ғʀᴏᴍ ᴘᴏʀᴛʟᴀɴᴅ ᴛᴏ ʟ.ᴀ. » ᴅᴀɴɪᴇʟ sᴇᴀᴠᴇʏ

Chapter Twenty-Eight

"That's really cool of you, shorty. Very admirable."

He pulls his phone out of his pocket as a distraction once he realizes what he could've just implied.

Admirable?

"So, how many followers did you have on Instagram yesterday?" he asks casually, glancing up at me.

"Uh... a little over a hundred, I think," I say, eyebrows furrowing together in confusion. "Why-"

Daniel hands his phone to me and my mouth drops open.

Three. Hundred. Thousand. Followers.

I start to shake my head rapidly as I stare at the screen, waiting for the glitch that must exist to correct itself. Daniel finds great joy in my beyond-shocked reaction and can't stop laughing as I move my mouth, though no words coming out.

It takes several minutes of stuttering to even get to the point where I can scroll down to view my profile. I've never been one to post often, but the few that I do have up are shots of Portland from my photography days.

I smile when I see the one of Blaire and I that was captured mid-laugh in front of the wall of an old building in the outskirts of my the city I grew up in.

I miss her. I miss those days.

"Now," Daniel says, sitting next to me and pointing with his finger, "check the comments."

For the next two hours, I sit with him in my room, reading aloud the support and encouragement that everyone is leaving behind.

"How are you so pretty?!"

"I already love you and the song hasn't even been released yet lol"

"Is that you best friend?"

"Can we PLEASE focus on how Daniel talks about her?! So cuteeeee"

"You are goals"

"She sings, writes, AND does photography??!!?! Howwww"

"Are you and Daniel dating?!"

"Can't wait for the single to come out tonight!"

Let's just say that I'm smile like an idiot for the rest of the day.

***

At eleven-thirty, I find myself standing in the kitchen, looking through the already endless posts about Why Don't We + Kai Merta all over Twitter.

I sense someone behind me and then feel them rest their chin on my shoulder, looking at the screen of my phone.

"I knew they would love you," Daniel says happily.

I smile and reach back to gently pat him on the side of the head.

"You're too sweet for this world, Daniel," I say, still looking at my phone.

"Nah, that's you, shorty," he says while he walks out of the kitchen.

I feel my face warm as I think over the compliments we just exchanged.

And then what he said this morning....

After I've composed myself and forced the incident out of my mind, I move into the living room and sit on the couch where I wring my hands and bounce my feet on the ground, anxiously waiting for midnight to roll around.

When it does, it feels like a New Years party, mostly because the boys and I shout the seconds down until twelve and then jump around and scream when it hits.

All I can do is smile, pass out tight hugs, and thank God relentlessly for how good he is.

Our single has been released.

About three minutes after midnight, the notifications start pouring in, and after that, they don't stop.