the sleepless elite
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chapter twenty-one
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Twenty solid minutes passes, and Darling shows no signs of entering the eatery. Chase thought, worst case scenario, Darling had been kidnapped. Best case scenario, her call with her mother was simply dragging on for too long. Either way, Chase had decided to grab his bright red coat, wrap his black scarf around his neck and poke his head out the doors to see if she was alright.
"Hey, you've been gone for a while, I started to get worried," Chase says, cracking the same door Darling had closed behind her minutes ago.
He finds Darling wrapped warmly in her white Winter coat with no cell phone in sigh. She was simply leaning her back against a wall, looking up at the night sky. Her blue eyes seem a little dim as if something was stolen from her and she looked defeated.
"Are you okay?" Came Chase's voice, soft as the night. He shoved his hands into his pockets and hoped for the best.
When Darling didn't answer, Chase took several steps closer. He towered over her like usual, though, his height served as more of comforting feeling than an imposing one.
"Darling?" He calls her, touching her gently by the elbow. He wanted her to know that he was going to keep her safe no matter what.
Slowly, Darling blinks, long lashes fluttering back to reality. "Huh?" She mutters, turning to look at him as if she's just fallen down the rabbit hole.
Chase pulls his hand away from her and asks for a second time, "Are you okay?" He watches Darling bite her lip and her thin eyebrows pluck together. Oh, that's not good.
"Erm," Darling rubs her arm, thinking. "My mother called."
"Okay …?" She had already told him that. And shouldn't that be a good thing given that they hardly have reception?
"She …" Darling trails off, now looking at the ground. It's as if she's waking up from a long sleep, like she can't process reality. Her vision … her vision is getting blurry. "My mother wants me to come home."
His heart drops. What? "She wants you to come home now? Did something happen?"
"N – No, not right now. And nothing happened." Her blonde curls comes tumbling down her shoulder as she shakes her head. Darling explains, "At least, nothing's happening yet. My mother says I'm grown now and that she wants me back at Book End the month Dare and Dex graduates. She thinks it's best I return and start thinking about taking over the family news station with my brothers."
Oh.
"What about your job?" He asks. It is her dream job after all.
"She wants me to quit." Darling asks, voice impossibly small. It's a tiny sound. Not even the birthday texts from her brothers and the members of the sleepless elite could cheer her up at this point.
Oh.
Well, this birthday blows.
Chase looks at Darling and thinks, this is the tiniest he's ever seen her; all folded and crossed arm. He wants to do so many things to see her smile again. He wants to wrap his scarf around her and drape his jacket over her shoulders to shield her from the world; he wants to make her a warm drink and tell her she's going to be okay; make her laugh and wipe her tears away. He wants to do all that, if he wasn't so scared that she'd flinch and curl further into her shell.
"Can't you change your mother's mind?" Chase asks, the words come tumbling out of his mouth before he can even think of the meaning behind it or the consequences.
Darling's eyes snaps from the ground and towards Chase's face. "No." She says, voice shaking. "No, I can't. And that's the saddest part. My mother's always decided things for me. She's the one who sent me to that far away school, she's the one who forced me to take Summer classes so I couldn't come home. She decides everything. Whatever she says, it's law. She had separated me from my brothers from a very young age, she's not afraid to separate me from this job too. She's not afraid of taking the things I love away from me."
Chase only stayed quiet, knowing there was no other way out. Mrs Charming sounded like the type of woman to rule over her children with an iron fist.
"I know what you're thinking," Darling says, voice still small. "You're thinking 'Why don't you fight her? It's your life'. Well, I already did. I really had to fight tooth and nail to spend my senior year at Ever After High. Even then, I thought I had made a horrible decision when Apple broke up with me, I really rushed into that relationship."
Darling was throwing a little pity party for herself and Chase hated that he couldn't change anything about it.
She grips her elbows tightly, trying to make her body small, trying to disappear into the corner of the night. "Sometimes I think, 'Wow, everything I do just won't cut it, will it? No happy ending, just bad outcomes'," Darling sighs, still holding onto herself. "I mean … I've had some upsides. The White Knight and the sleepless elite … they really helped. Back then, they were my only forms of freedom. It all started with the White Knight, really. If I hadn't gotten my hands on it, I wouldn't have been able to go where I wanted or befriended my friends … or met you." She smiles a sad smile. "I almost didn't get the bike though, my mother thought it was unlady-like for me to ride such a dangerous thing. But I begged her, it became a birthday gift. And I was happy."
Darling looks up at the night sky once again and takes in a deep inhale of cold air, watching her breath cloud.
"And now I'm here and the White Knight is stored in Bagel Guy's garage and most of my friends are scattered around the world doing who knows what." And I'm about to lose you too, Chase. "I … I don't think I can ask for anything else from my mother. The bike, the gap year, this job … I think I've run out of leeway." Darling laughs, it was bitter sounding. "It was nice while it lasted though. I guess it is time I slave away thirty years of my life; talking about the weather while I sit in front of a camera and telling people of the events happening around the world I can no longer travel. It was dumb of be to think that I could find an alternative anyway."
"I'm sorry." Chase says. It was the only thing he thought he could say. "I'm really sorry."
He hears her sniff and watches her blink back tears. He hasn't seen her cry since she sprained her ankle. That's been a year plus since (though it seemed like a lifetime ago).
"Do you need a hug?" Chase asks, remember years ago when Darling was in a similar state of sadness. He thinks now she's more comfortable to be touched as she's vented out her feelings.
"Yes, please." She weeps and doesn't even hesitate to throw her arms around his middle and cry into his chest.
He pats her back in return, uttering comforting words only for her to hear and holds her like he's trying to keep her soul, body and mind in one piece. It's hard seeing her cry, he didn't want to see her cry the first time and he didn't want to see her cry those other times either. But, it seemed like every time he thinks this would be the last time he'd see Darling shed a tear, the universe decides to prove them both wrong and throw another reason for her to be sad.
"When do your brothers graduate?" Chase asks softly into her blonde curls, resting his chin on the top of her head.
"In a few months." Darling sniffs. "July."
"That's … That's five months away." Chase says, realisation striking him once again in the face. The force is as strong as when he found out he was falling for Darling.
"I know." She whispers, shaking, arms tightening around him. "I'm sorry. You know I would never leave unless it was completely necessary."
"Hey, hey, there's no need to apologize. It's not your fault." Chase answers, rubbing soothing circles on her back. Darling's already facing a world-wind of emotion, there's no need to pressure her even more.
What was he thinking earlier? Confessing? Honestly. Chase decides it's best to keep his mouth shut and enjoy the remaining time they'll have together. What good would come anyway from telling her his feelings? Darling practically brother-zoned and best friend-zoned him to oblivion. What are the likely chances she'll return his feelings? Practically zero, that's the answer.
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Notes: I travelled three hours to get to Jezmaiayah's house to write this chapter. This girl deserves some kind of holler instead of being left on read, don't you think?
– 26 August 2018