Jake was alone in the dark. It had been several days since the lads had sentenced him to spend the next 3 days in the dark in the basement. He just wished this could all be over soon, at least when Sir and Chloe came back the others wouldn't have so much power over him anymore. He even wished Danny was around more, what was it with him lately? He seemed to be distancing himself from the house and from being around Jake. When he was there he was nice to Jake and Alex, Ryan and Tony had even accused him of going soft
Up in the kitchen, Danny was there with his girlfriend
''Are you really sure you want to do this?'' he asked her fretfully
''Quite sure'' she replied confidently
At that moment Alex walked into the kitchen and was surprised to see this strange girl in the house
''Oh hello,'' he said ''who is this then?''
This is my girlfriend'' Danny told him
''Oh yeah, the latest in a long line of them right'' taunted Alex, looking at the girl with a smirk ''my brother never keeps a girl for long'' he said to her ''I'd make the most of it while it lasts love''
''Shut up, this time I am ready to settle down'' protested Danny
''Yeah right''
''Anyway, why is she in our house?'' Alex asked, giving Danny a look
Danny looked sheepish as he replied ''She's come to meet Jake''
Alex was both stunned and angry
''You told her about Jake? Are you mad?''
''I had to, I had to tell someone and she had a right to know. I want to marry her but I needed to be honest with her first''
''YOU STUPID CLOWN!'' Alex screamed ''YOU KNEW DAMN WELL WE WERE SUPPOSED TO KEEP IT A SECRET, NO ONE OUTSIDE OF THE FAMILY WAS EVER SUPPOSED TO KNOW ABOUT JAKE YOU FUCKING MORON''
''YEAH WELL I'M SICK OF ALL THIS'' Danny yelled back ''I'M SICK OF THE WHOLE THING, I DON'T HATE JAKE ANYMORE, I JUST WANT TO LET HIM GO HOME AND END ALL THIS''
''YOU STUPID IDIOT, RYAN, TONE AND I KNEW YOU WERE GETTING SOFT BUT WE HAD NO IDEA IT WAS THIS BAD...AND TELLING YOUR GIRLFRIEND ABOUT IT, THAT WAS THE MOST FUCKING STUPID THING YOU'VE EVER DONE''
Alex and Danny started to scrap as the tension rose and they couldn't control their tempers. The girl rushed forward to pull them apart
''Stop this now!'' she said ''fighting each other won't help here''
''This has absolutely nothing to do with you'' Alex told her aggressively ''Danny made a big mistake telling you and bringing you here because now I don't think I can let you leave this house and risk you exposing us''
''Don't talk crap bro'' Danny said ''you have no choice but to let her go, stop talking rubbish''
''I could kill her, it might be the only solution and it will be no one else's fault but yours Danny
Danny squared up to his brother again, this time even more aggressive ''I won't let you hurt her or kill her, never''
''Look it's ok'' the girl said in a calm and soothing voice, showing no fear despite Alex's threats ''I'm not going to tell anyone about this, you see I really don't care what you do to Jake, I hate him and I am happy to see him suffer. He deserves his punishment, he is a selfish asshole and he treated me very badly''
The two young men looked at the girl in surprise
''You know Jake already?'' Danny asked her. looking surprised
''Oh yes, and I hate his guts''
''Well, how do you know him?''
In the basement, Jake was just falling asleep when he was woken by the sound of the door opening and then the light was switched on and the sudden brightness hurt his eyes sat up and glanced up, squinting to see the three figures standing in the doorway ''we've brought someone to see you'' Alex said to him. Jake looked up and couldn't believe what he was seeing ''Hello Jake you bastard'' she said to him coldly. The girl in the doorway was Mandy