spacious walk in wardrobe filled with a ridiculous amount of clothes and shoes, all my style as well may I add. Through the next door is the most beautiful modern en-suite bathroom, there's a colour changing LED light making the room burst with colour, an enormous corner bath, and a toilet on the other side. There's also a separate shower and a sink next to the toilet. The spectacular pinkish tiles on the walls make it all the more better. Yawning, I go back to the main part of the bedroom and climb into the double bed. I sink into the mattress where it is so soft. Wow, is this what heaven feels like.

Before I know it, I'm in a deep slumber.