“Yeah, I love it.” She exhales heavily and bends over to pull her homework out of her bag. “Micah, I’m going to say one last thing—you're not alone. You have people who care about you. All you have to do is reach out.”
I swallow hard and nod as I skirt the island to sit next to her.
Her gaze edges back to her notebook, and she blows out a harsh breath. “Okay. I’m going to get started on this calculus. Ms. Murphy must not realize how long each problem takes.” She mumbles under her breath, “Because I’m going to be here forever.”
Touching my hand to the small of Daphne’s back, I whisper, “I wish I could keep you here forever.”
Her eyes light up with pleasure and her cheeks flush. She leans over and plants a kiss square on my lips. “Who knew you were hiding such sweetness under that grumpy exterior.”
“It’s only for you, Daph.”
A smile tugs at her lips as she gets started on her work. “You’re something, Micah.”
After putting the lasagna in the oven, I pull out my laptop and sit down next to her to work on an English essay for Mrs. Harden’s class. A while later, we’re both quietly muddling through our assignments when I realize Daphne has paused entirely. She’s twisted around on her stool, her elbow resting on the granite, and her head propped on her hand as she studies me.
I finish the paragraph I’d been working on, then side-eye her. “What?” It’s pretty obvious that her brain is turning over something.
“Well, um, I wanted to ask you a question before Xander and Scarlett get here.”
“Sure, what’s up?”
She shifts uncomfortably on her stool. Wets her lip. “You and Xander are close, right?”
“Yeah. Xander, Beau, and I have been pretty tight since we were like, six? Seven? Something like that.”
Daphne presses her lips together for several seconds, contemplating how to phrase her next question. “I was thinking how it’s all kind of surreal to me that at the beginning of the school year, I didn’t know Scarlett yet, and I wouldn’t have come within ten feet of you or Xander. And now here I am in your kitchen, and we’re waiting for the two of them to show up so we can hang out for the evening. I’m not—” She hesitates before trying again. “I’m just not used to this. I’ve never been one to go hang out with a bunch of people.” She drops her gaze to the granite countertop again, tracing over the natural swirl of the stone with her fingertip. “It’s a pretty big adjustment for me.”
“When you put it like that, yeah. I can see how it would be.” My lips twist as I watch her. “Did I miss a question buried somewhere in there?”
“Oh.” She presses her lips together. “I guess I was trying to explain to you why I was curious. I’ve never really been close to other people my age. And I’m sure people assume that I’m some introverted nerd. The truth is I’ve spent a lot of time trying to work through things on my own and slowly I kind of withdrew from people.”
“You mean the stuff from the park, right? I wish I’d done more that day.” I work my jaw back and forth.
Daphne sighs. “Like what?”
“I should have insisted on taking you home. Told your parents what I saw. Fuck, Daph, I found you with your panties nearly off and that perverted asshole touching you. You were just a little girl. And those other two guys stood by and fucking watched it happen. Helped, even. I’ve been thinking about that day a lot lately—ever since I realized it was you.”
She shudders and it visibly rolls through her entire body.
“It was assault, Daph.” My voice comes out full of grit and gravel.
“I know that now. But it’s in the past and that’s where I need to leave it.” Her eyes flick up to mine. The pain there is intense and deep. I tug her off the stool so she’ll stand between my legs. She tucks her face against my neck, and I automatically wrap my arms around her, drawing her close.
“Do your parents know what happened to you?”
She sucks in some air, squeezing her eyes shut and shaking her head. “No. I’ve never told anyone the whole story.” She glances up at me and blinks back some tears, leaving her eyes glassy and her nose pink.
“I wondered.”
“Please don’t—”
“I’d never betray your trust, Daph.” I lift one hand to her face, sweeping my thumb back and forth over her cheek, until she finally nods that she understands. I swallow hard. “This is how I want it to be between us. I want you to know you can talk to me—that you can trust me.”
“I want that, too.”
We stay like that for quite some time before I clear my throat. “You still haven’t asked a question.”
Taking a deep breath, she draws back to where our gazes meet and wrinkles her nose a bit. “Yeah, I know. I was getting there before—” Another tremble works its way down her spine, only this time I feel it myself as if we are the same person. “I wanted to make sure you understood that I was asking because I genuinely want to know you and your friends better.”