loosing game | daniel seavey

chapter nineteen

I had only gotten three hours of sleep, my mind still running all over the place. I was exhausted but couldn't sleep despite the terrible jet lag. The idea of Daniel drinking again didn't sit right with me, even if it was just one as a Corbyn had said. I rolled in my bed and picked up my phone, dialing his number again.

No answer.

I groaned and sat up. I didn't want to be the type of girl that randomly showed up at his house. But I also felt like I needed to. He disappeared again. My mind went back to the night Corbyn had called me in the midst of a panic attack, the night I had yelled at Daniel for not needing help.

I quickly got changed before making my way over to his house. I didn't know what I would say. 'Hey caught my brother doing drugs so I came home early to find out you started drinking again and fell of the face of the earth' didn't sound too well in my mind.

Hesitantly, I knocked on Daniels door. Despite living in LA for almost a year now and living in a nice house myself, it still felt so weird just casually walking up to this nice of a house in a neighborhood with even nicer houses. When you grow up in a small town, I don't think you ever get used to it. After a couple of knocks, the door swung open. But instead of Daniel, it was someone who looked like Daniel.

His brother.

"Hello?" He asked and raised his eyebrow a bit. 

"Christian, right?" I asked awkwardly. I remembered Daniel mentioning he lived with his brother the night we spent hours talking and getting to know each other. Christian nodded his head. "I-I'm Malia. I'm a friend of Daniels."

"Malia? My bad, I should've known! Daniels been talking about you for weeks, come in." Christian opened the door and let me in. The house was a lot cleaner since the last time I had been here. Christian must've kept Daniel in line while he was home. "I just heard Daniel get out of the shower, so if you want to you can head up there you can."

I smiled at Christian and stepped onto the staircase. But I turned and looked at him.

"I don't want to be invasive or anything, but did Daniel come home drunk last night?" I asked quietly. Christian looked at me as his smile frowned. He nodded his head and sighed.

"Come sit for a second," Christian walked over to the couch and sat down.

I followed and sat on the other end. It was crazy how much he really did look like Daniel, but was almost a complete opposite at the same time.

"About a year and a half ago, Daniel was in a relationship with a girl named Amelia. They were crazy about each other. It was like the honeymoon phase never left. It was as if they were going to last forever." I didn't understand why Christian was telling me this, but I couldn't help but be more intrigued with every detail. "After about six months of being together, they moved into an apartment together. At the time she was going to school and Daniel was just starting to take his music with the boys seriously. He stayed at the studio late most nights, so he wanted to come home early with dinner and stuff and surprise Amelia. But he found her sleeping with another guy. Apparently they had been together as long as Daniel had been in the picture."

"W-Why are you telling me this?" I asked and turned more towards Christian.

"That's why he drinks so much. He thinks drinking and partying and sleeping with all of these girls is going to help the healing process quicken. He was doing so well, until she called him yesterday. And I think that set him off again."

My heart was breaking at the thought. Daniel had told me he had been in love before, but didn't tell me the full story. Now I know why. He deserved so much more than that.

"He's talked about you nonstop the past couple of weeks, so I really do think he's trying to get better. I just thought you should know before you talked to him and it started an argument. I don't want to see my brother go down into that dark hole again." Christian sighed and ran a hand through his hair. I leaned over and put my hand on top of his, in a comforting way.

"I would never let anything bad happen to Daniel."

Christian gave me a reassuring smile before I stood up, walking back up the stairs and towards Daniels room. I took a deep breath, remembering that this room only held arguments between Daniel and I. I knocked on the door lightly.

"Christian, please I don't-" Daniels bottom half was wrapped in a towel, his hair still wet from the shower. His torso was glowing under the water droplets. "Malia?"

Daniel opened the door more and allowed me to come in. And for whatever reason, my heart was racing.