A/N The banners on the side were created by @emlover, she's awsome even if she won't admit it
This chapter is dedicated to @Aaletsirc because they've been here since day 1 for me and I keep forgetting to dedicate the chapter to them
It felt like the twentieth lap as Dannie rounded another corner and walked down the side of the ship. For the past hour, she had been trudging through the endless circles of the ship and hoping that it would somehow help her decipher her thoughts.
Walking into the breakfast cafe, she made a stop to order a muffin.
"Never seen you look so down before."
Dannie looked up to see Matt handing her the blueberry pastry, a smirk plastered across his face. She took it with care in between her hands and nibbled on it before answering.
"Just trying to figure out the mess I'm in," she responded. "I didn't know you worked here."
"I work everywhere babe, and if you ever want a good time, you know where to find me." He sent her a wink as she backed out of the cafe.
"Gosh Matt, I never knew you were such a flirt," she laughed. He shouted something after her but Dannie was already too far gone to hear it.
Talking to people in general seemed to brighten her mood. It chased away the thoughts that plagued her mind in the dark hours of the night. Being alone for too long would once again leave her at the mercy of her subconscious.
Nibbling at her muffin and watching the sun slowly make its way up into the sky, Dannie still could not make sense of her thoughts. Seth being the main one; the main thought, that is.
He was going back to California after the summer and there was nothing she could do about it. Actually, scratch that. She could do something.
She could pursue him like a mindless schoolgirl or she could suck it up and get over him. He was just another boy among the millions out there. He wasn't anything special.
And that is where the problem came in. He was special. Dannie couldn't describe it or grasp what it was about him that attracted her but he was definitely special.
"You look like you're constipated."
Dannie jumped back in surprise when she heard Seth's voice. He offered her a genuine smile instead of a smirk though, causing her initial irritation to disappear.
"Sorry, just had to say it. What were you thinking about?"
"Did you just come here to insult me?" Dannie asked crudely. Somebody would need to help him if he spoke the wrong answer.
"What? No! I mean, I just-"
"Well?"
"I was thinking..."
Dannie breathed out a sigh of annoyance. They had only just seen each other and he was already getting on her nerves. She just wanted to reach out a hand and slap him.
"Can you talk properly?" she demanded.
"Okay, okay. I just wanted to apologize for last night; it wasn't exactly the smoothest of outings," he said. Seth peered at her from underneath his eyelashes and shrunk a little lower when he noticed her scrutinizing gaze.
"And you expect me to forgive you?" Dannie asked, crossing her arms across her chest. She was only teasing him of course. He didn't do anything wrong last night, it was Kate that had gotten to her. But right now, Seth looked similar to a little boy getting caught doing something he shouldn't be; his expression was adorable.
Then, she remembered the blasted state of California. He would be returning there soon and he didn't even tell her.
"Seth," she began quietly, not letting him answer her previous question. "Why didn't you tell me you were going to go back to California?"
Seth's face visibly dropped as she brought up the topic of his former home.
"Well, you see, it's kind of complicated."
"I'm pretty sure I can keep up."
"Okay, so well, it's actually not that complicated.'
"Seth."
"Right, sorry. Explaining time." Seth rubbed his hands over his face and fell into step with Dannie as she began to walk again. "Well my dad is a business man. He owns De Vivre as you probably figured out and he wanted to expand it.
"So we branched out to North Carolina, to start small you know. Our head quarters are back in California so if the business doesn't do too well on the East, well then we'll be heading back to the West coast."
"So how's the restaurant doing?" Dannie asked curiously. She couldn't help herself; the question just slipped from her mouth.
"It's going alright. Some friends of my dad are running it right now while we're here. I'm not sure how well that will turn out."
"But the possibility of you going back to California is high," Dannie deadpanned.
"Yes." Seth spoke in a low tone, afraid that anything louder would trigger Dannie's unpredictable temper.
"So you were just going to string me along, until the end of the summer?" Dannie asked quietly. Seth struggled to walk normally and not be intimidated by the deadly calm on her face.
"No, I was going to tell you," Seth said, choosing his words slowly and carefully. Then, what Dannie had said slapped him in the face. "Wait? String you along? What did I do?"
Dannie's cool facade slipped for a moment when she realized her mistake. He wasn't stringing her along; he had clearly stated that yesterday was not a date. Seth grinned at her flustered look and took a step closer to her.
"Do you like me Dannie Hale?" he asked, the most cheeky smile on his face.
"No, I don't," Dannie stated coldly, walking around him and continuing with her trek of the cruise ship.
"Oh c'mon. You totally do, why else would you consider yesterday a date?"
"I don't like you Seth."
"Look me in the eyes and tell me you don't like me."
Dannie heaved a sigh of resignation. She paused momentarily and glanced into his unusually light brown eyes.
"I don't like you," she stated, staring right at the green freckle in his left eye. Fortunately for her, looking into other people's eyes had never prevented her from lying. Dannie never got what the big deal was. Lies slipped out of her lips as if they were shot from a gun in her lips. Maybe she got the trait from Katy. Or Katy got the trait from her since she was born first.
"What?" Seth exclaimed incredulously from behind her. She had started walking again, giving him the cold shoulder once again. He jogged up to match her pace.
"Okay then, what if I said that I liked you?" he asked.
"I'd say you were lying," Dannie answered without missing a beat.
"But I'm not," Seth said confused. "I do like you."
Dannie wanted to stomp her feet in frustration. When she did like him, he was oblivious to her feelings but when she decided to get over him, he decides to say something. Perfect.
"Well your feelings are not reciprocated so just leave me alone," Dannie ordered, pacing away from him.
"Are you sure about that?" Seth asked playfully, walking backwards but in front of Dannie. She frowned at his persistence and kept her mouth shut. Perhaps if she didn't answer he would go away.
"Oh, so you're giving me the cold shoulder now?" Seth asked, shaking his hands out by his sides for emphasis. When she didn't respond, he continued. "You know what, I think your just scared."
"I'm not scared." Seth smiled at her response and kept going.
"Yes you are, you're scared you're going to fall for me," he said jokingly, smirk still in place. 'Of course I'm scared to fall for you! You might leave me at the end of the summer!' Dannie wanted to shout but she kept her emotions in check.
"I'm not scared of anything Seth Parker, least of all, you."
"Okay, then how about this. I get to take you on one date- as more than friends- and if you don't like it, I'll stop bugging you."
Dannie pondered his deal. She knew it would be stupid to agree but she could already sense herself agreeing to the deal. One date couldn't hurt and it wouldn't matter if she did enjoy it; she could always lie and say she hadn't.
"Alright one date."
Seth grinned in victory and grabbed her hand, running down the side of the ship.
"Where are you taking me?" Dannie shouted at him as they sprinted downwind.
"On our date!"
"You already had it planned out?"
"Of course!"
"What if I had said no?"
"I wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer!"
Dannie laughed at his response and raced after him. Her mood had somehow turned a one-eighty. But she supposed that was what happened when the boy you were crazy for bugged you.
Running on the ship in his footsteps, she realized she would follow this boy anywhere.
***
"An arcade?" Dannie asked looking around skeptically. It was around noon and not many people were in the room, save for a few children who refused to leave the video games.
"What can I say? I love to play games," Seth said leading her over to the machine that spit out coins. Giving it twenty dollars, jumbles of coins fell out in which Seth placed into two red cups. "One for you and one for me."
"What are we doing first?" Dannie asked.
"We can go to-"
Dannie cut him off when she say blue and pink lights flashing from a back corner. "DDR!" she cried dragging Seth over to the machine.
"DDR?"
"Dance Dance Revolution?" Dannie said looking at him as if he were born in the wrong century. She inserted her coins in before he could say anything.
"Dance?"
"Yep."
"I'm the King of Dance, you know that right?" Seth asked cockily as he stepped onto the grid platform. In all honesty, he had no idea how the game worked.
"We'll see about that," Dannie replied with a smirk of her own.
The lights on the screen flashed and the voice of a man echoed "Go!" from the game. Dannie bounced up and down, stepping her feet to the beat of the arrows as Seth tapped random buttons, sneaking peaks at Dannie to see if he was doing it right.
"You tap the arrow corresponding to the one on the screen," Dannie explained after she saw Seth looking at her for the umpteenth time.
"Aw, why'd you tell me that. Now I don't have an excuse to look at you," he said, giving her genuine smile rather than a flirtatious look.
Dannie let her mouth form the grin it wanted to and danced buoyantly for the next couple of minutes.
"Hey, I think I'm winning!" Seth cried out, surprised, pointing a finger to the screen. The announcer voice of the video game boomed 'Player 1" as the winner and Seth pumped his fist in delight threw the air. "Let's go!"
Dannie leaned against the railing and watched him continue his victory dance. After a good couple of minutes, she stood up straight and said: "Just so you know, I was Player 1."
"You just have to ruin all the fun don't you," Seth said slumping down slightly.
"Well it was fun for me at least," Dannie said. Her eyes grazed the room again and a sloppy smile made it's way onto her face when she saw the skeeball machine. "I challenge you to a game of skeeball!"
Twelve different games and a food eating contest later, Seth dropped himself onto the floor as Dannie licked the oil off her fingers.
"You know, I wonder how it feels like to lose every. Single. Game," Dannie taunted.
"I let you win all those games," Seth said, pouting from his position on the ground.
"Think whatever you want to salvage your man pride, but I won all those games fair and square."
"Sure you did," Seth said trying to sound cocky. It didn't turn out quite right as he was too bloated and tired to even give a smirk.
"What do you want to do now?" Dannie asked, eyeing the ice cream vendor nearby. Yes, she just had ice cream yesterday but her sweet tooth made her want nothing more than to sink her teeth into all of it's creamy glory.
"Hm...Let's hit up the tennis courts," he suggested. Sighing and turning away from the food, she gave him a skeptical look.
"You want to get your butt kicked at another game?" Dannie asked with an eyebrow raised.
"I'm pretty sure I'm going to win this time," Seth replied confidently.
"Is that a challenge?" Dannie asked.
"No, more of a prediction of the future."
"Oh it is on Parker," Dannie said.
The two made their way outside and after asking for directions, found a bright green tennis court with a view of the ocean.
"I'm going to kick your ass," Dannie said taking the racquet from an attendant.
"You're all talk and no play. Come on, let's see how good you really are," Seth said spinning the racquet expertly in his hand.
Dannie took a green ball and closing her eyes, she hit the ball as hard as she could. Having no idea how to play tennis and making snarky comments about how good she was at it was probably not the smartest choice.
"Um, Dannie?" Dannie cracked open an eye to see Seth staring at her with an expression of astonishment on his face. "You do realize you just hit the ball into the ocean right?"
His expression faltered and he burst out laughing. Dannie gaped at him and then rushed to the railing, peering out to see the sea. Lo and behold, a bright green sphere floated in the waves below her.
Somebody tapped her shoulder and Dannie turned around to see the attendant.
"A fee of losing ship equipment will be charged to your room, miss," he said before walking away.
Dannie stomped her foot, in a foul mood. Yes. She actually stomped her feet like a spoiled child who didn't get what she wanted; she couldn't help it though.
"So how kick ass are you at tennis again?" Seth teased, still spinning the racquet on one finger. "Are you still up for that game?" he asked when the only reply her got was an angry leer from Dannie.
A slight buzzing sound came from Seth's pocket and he quickly unlocked his phone before reading the message, his face lighting up.
"Is that Kate?" Dannie couldn't help but blurt out. She realized what she had said and internally cringed, hoping that maybe Seth had suddenly turned deaf and had not heard her.
"No," he responded, confused. "Oh wait...are you jealous Dannie-poo?"
"Dannie-poo?"
"Don't avoid the question."
"What question?"
"Okay, it's official. You're jealous," Seth said dragging out the last word.
"I'm not jealous!" Dannie denied, though her flaming cheeks suggested otherwise.
"Don't worry, it's not Kate. Even if it were, you'll always be the only one for me," he said winking playfully.
Dannie didn't know how to respond so she simply gave her best death glare. It didn't work as Seth was still smiling that large playful smile of his. Secretly, on the inside, Dannie was pleased that he wasn't texting Kate and that he was here with her instead.
Seth seemed to remember something at that moment and instructed Dannie not to move. "I'll be right back, so just stay put okay?"
"I'm not a dog," Dannie breathed out forcefully.
Seth threw her another smile before sprinting away. 'It must be important whatever it is, if he's running that fast' Dannie thought to herself. A tight feeling formed in her stomach and suddenly, she couldn't push away the dark thoughts that clouded her mind.
What if he was with another girl?
Would he really do that?
Well he did have that overly sappy grin on his face...
Dannie literally slapped herself in the face to chase away the thoughts. The attendant standing next to the courts gave her a strange look but she was too deep in her thoughts to notice or to care. He would explain where he had been when he came back, she was sure of it.
Another feeling of nausea hit her and she clenched her fists together, trying to get rid of the feeling. Why was she feeling so attached to him? He would moving back to California soon and it was summer! Even if he was into her, this would surely just be another summer fling.
Those never lasted.
"I'm back!"
Dannie jumped out of her chair and stared up at Seth who was panting heavily.
"Where did you go?" Dannie asked warily eyeing his hands which were behind his back at the moment, hiding something.
"Well after yesterday, I figured I sort of owed you an apology. For Kate and for my terrible behavior. But I didn't want it to be like a normal stupid gift or something, so I made this. Well not just me, I had some help. We stayed up all night! Well, mostly just me, but still!" Dannie didn't stop Seth as he continued to ramble on about irrelevant topics.
"And I figured it would mean something to you. I mean, I hope it means something to you. A friend of mine told me it would help you out maybe, somehow. I really hope you like it."
Dannie watched at his lips moved and stared at the perturbed expression on his face. His brown hair looked more messed up than usual and his attitude had created a slight pout on his lips. It was cute.
"Seth, stop talking and give me the damn present."
"Right, yeah, sorry," Seth said shoving some papers into her hand.
On closer examination, it wasn't exactly papers but a bunch of construction paper tied delicately together by a purple bow. Her favorite color. On the front cover of the scrapbook were the words written in a messy scrawl, Memory Book.
Dannie carefully flipped open the first page and stared at the pictures as her mouth formed a small 'o'. The first page was a picture of Lucas, Cece, and herself when they were in middle school. They each had an ice cream cone in their hands, each one a different color.
Lucas still had blond hair back then and all three of them looked extremely similar, with freckles splashed across their cheeks.
A quote along the bottom read: "A stranger stabs you in the front; a friend stabs you in the back; a boyfriend stabs you in the heart, but best friends only poke each other with straws".
A smile graced Dannie's lips as she turned the page to see yet another picture.
This one was taken in the first year of high school, on their first day of school. Lucas had been so scared he nearly wet his pants while their parents were taking pictures. Dannie and Cece stood beside him, each giving him a bear hug trying to comfort him.
The quote said: "Friendship is everlasting."
As Dannie flipped through the pages, she saw more and more memories along with significant quotes at the bottom. She nearly forgot about Seth's presence until she flipped to the last few pages which were blank.
"Um, yeah. i just wanted to give you something so you could remember Cece. Lucas helped me with it. I left the last few pages blank so you could add some of your own memories," he said looking at her nervously.
"Thanks Seth," Dannie said, the gratitude seeping deep into her voice. She knew that for a guy like Seth to put this much effort into something, well, it must have been hard. "I don't know what to say. It's perfect."
Seth breathed a sigh of relief and at that moment, Dannie felt something overwhelming overcome her. The look he was giving her didn't help and suddenly, the palms of her hands felt clammy and instead of feeling flustered by his presence, she felt a certain dread mixed with longing overcome her body.
It was unfamiliar to her and Dannie had to keep herself from clutching her chest as her heart beat sped up. Looking into Seth's eyes and seeing all those things that made him who he was, it undid her.
"I-I have to go," Dannie stuttered. "I don't feel well."
"Wait! But I thought-"
Dannie didn't let Seth finish the sentence as she rushed back into the indoor of the cruise ship and escaped into the nearest ladies room.
Holding the Memory Book that Seth had given her close to her heart, she sat down in the last stall and took in calming breaths.
This was not happening.
'Oh, but it is' her subconscious mind told her.
This cannot be happening.
But it was.
She had enjoyed her date with Seth. She enjoyed it too much.
And it didn't take a lawn detective to know that she falling for him. Hard.
___________________
A/N Hey guys, this update was so last minute! GAHHH At least I updated before the week passed I suppose...
Tell me what you think! Vote for the Memory Book and Comment for poking your best friend with straws!!
PS To all of my American readers, Happy Fourth of July!!! (which is tomorrow) Enjoy the fireworks :)