Enemy Basis | COMPLETE

43| happiness

The rest of the day was a blur of aimless driving and stolen moments. Before I knew it, the sun was setting, painting the sky in hues of orange and purple. The thought of facing my dad and explaining my impromptu hospital escape filled me with dread. Dorran, ever perceptive, offered me a place at his. I was excited—this felt different from my last visit. But as soon as I'd changed into one of his oversized t-shirts and crawled into his ridiculously comfortable bed, exhaustion hit me like a wave. The hospital stay had taken more out of me than I realized. I was asleep within seconds.

The next morning, a relentless pounding on the door dragged me from sleep. I hadn't realised how tired I had been and all I wanted to do now was stay in bed. Could no one understand the concept of rest? I groaned, pushing myself up in bed, my head throbbing. I rubbed my hands over my face, trying to shake off the lingering fog of sleep. Curiosity, and the sheer persistence of the knocking, finally won. I shrugged on my jumper, climbed out of bed, and headed downstairs. Whoever was making that racket had better have a damn good reason.

Even though it wasn't technically my house, there was a strange sense of ease and comfort here. Maybe it was because I'd been here before, or perhaps it was just Dorran's presence that made it feel less alien. Whatever it was, I wasn't going to overthink it. As I reached the bottom of the stairs, I saw Dorran... and my dad, standing face to face in the entryway.

They were locked in a tense standoff, arms crossed, the pounding replaced by an even more uncomfortable silence.

"Is this really necessary?" I asked, my voice firm as I broke the silence.

"Darcy, let's go," my father announced, his tone brooking no argument.

"Why the rush? What's going on?"

"What's going on is that you left with him yesterday without a word, and I had to come all the way over here to drag you back. So, let's go."

"This is exactly why she came with me," Dorran interjected, his face impassive.

"What do you mean by that?" my dad demanded.

"I mean that you're overbearing and she didn't want to be around that."

Why was he always so straightforward?

"Dorran-"

"Now, you listen here, young man," my father's voice rose over mine, "you don't get to interfere like this. Not now, not ever. This is my daughter we're talking about!"

"The daughter you've had for about ten minutes."

My father visibly grew red, tendons strained against his neck. He was about to snap back when Thomas walked into the room. If possible, my dad got even tenser. This must've been the first time my dad had been in this house since Thomas had cut a chord on their friendship. The air crackled with an unspoken tension.

"Michael," Thomas greeted with a curt nod. "What's all this about?"

"Your son snatched my daughter from the hospital yesterday," my dad said, his voice tight. "I've been worried sick."

Thomas turned to Dorran, who simply shrugged.

"Dorran?" Thomas asked, a hint of question in his voice.

My heart pounded in my chest. I was terrified of what Dorran might say. He wasn't exactly known for his tact or his ability to defuse tense situations. This was the worst possible time for a confrontation.

"Dad," I interrupted, cutting off whatever Dorran was about to say. "I chose to go with him. I needed a break, a little time away from... everything."

He paused, not knowing what to say. The anger was still evident on his face but he didn't even seem like he knew what to be angry about anymore. Everyone else in the room was silent and I was glad Dorran did not choose to speak up.