"The last time we were here, you told me about your troubles between your best friend Greta and boyfriend Mikey...Any updates on either of the two?"
An involuntary smile curved upon Dani's lips at the mention of her best friend as her mind went back to the conversation she had in her bedroom.
"By the expression currently covering your face, I'm going to take a wild guess and say you've made up with someone?" Mrs.Locks further questioned.
Dani nodded. "Yeah, um...A little while after the dinner incident last night...Greta um...she actually called me," she said as a small frown quickly appeared at the reason why she had received the call.
Dani sighed blissfully as she plopped down onto her bed and relaxed into the mattress with a smile curving on her lips as she sank further into her warm comforter.
The loud blaring of her cell phone ruined her peaceful silence, which caused an irritated groan to escape the girl's lips as she fluttered her eyes open. With a huff, Dani sat up and reached over to grab her phone off the nightstand. Her eyes widened in shock at the sight of the name that appeared on the screen, and the picture of the two girls from when they first started their jobs at Mr.B's Bakery appearing behind it sent tears to her eyes. Letting out a breath, Dani slid her finger over the green button and raised the phone to her ears.
"She had a nightmare...She's had them since...since what happened with her and Hans.."
"Dani?!"
The sound of her best friend's voice immediately sent Dani into worry as she furrowed her brows and said, "Greta?... Greta, what's wrong?"
"D-Dani...I can't-... I had a-...Please, help me!!" Greta stuttered into the phone, which quickly sent Dani into a state of panic as she began to get up from the bed.
"Okay...Okay, I'm coming okay, Greta? Just hang on, I'm on my way!!" she reassured her best friend as she quickly opened the door to the hallway.
"As soon as I heard her voice over the phone, our fight had completely left my mind...The only thing I cared about was getting over to her."
"Greta?!...Greta?!" Dani shouted as she rushed into the front room.
The entire house was covered in darkness except for a light that shone underneath a closed bedroom door, and Dani quickly realized that the door led to Greta's father's room since she had deemed it her safe place years ago. Without a second thought, Dani took off down the hall using the small light as guidance, though she hadn't really needed it as she had already known her way through the house like the back of her hand.
As soon as she opened the door, she was met with the sight of her best friend curled up on the bed with her head in between her knees. At the sound of the door being opened, Greta slowly looked up and let out a sob at the sight of her best friend, and Dani's heart instantly broke at the sound of it.
"Greta-"
Her words were quickly cut off as the blonde hopped off the bed and ran towards her, and her arms immediately wrapped around her sister, who cried into her shoulder.
"Dani," she sobbed as she buried her head into her shoulder.
Dani closed her eyes. "Shh, shh, I'm here. I'm right here, Greta, okay?" she reassured the girl as they both slowly lowered down to the floor.
"What was it about, G? What happened?" Dani softly asked after a few minutes had passed.
Greta sniffed before shaking her head. "It was...It was Hans...and...and the witch...She...She ki-"
Greta's words were cut off by another sob as she shook her head at the memory, and Dani immediately pulled her back into her embrace while mentally cursing herself for trying to pull it out of the girl so quickly.
"Please don't leave," Greta mumbled in a tone that broke Dani's heart as she squeezed her tightly.
"Never."
"Technically, we haven't actually made up yet...but she did ask me to come over to her house as soon as the session is over, so...that's a good thing, right?" she said before asking with a shrug.
After finally being able to calm herself down, Greta had fallen asleep in Dani's arms, and not wanting to wake the blonde up, Dani covered them up in the blanket from the bed so they could sleep on the floor. Though she had seemed to be feeling much better when they awoke, there was still a glint of fear in Greta's eyes when Dani had left, and even more fear in her tone of voice when she had made the girl promise to come back over as soon as her session with Mrs.Locks had ended. Dani just hoped the blonde had been alright staying at home by herself while she was gone...
✧
"Dani?"
A familiar grainy voice said, which caused the girl to groan before furrowing her brows as she looked up from her phone.
"Goldi? What are you doing here?" Dani asked in confusion as they walked towards each other, with her coming from inside Greta's home and Dani coming from a taxi cab.
Goldi licked her lips and smirked, which caused Dani to hold in a gag as she quickly caught onto what was implied.
"Okay, ew, gross. Never mind," she mumbled with a shudder.
Goldi laughed as she examined the girl before her. "Like I said before, glad to see you back on two feet, Richards. You look good," she said in a genuinely sincere tone that made Dani's features light up in shock.
"Uh, thanks," she said.
Goldi sighed and said, "Look, Dani. I know we may not always see eye-to-eye, but that doesn't mean I want you dead. You're Greta's best friend, whether I like it or not...Besides, I find it kinda badass that you decided to go up against Henry by yourself."
Dani let out an amused snort. "Of course you would think so," she joked with a roll of her eyes before smiling as Goldi laughed. "Hey, you finally laughed at one of my jokes!"
That time it was Goldi's turn to snort as she rolled her eyes playfully. "Yeah. You're still not a comedian, Richards," she said, making them both laugh.
Before either one of the girls could say anything else, the sound of a ringtone blaring through the air caused Goldi to sigh as she looked down while bringing her phone out of her pocket.
"Well, that's my mom, which means I really have to go now so, see you around Richards," she said and walked away with her signature smirk on her features.
"Catch ya later, Locks," Dani said with a shake of her head as she continued to walk up to her best friend's front door.
As soon as she stepped into the house, Dani was instantly welcomed with the wonderful aroma of food being cooked, which caused her stomach to immediately grumble in response as she followed her nose into the kitchen.
"Mm, something smells good," she said while walking into the room with her eyes scanning over the ingredients set out on the counter.
Her eyes then widened in excitement as she quickly figured out just exactly what her best friend was cooking and began to ask, "Are you making-"
"Currywurst? Yep," Greta said while stirring the pot. "I know it probably won't be as good as papa's, but I...I just felt the need to make it, you know?"
Dani gave her a sympathetic smile as she squeezed the girl into a side hug and said, "Of course. It'll be great, G."
Greta smiled as she got back to cooking.
Though both twins had been extremely close to their father, Greta had practically clung to the man's side. It was the reason why she sought comfort in his room whenever she would have a nightmare... and why she had decided to stay in their home instead of moving elsewhere after he had passed.
"Now...is there any reason as to why I bumped into a certain blondie who was making her way out of your house?" Dani asked with an eyebrow raised and smirked as the German girl's cheeks suddenly gained a deep red to them.
"Uh," Greta mumbled before sighing. "She came over a few minutes after you had left, saw how distraught I was, and decided to take my mind off of it."
Disbelief filled Dani's features as she asked, "And you just let her?!"
Greta nodded. "Yep. Crazy, right?" she said and huffed. "I just...I don't know, D...One minute I hate her for what she did, and the next she's all I can think about...Does that make me pathetic?"
Dani frowned and said, "Of course not, G...It may not be the same, but I understand how you feel. It's how I felt when Mikey and I broke up, but I believe if you know the person is meant for you, you won't have to question it because you'll be able to just...feel it. Do you feel it with her?"
Greta furrowed her brows. "I...I think I do," she said. "It's like every time I try to move on, I never fully can because my mind just won't shut up with thoughts of her. And she's apologized so much since it happened, but I...I just don't know if I can fully go back in yet."
"Has she shown you that she's sorry for it?" Dani softly asked. "Actions speak a lot louder than words you know."
Greta nodded. "Yeah, I do," she said. "And she...actually has. I think...I mean I don't have that same gut feeling I had before when she did it, but it's like I haven't found it in myself to fully trust her yet, you know?"
"And that's completely understandable," Dani said with a nod. "And I'm sure she knows that too. You just have to give it time, G. I'm sure you'll figure it all out soon."
Greta smiled and said, "You're being awfully generous with your support on this...Wasn't it you who was just a few months ago trying to catch an assault charge in the villa parking lot because of her?"
Dani scoffed, which caused Greta to laugh as she said, "As if! She's the one who started that fight! Not my fault she didn't have enough bite to back up her bark!"
Dani then sighed and said, "I may not like her, but I love you and I support anything and everything that makes you happy...and if she's a part of that happiness, then I suppose I'll just have to put on my big girl shoes and get used to having her around. Because I'm damn sure not giving you up any time soon."
Greta smiled before it disappeared as she looked away to focus back on the stove, which caused Dani to frown.
"G? What's wrong?" she asked.
Greta sighed as she turned off the stove. "I just...I want to thank you...for last night," she said and looked back at Dani with tearful eyes. "That was the first nightmare I had in a while and...and it scared me, D...It just felt so real...but to have you there with me, it made me feel so much safer...I've really missed you, Dani."
A frown curved on Dani's lips as she pulled Greta into a hug, feeling nothing but guilt about what she had done to cause them to be apart from each other.
"I missed you too, G...So much, and I'm so so incredibly sorry for saying what I did to you...you know I'd never do anything to hurt you on purpose, right?" she said before pulling away.
Greta sniffed and nodded as she said, "Yeah...I know...and I forgive you. My worry for you actually outweighed my anger... Plus, I think I forgave you the minute I walked out of the Hospital. You weren't in your right mind then, and I see that now...I understand it now."
Dani frowned at the underlying look in the blonde's eyes and asked, "What?... What is it?"
"Dani...I understand it because Hans acted the same way after...her," Greta softly said, which caused Dani's frown to deepen.
"What? So Hans has Survivor's Guilt too? I thought he just had PTSD?" she asked with furrowed brows.
After what Mrs.Locks had informed her, Dani didn't think a person could get Survivor's Guilt from an act of self-defense...that woman was going to kill them, so why would Hans feel guilty about her death?
"What? Survivor's Guilt?" Greta asked with confusion laced in her tone.
Dani nodded and said, "Yeah...Mrs.Locks told me in our session today that I have Survivor's Guilt...which now that I think about it, it does make sense-"
"Wait, what?! Goldi's mom is your new therapist?!" Greta interrupted with wide eyes, and Dani's eyebrows raised in shock at the fact that they really hadn't seen each other in a while.
"Uh, yeah...weird, right?" she said with a sheepish smile.
Greta nodded. "Very," she said. "But back to the topic at hand...Dani...I think you might have PTSD."
Dani sucked in a sharp breath at her words.
Could she have had PTSD? It sort of made sense...right? The nightmares. The hallucinations in both the bathroom and at the park...Hearing Henry's voice in her head.
None of it could have been real, right? Henry was dead. There was no logical explanation as to why any of those things had been happening to her other than it all being in her head.
And a small frown curved on her lips as the realization hit her.
She really had gone crazy.
✧
"So. Are you finally going to tell me why half of your jaw is swollen?" Greta asked as she placed her empty bowl down on the coffee table.
Dani followed suit with her own empty bowl before she gave the girl a sheepish look that made her raise an eyebrow.
"Um...If I tell you, will you promise me you won't yell at me?" she asked.
Greta narrowed her eyes and asked, "What the hell did you do, Daniella Janine?"
Dani winced. "Uh...I...um...Well, to put it bluntly...I got punched in the face accidentally by my birth dad while trying to stop him from choking out my stepdad," she explained, and cringed at the look on her best friend's face.
"You what?!" Greta asked before her eyes widened. "Wait...He was what?!"
"Yeah, I guess inviting him to dinner inside a home where my stepdad who hates his guts lives was a bad idea on my part," Dani said and gave the blonde a shameful look when her eyes widened again before they narrowed.
"You did WHAT?!" she asked and shook her head. "Daniella Janine-"
"I know, I know!! It was a stupid idea," Dani cut her off.
Greta huffed in clear irritation of being interrupted before she sighed and asked, "Well, then why did you do it?"
A small frown made its way onto Dani's features as she thought about her conversation with Trevor on the porch. "He came to our house...and we talked on the porch," she began while staring at the floor. "He told me about how much he regretted not sticking up for me that day and I just...I broke down."
Greta frowned as Dani looked back up with tears in her eyes.
She shook her head with a slight laugh and said, "It's stupid, right? I mean, he chose her words over mine. I should hate him, but I...I can't."
"Oh, D, it's not stupid, okay? He's your father...your birth father. It's okay not to hate him. It's okay for you to be confused about your feelings for him," Greta reassured her with a soft smile. "It's okay if you want to love him like you do Papa R."
A soft sigh left Dani's mouth as she shook her head in slight disbelief and asked, "How do you know me so well?"
Greta snorted. "The same way you know me so well. We're sisters!" she said in a duh tone of voice.
Dani rolled her eyes before throwing herself into the blonde's arms as she said, "I've missed you, G."
"I've missed you too, D," Greta said while squeezing her back. "So.."
Dani pulled away from her with an eyebrow raised at the way the blonde had dragged out her words.
Greta gave the girl a look. "Have you gone to see Mikey since you've left the hospital?" she asked, and Dani immediately sighed at the question.
"What's that pouty face for?" Greta then asked as she tilted her head to the side, mocking her best friend's expression as she did so.
"Well...No...I haven't," Dani answered, which made the blonde give her another look. "I know, I know, I'm a horrible...whatever I am to him now...It's just that with everything that's been going on lately, I haven't really had the time to go to the Rehab center...and I'm not too sure my Dad wants me to go over there anyway seeing as though he-"
"Wait, wait, wait," Greta interrupted the girl's rambling, which made her frown.
"What?" Dani asked with furrowed brows.
"Dani...Has no one told you yet?" Greta asked with a frown, which only caused Dani's own frown to deepen as she slightly started to panic.
"Told me what? What happened, G?" she countered back, and her panic only increased as the blonde stayed silent. "G...What happened to Mikey?! Is he okay?! Is he-"
"Oh God no, D. That's not what's wrong!" Greta quickly cut her off as she caught onto what the girl had been thinking.
A wave of relief rolled over Dani before it was replaced by even more confusion as she said, "Then what is it, G? Because you're not telling me anything that's helping."
And her words seemed to have set the German girl off as she scoffed and rolled her eyes.
"I'm not the only one that's not telling you anything," she muttered with folded arms.
Dani frowned again. "And what is that supposed to mean?" she asked with an eyebrow raised.
Greta sighed before giving the girl an apologetic look as she said, "I don't think it's really my place to tell-"
"Greta Fischer!!" Dani exclaimed in exasperation, making the blonde groan in defeat.
"Okay, Okay!!...Uh...Mikey kinda got released from rehab last week," Greta finally revealed as she played with her hands.
Dani's features fell at her words. "He what?!" she exclaimed before frowning as the confusion returned. "Wait...Wait, this doesn't make any sense. If Mikey was released last week, how come my mom didn't say anything..."
Her words trailed off as the realization dawned on her.
"Because she was never told either," she said with a frown as she felt nothing but hurt by it all.
"I'm so sorry, D, but I only know because I tried to go visit him the other day, and they told me he had been released," Greta said, and Dani's frown only deepened at her words.
Mikey hadn't told her either?
As if reading the girl's thoughts, Greta scoffed again as she rolled her eyes and said, "That asshat didn't even have the nerve to tell me either! I mean, I'm his best friend, and you're his girlfriend! Aren't we supposed to know things before everyone else?!"
Dani sat back on the couch as she shook her head in disbelief. "I just can't believe he didn't tell anyone...and that Momma Darling didn't tell my mom," she mumbled, which caused Greta to nod in agreement.
"Yeah. Weird, right? Your moms have been best friends since before we were even born! Don't they tell each other everything?" she asked in confusion.
Dani nodded as she thought it over with a frown.
Their moms had been best friends for forever, and it was completely out of Mary Darling's character to leave Dani's mother in the dark about things...especially when those things concerned Mikey.
"Dani," Greta softly said, making Dani's head snap towards her to meet her worried look. "You don't think Mikey's dad has anything to do with this, do you?"
And there it was. The question she had been dreading but had an underlying feeling she had already known the answer.
Dani sighed as she shook her head and said, "I don't know, G...but I sure hope not.."
It was no unknown secret that George Darling wasn't the nicest father of them all. He had an attitude much worse than both of Dani's fathers combined when angry, and he had been known to use it on his children and wife multiple times over the years. The girls could recall numerous times where Mikey couldn't come out to play because he was 'sick,' just for him to show up a couple of days later with noticeable bruises healing on his arms that he had tried his best to cover up. And there had been even more times where Michelle had offered Mary Darling and all of her children a place to stay whenever the woman had felt they weren't safe from her husband's rage. It was a heartbreaking situation really, and though people had tried numerous times to get them away from him...George Darling had come from a very powerful family that no doubt stood behind him no matter what he did...and even if she was able to be free from him, Dani was afraid that Mary Darling would never take that chance, for she was far too fearful of him ever to leave.
Mikey seemed to had been on the receiving end of his father's rage the most, seeing as though he was the rebellious one of the bunch. He hadn't always been like that, of course, but the more anger he held for his father, the more he would decide to act on it by going against him.
The Darlings were one of the founding families of StoryBrooke, and they also owned the town's most successful real estate agency. Along with that, Mikey's uncle Elijah was the mayor of StoryBrooke and before him, his grandfather Joseph, so the Darlings had quite the reputation to uphold. Since their status was so important to his father, Mikey had decided to go against the man by doing what hurt him the most...ruining their family's name. That was part of the reason why his father had been so hard on him when he had started hanging out with the wrong group of kids during Highschool...it had been ruining their Goody-two-shoes reputation... Dani just hoped George's want to uphold his family's rep didn't overpower his want for his son's good health.
Although she had still been angry at him for not telling her about his release, Dani couldn't help the worry that had begun to grow for her boyfriend. Mikey already had enough to deal with on his plate, and he most definitely did not need his father's anger added into the mix.