Chapter 11 – 'Telford'
"Dani?" Andy couldn't hide the worry from his voice as he watched her stare at the broken woman before them.
"This might take a while..." Stacey said slowly, breaking the tension placing her hand on Andy's shoulder, still not taking her eyes off Ronnie who was on the edge of breaking down right in front of Danielle. The silence was interrupted once more by Danielle's now weak voice.
"It's ok dad... I just have to say goodbye to my friend" she found herself unable to turn to face the others, still fixated on Ronnie, her warm eyes were looking straight in to hers, they were swimming with pain but still glistening with love. Stacey guided Andy back inside, while Jean, Charlie and Mo carried on back in to the house, knowing Danielle needed some time alone with Ronnie.
The door closed firmly, Ronnie and Danielle were finally alone.
"You can't go..." Ronnie finally said, taking a deep breath as she did so, still finding herself gazing in to Danielle's beautiful eyes. Danielle shook her head slowly, "I told you...I can't" Danielle stuttered, averting her eyes away from Ronnie's, realising how much easier it was to reject Ronnie when she wasn't staring in to her eyes. Ronnie stepped closer to Danielle, "I know...I know and I don't blame you at all...I'm a..." Ronnie shook her head. "I shouldn't...ever have treated you like I did..." tears starting falling once more, Danielle's hair was covering her face as she held her head down looking at the ground.
"I love you" Ronnie cried quietly, slowly placing her hand on Danielle's shoulder, "I CAN'T!" Danielle pulled away releasing herself from Ronnie's hand. Ronnie felt her heart sink. "Why are you doing this to me?" Danielle asked, making eye contact again, Ronnie shook her head and stuttered, not knowing what to say. "You...treat me like crap...then you come..." Danielle took a deep breath, still shocked by the tone of her voice, "You come running to me telling me that...you love me!" Danielle felt a surge of confidence rush through her, all her anger being released at once. "You can't change your feelings! I'm still Danielle, I haven't changed, I'm still the pathetic freak...so you find out I was telling the truth? How the hell does that change your opinion of me?" Danielle cried.
Ronnie looked on helplessly not knowing how to defend her actions. Danielle lowered her head one more, "All I ever wanted, was for you to be my mum, for you to hold me and...Tell me you love me..." Danielle had lowered her tone so Ronnie could only just hear. Ronnie felt a sudden spark of hope. "I can!" she moved closer to Danielle and used her hands to lift her face up. "I can be the mum you want...I want to be! There's nothing I want more...please...I'm so sorry" Ronnie choked on the tears and the lump that had formed in her throat. Danielle slowly moved away from Ronnie, once again. "You know how I feel about you...I love you...but I can't forget...I need to go back to Telford It's my home" Danielle stuttered weakly.
"I understand you need time...I know you want to go back home but...for how long?" Ronnie asked, frozen with fear that Danielle would say she was staying permanently. Danielle stared at the ground, "I don't know...a week...more" Danielle said uncomfortably. Ronnie couldn't stop herself from gasping, "More?" she cried. Danielle nodded, "My dad...he's alone right now...my brother isn't home and...I need to get away...I wanted to go back for some time...I might want to stay there permanently...I'm not sure" Ronnie placed her hand over her mouth, tears falling down once more. "But if you stay there...you...you can't...please stay...I love you...You're my ba-"Ronnie stopped mid sentence as the door opened and Andy and Stacey stepped out.
"Ready now Dani?" Andy asked, Danielle quickly wiped her eyes and turned around, "Yeah" she smiled. "I'm ready to go home" she said convincing herself. Andy glanced at Ronnie who had wiped her eyes to remove the tears. Danielle hugged Stacey once more, "Everything's fine" she whispered in Stacey's ear "I'll call you" Stacey added quickly before pulling away. Danielle turned around to face Ronnie, their eyes met once more and they seemed to share a moment, before Danielle spoke. "Good bye then" she said, making sure her dad didn't suspect anything had gone on. Ronnie slowly stepped towards Danielle and slowly pulled Danielle in to a warm embrace, "I love you..." Ronnie whispered desperately to Danielle, quickly Danielle pulled away and turned towards the car.
Andy had got in and Danielle had opened the door, placing her bag in the front, she got in and shut the door. Stacey smiled and waved at Danielle as the car began to reverse, before shortly driving off slowly, Danielle waved sadly at Ronnie wiping a tear from her eye as she did so. The car began to disappear down the road until it turned the corner and was out of sight.
Stacey watched Ronnie cautiously; she didn't know Stacey was still there watching her. Ronnie stared where the car had been and began to cry once more, all emotions seemed to flood out in the form of tears and she got louder and louder, Stacey felt awkward, not knowing what to do, she was never a friend to Ronnie, but now she was a broken woman who clearly needed help.
"Ronnie..." Stacey started, only to find Ronnie nearly jump in shock, not knowing Stacey was there. She quickly wiped her eyes not wanting Stacey to see her cry. "Look...why don't you come in...I can get you a drink or something" Stacey could hardly believe what she was saying. Stacey slowly moved towards Ronnie and guided her in to the house, Ronnie still crying to herself, slowly falling apart right in front of Stacey's eyes.
Stacey knew that Ronnie had treated Danielle coldly in the past, yet it was clear that now she had changed, Ronnie Mitchell was always a proud woman, treating most people like they aren't worth the time of day. Yet she had changed so much, all her emotions were flooding out at once. It was clear now that Ronnie Mitchell was a broken woman, all because of Danielle, the one person Ronnie truly loved, had left her. Now she knew what it felt like to be rejected.
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