CHAPTER FIFTY THREE
[53]
song: vienna by billy joel
FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FOREVER, Daisy woke up to the sound of someone mowing their lawn. She sat up, her eyes barely open yet. She glanced to her left where the window sat, then let out a groan as she plopped her head back onto her pillow, folding it over to cover her ears.
This guy had mowed his lawn every other day since she'd been here. At seven AM. Who was he trying to impress?! Whose grass grew that fast?! She missed not having neighbors.
Daisy heard a quick knock at the door. "Oh, come on." She groaned, as she slowly drug herself out of the bed.
She threw a big sweatshirt on over her pajamas as she made her way downstairs, the hardwood floors cold on her bare feet. She swung the door open, to Ezra who stood on the front porch.
"That's a good look." He said sarcastically, as Daisy's resting bitch face may or may not have been purposeful. "Are we not getting breakfast today?" He asks.
For the almost two weeks she'd been in Winslow, her and Ezra had gotten breakfast together. Either at one of the restaurants or coffee shops, or at one of their houses. Sometimes his friends would tag along, but he couldn't usually get them to wake up this morning.
She rubbed her eyes. "Shit. Yeah, sorry I didn't set an alarm." She scoffed, she opened the door wider and he came inside.
"You've decorated." He says, looking around at all the new furnishings and art on the walls.
Daisy shut the door behind him with a yawn. "Yeah, Iris took me shopping yesterday." She looked around. It definitely wasn't things she'd usually purchase if given the chance to shop freely literally anywhere— but the nearest city from Winslow was miles away.
Ezra nodded and turned back to face her with an inquisitive face. "So you're thinking you'll stick around?" He asked.
She let out a little scoff as she made her way upstairs, he followed shortly behind. "I am sticking around." She shrugged. "Until I get bored." She added.
Ezra laughed. "Am I boring you?"
Daisy walked into her bedroom, which was an absolute disaster, and Ezra plopped down on her bed as she started to get ready. "Not yet." She shot him a sarcastic smile, as she went to her bathroom and began to brush her teeth.
Ezra glanced out the window. "Dude this guy is obsessed with his lawn."
Daisy widened her eyes and peaked outside the bathroom, letting her toothbrush dangle from her mouth. "Jesus christ I know!" She laughed. "Every. Freaking. Morning." The two exchanged laughs and Daisy turned back into the bathroom.
When she was here, in Winslow, things were slowly becoming more and more normal. And she needed normal. She needed to feel like she was in a real town, with real friends and having real school-girl crushes.
"Do you want me to call everyone and see if they wanna join us?" Ezra asked.
Daisy thought for a second as she glanced at him and then back into the mirror, where she spit out her toothpaste into the sink. "Just us." She says, feeling a little burst of confidence. Ezra didn't reply, but he didn't need to.
Daisy got dressed, and the two made their walk to the cafe by the church. The weather was usually pretty warm around this time of day, and the breeze was nice. It made for a pretty decent start to her day.
"Hi Daisy." An old woman waved from the rocking chair on her porch.
"Hi Ms. Crowley." Daisy waved back with a soft smile.
As they approached the cafe, Ezra held the door open for her and she walked in first, earning a few stares from the people sitting around at the tables. She waved at them awkwardly, as their gazes lingered so long it would've felt weird if she didn't.
She made her way to the front to order. A small chai tea and a bagel. They sat outside under an umbrella, and the owner brought their food out to them.
"Thanks." Daisy smiled, accepting the tea and the bag with her bagel in it. The owner just stared at her, nodding awkwardly in response before glancing at Ezra, before turning and walking back inside.
She let out a breath before she sipped on her drink. "Why does everyone look at me like I have food in my teeth?" She mumbled, glancing around at the onlookers who sat at tables near them.
Ezra let out a small laugh. "They're just curious."
"They've been curious for two weeks." She huffed.
He shrugged, as he began to eat the hash browns and bacon he ordered. "We all thought we were the only people here before you came. They're just confused."
"I mean it can't be that complicated." Daisy scoffed, taking a bite from her food. "Like— should I say something to them? Introduce myself? Is that how things work around here?"
Ezra thought for a few seconds before speaking again. "We're having a coven meeting coming up? We have them every month. Everyone comes it's pretty much just like a gathering to make sure everything's running smoothly. You can come, that way you could get a chance to meet new people." He suggested.
Daisy scrunched her nose a bit. "I feel like that's an awkward situation waiting to happen." She laughed it off.
"There's free food." Ezra added.
"There's free food everywhere." Daisy responded with a full mouth. "I'm eating free food right now."
Ezra laughed. "You don't have to. But it might get people to stop speculating." He added. Daisy shrugged. It wouldn't hurt to go. Especially if the entire town is there and she wasn't— she might get a little bored.
—
Kai stormed around the old mansion he'd been residing in for the past few months. He paced back and fourth with a grimoire in hand, reading.
"You know anything about Bennett witches?" Kai asks, glancing up from the book to Tony, who sat on the couch, hands bound.
Tony redirected his attention from the TV he'd been watching for the past few hours to Kai. "Uh." He thought for a second. "They're those Ancestral witches, right?"
Kai glanced back at the grimoire then back to Tony with a nod.
"I think they're pretty powerful. Or were? I don't know if there's any of them left. Not a lot of them survived the Witch trials." Tony asked.
Kai shut the book with a frustrated sigh. "Everything is leading back to them. Like— every time I get a lead they're always mentioned."
"Lead on what?" Tony asked.
"Finding a way out of here." Kai says, walking into the kitchen for something to snack on. He caught glance at Tony, who had a hopeful look on his face. "Aw, you think I won't kill you the second I get bored with your presence." Kai said happily, frowning at him.
Tony let out an exhausted sigh, letting his head fall back onto the couch. "Why not just kill me now then?" He groaned.
Kai came back into the living room with an apple in hand, plopping down on the couch next to Tony, before taking a loud bite out of the apple. "Because I'm not bored of your presence yet." He said like it was obvious. He turned to Tony. "Because I really need a friend right now." He spoke sarcastically and dramatically.
Tony looked at him in disgust, turning his attention back to the TV. Kai stumbled across Tony a few weeks ago in Missouri. He was a tad less obnoxious than the other prison world guests he'd come across, so he decided to keep him around for bit.
"Have you heard from that girl? What was her name..." Tony asked, thinking for a second. "Darla?"
Kai looked at him with a disgusted look on his face. "Daisy." He corrected.
"Right. Have you heard from her?" Tony asked, trying to make conversation. Anything to keep the guy who was holding him captive busy.
Kai sighed and took another bite from his apple as he relaxed into the couch. "Nope." He responded. "We're not on good terms right now."
"Maybe she's playing hard to get." Tony shrugged lazily as he watched TV.
"We're not— it's not like that." Kai said. "She's just gonna have to learn to stop being so freaking stubborn. All she does is get herself into deep shit because she refuses to admit I'm right."
"Maybe it's not stubbornness. Could be distrust." Tony said. For some reason he was a lot more intellectual than he appeared; just a lowlife chubby college kid in a tie dye t-shirt who made a few wrong turns in his Coven's business and ended up here. "Have you ever given her a reason to not trust you?"
"How much time do you have?" Kai scoffed as he chewed.
Tony let out a deep sigh. "I don't know."
Kai snorted a little bit, trying not to laugh too hard at the fact that he was literally the one who decided how much time he had left. "You really think she just doesn't believe me?" He asked, turning to face him.
Tony didn't care, or know any of the context of the situation, but he continued to engage. "Maybe." He shrugged.
Kai leaned back onto the couch and watched TV. "That's her fault, then." He scoffed. "She'll just have to realize it the hard way. I am retiring from the Daisy protection squad."
"Is it her fault? I mean... if you gave her several reasons not to trust her, do you really expect her to believe you off the bat?" Tony asked.
"Yes." Kai said bluntly.
Kai thought for a few minutes. Kevin was right. It wasn't fair of Kai to be mad at Daisy. Even though things might've been a bit better between them, the trust wasn't there. It probably wouldn't ever be.
"You're a good listener, Kevin. I like you." Kai turned and pat Tony on the back.
"That's not my name." Tony mumbled quietly.
"Oh my god. I don't care." Kai widened his eyes and shook his head.
—
"We could see Goodfellas again." Andy suggested.
"God no. That movie feels four hours long." Michelle responded.
Everyone stood outside the small movie theater that Daisy hadn't even noticed was here until now. They all were looking up at the selection of movies that were displayed on the movie theater sign. "What about Crybaby?" Iris suggested, she turned to Daisy. "Have you seen it? With young Johnny Depp?"
Young Johnny Depp. Daisy's almost forgotten that time a lot of time had passed for them, and they were sent here in 2003, meaning the Johnny Depp she knew was considered 'older' now. She wondered if he was still as cute as he was in 1990.
Daisy shook her head no. Amanda perked up. "Oh my god we have to watch it. He's so hot—"
"Pass." Kyle said.
"You know we don't all have to watch the same one?" Ezra says, glancing around at everyone. "The girls can go see Crybaby and we can go see Goodfellas."
"That's sexist, Ezra." Amanda said.
"Well do you wanna watch Goodfellas then?" Ezra retorted.
Amanda backed down. "No." She shrugged lightly.
Daisy snorted. "Fine. We're gonna go watch the movie with the hot guy and you guys can have fun watching whatever Goodfellas is." She remarked, walking closer to where all the girls stood.
"'Whatever Goodfellas is' it's only one of the greatest movies of all time!" Kyle said defensively as the boys started to walk inside.
Ezra held Kyle back from getting too offended. The girls exchanged laughs as they followed the boys inside, walking into the theater opposite them.
It was empty, expectedly, and the girls made their way to the back of the theater to sit in the back row. Amanda stayed behind to get a bucket of popcorn, but Daisy sat in between Iris and Michelle.
"Andy's such a prick." Michelle groaned, crossing her arms. "Kyle too."
Iris let out a little laugh. "Ezra's sweet though. Always has been." She spoke. Daisy glanced at her and then back to the screen, where trailers to movies she'd never see played. "I saw that look." Iris said.
Daisy snapped her head back towards her. "What look?" She hid her smile.
"You're not slick." Michelle added.
"What look?!" Daisy repeated.
"You guys have been hooking up, haven't you?!" Michelle said.
"What?! Oh my God. No." Daisy shook her head. "We're just friends."
"But you like him." Iris argued.
"Not like that." Daisy blushed.
"Are we talking about Daisy's crush on Ezra?" Amanda spoke, walking in the screening room with the bucket of popcorn.
"Yes." Michelle and Iris spoke in unison.
Daisy laughed. "Oh my god. I don't have a crush on Ezra. Are you guys children?!"
"It's okay if you do." Iris said, leaning back into her seat to watch the screen. Daisy hadn't even realized the movie started. "I mean if I was here all by myself for fifteen years I would hop on the first guy I saw."
The girls burst into laughter. Real, genuine laughter. It was such a happy sound, a happy feeling. Her laughter felt so free and pure, so childish despite her 'adult' years. It reminded her of days spent with Jen, and Josette.
She hadn't been reminded of those feelings for years. Her laughter died down as her heart began to sink. She wondered what they were doing right now. If they even remembered her. They probably had families by now. Families, and jobs, and lives.
"You good?" Iris spoke, watching as Daisy stared down at the ground in silence amidst the laughter.
Daisy looked up at her and nodded a bit. "Yeah." She swallowed harshly. "Yeah, I'm just gonna— I'm gonna go to the bathroom really fast." She stood up from her seat and walked outside of the screening room before she freaked herself out too much.
She pushed the door open to the lobby, then went outside, breathing in the fresh air deeply, as it brought her a bit of relief.
Iris reminded her of Jen. Witty and confident, it was something Daisy always admired about Jen. She missed her. And remembering the way things left off between them made her feel sick. They way Daisy treated her would never be acceptable, especially considering how close they were before Kai came into the picture.
Daisy sat on the bench outside the theater, leaning her head against the brick wall and letting the nighttime breeze sweep past her.
"Hey." A familiar voice spoke, she turned to see Ezra stepping outside. "You okay? I saw you come out here." He asked, walking towards her.
She swallowed and nodded. "Yeah I just..." she stopped herself, realizing she was just gonna lie for no reason. Instead she felt the urge to explain herself to him. "All of this, all of you guys, just reminds me of my friends back home. Back in— the real world." She nodded.
Ezra looked at her worriedly, sitting beside her on the bench. "I'm sorry we can leave if—"
Daisy shook her head, quickly realizing that explaining herself just put a burden on other people. "No no." She said. "I was just... having a moment." She scoffed.
Ezra nodded. "I understand." He said. "I was lucky that most of my friends were part of the Coven— so they came here with. But there are a few back home that I miss, too. It sucks."
"Yeah." Daisy sighed. "It sucks."
Ezra turned to her, examining her with a soft expression. She turned to face him, eyes darting in between his brown eyes. She swallowed as her heart beat began to increase, knowing what was about to happen.
The two of them slowly leaned closer to each other. "Can I kiss you?" Ezra spoke quietly.
Daisy nodded quickly, and he leaned in, connecting their lips. Heat flooded her cheeks as she realized she was a bit out of practice. She was still caught of guard, even when she knew it was coming. She brought her hand up to gently touch his cheek with her fingertips, and he used his to hold the back of her head, deepening the kiss. It wasn't anything special, just a kiss, but it was needed, and she hoped she didn't come off as too eager.
He pulled away with a smile and she matched his expression, knowing her face was red. "We should probably go back inside before they come looking for us." He spoke quietly.
Daisy nodded, with an awkward soft smile. He quickly leaned in again, kissing her lips once more before standing up and offering a hand to lead her back inside.
a/n
kai talking to tony about daisy:
hope u enjoyed this chapter hehe
ALSO in the next chapter (fifty four) definitely listen to the song at the top while you read
- jane