⚠️TRIGGER WARNING: BODY SHAMING, BODY IMAGE ISSUES⚠️
Dani sat in the bathroom with her knees up to her chest as she stared ahead of herself, wide-eyed and breathing heavily as her mind tried to register what she had just seen.
She knew she had been hearing his voice and had clearly been seeing him outside of her dreams...but that...no...it hadn't been real.
It had to have been a hallucination.
There was just no other explanation for it.
Or was there?
She couldn't explain it, but she'd had a gut feeling that whatever it was that had been happening to her, was something more than just she and her family could figure out. And the more she thought about it, the less confident she became that there was any solution to their ever-growing problem.
"Dans?"
She jumped at the sudden voice and turned her head to meet the frowning face of her boyfriend.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," Mikey said as he walked in to sit beside her. "What are you doing in here, baby? We've all been so worried about you. Are you okay?"
Dani furrowed her brows as she looked at him, and realizing what he'd asked, Mikey shook his head as he then said, "Right...Stupid question...But I still want to know what you're doing in here? I came in thinking you were in your room, only to find the bathroom light on and you nowhere in sight. Did you get sick again?"
"No," Dani finally mumbled as she looked away from him. "I just came in to take some medicine for my side and decided to stay here."
Mikey frowned. "Is it still hurting?" he asked. "Come on. Maybe it'll feel better if you were to lay down-"
"I don't want to lay down," Dani quickly cut him off. "Why can't I just stay here? There's nothing wrong with that. I'm fine."
"Okay," Mikey said with a nod. "Okay, we can stay in here if that's what you want...Can I at least hold you?"
With a ghost of a smile, Dani rolled her eyes playfully and moved herself up so that Mikey could sit behind her and bring her into his lap.
"Is your mind at ease now, Mr.Worrywart?" she asked.
Mikey laughed softly and kissed her head. "A little," he said. "But it'll never fully be until I know your mind is at ease...so tell me what's on it."
Dani sighed and said, "What isn't on it is the real question..."
Mikey raised an eyebrow, which caused Dani to sigh again as she looked down at her hands.
"I just want everything to go back to normal," she said. "Or at least as normal as they can be. I hate feeling like every second of every day is a second closer to my doom or something...or that everyone I know and love is in danger because some stupid wolf just doesn't want to stay dead."
Mikey frowned as he took in her words, and leaned his cheek against her head as he rubbed his thumb on her arm.
"Everyone's always so focused on worrying about me that they forget to worry about themselves," she then said. "But I've always been more worried about you guys than myself because I know that Henry's ultimate goal has always been to make me suffer...and the only way for him to succeed in doing that is for something bad to happen to everyone I care about."
"But he's not here anymore, baby...He can't hurt any of us because he's gone," Mikey said, which caused Dani to scowl.
"So how do I have his claw mark on my stomach, Mikey?" she asked while looking up at him. "Because I didn't have it before he died. And my body temperature wasn't way below normal either."
Mikey frowned and looked away as he said, "I...I don't know...but that's what we're all trying to find out, remember? It's all going to be okay, Dans. I promise-"
"Mikey you can't possibly promise me that when no one we know can figure it out," Dani said and shook her head. "You can't, and I know it sucks, but it's the truth. The only person who knows what's truly going on with me is the one who caused it, and we all know he's never going to help us because it's not in his plans."
"So we go to Mr.W instead," Mikey said. "Maybe it's a side effect of whatever he did to help you in the hospital and it'll go away soon. I don't know, babe, but we're not giving up. That's not in our plans."
Dani rolled her eyes and said, "Okay, Mr-know-it-all. I guess we've got that all figured out then."
Mikey sighed. "I'm just trying to-"
"Yeah, I know what you're trying to do, and I get it," Dani mumbled as she got up to walk into her room. "Let's all start looking at it through rose-colored glasses like you then, I guess."
Mikey frowned as he got up to follow her into the room. "Baby, wait. Stop, I didn't mean to-"
"Just leave it alone, Mikey. It'll go away soon just like you said, right? Cause it was all in my head, and I've been hallucinating everything this entire fucking time since no one else around me can see what it truly is except me!"
"Dans," Mikey said as Dani walked around to grab her shoes. "That's not what I said and you know it. I was just trying to be helpful, alright? This is scaring me as much as it is you-"
"No, it's not!" Dani exclaimed as she turned around to face him. "It's not because it's not happening to you! He doesn't want you! He wants me, why aren't you seeing that?!"
"I am seeing that, Dani! We're all seeing that and we're trying our hardest to not give him what he wants!" Mikey said before sighing. "I don't want to let the negative thoughts take over, Dans...The thought of you not being here anymore-... I can't do it...I can't and that's why I'm so-... It's why I can't-... There has to be a way to help you, Dans. There has to be."
Dani frowned as her shoulders slowly dropped and she walked over to him at the sight of the tears in his eyes.
"Hey...Hey, look at me," she softly said while caressing his face. "I'm still here. I am, and that's what matters, right? I'm sorry for taking my anger out on you. I know that you're only trying to help, and there's still so much time to do that, okay? Nothing's going to happen."
"I can't lose you, Dans," Mikey said with a sob and shook his head. "I can't. You're the best thing to ever happen to me, and I-"
"Hey, shh, I know...I know," Dani said as Mikey let out another sob. "It's okay, Mikey. I'm right here, it's okay."
"Please don't leave me," Mikey said through his tears. "Please. I love you so much, Dans."
"And I love you so much, Mikey," she said. "I do, and it's part of the reason why I'm so determined not to leave you. You're right. We can figure this out, and that's what we're going to do. He's not going to win."
"He's not going to win," Mikey said with a sniff. "He can't, I won't let him."
Dani smiled softly and said, "My superman...Of course, you're not."
Mikey laughed softly and sniffed again as he moved his hands up to cover hers. "Your superman, huh?" he said. "I like the sound of that."
Dani snorted and rolled her eyes playfully as she said, "Of course you do. We all know you have a superhero kink."
Mikey scoffed and said, "What? I do not. If anything you do. Remember the role-"
"Okay! Moving on!" Dani quickly interrupted as her cheeks burned at Mikey's words.
He snorted as she then shook her head and said, "Are you getting hungry now? We should be meeting Greta at Jill's soon."
"Oh yeah," Mikey said. "I forgot about that...Are you sure you're up for going out? We could always rearrange it and have dinner here-"
"Mikey," Dani softly said while looking up at him. "It's okay. I'll be fine, I promise. We need as much normal in our lives as we can possibly get."
Mikey nodded with a soft sigh and said, "You're right...Come on, let's go. Maybe the sight of one of Jill's strawberry milkshakes will bring your appetite back."
Dani laughed as Mikey smiled at the sound and kissed her head.
And though she'd tried her hardest not to, she just couldn't let go of the dark feeling she felt lingering over her as they walked out of the room.
✧
After suggesting they sit outside to get some heat over Dani's body, the trio sat at a table and waited for their food while Greta was informed on what else had been discovered.
"So the hairy bastard has a heart after all," the blonde said while sitting back in her chair.
Dani shook her head in amusement. "Apparently," she said before frowning. "Though he has had some kind of freaky obsession with me for the past decade...so maybe he's had one after all."
Her frown deepened as she was sent unimpressed looks. "Okay, what?"
"Are you hinting at something?" Mikey asked before turning his head to Greta. "It does sound like she's hinting at something, right, G?"
Greta nodded with pursed lips. "For once, you don't sound like an overprotective boyfriend," she said to him and raised an eyebrow at Dani. "Spill."
"What makes you two think I'm hiding something?" Dani questioned before sighing as they both narrowed their eyes at her.
"Okay fine. You caught me," she then said and looked down at the table. "Henry may or may not have admitted he had some kind of feelings for me that night at the barn."
"He what?!"
"Yikes. Didn't see that one coming," Greta said with her eyebrows raised before frowning in thought. "Although that does make sense."
"That day at Mr.B's bakery," Mikey suddenly said with a frown, which caused the girls to mirror his expression.
"What day, M?" Greta asked with furrowed brows.
"The day I dropped you off because your car had to go in the shop," Mikey said while meeting her stare. "Remember? We walked in and he was threatening her. And then he threatened me because I said something to him."
"Oh yeah," Greta said with a nod. "I remember that...but what about it?"
Dani shifted in her seat as Mikey said, "When he was about to attack me, Dani stopped him by grabbing his arm, and he actually calmed down from it...and before then, when we bumped into him on the way back from Jill's, he called her his Little Red."
"His what?" Greta asked with a scowl. "Ew. What a pervert. He'd called her that before when I was around but I didn't think it meant anything...sick freak."
"I told you it didn't mean anything, Mikey," Dani said. "And he's always called me that because he knows it gets under my skin when he does. It's who he is. He just likes to play mind games."
"Maybe it didn't mean anything to you, but it definitely meant something to him," Mikey said with a frown. "I'm sorry. I'm not implying anything. It's just so weird how he's always been so obsessed with you. It creeps me out."
Greta made a noise of agreement and said, "You're not the only one."
"But it's okay now, right?" Dani tried to reassure them. "I mean, he's gone...There's nothing he can physically do to us anymore."
Nothing that you know of...
In an instant, Dani's body tensed at the sly voice in her head before she covered it up by sitting up in her seat and clearing her throat.
"And besides...I'm pretty sure I made it clear to him that I would never return his feelings when I hit him upside the head with a block of wood after using said feelings for me against him," she then said with a shrug and smirked as she heard a growl in her head.
Mikey's features lit up at her words as Greta let out a low whistle.
"Badass," the blonde said with a laugh, which caused the couple to join in.
The slightly boosted up atmosphere was instantly knocked back down, however, as their waiter came back to the table.
"Here you go, Greta. A veggie burger and a strawberry milkshake," Dylan said while placing the items on the table in front of her. "Here's your shit, egghead."
Mikey scoffed as Dylan lazily placed his plate in front of him on the table. "Fucking asshat," he mumbled as Greta shook her head with a sigh.
Ignoring the comment, Dani tensed up again as Dylan then turned to her and asked, "Are you sure you don't want anything to eat, Dani?"
"Leave her alone, Bradberry. She's already said she doesn't feel like eating," Mikey spat with a glare.
Dylan glared back as he asked, "Was I talking to you, Prettyboy? Don't think I was. So why don't you do us all a favor and shut the hell up before I make you."
"Okay, no. We're not doing this right now," Dani cut in before either one of them could say anything else.
A beat went by as the two continued to glare at each other before a small smirk grew on Dylan's face as he turned his head back to Dani and said, "Let me talk to you for a second, Dan Dan."
Dani's breathing immediately hitched at the nickname as she could practically feel Mikey's anger radiate from beside her.
"What the fuck did you just call her?!" he asked as Greta frowned at her best friend.
"You okay?" the blonde mouthed.
Dani shook her head quietly, which only caused Greta's frown to deepen.
"What's wrong, Prettyboy? Never heard of friends giving each other nicknames?" Dylan asked with the same sly smirk on his face.
Greta scoffed and asked, "And since when are you two so buddy-buddy?"
"Wouldn't you like to know, Princess," he said to her before turning his head to Dani. "Dan Dan, come over here and talk to me. Don't let your boy toy try to control your life."
A firm hand grabbing her wrist stopped Dani from pulling her chair back as Mikey said, "You're not going anywhere with him."
"I'll be fine," she reassured him. "He won't hurt me. I promise."
Betrayal flashed across Mikey's features before it was replaced by anger as he said, "Dans, I swear to God-"
His sentence was cut off by the sound of metal scraping against the cement as Dani carefully pried his fingers off of her wrist and got up from her chair. Giving a look to Greta as she walked around the table, Dani then bent over and tilted Mikey's chin up to press her lips against his. Immediately accepting the girl's action, and what Dani had assumed to be him showing his place, Mikey pressed a hand against her cheek to pull her closer and deepen the kiss.
"I love you," she told him as they pulled away. "I won't be long."
With one last peck to Mikey's lips, Dani sent a reassuring look to the worried blonde and led Dylan a little ways away from their table.
"Hm. They can't hear us, but they can still see us...I love how smart you are, Dan Dan."
"Haven't I told you already to stop calling that?!" Dani snapped with a glare. "What do you want from me?! Why can't you just leave me alone?!"
Dylan clenched his jaw. "I want to know what the hell is going on with you," he said.
Taken entirely by surprise, Dani furrowed her brows and asked, "What?"
Dylan narrowed his eyes as he examined her body. "You're all...skinny...and not just how you regularly are...but really fucking skinny," he said before frowning. "It's gross. You know I like an ass that jiggles. Especially yours."
Dani's features fell in disgust as she said, "You fucking perv!!"
"How the hell is Darling still hitting that?" Dylan asked, ignoring her comment. "You must be skilled with that smart ass mouth of yours. Why don't we go to the back so you can show me how skillful you are?"
"Are you fucking insane?! I'm not going anywhere with you!!" Dani exclaimed and pulled her arm back when he reached his hand out for it. "Don't you dare touch me!"
"Come on, baby. Don't be like that," Dylan said while stepping forward. "I'm sorry for before, alright? We can keep this a secret just like you want. Don't act like you don't miss me, beautiful."
"Dans."
A soft gasp left Dani's mouth as they turned their heads to see her best friend and boyfriend standing not too far away, and the latter was glaring directly at the guy in front of her.
"We're going home," Mikey said while turning his gaze to her. "Now. Your time is up, Bradberry."
Knowing the look in his eyes, Dani averted hers to Greta, who shook her head lightly before she breathed out in relief and slowly walked towards them. Mikey's eyes practically lit up with rage as a hand grabbed Dani's arm to stop her in her place.
"I do hope you take my offer up, Dan Dan," Dylan said with a smirk. "You know you'll always have a special place in my heart."
"Mikey, don't!!" Greta and Dani shouted at the same time before the latter was pulled away as Mikey shoved Dylan away from her.
"If you ever put your hands on her again, I swear to God I'll make you hate your mother for not swallowing you, you filthy piece of shit!!"
"Mikey, stop!!"
"You really think you got a hold over me, Pretty boy?!" Dylan asked before shoving Mikey back. "Don't forget who made you. I'll be happy to put you in your fucking place."
"Dani!!"
"Stop! Both of you just stop it!!" Dani shouted while pushing herself in between them.
Mikey and Dylan continued to glare at each other but made no further moves to hurt the other as they both breathed heavily against the hand on their chests.
"Mikey, baby, let's go home, okay? He's not worth it," Dani said as her eyes focused on her boyfriend.
A beat went by as Mikey kept Dylan's glare before his features softened as he averted his eyes to Dani and looked her over.
"I'm fine," she said. "I just want to go home."
Mikey sighed softly before he nodded and grabbed the hand that was still on his chest. With one last hate-filled glare at Dylan, Mikey led Dani over to Greta, who looked at the girl sadly before holding her hand as Mikey had wrapped his arm around her waist. Dani's breathing hitched as she looked over her shoulder to meet Dylan's wink before a soft squeeze to her hand caused her to turn back around.
⚠️✧⚠️
A small frown made its way onto Dani's features as she stared at the guest room mirror with her robe opened.
Henry's claw mark contrasted heavily with her skin that was slowly starting to pale in color; since she hadn't been able to keep any food down, the lack of nutrients had begun to show. She'd always had a slim figure, but the way she had begun to look was completely unhealthy...and she hated it. She hated not knowing what was happening to her. She hated that she knew it had something to do with Henry, but she just didn't know what. She hadn't heard his voice in her head since leaving the restaurant, so she blamed it and her earlier hallucinations on her meds since she had forgotten to take them.
A heavy sigh left Dani's mouth before she paused as she looked up to meet her boyfriend's stare.
"What are you doing?" Mikey softly asked while walking over to her. "Why don't we close this. You don't need to-"
His words were cut off by a scoff as Dani asked, "I don't need to what? Look at my own body?"
Mikey's features saddened as she turned around to face him.
"You were right, Mikey. I have gone off far. How can you even still look at me the way you do? I'm nothing but skin and bones," Dani said and walked over to the bed.
"Dans, no. I'm so sorry for what I said before. There's nothing wrong with your body, okay?" Mikey said as he walked over to kneel in front of her.
Dani scoffed again and said, "Nothing except the fact that I'm gross and really fucking skinny."
A frown was immediate on Mikey's lips as his eyes glossed over in slight anger.
"Who the hell told you that?!" he asked before his features fell. "Dylan. Is that what he pulled you over for?! To fucking body shame you?!"
"It wasn't body shaming if what he said was the truth," Dani said with a short laugh before tears formed in her eyes. "I'm fucking disgusting."
"No, no, no baby come here," Mikey said as he pulled her into his arms.
Dani's body shook with a sob as he tightened his hold on her and kissed her head.
"I love you so much," he said while rubbing her back. "I love your smile. I love listening to you when you say even the smallest things to me. I love the way you beat me in Mario Kart because I get to watch you do your adorable little victory dance."
Dani let out a tearful laugh, which caused Mikey to kiss her head again with a small smile.
"And that laugh...God, do I love to hear you laugh," he said.
Dani sniffed and said, "My laugh sounds like a fucking hyena."
"It does not," Mikey immediately countered back. "It's the most angelic sound in the world to me."
"You need to look up the definition of angelic because my laugh is certainly not it."
"I already know what it means, and I go back to look at it all the time because underneath the word, there's a picture of you."
"You're so damn cheesy," Dani said with a small laugh before sniffing again as she looked up at him. "I love you..."
A smile curved on Mikey's lips as he said, "And it'll never be as much as I love you. Remember these things when you feel like this again. I don't love you because of what you look like, I love you because of who you are. Dylan doesn't know shit. Don't let his words get to you."
Dani sniffed and said, "Even though he was right-"
"He wasn't right," Mikey said. "He'll never be right. You're beautiful, baby. Say that you're beautiful."
Dani frowned and looked away.
"Dans," Mikey said as he tilted her chin up. "You're beautiful."
Dani sniffed again and said, "I'm...I'm beautiful."
Mikey smiled softly. "Now, say it again."
"I'm beautiful..."
"And again."
"I'm beautiful," Dani said with a small smile. "I'm beautiful."
Mikey's smile widened. "You're so beautiful," he said and kissed her lips.
"I love you," Dani said again with a sniff. "So much. Always remember that, okay?"
"What?" Mikey asked with a frown. "What do you mean, baby? What's wrong?"
A tearful laugh left Dani's mouth as she sat up in his lap and said, "I'm dying is what's wrong," before standing up to her feet.
"Wh...What?! No...Hey, wait, You can't just say something like that and walk away, Dans," Mikey said as he quickly got up and grabbed ahold of her wrist.
A blank stare sat on Dani's features as she turned around to face him and said, "I know you saw me in the mirror, Mikey...That you've seen the way my body has changed from the start. We can't beat around the bush anymore. It's time to accept it."
"What fucking bush, there's nothing to accept!" Mikey said as Dani pushed herself out of his arms with a shake of her head. "Dani...Dani-"
"I am dying, Mikey!!" Dani shouted while turning around to face him. "My body is failing on me every second of every day. I can feel it."
Tears formed in Mikey's eyes as he shook his head in denial. "We can go to Dr.S. He can...He can help you-"
"There is no helping me!! Don't you get it?! Everything that's happening to my body is because of Henry, this-" she opened her robe to show him the mark, "is because of Henry!!"
Dani's fingers entangled themselves in her hair as she began to pace and said, "I haven't eaten in days. I haven't slept since my nightmare...and even then, I was never fully getting eight hours anyway. And to top it all off, I keep...I keep seeing him and hearing him everywhere-"
"Wait, what?" Mikey cut her off before Dani jumped as she felt his hands grab onto hers.
She hadn't even noticed he had walked over to her.
He frowned as he asked, "You've been seeing him?...and hearing him? Since when babe?"
Dani sighed as she looked down at their hands and said, "Since the hospital...I...I first saw him on the playground when I went out with Frankie...and I first heard him the day I came back home..."
"That's what happened today in the living room, isn't it?... You saw him again?" Mikey asked.
Tears formed in Dani's eyes as she lifted her head with a nod. "Instead of seeing you, I was seeing him...and in the bathroom, I saw him again...but I've been forgetting to take my medicine so I just...I just thought that-"
"You thought you were hallucinating," Mikey softly finished.
Dani nodded again. "I can't tell what's real and what's not anymore, Mikey," she said with a sniff. "And I'm trying so hard to be brave for everyone, but I...I can't."
Tears formed in Mikey's eyes again as he said, "Baby, it's okay to be scared. You don't have to be brave. No one's expecting you to be...but remember what we talked about earlier? We're not letting him win. We will figure this out, Dans, I promise-"
"You can't promise that, Mikey," Dani said and shook her head. "I'm so sorry but you can't. He's taking me from the fucking dead. How do you beat someone who's already dead?!"
Mikey shook his head as a lone tear fell down his cheek, and he said, "No...No, baby, don't...you can't-"
"I'm so sorry," Dani cut him off with a sob. "I'm so sorry I promised you forever and couldn't give it to you. I'm sorry I promised my brother that I wouldn't leave him and now I am. That I promised Greta that I wouldn't leave her. Hans that I wouldn't let anything happen to me...I'm leaving everyone, and I don't want to. I don't want to, Mikey, I never wanted to."
Mikey pulled her into his arms, which caused Dani to bury her head in his shoulder as she finally broke down.
"Listen to me, baby. Are you listening?"
Dani nodded with a sniff.
"You're not breaking anyone's promise, alright? Because you're not leaving us, Dans. I swear to you that I will take him down myself before I let anything else happen to you."
Mikey tightened his hold on her and kissed her head as she continued to cry.
"You're going to be okay, Dans...You're going to be okay..."