Forever & Always?

Chapter Thirteen

     It had been a little over three weeks since Daniel and I argued. Break was over and I had been back at school for three days. Daniel stopped talking to me in first hour. He stopped coming to my locker to ask for forgiveness. I now had to make the first move. I decided to go to his locker after lunch.

"Hey Daniel, is it okay with you if I come over after school today?" He looked to me, shocked.

"Yeah, sure," he said, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.

"Okay," I said in a shy tone. I walked away.

"What the hell was that?" Shelby asked.

"How did you hear that?" I asked in a surprised tone giving her an expression that made my curiosity evident.

"Travis's locker is like two down from his, retard."

"Oh," I said, calming down.

"So, what was that? You do know who you were talking to, correct?"

"Yeah of course." We got to my locker. I began doing my combination.

"So?" Shelby asked, impatient. I stopped doing my combination and stared at my hand. I looked up at her.

"I'm gonna see if he wants to get back together."

"You're a freaking idiot," she said in an agitated voice as she walked away. I knew she was disappointed, however, I let her leave. She did not know who I encountered and what they had said. She did not know how that woman altered my perception on the whole situation. She did not get it. So I let her walk away.

When sixth hour ended, I drove to Daniel's home. I knocked on his door. He came to the door and led me to his basement. So many memories flooded my mind. I looked around. Something was different. I looked to him. He looked different. His eyes were not as shiny as they used to be. His normal facial expression was altered. Then I noticed it. I turned away. A certain scent filled my lungs. His basement nearly wreaked of it. It was a scent any high schooler could recognize. Weed. I looked to him, tears in my eyes.

"Daniel?" I asked. He turned his head. I moved closer and gently turned his head to face me.

"Why?" A single tear streamed down my cheek.

"I'm not very happy," he said, a tear slipping from each eye. I wrapped my arms around him. I squeezed my eyes shut. He wrapped his arms around me as well, slowly, and then clenched me tight. I felt his heart beat nearly out of his chest. I could hear his deep breaths. I did not know how much had changed. I stroked my fingers through the back of his head. His hair was still the same. Little did I know it was the only thing that hadn't changed.

We remained where we were. I could still smell his cologne under the layer of smoke on his sweatshirt. I focused on it. I remembered the day he kissed me in the school parking lot. He smelled so handsome. He smelled like old spice. I remembered being in his car for the first time. It smelled just like him. I wondered what it smelled like now. I wondered if he brought any other girls in his car. I wondered if he ever took anyone to the mountain him and I explored. I thought about the trip to the coffee shop. I remembered looking down at the coffee beans in the table and thinking about how nervous and happy I felt at the same time. I remembered him looking out my window when I walked into my room the night he asked me to be his girl friend. Then I thought about the day I figured out he was flirting with a girl behind my back. Then I remembered the night he kissed Sadie. Then I remembred the woman in the hospital. "Forever and Always" came to my mind. Damn, I loved Daniel. I released. We had hugged for about five minutes. I looked to him. Tears trickled down his face. I wiped them.

"Daniel?" He continued to look at me.

"Forever and always, okay?"

"Okay." I walked up his stairs. I left his house.

"What in the hell does that mean???" I yelled to myself when I sat in my car and began driving away. I was bawling.

"God Marie, you're so retarded. He's a pot head thanks to you!!! You don't like it??? Well you freaking created it!!! I hope you're happy!" I kept yelling. I continued to cry. I did not like it. Not one bit. The Daniel I spent five minutes hugging just now, was not the Daniel I cried with at three in the morning or yelled at over the phone at midnight or climbed a mountain with. Everything had changed. And I was not ready for it. However, I would charge the problem. I would take it down at full speed.

***

I pulled into Daniel's driveway the next day after school. His parents' cars were not in the driveway. I barged into his house.

"Okay, this is not you," I said, slamming the door shut. He was sitting at his kitchen table with Sam. They were smoking.

"What the hell, Marie?" Daniel said throwing his feet off the table and hiding his hookah pen. I paused. Sam stifled a guffaw.

"Shut up," I said to Sam, giving him a disgusted look.

"Daniel, you aren't a smoker." I ended there. I walked out, leaving the door open.

"Marie," Daniel sighed as he chased me out the door.

"No! No, don't come near me! The Daniel I know stayed up at three in the morning crying about how he can't stand the people in his family that smoke! Now look at you, pothead!" I turned back and ran to my car.

"Marie!" He ran to my car.

"Marie, I'm depressed, okay? I need something to chill out."

"Then you find a friend to talk to not a plant to smoke!" I shut my car door and drove away quickly. I looked through my rear view mirror. Daniel stood facing my car, slouched over and sad. I was sad too.

I went straight to Alex's house. I pulled up to his house and ran inside. I stopped running and stood in his door way, trying to catch my breath. Meanwhile, Alex stood looking at the food in his fridge. He looked up when he heard the door slam shut.

"He started smoking."

"Of course!" Alex yelped, grabbing a juice pouch from the fridge and walking to the counter. I stood there, waiting for him to console me. However, Alex had been right about Daniel and I had been wrong. He would not try to comfort someone after he tried to warn them multiple times of the other person. I gave him a look that expressed my sadness. He gave me a facial expression that expressed genuine pity. I groaned and stumbled over to him, resting my head on his shoulder.

"I told you he was bad news."

"Just shut up and let me hug you," I said, a tear nearly streaming down my face. He stopped talking. I spent the rest of the night watching scary movies while cuddled into Alex. He was someone that no matter what happened, would always be there for me.

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That was an interesting turn of events, was it not? Come on, cut Daniel some slack. He is obviously very upset and he needed an escape. But how good of an escape is drug abuse? Is that even an escape at all, or will something even worse happen if he doesn't stop? Guess there's only one way to find out...read, comment, and VOTE! Thank you, loves.

Also, I would like to acknowledge the fact that I have entered this story into The Wattys for 2015!!! This is the first Wattys I have ever been entered in and I am immensely excited. Please share that excitement with me by staying the lovely supporters I know you are. You are all my inspiration and without you, I wouldn't be writing. Thank you and stay you