Little Dove | Daniel Hayward

12.

"Okay. We've confirmed the man you met was in fact the missing park ranger," Eric says to Louis.

"What happened to him?" I ask, taking a sip of tea.

"We think he must have had a mild stroke and got lost in the woods, suffering from dehydration and amnesia," Eric explains.

"Thank God Lexi was there," Brooke looks at me with a smile. "Where'd you learn how to fight like that?"

"Yeah, Lex. Remind me- who's your father?" Eric jokes, earning a soft chuckle from me.

"What were you two doing out there in the first place?" Louis asks. "You know there's curfew."

Brooke looks at me briefly. "I thought I saw a flickering light. I was curious," she says.

"Why didn't you come to me instead of wandering around in the dark?" Louis' tone is stern and scares me slightly.

"I didn't want to bother you," Brooke replies softly.

"Didn't want to bother me?" He scoffs. "You could have been killed by a lunatic."

"I'm sorry, Dad," Brooke sighs.

"Actually, it'd be better next time if you alert me instead. Here," he hands me a card with his contact details on it.

"Thank you but I'm sure that won't be necessary," Louis says. "At least this park ranger saga is over. I'll walk you to the car."

They leave and I turn to Brooke, "why didn't you mention Marcus?"

"I didn't want to get him into trouble," she says flatly.

I nod, "fair enough. Let's just get back."

She hums in agreement and we leave. We walk down the hallway in comfortable silence, still trying to process the recent event.

Daniel stands near a wall and rushes over to me when he sees us. He throws his arms around me, nearly knocking me to the floor.

"Are you okay?" He asks, resting his chin on my head.

"Yes, I'm fine," I reply, slowly pulling away from the embrace.

Daniel turns to Brooke, "you okay?"

Brooke nods and looks at me with a smile. "Yes, thanks to Lexi."

"She's like a dove," he looks down at me. "A little one."

I shove him playfully, "I'm not that much shorter than you."

"I'm gonna check up on Alex," Brooke says, bidding us goodbye.

We say goodbye in return and I turn to Daniel. "What's got you all worried?"

"You, dumbass. I heard the sirens and when I realized you were gone my heart nearly stopped."

"Now you know how I felt at that basketball game," I reply.

"Lexi? Oh thank God," Hayley walks over to us, throwing her arms around me.

Alex follows her and joins the embrace, "Brooke told me everything. Thanks to my fighting lessons, you saved Brooke's life."

Hayley scoffs, "it was my fighting lessons actually."

Alex rolls his eyes, then notices Daniel. "Oh hey Daniel."

"Hey," Daniel replies. "I'm gonna head back- see you around, little dove."

I wave goodbye, "see you."

Hayley turns to me, "Daniel? Oh come on, you can do better."

My eyes widen, "what are you trying to suggest?"