Once Abandoned, Now Found

Chapter 14

A/N: I'm sorry for the lateness of this chapter, some shit went down last week that needed handling.

Here is chapter 14, and chapter 15 will be out Sunday as usual.

The fireworks continued that night, but Alex stayed in her room alone no matter how much Danni and Maggie desperately wanted to comfort her. It didn't help that they could hear her crying, and their hearts ached to cuddle her and provide some sense of relief from whatever was causing her such pain.

All three slept poorly that night.

The fireworks happened every night for three days, Alex not leaving the spare room unless she was going to the bathroom. She didn't speak to anyone, including Teggs, and only ate tiny amounts of the food Maggie and Danni regularly left outside her door. There wasn't any tension in the house, Maggie and Danni did their best to comfort each other and prepare themselves to be there for Alex as soon as she needed them, whenever that would be.

At 2 in the morning on the first fireworks-free night, Danni awoke to hear her bedroom door creaking open. Blearily, she opened her eyes and sat up, assuming it was Maggie.

"Maggie baby, come back to bed please" she sleepily slurred, moving to open up the covers when suddenly, she felt Maggie next to her.

That woke Danni up properly, and she turned on her bedside light to see Alex standing tearfully in the doorway.

"Hey sweetheart" Danni smiled at the girl, waiting for Alex to make the next move.

"I'm sorry" Alex mumbled back.

As the light brightened Danni was able to get a better look at Alex, and it wasn't pretty. Her hair was mangled and matted, eyes bloodshot, face pale and sunken, and the ever present Teggs cuddled close to her chest with one hand. Alex looked like she hadn't slept in days, and there was a general air of desperation and despair about her.

"What are you sorry for baby?" Danni asked, subtly poking Maggie to wake her up.

"I-I didn't leave the room" Alex responded, hanging her head so as to not look at the women.

"I just" Alex took a deep shuddering breath before continuing, "I just wanted to say sorry before I go."

That caught Danni's attention.

"What do you mean go lovely, we're not sending you away" the woman kept poking Maggie, who finally woke with a start and looked around in surprise.

"But I'm not little, and I didn't leave the room, and I didn't see or talk to either of you" Alex pointed out, currently very confused by Danni's responses. She was expecting anger.

"And that's okay. Maggie and I figured that something must have happened, and we decided to wait for you to come to us so that you had your space" Danni explained, looking to Maggie for affirmation.

"That's right darling, we didn't want to make you feel trapped or forced to talk to us." Maggie confirmed, nodding her head.

"Oh" Alex said quietly.

Her head was now full of thoughts that she wasn't expecting, as well as trying to figure out what she had done to deserve two women that were this understanding.

"Do you want to leave?" Danni asked carefully.

Alex shook her head mutely, clutching Teggs closer to her chest.

"Well we don't want you to leave either sweetie, that's why we went on that shopping trip, to buy you things so you don't have to leave" Maggie explained.

Maggie motioned for Danni to move towards Alex before getting out of bed herself, heading for the increasingly distressed big little. As soon as the women reached Alex, she burst into tears, huge heaving sobs wracking her small body as she clutched at her comfort items, which now included Maggie and Danni.

"I'm sorry" Alex kept mumbling over and over again, shaking her head as she desperately grabbed at the two women.

Alex hadn't quite realised how much she needed Maggie and Danni, their humour, their affection, their love until it was gone, and now, at the moment where she was expecting to be turned away, they had opened their hearts to her again.

"Alex baby, look at me" Danni asked, crouching down until she was level with Alex.

"You do not have to apologise for not being little, for taking the time and space you needed, or for not talking to us. Sure, we would have loved to know what was going on in that pretty head of yours, but we will not turn our backs to you because you can't talk to us, okay? Your little space, your mind, your rules." Danni gently summed up what her and Maggie had been feeling, trying to convey to the still crying little that she was in fact okay, and there was no negative feelings towards her.

The small speech made Alex cry even harder, beginning to choke on her sobs as her mind attempted to make sense of what had happened.

"Oh my darling, come here" Maggie soothed, hoisting Alex onto her hip and gently bouncing to soothe her.

Alex was quick to push her face into Maggie's chest, hiding her tears from the women, but she couldn't let go of Danni either. She needed both of them. She needed the security that both of them were still there, that they still cared for her.

Once Alex's cries had diminished, Maggie carefully laid her on the bed, lying down too so Alex could curl into her. Danni laid on the other side, making sure Alex (and Teggs) were firmly nestled between them.

"You're okay baby, we're still here" Maggie stroked Alex's head while Danni drew a finger from Alex's eyebrows to the tip of her nose, the pair slowly lulling Alex to sleep.

"We'll talk in the morning" Danni mouthed to Maggie, the final thing anyone said before they fell asleep.

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In the morning Alex woke to find herself still cocooned by the two women, the duvet pulled over her head so she was surrounded by comforting darkness. She didn't bother to move, simply snuggling deeper into the women's embrace and letting the warmth and darkness pull her back to sleep.

When Alex next woke, she was lying on top of Danni, her head laying against Danni's neck and she could feel both of Danni's arms holding her in position. This time, Alex shifted until she was hugging Danni as best she could without having her hands trapped. Danni responded by pulling the duvet further over her and clutching at Alex like she was scared she was going to disappear.

Alex had her head on Danni's chest, the woman's rhythmic heartbeat filling Alex's mind. She was so tired from three days without sleep, it only took her a minute to enter dreamland again.

A/N As always thank you for the reads, comments and votes, it makes my day when I get a notification from Wattpad about my book. 

If there's anything in particular you'd like to see or any ideas you have, please let me know!

I hope you've had a good week and I'll be back on Sunday!

EDIT: Quick fire question, favourite soccer/football team? I promise this is related to the story, I need one from the US, one from the UK if possible.