Chasing Ghosts
Chapter Eleven: Trying
Word Count: 4,450
Note: Once again I apologise for such a long wait. Throughout the past three days I have updated every chapter of Chasing Ghosts to try and find some inspiration for this chapter. So here I am.

-0-

It is currently day fifteen since Danielle had last seen Marko. Work of course was going by incredibly slowly and once again she was left alone with her thoughts more often than not. Mr. and Mrs. Heart were enough to put a small smile on her face every now and again of course but that didn't take her mind off of the boy that she was now positive was haunting her mind. Whenever she wasn't thinking of Marko she was then thinking of Edgar and Alan and the conversation that she had had with Alan last night. Every single word had been true, especially the part about her not being able to cope if they were to distance themselves from her any more than they already were.

She still had absolutely no idea what she had done – well not to Edgar anyway but that was something she tried hard to forget throughout the rest of her day.

Considering how badly things had turned out over dinner the night before she was completely floored when she looked up to see Edgar waiting outside of the comic book shop when she was walking home after her shift, his hands were buried inside of his pants pockets and he looked completely and utterly lost. Looking up as she approached he took a step forward and held out his hands in defence

"Alright so I've been acting like a prick, I get that, so I'm sorry"

He spoke so fast that she barely had a chance to process it all at once.

"You – what?" she asked in confusion, still finding it hard that Edgar Frog of all people was currently trying to apologise to her

"You heard me" he muttered – that was more like it "I've been treating you like shit and thanks to my brother I've now come to realize my mistake. I'm going to try harder – to not let it happen again alright?"

"Okay"

"That's it?" he asked, dumbfounded as how easily his terrible apology was accepted "Nothing? No anger, no spitefulness?"

"You apologised right?" she asked, a smile spreading across her face for the first time in a long time "That's what counts"

"You're so-" he began, but stopped himself before he could finish his sentence

"Your self-control is through the roof today!" Danielle grinned, taking enjoyment out of the face he then pulled "Good work, keep it up kid. How was school?"

"Same shit, different day"

"You know, one day I'll ask you how school was and you'll reply with something different"

"Maybe one day, but that day is not today"

"I need to get out of this uniform" she muttered to herself, eyeing the coffee stain on the edge of her dress and awaited Edgar's sarcastic response – but it never came "You really are trying aren't you little frog?"

"You know, one of these days-" but he stopped himself once more, breathing in deeply before exhaling slowly "I'm going to go find Alan"

With that he was gone and Danielle was left alone and very, very happy at that. She found it so funny how her mood had done a complete one-eighty in only a matter of minutes and it was all because Edgar Frog had apologised to her – Edgar Frog apologised to no one. Still, she had no idea what she had supposedly done, but that didn't really matter anymore.

Dinner was the last thing on her mind as she made her way up the flights of stairs and into her apartment, ignoring the growling in her stomach as she stripped off and turned on the hot tap to her shower. Stepping inside she exhaled and closed her eyes, basking in the blissful feeling that her shower was currently giving her as it slowly washed away most of the worries she still held onto.

Fifteen days, fifteen days had passed since she had last seen him and she had no idea why that was such a big deal in the first place. They were not seeing one another, they were not exclusive, he was not her boyfriend and she had no real reason to miss him. But she did, she missed his company, his laugh and his crooked smile. Danielle Jones soon found that having feelings for someone absolutely sucked and couldn't help but wonder how on Earth everyone went around dealing with them on a daily basis like it was nothing. Feelings were hard, they were difficult and they were complicated and she found that she did not like them one bit.

After washing her hair delicately and scrubbing her body with soap she begrudgingly turned off the taps and stepped out of the shower, wrapping herself in a fluffy white towel as she tried to find a clean bra and preferably a matching pair of underwear. She might not be very girly but matching underwear had always been a necessity for Danielle Jones.

While she was looking through her set of drawers someone knocked on her front door, looking down at the towel she was still wrapped in she couldn't help but frown at the poor timing

"Give me a moment!" she called out

"Please tell me you're naked"

Her eyes widened as she recognized the voice instantly – it belonged to Paul.

"I seriously wouldn't mind – like, at all"

Danielle threw on a black singlet and a pair of old, high waisted jeans quickly before making her way towards her door and opening it to reveal Paul – a disappointed looking Paul

"Well, that's a shame" he sighed

"Mm, a shame" she said while rolling her eyes "How do you know where I live?"

"Marko"

She felt a pang in her stomach as she heard his name.

"Oh, that makes sense"

"So – you going to invite me in or are we going to have this conversation in your doorstep?" he asked, leaning against her doorframe with a cheeky smile "I don't mind, but it is a little weird"

"Come in" she insisted, stepping to the side so that she could close the door behind him "What brings you here anyway? It's been a while"

"It has, we've just been dealing with some shit at home you know, sorting out some things and what not" he shrugged, taking in her apartment piece by piece "Nice place"

"Thanks Paul"

"How have you been?" he asked, having finished eyeing off the room he slumped himself onto her couch "You seem a little pale"

"I've been fine, trying to keep busy you know" she smiled "You're not the first person to tell me that though, maybe I came down with something"

"Hmm"

She'd never really been alone with Paul before and now here he was, sitting inside of her apartment and lounging around like he owned the place. She didn't mind at all – it was Paul, that's how he was but she couldn't help but wonder why he was even here in the first place. Looking outside she noticed the dark clouds that had formed in the sky and wondered how long it would be before it would start to rain.

"Anyway, moving on – I did actually come here for a reason"

"You did?" she asked from the kitchen, searching for something to throw together in her cupboards "Can I help you with anything?"

"Yeah, you can go and see Marko for me"

The two eggs she had been holding in her hand suddenly dropped involuntarily and smashed onto the floor before her, she turned to look at Marko who to her surprise was already staring at her

"That's an - well, it's a bit of an odd request"

"Is it?" he asked "You guys spent a ton of time together before – well, before that shit at home went down so I didn't think it'd be all that odd"

Paul was being sincere but that didn't take away the shock she was still feeling – why on Earth did he want her to go and see Marko? Did Marko even want to see her? Because as much as she wanted to believe him when he had said they had had stuff going on at home she still couldn't shake the feeling that she had been the one to do something wrong.

"Marko always came here" she said quietly, turning around the clean up the mess that now decorated her kitchen floor "I wouldn't know where on Earth to find him"

"He's sitting in Ichi-Ban trying to work up the courage to come and see you"

This time she dropped the brush and dustpan she had been holding which caused Paul to snort in amusement

"Danielle, Danielle – what am I going to do with you"

"I barely know what to do with myself"

"So – you gonna' go see him?"

"Well – if he doesn't want to see me-"

"Of course he wants to see you" he scoffed "You should have tried living with him over these past two weeks, he's been depressed as hell having not seen you"

"I find that incredibly hard to believe" she said honestly, finally having cleaned up the broken egg along with its shell

"You're so dense"

"Maybe-"

"Okay look, he has no idea I'm her alright – but I thought maybe I could help him out you know?" Paul admitted, leaning back into the couch so that he was now staring at the ceiling "So go see him, because nothing I do can cheer him up"

"I look like-" she paused, looking down to what she was currently wearing and eyeing the ends of he still wet hair

"It won't matter what you look like – which is fine by the way" he added with a wink "Marko won't care, you could show up in a trashcan and he still wouldn't care"

She wanted to believe his words, but she couldn't.

"I'll go" she said "Just let me get some shoes on"

"Grab a jacket, it's going to rain"

"Okay, I will-" but she couldn't finish, Paul had already gotten up and closed her door behind him as he left.

She didn't think twice before grabbing a baggy dark grey cardigan and slipping into her favourite pair of boots to head outside – Paul was right, it was certainly going to rain soon. Her thoughts were going one hundred miles per minute, after fifteen days she was finally – hopefully going to see him. That was, if she didn't chicken out beforehand and ran back home instead. Not to mention the fact that she still hadn't been back to Ichi-Ban since Bo and James had sent a brick flying through their window, a promise she had indeed broken to herself.

Even though Ichi-Ban was barely a five minute walk it took Danielle ten before the small Chinese takeout came into view, the butterflies in her stomach fluttering madly at what she was about to do. It had even started to rain which did not make her walk any faster than what she had – therefore resulting in her still wet form. When the approached the door she opened it slowly paused before walking into the quiet place – smiling at Minami who stood behind the counter and thankfully greeted her with a megawatt smile that spoke volumes.

Even though his back was towards her, she knew it was Marko sitting in the very corner booth of the restaurant. As she approached his table she couldn't help but regret wearing a cardigan instead of one of her hooded jackets as she was sure she looked like a soaked mess – but that soon faded too as she was now extremely close to the boy she had been thinking about constantly over the past two weeks.

-0-

The last person Marko had ever expected to sit at his table was Danielle bloody Jones. Certainly, she was the one he wanted to see the most but the one he had been expecting? No, definitely not. Movement caught his eye and before he could glance up there she was, sitting across from him and wearing that smile that he had grown quite fond of. Raindrops covered her face and her hair was soaking wet but that took nothing away from her beauty. Blinking, he couldn't help but curse himself for turning into such a mess at the sight of the girl. When was the last time he had ever used the word 'beauty' to describe a girl? Never, not ever.

"You're literally the last person I expected to see sitting across from me" he admitted with a shake of his head, but that didn't stop his smile and he unconsciously covered it his hand "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Well, a little birdy told me where to find you" she admitted

Paul. Fucking Paul.

"I'll kill him one of these days" he sighed

"If you want to be alone, I understand-"

"No" he said quickly, meeting her eyes once more "No, no don't leave"

"Alright then" she smiled "So – how have you been?"

The question was so complicated that all he could do was shake his head and simply look at the girl sitting across from him

"A lot better now that you're here" He couldn't lie; he'd missed the way he could make her cheeks light up like that.

"You vanished off the face of the Earth for a while" she began "As much as what you just said makes me unbelievably happy, I don't know – I thought I had done something wrong"

Her words sent shocks throughout his body and not in the good way either. Guilt flooded through him and for the first time since she sat down he took her in, really took her in. Bags were now visible from beneath both of her dark eyes and as he looked over her skin he couldn't help but see that she had grown noticeably thinner in the short span of two weeks.

"You did absolutely nothing wrong" he said sternly, leaning forward in his seat so that his hands now rest on the table between them "Absolutely nothing, there was a lot of family shit going on at home – that's all"

"Okay" she nodded.

Funny enough, after two weeks of separation he found it easier to block her thoughts. Who would have known?

"So, you going to let me buy you dinner?" he asked and smirked at her facial expression

"What?" she clarified

"Are you" he began, leaning forward once more "Going to let me, buy you dinner?"

"Um" she began, her cheeks growing redder by the second "If you really want to"

"I do"

All Danielle could do was nod.

Leaning back in his seat he took her in once more.

"I haven't been back here since that night you know" she admitted and his eyes narrowed in confusion. What night? "I was here practically three times a week, and then that stuff went down"

He only had to think for a moment before it all clicked together; this is where it had all happened with those assholes that had been assaulting her. If only he knew where to find them now.

"We can go somewhere else-"

"I love it here, I really do" she interrupted, shaking her head slightly with a smile on her face "I just haven't been back because I felt so bad. That night, they threw a brick through one of the windows-" Marko barely contained his growl as the image filled his head "-and I felt horrible because I didn't have the money to replace it"

"That's why?" he asked in shock "That's why you haven't been back here? Because of the broken window? You are seriously full of surprises"

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No" he shook his head "It isn't, but nonetheless we can leave"

"No, as I said, I love it here" she grinned, leaning back into her own seat "And they always do good food"

"You know, you said you were practically in here three times a week – it's funny how I never saw you before that night"

"What – the one where Paul knocked me over and nearly made me spill the food everywhere?" she asked

"That'd be the one" he grinned before he suddenly remembered another crucial detail about that night "Otherwise known as the night I caught you staring at me"

"I was not" she replied stubbornly and he couldn't help but laugh at her frustration and embarrassment "I was staring at your jacket"

"Ah, were you now?"

"Yes" she insisted

"Sure it was just the jacket that caught your interest?"

He couldn't help himself – it was just so fun riling her up. The fact that he had the power to turn her cheeks that shade of red just made it all worthwhile.

"Positive" she nodded stiffly "And if I remember correctly, you were also staring at me"

"That I was" he admitted, not embarrassed at the slightest to admitting it "You ready to order?"

She accompanied him to the counter and barely held back his laughter as he listened to her order – he didn't judge her of course, that would be rude. But who on Earth ate with a fork when they were at a Chinese restaurant? She was just full of surprises.

As they sat back down Marko once again leaned forward in his seat, her hair was now partially dry and he couldn't help but stare at the faint waves.

"I've wanted to ask you for a while actually – did you make the jacket yourself or did you buy it?" she asked, eyeing the jacket once more.

"I've made it myself – well, I didn't make the patches. I bought them all, some from here some form there" he shrugged "It came together pretty nicely in the end"

"Yeah, I never see you without it" she smiled

She was right, he never left home without it – it was his staple, much like Paul's tight pants were his, Dwayne's bare chest was his and David's long black trench coat was his.

"Funny enough there really is no particular reason behind it" he shrugged, eyeing the patches that decorate his left sleeve "Can't say the same for Paul's tight pants though"

She laughed at his words "Please tell me they're at least not the same pair?"

"I can't promise anything"

"That worries me far, far more than it should"

A moment later their food was placed on the table and Marko eyed her as she picked up her fork and began to dig in, still finding it hard to believe that she was about to eat Chinese in a Chinese take-out with a fork.

"Okay so I was never taught how to use chopsticks" she blurted out, having caught him staring at her white plastic fork

"It's so easy tho!" he insisted, giving her his own unused pair of chopsticks "Now take them – Danielle, just take them – okay now hold them like this"

Marko took her hand gently and positioned the chopsticks correctly and once he was done he lingered for a moment before sitting back into his own seat to watch her progress

"You good?" he asked

"Could you at least not watch me as I fail?" she mumbled quietly, playing around with the chopsticks in her hand to get a better feel of them

"Alright, I'll go grab some more – I promise I won't look"

When he sat back down, a new pair of chopsticks in hand she was attempting to eat some of her rice and he couldn't help but chuckle at the sight

"Marko – are you laughing at me?"

"No"

She scoffed before taking another mouthful of her food and as they ate and talked she grew more confident, by the end of their meal she had nearly got the hang of it.

"See?" he said "All you needed was a little practise"

"And someone to show me how to use them" she added

"Wanna' take a walk?" he asked – hoping that she'd say yes and couldn't help but grin as she nodded "Alright, let's go"

He held the door open for her as they left and then set off by her side towards the busier part of the Boardwalk, the rain had died down now but even though it was night time he could tell that the clouds were still dark with promise of more rain.

"So" he began "Do you like the rain?"

"I love the rain, storms are also my favourite – pretty much everything about the cold come to think about it" she grinned, looking up to the sky above as she spoke "What about you?"

"Couldn't have said it better than myself"

"You should have seen it this morning; it was a beautiful sight to wake up too"

He hadn't thought about morning in such a long time that the longing had simply disappeared. For years he didn't miss a single thing, not one – a small price to pay when you have eternal life and eternal youth right? Wrong. After a while he began to miss sunlight even though he had always despised summer and the feel of the warmth on his skin. That was another thing he missed, waking up in the morning in his bed and looking out of the window to see what the skies would hold for him today.

"I'm sure it was" he said lowly, looking around into the crowds of people "I slept through most of the day; I pretty much woke up fifteen minutes before you walked in to Ichi-Ban"

"I don't think I have ever slept that late in my entire life" she laughed, her eyes glancing towards where the Carousel sat

"C'mon" he said, nodding in the direction of the Carousel

"Only if you want too-"

"C'mon" he laughed

Unlike Paul, Marko didn't push to the front of the line and instead leant against the guardrail and watched Danielle as she took in the ride before them. It only took a couple of minutes before he was stepping up onto the ride, turning he held her hand as she too stepped up to join him – he didn't release his hold until he had found the same horse she had ridden last time and just as Paul had done he helped her up by lifter her at the waist.

At least she didn't squeak this time.

Slowly, he leant against the horse and steadied himself as the ride began to pick up the pace.

"You drew this horse"

"I did" he admitted "You should see my big one"

"I'd love too"

Her words caught him off guard and as he turned to look at her face he found that she was already staring at him.

"Not tonight" he said quietly, glancing down to her bare legs "It'd be too late, and I didn't bring my bike with me"

"You have a bike?" she asked

"I forgot, you probably haven't seen me with it yet. You ever ride one?"

"No" she shook her head

"We'll change that"

Honestly – he'd love nothing more than to take her home, he could think of no better way to end the night and that's what was so sobering. He wanted to do things right this time, with her - and if he took her home tonight he just knew he'd wake up tomorrow regretting his actions and that she would too.

The ride ended and once again Marko helped Danielle down from her seat, his hands lingering on her waist for just that second longer before releasing her. This time she took his hand and the small action shocked him more than he would ever like to admit as he followed after her lead. It had also started to rain again.

"Let's get you home" he nodded in the direction towards where he knew her apartment was "You're not dressed to be out in the rain, I don't want you to get sick"

He held onto her hand tightly as they walked through the rain and every now and again he would look at her and just smile – tonight had gone far better than he had planned. Before she showed up all he could think about was what he was going to possibly say to explain his absence, family problems seemed to work at it wasn't as if it was a complete lie. Then what? What would he do then? He didn't do feelings of any sort and he hadn't done in a seriously long time – to say that he had been stuck with blanks would have summed up the situation perfectly. Now the question was; what now? There he was and there she was, holding his hand as they walked through the rain and back towards her apartment. He had just bought her dinner. They had just ridden the Carousel together.

They arrived at her apartment far too quickly.

Danielle stood in front him, looking up the where her apartment sits while raindrops fall down her face once more and god help him he wanted nothing more than to kiss her. But he couldn't – he wouldn't. Not until she knew everything.

"I have had a fantastic night" she said with a large smile, looking to meet his eyes once she had finished "Thank you for dinner"

"Good. Look-" he took a deep breath before looking to his feet "I don't do this, ever – with girls, because I don't know, I've never seen a point" he paused for a moment before looking to her once more "But I see a point now, you're my point and I'm trying really, really hard not to fuck things up and I will continue to do so. But you need to know something before we do whatever it is that this is – I'm dark, my past is dark and my future is also dark. You see I know shit about your past, what your life was like before here and the fact you even opened up about that to me in the first place was just insane. You don't know some of the things that I've done – the things that I do and I just-" he paused once more, eying her black face "I want to be better, so I'm going to try – for you"

He felt like a complete and utter idiot.

Which was why his eyes widened and if it had still been beating his heart would have skipped several beats as her arms wrapped up his backside. She was hugging him.

"Goodnight, I'll see you tomorrow and thank you again for such a wonderful night - same time as usual okay? Dinner will be ready around six"

Marko was left on the street in the rain with a smile on his face that not even the gods could take away from him.