No One's Gonna Take You There

After leaving the house, Darcy called Leighla and asked her if she wanted to go out for the day. After losing her eyebrow barbell to Emma's elbow pad and her nose piercing to a hand across the face, she was down two of the three piercings in her face and it was making her feel slightly naked. The plan was to get her nose re-pierced.

"Are you getting the same side done?" Leighla asked from the driver's seat, causing Darcy to reach up and touch the left side of her nose.

"Uh, yeah, I think so," she nodded. "The holes closed up so I don't see why not."

Darcy directed Leighla to a nearby tattoo parlour – one that Matt had recommended to her long ago and where she got her eyebrow pierced. Darcy felt comfortable there. After working in one for close to 6 years, the sight of drawings on walls and the sterile smell were amongst the only things she connected to the notion of 'home'.

"When are you actually going to get another tattoo?" Leighla asked, her eyes being drawn to a large drawing of a dragon. "You talk about it all the time."

"I don't have the money to get one as big as I want and I have to get permission – it's a hassle. I'd go back to Bull anyway, get this one continued up my back." She lifted her sweater and tank top and twisted her body to look at the flowers on her right hip.

While Darcy was sitting down and getting her nose done, Leighla flipped through a book of small tattoos. Leighla was adamant that she wasn't going to get one but Darcy kept pointing out ones she thought would suit her.

The girls spent the rest of the day at the mall and while they were having lunch Darcy began to realise that Leighla had been tiptoeing around her all day. It was only subtle – just small looks when they passed an intimidating man or if someone accidentally brushed up against her – but Darcy was genuinely sick of people treating her differently.

"Say it," Darcy said with an exasperated sigh as she put down her roll.

Leighla's brow furrowed very slightly, "Say what?"

"Whatever it is that you want to say," Darcy said, sitting up straighter and dropping her arms to her sides. "You've been looking at me the same way since you picked me up."

Leighla paused and looked at Darcy. It was hesitant and worried - Darcy knew exactly what was going to be said.

"You're okay?"

"Never been better." It was a lie, sure, but convincing people had been getting easier. "Why's that?"

"It's just you ask like nothing has happened-"

Darcy, with a bit to her voice, cut her friend off. "You've spoken to Jon. Don't pretend he hasn't told you everything."

"He's worried," Leighla defended quickly, leaning forward before continuing in a quieter voice, "You went from crying yourself to sleep every night to pretending nothing happened."

Darcy's shoulders lifted suddenly before dropping just as quickly. Though she hadn't expected Jon to tell Leighla and Colby that she supposed that she shouldn't have been surprised.

"I cried it all out." It was an uncharacteristic response and Leighla realised this. Darcy was admitting a fault. "No big deal. You guys tell me all the time that I'm allowed to have emotions. Why are you so caught up now that I finally did?"

"Honestly?"

"No, lie to me," Darcy shot back sarcastically.

"No one expected you to listen."

The conversation ended abruptly there when Darcy picked up her roll and bit off a large mouthful. She plastered a smile on her face and asked Leighla about whether she was missing Iowa or not. The sudden change in topic startled Leighla and she hesitated before continuing it.

Darcy's ability to change topics and moods in a matter of seconds was leaving everyone confused.

It was just before 7 when Darcy arrived back at Jon's house and she could smell the chicken from the front door. She walked through the house, straight past Jon and Sami, and dropped her new clothes onto her suitcase.

"Hey," Sami greeted her with a warm smile as she walked back towards the kitchen and knelt on the couch, resting her arms on the back of it. "You got your nose done," he said, pointing to his own nose. Jon lifted his head quickly to look at her. "Looks good."

"Thanks," she smiled back. She noticed Jon's mouth pull into a straight line just before he turned back to the pan. "What'd you get up to today?"

Sami shrugged and looked over his shoulder, "He's been in a shit mood all day so not much."

"Oh yeah?" Darcy asked, letting her head drop to the side as she played coy. "Why's that?"

With Sami's back still turned to him, Jon turned around and glared at her. Sami explained that he didn't know why Jon was in a bad mood and Darcy did her best to play nonchalant. The look Jon was giving her only made her more eager to get on his nerves.

They all sat at the small, square dining table while they ate. Darcy had a small smile on her face and engaged Sami in a conversation about CZW while Jon tried his hardest to be interested. Sami appeared to be oblivious to the tension and he clearly didn't know that she was the cause of Jon's moodiness.

"You got a girl yet?" Sami asked Jon after a lull in conversation. Jon's head shot up almost instantly but Darcy continued to stare down at her plate and push food around.

"Nah, man."

"He has lots of girls," Darcy said half-heartedly but it caught both Sami's and Jon's attention. "All of them are really loud and only one of them has come around more than once. She's in a relationship though – an open one. Yeah, he has plenty of girls. He just won't commit to anyone. God forbid he admit to having feelings."

Jon forcefully put his knife and fork back on the table. She wasn't looking at him, she was looking at Sami with the same innocent smile she'd had since she walked back in, but she knew that Jon was glaring at her.

"You're really gonna do this now?"

"Do what?" She asked as she turned to him. Even as she asked the question she wasn't sure what he was referring to. She wasn't trying to be a smart ass she was genuinely wondering what he thought she was trying to start.

"No," he shook his head and stood up from the table. "We can do this when he's gone."

Admittedly she had been goading him, waiting for the reaction she hadn't gotten when she returned after her day out, but she had just expected him to make a snide comment. Having him get up and leave the table made her look to Sami, her smile replaced by a slack jaw.

"Sorry," she apologised weakly to their guest. "We clash."

"Don't be sorry," Sami said with a shake of his head. "Everyone clashes with him at one point or another."

Darcy tugged her lip ring into her mouth and began to bounce her knee underneath the table.

"I put him in a mood this morning," she revealed. She shook her head and sighed, "I don't know."

"Want to talk about it?"

She thought for a moment before simply saying, "No."

There was only one word to describe the situation at hand: awkward.

It was nearing midnight and it was unanimously decided that they should try get some sleep. Darcy and Jon had a full day of training ahead of them and Sami had an early flight to get on. Despite everyone agreeing, both Jon and Darcy were hesitant to do so.

Darcy opted to have a shower before heading to bed, wasting about 20 minutes under the running water and a further 10 doing a variety of things in the bathroom: cutting her nails, cleaning the sink and organising the cupboards.

"Night, Darcy," Sami said as she opened the bathroom door to make the walk back to Jon's room.

"Night."

She eased the bedroom door open and was happy to see that Jon was already in bed with his back to the door. It was almost a given that he was still awake but it was a weight off her shoulders to know that he wasn't waiting to talk to her.

Doing her best to not disturb him if he was sleeping, she pulled the covers back slowly and slid into the bed without shaking it too much. She tucked the covers under her arms and stared up at the ceiling.

Her insomnia had definitely returned.

"I'm sorry."

The thought hadn't meant to leave her head but when it did it cut through the silence of the room even though it was barely above a whisper.

"For what?" Jon asked back. It wasn't particularly malicious but he had definitely been nicer. He didn't bother rolling over.

"Whatever it is that you're mad at me for."

"You know that's not how apologies work, right?"

She felt the bed move as Jon rolled onto his back.

"I just want you to stop being mad. When I left this morning, I was mad at you and I don't know when that flipped." She closed her eyes. "That's not even the point though. I don't have a lot of people who like me and I don't really want that number to become any less." She paused for a moment before continuing in an even quieter voice. "Especially if that means losing you."

"I'm not mad at you."

Darcy expected him to continue speaking. She didn't know how to respond to him so she just waited for his voice to cut through the air again.

Goosebumps broke out on her skin when Jon shuffled towards her and pushed his arm underneath her neck. He drew her closer to him and Darcy naturally rolled onto her side, resting her head in the crook of his neck.

He repeated himself as he raised his hand to rest on her head and his fingers threading through her hair.

"I'm not mad at you."