Daniel 3

UNEDITED. (Do I really have to keep saying this, because I feel like a stuck record.)

Anyway, a HUGE THANK YOU to you all for being so lovely with your comments on yesterday's wedding chapter. It took me hours to write (I began at 3pm and finished at 11:30 pm without taking a break.) So, I really appreciate all your amazing comments. It means the world to me.

So, clue for where this update is going- #gamechanger

Sarah, xx

~*~*~

"Wake up," I heard someone shout as they pushed at my shoulder.  "Daniel, c'mon. It's time to get up."

Last night, after interrupting the newlyweds' wedding night, Sophie and her family decided to camp out in the bar, drinking until the early hours of the morning. Or was it the late hours of the morning? Whatever you class 6am as.

I knew before heading down to the bar that drinking with the Clément-Delaney family was going to end in disaster, but Sophie insisted on joining her family, and wherever she went, I went. Having been away from her for most of the wedding yesterday, I didn't want to waste any more time without her. My return flight to the UK was tomorrow evening and so time wasn't on our side. Plus, we needed to fit in a trip to the Empire State Building.

None of that, however, mattered as we lounged in the bar. With the drinks flowing from the free bar and the animated company, the wedding after party gave me time to get to know Sophie's family better. I already knew that Charlotte and Sophie were wild, but it wasn't until I saw Jimmy Delaney drink almost an entire bottle of Irish Whiskey by himself that I realised where the girls got their stamina from.

Camille Clément, too, isn't as clean cut as she likes everyone to perceive her to be. Oh, no. Get a few drinks in the woman and she's standing on top of tables in the bar, singing Edith Piaf at the top of her lungs. It would have been entertaining if it wasn't for the fact that Camille couldn't sing for shit. I made the mistake of uttering that out loud last night, after a few drinks and my tongue had well and truly loosened. Camille stopped singing when she heard my comment, gave me an unimpressed look and said, in English, "Why don't you come up here and see if you can do any better?"

At this, Sophie burst out laughing, wiping tears from her eyes as everyone waited to see if I would accept Camille's challenge. Knowing better than to go against Camille, I got to my feet and climbed up onto the table. By that point in the morning, I'd drank a fair few whiskeys and was feeling far more confident than I should have been when I was on the verge of humiliating myself in front of a room full of strangers.

"I would like to dedicate this song to Sophie Evangelin Delaney," I said, hiccuping as I said her name. Someone whistled- I think it was Brogan, but I can't be sure because I was seeing double. "This song sums up how I felt for weeks before I finally manned up and told you that I am madly in love with you."

I remember clearing my throat before belting out the first verse.

"I'm sleeping

right in the middle of a good dream

when all at once I wake up

from something that keeps knocking at my brain

before I go insane

I hold my pillow to my head

and spring up in my bed

screaming out the words I dread

I think I love you!"

"This is..." I remember Lucas saying, burying his head in his hands and taking a deep breath. "Cheesy."

After that, I don't remember much, including how I ended up getting to bed.

"How did I get here?" I ask, turning over to bury my face into the fluffy, white pillow. The sun was streaming into the room and it burned my eyes. "Did I walk up?"

Sophie laughs, her hand coming to brush my hair. "Babe, you were paraletic," she says in her best soothing voice. "Brogan carried you up."

"Brogan?" I groaned, hating the fact that the man I'd long been jealous of had to carry me up to the room. Trying to push that thought aside, I lift my head slightly, wincing thanks to the light. "What time is it?"

According to Sophie, it was three in the afternoon and we'd already slept through most of the day. When my girlfriend insisted that we finally get up, I trudged to the bathroom and put the shower to go. Leaning against the sink counter, I dare not look at my reflection in the mirror. From the way Sophie kept laughing whenever she looked at me, I knew that I much have looked rough. Sophie, meanwhile, looked perfect, as always.

Did this woman ever have a bad day? Did her hair ever stick up in all directions? Did she ever wake up the morning after with heavy bags under her eyes? I highly doubt it, because Sophie is beautiful.

I stood in the shower for the better part of half an hour before finally snapping into reality and having a wash. It took just as long to get from the bathroom to the bedroom as my head felt infinitely more delicate now than when I woke up. I was slow getting dressed, spending ten minutes simply putting my jeans on. I struggled with the buttons on my shirt, giving up after the third button and throwing myself against the bed.

"Need a little help?" Sophie's amused voice asked as I felt her hover over me. Without waiting for a reply, I felt her hands go to my shirt, doing up the buttons that I couldn't manage to do. "There, you're dressed. Congratulations. Now, let's go. Everyone is waiting for us downstairs."

"Everyone?" I asked, sitting upright. The sudden movement made my stomach turn and I almost threw up, but thankfully, I managed to hold it all down. "What do you mean everyone? Who?"

As it happens, Sophie and I are hanging out with her family today. Walking from the bedroom suite, I sadistically hoped that everyone was suffering just as much as I was, but something told me that the others were fairing much better than I was.

I followed Sophie at a distance, mainly because I physically couldn't walk as fast as she was, but also because from this vantage point, I could appreciate the way her dress showcased her legs. The bright lights in the hall and the lift made my headache worse and I had to put my sunglasses on to filter the lights.

Arriving in the lobby, I saw several bodies in various states of living. Some were alive and ready to tackle the day with gusto, others were relying on leaning against walls to keep them on their feet, while some of us were a little more fragile and resembled the walking dead.

"You look like shite," a familiar spiky voice noted. Turning to face the direction the voice came from, I found myself staring at an alien. Today, instead of sporting green hair, Echo now had bright pink hair.

"Echo?" I whisper. "Turn the volume down. Way down."

"I appease no Earthling," she said, raising her voice to spite me, before she walked off towards her parents. "What's the craic?"

(Craic- Irish, meaning enjoyment- in this sense, at least.)

The 'craic' was that we were going on a family outing to the Hamptons, where the Delaney family had a home. It meant spending almost two hours in the car and risking motion sickness, but when Sophie's eye lit up at hearing where we were going, it would be worth it.

I don't remember much of the car ride out to the Hamptons. I slept through most of the drive, but Echo- who had been in the same car as Sophie, Lucas, Milli and I- was more than happy to wake me up by scaring the shit out of me. When someone poked me, I half expected to see Sophie grinning down at me, but when I cracked open an eye, I saw a pale blue eye staring at me. Jumping in my seat, I smacked my head against the glass window, increasing the throbbing.

"I was half hoping you were dead," Echo grumbled as she gave me a disappointed glare. "There's a ton of humans here. I hope they don't expect me to socialise."

Jumping out of the car after her, I say, "Anti social, much?"

"Selectively social," she says, slowing her pace so that we walked side by side. "I select not to socialise with weird people."

"I feel like I should be offended," I laugh. "And also point out how ironic it is you don't want to hang out with weird people, considering you are one yourself."

At this, Echo stops walking, making me bump into her back. "Ok, person of Earth, I'll have you know that I am not weird. Who are you to tell me what is and is not considered weird? Urgh, society. This is why I hate people."

Watching Echo walk into the house, I finally crane my neck upwards, taking in the house that was in front of me. Large and red-bricked with white details, the waterfront property was intimidating, to say the least. The large entry door opened in a roomy hallway where a marble staircase wound up to the second floor. Voices came from deeper in the house and as I followed the sound, I found myself coming to a standstill at the patio doors that led out to the rear of the property.

A lush green garden separated the house from the water and a pool dominated the area to the left of the garden. I saw a small walkway led down to where a boat was tied and farther out in the water was a floating pontoon. The weather was warm and already several bodies were jumping into the pool, one being Charlotte. Hot on her heels was Brogan, who took a running jump before landing in the water with a splash.

"I should have brought my swimming shorts," I grumbled, slightly annoyed that I wasn't able to enjoy the water like everyone else was. As I watched the shenanigans outside, I felt a pair of arms snake around my waist as Sophie hugged me from behind. "Look, they're swimming."

"Let's go join them, then," Sophie said, moving away from me. I spin to see her grab the bag that she'd thrown in the boot when we left New York, waving me to follow her up the stairs and into one of the bedrooms upstairs. Emptying the bag on the bed, Sophie reached out to grab something before throwing it at me. "I grabbed our things when you were in the shower. I wasn't sure if you'd want to swim in your state, but I packed for you just in case."

When Sophie and I were finally dressed for a day in the pool, we ran downstairs and joined the others. Even with my hangover, it was fun being with everyone else, more so when we decided to have a game of pool volleyball. Sophie and I found ourselves on opposing teams with her side winning. It was inevitable, of course, seeing as all the Delaney kids grouped together and their romantic partners were on the other. The only two that didn't participate were Lucas and Milli, the former for obvious reasons and the latter because she didn't want her alabaster skin to burn under the June sun.

The only thing my team had going for us was the fact that we were very competitive because, Lord knows, we didn't have talent on our side. I lost count of how many times Brogan whined about how he'd kick the other team's arse if we were playing ice hockey. I, however, was hellbent on scoring a shot. Luckily, I caught Charlotte unawares when I hit the ball back to their side of the pool and it hit the water with a slight splash.

"Get in!" I heard Noelle Cooper's boyfriend shout as he fist pumped the air.

I was about to celebrate my score when the sound of my phone ringing pierced the otherwise quiet air. "Daniel, your phone..." Lucas breathed out. "Is ringing."

"Coming," I shout back at him, hauling myself out of the pool and going to where my phone vibrated on one of the patio tables. Sliding it to answer, I say, "Hello?"

There was a brief silence from the other side before I heard a familiar voice. "Daniel?" Evelyn spoke my name, a strange undertone in her voice.

It was sombre and regretful, meaning that whatever she had to say wasn't good. The last time I received a call like this from her was when she phoned to tell me that my grandfather had died. Sitting at the edge of a lounge chair, I brace myself for the blow Evelyn was about to deliver. Sophie must have sensed the shift in the air around me. She came to sit at my side, grasping my hand tightly, mouthing the words, "Is everything ok?"

I shake my head. "I don't know," I whisper to her. Turning back to the phone, I address Evelyn. "Just tell me, Evie. Please. Is it my grandmother? Is Samuel ok?"

"Oh, Daniel," I hear Evelyn's voice quiver down the line. She never cried, so I knew that the news was bad. "My sweet boy... darling, I have some bad news. Daniel, you need to come home. It's your father. He passed away this morning."

~*~*~

A/N

RIP Laurence Courtenay.

Y'all know that this means that Daniel is now a Duke, right?

#gamechanger

What does this mean for Danphie now?!

Tomorrow night will be the last of the chapters because we're going back to phone calls. It's been fun writing the chapters, but I can't do it day-in, day-out for the rest of the year.

And it's really exhausting! Anyway, some of the conversation chapters are the same word count as chapters, just without all the details.

So, last chapter tomorrow. Conversations thereafter. (Possibly including Saturday, which would normally be a chapter day.)