Little Red

SIXTY NINE

Dani's leg shook at a rapid pace against the floor of David's truck as they arrived at John's house. It hadn't taken long for the girl's determination at finding Mikey to turn into anxiety as her mind had quickly thought of all the worst ways possible he would react to seeing her again. They hadn't spoken since he'd left, and the more time they spent apart, the more she worried that he would decide to leave her altogether.

"You're going to shake a hole into the bottom of my truck, kid."

Blinking herself out of her thoughts, Dani turned her head to give her father an unamused look as she said, "I'm inwardly freaking out over here, Dad. This is no time for your lame jokes."

A look of offense flashed across David's features before he rolled his eyes. "Okay," he said. "Tell me what you're freaking out about then."

"What if we're too late?" Dani asked as she looked back down to the floor. "He hasn't spoken to me since he left, and all I can think about is something happening to him before I can make things right again between us...I really love him, Dad. And I'm so scared he's going to get hurt because of me."

David frowned and said, "Sweetheart, none of this that's happening is because of you, alright? You're not Henry, and you're not Alice. Their decisions aren't yours, so you shouldn't be taking the blame for them. Everything will be okay. I promise."

"How can you promise me that, daddy?" Dani asked while looking up at him. "Everyone's always promising me things they know they aren't sure they can truly keep. I know you all just say that to make me feel better, but the truth is, none of us knows what's going to happen next."

David sighed. "You're right," he said. "We don't know what's going to happen next, but we can try our best to prevent the worst from happening by taking action before it does. That boy loves you just as much as you love him, if not more, so I know he's just itching to make things right with you just like you are with him. You're both just too damn stubborn to make the first move."

Dani scoffed lightly as he sent her a small smile. "I am not stubborn," she mumbled. "He is, though. He's as stubborn as a mule."

David snorted into a laugh as she joined in.

"Alright," he then said. "Go on. Go on and make things right with your boyfriend so you two can go back with making us all sick to our stomachs again."

Dani rolled her eyes playfully. "Thanks, Dad," she said and kissed the man on the cheek before getting out of the truck.

Her eyebrows furrowed as she then reached down to grab her vibrating phone out of her back pocket, and a small smile curved on her lips again at the message she received:

He'll understand, El. Don't be so nervous! True love never dies!

The smile remained on Dani's face as she walked towards the front door before gasping in surprise as it suddenly opened, and a tall body came crashing into hers.

"Oh my God!! I'm so sorry, Dani!!" John exclaimed as he quickly caught the girl from falling to the ground.

His eyes then widened as he said, "Holy shit!! I see what everyone's talking about now, you are cold!! Here, take my jacket."

"You don't really have to-...Oh, okay," Dani began to say before stopping herself as he quickly wrapped his jacket around her.

"It's no problem," John said with a smile before furrowing his brows. "Are you okay? Because that most certainly is not normal body temperature."

"I uh," she shook her head, "I'll be okay...but are you? You're wearing your uniform. What's going on? I thought you were off today?"

John's face noticeably paled at the question before he covered it up with a small smile and said, "Yeah...Yeah, I just...I got called in to fill out some paperwork..."