Mindless Behavior

Chapter Five:

Johnny's POV:

Danielle hadn't taken the books Danny had left for her very well. That night, after dinner, she went to bed, claiming she had a headache.

"She's probably just upset still about the books," Kitty defended her. I'd been about to go and ask her to do the dishes. "Give her a little break, Johnny."

"She thinks he hates her," I stated, carrying the plates to the sink.

"You know she doesn't really think that," Kitty chided. "She's just upset. It will be okay."

I kissed her cheek; she always knew what to say.

That night, I checked on Danielle again before I went to bed. She was asleep over her comforter in her pajamas. Sleeping, she still looked like the sweet little girl Kitty and I had found years ago. I couldn't understand why her attitude had changed so drastically. She had been such a precious child, even after everything had happened with Vlad. I couldn't fathom what had made her suddenly become such a brat.

Danielle's POV:

Youngblood met me at the party, greeting me with a huge huge. "Ready to have some fun?" he asked.

The party completely rocked, but afterward, Youngblood took me to his pirate ship. That was fun. Nothing bad really happened, but I knew Dad, Johnny, and Kitty would freak out if they knew I was hanging out with this older, and hotter, Youngblood. I was still completely wasted when I got back to the lair.

I went to my bedroom, thinking that I was going to get away with it, and found Kitty sitting on my bed. "Shit," I muttered. "How much trouble am I in?"

"Tons," she said. "We're going to talk about this."

"Now?" I asked. "It's, like, three in the morning."

"Yes, now. Do you not understand what all this partying could do to you?"

"I'm fifteen, Kitty. I'm just having fun."

"That fun could kill you."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, rolling my eyes. There was no way having a little fun could kill me.

"You think I'm joking," she said, dead serious. "How do you think Johnny and I died?"

"A motorcycle accident."

"Yeah, leaving a party completely drunk, Danielle. I was lucky to have met Johnny, though, or I would have been killed way before that."

I sat down on my bed, intrigued, even though I didn't want to be. "Danielle, let me tell you about my life. When I was about your age, I did exactly what you're doing. Of course, I had my own reasons for doing it. I went out to parties with strangers that were much older than me. I got taken advantage of by guys I didn't know, and I didn't have ghost powers to protect myself. My parents tried to tell me that I needed to settle down. They tried everything, but I didn't listen to them. Finally, I went to one party where someone got a little too rough with me." She paused, a faraway look in her eyes. "Johnny saved me. He beat up the guy who got carried away. My parents didn't particularly like Johnny, but they felt better knowing I was with him."

"But you still-"

"Johnny and I still went to parties. I still broke curfew. Johnny and I were coming home from a party one night and we were drunk. He made a turn way too fast and it killed us both. He's never forgiven himself, but I did. He saved me that way. That's why I respect your father so much, Danielle. After he saved the world, you know that he became friends with Johnny and I. He knows what happened to us. That's probably why he worries about you so much. Danny loves you, Danielle. So much."

"I know he loves me, Kitty, I just-"

"I've only seen him cry once," she said suddenly.

"What?" I asked.

Then, for the first time in my life, she told me what had happened in the hours I'd been unconscious after they'd found me. "You were so sick when we came across you, and Danny had been looking for you nonstop. We brought you here, but you were disintegrating quickly. Danny arrived as fast as he could and when he saw you, it broke his heart. He held you and cried, not caring that Johnny and I were there. You became his everything in that moment, Danielle."

I sat there for a minute, letting this information sink in. "He cried?" I asked.

Kitty nodded. And, just like that, for the first time in months, I started crying. Kitty wrapped her arms around me and pulled me closer to her. I was sobbing now, crying harder than I'd cried in a long time. "I'm sorry," I sobbed.

"Shh," Kitty soothed, trying to comfort me. Johnny walked into the room a moment later. I looked up and his face looked angry; I knew that he knew that I'd sneaked out. I pulled away from Kitty and wrapped my arms around Johnny, longing for him to hold me the way he used to when I spent the night here and had nightmares.

"I'm so sorry," I sobbed.

He seemed shocked for a second, then he wrapped his arms around me and hoisted me up, just like he used to do. "It's alright," he said, stroking my hair.

He sat down on my bed and held me tightly against him. "I'm sorry," I sobbed again. "I've been a complete monster."

"Honey," he said, wiping my tears, "it's all okay. You're forgiven."

"I want my daddy," I said. I reached for my phone in my pocket and realized that I'd left it at Youngblood's. Now didn't see the time to bring it up, though, and Kitty was already handing me her phone.

I scrolled down to Dad's number, though my vision was blurry from my tears. I hit call and pressed the phone to my ear.

Dad answered on the first ring, sounding sleepy and a bit concerned. "Kitty?" he answered. "What's going on?"

"Daddy," I said. "It's me."

"Danielle?" he asked, sounding shocked. "Are you crying, honey?"

He knew me so well. "I'm so sorry," I said, breaking down in tears again.

"Hey, it's okay," he said, still sounding surprised, but concerned. I was still crying and he was growing more confused and panicky by the second. "It's okay, sweetheart. Will you put Johnny on the phone?"

"Okay," I sniffled. I handed the phone to Johnny and he passed me off to Kitty, then walked into the hallway to talk to Dad.