the past.
Belly's prom was already around the corner, or that was what it felt like to Daphne. She was at the Conklin house for the weekend, she needed a break from college, her life and all the stress she had been enduring for what felt like forever. She couldn't go home so she went to the next best thing.
She was standing in the kitchen with Belly who was sat on one of the cupboards while Daphne stood on the other side of the room in a white sweater, a pair of shorts and fuzzy socks. "Have you decided what you're going to wear for prom yet? A dress or one of those snazzy suits you like?" Belly smiled, she always knew when Daphne was worried. "I do love snazzy suits but we have time, right?"
"Yeah, but my mom says it's better to be safe than sorry." That made Daphne smile. "Okay, Laurel." Daphne leaned against the cupboard, hands behind her back as she picked at the skin of her right ring finger. It was something she did to that
"What about me?" Laurel walked into the room, looking at where Daphne has her head in the clouds again. "I'm just telling Belly that she might as well be a clone of you." Daphne smiled, that award winning smile that always made Laurel pinch her cheeks when she was still four to seven years old.
"You can't talk, I've seen old pictures of your mom. It looks like the universe just hit copy and paste." Belly had seen a picture of Natasha when she was nineteen. She was wearing this tye dye bikini that Belly would see Daphne wearing about a hundred times, she matches it with a pair of sunglasses and a white cardigan. Both of those things were in Daphne's dorm room now.
"Oh and that thing she does where she looks at nothing for ten minutes, Nat did that too but only when she was high so do you have something to tell me?" Laurel joked and Daphne laughed, it was the first time she really laughed in a long time. "No, I'll pee in a cup." Belly laughed, Laurel didn't understand the reference.
"Hey, Daph. When are we giving our part for the hotel room with Taylor and her date?" Daphne's attention went back to Belly as Laurel walked past her daughter. "You're talking about getting a hotel room in front of me? I didn't realize I became a cool mom." Laurel did a little dance with her shoulders and Belly rolled her eyes.
"We're just gonna hang out." Belly speaks up but they both knew Laurel had been joking. "I know, I trust my girl." Her words made Belly smile, "You do?"
"Yeah, I totally trust Daphne." She said and then she walked out of the room, leaving Belly a little shocked as she smiled at the dark haired girl who was staring out the window again.
"Hey, where are you?" Belly's words seem to break Daphne out of her trance, "I'm here, with you." Daphne smiled, taking steps towards Belly. When she reached the girl on the cupboard, she placed a hand on Belly's knee. She smiled up at her like a girl scout, Daphne's smile always had a way of making Belly calm.
"I mean, what were you thinking about?" Belly's words were barely cold when Daphne rested her head on Belly's shoulder. "You can tell me anything, you know that right?" She rested her hand on Daphne's back, tracing small circles on it with the palm of her hand. It was what she did when she knew Daphne needed to ease up.
For a second, Daphne let herself take in Belly's scent. She let herself believe that life was all math homework and prom dates, she let herself fade into Belly's life. She wanted to stay at the Conklin house, she wanted to stay with Belly and just escape her problems. "I know that, I'm just not thinking about anything." That was true, she didn't have to think about anything when she was with Belly.
"I'm just worried about you." Belly places a small kiss on the side of Daphne's head. Daphne was always warm, her body always seemed to be on fire and when Belly didn't know what to do when she was cold, she would just reach a hand out and hold onto Daphne.
"You don't have to worry." Daphne pulled back, her eyes were sad, like they were weighted down and Belly couldn't do anything to help her carry that weight. "I'm fine." Her lips pulled into a smile and she went back to resting her head on Belly's shoulder. "I love you Daphne." She didn't say anything, she just sat there and took in the silence and a part of Belly waited for Daphne to say it back but she never did.