Hurting You, Killing Me
Chapter Twelve:
A/N: Okay, I'll be skipping forward in the story a bit here, about a year or so. Also, I may be switching POV's in this chapter so that it won't be as short. I have one question, how much would you guys hate me if Danny's new girlfriend ended up being Star by the end of this story?
Danielle's POV:
I'd been living with Kitty and Johnny for a little over a year and I loved it. I really felt like I belonged here. They'd even checked and found out when my "birthday" was so that they could throw me a party.
It wasn't a big deal, but it was great. My favorite gift, though, was the necklace Johnny had gotten for me. My heart necklace had broken only a few weeks before, so Johnny bought me a new one, only this one said Daddy's Girl. I cried when I opened it, but so did Kitty.
She didn't know that Johnny had bought it and was completely shocked. I really was starting to think of Kitty and Johnny as my parents, even though I still thought of Danny as my father, too. I wasn't going to think about it too much, though, because Danny wasn't around, and Johnny was. Johnny obviously loved me more than Danny ever had.
Johnny and Kitty were my family now, and I would just have to get used to the fact that Danny didn't want me.
After my birthday party, Kitty realized that they would have to enroll me in school eventually. The only problem was, Johnny didn't want me near Danny at all. Finally, after Johnny went on and on about how he was, by no means, letting me go to Casper, Kitty suggested online classes.
I was fine with that, so they signed me up to take classes on the computer. Since I was Danny's...clone, I was able to skip right up to the ninth grade. The work wasn't that hard and Kitty and Johnny helped me whenever I needed it.
Everything was getting easier. Ember and I were becoming friends. Everything finally seemed perfect for once, despite the nightmares.
I still had them occasionally, terrifying dreams where Danny didn't save me and Vlad managed to melt me. Sometimes I still wake up crying, and Johnny or Kitty has to stay with me until I calm down. I could never tell them the real reason I spend so long crying after those dreams.
I just couldn't get past the fact that Danny had been the one to save me, that he was the one I relied on to save me... that after all of that, he rejected me. That still hurt, no matter how much Kitty and Johnny loved me.
I hid it from them; I didn't want them to think that they weren't doing enough, because they were. They were doing everything they could for me and I loved them, but I still wanted Danny in my life. I couldn't explain it. I looked up to him for so long; he'd been my hero. And that part of me was still there, the part that wanted him to be my father.
Danny's POV:
I would never admit it to Sam, maybe not even Tucker, but I wanted Danielle to be my daughter. Even now, a year after I'd signed those papers, giving nearly full custody to Johnny and Kitty. Danielle should have been my daughter. I should have been the one to take care of her and be there for her, but I was stupid. I doubted that she would even want me in her life now, but I still called them to check on her.
I called Kitty the day after my sixteenth birthday. "Hello?" she answered.
"Kitty, it's Danny, is Danielle okay?"
"She's fine."
. "Danny, if something ever happened to her, I would call you."
"Okay," I said.
"And you know Johnny and I won't let anything happen to her."
"I know," I said. "I just... Kitty, I know what Johnny thinks, but I love her."
"Then why won't you come see her?"
"I...I can't do that to Sam, Kitty. I know what you guys think, but..."
"I'm not going to berate you about this. I think your conscience will do that enough."
"Just... Promise me, Kitty, that you and Johnny won't let anything happen to her and that you will let me know if anything ever happens." There was a moment of awkward silence, in which I feared her answer, but after that moment, Kitty made the promise.
"I promise, Danny," she said.
"Thank you."
"Look, I have to go. Johnny will be back with Danielle any minute and..." she trailed off.
"You don't want her to know that I called," I finished for her.
"Yeah," she replied, sounding almost apologetic.
"Bye," I said. I hung up quickly, to avoid another completely awkward silence.
Kitty's POV:
I knew that making the promise was something I should have discussed with Johnny first, but I knew he wouldn't have liked it. I couldn't help but feel sorry for Danny, if only just a little. I honestly believed that he loved Danielle, but I knew Sam was keeping him from doing anything about it.
The night he called, Johnny had taken Danielle out for ice cream. I'd stayed home, seeing as I'd spent most of the day shopping with her. When Danny called, I was expecting it. I knew he'd called Johnny recently and I knew that Johnny hadn't been overly friendly, so I figured that Danny would call me instead of him this time.
Of course, at the time, I hadn't known that there would ever be a reason for me to have to keep that promise to him. To have to call him and tell him that something had gone wrong.