A/N: This and the next chapter were intended as one, but it was wayyyyyyy to long. I'll try to put in a few chapters once every two days. Until then enjoy the next two chapters, they flow nicely. Oh and sorry, but this chapter is a little like a filler, not much happens, but it's the build up to Archie and all that.
"Veronica…" Archie's voice was so caring, so fatherly.
"Dad, she's my daughter. She…" Before Ronnie could continue, Danielle crumbled.
"You lied to me! You told me she knew. I called her a bitch, I thought she hated me. I thought she was being selfish." This was all too much for Danielle. This family was so complicated: So many twist and turns, boundless nooks and crannies where secrets lay. All her thoughts about Ronnie for the last week now had an extra dimension. Archie had been lying. How could Danielle have been so stupid? It wasn't Ronnie leaning on Archie, it was her. She agreed to let Archie confront Ronnie. She let Archie be the middle man between them. Danielle was the coward. She hadn't even had the nerve to tell Ronnie herself.
"Danielle it's okay. It's all fine. We can talk. You can tell me everything. But right now, I need you to go upstairs for me sweetie, okay? Give me ten minutes." Danielle stood motionless. What the hell was Ronnie playing at? Why was she sounding so gentle? Her voice was something else. She sounded like she cared.
Peggy had been standing behind Archie the whole time. "Phil, get these lot out will you." She turned her head to her left before booming out across the bar. "For heaven's sake Ian, will you shut the hell up!" Peggy's face was a sour red. Abba's backing track abruptly ended.
As Archie heard her voice, he turned around to face his wife. Meanwhile, Ronnie had undone the clasp behind her neck before thrusting both lockets into Danielle's right hand. Peggy's distraction of Archie was the perfect opportunity to do something she had avoided in over nineteen years. Merely whispering, she pleaded. "Please, I'm begging you, just ten minutes upstairs." She squeezed Danielle's hand as Phil's roar invaded everyone's ears.
"Right, everyone, thank you for coming, we'll save you all some cake, now come on, move it. No Mo, you can't take your drink with you just get out! Everyone out of my pub, get your backsides into gear and keep moving." Phil's booming voice and unnecessarily rude tone resulted in everyone tumbling out of the double red doors.
Peggy and Roxy decided to check on Amy, together with one beseeching look from Ronnie, Danielle had decided to join them.
All that remained of the dynamic crowd were Archie and Ronnie. Phil stayed around in the background in the event of things getting nasty. Her cousin could throw a punch or two when she needed to.
As Danielle paced the living room, she wanted to extinguish the multiple thoughts in her head. It was painful. Why was Ronnie treating her like a five year old? Although it was everything Danielle dreamt of: Ronnie telling her to go to her room, or sternly telling her to at least attempt her homework. But this was not a dream. She was a grown woman, and Ronnie had once again brushed her aside as an inconvenience. It was clear Ronnie didn't want her. It was Ronnie's guilty conscious that wanted to give Daniele the chance to explain. As much as Danielle hated it, she owed her 'DNA-donor' an explanation before returning to Telford. It was obvious this was not where she belonged.