CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
[26]
song: space age love song by a flock of seagulls
DECEMBER ROLLED AROUND. The winter wind howled through the desolate marsh and bit at Daisy's skin. The short days, and long nights, the dampness that crept into her weary bones and made them ache for summer again.
She slept in more than she usually did on Saturday's, there was no reason to wake up early if there was nothing to do that day. The bright, intense winter sun woke her up naturally, and she debated whether or not she even wanted to get up in the first place. Staying inside her warm bed sounded much more enjoyable.
But she lugged herself out, putting on a big sweatshirt over her pajamas before heading out her room to get breakfast. She rubbed her eyes as she swung her door open, to find Allison about to walk in, a confused expression on her face.
"What?" Daisy says, her voice rough and tired.
"The FBI is here..." Allison said in a confused tone.
Daisy felt herself immediately wake up. "What?!" She said in a hushed tone.
"I don't know I was making coffee and this woman with a badge showed up at the front door and—" Allison shrugs.
"Well—" Daisy quickly navigated all possible routes. "What do they want, why are they here?"
"I don't know!" Allison responds defensively. "They're talking to George and Mom right now."
Daisy inhales deeply, hesitating with whether she should go downstairs and find out what was going on, or just hide in her room hoping they'll leave.
"Maybe they found a lead on Tommy's killer." Allison suggests.
Or maybe Daisy was just freaking out for nothing. Maybe they're just here to question her just like they did with Jenna. Or maybe they know it was her and they're here to take her to fucking prison.
"Allison!" Susan yells from downstairs. Daisy and Allison both look towards the steps.
"Yeah?" Allison yells back.
"Would you wake up your sister and tell her to come to the kitchen?" Susan yells.
Daisy felt her throat tighten up. She was fucked.
"Yeah." Allison says, as she turns back to Daisy with a concerned expression.
Daisy ignored her, and passed her as she went down the stairs, taking the last few seconds before going to the kitchen to put up her front. She took a big gulp before turning into the kitchen.
"What?" She said, looking at her mom who sat down beside Detective Alana at the kitchen table. Daisy's shes trailed over to her and Alana smiled faintly. "What's going on?" Daisy asks, stepping towards the table
Detective Alana stood up, and Susan with her. She held her hand out for Daisy to shake. "I'm not sure if you remember me, but we talked briefly a few months ago about—"
"I remember." Daisy interrupts, shaking her hand hesitantly. "Are you here to interrogate me again?" She raises her eyebrows.
"Is there something I should be interrogating you for?" Alana asks. Daisy swallows again, repeatedly telling herself to just shut up in her head.
"She's just here to ask a few questions." George says, nodding comfortingly. Daisy just registered he was there too.
"About what?" Daisy asks.
"Thomas Joseph." Alana says.
"Tommy." Daisy corrects. "Everyone called him Tommy."
"Right." Alana nods, coming out from around the table. "I'm sorry for your loss." Daisy put her head down in response, grief overtaking her expression. Alana smiles faintly. "Is it okay if we spoke in your room?"
Daisy clenched her jaw and looked back up. "Sure."
Daisy opened the door to her bedroom, maybe if she knew an FBI agent was gonna come in she would've cleaned up a bit. Alana walked in with a sigh as she looked around. Daisy shut the door behind her, eyeing Alana.
"Good taste." Alana says, gesturing to the music posters that lined Daisy's walls. Daisy didn't respond. "I saw INXS live at the Aladdin Theatre last year." Alana says.
Daisy crossed her arms, swallowing awkwardly. "What did you want to ask me about?"
Alana inhales deeply. "Your mom says you and Tommy broke up the night he went missing." She says, wandering around Daisy's room, looking around.
Daisy bit the inside of her cheek. "Yeah."
Alana glanced at Daisy and then back to the posters. "Can I ask what happened?"
Daisy thought for a moment. "We just weren't— right for each other. He liked me much more than I liked him, and it— wasn't the right time for us." Daisy says. "I broke up with him."
Alana nodded. "How'd he take it? The breakup?"
Daisy inhaled. "Fine." She said. "It was mutual."
"It was mutual?"
"Yeah." Daisy shrugs.
Alana cocked her head to the side a little bit. "Well, I've talked to some of the people at the party." She begins. "And they all said they saw Tommy drag you outside, and that he looked pretty angry."
Daisy's heart beat increased. "Well I—"
"Was that before or after you broke up with him?" Alana asked.
"Before." Daisy responded quickly. "Don't I need a lawyer present for this kind of shit?"
Alana shrugged. "I'm just asking a few questions." Daisy watched her hesitantly. "Why was he so mad?"
Daisy tugged on the sleeves on her sweatshirt as she thought of her next answer. People must've told Alana that they saw Daisy with Kai that night, so she couldn't lie about that. "He thought I was flirting with some boy."
"Kai Parker?" Alana asks.
Daisy swallowed harshly. "Yes."
"Are you and Mr. Parker friends?" Alana asks.
"I'm friends with his sister. They live next door." Daisy nods out her window to the white house that stood a few feet away.
Alana wanders over to the window and looks outside. "So you and Mr. Parker aren't close? People say he was with you a majority of the party."
"I mean—" Daisy shrugs. "We talk sometimes, yeah." She pauses before speaking.
Alana nods, and turns back to Daisy, smiling kindly. "I want you to know that I'm not accusing you of anything."
"It sounds like you are." Daisy responds hastily.
Alana smiles again. "Well, I do have to question everyone that was with him the night he went missing."
"He didn't go missing he was murdered." Daisy responds. "And maybe you should start with solving Jenna Silvey's murder first." She says, defensively.
"We believe these two deaths are connected." Alana responds.
"Yeah, you and everyone else." Daisy responds. "I'm tired of feeling like I'm gonna get murdered every time I'm outside of my house. Jenna was killed three months ago and there's not a single lead. Aren't you supposed to be professionals?"
"We're doing the best we can." Alana sighs.
"Well do better." Daisy says.
Alana takes a deep breath, a bit of regret and disappointment in her eyes as she thinks of what to say next. "Thank you for your time."
—
song: slow dancing in the dark by joji
DAISY UNLOCKED THE CAR DOOR AS SHE SAW KAI APPROACHING. He hopped in the drivers seat and sat a plastic bag full of snacks on Daisy's lap. She shifted through them, happily looking through his selections that he picked up. It was almost midnight, their only source of light was the neon lighting from the gas station they sat parked in front of.
"It's fucking freezing." Kai says, turning up the heat in the car.
Daisy grabbed a bag of pork rinds and handed them to Kai. "I assume these are yours?" She says, a hint of disgust in her voice. Kai scoffs and takes them from her, before putting the car in reverse and pulling the car out of the parking lot.
He popped a pork rind in his mouth as he drove down the road. "What else did she say?" Kai asks.
Daisy shrugs, propping her feet up on the dashboard as she opens a bag of red vines. "She was just asking for my story on what happened between Tommy and I on Halloween." She says.
"That's it?" Kai says.
Daisy nods. "Yeah." She pulls a bite off the red vine with her teeth. "I do think we can't hide this much longer."
"This?" Kai says, glancing at Daisy and then back to the road. "Us?"
Daisy nods again. "Yeah, I mean—" She swallows the red vine in her mouth. "There's no point in hiding it. Just because people find out we're dating doesn't mean they'll automatically assume we're murder-partners."
Kai chuckles. "Yeah, yeah. I— don't mind. I was just wanting to hide it for your sake." He shrugs.
Daisy smiles softly. "I've just got to find out a way to tell Josette." She inhales deeply. Kai pulls onto an off-road. "Where are we going?"
"It's a surprise." Kai says.
Daisy scoffs. "Oh, another one of your secret spots?" She says sarcastically.
"You could say that." Kai shrugs.
As they continue down the road, the winter trees begin to grow thicker, and the light from passing streetlights grow dimmer. He takes another turn, off the road completely and down a dirt path. "If I didn't know any better I'd say you were taking me all the way out here to kill me." Daisy takes another bite from her red vine and chuckles.
"Or—" Kai says, bringing the car to a stop. Daisy brings her feet off the dashboard and looks up at the view out the front window. "I was bringing you all the way out here for a date."
Daisy glances at Kai, who's eyes were soft and almost a bit worried. Her heart warms, as she turns back to look out the front window. In the clearing of trees, the car sat near a cliff that overlooked Wayward. You could see almost all of it, but that wasn't saying much. She could see the grocery store, and the gas station they were just at, and the school, and the lights of every car that drove on every road.
She turned back to Kai, who was still watching her, waiting for her to say something. But she didn't say anything, she just cupped his face and planted a kiss on his lips. She pulled away, leaning her forehead on his and stroking his cheek with her thumb. "Thank you." She says sweetly. Kai smiles faintly, and Daisy relaxes back into her seat. "God, pork rinds make your breath smell."
Kai laughs, popping another one in his mouth. "But you still kiss me." He taunts.
Daisy rolls her eyes and sighs, watching all the lights in front of her. "I've never been up here before." She says. "But I also don't do a lot of driving throughout the woods."
"I found it during Tommy's search party, okay?" Kai scoffs.
Daisy smiles. "It's pretty."
Kai turns and watches Daisy as she admires the town in front of her. When he first look upon her face, it was not the perfect features that he dwelled— not the gold flecked green eyes, or the pomegranate pink lips. Instead it was the small blemishes and insecurities that allured him. The small scar on her forehead, the shy smile, the very slightly crooked tooth. He knew he had found the person who was perfectly imperfect for me. If only she knew how little the town was compared to her.
Daisy turned back to Kai and he didn't look away. A smile crept up on Daisy's face. "What?" She says.
"You're pretty." Kai shrugs.
Daisy looked away, leaning back into her seat and blushing. She inhales sharply before speaking. "What's your family doing for Christmas?" She asks.
Kai sighs. "They're to going stay with my cousins in New York like they do every year. I stay home though."
Daisy turned to him and narrowed her eyebrows. "Staying home?" She looked taken back. "By yourself? On Christmas?"
"It's fine. I'm used to it." He shrugged a little bit. "The more time my family spends away from me the better."
Her eyes soften. "Why?"
"I don't know." Kai shrugs again. "My dad just doesn't like me being around everyone. Especially the younger ones." He pauses. "He doesn't trust me to be alone with them. He probably thinks I'll take all their magic and kill them or something." He laughs it off, but Daisy could tell that he was actually hurting.
"Well—" She searched for words. "You can spend Christmas with my family."
Kai shook his head. "No, no." He says. "It's okay I really don't mind being alone. It's a stupid holiday anyways."
She frowns, hesitating before speaking again. "I don't care." She says. "You're coming over on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. On Christmas Eve we usually watch a Christmas movie together and bake cookies for Santa. And then on Christmas morning we have a big breakfast and open presents— one at a time— youngest to oldest. So it lasts longer. And then we go ice skating and then we go to my Grandma's for dinner." Daisy spoke quickly. Kai smiled, stifling a laugh as he watched Daisy ramble on. Daisy realized what she was doing and stopped herself. "Sorry."
Kai shook his head. "No." He says. "It sounds fun." As distant and as cold as Daisy appeared to be from her family, it sounded as if she really enjoyed their time together. He wondered if he could ever get to a point like that with his family, he doubt it, because if it were to happen it probably would've happened already. "I'll make dinner Christmas Eve." Kai says.
"You don't have to do that." Daisy says.
"No, I want to." Kai nods. "I love cooking for people." He says, digging through the gas station bag for more snacks.
"Okay." Daisy smiled. "I remember my dad used to cook on Christmas Eve and he made these really good twice baked potatoes." Daisy inhaled deeply like she was trying to remember the smell.
"Do you miss your dad?" Kai asks.
Daisy shrugs. "I don't know. I don't really remember much about him because I was really young when he died. I think I just miss having a dad."
Kai frowns a little, and thought to change the subject before he made her upset. He glanced around for a new conversation starter, and opened his mouth to speak when he was sidetracked by the window past Daisy's face.
"Look—" Kai says, gesturing past her.
Daisy turns to look outside, delicate small snowflakes began to fall from the dark sky, some landing on the windows to where Daisy could admire their intricate unique pattern. She smiles at the sight, opening the car door and stepping outside into the cold.
The chill wind hit her but she didn't mind, she looked up at the navy tinted sky as millions of snowflakes made their way to the ground. Kai got out of the car and walked over to her, holding his hand out to catch them.
Kai hugged his arms around Daisy from behind, leaning against the hood of his car as they watched the town in front of them. Daisy melted into him, feeling utterly and completely safe in his arms. She closed her eyes, trying to hold this moment for as long as she could. He planted a gentle kiss on the top of her head and she smiled, looking up to face him.
"I love you." Daisy said. She didn't think before speaking, she didn't need to. She wanted to say it, and if she thought for too long she'd never say it. But when she did, she didn't feel guilty, or regretful, or worried, or confused, or panicked. It felt right.
Kai tried to contain his excitement. For so long, those were the only words he'd wanted her to say. Months and months of planning and timing and working— just for this moment. He finally had her, and he was so relieved. He smiled. "I love you, too."