At long last, I am managing to finish this. :)
I think it's pretty obvious that Lancer was more than willing to go through with Ms. Stuth's plan of tutoring Danny and I during the next school year. It did wonders for me, but I sadly think it did more harm than good for Danny.
It's not that his grades starting slipping or that he couldn't understand the material, quite the opposite actually. We had half the time the normal students did and we kept up and even got ahead at times, but this gave Danny too much time to himself to think and over think.
I saw him starting to break down midway through the first quarter. Even though I tried to reach out and help him, he wouldn't respond to me at all, no matter what I did. I couldn't even get through to him with our mental connection. He was slowly slipping and there wasn't a damned thing I could do about it.
Lily was born a few months later, and for a short time it looked like he might just be getting better, but eventually he leveled out and started to slide back down his slippery slope. As much as it pained me to admit, I needed to prepare for when he finally broke, I could feel it coming up fast. I kept trying to help, but I knew our baby girl was going to end up growing up without him.
Every once in a while, I couldn't help but remember that dream I had before we entered the Ghost Zone. At the time, I thought it had told me so much about our future, but now it was looking like it was nothing more than a glimpse at what could have been.
"And that's the story, Lily. Your dad finally broke when you were about six months old." I fight the urge to cry as I force myself to finish telling this story. I had promised myself long ago that I would be honest when she finally asked, and I had been, I just needed to finish the story now. There isn't much of it left. "It wasn't your fault, I need you to know that. If anything, you're the reason he lasted as long as he did." Lily is five now, and as such I needed her to realize what happened back then wasn't her fault. I know how impressionable young children can be.
"Do you know where he is now?" She asked the question I had been dreading for years.
"No," I softly reply. Telling her this story is slowly breaking into my defenses. I find it to be a miracle that I haven't broken down in tears yet. These are memories I can almost never relive without some form of emotional turmoil. "I haven't seen him since he took off that night without warning." That's it. That's all I have to tell her. I hope she doesn't ask for much more; having to say "I don't know" hurts more than just retelling the story.
There's a knock at the door that quickly becomes an insistent banging. It's easily one in the morning, I really shouldn't have kept Lily up this long, but if I hadn't made it through that in one setting I never would have finished it. Who the hell could that be?
I look to Lily and she quickly turns herself invisible. That's our drill now, if someone unexpected shows up she is to hide until farther notice. There are one hell of a lot of people out there that would want to hurt the two of us.
"Sam! Please open the door. I know you're in there." That voice. It almost sounds like...no. It can't be.
I cautiously approach the door, one hand out of sight and pulsing with energy just in case. Not many people knew where Lily and I lived. I look through the peep hole in the door. That looks so much like him...but it can't be? Can it?
"Sam, it's me. It's Danny. I know you're there, please let me in." Danny. Could it really be?
I open the door a crack and look him over. That's Danny alright. His hair has grown and his eyes are dulled, but it's Danny. His shirt is in tatters with so many holes and tears he might be better off without it.
Through all the rips and tears, I see the scar covered torso I saw when I first went to Casper High. It was really Danny.
"Danny!" I practically throw myself at him, as if he'll disappear if I don't hang onto him. He came back. My Danny came back.
He returns the hug. "Sam." We stay there wrapped in each other's arms for the longest time before a tiny little voice breaks us apart.
"Daddy?" Lily is floating in mid air, curiosity in her icy blue eyes.
"Lily?" He asks. I nod in response and he slowly approaches her.
"Daddy!" She tackles him much like I had moments earlier. I never expected her to take to him so quickly if he ever showed up again, but she has.
That doesn't stop the worry in my gut. What if he isn't here to stay?
I wait for them to separate on their own terms, then wait until Lily is practically falling asleep standing up to send her to bed. If Danny isn't here to stay, I don't want to be the one that cuts her time with him short.
Lily has just gone to bed when I approach him on this much more serious topic. "Are you staying? Or are you going to run off when it gets hard like you did last time?" The question came out harder than I had intended, but it was my natural defenses rising. Yes, I still love him, god knows I love him, but he broke my heart when he left and he's in the position to do it again.
"I'm so sorry for leaving you." I can see that he means it by the look in his eye. I know him too well, and even though he has a secret to protect he never has been the best at lying through his teeth.
"Are you staying or not? Don't beat around the bush, just tell me." I need to know now, before I completely fall back into the hole I worked so hard to dig myself out of.
"I'll stay if you want me back. If you want me to get the hell out, I understand, but I want to be with you again." I see the vulnerability in his eyes and can't tell him no. My mom would have killed me for taking him back so easily, but that's what's happening.
"Don't you fucking dare leave me again. Ever."
"I won't. I promise." There's uncertainty in his eyes as he slowly leans forward. He hesitates for just a second before capturing my lips in a slow kiss.
Three to fours months without an update? That's barely neglect anymore; it's more like abandoment... I really don't know what happened there.
Anyways, I think I'm going to go through both this and Impossibilities and do some massive editing, I know what it is now isn't my best work. Look for that if you're interested, ignore it if you aren't.
Comments and feedback are as welcome as always! :D
Invisible One
