I'm discontented with how this turned out, but I hope it's not too bad to read.
Still 1989
One call, Dad had said.
So one call it would be.
Danny eyed the chair next to the telephone table with disdain. It was stuffed and comfortable, and normally he would have flopped down in it. The way his ass was feeling right now, he didn't want to sit ever again.
He leant against the wall and grabbed the phone of the hook, dialling Linda's home number. It was picked up after a few rings, and the sweetest voice in the whole world spoke in his ear.
"Hi, Linda O'Shea speaking."
"Hey, babe," Danny said.
He could hear the smile in her voice. "Hey, Danny! What's wrong?"
Trust Linda to pick up on the absolute wreck he was feeling like immediately.
"I don't..." Danny sighed. "I don't really know where to begin, Linda."
"Linda? That's making me nervous. What's going on, Danny?"
"I...uh..." Danny sighed once more and then decided to just get it over with. "I have a confession to make. I lied to you. My grounding didn't actually get lifted. I was still supposed to be grounded, and I lied to my parents about having an extra basketball practice so I could go out with you. I'm sorry, baby, I really am. And my dad found out, obviously, and now...and now I'm grounded from seeing you."
There was silence on the other end of the phone for a moment.
When Linda finally spoke, he could hear that she was pissed. "Seriously, Danny? What the hell?"
Danny let his head slump against the wall. "I'm sorry, baby. You wanted to go so badly and..."
"Yeah, I wanted to go! But I didn't want to go so badly that you needed to disrespect and lie to your parents to take me out. Or disrespect me by lying to me! And now I won't see you for goodness knows how long..." She took a deep breath.
"Linda, I'm really sorry."
He could hear her taking another deep breath on the other side of the phone.
"Okay, Danny, it's okay. I forgive you. We'll get through this. How did your dad find out anyways?"
It was Danny's turn to sigh. "Erin told him. I got the paddling of my life as well, which makes her smirk like crazy. Honestly, I don't exactly know what's wrong with her."
"She snitched on you?" Linda sounded incredulous. "That little..."
"Hey," Danny said with a small laugh. "Reagans sometimes split on other Reagans, you know that."
"Yeah, but this is kind of mean. She pretended that your grounding had been lifted and everything to get the details of our date from me. It's not like she was worried about you, I can tell you that. Next time I see her I'm going to give her a piece of my mind."
"I'm sure you will, babe," Danny said, warmed by her protectiveness. "I love you, okay? I'll see you when Dad decides I've been punished enough."
"We won't even be able to call?" Linda asked wistfully.
"No, nothing. Dad only gave me this call to apologise for lying to you and to tell you what's going on."
"Okay. Like I said, we'll get through this. It'll be over before you know it, and then we'll go to, like, Coney Island or something. A real special date. Okay?"
"Okay," Danny said, his throat closing up slightly. "I love you, Linda O'Shea."
"I love you too, baby."
Linda put down the phone first, and Danny stood with the receiver in his hands for a long time before he managed to put it down.
Mom brought him a sandwich, sometime later when he was lying on his bed. She sat down next to him while he ate, running her hands through his hair and giving him a soft smile when he caught her eye.
"I'm sorry for lying to you too, Ma," Danny said quietly.
Mom give his ear a gently flick. "It's okay, Dan. You've paid your dues. But try to stay out of trouble for a while?"
"I'll be a model citizen," Danny said with a slight groan. "My butt won't survive, otherwise."
He climbed under the covers after she had left, flinching a bit at the weight on his bruised backside, but not entirely willing to try and withstand the cold in order to protect his butt. He was already dozing off slightly, when there was another knock at his door.
"Yeah?"
He was half expecting it to be Joe, but instead it's Dad's tall figure that steps through the door. He sat down on the bed next to Danny's head, the mattress dipping under his colossal weight.
"You gave Linda that call?"
"Yes, sir. She...she was real torn up about it."
A heavy hand touched his shoulder, rubbing slightly and then moving down to circle between his shoulder blades.
"I'm sorry I have to come down on you so hard over this," Dad says quietly. "But the lying and the sneaking around and the disrespect has to stop, Danny."
Danny nods with a sigh. "Yeah, I don't...I'm not mad at you, Dad. Only at myself. I let Linda down, and you and Mom. And myself probably."
"Sometimes we let people down," Dad agreed. "And ourselves. But you're a good kid, Danny. In fact, you're a great kid. You'll figure it out. Don't be mad, be smart."
Danny gave him a small grin in the light of the bedside lamp, relieved to find the spark of humour returned in his Dad's eyes. "Me, smart? You must be thinking of a different Danny Reagan."
Dad mussed his hair, bumping his head into the pillow with a somewhat playful shove. "You've got a smart mouth at least. Good night, Danny. Sleep well."
"Night, Dad."
His promise to Mom to be a model citizen only lasted until the next morning before school.
Mornings are usually slightly chaotic, with Joe running about the house in a state of mild undress looking for his tie and socks, Jamie covering himself and half the kitchen table in tomato sauce while attempting to eat scrambled eggs, Erin invariably showing up late because she had to powder her nose or curl her hair or something and Mom just trying to get everybody fed and on the bus in time. Dad usually stays out of the morning madness, unless Mom really needs him to step in.
Danny kind of counted on Erin being late as usual when he went downstairs himself, but she was in the kitchen, drinking orange juice and looking dignified as usual. She smirked when she saw him.
"Morning, Danny."
"Morning," Danny said.
"I hope you didn't set a place for him, Joe," Erin said. "He won't be using it, I think."
"You know we don't set places in the morning," Joe grumbled. "Dash it, has anybody seen my other sock?"
Jamie threw out a tomato sauce covered hand as Danny passed him, a hand which Danny just managed to dodge.
"Morning, Danny!"
"Morning, squirt," Danny bent over the three-year-old in a safe spot behind his back, planting a wet kiss on his forehead.
Jamie squealed and tried to wriggle away. "Ewww, Danny!"
"Ya don't like that?" Danny kissed him again. "Well don't look so cute then, huh?"
"Danny, have some cereal," Mom said, peeking her head around the kitchen door. She was gone before Danny could answer, and he heard her voice disappearing into the house. "Joseph Connor, I swear, I'm going to glue your socks to your feet one of these days..."
Danny poured himself some milk and cereal, leaning against the table to dig in. Unfortunately, it meant that he had to face Erin again, who was still sipping on her orange juice.
"Not going to sit down, Danny?" she asked sweetly.
Danny glowered at her, but didn't answer.
"Does Linda know you still get popped on the ass like a little kid? And that you blubber like a little girl?"
"What is your problem, Erin?" Danny spoke through clenched teeth, trying to keep from raising his voice. That would probably alert Dad, who was reading the paper in the dining room, and he certainly didn't want that.
"My problem?" Erin arched a cool brow. "What do you mean? I don't have a problem. It seems to me like you're the one with a problem. I hear Tony Franelli is planning on making a move on Linda soon. With you out of the game for the time being..."
"You bitch," Danny snarled.
"Daniel!" Dad thundered, appearing seemingly out of nowhere just behind his right shoulder. Before Danny could do anything more than die of fright, Dad grabbed him, bent him against the kitchen table and started walloping. A flurry of swats, reigniting the burn in his recently paddled butt, forcing desperate yelps out through his pursed lips despite his best attempts at stoicism. His face was burning and his eyes watering when Dad drew him up to stand in front of him, both from the smart and the embarrassment at being smacked in the middle of the kitchen like a toddler.
Dad tilted his head up with a thumb underneath his chin, and gave him a serious look.
"You do not use that word, boy, especially not towards your sister."
"Yessir," Danny said hoarsely. "I'm sorry, Dad."
Across the kitchen, Erin was smirking again. Dad seemed to notice it, as he turned away from Danny, and he gave her a hard loop.
"Fix the attitude, Erin. I don't want to see you antagonising your brother again."
"Yes, Dad," Erin said sweetly. "It won't happen again."
School was unpleasant, since he there was no way he could really avoid sitting down. When he came home after school only Joe was in the kitchen, eating a sandwich with entirely too much ham packed onto it.
"Mom not here?" Danny asked.
Joe grinned, taking large bite. "Nope. She took Jamie to some children's party."
"You know she'll notice how much of the ham's gone, right?"
Joe shrugged. "That's a problem for the future. Right now, I'm enjoying myself."
Danny chuckled. "And Erin?"
"She's having that sleepover at Katie Hammond's house, remember? They've been organising it for the past two weeks or something. Apparently, their going to pierce each other's ears."
"Oh, yeah? Mom and Dad know about that?"
"I don't think so," Joe though for a moment. "But they'll notice when she comes back with holes in her ears, I reckon."
"Undoubtedly," Danny said, his mood lifting slightly at the prospect of Erin coming back from Katie Hammond's with pierced ears and the absolute furore it would spark.
He made himself a sandwich. Only with cheese, since Mom maybe wouldn't be that upset if she thought that both he and Joe had ate some of the ham.
Then he wandered upstairs and settled down to start on his homework. Somewhat uncomfortably, but a thick pillow on his desk chair helped and he had no intention of adding unfinished homework to the list of reasons Dad could get mad at him.
The phone rang quite some time later, and he heard Joe skipping up the stairs to answer it. Just a few moments later, he poked his head around the door.
"It's Linda, Danny."
Danny frowned. "I'm grounded, I'm not supposed to talk to her."
"She says it's very urgent."
Danny sighed and got up. He paused a moment before picking up the phone. He shouldn't really, but Linda definitely knew that he was grounded and she wouldn't try and call him without good reason. Plus, if she said it was urgent it most likely was.
"Hey, babe."
"Danny, sorry for calling you, but it's a bit of an emergency?"
"Yeah?" Danny asked, anxiety tightening around his chest. "Something wrong?"
"Look, I overheard Erin and Katie talking at school today."
"Yeah, I know, they're planning on piercing their ears or something."
"No, they're actually not. Apparently, Katie told her parents that she's sleeping over at your house, and Erin told your parents that she's going to Katie's obviously. Meanwhile, they're actually going to a party that Katie's boyfriend is organising."
"Isn't he in college or something?"
"Yeah, it's basically a college party. And...my cousin knows the guy. He has quite the reputation for wild parties – drugs, beer, hook-ups, the works. I'm just...if nobody's going to be knowing that Erin and Katie are going there, and they get into trouble. The guy really has a bad reputation."
"Yeah, I get what you're saying," Danny said.
"Plus," Linda said, a little darkly. "I thought I might get Erin back just a little for snitching on you."
Danny chuckled.
"That's just an added bonus. Well, thanks for calling, babe. I'll make sure she doesn't get into trouble. But also that she gets into trouble, if you know what I mean?"
Linda laughed. "Bye, Danny. I'll see you soon."
"Bye, babe."
Joe was looking at him with large eyes when he set down the receiver, and Danny gave him a smile that he hoped was calming.
"Erin's in big trouble, isn't she?"
"Yep," Danny said. "But maybe, so am I. That's just a risk I'll have to take."
He punched in the number of Dad's precinct, and put the phone to his ear.
It took some very intense explaining to convince Dad that he shouldn't be in trouble for taking Linda's call, but that sort of faded into the background once he got around to explaining what Erin was trying to do. After he finished relating everything that Linda had told him, there was silence on the other end of a phone for a few long minutes.
"Daniel," Dad said finally. "Is this payback for Erin getting you in trouble yesterday?"
Danny cringed slightly. "Maybe, a little? But it's fair, don't you think? And I honestly don't want her to end up at some college party with drugs and whatnot."
"I believe you," Dad said. "But you two better not turn this into a feud."
"No, sir," Danny said. "At least, I'll try, sir."
Dad only sighed.
Danny was back to concentrating on some boring reading about old French people getting up to shenanigans, when he heard Dad's car pull into the drive-way. A few moments later the kitchen door opened, and then Erin's footsteps came stomping up the stairs. He recognised the sound of her school shoes, and she sheer force with which she closed her door. From downstairs, there was a roar.
"Erin Margaret, you did not just slam your door!"
Heavier footsteps creaked on the stairs and Danny bent over his textbook, grimacing slightly. Sure, it was somewhat nice in a vindicative sense to hear Erin getting into trouble, but it didn't mean that he couldn't sympathise with the kid. He couldn't concentrate that well for the next while, what with Erin wailing like a banshee while Dad paddled her like there was no tomorrow. He tried his best though, both because he wanted to finish before supper and because he didn't particularly like hearing his sister cry. After a while, things got quiet, and then, still later, he heard the door on the landing opening and Dad's footsteps disappearing downstairs.
He met Erin on the landing, when Mom called them down for supper. She walked stiffly, still clutching one of Dad's handkerchiefs in one fist. The look she gave him was frankly poisonous.
"Hey," Danny said. "That was a quick sleepover."
Erin didn't answer.
2018
"Wow," Eddie said. "You guys were pretty intense as kids, huh?"
Danny shrugged, giving Erin a grin. "Erin was intense, I was just intensely moronic."
The table erupted into laughter.
"But I was pretty mean," Erin conceded. "I honestly don't know how you kept from punching me in the mouth sometimes, Danny."
"If you would recall," Frank interrupted. "Danny did slug you in the mouth, not very long after this little saga."
"It was technically part of this," Danny said with a laugh. "We did develop this into a feud, despite all Dad's warnings. But that's a story for another day. Like, a day that will never come."
So, I feel like I can't fully develop in this fic the huge and prolonged feud Danny and Erin seems to be intent on developing about this. If there's interest, I'll maybe write a separate fic about the feud and how Danny and Erin learn to trust each other as siblings again. And also how Erin becomes less of a snaut.
Please let me know if you would be interested in such a story!
Tremulous xx