A/N:

Previous chapters have been edited and changed slightly.

Excuse any mistakes. I really wanted to upload this after it's been so long. It took me so long to write because I wasn't sure what was going on in this chapter and where I was taking it...But I know now.

Chapter 15

One Week Later

Danielle's POV

When I drove my car up the house I saw that Tommy had just arrived. Great.

He was getting out of his car.

It was the middle of March and still pretty chilly out but as usual Tommy just had on a Grey hoodie and jeans. He was heading up the path before he heard my car and turned around.

He looked tired. Our eyes met for a second, before he turned back around and rang the doorbell.

I hope he wasn't wondering what I was doing there. Tess and Brendan invited me over to watch the game too.

I didn't just show up here, Tommy. Gosh...he is such a prick, I thought.

I stopped the car, hoping he would be inside by the time I got out. No such luck. Tess and Brendan were taking their sweet time answering the door. I grabbed my purse from the passenger side and stepped out. I slowly walked up the path and when I approached he started knocking on the door.

"Hey, Brendan. Open up!" He shifted uncomfortably when I walked up, didn't look at me once.

I avoided his gaze and reached for the door, grinning. We had played this game before. If he wants to act like a child, then so can I.

He bit down on his lip and turned away before finally sighing. Then he did something that caught me off guard. He said my name. "Danielle." He didn't even look at me, might I add.

I said his name. "Tommy."

I didn't say anything after that. I turned my head away like a spoiled five-year old. Saying my name is NOT an apology, Tommy.

Nevertheless I had expected Tommy to wait for Brendan to open the door and walk straight past me inside, ignoring me. That's something old Tommy would have done. Hell, that's something I would have done.

So I guess saying my name was an improvement. Maybe he had changed a little more than I realized.

Either way, I still wouldn't be the one apologizing first. I had no reason to.

The door opened, and I let out a breath. Finally. Brendan came outside to greet us.

"Hey guys. Sorry about that."

Surprisingly, he pulled me into a hug first. "It's nice to see you again."

"You too, Brendan," I smiled, into his shoulder.

He let me go and I stepped inside. I just stood in the hall, unsure of what to do.

I heard murmurs of Brendan and Tommy speaking to each other behind me.

Paddy...Car...Frank...Money...Danielle...

I tensed up,...they were talking about me. Why the fuck were they talking about me? What did I do? Then, silence.

They must have decided to cut the conversation short because of how close I was in proximity to them. They both stepped inside, while Tommy walked past me into the living room

Brendan rubbed me on my shoulder as he headed there too. "Hey, you can have a seat." He called out behind him.

Tommy made and Brendan made their way to the couch. I stood where I was.

"Uh, I think I'll go find Tess."

Brendan looked at Tommy, then me, and nodded. "Yeah, sure. She's upstairs with the girls."

Danielle's POV

She was on the floor with the girls when she looked up and saw me.

"Hey, you!" She got up from the floor to give me a hug.

"Hey. Hi Emily. Hi Rosie."

"Hi, Danielle," they said, barely glancing up. They had all their dolls and toys spread out on the carpet.

"Hey, girls. Can you give me a minute. I'm just going to talk to Danielle for a bit." She pointed to the door. "Here, let's go to my room. "

Tommy's POV

"We should hang out more. It seems I can never get a hold of you."

"Hm." I'm here now, aren't I?

"Danielle keeping you busy?"

I haven't spoken to Dani since that night we went out for dinner and her sister was talking shit about me. I knew it was stupid - o be mad at her for that, but I just couldn't deal with her - not now. I was a mess.

...but I just couldn't shake the feeling. What if she was right...?

I looked at my brother, but didn't say anything.

"Tommy there's something that's been bothering me that I really need to get off my chest."

The TV was on, but neither of us were paying attention to it. I had somewhat of an idea if what he was about to say."What is it?"

"I'm not trying to dog on you, I just want you to know how I felt."

Here we go, I thought.

"After you left Iraq...when you went to see dad instead of even trying to find me...you know that really hurt me Tommy."

"I just needed someone to train with - nothing else."

"That the first person you went to was the man who used to beat our mother...that's how you remember him as - The man who used to beat our mother."

Brendan obviously didn't care about what I had to say.

"That you didn't even bother trying to find me - me, your own brother. Was what I did really worse than what he did?"

No reply.

"Tell me something - if I hadn't joined Sparta - or let's say you won, instead of me. Would you have come to see me afterwards? Would you had even tried?"

"Do you really want to talk about this now? I thought we went over this already."

"We started, but you walked away. Like you always do."

Danielle's POV

"Come sit." Tess plopped herself down on the bed. "So, what's up?"

I walked over and sat down, but before I could begin, I stopped. Tess and I looked at each other. We could hear some of the arguing that was going on downstairs - mostly from Brendan. She sighed.

"Is there something up with Tommy? He seems kind of tense. At his coming home party you guys were all lovey dovey - going off by yourself. What happened?"

"Ahh, well, let's see. About a week ago, we went out to dinner with my sister, Anna and her husband."

"Yeah - and -what happened with that?"

"Let's just say she wasn't too happy about the whole me and Tommy thing and she wasn't shy about letting us know."

"You're kidding - what did she say to him?"

"For one, she brought up how Tommy doesn't even support himself. She even asked if he was anything like Paddy - her words, not mine. I was so embarrassed."

"Geez that's horrible."

"Yeah..." I sighed. "We all made quite a scene."

Tommy's POV

"What if you were the one that won that night - would we even be sitting here now?"

I shrugged. I didn't know what Brendan wanted from me. Honestly - I would have eventually went and found him. Maybe we would have reconciled or maybe we would be on different terms. I honestly didn't know. I often changed my mind about things. I knew how I felt now, but I couldn't know how I would feel a month from now or five months from now. Tomorrow, I could just tell everyone to fuck off. My head wasn't exactly in good place right now, despite how I tried pretending it was.

"Tommy!?" Brendan was still waiting for his answer.

"Yes! OK...that what you wanna hear? - I'm gonna go take a piss."

Danielle's POV

"What did he say?"

"He told her "fuck you" and then he left."

"Of course...I would do the same."

"Yeah, and don't even get me started on what she said when we were alone. I'm so glad he wasn't around to hear that."

Just then, Tommy walked upstairs. He stopped at the door and looked inside - but not directly at me though. I prayed that he hadn't heard what we were talking about because the door was wide open.

Tess and I both glanced at each other.

"Uh...Hey Tess," he said, softly.

"Hey Tommy. How's it going?" Tess smiled.

He nodded. "It's going good."

He glanced at me for a second, and I turned away. If he had heard, I was screwed. I really didn't really feel like giving him a blow-by-blow description of everything Anna said. Especially since we haven't even said more than one word to each other at all today. Anyway - some things, he didn't need to hear.

Tess looked at Tommy, then back to me, who was quiet with my head down. He stalled for a moment, then turned around. He left just as fast as he came.

I lifted my head. Tess turned to me and made a face at me.

"What?" I asked, as I got up from the bed to close the door behind him.

"You guys aren't speaking, are you?"

Tommy's POV

When I came back downstairs I was more agitated than before.

"What are you doing...why are you doing this now?" I asked Brendan. "Why are you tryna start somethin'?"

"I'm just asking questions. You're the one getting upset."

"Well you're asking questions that don't need to be asked. Things are finally getting better. You're getting me - you're getting pops. Isn't that what you always wanted?"

"What I wanted? Listen, I don't wanna put up with him, but I do - for you Tommy. I do that for you. I care more about me and you."

"Oh, yeah. Since when? Don't act like you weren't the one begging for his attention."

"Yeah, when I was a kid. I don't need dad's love or approval anymore - only my family's. That's all I care about."

"Well good for you, then."

"You know what - let's not. Let's not get into this again."

Danielle's POV

I turned around and leaned up against the wall."Not exactly."

"I see - Is it because of that night?"

"You know I tried to..." I began. "I told him I don't feel the same way as her, but he wouldn't even listen. I even apologized for her - for what SHE said. I shouldn't even need to feel guilty about something that didn't even come out of my mouth..." "And then he has the nerve to ignore me for a week and now try to speak to me..." "I am not - will not - Ugh!"

After my little rant, she just nodded. "You know I've always wondered about you guys' relationship was like.."

"What do you mean?"

"Let' face it. Tommy doesn't look like the easiest guy to try and get to know - but I thought you'd have it easier than the rest because you already know him. Y'know, less work - and Tommy doesn't look like the kind of guy who's up for meeting new people."

I shrugged.

"So all this tells me is that you guys are having trouble communicating."

"Yeah..." I looked away from Tess for a moment. My legs were getting tired from standing."You know sometimes, I feel like we're moving somewhere - that we're getting closer, but then something happens and he pulls away."

"I think you guys should talk to each other and stop with the crap, OK?"

"Tess, I can't be the one doing all the work. I was trying - and he knows how I feel."

"You're right, but just listen to me for a sec."

I nodded. "OK."

"You don't know everything about him. You think you do, but you don't. Yeah, I know you guys were close when we were younger but, you're forgetting all these blanks spaces. He was in the marines..." she lowered her voice, "And there's also prison. He also lost a lot of people - not just his mom. I mean, that's some pretty heavy stuff."

I didn't say anything.

"If you're in it for the long run, you shouldn't be afraid to talk about the painful things. I know he can be stubborn - but you have to force him. It sucks to keep things like that bottled up. Take it from me, I know. I went through it with Brendan. You need to be honest. Say exactly how you feel and make sure he knows that you aren't going anywhere."

"Well maybe I'm scared to be too honest. Maybe I'm not afraid he'll pull away - maybe I'm afraid that I might." I shrugged. "I don't have the best track record when it comes to dating. To be honest, I'm the one who doesn't stick around..." I smiled, jokingly. "I got trust issues."

"Oh, yeah?" She laughed, then became serious again. "OK, just talk to him - as soon as you can. You won't regret it. I promise. You both know how you feel about each other. Stop acting like kids. If you want him to talk to you. Make him."

"Thank you Dr. Phil."

"Oh, shut up..." She laughed. "I have to get started on the cooking." She gave me her arm and I pulled her up.

"Is Paddy going to be here - for dinner?" I asked.

"Yeah...what time is it now?"

I took out my phone. "2:36."

"OK, just promise me you'll talk before then."

"Yeah, sure. It's not like I can avoid it."

Tess looked at me. "Dani?"

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Go - right now."

"Alright, I'm going. " I opened the door and walked out.

Tommy's POV

I couldn't contain it any longer. I needed to know. "Let me ask you something, Brendan?"

"Sure Tommy, what?"

"Did you forget?"

"Did I forget what?"

"Did you forget?!" I repeated, louder. He better not make me have to say it, I thought.

It went quiet. "No, no I didn't forget. " He sighed. "Are you talking about mom - no, how could I?"

I leaned back into the couch. At least I knew that I wasn't alone in this.

"It's in five days, isn't it? Is that why you've been acting like this?"

I didn't answer. We were interrupted. It was Danielle.

"Tommy, I need to talk to you."

A/N: This is split up so I hope it wasn't too hard to follow. Tess makes a nice therapist. :)

In the next chapters some questions will finally be answered.