Private Heroes – The Devils Breath Part 7

Rick’s POV 1 hour after Daniel’s released from the hospital..

No place like home. While me and Jodi hang up our jackets, Jake and Ashley come down from their rooms. I dropped Holly and Daniel off at their hotel so that they could pick up their stuff. I wanted to go with them through fear of them not coming back but I have to remember that they are my guests not my prisoners.

Me and Jodi announce a family meeting and everyone sits in the living room. “Kids we’re gonna be having some guests for a while. My nephew Daniel has come over from London.” Both Jake and Ashley’s eyes go wide. “It’s true.” I say. “Both him and his friend Holly have come to visit. Your mom and Daniel haven’t seen each other for a long time so we need to help him feel like family.” The kids are still trying to process the fact and I don’t blame them. I’m still trying to get my head around it. I mean all these years Jodi never mentioned Daniel. I need to get to the bottom of this but not now.

Daniel’s POV same time at the hotel…

Holly’s just grabbing the last of her stuff before we head back to aunt Jodi’s. Mercifully I can change into my own clothes. Its good to get out of that hospital towl they make you wear. I’m wearing blue jeans black shirt and my leather jacket. I love this jacket i feel cool like Travolta, or the fonz. I’m still pissed about what happened but what she did left me with a pain that I don’t wanna feel anymore. So I’m prepared to try again. But Holly’s here so that makes it a bit easier.

We’re both quiet on the drive back to Jodi’s house and when we get there she has to nearly drag me out of the car since I’m too nervous to move. We walk through the front door with our bags and see everyone sat in the front room. They all stand upon seeing us. Jodi’s there with Rick. Both are smiling. But the other two I don’t know. A girl my age, fit with long brunette hair, about 5’7. She looks nervous. Stood next to her is a guy about 5’8. I’m guessing he’s the girl’s brother cause they look alot like each other. “Kids.” Holly says. “This is my nephew Daniel and his friend Holly. Daniel these are my kids Ashley and Jake.” Jake is the first to step forward and I shake his hand, followed by Ashley then Holly does the same.

Rick shows us to our room. “Sorry guys but we don’t have any other rooms. You guys will have to share a bed. Is that a problem?” He says smiling. “I’m sure we’ll manage.” Holly says. The idea of me and Holly sharing a bed has me excited. With everything that’s gone on, we haven’t had time to talk about us. I can’t exactly ignore the fact that she gave me a blow job in my car. “I’ll talk to her about it later.” I say to myself. That’s when I hear aunt Jodi calling us down for dinner. We both walk down stairs to the kitchen. Me in my jeans and black top and Holly in a beautiful evening dress.

Dinner is pretty good. Spaghetti and meatballs. I love spaghetti. “So how long are you staying for?” Asks Ashley. “At least until I can get home.” I tell her. “Well I was thinking maybe we could go for lunch tomorrow and catch up.” Says Jodi with a smile. “Jodi I know if you could, you’d have me on a plane back home an hour ago. You don’t have to pretend you’re happy to have me here.” I say looking at my plate and everyone looks at me with wide eyes. Holly squeezes my leg to tell me “careful”. “Daniel I am happy you’re here and I’m going to prove it. If you let me.” She says sadly. “She’s right buddy. We got off to a bad start but we can’t fix it if you don’t let us.” Rick chimes in. “If we didn’t care we wouldn’t have come to see you in the hospital.” He continues. It annoys me to admit it but he has a point. “Well to answer your earlier request. I could insult you with some lame excuse for not going to lunch. But it’s more respectful to admit that I just don’t want to.” Now this is interesting. Jodi looks hurt. Rick shakes his head. Ashley looks shocked while Jake stares daggers at me. I put my napkin on the table and stand up. “I’ve lost my appetite.” I say as i head back to my room. I’m joined moments later by Holly who looks annoyed. “I thought you were going to try to fix things with you’re aunt.” She says with her hands on her hips. “I was but if she thinks she can just pretend all the bad shit never happened, she’s got another thing coming.”

“She wants to welcome you into the family but you’re just spitting venom in her face at every opportunity.” I look up her frustratingly confused and say. “I thought you were with me on this.” “I am. She’s a bitch for what she did to you. But I’m not interested in staying here so that i can watch you two fight.” She says and now im pissed.

“Well im not gonna just forget about what happened. I nearly died because of her. So forgive me if I don’t drop it in a few hours. If I get pissed off im gonna make sure she knows it. If you don’t like it you can go home right now!” I spit at her and instantly regret it. I don’t want her to go she’s the only thing helping me through this. She looks hurt and slowly turns to leave the room. I have to stop her.

She opens the door a crack, and I push it closed again. “I’m sorry Holly. I didn’t mean that.” I say. “Let me out Daniel. I don’t wanna be around you right now.” Again she tries to open the door only for me to push it closed again. I can see she’s angry and she grabs me and pushes me away. Now im angry again and we just stare at each other. “I’m sorry, I don’t want you to go. I just got angry. It seems like everyone’s against me. I feel like an animal being backed into a corner.” I say and she hugs me tight. “I’m not against you. You’re my friend. And you’re definitely not an animal.” She says. She looks up at me and we stare into each others eyes. I don’t know what to do, then without any thought, I lean down and kiss her. She returns the kiss and places her hand on my cheek.

I place my hand on the back of her head, her mouth opens and my tounge slithers into her mouth.