Ok, so I'm starting this chapter at ten at night because I already got a few new followers and reviewers, so I thought why the hell not? So please forgive any spelling errors that may be in this chapter. So I have another memory for this story, and this I kind of how their whole romance and Scarlett started.
Chapter 8
The director called out to Anna as she finished singing her finale for the umpteenth time. She sighs, starting to walk over to Mr. Grickly. Her old friend, Joey, looks at her apologetically. She always pondered whatever happened to Joey. When he was a kid, he wanted to be this big time sports superstar, but now he was singing twinkletown in tights on a Broadway stage.
"I feel bad for you," he whispers in her ear as she walks by. She snorts, turning to him.
"Feel bad. This nig-"
"Miss. Williams!" the director calls again. Anna cringes and walks towards the man. She was 24, but this man intimidated her. Not to mention half the time he was a total bastard. But she places a smile on her face and walks up to him, acting as sweet as possible.
"Yes, Mr. Grickly?" she asks sweetly. He looks at her for a second before looking down at his clipboard. 'That motherfucken clipboard,' she growls internally. She wanted to rip it out of his hands and break it in two. She's glaring at it when he looks back up, looking curiously at her.
"Miss. Williams?" he asks again. She looks up, no shock on her face. She smiles.
"Yes?" she asks.
"You're performance rate on that last high note is dropping rapidly. You need to practice this more often. I know you spend most of your time with that-"
"I get it," she says, interrupting him before he could say anything else bad about Daryl. He always made fun of him, and she wanted to punch his ugly little face until it bled dark red. "I'll continue to practice a lot more often. I have been lacking and I need to catch up. Thank you for informing me."
She starts to turn back when the director grabs her hand, stopping her. She inwardly cringes again. 'Get your slimy little hands off me!' she thinks. She turns back to him. "Yes?"
"I can help you with your music tonight. Be here at 7:00." She starts to protest, but the man is already walking away from her. She sighs and slumps, her arms crossing over her chest. Joey comes up and places an arm around her.
"Got stuffed by Mr. Bitch?" She chuckles, nodding.
"Yup. Have to be here at eight to practice my 'role,'" she says, using air quotes. She throws her hands up in the air and growls. "I fucken hate him! I have been practicing my ass off every single day and now he's saying I'm not fucken hitting that god damn high note? What is up with that, damnit?! I-I just can't anymore. This ass-"
"Ok Anna," he chuckles. "Let your anger out on the seat," he says gesturing to the velvet theater seat. She kicks the side and sighs.
"Wanna grab some lunch or something? I hear there's a Sbarro's aroud the corner." He nods.
"Sure, I'm up for that."
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"So now I have to reschedule the meeting with the teacher and just-Ugh! I hate this director. Whatever happened to Mr. Biglely?" Joey shrugs.
"I think his wife was having a baby and he got a big deal in LA. Why he would leave the most know musical boulevard on earth, I have no fucken clue. But he left, so no were stuck with Mr. Stick up his Ass…this dude, man…he's making me stay after for lines I have read PERFECTLY for the past three weeks! I've been missing personal time with Shane," he says pouting.
Anna laughs. Not only was Joey a theater geek, he was gay. And also one of Anna's closest friends. She got along better with gay guys then straight girls. She loved him so much. As a friend of course.
"You missing Shane, sweetie?" she mocks. He pushes her shoulder.
"You know what? You're face," he chuckles.
"Is beautiful, I know," she concludes. He groans, which makes her laugh.
"All I want is to cuddle with my boyfriend and watch Lost-"
"And have sex," she mumbles. He glares at her and she smiles innocently. "Hey, it's true." He keeps the glare for a few second but looks down, looking defeated and sighed.
"I am so sexually frustrated. It's been three weeks since the last time because of this busy schedule. I need some Shaney goodness now."
"How are you and Shane doing? I heard they're going to start legalizing gay marriage in some states." He smiles wide, nodding.
"We plan on doing that. He just hasn't popped the question yet." She starts to sip her water, smiling a little. "What about you and Daryl?"
Choking, she starts to cough and sputter out random nonsense, causing Joey to laugh. When she's able to talk again and say coherent sentences, she says, "We're not together," she laughs nervously.
He stares at her dumbfounded. "Girl, it is the most obvious thing that you love each other. He's been with you for such a long time. He got a place so he could see you here, and now he's living with you in your apartment. The only thing we need is a big fat kiss."
"It's not that I don't love him-" She covers her mouth, her cheeks reddening and Joey's bright grin. She sighs. "Ok, I love him, but I just don't want to get hurt. I've been hurt so much and I don't want to possibly ruin my friendship with Daryl." He raises an eyebrow.
"That man would never hurt you. I see it in his eyes. He loves you and that little girl more than anything. And I can tell that you want him just as much as he wants you." She sighs, shaking her head. "Let's see…if you somehow find the balls to get together with him, I will pay you a thousand bucks." Her eyes widen.
"Joey, you already know I like him. Why are you-"
"Come on, Anna," he says, extending his hand. She stares at it for a second before scoffing, shaking it.
"You're the devil, you know that?" He laughs evilly.
"Oh, I know."
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"So I need you to look after Aria tonight, ok?" Anna said to Daryl later that day. "I hate this director but I have to do what needs to be done."
"Its fine, Anna," he says. "All this little girl does is watch TV." She smiles sadly.
"Yeah, but I feel bad because you were going to go out and have fun and now I'm holding you back from doing just that." He hands her the music folder and chuckles.
"Ya always come first, Anna." She smiles, this time a bit more happier.
"I'll try to be home as soon as possible but with this man it never seems enough." He plops down on the couch, staring at her.
"I'll be right here." She rolls her eyes.
"Thanks, D. I'll be back soon." She closes the door behind her and walks down the hallway to the elevator. This would be a painful night.
"Daryl?" Aria asks from the ground. He looks at the kid.
"Yeah?" he asks.
"Is 4th grade scary? Because people tell me it's not fun." He chuckles, leaning down next to her on the carpet.
"Let me tell ya a story about 4th grade…"
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Rain had started from above and Anna ran into the theater, trying her hardest not to get wet. When she came in, she found that there was nothing on except the stage light and a giant piano in the middle. The director stood there, but he looked different. He was in a suit.
He never wore a suit.
Was this like a date to him or something?
"Miss. Williams. Why don't we begin?" he says, gesturing to the piano. She nods slowly, dropping her bag to the ground.
"Sure…so you want me to hit the last high note?" He nods, chuckling slightly. She looks back at her paper quickly, avoiding his creepy eyes.
"Yes, I'll start from pickup to 64." He starts near the end and she starts to sing, trying her hardest not to barf at the way he was looking at her.
"Tell them how I am, Defying Gravity.
I'm flying high, Defying Gravity,
And soon I'll match them in renown
And nobody in all of Oz,
Is ever gonna bring me down!
Bring me down!
Ahh!"
She finishes smiling, but notices that the music stopped playing. She glances at the piano for a split second before she was pushed against the wall by the director. His eyes now filled with lust.
"Get off me!" she hisses.
"Oh, I've seen your glances across the room. I know you're into me. It's about time we seal the deal, yes?" he says, placing his chapped, disgusting lips on hers. Almost immediately, she reaches into her pocked and pulls out a pocket knife, stabbing it in his shoulder.
The asshole yells in pain and backs up, giving Anna the upper hand. She turns him around, pins his hands above his head, and aims the knife near the vein of his throat, where his pulse was usually found. His eyes were closed in pain and fear.
"Ok, you listen to me," she hisses. "This is our little secret. No police, no words. I will not kill your right now, but if you even try to touch me again, I swear to God I will not hesitate to cut your balls off right in front of the whole cast. Got it?" He nods weekly, whimpering in pain. She lets him go, his body falling to the floor.
She walks over to her bag and slings it over her shoulder, turning back to him. "And one more thing. You say anything else about Daryl or my friends, you FIRE me, I will not hesitate to slit your throat in your sleep." She walks out of the theater, and walks to her car in the garage, but tears start to slip down her face.
It had almost happened.
AGAIN.
Thank God she had that pocket knife.
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Anna rides the elevator all the way up to the sixth floor where her apartment was. Tears were now slipping rapidly down her face. It had almost happened again.
When the door opens, she walks down the hallway and to her apartment door, using the key quickly, and walks in, slamming the door and going straight to the kitchen. Daryl's in there with a chicken sandwhich in front of him. He sees her and smiles.
"Hey, how was the-" He sees the tears and gets up, coming over to her. "What happened? Were ya fired?" She shakes her head."Then what happened-"
"Daryl, can you just get me a beer?" He's surprised at first, because she rarely ever drinks, but nods and gets a Budweiser from the fridge, popping the bottle and giving it to her. She sits down in her seat and chugs it. A look of amusement comes across his face.
"Jesus, Anna," he chuckles.
"The director tried to rape me." He drops the plate he was holding and sit down next to her, a glare set on his face.
"He did what?!" he growls. She nods. Apparently the beer helped her get the words out better.
"He started to play Defying Gravity and then he stopped and came up to me and pushed me against the wall and started to kiss me but then I pulled out a knife and stabbed his shoulder and told him to leave me the hell alone and threatened him and left and why does this always happen to me?!" she finishes, tears now falling down her face. "What is so rape appealing about me? Why do guys just want to do that?!"
He scoots his chair closer to her and wipes the tears from her face. "Guys are stupid and I'm a guy. They think they're not good enough for ya, which they aren't, so they step up to that to get some. It ain't your fault. But I do hope ya said something that scared the balls off that asshole." She chuckles.
"I threatened to cut off his balls in his sleep," she says. He chuckles. "Is that good enough?"
"Perfect." She stares at him for a second, biting her lip, before she leans in and places her lips on his. At first he was stiff, surprised. But then he relaxed into the kiss, his arms going around her waist. It got more and more passionate, her hands starting to work her way under his shirt when he pulls back. "Yer drunk."
"I had one beer. I'm not drunk."
"Anna-"
"Daryl, just kiss me." He smiles and does just that, just as passionate and hot as before. He lifts her up and her legs wrap around him as he carries her to her bedroom, their lips not disconnecting once. When they reach it, He kicks the door open and then kicks the door closed, making sure that the kid down the hall would not hear any of what was about to ensue.
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The next week went by. And Anna and Daryl were now together. After that night, everything had changed. Both admitted they had wanted to do that for a while. Joey had paid her the thousand dollars reluctantly. She had laughed in his face when he did.
On Saturday morning, she was in the kitchen making some coffee when a sudden wave a nausea came over her, She drops the put on the counter and runs to the bathroom, emptying her stomach into the toilet. She hadn't eaten anything last night because she was out so late.
No way,
She backs up away from the toilet, knowing what this could mean. She gets up from the floor and looks in her cabinet for a test. Her friend Lily had given it to her years ago when she conceived her first child. She takes it out of the box, locks the door, and squats down on the toilet. It was a week. This would tell her.
After a moment, she flushed the toilet and looks at the test. What she sees makes her want to throw up again.
Positive.
"Anna?" she hears from outside. Daryl. She panics for a second before calming down. He loved her. It was ok.
"Um…Daryl? We need to talk for a moment."
Present
"Wait, so Daryl is the father of Scarlett?" Carl asks Aria after she had told him. She nods, a smile on her face. Thank God she got that out.
"Yeah."
"But why didn't you ever tell Scarlett?" She sighed.
"Because my mom and Daryl weren't married so it would be hard to explain to a baby about how this all happened. I was expecting him to propose to her before he left, but he didn't. But I had the biggest feeling. So in love. It was like a fucking romance movie," she chuckles.
"So that man in the picture is Daryl?" he asks. She nods, smiling at her work. He whistles. "Damn, I didn't even recognize him. He looks so different." She laughs.
"This was before he had hair like Chewbacca. And before he rode that motorcycle everywhere. The Daryl you people know, that's just a side of him. There are so many more layers to him then you think. He was so good with my mother, and his brother teased him mercessly about it. But he didn't care. He loved her. The only time he ever listened to his brother was when he had to go down to help his brother, which in my opinion is the stupidest idea I have ever heard."
"So are they still together? Because they seem awful close." She shakes her head.
"In my mind I seriously think they are. Either they are now or they will. They attract to each other like bee's to honey." She turns around and leans her back on the railing, letting the sun beam down on her back. "You see, that's why Carol doesn't stand a chance,'
"Why? He-"
"Doesn't matter what he did. They don't have that deep connection that Daryl and my mother have. My mom knows every nook and krany of that man. She's able to get down into that man more than anyone else, more than his own family. They literally belong together. They just need to let it be known, because the tension is killing me."
"You love Daryl?" he asks. She's silent for a moment before replying.
"Yeah, I do. He was the only fatherly figure in my life, and I REALLY wanted him to be my dad. I still kind of do," she says sheepishly. "He's been with me since I was a baby, and of course with Scarlett because it's his own kid, but it just…uh, I want to tie the knot. But in this world I guess it's hard to do." He shrugs his shoulders.
"Like someone said, never say never." She smiles at him and is about to say something when she hears a car horn. She glances down at the gates and see's the car they traveled in. "They're back."
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Anna later sat in a cell with her journal, writing about whatever. Whenever something popped into her mind, she would write it in the journal. She had had this since freshman year, and she was finally running out of pages. She never thought she would.
It was a miracle.
"Hey mama?" she hears from the door. She looks up and finds Aria leaning against the door, arms crossed, a confused look on her face.
"Yes?" She looks down and looks up, does that again, tried to form words, and then blurts it out.
"Are you and Daryl still together?" Anna chuckles slightly, looking back down at her book. "Well are you?" she asks again. Anna rolls her eyes and looks back at her daughter, raising an eyebrow.
"And when Is my love life the center point of your whole universe, Aria?" she chuckles. Aria rolls her eyes back at her.
"The fact that everytime you two look at each other it looks like you're undressing each other with your eyes!" Anna laughs, closing her journal and motioning for her daughter to come over. She sits on the bed in the cell and waits.
"Yes, Daryl and I are together." She smiles wide.
"I knew it!" she cheers, but Anna keeps her hands down, silently telling her to be quiet.
"I'm trying to keep it on the downlow, ok? I'm telling Scarlett who Daryl really is today, so don't go expressing my love for Daryl to the halls of this prison. I don't need Carol coming after me with a knife just yet." Aria nods, zipping her lips.
"Won't tell anyone…except Carl." Anna raises an eyebrow,
"Except Carl?" Aria nods, smiling again.
"I talked to him before and told him about Scarlett and Daryl and the whole fiasco. I needed to tell someone, mama! If I kept it in any longer I would have exploded and it all would have come out at once and it would have sounded bad and just-"
"I get it, Ari," Anna chuckles. "You trust Carl. Just make sure to tell him not to tell anyone, ok?" She nods. "So…you and Carl?" Aria rolls her eyes and playfully punches her mother's shoulder, causing Anna to laugh.
"He's the only kid here my age! Do you expect me to hang out with the 5 and 6 year old that Scarlett hangs around?" Anna chuckles again and shakes her head.
"No, I'm not saying anything bad about it, Ari. I'm saying it's nice to have a friend, especially in this world. But seriously, tell him not to tell anyone. No go tell him," she says, pushing her daughter off the bed slightly. She laughs and nods, running out the door.
There's one kid down. Now to talk to Scarlett.
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"Scarlet, can I talk to you for a moment sweetie?" Anna says. Scarlett looks up from the coloring book she had and nods, running over to her mama. She stops at her feet.
"Yes, mama?" Anna gently grabs her hand and brings her to one of the cells so they could have at least a little bit of privacy from everyone. When they are far away from the kids, she sits down on the bed and pats the spot next to her, where Scarlett sits down, her little feet hanging, waiting for her mama to say something.
"You know Daryl, right?" She nods, quickly, a huge grin on her face.
"Yeah! He always plays with me, even before all of this happened! He lived with us and-"
"Ok, ok, I know, sweetie," she says, laughing slightly. "But I want to tell you something." She waits patiently. "Daryl and mommy are together, like…" She makes the same kissy faces her daughter made that day with Daryl. Scarlett happily gasps, her eyes lighting up.
"REALLY!?" she yells, jumping up. Anna chuckles and brings her down. "You like-like him too?" She smiles at her daughter.
"Yes I do, but I want to tell you something else."
"What?" She takes a deep breath and starts to tell her, looking closely at her, making sure not to break eye contact.
"You know how you want to know who your daddy is? Who your original daddy is?" She nods.
"Uh huh," she starts. "You never told me."
"Well, I'm telling you now." She takes a shaky breath and says is. "Daryl is your daddy."
At first, she's just shocked and doesn't say anything, but then realization came over her face. "Mr. Daryl is my daddy?" she whispers, amazed. Anna smiles at the nickname. "He really is?" She nods.
"Yeah he is, sweetie." She looks down at the ground for a moment before looking back up at her mother for a moment.
"Why didn't you tell me?" she cutely asks. Anna sighs.
"I wanted to sweetie, but I didn't want to raise an suspicion or something. People always told you that in order to have a daddy your mommy had to be married, but we weren't. We thought you would be confused, and I'm sorry for not telling you." Scarlett nods, looking down again.
"He's my daddy," she whispers. Anna lets' that sink in, sitting back and examining her daughter. After a moment, the little girl looks up, a huge smile on her face. "He's my daddy!" she says, her eyes bright. "I have a daddy!" Anna quickly calms her daughter down, but laughing silently.
"Hey, you need to keep it on the downlow, ok? Don't tell anyone we're together, or some people will be chasing after mama with knives, ok?" Scarlett nods, zipping her lips, just as her older sister had done before.
"Don't want mama dead. Keep lips sealed." Anna chuckles, kissing her daughters forehead. "But can I call him daddy? Will he like it?"
"Ya can call me whatever ya want," someone says from the doorway. Both girls looks up and Daryl smiles at Anna, and then the little girl, who was looking at him with a big smile.
"You're my daddy," she says, walking up to him. He leans down in front of her to her eye level.
"Yeah, I am. I hope that's ok," he says. Her grin spreads wider and she throws her arms around him, hugging him tightly. He returns the gesture but hugging her back just as tightly.
"It's great, daddy, "she replies. Daryl smiles and looks up at Anna, who was smiling back at the scene, her heart skipping a beat when she made eye contact with Daryl. The man pulls back.
"How about ya go play with the kids again, ok? I gotta talk to your mama." She nods.
"Ok…daddy," she giggles and then runs off. Daryl smiles at the girl and turns to Anna.
"Ya told her?" She rolls her eyes.
"No she simply figured it out by herself somehow." He sits down next to her and pulls her into a kiss, her replying it just as much. She pulls back a moment later. "Daryl…what really does this mean for us?"
He simply raises an eyebrow at her and kisses her again, making her smile. She knew her answer.
This is the quickest I have ever written a chapter, so please be forgiving for any mistakes. It's late and I'm heading to bed literally right after I post this. Thank God I have no tests tomorrow. I might not put up another chapter until Friday because I want to take my time on the next chapter because I have some great ideas. But this chapter had A LOT of family and love. I just wanted to do one scene where we see a bit more of the family value in this story. And I hopefully achieved that. Scarlett in my mind is so adorable. Hope you enjoyed! Review!
P.S.-It's twelve now. Two. Hours. QUICKEST TIME EVER.