Bad...Bad Day - Dani

[Robbie Wilkes]

[OOC: Continuation from heah]

They weren't home.

The house was empty and they were gone.

His phone had buzzed in his pocket when he drove but he didn't answer because he was too excited to see Joel, Desi and Mere.

But they were gone.

He was leaning against the banister, his hands shaking as he pulled out his phone to call the one person he was suddenly so dependent on. More than Estelle, more than Zac...

Dani's name was on the screen and he could feel his heart squeeze as he read it. Thunder rumbled in the background and a sudden streak of lightning came close to him, the house shuddering at the rumble of sudden thunder.

Robbie was completely unaware of the torrent of rain that came down as he climbed into the rental car to drive back to Hammel, all the while, his brain feeling like it had been stabbed.

He didn't quite understand what. And why. And how. But those questions were going to remain unanswered weren't they?

A knock on the car door startled him and he saw his neighbour waving at him through the sheet of rain. Wordlessly, he gave Robbie an envelope and ran back into his house, leaving Robbie staring at the envelope.

Throwing it to the seat next to him, he started driving and stopped for nothing.

---

Dani wasn't about to go home and incur the wrath of her parents so he knew that Dani had to be in Hammel. And because her old room had been given away, Robbie knew she had a new room. Persuading the receptionist for Dani's room wasn't hard and Robbie quickly tried to find it.

He was still wet from walking through the rain and his phone was probably dead by the time he arrived at Dani's room. He rapped it three times in succession and waited for her to answer.

[Danicca Waylan]

[D]A[N]I[C]C!?

Dani sent the message, then waited. And waited. And... waited. She felt the stinging threat of tears prick at her eyes and promptly distracted herself. Calculations, New Years plans, talking to her mom, talking to her cousin, studying History. Anything to keep from showing that weakness. Opening her computer, she tracked down her anime files. Vampire Knight or Claymore or Blood+. Anything with a ton of blood and action. She plugged her headphones in and watched until she wasn't paying attention anymore. At some point, she realized she was tired and shut everything down, deciding to sleep for a bit.

Dani actually had gone back home immediately. Her parents understood, and accepted that she was a kid and therefore was going to make mistakes. Matt, she wasn't so sure about. He was still a little iffy about everything, and there was... the notebook issue. But Christmas was the start of things getting fixed properly. Or at least, Dani was hoping so. Then immediately after Christmas, Dani had gone to Hammel, accepting her placement in the Girls dorms with little grace but figuring this was just another punishment that she deserved. So she started settling in, and was kind of already done. She never unpacked her suitcase, and there wasn't much to do with the walls, or the bed. All she'd needed to do was plug in her computer and set it on the desk.

Her roommates weren't in at this point in time. When they got in, she would wake up and figure out who they were and if any of them would be any fun. That was the plan, anyway.

Dani wasn't entirely sure of the time, because her watch was left in her bag, which was under the bed, and so when the knock came on the door she wasn't sure if it had been a few minutes or a few hours. The first thing she did was glance at her phone, to see if it was lit up with a message. It wasn't, of course, and she mentally kicked herself for thinking there would be anything there. Sighing heavily for what felt like the millionth time this week, Dani pulled herself up and, putting on her glasses, answered the door.

She blinked a few times. And rubbed at her eyes. And then started closing the door before she remembered that she needed to apologize or something, but she couldn't find her words. Robbie looked awful, soaked and upset. She winced, waiting for the yell or accusation that would no doubt be coming. It was really hard for her to not just jump forward and cling to him, but she managed because she knew that would make things worse if he was as angry as she thought he was.

[Robbie Wilkes]

Robbie refused to cry. That was the last thing he wanted to do in front of Dani. His girl...ex-girlfriend - was she even classified as so? He didn't know but whoever she was to him right now, what he needed most was a friend.

He stepped closer towards Dani and sighed before pulling her into a hug and softly sobbed on her head. At least he remained dignified the whole time since all he did was shudder and breathe rapidly at times. His fingers curled into Dani's shirt and he breathed her in. He didn't realise he missed her this much till then.

After awhile, Robbie finally calmed down enough to look at Dani properly. "Where the hell have you been?" He asked, his voice cracking just slightly.

[Danicca Waylan]

[D]A[N]I[C]C!?

Dani herself didn't know what she was classified as. She never was one for labels, and she knew Robbie wasn't either, but at some point they had started using the terms boyfriend and girlfriend when referring to each other. Dani thought she'd be fine with not knowing the exact words for what they were to each other now, but all she was was frustrated that she didn't know.

The hug caught Dani off-guard, but she unconsciously leaned into him and grabbed at the fabric of his shirt. He smelled so good... Dani knew she shouldn't think it, not with the other thoughts that should be taking priority, but it was all she noticed aside from the fact that despite the cold, he was still warm. Like her personal Sunshine.

Her personal Sunshine that was currently crying. Probably because of her. Dammit.

When they were finally face-to-face again, Dani looked up at the blonde. She was so happy to have him here, but as soon as she had to speak she was going to ruin everything. And then he asked that question. Dani opened her mouth and tried to speak, then rubbed at her eyes again. Her glasses nearly fell off with the suddenness of her shoving them aside, but she righted them and looked at him again. "I... Japan. I was in Japan, the meta school there." She winced again and looked down, knowing that whatever it was he was going to say, she didn't want to see the anger or hurt on his face when he said it.

[Robbie Wilkes]

"You know that is not what I want to know." He growled, pushing the door behind him and then pulling Dani to the couch. He didn't sit down himself and he suspected that Dani probably didn't want to sit either. But he had to move.

"No note, no phone call, not even a text message. You don't leave like that and don't tell me. Oh I bet you told your family..." he was now more rambling than anything else. He was too tired to be angry with Dani right then. He didn't even feel like he wanted to be angry with the younger teen. "And you took Switchblade with you and you didn't even tell me."

He paced the room. There was no use arguing this. He knew at some point, the fact that he could have texted her would come up and he wouldn't know how to answer that.

"Why didn't you tell me, Dani? What was so hard about it? Did you want to break up with me and that was the only way you could think of? Then why did you come back?" The stream of words spewed from Robbie's mouth. "I just don't understand why you didn't tell me." He shrugged, scuffing his shoe against the floor as he pocketed his hands.

[Danicca Waylan]

[D]A[N]I[C]C!?

Okay, this was not going well. Dani kept herself from looking at his face. Those eyes would kill her, right then and there. His words were already stabbing at her, causing more physical damage than she'd thought possible. "Well, I--" He continued talking, though, and she wrapped her arms around herself, concentrating on deep breaths and not breaking down. She was Danicca fracking Waylan. There was no way she was going to be less than perfectly full of attitude.

As he kept talking, Dani kept trying to respond somehow, but she couldn't get half a word in. Finally, there was a moment of an actual pause, whether he was waiting for an answer or taking a breath was unclear but Dani jumped on it. "Robbie, please just shut up for one second and let me tell you. I..." She wavered, then looked up at him, her brown eyes trying to make contact with his blue ones. "I'm sorry. I couldn't handle goodbye, not with you. I thought I needed something--time, space, whatever--but whatever it was, I didn't find it and I'm fucking having to apologize to everyone I've ever even met lately and I'm stuck in the damn girls dorm and I have no clue what in the nine hells is going on with me. Because ever since I left on that plane I haven't been thinking of Japan, or here, or my family, or what I'm doing. you want to know the one thing I have been thinking of constantly?" She didn't pause to let him answer, and her voice was reaching borderline hysteria. "I've been thinking of the dumb-ass blonde that I left without saying goodbye to because I'm selfish as hell and didn't want to be hurt. And I don't know what you've done to me, but I'm turning into such a total girl that I nearly cried over a text message today."

Dani paused for the amount of time it took her to pull in a short breath. "And for your information, I didn't take Switchblade. He--he was old for a hamster. I guess I should have seen it coming, but still." Finally, Dani looked away. He'd not let her answer, then she had gotten her two cents in and far more. She actually hadn't meant to say so much, but her mouth ran away without her consent.

At least he would be informed on his decision to leave her, then.

[Robbie Wilkes]

Robbie stopped talking to listen to Dani explain herself, amused that she had asked him to shut up. He kept eye contact with the younger teen and squeezed the water out his sleeves with one hand.

He didn't know how to answer her question, which was a good thing because she barged on ahead, saying the sweetest thing he'd heard anyone say to him. He supposed he should be angry. She was trying to apologise, he was sure of it, but yet she was insulting him. It didn't matter. It was Dani. And that was the sweetest thing she had ever said to him. Probably the sweetest thing she had ever said. Period.

And then it all came crashing down when he read between the lines in Dani's response about her hamster. "Switchblade is...gone? Wh...wait...did this happen before you left? If...you said you didn't take Switchblade...did he die before you left? And...you didn't tell me? Dani, did I do something wrong? Why didn't you tell me what was going on?" He frowned, one hand moving up through his hair.

[Danicca Waylan]

[D]A[N]I[C]C!?

Dani was breathing heavily now. Emotion and speedtalking had made it difficult to get proper breath in, and seeing Robbie's face fall wasn't helping any.

She half reached towards him, then let her hand fall to her side. "No, wait. Yes, he's d--gone. It happened before I left, but I didn't want to upset you any. And no, you didn't do anything. You did not do a single damn thing wrong, Robbie. That was just the thing, you're perfect!" She shook her head slightly. "I was being stupid--still am being stupid--and you've been my S--" She paused, not sure she wanted to say that part. Was it her, or was calling him her Sunshine really lame when she wasn't just casually calling him the nickname? She was pretty sure that was stupid, so she avoided use of that. She half smiled, hoping he'd not press for that one. "You've been my best friend, and I... am still not entirely sure why I didn't tell you. Can I be honest and say that?"

She stepped closer to him, inspecting his face. "I don't mean to pry, but you look terrible, Sunshine. I hope I didn't do that." And she did. She would carry serious guilt over this for at least a month if she was the cause of the wetness and the overall morose vibe he was giving off.

[Robbie Wilkes]

Rubbing at his eyes, Robbie tried to accept Dani's answer, ignoring the gnawing pain across his chest. If he was so perfect, why in the world did his family leave him? You don't just forget to tell your first-born son you were going to uproot your entire family without him.

He looked at Dani as she spoke...so highly of him and wondered how she could stand there and tell him things about himself he was starting to doubt. He shrugged when he realised she'd asked him something.

"To be honest, a few weeks after you left...I was worst." He gave her a weak smile. "The house was empty when I drove back home." The smile dropped and he sighed. "I don't know where they went." He said, knowing Dani knew what he was talking about.

[Danicca Waylan]

[D]A[N]I[C]C!?

Dani spoke so highly of him because she honestly believed in him that way. Under regular circumstances she would never feed his ego like that, but this wasn't exactly a normal circumstance. This was the kind of circumstance that left Dani trying not to snap at everything he said.

And then, when he admitted what was wrong, Dani's reaction was immediate. Her eyes went hard, and she found herself flatly saying, "They what." After a few seconds of serious curse words devoted to the blonde boy's parents, Dani decided she knew what Robbie needed. She didn't even hesitate, just threw her arms around him and leaned against him. "I'm sorry everyone's been jerks to you, Sunshine." She looked up past her glasses. "Including... Me."

Robbie, you just witnessed a miracle. Dani Waylan actually just apologized without an insult or sarcasm.

[Robbie Wilkes]

Looking at Dani's eyes turn cold was a surprise. But the hug was an even bigger surprise.

Dani didn't initiate hugs. So far, Robbie had been the one happily groping Dani while she just either lays there or gets her arms stuck in odd places on Robbie.

The apology made Robbie close his eyes as he pulled Dani closer. He was well aware that he was soaking wet still but there was no way in hell he was going to let her go. "I can't...see my siblings any more. I don't even know..." he couldn't even cry anymore. He felt so tired as he pulled Dani down to the floor and leaned against her shoulder, his arms wrapping around her waist.

"I don't know what to do. I need to...what come up with a plan? Where am I going to stay? What am I..." he paused and shook his head. "I'm sorry I'm burdening you with this. I shouldn't be." He closed his eyes and sighed. "I'm sorry."

[Danicca Waylan]

[D]A[N]I[C]C!?

Dani was trying to find a way, any way, to help him be less upset. She wasn't coming up with much. Mostly she was getting images of tracking down his parents and throwing a screaming fit on their asses, but that wouldn't help anything. It would actually probably get her arrested.

Dani sat on the ground and tried to calm down. Robbie was still soaked, and was very broken-sounding. She needed to be gentle, and not worry about him catching a cold at this point in time. Too bad she didn't do gentle well. "It--you'll be fine. One thing at a time, okay?" She frowned at his apology. "Sunshine, you have nothing to be sorry for. I still care about you, and I hate seeing you frown. We'll figure something out, okay?" She hoped he would be fine with the "we" part of that. If not, whatever.

And then she shivered and realized that the wetness was transferring over to her clothes. It was like hugging a sponge. A very sad, attractive sponge, but still a soaking wet one. She figured she should say something. "Sunshine, one thing. Why are you all wet?"

[Robbie Wilkes]

Funny thing about Dani's plan was, Robbie would actually stop her from doing it. As much of douches his parents were, he still didn't want anybody to feel ill will towards them. They were his parents after all.

Hearing the 'we' in Dani's speech soothed Robbie. He tried breathing slowly even though his head was pounding at the extra effort it took for him not to let his powers loose. A sudden downpour in winter was not favourable. Not in Vermont.
"Your nickname for me stinks." He said with a chuckle when she asked about his state. "I...I may have gotten caught in the rain back home...and..." Robbie pointed out the window where they could hardly see outside due to the heavy rain. "I've been trying to make it stop but I...can't control my powers and...well..."

He sighed and sat up straight, trying not to look too pathetic in front of his girlfriend. "This is ridiculous. Are your parents allowed to go away without telling you?"

[Danicca Waylan]

[D]A[N]I[C]C!?

Dani couldn't help half a smile. Okay, so minor teasing would be fine here, but how about the truth Dani, just once? She figured she may as well tell him that his nickname didn't stink. "Your nickname doesn't stink," See? She's very eloquent, too. "It's cool. You're all Mr. weather and make it rain, and so weather joke. Then someone talks to you for five seconds, and find out you're Mr. sunny spazz."

Dani's smile disappeared when she understood what he was saying. She looked out the window, then looked back to him. "Hey," She said quietly. "I'm no trainer, but one thing I know is that sometimes there's just no controlling these things, at least when you're rightfully upset like this. Like, the other day I got stuck with Professor Snape's voice. Let me tell you, really creepy to even me." She had a half-joking tone, but she was still serious, trying to help him in whatever way she could think.

She sighed. "I think it's seriously wrong, but then there's nothing legally wrong because you're a student here. It sucks." Wow, Dani thought. Understatement of the year. She was sure Robbie was absolutely astounded at her lovely level of eloquence today.

[Robbie Wilkes]

Dani's response made Robbie laugh out loud, nudging her shoulder with his forearm. "No it doesn't!" He denied her 'accusation', wiping the tears off his face. "You're the only person who'd call me that, you realise this don't you?"

Robbie kept silent as he realised that Dani was trying to make him feel better. She didn't care how ridiculous she sounded, as long as he felt better. And he did. But it didn't stop him from being angry at himself for not being able to control his powers even after three years of training.

He thought he had accomplished control. He kept changing trainers but all of them told him the same thing; he had a firm grasp on control. But just one incident just unraveled everything he had worked on.

It was stupid.

"Wow, Dani. Thanks. I didn't realise today was point out the obvious day." Robbie nuzzled deeper into the crevice of Dani's arm. "Am sorry if you catch a cold because of me but...you feel nice." Robbie mumbled, rubbing his face into the sleeve of her sweater.