song for this chapter:
'bruises' by lewis capaldi
(repeat it)
• dannys pov •
i went over to her, and buried my face in her shoulder. not the one that was shot, of course. tears prickled at my eyes. i swallowed them. she stroked my back, and it brought me back to when she used to do that when we kissed. the tears spilled over my eyes, and soaked into her hospital gown.
"how have you been?" she asked, her voice raspy, from not speaking. i lifted my head, and looked into her eyes. my head flooded with memories from two weeks ago.
"not dead." i said. i reached out and stroked her hair. it was soft, and the beautiful light blonde colour cleo had dyed it soon before that night. she smelt of vanilla and something i never knew the name of. i breathed in slowly.
"i have missed you." she said.
"i have missed you too." i said. countless nights of looking back at our conversations and snapchats rushed into my brain. i started crying again, and bit my lip to stop it.
she did the same.
" i heard about everything." she said.
i nodded. i didnt want to talk about it.
"looking back, i think you saved our lives." she said.
"really?" i asked. i didnt think i have saved anyones life.
"keeping elle quiet in the closet, finding the bunker, fighting nick off, photo evidence of him, getting the door open when gabi was being hurt, hiding us, killing nick, and stopping gabi from jumping. you did all of that." she smiled at me and squeezed my hand.
i thought for a moment. i did do all of that. i saved their lives. but i did kill nick. i had always felt bad for that. it had haunted me.
"i did, didnt i?" i said back. laiya nodded and smiled at me. she pulled me into her for a hug.
i looked at her, and she sat up slowly. she winced at the pain. her shoulder was getting better, and she wasnt in the ICU anymore.
i looked into her eyes, and she did the same. i got closer to her, and leant in.
we kissed. memories of the first time we kissed flooded in, and i had to swallow my tears. the night we first kissed, in gabis room, playing truth or dare with cleo and elle.
i had missed laiyas kisses. they were passionate and soft. i had taken them for granted. i had taken her for granted. i had taken everyone for granted. until that night. she pulled away.
"danny," her voice made me shiver with the bad memories.
"yeah?" i replied.
"i have news." she said, smiling through her tears.
"what is it?" i asked.
"im having a baby." her rapsy voice echoed around me.
