loosing game | daniel seavey

chapter nine

It had been a couple of days since the party. I didn't hear from Daniel at all, which killed me. Corbyn had asked me there was something going on after Daniel told him he didn't wanna come over with the rest of the boys. I told him it was nothing, hoping it was. But I knew I hurt him without even thinking. And it killed me.

The boys had left hours ago, leaving me by myself. This house was too big for two people, but yet Aedan insisted on it not knowing only after months of living here he'd be off. Now it was just one ginormous house for one person. The loneliness it held was suffocating.

The Los Angeles sky had turned gray, the dark and heavy storm clouds rolling in. I looked out the back doors as the rain started to come down. It fit the mood. I walked into the living room and pulled the throw blanket over me. I turned on the tv for background noise and grabbed my book. Reading was a stress reliever I grew up with. This week we're tackling The Great Gatsby, even though I had already read it four other times.

I got so lost in the words of F. Scott Fitzgerald that I almost didn't hear the knocks at the door. The rain had began pouring at this person, whoever it was would be crazy driving in a storm like this. I got up and walked to the door. Only to be met with the soft blue eyes that made me weak every time I saw them.

"Hurry and get in, you're gonna get sick!" I said and pulled him in. The wind blew heavily as I shut the door. Daniel whipped his feet on the mat and pulled the hood of his head.

"I-I'm sorry for coming over, I just wanted to talk to you." Daniel's voice was weak, sadness following it. My heart fell to my feet.

"Let me get you some clothes to change into first." I said quickly and ran upstairs. I went to Aedan's room and grabbed a pair of sweats and a shirt that I thought would fit. When I went back downstairs, Daniel stood in the hallway by the bathroom. I handed him the clothes before walking back to the living room.

I eagerly sat on the couch. I knew we had to talk. I honestly barley knew him, but I couldn't stand being away from him. When he walked into the room, he was just pulling the shirt over his head. The sweatpants were a little big on him. They hung off his waist, showing most of his exposed abdomen. The sight of Daniel shirtless made me go speechless, but I turned away before he could notice I was looking at him.

"I'm gonna have to text Aedan and apologize for stealing his clothes while he's away," Daniel joked, obviously trying to kill the tension. He sat across from me on the couch. I looked back up at him and grew sad all over again.

"I'm sorry." I started. His eyes trailed the floor. He didn't look at me while I spoke. "I'm sorry I said I didn't want you, and that we weren't really friends. I was just so mad. I guess with us fighting and then Alexis' coming at me and waving you over my head, I didn't realize what I was saying. I'm sorry-"

"You don't need to keep apologizing. It's okay." Daniel laughed a bit and looked over at me. He turnt his body to the side so it was facing mine. "I think I should be the one apologizing. I was drunk and overstepped my boundaries. I shouldn't have kissed you like that. I'm sorry."

"It's fine, really." I replied a little too fast. Daniel's face grew red, making mine do the same. I played with the corner of the blanket as the room fell quiet again.

"But hey, you were kinda right on one thing," Daniel started. My eyes met his, lingering there for a little too long. "We're barely friends. I feel like I don't know really anything about you."

"Well what do you wanna know?" I asked and sat up straight. He smiled, showing his tooth gap.

"Everything."

The conversation ranged from childhood stories from when we lived in Pennsylvania, to things I loved doing, like reading and writing, to random high school stories. He asked so many questions and seemed like he genuinely wanted to know the answers. It was the first time in forever I had a meaningful conversation with someone without them asking about Aedan.

"Wait so you're telling me you almost went to Duke University? That's insane." Daniel and I now sat closer to each other, his eyes glowing as he listened.

"Ever since I was little, I had always wanted to be a marine biologist. But even with Aedan starting to pull in money and offering to pay, we couldn't afford it. I had to turn it down. That's why I'm out here with Aedan, just kind of looking for a new calling." I laughed weakly at the memory. I was so excited the day I had gotten accepted. Duke was the only school I had applied to. It was my absolute dream school. But after calculating all of the costs, my dream came to a close.

"Well hey, I'm sure your parents are still crazy proud of you." Daniel's hand rested on my knee, rubbing little circles with his thumb. "What are they like?"

"Well," Talking about my parents was such a hard topic. I loved my mom, but when it came to my dad, I still found it hard to talk about. "My mom's an E.R. nurse, so she's all for the thrilling things in life. There were so many times where I swear that woman did things just for the adrenaline rush."

I sighed and looked towards the ground. I bit the inside of my cheek. "My dad died when I was four. He was coming home from work late one night and got hit by a drunk driver. After he died, my mom never took interest in anyone else. She lost the love of her life, so her main focus became my brother and me."

"Shit, I'm sorry. If I would've known-" Daniel began to apologize, but I cut him off.

"How could you have known? It's fine, Daniel. Really." I gave him a reassuring smile. He relaxed a bit and sighed. "Now it's your turn. Tell me about you."

Daniel smiled as he began telling me about his life. He was born in Washington, but grew up mainly in Portland. His father was a pastor for their home church, so he grew up in a very Christian home. Then it went into him talking about music. He could play any instrument, he could sing, the whole thing. I could tell he was passionate about it in the way his face glowed up as he spoke. I had already heard him sing and play guitar from the night of the bonfire, but I never knew it was all of this.

"So what you're telling me is you're a musical genius?" I smiled at him once he finished talking.

"I guess so," He shrugged and laughed a bit, followed by a yawn. I picked up my phone and turned it on to see the time. 11:28. "I better start heading out."

He stood up and grabbed his keys. I looked out the window and saw the rain still coming down.

"Why don't you just stay?" I asked a little too quickly. He turned around, a smirk coming into his face. "I-I mean it's still raining pretty hard. And it's late and you're tired. You can just stay here again if you want."

Daniel's smirk turned into a smile as he nodded. He followed me upstairs and stopped at the guest bedroom he had slept in the night before.

"You can sleep in my room again?" It came out as more of a question. Daniel followed me into my room as I took a change of clothes into the bathroom.

My mind was wandering all over the place. So many things were going through my head as I walked back into my room. My eyes were met with Daniel asleep. I smiled at the sight and turned out the lights. I carefully crawled onto my side, trying not to wake him. When my head hit the pillow, I could feel his arm snake around my waist. He pulled me close to him. His body sending warmth throughout mine. We didn't say anything about it, because within seconds we were both fast asleep.