So I know a lot of you don't like Daniel (or downright hate him) because of what he did to Cat, but in my perspective – it was Tori's fault. She's a boyfriend stealer. I don't like her, so the blame is on her and just a tiny bit of Danny…:) Besides, I really liked Cat/Daniel from the start of the episode, so... Originally, I was going to make an OC of Jade's older brother and have him paired with Cat, but I figured since this already had a slightly angst-y storyline to it, a solid plot could come out of it. And this is the first Daniel/Cat fic ever – awesome. Lol. Enjoy!
::In the Mind of an Antagonist::
There was a hammock in the back yard of the Kenneth household. It was built with thick albino ropes that entwine with each other in perfection, hanging from a planted tree to another above a pile of sand that made up the backyard under the perks of having a house located one of the California beaches. A feathery pillow was attached to the ropes that formed the hammock, so anyone that lay upon it could overlook the ocean or promptly fall right to sleep in this very spot. Daniel liked to sit outside during the night time, with his IPod beside him and gaze up at the sky – this was his thinking place, and he doubted that would change anytime soon.
So he sat upon the hammock with his hands folded behind his head, body swinging slightly in the gentle wind and because his weight wasn't balanced evenly. His mind was in the clouds and chocolate brown eyes focused upon the dark azure sky loitering above him. It was void of any stars this particular night, except for the five miniscule ones he had counted just recently. It made him slightly disappointed – sometimes, he would count them just to keep himself occupied. He was a tad bit more thoughtful than people gave him credit for, especially during a serious situation or whenever he was by himself.
He wasn't sure how long he'd been laying there. The only thing he was sure about was that when he had come outside in just a pair of shorts and a wife beater that it was still light out and the sky dawned over California a nice orange pigment. Surely he must've fallen asleep at one point, because there was no way he had been out here too long while conscious. It wouldn't have been the first time that he had though; he had done it a thousand of times. Though the only thing he was sure of, was that his father and his Uncle Carmon were sitting out by the fire with a couple of Mikes hard Lemonade in their hands; they were on leave from the army this spring, and had done this every night when it was nice.
Daniel loved the fact that his father and uncle were here, but considering his Uncle Carmon resided at his home 99% of the time, things got a little bit out of hand. The guy was funny, sure. But he was a handful – always asking questions, telling bizarre stories about when he was younger and got in juvenile conflicts…He wasn't exactly certain how he kept up with everything and still managed to fight in war with a sturdy mind and complete focus.
Uncle Carmon reminded him greatly of Cat, in exception of the terrible stories of an army initialed pasts and how he would eat a rat alive should he ever be captured (he liked to believe all the things that due with war are making him mentally insane). But it pained him to make that observation.
Kissing Victoria Vega was a mistake.
The only thing that was stopping him from taking it back was the simple fact that he could not turn back time and stop himself. He couldn't go back three months no matter how desperately he wanted to. But by now, he assumed that the beautiful girl with the vibrant red velvet hair had already found someone else that would treat her like Daniel had, minus kissing one of their friends. The first person that came into mind was that weird ventriloquist kid he forgot the name of; and the simple thought of that made his heart reel and falter so greatly that he felt like he was choking.
Cat and he had met in the middle of December, during Christmas break. He was at the mall with some friends and a girl he thought he liked when he bumped into her. His first impression was that her hair color was so out of the ordinary she must have been too (which he was right), yet at the same time he thought that this girl, who stood at only 5", was absolutely gorgeous. His apology was stumbled and emitted as a stutter and the girl that stood beside her merely scowled at him; a look that could send the Devil himself cowering in a corner. She told him right away that he should watch where he was going and bump into a speeding bus instead. He tried not to take that into offense.
But Cat said that it was her fault and then before he knew it they were exchanging numbers and making plans to hang out sometime. When they parted ways, he could still feel the Goth girl – whom he now knows as Jade – glare daggers at the back of his skull. He contemplated how the two had become friends, considering they were polar opposites.
She was the first one to wish him a Merry Christmas the second it turned Midnight. She had called him and since he was unable to sleep anyway, he picked up; bewildered. He got no sleep that night, for they had talked and talked about absolutely nothing until she finally fell asleep on him three and a half hours later and that was when he had realized what this girl was beginning to mean to him. They texted each other every second of the day, called each other during the night time and hung out frequently – his feelings for Jessica Sanchez had disappeared completely and instead, he found himself getting these fireworks in his stomach whenever he thought of her, or talked to her.
When he got back to school, his friends called him a lovesick puppy falling for a kitty-cat and he didn't argue the point.
The first time Daniel heard her sing, he was blown away. They were at his house one day after school – she from the performing school Hollywood Arts and he from Sherwood…
"So you're an actor?" Daniel asked as they sat on the hammock together trying to balance out the weight of the two, his guitar in his lap and his fingers absently strumming the thin strings.
Cat nodded, a broad smile stretching her plush pink lips. "Yup! I also sing! Once, my brother heard me singing in the shower and he –"
"Why don't you sing right now then?" He glanced over at her with an expectant smile, sitting up some and halting his strumming. "Sing any song you want, I'll try to play along so you can have a beat"
"'Kay kay!" She clapped her hands together wildly, giggling. "Do you know Colors of the Wind?" Upon his short, curt nod of his head she begun to sing in such a powerful voice he was surprised that it had come from such a small girl with a high pitched voice, but it didn't surprise him that she had gotten into a school like Hollywood Arts with a voice like that.
"You think I'm an ignorant savage
And you've been so many places
I guess it must be so
But still I cannot see
If the savage one is me
How can there be so much that you don't know?
You don't know...
You think you own whatever land you land on
The Earth is just a dead thing you can claim
But I know every rock and tree and creature
Has a life, has a spirit, has a name
Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon
Or asked the grinning bobcat why he grinned?"
With softened brown eyes Daniel stared intently at her face, his fingers attempting to hit every key he could to the song he barely knew, trying to stay focused on the song along but in all fairness he couldn't. He watched the way her face would scrunch up slightly, the way her eyes would close at certain points and the way her delicate eyebrows would furrow when she hit exceptionally longer notes than the last.
"Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?
Come run the hidden pine trails of the forest
Come taste the sun-sweet berries of the Earth
Come roll in all the riches all around you
And for once, never wonder what they're worth
The rainstorm and the river are my brothers
The heron and the otter are my friends
And we are all connected to each other
In a circle, in a hoop that never ends"
Daniel wanted to smack himself in the face; he had messed up on one of the chords because he'd been staring for so long. But thankfully, she did not seem to notice. If she had, she made no attempt in saying anything about it anytime soon.
"How high will the sycamore grow?
If you cut it down, then you'll never know
And you'll never hear the wolf cry to the blue corn moon
For whether we are white or copper skinned
We need to sing with all the voices of the mountains
We need to paint with all the colors of the wind
You can own the Earth and still
All you'll own is Earth until
You can paint with all the colors of the wind"
Her voice had ended on such a soft note he was unsure how he had even managed to hear it in the first place. When she was finished, she opened her eyes and stared right into his; the colors identical to each other, both glimmering in the sun's rays directly above them. Briefly he saw a slight tint of pink color her pale skin and he averted his gaze to the wooden instrument within his hands awkwardly, swallowing thickly and twisting so he could place it on the floor beneath them. "That was amazing Cat" He murmured as he turned back around, smiling gently.
"Yay! That reminds me, one time I was at a restaurant with my family and they had this amazing fried ice cream there…I don't remember what it's called…um" She bit her bottom lip, looking up to the sky as if the answer was in the clouds. That was when Daniel kissed her. Completely out of nowhere – unpredictable. That was when she kissed him back.
With a heavy, ample sigh he brought his hand from behind his head and rubbed his face, fingers tracing over the slight stubble around his chin that he needed to shave. He remembers that kiss and every single one after it; Cat tasted of a rich vanilla. Yet though the taste still lingered in his mind and on his lips, even after months of not even speaking to her, the bland taste of Tori's overwhelmed it and he wanted nothing more than to throw himself over the hammock and face first into the sand beneath him. It seemed like a pretty decent idea, he decided. Before he could deem himself to do such a thing, he heard his mother call out to him and reluctantly, he tore his gaze from the sky to glance over at her. She was standing in the doorway, the light of the kitchen emitting about her, creating a soft aurora of yellow light. "Danny, pull those God blessed earphones from your ear. I can hear them from here!" She said him, sounding exasperated.
He sat up, almost losing his balance in the process of doing so and tasseled his short mop of ebony hair. Even though he didn't want to comply too her orders, he did whilst sliding from the hammock. He found as soon as he stood his body ached and his arms stung from being in their position for so long. His pale skin held indents from the alabaster ropes, guising crimson and creating odd and distinct patterns down his calves and biceps with a dull ache. "Sorry, mom"
"Won't you come and socialize with your cousins?" She suddenly asked, gesturing for him to enter the house.
"I didn't know they were here" Said Daniel as he brushed passed her and walked into his own, familiar home. It was true; he had no idea his cousins were present.
"They've been here for hours! But you've been on that damned hammock all day"
Rolling his eyes, Daniel kneeled down and opened his arms for the young 5 year old, Kathryn, to run into them. He ruffled her short blonde hair and kissed her temple, in which earned him a squeal of delight and at the same time, disapproval. "Hey kiddo!" he said, putting on the broadest smile he could manage.
"Hi Danny!" Kathryn clapped and threw her arms around his neck once more time. "It's my birthday Wednesday!"
"Danny, sweetie. Will you be a doll and watch her tomorrow afternoon while we go shopping?" Asked his Aunt Lisa, with wide expectant emerald eyes. He stood up and pocketed his hands, clearing his throat awkwardly as he looked toward the few females around him.
"Uh, I have err…plans?" He lied through his teeth – it was the sad truth that he barely made plans anymore, and had mostly stayed at his own home by himself and done absolutely nothing.
His mother, Anna, looked skeptically at him with a raised brow. "You haven't been out of this house since you broke up with what's her name! You're just now making plans?"
Anger swelled through him for a brief moment, and he clenched his fists. "Cat, mother. Her name is Cat…And an old friend wants to meet up."
When they believed him, he was bewildered at his ability to lie so easily and get away with it with barely any question whatsoever. It made him slightly more confident, he concluded, as he trudged up the stairs to his bedroom whilst his fingers groped within his shorts pocket for the a small silver device that was out of style – he had never really liked the Pear phones, despite how "in" they were with a good portion of America and beyond; and he wasn't about to start now, unless it was a sudden overnight change he wasn't aware of.
Finally reaching his room, he shut and locked the door securely behind him and searched through his phone contacts for that person he had mentioned to his mother later; he couldn't hold true to his lie without actually making plans…and Daniel had, whilst in the midst of telling his lie, come up with a sudden idea that ignited his heart with a slight hope. Swallowing nervously, he pressed the phone to his ear and waited.
Ring, ring, ring.
He was beginning to get impatient.
Ri-"Hello?"
"Tori, hey! Uh, are you free tomorrow? We need to talk."
Okay, tell me what you think! Should I continue, or just delete it and save it for my own personal interest? Leave your feedback – will update tomorrow!